Indian sports activities wrap, December 1: Manika, Manav impress however India loses once more at Blended Group Desk Tennis World Cup

TABLE TENNIS

ITTF Blended Group World Cup: India loses to Japan, suffers second straight defeat in group stage

India suffered its second straight loss in Group 2 on the ITTF Blended Group World Cup because it went down 4-8 to Japan on the Sichuan Gymnasium in Chengdu.

Shunsuke Togami and Miwa Harimoto gave Japan the proper begin as they beat Akash Pal and Yashaswini Ghorpade 3-0 (11-6, 11-9, 11-5) within the blended doubles rubber.

Nevertheless, Manika Batra and Manav Thakkar stored India alive within the tie by gorgeous higher-ranked opponents of their respective singles rubbers.

Whereas Manika gained 2-1 (9/11, 11-8, 11-8) in opposition to World No. 8 Mima Ito, Manav took down World No. 8 Sora Matsushima 2-1 (11-9, 11-4, 6-11) to scale back the deficit to only one sport.

However Ghorpade and Diya Chitale couldn’t take the tie to a deciding males’s doubles rubber as they misplaced 0-3 (8-11, 3-11, 5-11) to Ito and Hina Hayata.

On Sunday, India misplaced its first match 6-8 to Croatia.

India faces Australia, which additionally misplaced each its matches to Japan and Croatia, in its ultimate group-stage match on Tuesday.

Solely the highest two groups from the group will qualify for the subsequent spherical.

– Group Sportstar

ATHLETICS

Nikhil, Ashwini shine at Ahmedabad Marathon

Nikhil Singh and Ashvini Jadhav gained the lads’s and girls’s open occasions on the ninth Adani Ahmedabad Marathon, which witnessed the participation of 24,000 runners throughout classes.

The half-marathon (21 km) occasion was gained by Dharmender and Farheen Firdouse, respectively. The winners of the 10km open occasion have been Rajan Yadav and Neeta Rani.

The occasion had a prize pool of over ₹40 lakh. The occasion is recognised by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) and listed on the Affiliation of Worldwide Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS) World Marathon Occasion Listing.

-PTI

GOLF

Jaipur Open 2025 set to start on Tuesday

The Skilled Golf Tour of India (PGTI) on Monday introduced that it is going to be staging the Jaipur Open 2025 on the Rambagh Golf Membership in Jaipur from December 2 – 5, 2025.

The match, which carries a prize purse of Rs. 1 crore may have a complete of whole of 126 professionals taking part.

The match will function among the main Indian professionals, reminiscent of PGTI rating chief Yuvraj Sandhu, Shaurya Bhattacharya, Arjun Prasad, Veer Ahlawat, Manu Gandas, Om Prakash Chouhan, Angad Cheema, Khalin Joshi and Ajeetesh Sandhu, to call just a few.

The distinguished international names within the discipline are these of Bangladeshis Jamal Hossain, Badal Hossain, Md Akbar Hossain, Md Somrat Sikdar, Czech Republic’s Stepan Danek, Italy’s Federico Zucchetti, Nepal’s Subash Tamang and Uganda’s Joshua Seale.

-Group Sportstar

Avani Prashanth, Aditi Ashok end tied eleventh in Spain

Indian golfers Avani Prashanth and Aditi Ashok carded 1-under 71 every to complete tied eleventh on the season-ending Andalucia Costa del Sol Open de Espana.

Among the many different Indians Hitaashee Bakshi (69) was T-43, Pranavi Urs (73) was T-47 and Diksha Dagar (75) was T-71.

Avani and Aditi performed in the identical group on the ultimate day and carded 71 every. Avani had 4 birdies in opposition to three bogeys and Aditi had three birdies in opposition to two bogeys. Each of them bogeyed the 18th and ultimate gap or else would have gotten into top-10.

– PTI

Bhullar, Kochhar return for IGPL Ahmedabad at Glade One

Gaganjeet Bhullar makes a welcome return to the IGPL Invitational Ahmedabad as does Karandeep Kochhar because the Tour stays within the metropolis after the Bharath Basic.

Whereas Bhullar gained the primary two occasions in Chandigarh and Jaypee Greens, Kochhar is on the lookout for his first victory. He did win an Asian Growth Tour occasion in Egypt and completed fifth within the ADT Order of Benefit, which supplies him a passage into the Asian Tour for 2026.

The purse will likely be Rs. 1.5 crore with the winner pocketing Rs. 22.50 lakh. The present Order of Benefit chief is Aman Raj.

The IGPL Invitational Ahmedabad is the ninth occasion on the schedule and after this, the final two occasions will likely be staged in Dubai and Colombo.

Bhullar, who has been taking part in on the Worldwide Collection and attending to some private issues, gained the primary two legs of the IGPL. In a while Kapil Kumar gained Pune and Gill gained in Jamshedpur. Collectively they’re set to gentle up the great Glade One Golf Resort and Membership.

Olympians Udayan Mane and SSP Chawrasia and Chiragh Kumar have additionally entered the match The sphere additionally features a few worldwide names reminiscent of Justin Quiban of Philippines and Santiago De La Fuentes of Mexico, who performed on the Bharath Basic final week.

Additionally within the discipline is Varun Chopra, an American of Indian origin. Manav Shah, one other American of Indian origin has additionally entered the occasion.

The 2 younger stars, Kartik Singh and Veer Ganapathy, who began the IGPL Tour have been examined lots of late and can be able to make amends this week.

Although Pranavi Urs, who surprised the sphere and have become the primary girl professional to win in a blended discipline occasion in India, has not entered the ladies’s part will embody Ridhima Dilawari and Jasmine Shekar amongst others.

– PTI

FOOTBALL

Muhammad Suhail indicators contract extention with Punjab FC

Indian attacker Muhammad Suhail has signed a four-year contract extension with Punjab FC, the membership introduced on Monday.

Suhail’s journey with OFC started at age 13, when he joined the academy after impressing in trials. Since then, he has progressed quickly, successful the Golden Ball within the Reliance Basis Growth League, serving to the membership elevate the nationwide title, incomes his senior crew promotion, and turning into a key determine in India’s Underneath-23 squad with standout targets in opposition to Bahrain and Qatar.

His 2024–25 ISL marketing campaign included a serious milestone as he grew to become the third-youngest participant in league historical past to register an help.

Talking on signing the extension, Muhammad Suhail mentioned, “Punjab FC has been house from the second I arrived as a child. The coaches, workers, and gamers right here have pushed me every single day to change into higher. Extending my contract is a proud second, and I’m decided to work tougher, tackle extra duty, and provides all the things for the badge and our followers.”

-Group Sportstar

PICKLEBALL

Indian Pickleball League begins, six groups to compete for trophy

The Indian Pickleball League commenced in New Delhi on Monday amid nice fanfare, with the organisers saying it had super potential and promised to make it a number one sport within the nation.

The league, launched by The Occasions Group and sanctioned by the Indian Pickleball Affiliation (IPA) beneath the Sports activities Ministry, will see six franchise groups compete for the glittering trophy, which was unveiled on the KD Jadhav Indoor Corridor of the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium by Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta.

The occasion, which can conclude on December 7, will see the Bengaluru Blasters, Hyderabad Royals, Chennai Tremendous Warriors, Mumbai Smashers, Capital Warriors, and Lucknow Leopards vie for the highest prize.

The Leopards, Royals, and Tremendous Warriors delivered assertion victories on the opening day. India’s top-ranked star Aditya Ruhela defeated Vietnamese worldwide Phuc Huynh 15–10 in a commanding season starter because the Leopards handed Bengaluru Blasters a 4–1 loss.

The momentum carried into the second tie, the place the Royals secured a composed 4–2 win over the Capital Warriors, taking all 4 early matches earlier than the Capital Warriors clawed again with a spirited Grand Rally end. The Tremendous Warriors bounced again from a match down to comb their tie in opposition to the Smashers 5-1.

-PTI

SHOOTING

68th NSCC will get underway amid file participation

The 68th Nationwide Taking pictures Championship Competitions (NSCC) obtained underway with the Group 5 Lure qualifiers on the Dr. Karni Singh Taking pictures Vary on Monday, with a file 16,000-plus shooters qualifying to take part throughout classes. The earlier NSCC noticed 13,522 shooters qualify.

The schedule, unfold over one month, has been finalised, preserving in thoughts the roster of the ISSF World Cup Last in Doha between December 4-9.

Alongside shotgun, the pistol occasions will even be performed in New Delhi. The rifle occasions, nonetheless, will likely be held on the Madhya Pradesh State Taking pictures Academy in Bhopal.

The pistol occasions will start on December 11 and can run till January 4, 2026, whereas the rifle occasions will even begin on December 11 and conclude on January 2, 2026. The shotgun Nationals will run all through December and conclude on January 5, 2026.

The competitions will likely be performed in seven classes, together with Tremendous Masters (70 years and above), Senior Masters (60-70 years), Masters (45-60 years), Seniors (Open), Juniors (21 years), Youth (lower than 19 years), and Sub-Youth (lower than 16 years) in all three disciplines.

Whatever the class or classes beneath which the shooters have registered, every athlete is permitted to shoot solely as soon as all through the competitors, however their scores will likely be counted in direction of some other class they’ve registered. The competitors, that includes 40 groups, will even have devoted classes for para-athletes and deaf athletes.

The athletes who took half within the 66th and 67th NSCC, Zonal Championships 2025, thirty fourth G.V. Mavalankar Taking pictures Championship 2025, India Open Competitions 2025, and the twenty seventh All India Kumar Surendra Singh Taking pictures Championships 2025 and have achieved qualifying scores as per Rule 17.6 of the NRAI Match Ebook are allowed to take part within the 68th NSCC.

All high shooters of the nation will likely be taking part within the Nationals, for his or her scores will likely be counted when the Indian crew for the 2026 worldwide season is picked.

-Group Sportstar

TAEKWONDO

IIS launches Taekwondo Expertise Identification Programme, goals to scout eight feminine athletes and practice them for LA28

The Encourage Institute of Sport (IIS) has launched a nationwide taekwondo expertise identification initiative referred to as ‘IIS Taekwondo’s Preventing Likelihood.’ The programme will scout and choose eight feminine athletes between the ages of 16 and 26 for a long-term high-performance coaching system aimed toward getting ready athletes for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Video games.

“At IIS, now we have all the time thought outdoors the field. Whereas we’re engaged on creating mainstream Olympic sports activities within the nation, such alternatives ought to all the time be explored. Now we have already ventured into water sports activities, and taekwondo is up subsequent. I’m very excited and assured that that is the beginning of one thing vital for Indian sport,” mentioned Manisha Malhotra, president, IIS.

Eligible athletes should maintain a blue belt or above and may have competed on the Indian Junior or Senior Nationwide Championships. Moreover, they need to be match to compete in a full-contact trial combat and will need to have no historical past of doping suspension or disciplinary violations.

Purposes will even be thought-about from feminine fighters with a excessive stage of Fight (combat) expertise from different Martial Arts.

The preliminary choice will likely be performed via two open regional trials in Guwahati (January 17 and 18, 2026) and Thiruvananthapuram (January 24 and 25).

Athletes who make the preliminary minimize will bear a two-week immersive coaching and evaluation camp at IIS, Vijayanagar, adopted by a two-month superior coaching camp in Europe and a four-week high-performance camp in South Korea.

The highest eight athletes will then be supplied a full-time IIS contract and obtain all athlete advantages beneath the IIS high-performance system.

The programme will likely be led by the IIS HPD Gary Corridor MBE, who performed a major position in creating the high-performance taekwondo construction in Nice Britain, contributing to a number of Olympic and continental medals.

High sports activities specialists, together with Bianca Walkden (two-time Olympic medallist), Aaron Cook dinner (European Champion), Jade Jones (two-time Olympic Champion), President Moon Received Jae (President, Korea Nationwide Sports activities College), and Toni Tomas (veteran coach from Croatia,) are a part of this first-of-its-kind initiative.

-Group Sportstar

SQUASH

Joshna off to successful begin at Indian Tour 4

Joshna Chinappa started her marketing campaign on the HCL Squash Indian Tour 4 with a commanding 11-3, 11-7, 11-6 victory over compatriot Anika Dubey on the Indian Squash Academy in Chennai on Monday.

The 39-year-old former World No. 10, who’s a part of the four-member Indian crew for the upcoming SDAT World Cup, will meet Kiwi seventh seed Ella Jane Lash subsequent.

Velavan Senthilkumar and Anahat Singh, the reigning males’s and girls’s Nationwide champions respectively, and high seeds, begin on Tuesday after receiving first-round byes.

-Group Sportstar

MISCELLANEOUS

KIUG 2025: Chandigarh College’s Tanya Choudhary breaks meet file to clinch hammer throw gold

Chandigarh College’s Tanya Choudhary broke her personal meet and All India College (AIU) file to clinch the ladies’s hammer throw gold medal whereas Jain College’s Keerthana and Shivaji College’s Rushiprasad Desai have been topped the quickest ladies and men athletes within the Khelo India College Video games Rajasthan 2025 on the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur.

Hangzhou Asian Video games participant Tanya hurled the hammer to 64.29m, enhancing her personal All India College file to finish a hat-trick of KIUG medals. Tanya additionally held the sooner KIUG meet file of 60.61m.

Haqikat Kaur Grewa of Panjab College took the silver with an effort of 51.90m whereas Punjabi College’s Aman Deep Kaur’s throw of 45.06m was sufficient for her to take the bronze.

“I used to be concentrating on the nationwide file however issues didn’t go as deliberate. However I’m nonetheless completely happy to win my third consecutive Khelo India College Video games gold,” Grewa advised SAI Media.

Chandigarh College additionally bagged a gold medal in girls’s shot put with Shiksha clearing a distance of 15 metres.

Chandigarh College is now fourth within the general standing with 13 gold. Guru Nanak Dev College continues to steer the standings with 30 gold, 10 silver and 12 bronze.

Within the night session, Keerthana gained Jain College’s first gold medal outdoors the swimming pool when she sprinted to girls’s 100m gold with a time of 11.94s. Teena Pareek of Pretty Skilled College (12.18s) and Samriti Jamwal of Himachal Pradesh College (12.21s) took house silver and bronze respectively.

Rushiprasad Desai of Shivaji College clinched the lads’s 100m gold with a time of 10.53s with Laukik Melge of Savitribai Phule Pune College (10.59s) and Jai Bhoir of Somaiya Vidyavihar (10.86s) successful the silver and bronze medals respectively.

Earlier, Busra Khan, representing Rabindranath Tagore was the primary gold medallist in monitor and discipline occasions successful the ladies’s 5000m clocking 18:15.27. Pawara Rink Dhany of Kavayitri Bahinabai College took the silver, clocking 18.20.52.

In males’s 5000m, Trilok Kumar of Lalit Narayan Mithila College clinched the gold after clocking 15:06.16 whereas Gaurav Yadav of Deen Dayal Upadhayay College took the silver with 15:49.23.

On the Poornima College soccer floor, Guru Nanak College arrange a summit conflict in opposition to Chaudhary Bansilal College, Bhiwani in girls’s class. Within the semifinals Guru Nanak Dev College defeated Pretty Skilled College 2-1 whereas Chaudhary Bansilal College obtained the higher of Guru Jambheshwar College 1-0.

– Group Sportstar

Revealed on Dec 01, 2025