Indian sports wrap, August 1: Good start for Diksha Dagar at Women’s Open in Wales

GOLF

Indian golfer Diksha Dagar carded a one-under 71 to lie tied 30th after the first round of the Women’s Open, the last Major of the year for women.

Diksha, making her sixth appearance at the Women’s Open, picked up four birdies against three bogeys in unpredictable weather conditions here.

She was lying Tied-30th after being Tied-14th till the 15th hole. She picked birdies on the first, seventh, ninth and 11th and the bogeys came on the sixth, eighth and 11th.

Diksha, who is the sole Indian in the field this week at Porthcawl, finished Tied-21st in 2023, her best performance at the Open.

Pranavi Urs played the qualifiers but failed to make the main event after shooting 75 in the one-round final qualifier at the Par-71 Pyle and Kenfig course three days ago.

Japan’s Eri Okayama and Rio Takeda shared the lead in the opening round with both carding an impressive five-under-par 67 at Royal Porthcawl.

-PTI

Saptak Talwar has strong start in Scotland

India’s Saptak Talwar produced a solid five-under 66 to make a good start at the Farmfoods Scottish Challenge here.

Talwar, who won his maiden Indian Tour title this season, picked up five birdies in a bogey-free round to lie T8 alongside five other players.

Starting on the back nine, Talwar made birdies on the 12th, 15th, and 17th holes before moving onto the front nine, where he made birdies on the second and fifth holes.

The leader at the end of the first round was Will Enefer, who set a new course record with a stunning 10-under 61. Three players — Quim Vidal, Daniel Young and Marc Hammer — shot 7-under 64 each to be tied second.

-PTI

Vedika lies second in US Kids World Championship, Ojaswini is ninth

Indian golfers Vedika Bhansali and Ojaswini Saraswat made promising starts to find a place in the top-10 after the opening day of the US Kids World Championship golf at Pinehurst Village here.

Bengaluru’s Vedika with a bogey-free 3-under 33 was tied-second with five others and was one shot behind the leader, Audrey Zhang of the US.

Ojaswini from Mohali, a former medallist at the US Kids World Championship, was Tied-ninth in Girls 12 after a card of 2-under. She was runner-up in Girls 11 a year ago and is looking at going one better.

Vedika, who was fourth a year ago in Girls 8 category, had three birdies and Ojaswini, runner-up last year in Girls 11, had three birdies and dropped her only shot on the 18th at the Longleaf club.

Chandigarh golfer Nihal Cheema, who was runner-up on Boys 7 in 2024, had just one birdie against two bogeys in his nine-hole round at Mid Pines (Black).

Cheema, playing in Boys 8 Category this year, was placed Tied-12th.

-PTI

ARCHERY

Sahil Jadhav, Shrey Bhardwaj felicitation

World University Games champion archer Sahil Jadhav said coach Rahul Banerjee’s pep talk helped him clinch the gold medal in the keenly-contested compound men’s individual final in Essen, Germany, recently.

On his maiden international trip, Jadhav was delighted after defeating his compatriot Kushal Dalal in the semifinals. “I was happy to have secured an individual medal. But Rahul bhaiya said, ‘If you want to be a champion, you should not nurture such a mindset.’ His words inspired me for the final,” said Jadhav, who pipped Great Britain’s Ajay Scott 149-148 in the title clash, at a felicitation function organised by the Sports Authority of India (SAI) regional centre in Kolkata on Friday.

“I have gone through so many trials and competitions without any success. When I got the opportunity, I wanted to make it count.”

Hailing from Maharashtra’s Satara district, the 24-year-old, who was trained by Pravin Sawant before being coached by SAI’s Haresh Kumar, has overcome a phase of frustration to dream big. “I want to go step by step, but the ultimate goal is the Olympics,” said Jadhav.

Another archer in Shrey Bhardwaj, a 22-year-old recurve archer from Jharkhand’s East Singhbhum, was felicitated. He claimed gold medals in outdoor, 3D and field archery at the World Police and Fire Games (WPFG) in Birmingham, USA, and expressed gratitude for the SAI centre’s support, which played a crucial role in his success.

“I trained during the day and in the evenings and put rocks on the ground to prepare for different formats of the WPFG,” said Bhardwaj, proving that switching from cricket to archery was the correct decision for him.

SAI National Centre of Excellence (NCOE) Regional Director-in-charge Amar Jyoti lauded the archers for carrying forward the legacy of the centre.

– Y.B. Sarangi

MOTORSPORT

Rahil Pillarisetty grabs pole position with a stunning lap

Hyderabad’s Rahil Pillarisetty delivered a stunning lap late in the qualifying session to take pole position in the premier Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open category to kick start his campaign in the Rolon Round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2025 at the Kari Motor Speedway, in Coimbatore on Friday.

Others who qualified for pole positions in their respective National championship categories were: Raj Kumar in Super Stock 165cc Intermediate; Mohamed Mikail in Stock 301-400cc (Novice) and Charu Sreekara Kedarnadh in Stock 165cc (Novice).

– Team Sportstar

HOCKEY

15th India Sub Junior Men National Championship 2025: Uttar Pradesh dominates Delhi 10-1

Chhattisgarh, Manipur, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Punjab and Haryana had fruitful outings after securing win in their respective matches on day five of the 15th India Sub Junior Men National Championship 2025 at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Hockey Stadium in Chennai.

In the first match, Chhattisgarh won 6-2 against Bengal in Division ‘B’. Adarsh Raj Singh (3’, 8’, 20’, 60’) scored the opening goal of the match and was the top goal scorer for Chhattisgarh. Aman Verma (48’) and Abhishek Yadav (58’) also scored one goal each to put their team in a strong position. On the other side, Abhishek Shaw (6’) and Hiten Rajak (35’) scored for Bengal but fell short.

In the next match, Manipur defeated Himachal 6-0 in Division ‘B’. Getik Ningombam Singh (4’, 55’) and Saikhom Nishi Singh (56’, 58’) scored a brace each to strengthen their position in the game whereas Manimatum Maibam (37’) and Sanjit Singh Konthoujam (41’) also contributed with one goal each to take the game further away from Himachal.

In the Division ‘A’ match, Uttar Pradesh defeated Delhi 10-1. Shahrukh Ali (5’, 29’, 38’, 43’) scored four goals in the match joined by Romit Pal (20’, 25’) who also scored a couple of goals in the second quarter. Dhanuk Karan (23’), Sunil Pal (26’), Mohmmad Danish (42’) and Mohd Aqib Raynee (60’) scored one goal each to confirm first victory in the tournament. In response, captain Uday Randhawa (51’) scored the consolation goal for Delhi.

Odisha faced off Maharashtra in the next match of Division ‘A’ where the former won 5-1. Arman Soreng (12’, 43’, 49’) scored a hat-trick joined by his teammates Sanjeet Raj Lakra (51’) and Deepak Prakash Toppo (17’) who also scored one goal each. On the other side, Rehan Shafi Khan (34’) managed to score the only goal for Maharashtra.

Then Punjab defeated Karnataka 10-0. Mandeep Singh (5’, 41’) scored a brace whereas Gursimranpreet Singh (14’), Varinder Singh (17’), Arshpreet Singh (23’), Yuvraj Singh (30’), Akash Deep (36’), Jashanpreet Singh (47’), Anurag Singh (55’) and Vijay Kumar Pal (60’) also scored one goal each to secure first win in the tournament.

In the last match of the day, Haryana won 3-0 against Tamil Nadu. Captain Ankur Ror (28’, 53’, 55’) led from the front and single-handedly took the game away from Tamil Nadu.

– Kamesh Srinivasan