Indian Sports Wrap, May 17: Delhi GM Open 2025 to take place from June 7
CHESS
Delhi GM Open 2025 to take place from June 7
The 21st edition of the Delhi International Open Grandmasters chess tournament, offering a total prize purse of Rs. 1.21 crore will be played at the Tivoli Gardens, Chhattarpur, from June 7 to 14.
The tournament will have three sections, with the top section featuring about 20 Grand Masters in an overall pool of about 2500 players.
Played on a classical format of 90 minutes, the top event will have a prize of Rs. 51 lakh, with the top three placings fetching Rs. 7, Rs. 6 and Rs. 5 lakh respectively.
Two other sections will be open for players below 1900 rating, and 1700 rating. They will offer Rs. 35 lakh prize each. All three sections will have 10-round Swiss League format, with different time controls.
“With every edition, we are strengthening the foundation for a sustainable, high-performance chess culture in the country,” said the president of the Delhi Chess Association, Bharat Singh Chauhan.
– Kamesh Srinivasan
Karnataka’s Avani emerges champion in All India Masters
Karnataka’s Avani Udipi emerged champion on the basis of superior tiebreaker score over Mayuresh Parkar of Maharashtra in the All India Chess Masters FIDE rated tournament in Mumbai on Saturday.
The 20-year-old Avani, who finished with identical seven points with Parkar, was declared winner by chief arbiter Ajinkya Pingale.
Avani secured a tie-break score of 36.5 as against 32 of Parkar, which was the decisive factor in the Karnataka girl being named victor.
Avani, who has a FIDE rating of 1669, pocketed the top prize of Rs 30,000, while Parkar (FIDE rating 1757) received Rs 20,000 for his second place finish.
Results:
Mayuresh Parkar beat Yash Kapadi; Darsh Shetty lost to Avani Udipi; Reyaansh Venkat drew with Om Gada; Daksh Jagesia drew with Parv Hakani; Kush Agarwal beat Dhruv Muthe.
– PTI
TENNIS
Bhambri-Galloway pair reaches semifinals of Bordeaux Challenger
Yuki Bhambri in partnership with Robert Galloway beat third seeds Rafael Matos and Marcelo Melo of Brazil 6-3, 7-6(3) in the doubles semifinals of the €227,270 Challenger tennis tournament on clay in Bordeaux, France, on Saturday.
In the final, the second seeded Indo-American pair will play fifth seeds, Francisco Cabral and Lucas Miedler. In the $100,000 Challenger in Tunisia, Siddhant Banthia in partnership with Alexander Donski was beaten in the doubles final 10-7 in the super tie-break by Hynek Barton and Michael Vrbensky.
The champion team won 75 ATP points and $4,980. The runners-up got 50 points and $2,880.
The results:
€227,270 Challenger, Bordeaux, France Doubles (semifinals): Yuki Bhambri & Robert Galloway (USA) bt Rafael Matos & Marcelo Melo (Bra) 6-3, 7-6(3); Quarterfinals: Yuki & Galloway bt Quentin Halys & Albano Olivetti (Fra) 7-5, 6-3.
$100,000 Challenger, Tunis, Tunisia Doubles (final): Hynek Barton & Michael Vrbensky (Cze) bt Siddhant Banthia & Alexander Donski (Bul) 5-7, 6-4, (10-7).
$15,000 ITF men, Prijedor, Bosnia & Herzegovina Doubles (semifinals): Aryan Lakshmanan & Gabriele Noce (Ita) bt Dmitry Kopilevich (Slo) & Dusan Obradovic (Srb) 6-4, 6-2.
$15,000 ITF men, Tehran, Iran Singles (semifinals): Karan Singh bt Matteo Covato (Ita) 6-4, 6-4. Doubles (final): Prajwal Dev & Nitin Kumar Sinha bt Maan Kesharwani & Atharva Sharma 6-3, 7-6(3); Semifinals: Prajwal & Nitin bt Ivan Denisov & Aleksandr Lobanov 6-1, 7-5.
$60,000 ITF women, Trnava, Slovakia Doubles (final): Estelle Cascino & Carole Monnet (Fra) bt Arianne Hartono (Ned) & Prarthana Thombare 6-2, 6-2.
– Kamesh Srinivasan
India beats New Zealand at Junior Billie Jean King Cup
India scored a 2-0 victory over New Zealand and placed seventh in the Asia-Oceania Junior Billie Jean King Cup under-16 girls tennis tournament at Shymkent, Kazakhstan, on Saturday.
The top four teams—Chinese Taipei, Australia, Japan and Kazakhstan—qualified for the World Group stage.
THE RESULTS
Play-off 7th place: India bt New Zealand 2-0 (Anandita Upadhyay bt Audrey Tran 6-2, 6-3; Aahan bt Emily Dunn 6-0, 7-5).
-Kamesh Srinivasan
Tanussh, Deepshika win ITF Juniors titles
Top seed Tanussh Ghildyal outplayed second seed Om Patel 6-1, 6-0 in the boys final of the ITF junior tennis tournament at the Vijayant Khand Stadium courts on Saturday.
Tanussh Ghildyal, champion of the ITF junior tennis tournament in Lucknow on Saturday.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
Tanussh Ghildyal, champion of the ITF junior tennis tournament in Lucknow on Saturday.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
A trainee of coach Aditya Sachdeva at the Roundglass Academy, Tanussh served under-arm right through the tournament owing to a shoulder problem. In a gutsy performance, Tanussh dropped two sets in five matches.
Deepshika Vinayagamurthy won the girls title, beating Aaradhya Meena in straight sets.
The results (finals):
Under-18 boys: Tanussh Ghildyal bt Om Patel 6-1, 6-0.
Under-18 girls: Deepshika Vinayagamurthy bt Aaradhya Meena 6-0, 7-5.
– Kamesh Srinivasan
SHOOTING
Indian juniors brace up for year’s first World Cup in Suhl
A first batch of 40 Indian shooters and support staff will leave for the blue-riband event of the junior international shooting calendar, the ISSF World Cup, in Suhl, Germany, on Saturday.
The official arrivals are scheduled for May 19 while competitions begin from May 20 and will conclude on May 26.
India, which finished on top in two of the three ISSF junior events last year, has fielded the largest contingent of 57 shooters, who will be accompanied by 21 officials, including coaches and support staff.
A second batch of 38 members (28 shooters and 10 support staff) will leave for Germany on Sunday.
Suhl, a small city with around 40,000 residents right in the centre of Germany, has long been the driving force of the junior international shooting circuit and attracts the best of the future stars in the sport.
Many Olympic and world champions have been unearthed in Suhl. After an absence in the Olympic year last year, the Suhl junior world cup is back with a bang attracting over 630 athletes from 59 countries, including all the strong nations of the sport.
The 50m rifle prone event for junior men and women kicks off the competitions on day one. The trap mixed team final will be the last medal event of the tournament.
Olympian Raiza Dhillon (skeet) and mixed team trap bronze medallist in the recently concluded Nicosia Shotgun World Cup, Sabeera Harris, will be among the most prominent names in the strong Indian side.
Others include Naamya Kapoor, who was a junior world champion at 13, reigning double junior world champion Divanshi (25m pistol), reigning junior world champion in the 25m pistol Mukesh Nellavalli, Asian junior champion Harmehar Lally (skeet) and multiple junior ISSF medallists Shubham Bisla (air pistol) and Abhinav Chaudhary (air pistol), among others.
India had emerged on top of the last Suhl Junior World Cup in 2023 with six gold, six silver and three bronze medals.
One of the coaches leaving on Saturday, double Olympian and multiple-time ISSF medallist Sanjeev Rajput, spoke about the squad’s preparations.
“The entire squad has been training very hard at the national camp, and it is good that some of them are now seniors in the junior circuit.
“Their experience will help those who are making their first trip to such a big tournament and imposing venue. The youngsters are otherwise excited and raring to go,” he said.
A total of 36 shooters are going on government costs, while 21 will go at their own cost.
Each country can have only three shooters contending for a medal in an event, while two teams each are allowed in mixed team competitions. The others will shoot for ranking points only.
-PTI
GOLF
Jeev tied fourth at Irish Legends golf
File – Jeev Milkha Singh of India hits his second shot on the 18th hole during the first round of The International Series Japan.
| Photo Credit:
Yoshimasa Nakano/Getty Images
File – Jeev Milkha Singh of India hits his second shot on the 18th hole during the first round of The International Series Japan.
| Photo Credit:
Yoshimasa Nakano/Getty Images
India’s Jeev Milkha Singh carded the joint-lowest round of the second day at five-under-par 67 and was placed tied fourth after two rounds of the Irish Legends golf tournament here.
His rounds have been 70-67 and he is 7-under and four behind the leader Keith Horne (65-68) at 11-under.
A year ago, Jeev finished tied eighth at the same event.
“I am really happy with my game – I hit a lot of greens and holed a lot of putts,” said the four-time DP World Tour winner.
A trio of Tour winners – Peter Baker, Jeev and Mikael Lundberg – are tied for fourth, one further back at -7, after a testing day in Kilkenny.
Despite the tricky conditions at Mount Juliet, Horne, the South African, once again capitalised on the par-fives.
Having made two eagles and a birdie on day one, he birdied all four in the second round in a battling four-under-par round that established a commanding position with 18 holes left to play.
Hend had an up-and-down round that included five birdies, an eagle and four bogeys. The Australian is tied for second with Lawrie at -8.
-PTI
Diksha shoots 70, rises to tied fourth in Dutch Ladies Open
Indian golfer Diksha Dagar, who finished late in the first round for a 1-under 71, was back early on the second day and shot 2-under 70 to get into the top five of the Dutch Ladies Open here.
The second round was still in progress, but Mimi Rhodes of England, who has been having a great season, was on the top with 69-69 at 6-under and two ahead of Diksha.
Avani Prashanth, in her rookie season, had a 73 on the first day. In the second round she was 2-under through 17 holes. At 2-over total she has a chance of making the cut.
The 2024 Hero Women’s Order of Merit winner, Hitaashee Bakshi (71), was in Top-20 at tied 17th but was yet to begin her second round.
Tvesa Malik was 2-over 74 in the first round and Pranavi Urs had an off-day with a 77 and withdrew with an injury.
Diksha had two birdies against one bogey in round one, but on the second day, she had five birdies against three bogeys. She was tied fourth with Anne Van Dam of the Netherlands, who had rounds of 72-69.
Four other players — Maha Hadioui, Hannah Screen, Amelia Garvey and Laura Fuenfstueck — were also at 3-under with Diksha. But three of the four had not started their second round, and Maha had three more holes to play in the second.
-PTI
MOTORSPORT
Noah returns to action at South African Safari
Indian bike rider Harith Noah.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
Indian bike rider Harith Noah.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
Indian bike rider Harith Noah will return to competitive racing after four months when he participates at the inaugural South African Safari Rally, which is Round 3 of the FIA FIM World Rally-Raid Championship, beginning Sunday.
Noah was forced to exit Dakar 2025, in which a crash left him with a fractured wrist.
“After Dakar, I needed time to recover from the injury, but everything went well and I’m back to full fitness now. This is my first race since the crash, so there are definitely some nerves, which is normal,” said Noah.
“But the South African Safari Rally is a new challenge for everyone, the route is unfamiliar territory across the board. The key is to stay calm, get used to the bike again, and take it one kilometre at a time,” added Noah.
South African Safari Rally brings the W2RC to South Africa for the first time and with extreme terrains and rapidly changing climates, it is tipped to be a standout fixture on the W2RC calendar.
The 2025 W2RC season features five rounds across three continents, pushing riders through a wide spectrum of terrains and conditions.
The year kicked off with the legendary Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia, followed by the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge. Now, the championship heads into uncharted territory with the debut of the South African Safari Rally.
The final two rounds will take riders to Portugal for the BP Ultimate Rally Raid in September, before culminating with the iconic Rallye du Maroc in October.
-PTI
CRICKET
Jhulam Goswami, Umesh Yadav league ambassadors for inaugural Vidarbha Pro T20 League
The Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) announced that the inaugural edition of the Vidarbha Pro T20 League is scheduled to take place from June 5 to 15, 2025.
All matches will be hosted at the VCA Stadium in Jamtha, Nagpur. The league will feature six franchise teams for men and three for women.
The VPTL has India pacer and Vidarbha cricket stalwart Umesh Yadav and former India women’s team captain and pace legend Jhulan Goswami were named as the league’s ambassadors.
-Team Sportstar
