GOLF
Shubhankar Sharma, Yuvraj Sandhu headline field at Kapil Dev Invitational Tour Championship
Shubhankar Sharma and Yuvraj Sandhu will headline a strong field when the Rs 2 crore Kapil Dev Invitational Tour Championship gets underway at the Jaypee Greens Golf & Spa Resort on October 7.
The tournament returns for its fourth edition and will be staged as the Tour Championship for the first time, with 64 professionals set to compete. The field includes the current top 60 on the DP World PGTI Order of Merit.
The event also carries added significance as it is the final tournament before the top 24 players in the Race to DP World India Championship are confirmed for the season-ending event next week.
Alongside Sharma and reigning Order of Merit champion Sandhu, current leader Saptak Talwar will be one of the key names in action at his home course. Khalin Joshi, Veer Ahlawat, Honey Baisoya, Akshay Sharma and Rashid Khan are also part of the field.
Greater Noida-based professionals Amardeep Malik and Arjun Sharma will join Talwar in competing on familiar terrain.
The tournament will also feature 10 overseas professionals from eight countries, including Sri Lanka’s N. Thangaraja, Italy’s Michele Ortolani, Bangladesh’s Jamal Hossain, Nepal’s Subash Tamang, Czech Republic’s Stepan Danek, Uganda’s Joshua Seale, Thailand’s Tanapat Pichaikool and Japan’s Koichiro Ishika.
Kapil Dev, president of the DP World Professional Golf Tour of India, said the event would bring together the leading professionals on the Tour while also giving amateurs a chance to experience a professional competitive environment.
He added that the race for the final top-24 places would further raise the intensity of the competition.
— PTI
TENNIS
Prabodh stuns second seed Balsekar in third-set tiebreak; top-seeded Sureshkumar/Sinha advance to quarterfinals at Fenesta Open
Thirty-one-year-old Suraj Prabodh delivered a sensational upset at the 31st Fenesta Open National Tennis Championship, rallying from a set down to defeat No. 2 seed Aditya Balsekar 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) at the DLTA Complex.
After losing the opening set, Prabodh adopted a more aggressive approach, a strategy that eventually paid dividends.
“Everybody knows he is a great player,” he told the media after his win. “I was just trying to hang in there and especially after the first set, I thought because he was too consistent and he was just everywhere. I thought I should just try to be a little more aggressive and get into the points or start the points a little more aggressively. Somehow I got through it and it was well planned and the execution was also perhaps better.”
Fifth seed Oges Jaya was also knocked out in the first round, losing 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 to big-serving Raghav Jaisinghani. Fourth seed Udit Kamboj, however, avoided an upset with a 6-1, 7-5 win over rising youngster Aditya Mor.
In the women’s singles draw, fifth seed Aditi Rawat, seventh seed Laxmi Siri Dandu and eighth seed Sohini Mohanty registered wins. Rawat was made to work hard before prevailing 6-3, 7-5 over L Arunkumar.
“In the last game, honestly, I was just focusing on myself,” she told the media after her match. “I was trying to just go for my shots. I wasn’t really concerned about the scoreboard or the score. I just try to give my best in the match.”
The doubles competitions also got underway, with top seeds Manish Sureshkumar/Nitin Sinha advancing to the quarterfinals with a 7-5, 6-2 win over Raghav Jaisinghani/Lakshit Sood.
“It was a pretty good match,” Sureshkumar said after the win. “I think there are a lot of good points. Hopefully our combination works going forward and let’s see how it goes.”
Sinha credited his partner, who is also the top seed in the men’s singles draw, for the win. “He covered everything and it’s always fun playing with him and we are looking forward to the next rounds.”
There was another big upset in the men’s doubles draw, with Aryan Chauhan/Karan Singh combining to knock out second seeds Madhwin Kamath/Rohan Mehra 6-3, 3-6, 10-7.
In the boys’ U-18 draw, top seed Praneel Sharma scored a 6-0, 6-3 win over Sarthak Gaikwad to reach the round of 16. Third seed Harsh Malik was upset in the second round, while fourth seed Om Patel and fifth seed Mor also advanced to the last 16.
In the girls’ U-18 draw, top seed S Bhuvaneswaran and third seed Shreeniti Chowdhury scored comfortable wins to reach the third round.
-Team Sportstar
TABLE TENNIS
U-11 qualifiers overcome tough battles to enter main draw
Young paddlers displayed immense resilience on the opening day of the second National Ranking Table Tennis Championships at the Tau Devi Lal Indoor Hall in Panchkula on Tuesday, with several rising stars pulling off hard-fought comeback victories to secure main-draw berths in the Under-11 categories.
In the U-11 boys’ qualifiers, Uttar Pradesh’s Viraaj Singh headlined the day’s action by staging a brilliant recovery from two games down to edge Tamil Nadu’s Aarav Aj in a tense five-game thriller.
Goa’s Aarish Shaikh similarly survived a gruelling five-game battle against West Bengal’s Ryan Karmakar.
Other notable qualifiers included West Bengal’s Sarabjeet Sarkar and Parthiv Das, who overcame stiff resistance from T. Veera Sathvik and M. Tasvanth.
Telangana’s Jatin Jairam booked his spot by clinching a nail-biting decider 12-10 against Rigved Saha, alongside compatriot Srikara Varshik and Assam’s Nulutpal Gohain, who also advanced following hard-fought five-game encounters.
The U-11 girls’ qualifiers witnessed matching drama as Anika Maheshwari, Arrietri Pal, and Shivangi Mishra all overturned early deficits after dropping the first two games to secure their places in the main draw.
Close encounters also favored Dhadkan Tanna, Vedanshi Bolishetty, and Riddhi Singh, who all held their nerve in deciding fifth games. They were joined by earlier-round winners Kiara Lele, Netra Honap, and Ishani Giri to complete the list of main-draw qualifiers.
-PTI
Published on Oct 06, 2026
