Indian sports wrap, August 24: Tanvi storms into U-15 girls singles final, Gnana Dattu bags bronze in championships

BADMINTON

Asia U-15/U-17 championships: Tanvi storms into U-15 girls singles final, Gnana Dattu bags bronze

India’s top junior badminton star Tanvi Patri registered a dominating win over Thailand’s Kungkaew Kakanik to reach the U-15 girls singles final at the Badminton Asia U-17 & U15 junior championships in Chengdu, China, on Saturday.

Patri, seeded no. 1 in girls U-15 category, was made to work hard in the opening game by sixth seed Kakanik of Thailand but ultimately breezed through to a 21-19, 21-10 win in just 31 minutes.

She will now face second seed Nguyen Thi Thu Huygen of Vietnam, who got the better of China’s Liu Yu Tong 21-18, 17-21, 21-19 in the other semifinal.

Samiya Imad Farooqui had won the U-15 girls singles crown in 2017, and Tasnim Mir was victorious in the same category in 2019.

However, there was a heartbreak for Gnana Dattu TT in the U-17 boys singles as he went down against Indonesia’s Radithya Bayu Wardhana in three games and will come home with a bronze medal.

Gnana Dattu started aggressively against Radithya and looked on course to book a final spot when he easily grabbed the opening game. But the Indian lost momentum and also needed a medical time out as he went down 9-21, 21-13, 21-13.

In the last edition of the championships, India had won the gold medal in the boy’s U-15 singles category and a silver in U-17 girls singles.

– Team Sportstar

GOLF

Avani Prashanth well-placed at LPGA pre-qualifiers

Indian golfer Avani Prashanth shot a fine three-under 69 to be placed Tied-24th after the first round at the LPGA Q-Series Pre-Qualifying Stage tournament here.

One of the three Indian girls in the fray, Avani then added 1-under 71 in the second round at the Mission Hills – Arnold Palmer Course.

She is currently Tied-24th as the Top-125 and ties make the cut after 54 holes for the fourth and final round.

The top-80 from there will progress to the LPGA Q School. The projected cut for top-125 is 1-over. Currently, the only Indian on the LPGA is Aditi Ashok. Others like Diksha Dagar may try to qualify through the Qualifying Tournament in October and then the Final Qualifying in December.

– PTI

CUE SPORTS

IBSF World U-17 snooker championship: Naveen Kumar takes out Kai Nam Pang

India’s Jabez Naveen Kumar took out Hong Kong’s Kai Nam Pang in the group stage of the IBSF World under-17 boys’ snooker championship at KSBA in Bengaluru on Saturday.

Tamil Nadu youngster Jabez, who won bronze in the National sub-junior snooker championship last year, came into his own after losing the first frame.

Poland’s Michał Szubarczyk showed his class with a comfortable 85-28, 98-11, 74-20 win over India’s Bhavya Pipaliya.

Szubarczyk, 13, was barely tested as he racked up big breaks to dismantle his opponent.

Wales’ Riley Powell, who shocked former World Championship runner-up Kyren Wilson in the 2023 Snooker Shoot Out, coasted past India’s Aarav Sancheti.

– Ashwin Achal

TENNIS

ITF: Vaishnavi Adkar cruises past Saigo in semifinals

Eighth seed Vaishnavi Adkar cruised past third seed Rina Saigo of Japan 6-0, 6-3 in the semifinals of the $15,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament in Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand, on Saturday.

In the final, Vaishnavi will play fourth seed Patcharin Cheapchandej of Thailand.

In the $867,750 ATP event in Winston-Salem, USA, wild card entrants Dhakshineswar Suresh and Luca Pow were beaten 6-4, 6-2 by fourth seeds Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow of the USA in the doubles semifinals.

The Indo-British pair, who pursue their education at the Wake Forest University, won 90 ATP points, and $12,470. It was a breakthrough week for the towering Dhakshineswar as he had also made the final qualifying round in singles. He has a modest singles rank of 1087, and 1710 in doubles, mainly because he rarely gets to play the professional circuit.

– Team Sportstar