CARROM
K. Srinivas sweeps the men’s titles at Carrom World Cup
Winning a World Cup in any discipline once is an achievement in itself but doing it twice after a gap of exactly a decade is obviously, all the more special.
K. Srinivas of Hyderabad defeated his teammate Mohd. Arif in the men’s singles final of the 2024 World Cup in the US in the early hours of Sunday (Indian time) to complete a ‘golden treble’, having won the men’s team event and the men’s doubles titles.
It was a moment to cherish for the 31-year-old. More so, considering that his visa was rejected twice, and he was not entirely sure whether he would reach US for the Championship. Eventually, when he did land, he hardly had any practice.
“It was very tough for sure. Arif is a very aggressive player. The biggest challenge for me was to counter that as I had to combine defence and offence,” Srinivas, who works as a manager in Indian Oil Corporation (HR), informed Sportstar.
For someone who beat the highly gifted S. Aditya, fellow Hyderabadi, in the semifinal, Srinivas said he had to draw from his experience to get the better of his opponent in the final as he had lost to Arif in an All India tournament recently.
“It is a great feeling to win the World Cup a second time (having won in 2014) without losing a single game.”
Srinivas also happens to be the second Hyderabadi to win a World Cup carrom title twice after S. Appoorwa had won long back in women’s singles.
Reflecting on the standard of the game, the four-time Senior national champion Srinivas said the current crop of players were very aggressive and didn’t bother about defence at all. “It is really tough to take them on with our traditional blend of defence and offence,” he said.
“Definitely, two World Cup titles should mean a lot in terms of recognition too,” Srinivas, the two-time Federation Cup champion, said with a big smile.
K. Santhosh Kumar, president of Carrom Association of Telangana and CEO of Navyabharathi Global School (Nizamabad), said they would organise a befitting felicitation function for Srinivas and hoped to meet Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy to apprise him of the achievement.
-V. V. Subrahmanyam
TENNIS
Svrcina topples top seed at Mumbai ITF
Dalibor Svrcina in the $25,000 ITF men’s tennis
tournament.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
Dalibor Svrcina in the $25,000 ITF men’s tennis
tournament.
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
Second seed Dalibor Svrcina of the Czech Republic beat the top seed Khumoyun Sultanov of Uzbekistan 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 in the final of the $25,000 ITF men’s tennis tournament at the GA Ranade Complex on Sunday.
The second successive title, after the one in Bhubaneswar, was the fifth career singles title for the 22-year-old Svrcina. He collected $3,600 and 25 ATP points. The runner-up got 16 points and $2,120.
RESULTS (FINAL)
Dalibor Svrcina (Cze) bt Khumoyun Sultanov (Uzb) 3-6, 6-1, 6-2
-Kamesh Srinivasan
Riya Bhatia, Ankita Raina lose doubles finals
Riya Bhatia in partnership with Polina Iatcenko was beaten 3-6, 6-2, [10-8] in the doubles final of the $40,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament in Funchal, Portugal.
In a similar event in Brisbane, Australia, Ankita Raina in partnership with Yuki Naito of Japan was beaten by the top seeds Destanee Aiava and Maddison Inglis in the doubles final 6-3, 6-4.
RESULTS
$40,000 ITF women, Brisbane, Australia Doubles (final): Destanee Aiava & Maddison Inglis (Aus) bt Yuki Naito (Jpn) & Ankita Raina 6-3, 6-4.
$40,000 ITF women, Funchal, Portugal Doubles (final): Holly Hutchinson & Ella McDonald (GBR) bt Riya Bhatia & Polina Iatcenko 3-6, 6-2, [10-8].
-Kamesh Srinivasan
Rian, Paavni win in TPL Masters event
Rian Sharma and Paavni BIsht won the men’s and women’s titles in the TPL Road to Gold Masters tennis event at the DLTA Complex on Sunday.
Rian beat Sachin Rana 13-12 in the final, in the 25-point format. Paavni Bisht beat Manshi Singh 13-12 for the women’s title.
The champions get Rs. 75,000 worth scholarship apart from a chance to enjoy the Tennis Premier League when it is staged at the Cricket Club of India (CCI), Mumbai, from December 3 to 8.
The results:
Men (final): Rian Sharma bt Sachin Rana 13-12.
Women (final): Paavni Bisht bt Manshi Singh 13-12; Semifinals: Manshi bt K Muskan 16-9; Paavni bt Riddhima Mishra 14-11.
Under-10 boys (final): Geetansh Saini bt Harsh Tanwar 15-10; Semifinals: Harsh bt Vidhaan Rajuir 13-12; Geetansh bt Veer Guliani 13-12.
Under-10 girls (final) Ruhani Kaur Handa bt Aaryana Rathi 13-12; Semifinals: Aaryana bt Amyra Gupta 13-12; Ruhani bt Bani Dhodi 21-4.
-Kamesh Srinivasan
BADMINTON
Entries open for Inter-Ministry badminton
The Inter-Ministry badminton is scheduled to be held at the AIIMS Gymkhana in New Delhi from December 2 to 13.
Entries close with the Central Civil Services Cultural and Sports Board on November 22.
-Kamesh Srinivasan
POLO
Marambio stars in Jaipur Delta’s win
Santiago Marambio scored four goals to guide Jaipur Delta to a 7-5 victory over Vimal Arion Achievers in the final of the Umaid Bhawan Palace Sir Pratap Singh Cup polo tournament at the Jaipur Polo ground on Sunday.
Padmanabh Singhw as adjudged the ‘Most valuable player’ and mare Akasha was declared the ‘best polo pony’.
The results (final):
Jaipur Delta 7 (Santiago Marambio 4, Padmanabh Singh 2, Hurr Ali) bt Vimal Arion Achievers 5 (Chris Mackenzie 3, Abhimanyu Pathak, Vishwarupe Bajaj).
-Kamesh Srinivasan