Indian sports wrap, October 28: Neil-Tanishka pull off mixed doubles upset in WTT Feeder Chennai

Neil Mulye and Tanishka Kalbhairav stunned third seeds Sahil Rawat and Hansini Mathan in the mixed doubles qualifying round. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Neil Mulye-Tanishka Kalbhairav stun third seeds; 13-year-old Venkata Bhimavarapu wins opener

Neil Mulye and 14-year-old Tanishka Kalbhairav upset third seeds Sahil Rawat and Hansini Mathan in the mixed doubles qualifying round of the WTT Feeder Chennai 2026 at the Tamil Nadu Physical Education and Sports University on Wednesday.

The 13th-seeded pair defeated Sahil and Hansini, who recently won the U17 boys’ title and finished runner-up in the U17 girls’ category, respectively, at the WTT Youth Contender, 3-1 (11-9, 11-9, 10-12, 11-8).

Neil and Tanishka will face 11th seeds Shridhar Joushi and Pritha Vartikar in the second qualifying round on Thursday.

Eighth seeds Akash Gupta and Garima Goyal also caused an upset, defeating fourth seeds Harshit Kumar and Gungun Sahu 3-0. Top seeds Aaron Farias and Suhana Saini advanced with a straight-games victory over Satyajeet Ghosh and Advika Agrawal.

In the women’s singles qualifying, 13-year-old Venkata Bhimavarapu made a winning start, beating 15th seed Sataporni De 3-1 (11-7, 8-11, 11-5, 14-12).

Fifteen-year-old Advika also progressed with a 3-0 win over Sri Lanka’s Bandara Rajaguru, while Aarushi Nandi edged Archismita Mahato 3-2.

In the men’s singles qualifying, Nepal’s Pratik Thapa recovered from a 1-2 deficit to beat Vishal Raj 3-2, while Korea’s Lee Jungmok defeated Nepal’s Amar Malla 3-0.

The five-day tournament, featuring men’s and women’s singles and doubles alongside mixed doubles, carries a total prize purse of USD 30,000 and concludes on November 1.

SQUASH

Sub-Jr/Jr National squash: Yusha Nafees, Akanksha Gupta eye maiden U-19 honours

National Junior Squash Championship: Nafees, Akanksha Gupta reach U-19 finals for second straight year

Uttar Pradesh’s Nafees and Maharashtra’s Akanksha Gupta reached the boys’ and girls’ U-19 finals, respectively, for the second consecutive year at the Sub-Junior and Junior National Squash Championship in Jaipur on Wednesday.

Nafees, who finished runner-up last year, defeated Rajasthan’s Subhash Choudhary 18-16, 11-3, 11-1 in the semifinals. The second seed will face Maharashtra’s top seed Purav Rambhia in the final.

In the girls’ U-19 category, top seed Akanksha beat fellow Maharashtra player Eesha Shrivastava 11-7, 11-8, 14-12. She will meet Unnati Tripathi, who knocked out defending champion and second seed Anika Dubey.

In the boys’ U-17 semifinals, Maharashtra’s Hridhaan Shah upset top seed Shreyansh Jha, while Tamil Nadu’s Shiven Agarwal defeated second seed Lokesh Subramani.

Karnataka’s Riyansika Verma also caused an upset, beating top seed Aadya Budhia in a five-game contest in the girls’ U-17 semifinals.

In the girls’ U-15 category, Divyanshi Jain defeated second seed Goushika M of Tamil Nadu to advance to the final.

ATHLETICS

National record holder Pooja joins Neeraj Chopra’s VEL Sports Management

Asian Games bronze medallist and national record-holding high jumper Pooja has signed with VEL Sports Management, an athlete management initiative inspired by Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra.

Under the agreement, VEL will support the 19-year-old Haryana athlete with training, sporting development, brand endorsements, contract negotiations, media engagement and long-term career planning.

Asian Games bronze medallist Pooja signed with VEL Sports on Wednesday. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Pooja won bronze in the women’s high jump at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya. Earlier this year, she cleared 1.93m to win gold at the Asian U20 Athletics Championships in Hong Kong, breaking Sahana Kumari’s 14-year-old national record of 1.92m.

She had also won gold at the 2025 Asian Athletics Championships in Gumi, South Korea.

Himani Mor, Managing Director of VEL Sports Management, said the partnership aims to provide athletes with professional support while allowing them to concentrate on their performances.

Pooja welcomed the association, saying her priority remained improving as an athlete and achieving greater success for India.

The high jumper also expressed pride in sharing her Haryana roots with Chopra and hoped to inspire more youngsters to take up athletics.

GOLF

Wistron Ladies Open 2026: Pranavi Urs looks to continue good form

Pranavi Urs will look to continue her recent good form when the USD 1.2 million Wistron Ladies Open begins at the Sunrise Golf and Country Club in Chinese Taipei on Thursday.

The 23-year-old, the only Indian in the 108-player field, arrives after finishing tied fourth at the Women’s Indian Open in Gurugram with a three-under 285. It was her second consecutive top-four finish at the tournament, following her historic individual gold medal at the 2026 Asian Games in Japan.

The 72-hole event, co-sanctioned by the Ladies European Tour (LET) and the Taiwan Ladies Professional Golf Association (TLPGA), will run from October 29 to November 1.

Pranavi will play her opening round alongside Germany’s Alexandra Fosterling and Chinese Taipei’s Ching Huang.

The field includes defending champion Yani Tseng, a five-time Major winner and former world No. 1, who ended a 4,306-day title drought with her victory last year.

Thailand’s Pornanong Phatlum, who recently claimed her record fourth Women’s Indian Open title, will also compete.

Switzerland’s Chiara Tamburlini, the 2024 LET Order of Merit champion and former Wistron Ladies Open winner, is another leading contender.

BOXING

21 state units attend BFI’s ‘Mission Olympic Podium’ meeting in Bagdogra

Twenty-one of the Boxing Federation of India’s (BFI) 35 authorised state units participated in a two-day ‘Mission Olympic Podium’ meeting in Bagdogra on Wednesday.

Of these, 18 units attended in person, while three joined online. Representatives included the ad hoc committees from Mizoram and Jharkhand, along with a player representative from the BFI Athletes Committee.

21 of Boxing Federation of India’s (BFI) 35 authorised state units participated in a two-day meeting this week. | Photo Credit: BFI

The meeting took place amid an ongoing dispute involving suspended BFI Secretary General Pramod Kumar. Discussions focused on the federation’s Olympic plans, improving coordination with state associations and strengthening athlete development.

BFI President Ajay Singh said the priority should remain on boxers, with state associations playing an important role in identifying talent, supporting coaches and providing athletes with opportunities to compete.

He stressed the need to establish a system that consistently prepares Indian boxers to perform at the highest level.

The meeting also provided an opportunity for state representatives to discuss the ‘Mission Olympic Podium’ initiative and consider athletes’ perspectives.