Indian sports wrap, October 8: Sureshkumar, Sinha set up Fenesta Open semifinal; Vaidehee, Shruti eye final clash

Manish Sureshkumar took nearly three hours to prevail 6-1, 5-7, 7-5 against Parth Aggarwal. | Photo Credit: K. MURALI KUMAR

TENNIS

Sureshkumar, Sinha set up Fenesta Open semifinal; Vaidehee, Shruti eye final clash

Defending champion and top seed Manish Sureshkumar fought back from a 0-3 deficit in the deciding set to beat Parth Aggarwal in a marathon contest and set up a semifinal against his doubles partner Nitin Sinha at the 31st Fenesta Open National Tennis Championship in New Delhi on Thursday.

Sureshkumar took nearly three hours to prevail 6-1, 5-7, 7-5, he was joined in the last four by third seed Sinha, who defeated eighth seed Rohan Mehra 7-6 (7-5), 7-5 in two hours and 22 minutes. Sureshkumar and Sinha later combined to reach the men’s doubles final, beating Jagmeet Singh and Aggarwal in straight sets.

Suraj Prabodh, who had earlier eliminated second seed Aditya Balsekar, continued his impressive run with a 6-3, 6-4 win and will face sixth seed Maan Kesharwani in the other men’s singles semifinal.

In the women’s singles, top seed and two-time champion Vaidehee Chaudhari survived a second-set collapse before defeating fifth seed Aditi Rawat 6-0, 1-6, 6-2 to reach the last four. Second seed Shruti Ahlawat kept alive the possibility of a final against Chaudhari with a 6-4, 6-4 win over eighth seed Sohini Mohanty.

Ahlawat will meet unseeded Soha Sadiq, who advanced after third seed Akanksha Nitture retired while trailing 0-3 in the first set because of an upper-limb spasm. There were also upsets in the junior events, with seventh seed Aahan Aahan knocking out top seed Savitha Bhuvaneswaran 6-4, 6-2 in the girls’ U-18 singles.

There were also upsets in the junior events, with seventh seed Aahan Aahan knocking out top seed Savitha Bhuvaneswaran 6-4, 6-2 in the girls’ U-18 singles. Riddhi Shinde also caused an upset, defeating third seed Shreeniti Chowdhury 7-6 (7-3), 1-6, 6-2. Second seed Parthsarthi Mundhe and Harsha Oruganti also advanced to the semifinals.

-PTI

GOLF

Shubhankar Sharma opens four-shot lead at Kapil Dev Invitational Tour Championship

Shubhankar Sharma fired a scintillating seven-under 65 to establish a four-shot lead after the second round of the Rs 2 crore Kapil Dev Invitational Tour Championship at the Jaypee Greens Golf & Spa Resort in Greater Noida on Thursday.

The 30-year-old Chandigarh golfer (68-65), who began the day two strokes behind overnight leader Shaurya Bhattacharya, made an eagle, seven birdies and two bogeys to reach 11-under 133.

A two-time winner on the DP World Tour, Shubhankar returned to the winner’s circle at the Boulders Classic on the DP World PGTI in April, ending an eight-year wait for a professional title.

Chandigarh’s Brashwarpal Singh (72-65) matched Shubhankar for the lowest score of the day. His seven-under 65 featured eight birdies and a solitary bogey as he surged from tied 11th overnight to second place at seven-under 137.

Overnight leader Bhattacharya (66-72) of Delhi slipped to third at six-under 138 after an even-par 72 containing three birdies and three bogeys. Bengaluru’s Khalin Joshi (72-67), a four-time winner on the DP World PGTI this season, climbed from tied 11th to fourth at five-under 139.

Last season’s DP World PGTI Order of Merit winner Yuvraj Sandhu (71-69) occupied fifth place at four-under 140. Current Race to DP World India Championship leader Saptak Talwar (75-72) climbed from tied 36th to tied 31st at three-over 147. The Pro-Am on Thursday was won by the team consisting of professional Shubhankar and amateur Rajeev Gupta. Their score was 48 stableford points.

-PTI

Samarth, Gaganjeet share lead at IGPL Hyderabad

Samarth Dwivedi and Gaganjeet Bhullar sit atop the tightly packed leaderboard after the second round of the Indian Golf Premier League – Hyderabad leg.

Samarth followed his opening 66 with a five-under 65 to reach nine-under 131, while Gaganjeet shot a solid 66 after his opening 65. The pair now have a one-shot cushion over Veer Ganapathy and Manav Shah, who both produced the day’s joint-best 61s to surge into contention at eight-under 132.

TABLE TENNIS

Ariv, Sakshya cruise to U-13 National Ranking titles

West Bengal’s Ariv Dutta and Saksya Santosh of Karnataka notched up impressive wins in the finals to clinch the Under-13 boys and under-13 girls titles at the second National Ranking Table Tennis Championships in Panchkula on Thursday.

Ariv needed less than 25 minutes to wrap up the final, beating Arunim 12-10, 11-8, 5-11, 11-5 in boys final, while Saksya blanked Ishani Gogoi from Assam 11-7, 11-6, 11-7 in the girls summit clash at the Tau Devi Lal Indoor Hall.

The U-11 boys final went down to the wire, with Uttar Pradesh’s Rajvardhan Tiwari emerging champion after edging out West Bengal’s Debanshu Chakraborty 3-2.

In the all-Haryana girls final, Phalgun Gupta outmanoeuvred statemate Mahi Kumar 3-1 to lift the trophy. Ariv and Arunim booked their places in the U-13 boys’ final, with contrasting semifinal victories.

Ariv won 3-0 over Raayan Borthakur of PSPBA, taking the opening game 11-3 before getting stretched a bit in the next two. Arunim, meanwhile, survived a gripping five-game battle against Tamil Nadu’s H. Tanish, prevailing 3-2 in a match that stretched until the final points.

The U-13 girls semifinals were far more straightforward, though Pehel Gupta of UP made Ishani work hard. Ishani recovered from a 2-1 deficit to defeat Pehel 11-8, 6-11, 8-11, 12-10, 11-6. Sakshya, on the other hand, secured a more comfortable passage in the final, beating Assam’s Divija Paul 3-0.

The U-11 boys semifinals produced two convincing victories. Rajvardhan defeated Maharashtra’s Nakash Mahajan 3-0, while Debanshu was equally dominant against West Bengal’s Arjun Sen, completing an 11-0, 11-5, 12-10 victory to seal his place in the final.

In the U-11 girls semifinals, Mahi defeated Haryana’s Shreeja Aggarwal 3-1, recovering after dropping the third game to close out the contest in four. Phalgun also advanced after a hard-fought four-game encounter with Punjab’s Inaaya, winning 9-11, 14-12, 11-5, 12-10.

Ariv and Arunim both progressed, but their routes to the semifinals were very different. Ariv defeated Suchet Dharennavar 3-0, while Arunim also beat Rajdeep Biswas by the same margin. However, the latter contest was anything but routine. Arunim had to dig deep in the second game before edging it 22-20 after a series of deuces.

The contrasting quarterfinals set up a U-13 boys semifinal line-up in which Ariv and Arunim ultimately emerged as the finalists.

-PTI

OTHER SPORTS

Harmanjot Singh, Lili Das to headline Indian Elite Field at Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon

Harmanjot Singh and Lili Das will headline a 42-strong Indian elite field at the Vedanta Delhi Half Marathon scheduled to be held in New Delhi on October 18.

The Indian field for the 21st edition of the World Athletics Gold Label Road Race comprises 22 men and 20 women. The men’s field will be led by Singh and Kiran Matre in the men’s category.

Matre, who finished second among the Indian Elite men at the last edition and set his half marathon personal best of 1:04:57 in that race, will look to build on that performance on home roads. He is also a former winner of the Indian Elite race at the TCS World 10K Bengaluru (2024), where he clocked a personal best of 29:32.

The pair will face strong competition from Dr Kartik Karkera, winner of the Indian Elite men’s race at the Tata Mumbai Marathon 2026 and second runner-up at the last edition.

Also returning to the half marathon circuit after a long hiatus is Prince Kumar of Uttar Pradesh, who won the 5,000m and 10,000m titles at the 2025 Open National Athletics Championships and the 5,000m gold at the 2025 South Asian Athletics Championships.

In the Women’s Elite field, former VDHM Indian Elite champions Lili Das and Kavita Yadav will lead the charge. Lili Das won the Indian Elite women’s category in 2024, while Kavita Yadav emerged victorious among the Indian women in 2023.

The top three finishers in the Indian Elite Men’s and Women’s categories will receive a prize money of Rs 3,50,000, Rs 2,50,000 and Rs 1,50,000, respectively. An additional Rs 1,00,000 incentive is also up for grabs for setting a new Indian Elite record at VDHM.