HOCKEY
Junior Asia Cup: Men’s team draws 3-3 with Japan
The Indian junior men’s hockey team secured a 3-3 draw against Japan in their second Pool A match of the Junior Asia Cup in Moqi on Sunday.
Fresh from an emphatic 14-0 victory over Indonesia in its opening pool match, India took the lead in the fourth minute through a penalty stroke following a foul. Captain Anmol Ekka stepped up and calmly converted to put India 1-0 ahead.
India continued to build pressure and doubled their advantage in the 10th minute through a penalty corner conversion by Ashu Maurya.
Japan responded almost immediately, winning a penalty corner in the 11th minute. Ryushin Sasaki converted the opportunity to pull one goal back and make it 2-1.
The final quarter saw the intensity rise as Japan pressed for an equaliser. Japan won a penalty corner and, after a re-awarded penalty corner, captain Kazuki Nakanishi converted in the 48th minute to level the score at 2-2.
With time ticking away, Japan won another penalty corner, and Nakanishi stepped up once again, finding the target with a flick in the 59th minute to put Japan ahead 3-2.
India responded by removing its goalkeeper as it desperately searched for an equaliser. Its persistence was rewarded when it won a penalty corner with just 59 seconds remaining.
Anmol once again stepped up and converted the opportunity to make it 3-3.
India will next face Korea on Tuesday in its third Pool A encounter.
Women’s team thrashes Malaysia
Indian women’s team consolidated its position at the top of the points table with an 11-1 hammering of Malaysia. The Indian players scored four goals from field play, five from penalty corners and two from penalty strokes.
The result gives India two wins from two matches and six points, putting them at the top of the Elite Pool standings.
China and Japan are second and third, respectively, with three points each after playing and winning one match.
India will take on Japan in its third pool-stage match on September 8.
– PTI
GOLF
Sharma slips on third day at Omega European Masters
Indian golfer Shubhankar Sharma endured a disastrous third round at the Omega European Masters, carding a four-over 74 to slip to tied-50th after a spate of bogeys and double bogeys in Crans-Montana, Switzerland.
After opening with impressive rounds of 64 and 68, Sharma was tied-eighth at the halfway stage but struggled on the third day. He managed two birdies but also conceded two bogeys and two double bogeys to surrender his strong position.
Englishman Paul Casey will take a three-shot lead into the final round after starting the day four shots off the pace and producing a near-flawless performance in the mountains, signing for a 7-under 63 on the par-70 course to reach 16-under.
Casey opened his account with two pars before a gain at the par-three third sparked a run of six birdies in seven holes.
The 49-year-old navigated the change in wind conditions on his back nine, recording just one blemish at the par-five 14th thanks to his second shot finding the water. He offset any major damage with a gain at the next, before a birdie on the last extended the margin to three ahead of Sunday’s finale.
The 15-time DP World Tour winner will be aiming to add another title, in what would mark an emotional victory — he now calls Switzerland home and intends to donate all of this week’s prize money to Foundation Beloved, the charity supporting those directly impacted by the New Year’s Day tragedy in Crans-Montana.
Austrian Maximilian Steinlechner and Erik Van Rooyen will be among those chasing, after rounds of 63 moved them into a share of second, alongside Spanish duo Eugenio Chacarra and Nacho Elvira at 13-under par.
Steinlechner went bogey-free in his quest to claim his maiden title on golf’s Global Tour, picking up five birdies on his front nine and another two on the back, while Van Rooyen mixed nine birdies with a pair of bogeys to match.
Chacarra and Elvira later joined them, their respective rounds of 65 and 68 enough to keep them in the hunt of another victory on the 2026 Race to Dubai.
– PTI
Published on Sep 06, 2026












