GOLF

Aditi tied 35th, Japan’s Iwai leads at Evian Championship

Indian golfer Aditi Ashok opened with an erratic one-under 70 to be tied for the 35th position after the opening round of the Evian Championship, which is a Major on the women’s circuit.

Aditi, a five-time winner on the Ladies European Tour, and a champion at Hero Women’s Indian Open in 2016, is playing the tournament for the ninth time, but has finished in Top-25 only once.

She trails Japan’s Aki Iwai by seven shots. Aditi had two birdies and two bogeys on the front side of the course and then one bogey and back to back birdies on the 14th and the 15th.

– PTI

Gill logs Top-20 in Asian Development Tour, stays on path to Asian Tour

India’s Pukhraj Singh Gill fired three consistent rounds of three-under 69 each to finish a tidy Tied-19th in the Ever Glory ADT Open on the Asian Development Tour on Friday.

The Ludhiana star, who won the Am Green IGPL Order of Merit in India in 2025, has been focussing on earning his way into the Asian Tour via the Asian Development Tour.

With 69-69-69, Gill totalled nine-under 204 and was Tied-19th. Gill, who plays for the Honer Homes Gurugram on the AM Green IGPL, is now sixth on the Merit Llist and stands a great chance of making it to the 2027 Asian Tour as the Top-10 players advance to the higher Tour.

Last year Karandeep Kochhar, a colleague of Gill on AM Green IGPL took the same route.

Among other Indians in the field, Khalin Joshi (68-67-69) totalled 12-under and finished Tied-12th. Kartik Singh (74-68) missed the 36-hole cut.

-PTI

BOXING

India assures six medals in U-23 men’s category at Asian boxing c’ships

India’s U-23 men boxers delivered a strong performance at the Asian U-19 & U-23 Boxing Championships with six boxers advancing to the semifinals to assure themselves of medals in Jakarta on Friday.

Leading the charge, Asian Champion Vishvanath (50kg) continued his dominant run with a convincing 5:0 win over Saudi Arabia’s Ibrahim Aljohani. Ganga (55kg) then matched that performance with a clinical 5:0 victory against Vietnam’s Quang Loc Tran.

In the 65kg category, Vanshaj secured a solid 4:1 win over Kazakhstan’s Assylkhan Kosherbay, while Hitesh (70kg) delivered a standout performance, stopping Indonesia’s Radiyansyah via RSC in the first round.

Despite a few closely contested bouts, Aryan Malik (80kg) and Rocky Chaudhary (85kg) went down fighting in 1:4 and 0:4 decisions respectively, while Hemant Sangwan (90kg) lost to Uzbekistan’s Samir Sobirov 0:5.

With these results, India have now assured of six medals in the U-23 men’s competition with the semifinalists including Vishvanath (50kg), Ganga (55kg), Vanshaj (65kg), Hitesh (70kg), Neeraj (75kg), and Ishan Kataria (+90kg).

-PTI

CRICKET

TG20: Hyderabad e-Champions through to title clash

On a night that demanded nerves of steel, Hyderabad e-Champions produced ice-cold precision. A ruthless display with bat and ball helped it blow Karimnagar Diamonds away by eight wickets in Qualifier 2 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Friday to storm into Sunday’s title clash against Khammam Aces.

Asked to bat, Diamonds began cautiously, managing just 20 runs in the opening three overs before Shanmukha Ashwin dismissed Tanmay Agarwal. Hrishikesh Simha and Satwik Reddy then shifted gears to power Diamonds to 50 for one at the end of the PowerPlay.

Akhil Rathod eventually broke their brisk 40-run stand, but Rahul Radesh joined Simha to keep the innings afloat with a 40-run partnership. Simha then got a reprieve when he was dropped on 29 by Abhirath Reddy.

Shanmukha cleaned up Rahul and that swung the momentum decisively. Pranav Varma ripped through the middle order, dismissing Simha and Chandan Sahani in quick succession to leave Diamonds wobbling at 119 for five. 

The boundaries dried up for eight overs until Shubham Sharma briefly revived hopes with back-to-back sixes off Dev Mehta. Ajay Dev Goud then slammed the door shut, conceding just seven runs and claiming two wickets in the final over as Diamonds finished on 157/7.

The chase was a one-sided affair. Abhirath and Sai Vikas Reddy dismantled the target with clinical precision, racing to 56 without loss in the PowerPlay, before taking complete control, Abhirath reaching his fifty in 32 balls along the way. Once the openers fell, Vaishnav Reddy and Yashveer Goud applied the finishing touches to take e-Champions home with 27 balls to spare

. The scores: Karimnagar Diamonds 157/7 in 20 overs (Hrishikesh Simha 38, Shubham Sharma 31 n.o., Ajay Dev Goud 2/24, Shanmukha Ashwin 2/22, Pranav Varma 2/32) lost to Hyderabad e-Champions 160/2 in 15.3 overs (Abhirath Reddy 82, Sai Vikas Reddy 45).

-Anirudh Velamuri

KCL player auction on July 11; 156 players to go under hammer

The player auction for the second edition of the Kerala Cricket League (KCL) will be held here on Saturday, with six franchises set to bid for 156 players.

The auction, to be held at The Leela Raviz from 10 am, will be conducted by veteran auctioneer Charu Sharma, who has extensive experience handling player auctions at the international level and in the Indian Premier League (IPL), according to a statement issued by the Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) on Friday.

A total of 173 players have been shortlisted for the auction, ranging from promising teenage talents to established Ranji Trophy cricketers. Seventeen players have already been retained by the six franchises, it said.

Aries Kollam Sailors and Thrissur Titans have retained the maximum four players each, while Calicut Globstars and Trivandrum Royals have retained three players each. Kochi Blue Tigers have retained two players and Alleppey Ripples one, as per the statement.

Each franchise has a purse of Rs 50 lakh and can have a squad comprising a minimum of 16 and a maximum of 20 players. Teams that have retained players can spend only the balance amount available in their purse during the auction.

Players have been grouped into three categories — A, B and C — based on their experience and achievements.

The base price for Category A players, comprising those with First-Class, List A and IPL experience, has been fixed at Rs 3 lakh.

Category B players, including those who have excelled in the Under-19 and Under-23 levels, will have a base price of Rs 1.5 lakh, while the base price for emerging Category C players, who have impressed in district, zonal and Kerala Cricket Association tournaments, has been fixed at Rs 75,000, the statement added.

-PTI

Pondy Premier League: Third straight win for Villianur

Fifties by Bhanu Anand (96 n.o.) and skipper Aman H Khan (64) powered defending champion Villianur Mohit Kings to a tournament-high 254/4 for a tournament-record margin 166-run win over Karaikal Knights and register their third win in as many outings in the Shriram Capital-Pondicherry Premier League 2026 at the CAP-Siechem Stadium here on Friday.

Opener Anand struck nine fours and seven sixes from 50 deliveries and put on fifty-plus partnerships with P Akash (40), Aman, who registered his second straight fifty, and Sahil Dutta (14 n.o.) to set up a record total after being put in to bat. Karaikal were shot out for 88 for their second loss in two matches.

Brief scores: Villianur Mohit Kings 254/4 in 20 overs (Bhanu Anand 96 n.o., P Akash 40, Aman Khan 64, Badal Rawat 2-35) bt Karaikal Knights 88 all out in 13 overs (Vigneshwaran Marimuthu 27, Alim Shaikhlal Shaikh 3-20, Dev Narayan Ved 2-8, P Akash 2-19, Prakash Kumar 2-29). Player of the match: Bhanu Anand.

Sidak guides Ossudu to victory

Sidak Singh’s all-round show (3-12 & 55 n.o.) helped Ossudu Accord Warriors beat last year’s runners-up Mahe Strikers by four wickets for their second win in two matches in the Shriram Capital-Pondicherry Premier League at the CAP-Siechem Stadium here on Friday.

Sidak returned crucial strikes with his left-arm spin to help restrict Mahe, put in, to 146/9, and then struck an unbeaten fifty to guide his side to victory.

Brief scores: Mahe Strikers 146/9 in 20 overs (A Shrikaran 41, R Ragavan 32, Sidak Singh 3-12, R Rahul 2-41, Sagar Trivedi 2-30) lost to Ossudu Accord Warriors 150/6 in 18.5 overs (Sidak Singh 55 n.o., R Nithyananda 2-28, Raghav Goyal 2-33). Player of the match: Sidak Singh.

FOOTBALL

Special Olympics Bharat’s football team eyes hat-trick at Gothia Cup 2026 in Sweden

Special Olympics Bharat’s football team is aiming to complete a hat-trick of titles at the tournament meant for players with intellectual disabilities under the Gothia Cup 2026 to be held in Sweden from July 12.

The Indian team is taking part in the Special Olympics Trophy, a competition within the Gothia Cup.

Having won the last two editions, the Indian team will leave for Sweden on Saturday morning for the tournament to be held in Gothenburg.

“Gothia Cup is the biggest tournament and two times in a row this team has won, these players are really the champions and ambassadors. They are the pride of India and also the pride of Sweden,” Sweden’s ambassador to India Jan Thesleff told the media during the team’s send-off ceremony on Friday.

Coach Onaciss Madavadasse said training athletes with intellectual disabilities requires a unique approach, with communication often relying on actions and sign language rather than words.

“Some of these guys don’t speak. We try to train them through actions and sign language. It is definitely not easy (to communicate). We try to communicate with the eyes. During the matches, there are no different languages, there is only sign language that we use,” he said.

“We had the matches in Gwalior. In the first camp, we focused on individual skills, in the second camp we focused on coordinating within the team and in the third one we added coordinating with the opponents, and then we picked the players on that basis,” the coach added, referring to the training programme that culminated in the camps held in Puducherry.

-PTI

ATHLETICS

West Bengal State Championships: 11 meet records scripted

Amitra Ghosh’s effort of 7.69m helped him smash a 25-year-old meet record and win the men’s long jump title as 11 new records were scripted on the second day of the West Bengal state athletics championships at the SAI Complex here on Friday.

Important results (winners only):

Men: 800m: Argha Gharui 1:50.77 (NMR, Old 1:51.50, Mohd. Shakil, 2019), Long jump: Amitra Ghosh 7.69m (NMR, Old 7.58m, Sanjoy Rai, 2001); U-23: 800m: Mohd. Mhasin Awal 1:52.60 (NMR, Old 1:52.7, Sayan Karmakar, 2023), Long jump: Dablu Roy 7.14m (NMR, old 7.12m, Arijit Paul, 2023); U-20: 20000m race walk: Jbear Munda 1:38:16.60 (NMR, Old 1:42:47.9, Jbear Munda, 2025); U-18: Discus: Swapnil Dutta 51.75m (NMR, Old 49.26m, Bikram Biswas, 2024); U-16: High jump: Soumik Ghosh 1.69m (NMR, Old 1.63m, Abhijnan Saha, 2025), Javelin: Gourab Bouri 60.90m (NMR, Old 49.65m, Bhiky Barman, 2025), 1000m race walk: Sovan Bhowmik 3:50.56 (NMR, Old Deepjyoti Sarkar, 4:00.0, 2024).

Women: U-23: 800m: Rosni Das 2:15.66 (NMR, Old 2:22.8, Moumita Roy, 2025); U-20: 400m: Tahura Khatun 54.83 (NMR, Old 55.00, Shyama Mandal, 2022).

MOTORSPORT

Indian duo of Puligilla, Sherif eye podium finish at Rwanda Rally 2026

Indian rally driver Naveen Puligilla and his co-driver Musa Sherif will look for another podium finish at the Rwanda Mountain Gorilla Rally, which is the third round of the FIA African Rally Championship (ARC), starting in Kigali City on Saturday. The duo completed the shakedown and qualifying stage on Friday.

The Duran Racing team’s Puligilla and Sherif of Kasaragod will drive a Ford Fiesta, serviced by MRU Motorsports Africa, in the ARC3 category. The total distance is 307.52 km, while the 18 Special Stages of competitive distance form 252 km of demanding mountain stages on Saturday and Sunday.

“The recce has given us a good understanding of the stages. The terrain is quite technical with changing grip levels of the mountain roads, and we are prepared for it,” said Puligilla, the Indian National Rally champion of 2025 in the 3T class.

The celebrated Indian duo started the season with a third-place finish in the WRC3 class in March 2026 at the WRC Safari Rally Kenya.

The rally was also the opening round of the FIA African Rally Championship, where Puligilla and Sherif secured second place in the ARC3 class.

The pair earlier became the first Indian driver and co-driver combo to achieve a podium finish in any WRC category in 2025 with a remarkable second place in the WRC3 class at the Rally Saudi Arabia and bagged the Federation of Motorsports Clubs of India (FMSCI) Special Award at the federation’s 2025 Annual Awards ceremony.

-Team Sportstar

ARCHERY

Kirti, Prithika enter medals rounds in Madrid

Two teenagers, 19-year-old Kirti and 17-year-old Prithika Pradeep, entered medal rounds of recurve and compound women’s individual competitions, respectively, at the Archery World Cup Stage-4 in Madrid on Friday.

Kirti, who got two byes, shocked Worlds and Olympics medallist Michelle Kroppen 6-2, Olympian Lai Tsai-chi 6-4 and Worlds medallist Elia Canales 6-2 on her way to the semifinals.

After receiving a bye, Prithika got past Franziska Goppel 148-142, Park Jungyoon 145-144, Liko Arreola 147-146 and Andrea Munoz 140-135 to reach the last four.

Kirti also remained in the hunt for another medal as she and B. Dhiraj combined to make it to the mixed team bronze medal contest. They lost to China 3-5 in the semifinals and will meet Italy in the third-place match.

-Team Sportstar

SHOOTING

ISSF Shotgun World Cup 2026: Neeru Dhanda shoots perfect 75 to lead women’s trap qualification

India’s Neeru Dhanda stole the limelight in the women’s trap event, shooting a flawless score to emerge as the sole leader after three qualification rounds on the opening day of the trap competition at the ISSF Shotgun World Cup here on Friday.

The 26-year-old reigning Asian and national champion, who is part of India’s contingent for the Asian Games in Japan later this year, was in sublime form, registering three perfect rounds of 25 to top the 106-shooter field with a flawless 75. She holds a two-target lead over veteran American Rachel Tozier, who shot 73/75.

Tokyo Olympic gold medallist and one of the sport’s most accomplished trap shooters, Slovakia’s Zuzana Rehak Stefecekova, was tied for second with Tozier on 73. The 42-year-old owns three Olympic medals dating back to the 2008 Beijing Games and is also a two-time world champion.

The remarkable performance by Neeru comes on the back of the mixed trap team bronze medal she won at the ISSF World Cup in Almaty in May.

However, India’s other two women shooters, Manisha Keer and Aashima Ahlawat, were well off the pace, managing scores of 69 and 61, respectively. Manisha was tied for 17th place with several others, while Aashima was joint 84th, leaving both with only a remote chance of making the eight-shooter final.

The remaining two qualification rounds of 25 targets each will be held on Saturday, following which the top eight shooters will advance to the final.

India’s men’s trap shooters, meanwhile, endured a disappointing opening day and are virtually out of medal contention after underwhelming performances.

Ahvar Rizvi, who is also part of India’s Asian Games squad, shot 70 out of 75 to be tied for 59th place alongside nearly two dozen shooters.

Shapath Bharadwaj shot 68 to be tied for 103rd with more than a dozen shooters, while the experienced Kynan Chenai, another member of the Asian Games contingent for the Aichi-Nagoya Games from September 19 to October 4, managed 67 to be tied for 117th with 19 others in the 208-shooter field.

Although another World Cup is scheduled in Hangzhou, China, later this month, this marks the final World Cup outing for India’s three Asian Games-bound men’s trap shooters before the continental showpiece. Their disappointing form is bound to be a major concern for the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) heading into the Asian Games.

With India yet to win an individual medal in the shotgun World Cup circuit this year, having drawn blanks in Tangier, Morocco, and Almaty, Kazakhstan, in March and May, respectively, the men’s performance here offered little encouragement. The struggles are in sharp contrast to India’s success in the rifle and pistol World Cups, where the team returned with a rich medal haul.

– PTI

Published on Jul 10, 2026