BADMINTON
India’s Kidambi Srikanth crashed out in the first round of the men’s singles event while Anmol Kharb and Tanvi Sharma entered the round of 16 in women’s singles event of the Orleans Masters Super Badminton tournament, here on Wednesday.
Srikanth, a former world No.1, lost 12-21, 10-21 against Magnus Johannesen of Denmark whereas Kharb recorded a compelling 21-12, 21-16 victory against Turkey’s Neslihan Arin.
Tanvi also progressed to the next round after defeating Supanida Katethong of Thailand after the latter conceded the match 21-18, 14-12 due to an injury.
Elsewhere, Rakshitha Ramraj lost 9-21, 15-21 in the first round against Manami Suizu of Japan.
– PTI
GOLF
Diksha leads five Indians at Australian WPGA Championship
Diksha Dagar will lead a strong five-member Indian contingent at this week’s Australian WPGA Championship starting here on Thursday.
Diksha, who is currently ninth on the LET Order of Merit, will have for company Pranavi Urs, Avani Prashanth, Hitaashee Bakshi and Vani Kapoor.
Both Diksha and Pranavi have Top-10 finishes in their Australian swing. Avani’s show has been modest, but Hitaashee is struggling while Vani missed the cut last week.
Hannah Green leads a stacked field in the championship as the Major winner goes in pursuit of a third victory in three starts.
The field includes Shannon Tan of Singapore, who won the LET Order of Merit in 2025 and her successes included the Hero Women’s Indian Open.
-PTI
Khushi Khanijau takes one-shot lead in 6th leg of Hero WPG Tour
Khushi Khanijau got off to a great start with three birdies in the first four holes and ensured the first day’s best card in the sixth leg of the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour at the Jaypee Wishtown Golf Course here on Wednesday.
Khushi shot 3-under 68 and led the field by one shot.
On a day when there were only three under par cards, Khushi was one shot ahead of Shweta Mansingh and promising amateur Guntas K Sandhu, who carded 2-under 69 each.
Four others, including this year’s only multiple winner, Ridhima Dilawari were even par 71 for the round. The other three were Smriti Bhargav, Jasmine Shekar and another amateur Alysha Dutt.
-PTI
CUE SPORTS
Advani, Sourav Kothari make winning start in Snooker Classic
Defending champion Pankaj Advani and India No. 6 Sourav Kothari won their respective round of 32 matches in the CCI Snooker Classic tournament in Mumbai on Wednesday.
Advani overcame Robin D’Souza 4-0 (58-55, 73-7, 92-33, 64-52) while producing one notable break of 65 in the third frame.
Kothari, on the other hand, rolled in successive breaks of 59 (second frame) and 57 (third) to beat Pune’s Suraj Rathi 4-0 (93-28, 70-0, 123-7, 72-37) and make it to the round of 16.
Former national champion and India No.2 Aditya Mehta dropped a frame against Mumbai’s Manav Panchal before winning 4-1 ((94-6, 79-37, 37-69, 72-7, 119-20) which included a century effort of 113. He had other breaks of 58 in the first frame and 71 in the fourth.
-Team Sportstar
TENNIS
Borg knocks out seed at MSLTA 25K ITF Men’s Tournament
Sweden’s Leo Borg produced a composed display to oust eighth seed Digvijay Pratap Singh 6-4, 6-3 and book his place in the last sixteen of the MSLTA $25,000 ITF Men’s Tennis Tournament at the Dr G.A. Ranade Tennis Centre.
Leo, the 22-year-old son of the legendary Bjorn, played flawless tennis in the 1 hour 20 minutes match to account for eighth-seeded Digvijay, who is making a comeback back after a serious illness last year.
Top seed Florent Bax looked in ominous touch, brushing aside Venkataraman A 6-0, 6-3, while Manish Sureshkumar matched that intensity with an identical 6-0, 6-3 win over Chirag Duhan in an all Indian clash .
In one of the more closely contested matches of the day, Stijin Pel rallied past Kabir Hans 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-1. Fourth seed Alexandr Binda was stretched but held firm to get past Abhinav Shanmugam 6-2, 6-7(1), 6-2.
India’s Dev Javia continued his fine run with a straight-sets 7-5, 6-4 victory over Hitesh Chauhan. Fifth seed Philip Sekulic overcame a mid-match dip to defeat Arjun Rathi 6-0, 3-6, 6-2.
Timofei Derepasko staged a spirited comeback after dropping the opening set 0-6 to beat Tarun Karra 6-4, 6-2. Third seed Karan Singh advanced comfortably with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Aditya Balsekar.
In another encounter, Bekhan Atlangeriev registered a solid 6-4, 6-4 victory against Udit Kamboj.
The second round will see nine foreigners and seven Indians in action.
Results: Singles: First Round
Florent Bax(1)(Fra) bt Venkataraman A(Ind)6-0, 6-3;
Manish Sureshkumar(Ind) bt Chirag Duhan(Ind) 6-0, 6-3;
Stijin Pel(Ned) bt Kabir Hans(Ind) 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-1;
Alexandr Binda(4)(Ita) bt A Shanmugam(Ind) 6-2, 6-7(1), 6-2;
Dev Javia(Ind) bt Hitesh Chauhan(Ind) 7-5, 6-4;
Philip Sekulic(5)(Aus) bt Arjun Rathi(Ind)6-0, 3-6, 6-2;
Timofei Derepasko bt Tarun Karra(Ind) 0-6, 6-4, 6-2;
Karan Singh(3)(Ind) bt Aditya Balsekar(Ind) 6-4, 6-2;
Leo Borg(Swe) bt Digvijay Pratap Singh(8)(Ind) 6-4, 6-3;
Bekhan Atlangeriev(Rus) bt Udit Kamboj(Ind) 6-4, 6-4.
-Team Sportstar
SQUASH
Om Semwal records 3-2 win against Sebastian Salazar in Indian Open
India’s Om Semwal held his nerve to get the better of Mexico’s Sebastian Salazar in a five-set contest to emerge victorious by a 3-2 margin in the JSW Indian Open squash tournament in Mumbai on Wednesday.
In a contest that swung from one side to the other, Semwal did well in the finishing stages of the match to clinch the game with the scoreline of 11-6, 11-9, 8-11, 10-12, 19-17. But another Indian player, Suraj Kumar Chand, lost his contest 3-1 (12-14, 11-4, 11-1, 11-6) against Egypt’s Ibrahim Elkabbani.
Egypt’s Yassin Shohdy bounced back after losing the opening set to clinch a tight second game and won his match against Manuel Paquemar from France 3-1.
Switzerland’s Ambre Allinckx overcame the Netherlands’ Tessa ter Sluis 3-1, while Hong Kong’s Chi Him Wong cruised past Ayaan Vaziralli 3-0.
Sofia Mateos secured a convincing straight-game win over Shameena Riaz, whereas Matthew Lai and Danielle Ray were equally clinical, both registering comfortable 3-0 victories in their respective matches.
-PTI
Published on Mar 18, 2026
