Tamil Thalaivas crush Patna Pirates 42-26
Chennai: Defending champions Patna Pirates began their title defence on a disappointing note as they crashed to a 26-42 defeat against Tamil Thalaivas in the opening match of Pro Kabaddi League here on Sunday. In the other match of the evening, U Mumba and Puneri Paltan played out an exciting tie in Zone 'A', which ended at 32-all. The latter fought back brilliantly in the dying minutes to level the scores. Skipper Ajay Thakur led from the front for Tamil Thalaivas and scored 14 points to lead his team to victory. Patna's defence was the biggest reason for their downfall as they scored just two tackle points. Pardeep Narwal scored 11 raid points but it wasn't enough to save his team from a crushing defeat.
Madappa finishes fourth in Taiwan tourney
Linkou: Young Indian golfer Viraj Madappa made a strong return to form after three missed cuts as he finished fourth in the Yeangder Tournament Players Championship here on Sunday. Yet the 20-year-old was disappointed at not being able to get off to a good start to challenge American John Catlin, who carded a flawless seven-under-par 65 to win the title. Catlin became only the fifth person to win three titles in a single season on the Asian Tour. Among other Indians, young Karandeep Kochhar (68) finished tied 14th alongside Rashid Khan (68). Shiv Kapur (72) was tied 30th, Khalin Joshi was tied 41st, while Himmat Rai (69) and S Chikkarangappa (72) were tied 52nd and SSP Chawrasia (72) was tied 57th.
Jharkhand triumph, TN lose in vijay hazare
Chennai: Jharkhand continued its winning run, defeating Gujarat while host Tamil Nadu's made its exit following its loss to Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), in the Vijay Hazare Trophy Elite Group'C' League here on Sunday. In another match, Bengal trounced Team Rajasthan by six wickets. Gujarat was bundled out for 107 in 25 overs in a reduced game by Jharkhand, who overhauled the target in 21.4 overs. Tamil Nadu looked in a strong position before a collapse saw it being dismissed for 168 in 39.4 overs. J&K secured a win after early hiccups, thanks to captain Parvez Rasool's unbeaten 71.
Shooter Mane wins silver in Youth Olympics
New Delhi: India opened its medal account in the Youth Olympic Games with shooter Tushar Mane bagging a Silver in the men's 10m air rifle on the opening day of competitions here on Sunday. Mane, who qualified third for the final, shot 247.5 to win the Silver while Grigorii Shamakov took the Gold with 249.2. Aleksa Mitrovic of Serbia won the Bronze with a score of 227.9. It was close fight among the three podium finishers till the end and Mane edged out Mitrovic for the Silver medal by collecting 228.0 as against 227.9 of the Serbian shooter in the penultimate round. But, the final round was not the best one for the Indian as he shot 9.6 and 9.99 while the eventual Gold winner had 10.4 and 10.7.
Sindhu, Saina, Marin to go undergo auction
New Delhi: Top shuttlers including Olympic medallists PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal, world champion Carolina Marin and former world No 1 Victor Axelsen will headline the players' auction in the fourth edition of the Vodafone Premier Badminton League here on Monday. The auction this year will have an added significance with all players returning to the auction pool for the first time since 2015 with no Right To Match (RTM) cards for any teams as the league expands to nine teams with the addition of Pune Franchise. A total of 145 players listed from 23 countries will go under the hammer. According to the rules of the auction, the teams can spend a maximum of Rs 80 lakh on one player. In case of a deadlock, the player will be assigned to a team through a draw of lots.