Prajnesh starts with win, Ramkumar loses
Bendigo: Prajnesh Gunneswaran made a winning start to the 2020 season but Ramkumar Ramanathan exited from the Apis Canberra International following a first round defeat on Monday. India's top-ranked singles player at 122 Prajnesh downed the local wild card Jason Kubler 7-5, 6-3 in the first round of the $ 162480 ATP Challenger event. The left-handed Indian needed one hour and 28 minutes to oust his rival, ranked 257 on the ATP singles chart. He will next face 13th seed Japanese Taro Daniel, ranked 106. Ramkumar, though, had to endure a 6-3, 2-6, 3-6 first round defeat against Finland's Emil Ruusuvuori in a contest that lasted one hour and 27 minutes.
Maha, Assam to field biggest contingents
New Delhi: Maharashtra and hosts Assam will field the biggest contingents at the third edition of the Khelo India Youth Games to be held in Guwahati from from January 10 to 22. “It's very nice that Assam is hosting the third edition of the Khelo India Youth Games. We are participating in all disciplines in the tournament. Assam will field 656 athletes in the competition,” Chief De Mission of Assam, Navajyoti Basumatary said. The hosts are aiming for a best-ever finish and Basumatary is hoping that home crowd will provide a big boost to their athletes. On the other hand, defending champions Maharshtra will field a 751-strong contingent.
Karthikeyan exits Japan Super GT C'ship
Tokyo: India's first Formula 1 driver Narain Karthikeyan on Monday announced his exit from the Japanese Super GT Championship despite an impressive debut season in sports car racing. The 42-year-old had switched to sports car racing last year after spending two decades in single seaters. He had ended the season on a high by winning the Super Gt x DTM Dream Race at the Fuji Speedway in November. He had also finished second in the penultimate round of the Championship.
Magesh wins Hastings Int'l chess title
Chennai: India's P Magesh Chandran remained unbeaten in nine rounds to win the title in the 95th edition of the prestigious Hastings International Chess Congress in Hastings, England. The 36-year old Grand Master with a FIDE rating of 2479, remained unbeaten and finished in clear first place with 7.5 points from nine games after securing a 33-move draw in the final round against compatriot G A Stany, also a GM on Sunday.
Anahat falls to top seed in final
Birmingham: India's Anahat Singh's brave run ended in the U-13 girls' title round when top seeded Egyptian Amina Orfi swept her away for a 11-0, 11-1, 11-4 win in the British Junior Open squash. Touted as the next big name to come from Egypt, Amina had come more than prepared to confront Anahat, who had shocked the second seeded Janna Galal of Egypt in the semi-final. Entering the event with a reputation of having won several national level competitions in this age group, Amina did not provide any luxury to the Indian and finished off in quick time. Earlier, in the boys U-19 semi-final, another Indian Veer Chotrani lost to top seed Moustafa El Sirty.
IOA gets support from World Archery
new delhi: The Indian Olympic Association on Monday received full support from World Archery on its proposal to host a Commonwealth championships. IOA chief Narinder Batra had written to the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) on January 3, proposing to host Commonwealth Championships in shooting and archery, which he had described as “two adjunct complementary events to the 2022 Commonwealth Games”. World Archery's secretary general Tom Dielen, in a letter to Batra on Monday, backed the IOA's proposal to host a Commonwealth Championships and said it will provide all the necessary help in hosting such a tournament.