Indian sports wrap, July 22: Anahat Singh enters Round of 16 at World Squash Junior Championships
Anahat enters pre-quarters
India's teen prodigy Anahat Singh entered the pre-quarterfinals at the World Junior Championships on Tuesday in Cairo after beating France's Ines Guyot 3-0.
She will meet Brazil's Laura Souza Bezerra Da Silva on Wednesday for a place in the quarterfinals.
In the boys' category, Arihant K S, Yusha Nafees, and Aryaveer Dewan entered the Round of 32, which will be played later today.
- Team Sportstar
GOLF
Vani seeks more success in 10th leg as Jasmine eyes another win in Hero WPGT
Vani Kapoor, a four-time champion on the Hero Women's Pro Golf Tour this season, and last week's winner Jasmine Shekar have been drawn together for the first round of the 10th leg at the Zion Hills Golf County.
They will have the talented Vidhatri Urs as the third player in the group.
Thirty seven players, including seven amateurs, will tee off in the event that carries a prize purse of Rs 16 lakh.
Other leading professional players in the field are Ridhima Dilawari, Seher Atwal, Sneha Singh, Amandeep Drall and Neha Tripathi, who was runner-up to Jasmine in the last leg.
Vani leads the Order of Merit with Amandeep Drall, Sneha Singh and Jasmine Shekar trailing behind her in that order.
- PTI
FOOTBALL
Iker Guarrotxena extends contract with FC Goa
FC Goa on Monday announced that Spanish forward Iker Guarrotxena has extended his contract with the Club by a year, keeping him with the Gaurs until the end of the 2025-26 season.
With 14 goal involvements for the club last season, the highest for the club. He first joined the club in the 2022-23 and scored 13 goals in his debut season.
His consistency on the pitch makes him a reliable presence for the team, having been called 'a complete player, who is both decisive and dangerous' by Head Coach Manolo Marquez. The 2025-26 season will be his third for the club.
ARCHERY
Parneet tops rankings
World championships team gold medal-winning archer Parneet Kaur topped the compound women's individual rankings in the qualification round at the World University Games in Essen, Germany, on Tuesday.
Parneet, who scored 701 points, was one of the two archers to score more than 700.
Madhura Dhamangaonkar was sixth with 687 points, while Avneet Kaur was 22 nd with 673.
In the recurve men's division, Aryan Rana collected 640 points to be at 29th spot. Vishnu Chaudhary (627) and Mrinal Chauhan (622) managed 42nd and 47th places respectively.
- YB Sarangi
TENNIS
Sumit Nagal beats Jay Clarke Tampere Challenger Open first round
Alternate entrant Sumit Nagal beat top seed Jay Clarke of Britain 7-6(4), 6-1 in the first round of the €91,250 Challenger tennis tournament in Tampere, Finland.
In the €596,035 ATP event on clay in Kitzbuhel, Austria, Sriram Balaji and Rithvik Bollipalli progressed into the quarterfinals without playing a match. The first round opponents of the Indian pair, the top seeds Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz of Germany, withdrew with an injury.
The results: €91,250 Challenger, Tampere, Finland
Singles (first round): Sumit Nagal bt Jay Clarke (GBR) 7-6(4), 6-1. €91,250 Challenger, Segovia, Spain
Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Clement Chidekh (Fra) & Roy Stepanov (Isr) bt Robin Bertrand (Fra) & Adil Kalyanpur 6-4, 6-3. $30,000 ITF women, Monastir, Tunisia
Singles (first round): Vaidehee Chaudhari bt Julia Adams (USA) 6-4, 6-2.
-Kamesh Srinivasan
Maaya Rajeshwaran, Rethin win best player awards in TNTA annual day function
Rethin Pranav and Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi were the winners of the T.K. Ramanathan award for the best player of the 2024-25 season (₹30,000 each) in the Tamil Nadu Tennis Association (TNTA) annual day function at the Madras Cricket Club (MCC) in Chennai on Tuesday.
Speaking at the event, TNTA president Vijay Amritraj said that there has been significant interest among the players to participate in the second edition of the Chennai Open, a WTA 250 event, set to take place from Oct. 27 to Nov. 2.
'I think it will be a good (player) field because the previous week is in Tokyo in Japan (Toray Pan Pacific Open Tennis - WTA 500). So, they will be on their way here. There are two other tournaments (Jiangxi Open, Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open) as well in China at the same time (as the Chennai Open). But again, there has been a lot of interest (among the players) in coming to our own city,' he said.
He added that there's a plan to set up video screens (for streaming the Chennai Open matches) across the city to enhance public engagement.
'We hope to have LED video screens across the city, so that people can actually sit on the Marina Beach or in T. Nagar or wherever and have snacks and watch the matches, which I think will be a great boost for our sport and create even more interest in the State,' he said.
The award-winners
T.K. Ramanathan award (Best player of the 2024-25 season): Rethin Pranav, Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi.
President award for the most promising youngster: Ishaan Sudharshan, Hemdev Mahesh, Deepthi Venkatesan, Diya Ravikumar Janaki
Justice P.S. Kailasam Memorial award for performance in junior Nationals: Boys: Singles: u-18: Winner: Kandhavel Mahalingam; Runner-up: Varun Verma.
Doubles: u-12: Runner-up: Ronnie Vijay Kumar
Girls: Singles: u-18: Winner: Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi; Runner-up: Diya Ramesh.
Doubles: u-14: Runners-up: Deepshika Vinayagamurthy and A.S.R. Bawyasri; u-16: Runners-up: Sanmitha Harini Lokesh and Savitha Bhuvaneswaran; u-18: Doubles: Winner: Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi.
Performance in National c'ships: Men: Singles: Winner: Rethin Pranav.
Women: Singles: Runner-up: Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi; Doubles: Runner-up: Sai Samhitha Chamarthi.
Performance in National Games (Dehradun): Men: Manish Suresh Kumar (singles and doubles bronze, team gold); V.M. Ranjeet (team gold); Abhinav Sanjeev Shanmugam (doubles bronze, team gold); Lohith Aksha Bathrinath (mixed doubles and team gold); K.S. Dheeraj (team gold)
Women: Lakshmiprabha Arunkumar (mixed doubles gold, team bronze); Janani Ramesh (team bronze); Mirudhula Palanivel (team bronze); Diya Ramesh (team bronze)
Performance in Deaf & Hard Hearing c'ship: Men: Prithvi Shekar (Australian Open singles champion and doubles runner-up).
Performance in Wheelchair Tennis Nationals: Karthik Karunakaran (singles winner, doubles runner-up); Mariappan Durai (doubles runner-up); Balachandar Subramanian (doubles winner).
Representing India: Davis Cup / Fed Cup / u-12, u-14, u-16 / Wheelchair: Ramkumar Ramanthan, Sriram Balaji; BNP Paribas World Cup Asia Qualifying: Karthik Karunakaran, Mariappan Durai, K. Sathasivam; Billie Jean King Cup u-14 & u-16: Diya Ramesh (Junior Billie Jean King Cup Asia Oceania Final Qualifying, Kazakhstan).
Muthukrishnan Memorial award for most promising and performing player (Boy): Varun Verma.
Nagamani Mahadevan award for most promising and performing player (Girl): Diya Ramesh.
32nd Sanmar TNTA Chennai City club tennis league: Veterans (60+): Winner: MGC; Runner-up: Cosmopolitan Club-A;
45+: Zone-A: Winner: MCC-A; Runner-up: Besant Nagar Club-B; Zone-B: Winner: BNC-B; Runner-up: Nungambakkam Tennis Club-A; Zone-C: Winner: Anna Nagar Club; Runner-up: Madras Race Club.
Regular: Zone-A: Winner: MCC-A; Runner-up: NTC-C; Zone-B: Winner: GNC-A; Runner-up: Anna Nagar K Block-A; Zone-C: Winner: Presidency Club-A; Runner-up: BNC-B; Zone-D: Winner: MCC-M; Runner-up: Gandhi Nagar Club-C; Zone-E: Winner: Besant Nagar Club-C; Runner-up: Madras Club-B; Zone-F: Winner: Presidency Club-B; Runner-up: YMCA Kilpauk.
16th UCAL-TNTA Chennai inter-club league-cum-knockout c'ship: Winner: MCC; Runner-up: BNC
- Prasanna Venkatesan
World University Games: Vaishnavi Adkar to become second Indian to win a tennis medal after reaching semis
India is assured of a rare medal in tennis as Vaishnavi Adkar made it to the women's singles semifinals while most of her compatriots across sports failed to make a mark in the World University Games in Berlin on Tuesday.
The 20-year-old Vaishnavi beat home favourite Sina Herrmann 6-1, 6-4 in a dominant display in the women's singles quarterfinals. She will face Eszter Meri of Slovakia in the semifinals on Thursday.
She will become only the second Indian to win a medal in the World University Games, after Nandal Bal clinched a silver in men's singles in the 1979 edition in Mexico City.
Under the rules, two bronze medals are awarded in tennis competition in the WUG.
- PTI
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Hindustan Times
5 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
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India Today
6 hours ago
- India Today
MS Dhoni of the chessboard: Meet Divya Deshmukh, 19, new Women's World Cup winner
On 28 July 2025, in Batumi, Georgia, Indian chess witnessed history. Nineteen-year-old Divya Deshmukh, the prodigious talent from Nagpur, defeated the legendary Koneru Humpy in a high-pressure final to win the FIDE Women's World Cup. In doing so, she not only secured the biggest title of her career but also became India's fourth female her victory came via tiebreakers was no surprise to those who've followed her journey. Divya thrives in clutch moments. Her childhood coach, International Master Srinath Narayanan, likens her nerves to none other than Mahendra Singh has this uncanny ability to rise in crunch situations-like Dhoni pulling off a win in the final over," he told news agency PTI "Divya turns up when it matters most. She performs incredibly well under pressure in big games. I've seen that in her since 2018." Indeed, in the final against Humpy-twice her age and one of India's most decorated players-Divya was composure personified. After two tense classical draws, she seized her moment in the second rapid tiebreaker, playing a deeply precise endgame to outmanoeuvre her opponent. Tears flowed as she shook hands and embraced her mother in the crowd."It definitely means a lot," Divya said moments after the win. "But of course, there's a lot more to achieve. So I'm hoping this is just the start." Exposure to top-tier international tournaments in recent years has shaped her game. It's no coincidence that she outclassed Humpy in the rapid segment, just months after the veteran had won the World Rapid Chess title herself. Divya's hug to her mom says everything #FIDEWorldCup @DivyaDeshmukh05 International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) July 28, 2025"She's quite an aggressive player. But with time, Divya has become more all-round, more versatile. I think she's equally strong across all formats-Classical, Rapid and Blitz," Srinath has begun beating the best in the business in their own backyards. From winning gold at the 2024 Chess Olympiad in Budapest, where she scored an exceptional 9.5/11 on Board 3, to becoming World U20 Girls' Champion in September 2024, she has conquered every stage. Her fearless opening choices, love for sharp tactics, and never-say-die spirit make her one to watch in the coming Accidental BeginningWhat makes Divya's journey all the more remarkable is how it began-entirely by a child, she was meant to accompany her older sister to badminton classes. But the net was too high for the four-year-old to reach. Nearby, a chess class was taking place in the same building. Her parents enrolled her that moment, a star was born. Raised by doctor parents in Nagpur, Divya took to the game with startling speed. By the age of 13, she was already known for her poise under pressure-a video from 2017 shows a young Divya stating she was unafraid of any opponent and never tired of fighting till the Cool ConqueroradvertisementBy 2018, Srinath had spotted her gift. The two met ahead of the World U-16 Olympiad in Turkey. In the final round of that tournament, Divya defeated a top Iranian player under immense pressure, helping India clinch silver. "She was already stronger than most girls her age. And she had this incredible talent for big moments," he evolution wasn't entirely smooth. Like many young athletes, Divya experienced a lull during the COVID-19 pandemic, taking time off for her studies between 2020 and 2022. But by 2023, she was roaring June 2025, in London, she stunned World No. 1 Hou Yifan at the World Rapid & Blitz Team Championship. After sacrificing a pawn midgame and launching a powerful central assault, she forced Yifan to resign after 74 gripping giant-slaying instinct would resurface in Unconventional GrandmasterDivya's Grandmaster title-India's 88th overall and fourth among women-didn't come via the traditional route of accumulating three GM norms and crossing a 2500 rating, but through sheer brilliance."I didn't even have one norm before this," she said with a smile, speaking to FIDE after her win. "I was thinking, 'Where can I get my norm?' And now I'm a Grandmaster. I think it was fate."advertisementUnder FIDE rules, winners of certain elite events can bypass the conventional path and become GMs directly-and the Women's World Cup is one of them. In three whirlwind weeks, Divya captured the title, booked a spot in the 2026 Candidates Tournament, and made her triumph, she remains grounded about her game. "I definitely need to learn endgames. I'm pretty sure I messed it up at one point. It should have been an easy win," she of a Chess RenaissanceDivya's rise is symbolic of India's new golden generation in chess-young, bold, and brimming with self-belief-following closely behind male stars like World Champion D is now among the favourites to challenge for the Women's World Championship. She will be joined in the 2026 Candidates Tournament by runner-up Humpy and third-placed former World Champion Tan Zhongyi."She is very strong. And in terms of her potential, she was already at Grandmaster level before this tournament," says Srinath."I think she has a very good chance of becoming the Women's World Champion-or at least be firmly on that path. In general, she's quite confident going into big tournaments."advertisementWith calm as her superpower, an accidental start, and a destiny carved through grit and genius, Divya Deshmukh's story is a defining chapter in the Indian chess renaissance of the 21st only 19, her greatest moves are likely yet to come. And just like Dhoni once did with a bat, Divya is doing it across 64 squares and with unshakable nerves.- Ends
