Indian sports wrap, July 20: India's Priya Malik wins silver in Budapest Ranking Series
Budapest Ranking Series: Priya Malik wins silver, Manisha grabs bronze
Priya Malik picked up a silver medal after being beaten 4-3 by Brazil's Pan-American silver medallist Thamires Machado in the women's 76kg final at the Ranking Series wrestling event in Budapest.
The 20-year-old Indian, a former World under-20 champion and a two-time Asian under-23 champion, performed well to upset 2016 Olympics bronze medallist Elmira Syzdykova of Kazakhstan 7-2 and World under-23 bronze medallist Valeriia Trifonova 11-1 to book a place in the final.
Asian champion Manisha Bhanwala (62kg) bagged a bronze medal.
India topped the women's team ranking with two gold, two silver and two bronze.
-Team Sportstar
GOLF
Average day for Bhatia and Rai at British Open
Indian American golfer Akshay Bhatia shot a 1-under 70 in the third round to be Tied 34th at the British Open here.
Bhatia had two birdies on the seventh and the ninth and seemed to be ready to get more before two bogeys on the back nine.
Indo-British Aaron Rai, who had shown a lot of promise in the first eight holes on the first day, seemed to have lost that momentum. He shot even par 71 and was 18 places down on his second round to be T-44.
Sahith Theegala had missed the cut.
-PTI
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Hindustan Times
30 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Scottie Scheffler reigns supreme, wins his first Open title
Portrush: Sunday at the 153rd Open Championship turned into golf's version of a walkover. Nobody showed up to trouble Scottie Scheffler's victory march as the world No.1 sauntered to a maiden Open title and his fourth career major win. Scottie Scheffler kisses the Claret Jug after winning the British Open golf championship on Sunday. (AP) At Royal Portrush Golf Club, the American started his final round four shots ahead of China's Haotong Li, and even though he made a few uncharacteristic mistakes on the front nine, the field was too far behind to capitalise on them. The twice Masters (2022 and 2024) and the reigning PGA champion, Scheffler's 68 – his fourth successive round in the 60s – gave him a 17-under par total of 267. 'I felt good amount of peace today, very much in control. Even though I had a hiccup on the eighth hole, I bounced back…Every day is a battle and I did well,' a beaming Scheffler said in a greenside interview after his win. American Harris English, who finished runner-up to Scheffler at this year's PGA Championship, was the bridesmaid again. The 35-year-old Georgian closed with a round of 66 that included an eagle and four birdies. He finished one ahead of compatriot Chris Gotterup (67), who rounded off a remarkable first trip to the UK by winning last week's Genesis Scottish Open, followed by third in his maiden Open appearance. 'Losing to Scottie twice in two majors, the only guy to beat me at the PGA and this week, means I'm playing some good golf. Just need to clean it up a little bit,' said the world No.19 English. 'But one of my two goals this year were to make it to the TOUR Championship and make that Ryder Cup team, and hopefully I've moved myself a little bit closer to that, and I can get in that top six (in Ryder Cup Rankings) to lock up a spot.' Local hero and world No.2 Rory McIlroy was pegged back by a double bogey on the 10th hole and finished tied for seventh place at 10-under total. Wyndham Clark (65), of the US, and Matt Fitzpatrick (69), of England, and China's Haotong Li (70) were tied fourth at 11-under. There have been better winning margins (Old Tom Morris holds the record of 13 strokes in 1862), but the largest since 1913 in Tiger Woods' eight-shot win in the 2000 edition at St Andrews. And the lowest winning total is 264 by Henrik Stenson (2016) and Cameron Smith (2022). Both records were in danger of being obliterated. However, Scheffler could only make pars on the two pars 5s on the front nine – the second and the seventh – which were both averaging well below their par. He then hit his second shot on the eighth hole into the wall of the fairway bunker and he ended up making his only double bogey since coming to the UK this year. Xander Schauffele, the man who lost his Open crown to Scheffler, paid tribute to the incredible dominance of his good friend. 'He's incredible. He really is,' said Schauffele, who closed with a 68 and was tied seventh. 'I don't think we thought the golfing world would see someone as dominant as Tiger (Woods) come through so soon, and here's Scottie sort of taking that throne of dominance. You can't even say he's on a run. He's just been killing it for over two years now. 'He's a tough man to beat, and when you see his name up on the leaderboard, it sucks for the rest of us.' Meanwhile, Bryson DeChambeau completed a remarkable turnaround with his best round of the tournament – a seven-under 64 – which moved him inside/just outside the Top 10. Seven-over after Thursday's opening round, the LIV Golf star shot 65, 68 and 64 to finish on nine-under total. After a rapturous reception from the fans on the cavernous 18th grandstand, DeChambeau said: 'I was really proud of the way I turned it around and gave myself some hope in the third round, after I was 3-under,' said the Captain of the Crushers GC, which also features India's Anirban Lahiri. 'I said to myself, I'm going to do something different this time. I've been working on myself and how I am and how I act in situations. I transitioned my brain to say, no matter what happens, I am going to go full force, attack like it's Sunday of a major championship, and that's what I did.'
Indian Express
2 hours ago
- Indian Express
Why Koneru Humpy's emphatic run to the FIDE Women's World Cup semifinal is a splendid achievement
There could be a case made for the fact that winning the World Cup is perhaps as tough as winning a World Championship in chess. Ask Magnus Carlsen or even Viswanathan Anand, and they might agree. The ruthless knockout format, with no room for error, the exhausting length of the event, and tiebreaks in shorter time controls make it one of the most demanding competitions. Carlsen had to wait over a decade for his only World Cup gold after winning his maiden World Championship in 2013. Anand, the inaugural two-time champion (albeit in a different format that combined group stages and knockouts) in 2000 and 2002, never reached the semifinals under the current format. Armenian-American Levon Aronian stands as the lone exception — a two-time World Cup winner and considered as one of the strongest players never to claim the World Championship. Which is why India's Koneru Humpy storming into the semifinals of the ongoing FIDE Women's World Cup 2025 in Batumi, Georgia, with an emphatic run is a splendid achievement. After securing a decisive 1-0 lead over China's Yuxin Song on Saturday, the Indian Grandmaster comfortably drew the second-leg match, becoming the first Indian woman to reach the World Cup's final four. Her qualification also guarantees India a coveted spot in the Candidates tournament. With compatriots Divya Deshmukh and Harika Dronavalli — engaged in an all-Indian quarterfinal clash — placed in different brackets, India is assured of two semifinalists. Even in the worst-case scenario, if both lose their respective semifinals, they will face off for third place and the final Candidates spot. The FIDE Women's World Cup is the most crucial event in the World Championship cycle, offering three qualifying spots for Candidates. The Women's Grand Prix Series 2024-25 and the Grand Swiss provide two spots each, while the last is reserved for the highest-placed player in the 'FIDE Women's Events 2025-26' series. The winner of the Candidates will earn the right to challenge the reigning World Champion, in this case, China's Ju Wenjun. Humpy had complete control in the game against Yuxin right from the get-go. In the Chigorin Variation of the Queen's Pawn Game, she allowed the Chinese player to go two pawns up early on before clearing her path with sharp tactical exchanges. She began by trading minor pieces, eliminating the bishop pair before swapping off the knights. Despite Yuxin's two extra pawns, her position remained cramped, while Humpy enjoyed greater space for her active queen and a menacing rook battery. It didn't take long for Humpy to regain a pawn, then another, before simplifying into a drawn endgame by exchanging queens. With nothing left to play for, Yuxin conceded the draw via three-fold repetition. Next, Humpy faces China's Lei Tingjie, who cruised past Georgia's Nana Dzagnidze with a clinical 2-0 quarterfinal victory. Lei has been in imperious form, scoring 8.5/9 with a rating performance of over 2800. The semifinal will be a clash of titans with India's top-ranked player taking on the newly minted World No. 2, whose win on Sunday helped her dethrone the reigning World Champion Wenjun. The all-Indian quarterfinal between Divya Deshmukh and Harika Dronavalli is headed to tiebreaks after the pair played another prudent draw in their second classical game. Much like Saturday's 31-move encounter, both players avoided significant risks on Sunday, though their 60-move duel lasted nearly twice as long before ending in an agreed draw, clearly conserving energy for the decisive tiebreaks. The winner will face China's Tan Zhongyi, who eliminated India's R. Vaishali from the tournament. Playing Black in a Semi-Slav Defense against Tan Zhongyi, Vaishali never looked comfortable. The Indian had initially blitzed through her opening moves to gain a time advantage, but soon fell behind on the clock. After early exchanges, Tan's perseverance to push for a win became evident. When the position was simplified to queen, rook pair and dark-squared bishops for both players, Vaishali found herself under intense pressure as Tan's c- and e-file pawns advanced relentlessly. Though Vaishali fought valiantly until the end, her stubborn resistance ultimately crumbled against the Chinese veteran's precision. This result sets up two Indo-Chinese semifinal clashes in the World Cup with Humpy vs Lei and the winner of Divya/Harika vs Tan. Tan also added a unique record of qualifying in the semifinals in all World Cups. Earlier, in both the 2021 and 2023 editions, Tan lost her semifinal games. In 2021, she beat Ukraine's Anna Muzychuk 1.5-0.5 to eventually finish third but lost to the same opponent 0.5-1.5 in 2023 to finish just outside the podium.
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First Post
3 hours ago
- First Post
FIDE Women's World Cup: Koneru Humpy advances to semi-final, Harika-Divya match drawn, Vaishali eliminated
A bittersweet day for India saw Koneru Humpy advance to the semifinals by outplaying Yuxin Song. D Harika drew with Divya Deshmukh, and R Vaishali suffered elimination. read more Indian Grandmaster Koneru Humpy secured a spot in the semifinals of the FIDE Women's Chess World Cup by holding International Master Yuxin Song of China. After winning the first game with the white pieces, Humpy needed only a draw in the second game of the quarterfinal to advance, which she achieved after a closely contested battle. Song was not on song against Humpy Yuxin Song had to win to stay in the hunt against Humpy and her preferred choice was the Jobava's London, an opening that is fancied these days by many strong Grandmasters. Humpy equalised without much ado but then sacrificed two pawns in tandem to give white some hopes. However, Song's pawn structure was really broken with three pawns standing on a sole file and Humpy found her counter play in the centre. Recovering the pawns Humpy was happy to lead the game to a level rook and pawns endgame. Song tried in vain for 53 moves before splitting the point. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD With fourth place secured, Koneru Humpy has two opportunities to finish in the top three. Finishing in the top three will guarantee her a spot in the next Women's Candidates' tournament. All-Indian affair ends in a draw The all-Indian affair between GM D Harika and IM Divya Deshmukh ended in a draw, which means they will now square off in the tiebreaker, which is scheduled to held on Monday. Harika tried safely as white and like the previous game the players reached a drawn rook and pawns endgame. Interestingly, this is the only match that goes into tie-break games of shorter duration, which also means that there will be two Indians in the semifinals. 🇨🇳 Lei Tingjie, 🇨🇳 Tan Zhongyi, and 🇮🇳 Humpy Koneru are through to the semifinals! ♟️🔥 The final semifinal spot will be decided tomorrow as 🇮🇳 Divya Deshmukh and 🇮🇳 Harika Dronavalli face off in the playoffs! Results - Quarterfinals - Game 2 🇨🇳 Lei Tingjie 1-0 Nana Dzagnidze… — International Chess Federation (@FIDE_chess) July 20, 2025 End of the road for Vaishali As for Vaishali, she suffered a loss to former Women's champion Zhongyi Tan of China. Vaishali took her chances in the middle game and got the dynamic balance she was looking for. However, resourceful as she is, Tan capitalised on an unforced error to gain the upper hand. Vaishali again got some chances according to the computer but it was always a tall order to find all correct moves. It will be a tough loss for her as she was in a slightly better position for most of the game. Vaishali had drawn the first game against Tan and had lost the second, which means her campaign in the FIDE Women's World Cup has come to a sad end. (With inputs from PTI)
