Indian sports wrap, June 8: Anirban Lahiri leads by two, in sight of maiden LIV win

GOLF

Anirban Lahiri leads by two, in sight of maiden LIV win

Anirban Lahiri, who has never won on the LIV league and is also searching for his first worldwide win since 2015, put himself in the position once again as he shot 7-under 64 to move to 11-under and one shot ahead of the field in Virginia.

The 37-year-old Indian who plays for Crushers, which is led by Bryson DeChambeau has shot 67-64 in the two rounds so far.

Lahiri has four runner-up finishes without a win on LIV Golf but now is in sight of a maiden win.

He made seven birdies without a bogey. Lahiri made a 39-foot par putt on the 16th hole to salvage his momentum and converted another superb par save on the 18th.

A trio of veterans, Graeme McDowell, Bubba Watson and Martin Kaymer, also made their presence felt on the leaderboard heading into the final round. At 9-under par, they find themselves just two shots behind Lahiri.

McDowell has never finished better than T5 in any LIV Golf event. Like Lahiri, McDowell, 47, and Watson, 48, and Kaymer, 40, will all have a great opportunity to challenge for their first-ever LIV Golf win.

Smash GC had an excellent day, tying the team lead (20 under) with the Lahiri-led Crushers. LIV Golf’s top three in the individual standings: Joaquin Niemann, DeChambeau and Jon Rahm all are within striking distance.

The three are tied for fifth at 7 under and just four off the lead.

-PTI

Diksha stays within top 10 after third round

Indian golfer Diksha Dagar carded an even par 72 to hold her position within the top 10 after the third round of the Tenerife Women’s Open at Abama Golf.

Diksha was five-under for three days and is placed sole 9th in the standings. She is three shots behind the leader Sara Kouskova (69) at eighth-under.

The other Indian to make the cut in Tenerife, Avani Prashanth, played an even par third round and is now placed at 43rd on the leaderboard.

Diksha started her day with a birdie on the first hole before dropping shots on the sixth and eighth holes by the time she was hallway through the round.

On the back nine, Diksha picked up a shot on the 10th hole before dropping one back on the 13th and picking up one more on the 16th to make sure she is still placed in the Top-10.

Avani started her round with back-to-back birdies on the 10th and 11th holes and then dropped a double bogey on the 16th. On the front nine she dropped two more shots on the first hole with another double bogey before picking them back up on the third and sixth holes.

She would drop a shot immediately on the seventh and then birdie the eighth to close the day with a par score on a roller-coaster day.

-PTI

Talwar continues good run in Switzerland

India’s Saptak Talwar produced a strong finish with four birdies in the last five holes to card a three-under 68 in the third round and move to tied 16th at the Swiss Challenge in Lucerne.

Talwar, who shot 69-69 on the first two days, added a 68 on the third to get to seven-under. He is six shots behind leader, Tobias Jonsson of Sweden, who carded 67 on Day 3.

Having started the round on the front nine, Talwar was bogey free for the first 12 holes at Golf Sempach. On the 13th hole he dropped his only shot of the day.

However, the Indian star, who won his breakthrough event at home earlier this year, birdied four times in last five holes. He picked back-to-back birdies on the 14th and 15th holes and on the 17th and 18th holes as well. His total score now stands at seven-under

-PTI

SHOOTING

Lakshay wins men’s trap final in national selection trials

Lakshay Sheoran beat Kynan Chenai 47-46 for the top spot in the men’s trap final in the third National shotgun selection trial at the Madhya Pradesh Academy.

Vivaan Kapoor reached the third spot ahead of junior champion Arjun, Bhowneesh Mendiratta and qualification topper Prithviraj Tondaiman (123).

In women’s trap, Neeru beat Aashima Ahlawat 46-44 after both had scored 115 in qualification. Former national champion Manisha Keer placed third ahead of Pragati Dubey, Kirti Gupta and junior champion Aadya Katyal.

– Kamesh Srinivasan

MOTORSPORT

Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship: Pillarisetty notches first win in four years, Grand double for Jennifer, Patil

Hyderabad ace Rahil Pillarisetty pulled off his first win in four years as he pipped favourite Sarthak Chavan to claim the honours in the premier Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open race even as the first round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship came to an abrupt end due to a massive thunderstorm at the Madras International Circuit on Sunday.

The heavy rains accompanied by strong winds early afternoon caused considerable damage to the facility while it also forced cancellation of day’s remaining two races which will be run in the second round in August.

Earlier, Ann Jennifer and Varun Patil completed a double apiece in the Girls (Stock 165cc) and Stock 301-400cc (Novice) categories, respectively, while young Kedarnadh topped the Stock 165cc (Novice) race.

-Team Sportstar

TABLE TENNIS

Kolkata ThunderBlades wins UTT Juniors

Ritvik Gupta and Swara Karmakar guided Kolkata ThunderBlades to a 5-2 victory over U Mumba TT in the final of the Dream UTT Juniors table tennis tournament at the EKA Arena on Sunday.

Ritvik won both his singles and mixed doubles match, and Swara had to win only one set in the girls match to seal victory for the Kolkata team.

The champion team won Rs. 200,000 and the runner-up collected Rs. 100,000.

– Kamesh Srinivasan

TENNIS

Seventh seed Varvara Panshina beat Vaishnavi Adkar 6-2, 6-4 in the final of the $15,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on Sunday.

It was a fine run by Vaishnavi who beat the top seed on way to the singles final, and also made the doubles final with Punnin Kovapitukted of Thailand.

-Kamesh Srinivasan

BASKETBALL

Kerala State U-23 C’ship: Thrissur takes men’s title, Kottayam wins women’s section

Thrissur men and Kottayam women who won the first Kerala State under-23 3×3 basketball title in Kochi on Sunday.
| Photo Credit:
Stan Rayan/The Hindu

C.K. Rinil’s long-rangers, Mohammed Irfan Saheer’s inside shooting and Jeo Lonappan’s fine all-round play helped Thrissur crush Thiruvananthapuram 21-7 and win the men’s title in the first Mohammed Iqbal memorial Kerala State under-23 3×3 basketball championship at the Rajiv Gandhi indoor stadium in Kochi on Sunday evening.

Kottayam, with its players mainly from Changanassery’s Assumption College, won the women’s title with a 21-12 victory over Thiruvananthapuram.

Thrissur, with three of its players from Irinjalakuda’s Christ College, dominated from the start, leading 11-1 at one point. The Thrissur boys were fast, they passed well and with Jeo Lonappan doing some fine work with the rebounds, Thiruvananthapuram appeared lost for a good part of the match.

The women’s final was close initially, the two teams level at 7 and 9, but Kottayam broke away at 15-12 and kept extending its lead after that.

-Stan Rayan

CHESS

Delhi GM Open: Diptayan goes past Sneha

Grandmaster Diptayan Ghosh played a patient 69-move game to edge past Sneha Halder in the third round of the 21st Delhi GM Open chess tournament at the Tivoli Gardens, Chhattarpur, on Sunday.

On a day when the players had to negotiate two rounds, top seed SL Narayanan sustained his strong game to reach three points.

In the 10-round Swiss league, the race towards the title will hot up over the next two days, with Tuesday scheduled to have two rounds.

-Kamesh Srinivasan

FOOTBALL

India right-back Rino Anto announces retirement

Anto, who began his professional career in 2008, has appeared for some notable names in Indian football, including Mohun Bagan Super Giant and Kerala Blasters. He also made nine appearances in national colours. 
| Photo Credit:
The Hindu/VIVEK BENDRE

India right-back Rino Anto announced his retirement from professional football on Sunday.

Anto, who began his professional career in 2008, has appeared for some notable names in Indian football, including Mohun Bagan Super Giant and Kerala Blasters. He also made nine appearances in national colours.

“A warrior on the pitch, always one of our own,” Kerala Blasters said on X (formerly known as Twitter) after Anto’s announcement.

“The day I feared has finally come—it’s time to say goodbye to the game that gave me everything. Football was never just a career, it was my life. First, I thank God for guiding me through this beautiful journey, through every joy, every struggle, and every lesson. I want to thank my family, friends, coaches, club officials, and everyone who stood by me through every high and low,” said Anto on social media.

“A special thanks to Tata Football Academy, where my dream began, and to all the clubs I proudly played for—Mohun Bagan, Salgaocar, Bengaluru FC, ATK Mohun Bagan, Kerala Blasters, and RoundGlass Punjab.

I was blessed to win many titles during my career—each one a result of hard work, sacrifice, and the support of amazing teammates and fans.

Wearing the Indian jersey was my greatest honour, and I’ll cherish that forever. If I ever hurt anyone along the way, I ask for your forgiveness—it was never personal, only part of the game. To the fans across the country, your love made every moment worth it and to my own F13 Football Academy and The THIRTEENTH FOUNDATION. I’m proud of what we’re building. The future is bright.

No regrets, no grudges—only gratitude. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I’ll see you soon, in a different role. Love you all,” added Anto.

-Team Sportstar