Indian sports wrap, December 16: Manipur enters Rajmata Jijabai semifinals after Jharkhand win

FOOTBALL

Manipur storms into Rajmata Jijabai semis; Odisha holds Tamil Nadu

Defending champion Manipur thrashed Jharkhand 5-0 with a dominant second-half performance to seal a semifinal spot in the 29th Senior Women’s National Football Championship for the Rajmata Jijabai Trophy in Narainpur on Monday.

Naorem Priyangka Devi (50’, 70’) and Dangmei Grace (58’, 86’) scored two goals each, while Asem Roja Devi (84’) added another one as Manipur topped Group A with nine points from three matches.

It still has a match against Tamil Nadu.

In the other game, Odisha and Tamil Nadu drew 1-1.

Sandhiya Ranganathan scored for Tamil Nadu in the 12th minute, while Malati Munda equalised in the 24th minute.

The draw helped Odisha strengthen its position as it has completed its group engagements with seven points after two wins, one defeat and one draw.

While Odisha is placed in second in the group behind Manipur, the other team in the fray, Tamil Nadu, have four points from three matches.

Its last match is against Manipur and Tamil Nadu needs to win by a margin of four goals to progress in the tournament.

– PTI

SHOOTING

Riya Shirish Thatte wins 25m pistol event

Aurangabad teenager Riya Shirish Thatte stunned a star-studded field to win the women’s 25m pistol event at the 67th National Shooting Championship Competitions (NSCC) in New Delhi on Monday.

Riya got the better of Punjab’s Simranpreet Kaur Brar 7-2 in a shoot-off for gold, after both had tied at 31-hits in the 8-series of five-shot decider. Olympian and former Asian Games champion Rahi Sarnobat was third with 25 hits.

Simranpreet rounded off a great year to win the junior women’s title on the day to add to her senior silver, this time winning the gold via shoot-off 5-2 over Haryana’s Payal, after both had tied on 34-hits-a-piece. Riya won bronze in this category with 30-hits.

Riya’s father Shirish, a former national level shooter himself and her first coach, said, “She had tears in her eyes. There is no range in Aurangabad and we used to travel 250kms to Pune’s Balewadi range where Akshay Ashtaputre, also the mentor of Swapnil Kusale, has been coaching her for the last five years. She wants to shoot and earn laurels for India.”

The senior finals field, besides Simranpreet and Rahi, also had top former internationals like Heena Sidhu and Annu Raj Singh.

Earlier, Simranpreet topped both the qualification stages with identical scores of 584. Riya, while qualifying second in the juniors, managed to make the final, clinching the eighth and last qualifying spot with 576.

– PTI

GOLF

Rayhan Thomas earns card on Korn Ferry Tour

India’s Rayhan Thomas, already a winner on the domestic tour, has earned a card on the Korn Ferry Tour for 2025.

The Dubai-based Indian turned pro earlier this year.

In the final stage of PGA TOUR Qualifying School, Thomas shot rounds of 70-72-71-68 to total 1-over 281 and finished T-26th.

The top five earned a status on the PGA Tour.

Thomas is guaranteed 12 starts on the Korn Ferry Tour before being subject to a reshuffle. He will be the only Indian with a status on the Korn Ferry Tour, which is a level below the PGA Tour.

Besides winning in India, he also finished in the Top-10 in International Series in Thailand and Morocco.

– PTI

Kolkata teen wins All India Amateur golf title

Kolkata teenager Anshul Mishra overcame Karnataka’s Varun Muthappa to add his name to a list of illustrious winners of the iconic All India Amateur Golf championship in Chandigarh.

The 123rd edition of the event, one of the oldest in the world, saw 16-year-old Mishra beat Muthappa in the 36-hole final 4&3. That meant he was four up with three holes to go.

The All India Amateurs is the biggest amateur event in the IGU portfolio.

Watching him win was the 2012 All India amateur winner, Chandigarh golfer Shubhankar Sharma, who had previously won the title in 2012.

Mishra, who started his golf at the Royal Calcutta Golf Course under Inderjit Bhalotia, now trains with Jesse Grewal. He plans to try and play in US College golf.

– PTI