HOCKEY
Hyderabad to host Senior Men’s Inter-Department hockey tournament
The sixth Hockey India Senior Men Inter-Department National Championship 2026 is all set to begin on Friday, September 4, in Hyderabad, Telangana.
The tournament will see 20 departmental teams from across the country compete for top honours, with the championship set to conclude with the final on September 14.
The participating teams have been divided into four pools. Pool A comprises Petroleum Sports Promotion Board, Sashastra Seema Bal, Central Secretariat, I.T.B.P. Central Hockey Team and Punjab National Bank. Pool B features Comptroller & Auditor General of India, Defence Accounts Sports Control Board, Sports Authority of India, Central Reserve Police Force and Punjab & Sind Bank.
Pool C consists of Services Sports Control Board, Steel Plant Sports Board, All India Police Sports Control Board, Central Board of Direct Taxes and Union Bank of India, while Pool D includes Food Corporation of India, Tamil Nadu Police, Railway Sports Promotion Board, Canara Bank and Central Industrial Security Force.
– Team Sportstar
ATHLETICS
Records galore on final day of National Youth Athletics Championships
It was an eventful final day as several meet and national records tumbled at the 21st National Youth Athletics Championships in Ludhiana on Thursday.
Boys high jump meet record of 2.08m was the oldest of all. It was set by Rajesh Kaliramana in 2005 in Bengaluru but Himanshu Kumar of Jharkhand entered the record books by winning the high jump gold with a meet record of 2.09m.
Zubin Gohain of Assam also improved the previous meet record but settled for the silver medal (2.09m).
Meet record in boys’ and girls’ javelin throw was also erased. Madhya Pradesh’s Krishan Chandra won gold in boys’ javelin throw with a distance of 79.92m, bettering the previous meet record of 77.41m set by Rohit Yadav in 2018 in Vadodara.
West Bengal’s Misti Karmakar won girls’ javelin throw gold with a distance of 52.84m, to improve the previous meet record 51.84m set by Deepika in 2022.
Premraj, a young athlete from Gaya district, Bihar, registered a new meet record of 7.58 in boys’ long jump. The jump surpassed the previous meet record set by Murali Sreeshankar in 2016. Premraj is a recipient of a sports scholarship from the Government of Bihar and is currently undergoing training at the National Centre of Excellence (NCOE), Patiala.
Yash Mulik and Nupura Holla were declared the best male and female athletes, respectively, of the three-day competition.
Haryana topped the medal tally with four gold, seven silver and three bronze medals.
Maharashtra finished second with eight medals, including three gold, while Karnataka finished third with three gold and two silver medals.
– PTI
CRICKET
KCL 2026: Globstars reaches semifinal
T20 is a game of fine margins but Calicut Globstars tried its best to test that theory at the Sports Hub Greenfield stadium in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday. Globstars’ six dropped chances, including four from centurion Vishnu Vinod, yet held its nerve to eke out a seven-run win over Trivandrum Royals to move into the semifinals of the KCL 2026.
Leg spinner Vignesh Puthur with the season’s first five-wicket haul (five for 13) was the standout performer for Globstars and the lone bowler not to receive the punishment from Vishnu who battled as a one-man army for Royals.
Vishnu blasted a blazing century (118, 62b, 10×4, 8×6) making full use of his reprieves to keep his side in the hunt. However, his luck ran out when he top-edged a pull from Akhil Scaria and Rohan Kunnummal covered sufficient ground from long-off to complete the catch at mid off.
Chasing 185, Royals were in control when Vishnu and Krishna Prasad added 51-runs for the second wicket. But introduction of Vignesh in the 10th over changed the contest. Vignesh dismissed Prasad (14), slogging a catch to Akhil Scaria at long on and had Govind Dev Pai (0) stumped.
Vignesh’s two wickets – Sijomon Joseph (2) and M. Nikhil (0) – in the 14th over swung the match in favour of Royals as it slumped to 97 for six. But Vishnu refused to give up and took 19 runs from the 16th over bowled by M.U Harikrishnan. He clattered three sixes and slogged Akhin Sathar over midwicket for a boundary to reach his hundred from 56 balls. However, Akhil came back to dismiss Vishnu and with it ended Royals hopes.
Earlier, later order contributions from Salman Nizar (31 not out) and Aswin Anand (24 not out) helped Globstars to post 184/6.
The Scores
Calicut Globstars 184/6 in 20 overs (Rohan Kunnummal 35, Jose Perayil 31 Salman Nizar 31 no) bt Trivandrum Royals 177 in 19.3 overs (Vishnu Vinod 118, Vignesh Puthur 5/13, Ibnul Afthab 2/26, Akhil Scaria 2/39). Wednesday’s match: Calicut Globstars 175/4 in 20 overs (Varun Nayanar 36, Abdul Basith 62 no, Salman Nizar 50 no, Mohammed Ishaque 2/18) lost to Aries Kollam Sailors 179/4 in 17.2 overs (Vathsal Govind 42, M. Ajinas 64 no, Akhin Sathar 2/32).
– M.R. Praveen Chandran
SQUASH
Rahul Baitha, Rathika Seelan win titles in Maharashtra State Open squash
Rahul Baitha and Rathika Suthanthira Seelan won the men’s and women’s titles, respectively in the 49th Bombay Gymkhana Maharashtra State Open Squash Tournament in Mumbai on Thursday.
The second seeded Baitha played with grit and determination to put it across the top seed Om Semwal, carving out a 2-11 11-7 3-11 11-5 11-7 victory in the men’s final.
In the women’s summit clash, Tamil Nadu’s third-fourth seed Rathika got the better of Mumbai’s second seed Akanksha Salunkhe by cruising to a 11-5 11-3 11-3 win.
Akanksha Gupta defeated Vyomika Khandelwal 11-4 11-4 11-2 in the girls’ U-19 final while in the boys’ U-19 final, Purav Rambhia beat Agastya Bansal 11-1 11-3 11-2.
– PTI
TENNIS
Aahida downs Disha to enter semis at KSLTA J30 Bengaluru
Local junior tennis players continued to make their presence felt as the KSLTA World Tennis Tour Junior J30 Bengaluru moved into the semifinals, with Aahida Singh producing the standout result of the girls’ singles quarterfinals by defeating third seed and citymate Disha Kumar 6-4, 6-4.
Aahida and Disha, both Bengaluru players, produced a closely fought contest, matching each other with some excellent stroke play. Aahida kept her composure at the crucial moments to take both sets 6-4 and book her place in the last four.
The victory sets up an interesting semifinal for Aahida, who will face Zoha Qureshi, who advanced with a walkover against Bawyasri Asr.
Fourth seed Shreeniti Chowdhury continued her impressive run, defeating eighth seed Riddhi Shinde 6-1, 6-4. The 15-year-old moved into the semifinals, where she will face sixth seed Vasundra Balajee, a 6-3, 6-0 winner over Akshita Antil.
In the boys’ singles, top seed and home favourite Tejas Ravi overcame Shlok Chauhan 6-4, 7-6(5) in a closely fought quarterfinal. The 17-year-old had to contend with a number of unforced errors but also produced flashes of brilliance, particularly when under pressure. Shlok matched him with some impressive shot-making and pushed the second set into a tie-break, but Tejas held his nerve to close out the match in straight sets.
Tejas will meet third seed Niyanth Badrinarayanan of the USA, who defeated Mahijeet Pradhan 6-2, 6-4. In the other semifinal, sixth seed Fazal Ali Meer will take on fourth seed Vivaan Mirdha. Fazal upset second seed Ahan Shetty 6-3, 6-1, while Vivaan defeated Varad Undre 6-3, 6-2.
– Team Sportstar
GOLF
Teenager Vishesh Sharma opens up four-shot lead at Telangana Golconda Masters
Local favourite Vishesh Sharma moved four shots clear of the field after producing a six-under 64 in the third round of the Rs 1 crore Telangana Golconda Masters golf tournament in Hyderabad on Thursday.
The 19-year-old, who began the day tied for the lead with Amardeep Malik, made seven birdies and a solitary bogey to reach 20-under 190.
Vishesh (60-66-64) has now held at least a share of the lead after each round. Playing at his home course, he followed his course-record-equalling opening 60 with rounds of 66 and 64 to establish a commanding advantage ahead of the final day.
Malik (61-65-68), a two-time winner on the PGTI, remained the closest challenger at 16-under 194. The 41-year-old from Noida made three birdies and dropped his only shot on the par-three ninth for a two-under 68.
Delhi’s Honey Baisoya (64-64-68) moved up one place to third at 14-under 196.
Baisoya, who began the round two shots behind the joint leaders, mixed four birdies with two bogeys in another 68.
Opening-round co-leader Dhruv Sheoran (60-67-70) of Gurugram made three birdies and three bogeys in an even-par 70. He slipped to fourth at 13-under 197, seven shots behind Vishesh.
The day’s lowest round came from current PGTI Rankings leader Saptak Talwar (70-67-61), who surged from tied 17th to fifth at 12-under 198.
– PTI
PICKLEBALL
India unbeaten on Day 1 of Pickleball WC in Vietnam
The Indian contingent was unbeaten on the first day of the team event at the Pickleball World Cup in Da Nang, Vietnam.
This marks the end of the league stage where a dominant India defeated Antigua Barbados, Israel and Czech Republic. The India pro squad consisting of Harsh Mehta, Arjun Singh, Anish Froilan, Aman Patel, Pearl Amalsadiwala, Naomi Amalsadiwala, Aaliya Ebrahim and Mihika Yadav beat Antigua & Barbados and Israel with a score line of 6-0 each.
The final match of the league stage was played with Czech Republic where India comfortably won 5-1.
Each tie had a total of six matches — women’s doubles, men’s doubles, mixed doubles 1, mixed doubles 2, women’s singles and men’s singles.
India will now face Portugal in the round of 32 on Friday.
The India senior squad also finished strong on day 1 as it beat Germany and Nepal 4-0 each.
– PTI
