SQUASH
Veer, Anahat progress to finals of Asian Qualifiers for World Championship
Veer Chotrani and Anahat Singh advanced to the finals of the World Championship Qualifying Event (Asia) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Saturday.
The second-seeded Chotrani prevailed 3-1 (11-7, 11-6, 7-11, 11-4) against Chi Him Wong, his eighth-seeded opponent from Hong Kong, China. The Indian will be up against Ameeshenraj Chandaran, the third seed from Malaysia, in the final.
The 17-year-old Anahat, seeded fifth, took down Helen Tang, eighth seed from Hong Kong, China, 3-0 (11-2, 11-7, 11-6). She will face Hong Kong, China’s Toby Tse in the summit clash after the latter’s 3-1 (11-3, 12-10, 10-12, 11-8) win over Akanksha Salunkhe in the second semifinal.
The winners of the tournament will qualify for the world championships scheduled in Chicago from May 9 to 17.
-Team Sportstar
BRIDGE
Indians qualify for worlds after dream run in Bridge Federation of Asia and Middle East meet
India won three gold medals and a silver medal in the Bridge Federation of Asia and the Middle East tournament in Dubai, with the medal-winning teams qualifying for the next world championships.
The Indian men, women and seniors teams clinched gold while the mixed team won silver in the tournament held between April 10-18 under the auspices of the World Bridge Federation.
All four Indian teams qualified for the 47th world bridge championships to be held in Herning, Denmark from August 20-31. The 2025 world bridge championships will include the Bermuda Bowl, Venice Cup, D’Orsi Trophy, and Wuhan Cup.
India will be among 66 teams from 35 nations taking part in the championships.
The Indian men’s team that won gold included Sumit Mukherjee and Rajeshwar Tewari; Sagnik Roy and Kaustabh Nandi; Kaustubh Milind Bendre and Sayantan Kushari. The coach and non-playing captain was Debasish Ray.
The members of the women’s team that won the yellow metal were Puja Batra and Asha Sharma; Bindiya Kohli and Priya Balasubramanian; Bharati Dey and Alka M Kshirsagar. The coach and non-playing captain was Arvind Vaidya.
The members of the seniors’ team that won the gold were Ramaratnam Krishnan and B Prabhakar; Bachiraju Satyanarayana and Jaggy B Shivdasani; Subhash Gupta and Ravi Goenka. The coach and non-playing captain was Girish Bijoor.
The members of the silver medal-winning mixed team were Rajeev Khandelwal and Himani Khandelwal; Rana Roy and Sheetal Bansal; Priya Ranjan Sinha and Bindiya Naidoo. The coach and non-playing captain was Vinay Desai.
-PTI
CHESS
Divya-Humpy close in on leader Zhu Jiner
The FIDE Women’s Grand Prix Chess resumes at Amanora-The Fern, Pune, on Sunday with the Indian duo of Koneru Humpy and Divya Deshmukh in striking distance of leader Zhu Jiner of China.
After five rounds, they are on 3.5 points, half-a-point behind the second seed.
The last four days should see some fierce battles, beginning with the games in the sixth round, in which Zhu will take on R. Vaishali.
Top-seeded Humpy should fancy her chances against Mongolia’s Munguntuul Batkhuyag, seeded ninth. Divya faces stronger opposition in the form of fellow-Indian D. Harika.
Sixth-round pairing:
Salome Melia (Geo) v Polina Shuvalova (Rus); D. Harika Dronavalli v Divya Deshmukh; Munguntuul Batkhuyag (Mng) v Koneru Humpy; Zhu Jiner v R. Vaishali; Alina Kashlinskaya (Pol) v Nurgyul Salimova (Bul).
Standings after five rounds: 1. Zhu 4 points; 2-3. Humpy and Divya 3.5; 4-6. Harika, Shuvalova and Vaishali 2.5; 7-8. Salimova and Batkhuyag 2; 9. Melia 1.5; 10. Kashlinskaya 1.
-P. K. Ajith Kumar