Indian sports wrap, September 4: Indian Golf Premier League unveils calendar ahead of upcoming season

GOLF

The Indian Golf Premier League (IGPL) unveiled a full swing of 11 tournaments spread over the next four months, through its co-founder and brand ambassador, cricketer Yuvraj Singh, here on Thursday.

The first tournament will start next week, on September 10, at the Chandigarh Golf Club. The ten IGPL tournaments will be played over three days each with 36 men, 12 women, apart from a few amateurs.

The key line as mentioned by the CEO of IGPL, Uttam Singh Mundy was, “there will be no cut, and there will be guaranteed money”.

The rest of the tournaments are scheduled to be staged in Greater Noida, Pune, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Jamshedpur, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, and also Dubai and Colombo.

Moreover, there will be a regular Asian Tour joint sanctioned tournament at Kensville Golf Resort from November 27 to 30.

“I am excited to be part of this. Golf needs to grow. It is such an amazing sport. The golfer’s life is so hard. You pay all your bills, and you have to make the cut to earn money. Luckily, in cricket we were getting paid for whatever we played. IGPL will give a lot of confidence to the youngsters. I hope IGPL grows the way IPL changed the dynamics of Indian and world cricket,” said Yuvraj, who also supports golfers through his YouWeCan Foundation.

A keen golfer, Yuvraj suggested that the Indian cricketers would benefit greatly by unwinding with a round of golf.

“Any sport that helps you relax, is good for the body, and more fruitful for the mind,” he said.

Recalling the times when golfers used to travel by train, sleeping on their kit bag, with no guarantee of earning money, Shiv Kapur appreciated the idea that IGPL would give “financial security” to the golfers.

The secretary general of the WGAI, Champika Sayal, called it an “awakening” of golf, and that it augured well for the future of the sport, especially the women. She wanted the girls to emerge more confident and progress towards the international arena.

The Tour Commissioner of the Asian Tour, Cho Minn Thant, who appreciated the “holistic vision” in the formation of IGPL, announced that the top four players would get entry into the Qualifying School finals of the Asian Tour.

“IGPL will make a difference to the sport. It is innovative, inclusive and inspiring,” asserted Mundy.

Pranavi to lead Indian challenge at Houston Championship

Golfer Pranavi Urs will lead the Indian challenge at the Houston Championship, the fourth event of the PIF Global Series this year, starting here on Friday.

Pranavi, who had to miss a lot of earlier events due to a wrist injury, is hoping to get back to form for the latter half of the season.

With Diksha Dagar sitting out the event at Golfcrest Country Club, the other two Indians in the field are rookie Avani Prashanth and the experienced Tvesa Malik.

The tournament will see 104 professionals compete in both the 36-hole Team competition and the 54-hole Individual stroke play competition.

Pranavi, a former multiple winner on her home Tour, is still looking for her maiden win on the LET.

For the team event, she is alongside Belgium’s Manon De Roey , Daniela Darquea of Ecuador and German golfer Polly Mack.

Avani’s teammates include Gemrany’s Laura Fuenfstueck, Rosie Davies of England and Vanessa Bouvet of France.

While Tvesa will team up with Darcey Harry of Wales, Germany’s Olivia Cowan and Italian golfer Virginia Elena Carta.

A total of 26 teams comprising four professionals will take part in the tournament with Team Captains selected using the official Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings as of August 25.

Each captain chose one professional to be on their team, meanwhile the third and fourth members were picked at random.

-PTI

FOOTBALL

64th Subroto Cup Kicks Off Sub Junior Boys (U-15) Category in Bengaluru

The 64th Edition of the Subroto Cup International Football Tournament kicked off its Sub Junior Boys (U-15) category today in Bengaluru, with exciting contests marking the opening day.

MOTORSPORT

Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2025 to restart on September 5

The Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship 2025 has provided dramatic twists and turns so far and the trend is likely to continue in the third round as the country’s top two-wheeler racers and manufacturers return to the Madras International Circuit here after a two-month gap for three days of exciting action commencing on Friday, September 5.

A card of 21 races across the six National Championship categories, besides the Petronas TVS One-Make Championship and the Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup, has been scheduled with 162 riders, representing 18 teams, in the fray even as the battle for championship points heats up

-Team Sportstar

SHOOTING

Abhay, Raiza top national shotgun selection trials 4 in Bhucho

Abhay Singh Sekhon and Raiza Dhillon topped the national selection shotgun trial 4 (T4) in the men’s and women’s skeet event respectively here on Thursday.

Raiza also topped the women’s qualification rounds in the line-up of 19 athletes while Asian Shooting Championship gold medallist Anantjeet Singh Naruka dominated the men’s qualification among 35 athletes at Bhucho Village Bhai Devinder Singh Sidhu Gun Club.

In the skeet men, Abhay hit 55 out of 60 targets to finish on the top in the T4, while Gurjoat Singh and Naruka finished second and third in the finals with 53 and 44 hits, respectively.

Earlier in the qualifications, Abhay finished fourth in the qualification with 117 hits in the five series of 25 shots each (24, 21, 23, 24, 25) and +3 in the shoot off.

Naruka topped the T4 qualification line-up with 121 hits (24, 23, 25, 25, 24) while Gurjoat Singh finished second with 118 (23, 24, 22, 25, 24) and +2 in the shoot-out as Bhavtegh Singh Gill, also on 118 (24, 25, 24, 24, 23), finished third in the qualification with a hit less in the shoot-out.

Yuvek Battula with 117 hits (24, 24, 22, 23, 24) and Zorawar Singh Bedi, also with 117 hits (23, 24, 23, 23, 24), were the other finalists with +2 and 0 in the shoot-off.

Raiza Dhillon emerged as the top performer in T4 skeet women, as she maintained the high scores across all five rounds to finish with 119 hits (24, 25, 23, 23, 24) in the qualification and secured the top spot in the finals with 55 hits while Ganemat Sekhon shot two less to finish second in the finals.

Parinaaz Dhaliwal completed the podium with 43 hits in the finals, and she had earlier secured a solid qualification by finishing second with 115 (24, 22, 21, 24, 24) and +4 after a shoot-off against Darshna Rathore, who also scored 115 (24, 23, 23, 22, 23) and +2.

Ganemat and Yashasvi Rathore finished fourth and fifth in the qualification with 114 (23, 24, 22, 24, 21) and 109 (21, 24, 20, 24, 20) hits. Risham Kaur Guron secured the sixth spot in the finals with 108 (20, 23, 22, 22, 21) and +2 in the shoot off against Vanshika Tiwari 108 (20, 21, 20,24, 24).

-PTI

HOCKEY

Sabian Kiro stars for Naval Tata Academy, Roundglass and Namdhari secure wins

Sabian Kiro scored a hat-trick to help Naval Tata Academy, Jamshedpur, to a 3-1 victory over Ghumanhera Risers, Delhi, in the Punjab Hockey League at the Balbir Singh Senior International Stadium here on Thursday.

Roundglass Academy beat the Sports Authority of India team from Sonipat, 3-1, to return to the top of the table in the eight-team competition.

Yuvraj Singh did all the scoring to help Namdhari Academy beat SGC Academy, Amritsar, 2-1 in the shoot-off after the teams were locked 1-1 at the end of regulation period.

Yuvraj converted a penalty stroke for Namdhari in the regular time, after Sukhdev Singh had put the Amritsar team ahead with a penalty stroke conversion.

In the shoot-off, Yuvraj first converted a penalty stroke and then scored on his turn for the only two goals. In contrast, Prabhjot Singh alone was able to find the target for the Amritsar team.

-Kamesh Srinivasan

DOMESTIC

Nikin Jose top-scored with 81 as KSCA Secretary’s XI made 211 for the loss of seven wickets at stumps versus Gujarat on the opening day of their KSCA Dr. (Capt.) K. Thimmappiah Memorial Cricket Tournament encounter, at the Kini Sports Arena here on Thursday.

But the three matches at the Alur Grounds were all affected by overnight rain, with the first day’s play in both the Mumbai-Assam and KSCA President’s XI-Maharashtra contests, at Alur-1 and Alur-2 respectively, fully washed out.

At Alur-3, less than 30 overs play was possible, with Madhya Pradesh making 77 for one against Tripura.

-Team Sportstar

TENNIS

Sumit Nagal raced past Filip Cristian Jianu of Romania in the pre-quarterfinals of the €145,250 Challenger tennis tournament in Tulin, Austria.

In the quarterfinals, Sumit will play Joel Schwaerzler of Austria who beat the top seed Jan Choinski of Britain in straight sets.

-Kamesh Srinivasan

Published on Sep 04, 2025