INDIAN FOOTBALL
Kerala Blasters unveils ‘The Sanctuary’
Abhik Chatterjee, the CEO of the Indian Super League outfit Kerala Blasters (KBFC), unveiled on the occasion of Onam the club’s new training facility called ‘The Sanctuary’ for the first and youth teams.
“Few know and will recognise, how difficult it is to secure land in Kerala, especially for sporting projects, at economical values that make sense for stakeholders who have invested their blood and sweat in Indian football,” Chatterjee began on a post on his X account.
“Our ownership group was adamant that they wanted to find a way, they had a dream to make this possible and it was Nikhil’s persistence and determination that made this see the light of the day. Our club leadership group, Shushen and Rizwan in particular, have given this everything. There were challenges, roadblocks and pitfalls, but they were all navigated with steely resolve,” he added.
The club official also extended his thanks to Sree Narayana Vidyapeetam Public School, Thrippunithura, which is a partner of KBFC in this project.
“Hopefully, this will be the first of many. We are buzzing to develop this further and make it a memorable site for several reasons. It may appear as something routine for many, but for us, it holds a special place in our hearts,” he concluded.
– Team Sportstar
CRICKET
KSCA Secretary XI in control against Gujarat
KSCA Secretary’s XI secured the upper hand against Gujarat, reducing the latter to 73 for five at stumps on the second day of their KSCA Dr. (Capt.) K. Thimmappiah Memorial Cricket Tournament encounter, at the Kini Sports Arena in Bengaluru on Friday.
From an overnight 211 for seven, Secretary’s XI made 373, courtesy half-centuries from M. Venkatesh (50) and Rajvir Wadhwa (80). Its bowlers then collectively struck, with Madhav P. Bajaj, Venkatesh, Nischith Pai and Dheeraj Gowda snaring a wicket each.
The scores:
Assam 206 in 49.2 overs (Denish Das 83, Atharva Ankolekar 7/39) vs. Mumbai 174/3 in 43 overs (Musheer Khan 41, Akhil Herwadkar 54, Ajinkya Rahane 48 batting).
KSCA Secretary’s XI 373 in 149.4 overs (Nikin Jose 81, Tushar Singh 42, Samit Dravid 45, M. Venkatesh 50, Rajvir Wadhwa 80) vs. Gujarat 73/5 in 26 overs.
Goa 211 in 62.2 overs & 104/2 in 29 overs (Ishaan Gadekar 51) vs. Vidarbha 208 in 61.2 overs (Atharva Taide 50, Darshan Nalkande 55).
KSCA President’s XI 250 in 91.5 overs (E.J. Jasper 87, Nadeem Shaikh 4/49) vs. Maharashtra 14 for no loss.
Madhya Pradesh 333/8 in 123 overs (Arshad 102) vs. Tripura.
Chhattisgarh 254 in 90.5 overs (Sahban Khan 61, Abhilash 4/39) vs. KSCA XI 169/7 in 61.4 overs (R. Smaran 47).
In Mysuru:
KSCA Colts 140 in 41 overs & 135/7 in 32 overs (Mohsin Khan 46, Vipin Sharma 4/40) vs. Himachal Pradesh 303 in 91.1 overs (Ankush Bains 96, Siddhant Purohit 68, Akash Vashisht 53, Shikhar Shetty 5/55).
Andhra 257 in 83.5 overs vs. Baroda 2856 in 96 overs (Jyotsnil Singh 50, Sukrit Pandey 81 batting, Ninad Rathwa 62).
– Team Sportstar
TENNIS
Sumit Nagal loses quarterfinals
Wild card Joel Schwaerzler beat Sumit Nagal 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-1 in the quarterfinals of the €145,250 Challenger tennis tournament in Tulin, Austria.
Sumit won 14 ATP points and €4195.
The results:
€145,250 Challenger, Tulin, Austria
Singles (quarterfinals): Joel Schwaerzler (Aut) bt Sumit Nagal 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-1.
$160,000 Challenger, Shanghai, China
Doubles (semifinals): Pruchya Isaro (Tha) & Niki Poonacha bt Cui Jie & Te Rigele (Chn) 6-4, 7-6(5).
$30,000 ITF men, Nakhon Pathom, Thailand
Singles (quarterfinals): S Mukund bt Leo Vithoontien (Jpn) 6-0, 6-4.
Doubles (semifinals): Jesse Delaney (Aus) & Leo Vithoontien (Jpn) bt Sai Karteek Reddy & S Mukund 4-6, 7-6(4), [10-7].
$30,000 ITF men, Bali, Indonesia
Singles (quarterfinals): Yanki Erel (Tur) bt Prajwal Dev 6-3, 6-3.
$15,000 ITF men, Hong Kong
Doubles (semifinals): Hien Pham (Aus) & Tsz Fu Wong (Hkg) bt Parth Aggarwal & Ty Host (Aus) 6-1, 7-5.
$15,000 ITF men, Maanshan, China
Doubles (semifinals): Egor Agafonov & Maxim Zhukov bt Ivan Denisov & Vishnu Vardhan 6-3, 7-6(4).
$30,000 ITF women, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
Singles (pre-quarterfinals): Sahaja Yamalapalli bt Kylie Collins (USA) 6-4, 6-1.
Doubles (quarterfinals): Katarina Jokic (Srb) & Maria Ramirez (Mex) bt Sofia Dominguez (Ven) & Sahaja Yamalapalli 6-4, 6-1.
$15,000 ITF women, Hurghada, Egypt
Doubles (quarterfinals): Yasmin Ezzat (Egy) & Daria Yesypchuk (Ukr) bt Saoirse Breen (Fij) & Ashmitha Easwaramurthi 6-3, 6-0.
$15,000 ITF women, Denia, Spain
Doubles (quarterfinals): Didi Canizares (Esp) & Madhurima Sawant bt Maria Sanchez & Lucie Parres (Esp) 6-4, 6-0.
$15,000 ITF women, Monastir, Tunisia
Doubles (semifinals): Alicia Dudeney (GBR) & Tanisha Kashyap bt Lina Soussi (Tun) & Mirabelle Tahiri (USA) 6-2, 6-2.
– Kamesh Srinivasan
SWIMMING
Sports minister Mandaviya launches mascot and logo of Asian Aquatics Championship
Sports minister Mansukh Mandaviya launched the mascot ‘Jalveer’ and logo for the upcoming 11th Asian Aquatics Championship scheduled to be held in Ahmedabad from September 28 to October 11.
The event will serve as qualification meet for the 2026 Asian Games.
Mandaviya was accompanied by officials from the Swimming Federation of India (SFI).
The Championship will take place at the newly constructed Veer Savarkar Sports Complex, built as per Olympic specifications, and will host over 30 participating nations across multiple disciplines.
With over 1000 participants expected to arrive in Gujarat for the championships later this month, the event will provide Indian swimmers an opportunity to shine in front of the home crowd.
– PTI
MOTORSPORT
Rahil Pillarisetty grabs pole position
Hyderabad ace Rahil Pillarisetty, in tremendous form this season astride a super-quick Yamaha R3, led a 1-2 for his team RACR Castrol Power1, in the qualifying session of the premier class Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open as the third round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Motorcycle Racing Championship commenced at the Madras International Circuit in Chennai.
While a pole position for 27-year-old Rahil barely raised an eyebrow, his team-mate, Bengaluru’s Anish Damodar Shetty, returning to competition after a three-year break, delivered the big surprise by finishing second, ahead of defending champion Sarthak Chavan, the 18-year-old from Pune and the lead rider for Petronas TVS Racing.
The results (Qualifying – 3 best laps):
Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open: 1. Rahil Pillarisetty (Hyderabad, RACR Castrol Power1) (01min, 47.975secs); 2. Anish Damodar Shetty (Bengaluru, RACR Castrol Power1) (01:48.546); 3. Sarthak Chavan (Pune, Petronas TVS Racing) (01:48.728).
Super Stock 200cc Intermediate: 1. Kamal Navas (Chennai, Rockers Racing) (02:05.476); 2. Mohamed Samrul Zubair (Hyderabad, Motul Sparks Racing) (02:05.910); 3. Vyshak Shoban (Chennai, Speed Up Racing) (02:05.948).
Stock 301-400cc (Novice): 1. Mohamed Mikhail (Tiruvallur, Mad Rabbit Racing) (01:59.017); 2. Jagadeesh Nagaraj (Bengaluru, Motul Sparks Racing) (01:59.251); 3. Kamal Navas (Chennai, Rockers Racing) (02:01.015).
Stock 165cc (Novice): 1. Rajender Beedani (Hyderabad, MAI Racing) (02:08.217); 2. CS Kedarnadh (Tirupati, Motul KTM Gusto Racing India) (02:08.349); 3. Amit Prasad (Mysuru, Mad Rabbit Racing) (02:09.868).
Petronas TVS One-Make Championship:
Expert (Apache RR 310): 1. Manoj Yesuadiayan (Chennai) (01:55.669); 2. Mohan Babu P (Chennai) (01:56.351); 3. Kaushik Subbiah Ganesan (Chennai) (01:56.478).
Women (Apache RTR 200): 1. Jagathishree Kumaresan (Chennai) (02:11.988); 2. Elakiya Ravi (Chennai) (02:12.630); 3. SP Shuria (Bengaluru) (02:13.044).
Idemitsu Honda India Talent Cup (Honda CB300F): 1. Solomon R (Chennai) (02:05.931); 2. Raivat Dhar (Jammu) (02:06.167); 3. Ann Jennifer (Chennai) (02:07.495).
– Team Sportstar
SHOOTING
Bhowneesh, Neeru lead trap trials
Bhowneesh Mendiratta shot two perfect rounds to lead with 50 in trap in the fourth National shotgun selection trials at the Bhucho Village shooting range in Punjab.
Bhowneesh was followed by Jaswinder Singh and Lakshay Sheoran with 49 each, while Shapath Bharadwaj and Zoravar Singh Sandhu shot 48.
Some of the other leading shooters like Vivaan Kapoor, Kynan Chenai and Prithviraj Tondaiman were on 47 along with four others.
In women’s trap, Neeru led with 46, one point ahead of Preeti Rajak, Kirti Gupta, Manisha Keer and Rajeshwari Kumari.
Asian junior champion Sabeera Haris shot 44, along with Aashima Ahlawat.
Three more rounds of qualification will be followed by the final amongst the top six.
– Kamesh Srinivasan
KHO KHO
Twenty four Kho Kho athletes join CISF
A total of 24 Indian Kho Kho players, including 12 women, have joined the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), through the sports quota after cracking the recruitment trials.
A few of the selected athletes, including Shengal Gajanand Maruti and Visag S, have played for Mumbai Khiladis in Ultimate Kho Kho.
Meenu was part of the sKho-Kho World Cup while Sweety and Ananya Pradhan competed during the India vs Malaysia bilateral series.
– PTI
GOLF
Lucknow Golf Club to host seventh event of PGTI Nexgen series
The seventh event of the PGTI Nexgen series, offering INR 20 lakh in prize money, will be staged at the Lucknow Golf Club from September 9 to 11.
The tournament, with 72 players, will feature three rounds over 54 holes, and the cut will be applied after the second day. The top-36 players and ties will make it to the final day.
The event will feature Americans Joe Hurn and Dominic Piccirillo, apart from Federico Zucchetti of Italy, Md. Muaj and Md. Solayeman of Bangladesh and Subash Tamang of Nepal.
Sanjeev Kumar, Vijay Kumar, Sanjay Kumar, Manoj Kumar, Bhoop Singh, and Ashish Kumar Gupta will be the players from Lucknow.
The last six Nexgen events have had six different champions, underlining the strong competition. The Nexgen Order of Merit winner of the season will get an exemption on the main PGTI Tour next year.
“The Nexgen series is all about nurturing young talent and promoting golf across the country. The return of professional golf to the Lucknow Club after seven years is a significant milestone for us,” said the CEO of PGTI, Amandeep Johl.
“We are thrilled to host the event. We are committed to providing a great experience for the players and others,” said the Captain of the Lucknow Golf Club, RS Nanda.
-Kamesh Srinivasan
Published on Sep 05, 2025
