Indian sports wrap, September 21: Deva, Madina win Udaipur Half Marathon
ATHLETICS
Deva, Madina win
Deva Ram and Madina Paul emerged victorious in the male and female category, respectively, in the Vedanta Zinc City Half Marathon in Udaipur on Sunday.
The event, which is being championed as ‘India’s most beautiful marathon’, saw over 7000 people from 27 states (across three categories: 21 km, 10 km, and 5 km) taking part, a 40 per cent increase from the inaugural edition last year.
“Finishing 21 km in 1 hour 35 minutes and winning this year, just like last year, is an incredible feeling. This platform inspires us to push our limits,” Madina said after collecting her winner’s medal.
Ram, meanwhile, reserved special praise for the scenic beauty of the route, with the breathtaking Fateh Sagar Lake and the imposing yet impressive Aravalli Ranges being the highlights. “As a national player and avid marathoner who has completed over 200 marathons, I can say that running on this route with Fatehsagar lake as the backdrop is an experience that truly stands out,” he remarked.
Arun Mishra, CEO of Hindustan Zinc and a finisher in the half marathon, expressed joy at the turnout. “The overwhelming participation shows how Udaipur is embracing fitness as a way of life. What started as a local initiative has now evolved into an international celebration of health, purpose and people power,” he noted.
– Anirudh Velamuri
TENNIS
Fenesta Open National hard court championship to begin on September 29
The 30th edition of the Fenesta Open National Tennis Championship will begin here at DLTA Complex on September 29 with former champions Vishnu Vardhan and VM Ranjeet in the fray once again.
The qualifying rounds for men’s and women’s will begin from September 27.
The age group events (U-18, U-16, U-14) will be held after the senior event.
– PTI
CRICKET
All India JP Atray memorial: HCA beats RSPB by five wickets
A fine spell by Vishnu Choudhary (6/28) helped Haryana Cricket Association (HCA) defeat Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) by five wickets in the 30th All India JP Atray memorial cricket tournament on Sunday.
In another match, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) beat Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) by 114 runs.
The scores
RBI 273 for eight in 50 overs (Amaya Dandekar 47, Sumit Kumar 46, S. Cheeranjivi 38, Pranay Sharma 30, Rahul Chouhan 3/23) beat HPCA 159 in 38.3 overs (Vibhav Sharma 61, Aryavrat Sharma 54, Jyot Chhaya 4/36, Shahbaz Nadeem 3/30).
RSPB 85 in 27.4 overs (Vishnu Choudhary 6/28) lost to HCA 88 for five in 14.5 overs (Ayaan Chaudhary 4/23).
-Team Sportstar
MOTORSPORT
Double for Bengaluru teenager Ishaan Madesh
Ishaan Madesh, the 16-year-old from Bengaluru, more than made up for a disappointing outing yesterday by winning both the races in the premier MRF Formula 2000 category to finish the second round of the MRF MMSC FMSCI Indian National Car Racing Championship 2025 on a high at the Madras International Circuit in Chennai.
A big story of the weekend was scripted by local ace Ritesh Rai (Buzzing Hornet) who, driving a Volkswagen Polo, walked away with a triple crown, winning all three races in the top-end Indian Touring Cars (ITC) category, displaying impressive pace and nerves to hold off a strong challenge from Coimbatore veteran Arjun Balu (Race Concepts) in a misfiring Honda V-tec.
Balu returned to the championship after a year’s break. Defending champion Biren Pithawalla (N1 Racing) from Mumbai, struggling with a turbo issue in his VW Polo, had a P2 and a retirement.
The results (Provisional – all 10 laps unless mentioned):
MRF F2000 (Race-2): 1. Ishaan Madesh (Bengaluru) (16mins, 12.454secs); 2. Arjun Chheda (Pune) (16:27.955); 3. Tarun MB (Bengaluru) (16:46.254). Race-3 (8 laps): 1. Ishaan Madesh (18:24.837); 2. Arjun Chheda (18:43.416); 3. Tarun MB (18:43.653).
MRF F1600 (Race-2): 1. Zahan Commissariat (Mumbai) (17:47.271); 2. Sai Shiva Makesh Sankaran (Pune) (17:54.772); 3. Nigel Abraham Thomas (Bengaluru) (17:57.811). Race-3 (8 laps): 1. Sai Shiva Makesh Sankaran (19:07.963); 2. Arjun S Nair (Bengaluru) (19:09.784); 3. Gyan S (Chennai) (19:26.454).
Indian Touring Cars (Race-2): 1. Ritesh Rai (Chennai, Buzzing Hornets) (19:07.412); 2. Biren Pithawalla (Mumbai, Team N1 Racing) (19:12.580); 3. Arjun Balu (Coimbatore, Race Concepts) (19:47.483). Race-3 (8 laps): 1. Ritesh Rai (15:15.368); 2. Arjun Balu (15:15:857); 3. Ananth Pithawalla (Mumbai, Team N1 Racing) (15:35.559)
ITC 1625 (Race-2): 1. Vidyaprakash Damodaran (Coimbatore, Team Performance Racing) (19:49.245); 2. Mohammed Fahad Kutty (Mumbai, Team GameOver) (20:13.234); 3. Nikanth Rambalu (Coimbatore, Team Performance Racing) (20:57.035). Race-3 (8 laps): 1. Nikanth Rambalu (15:59.539); 2. Vidyaprakash Damodaran (16:09.724); 3. Mohammad Fahad Kutty (16:21.657),
Indian Junior Touring Cars (Race-2): 1. Deepak Ravikumar (Chennai, Team Performance Racing) (19:52.992); 2. Viswas Vijayaraj (Nellore, Team Performance Racing) (19:56.348); 3. Rithvik Thomas (Bengaluru, Race Concepts) (20:22.308). Race-3 (8 laps): 1. Deepak Ravikumar (15:51.755); 2. Hattim Shabir (Chennai, Team Performance Racing) (15:51.986); 3. Viswas Vijayaraj (16:08.827).
Super Stock (Race-2): 1. Diljith TS (Thrissur, DTS Racing) (20:50.848); 2. Kesara Godage (Sri Lanka, Red Line Racing) (19:12.044+1 lap); 3. Balaprasath (Coimbatore, DTS Racing) (19:13.327+1 lap). Race-3 (8 laps): 1. Diiljith TS (16:43.953); 2. Kesara Godage (17:04.575); 3. Balaprasath (17:06.509);
Formula LGB 1300 (Race-2, Open): 1. Aditya Patnaik (Navi Mumbai, Momentum Motorsports) (20:52.069); 2. Mehul Agarwal (Kolkata, Delta Speeds) (20:53.826); 3. Neythan McPherson (Pune, Momentum Motorsports) (20:54.088). Junior: 1. Aditya Patnaik (Navi Mumbai, Momentum Motorsports) (20:52.069); 2. Neythan McPherson (Pune, Momentum Motorsports) (20:54.088); 3. Vinith Kumar (Tirupur, DTS Racing) (20:54.270). Race-3 (8 laps – Open and Junior):1. Vinith Kumar (15:11.731); 2. Neythan McPherson (15:29.024); 3. Bhuvan Bonu (Bengaluru, MSPORT) (15:29.485).
Volkswagen Polo Cup (Race-2): 1. Ojas Surve (Navi Mumbai) (15:49.297); 2. Aman Nagdev (Noida) (19:50.069); 3. Aditya Patnaik (Navi Mumbai) (19:50.381). Race-3 (8 laps): 1. Aman Nagdev (15:43.639); 2. Aditya Patnaik (15:44.035); 3. Ojas Surve (15:46.227).
MRF Saloons (Race-2): 1. Akshay Muralidharan (Coimbatore) (21:41.170); 2. Tarushi Vikram (Chikkamagaluru) (21:41.531); 3. Siddhanth Koundinya (Bengaluru) (21:55.203). Race-3 (8 laps): 1. Akshay Muralidharan (Coimbatore) (17:27.655); 2. Mohammed Arfath (Chennai) (17:29.533); 3. Tarushi Vikram (Chikkamagaluru) (17:29.950).
– Team Sportstar
GOLF
Aditi yet to start second round as weather plays spoilsport
Aditi Ashok stayed where she was at 5-under through 18 holes as weather played spoilsport on day 2 of the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship, an LPGA event in Arkansas.
Play was suspended due to dangerous weather conditions as Aditi continued to remain at T-19 position.
Savannah Grewal (T-45) and Gurleen Kaur (T-88) were also unable to start their second round.
– PTI
Pranavi, Hitaashee on tied 47th place in La Sella Open
Pranavi Urs and Hitaashee Bakshi were tied for the 47th place with one more round to go in the 2025 La Sella Open in Alicante.
Pranavi carded an even par 72, while Hitaashee shot 1-over 73.
Pranavi had two birdies and two bogeys all on the back nine of the course and between the 13th and the 18th.
Hitaashee had four birdies, but she also gave away three bogeys and a double bogey on Par-5 ninth.
The other Indians — Diksha Dagar, Tvesa Malik, Avani Prashanth, Ridhima Dilawari and Vani Kapoor — missed the halfway cut.
– PTI
Published on Sep 21, 2025
