Angad Cheema coasts to four-shot win at Coal India Open 2025

 

Angad Cheema receives the trophy from Mr. Mayank Chandela, representing Beverage Partner - Reliance Consumer Products Limited. The other dignitaries seen in the picture are Mr. Lokinder Malik, GM, Kensville Golf & Country Club (extreme right) & Mr. Amandeep Johl, CEO, PGTI (extreme left).

 Angad Cheema coasts to four-shot win at Coal India Open 2025 

AHMEDABAD, AUG 9

 Chandigarh’s Angad Cheema continued from where he left at the PGTI’s mid-season break. Angad, the winner of the last event in the first half of the season, made it back-to-back titles after he lifted the trophy in the first event of the season’s second half, the INR 1 crore Coal India Open 2025, played at the Kensville Golf & Country Club in Ahmedabad.

Angad Cheema (69-67-69-70) fired a two-under 70 in round four to end up with a week’s total of 13-under 275. It was the 35-year-old Cheema’s fourth PGTI win and second triumph of the season. Angad took home the winner’s cheque worth INR 15 lakh that lifted him from 10^th to second position in the PGTI Order of Merit as his season’s earnings went to INR 55,56,726.

Noida’s Amardeep Malik (69-65-72-73) signed for a one-over 73 in the final round to secure a runner-up finish. Amardeep thus climbed 27 spots to 21st position in the PGTI Order of Merit.

Delhi’s Shaurya Bhattacharya (70) and Pune’s Udayan Mane (71) claimed tied third place at seven-under 281.

Yuvraj Sandhu (71) of Chandigarh ended the week in fifth place at six-under 282 to continue in the lead in the PGTI’s money list with his season’s earnings amounting to INR 58,67,200.

Angad Cheema, the overnight leader by one shot, built on his lead over the front-nine on Friday by accumulating four birdies in exchange for a bogey. Then on the back-nine, Angad’s two long birdie conversions from a range of 15 to 25 feet saw him home despite his three dropped shots on the 12^th and 17^th.

Angad, who drew on his experience of playing the qualifying event of The Open this summer in the UK, said, “It was a brilliant week as I played well from start to finish and did not make many mistakes. I’d say I just ended up putting better than others. I made some long conversions in every round. I would like to give credit for my great putting this week to my caddie Khushi Ram who gave me the correct lines and speed on the greens.

“It was good fun playing alongside my close friend and roommate Amardeep in the last two rounds. We share a great equation and thus we enjoyed a lot of light-hearted banter playing in the leader group over the last two days which just eased the atmosphere.

“It feels great to win back-to-back and adds to my determination to play even better going forward,” added Cheema, who ended an 11-year title drought last season.

Amardeep Malik, who trailed Cheema by one shot after round three, mixed three birdies with four bogeys on day four to slip out of contention.  

Delhi-based amateur Rakshit Dahiya won the trophy for the best performance by an amateur after he finished tied 10th at one-under 287.

Ahmedabad’s Varun Parikh took tied 19th position as he closed the week with a total of one-over 289.

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CHA-42 men and SGGS Hockey Club-26 women champions

 

 CHA-42 men  and SGGS Hockey Club-26 women champions

CHANDIGARH, JUNE 25

Chandigarh Hockey Academy, Sector 42 and SGGS Hockey Club, Sector 26 won the men’s and women’s trophies, respectively, in the Chandigarh State Hockey Championships at the Sector 42 Hockey Stadium here. 

The men’s final was evenly contested as the regulation period ended in a 4-4 draw. CH Academy clinched the issue in their favour by scoring three goals against two by  SGGS Hockey Club, Sector 26 in the shootout session. CHA-42 won by an aggregate margin of 7-6.

In the stipulated period CHA-42 found the object through Anmolpreet (14th), Parambir (17th), Sahil (37th) and Punit (40th).

Prabhjot (26th, 59th) and Prabhjot Junior (30th and 45th) put up good show as they contributed a brace each.

PU Hockey Club grabbed the third position after beating Rock Rovers Hockey Club by 6-0. Prince emerged the winners by posting three goals in the 17th, 40th, 49th minutes. Sourabh (20th), Suraj (21st) and Kunalpreet (41st) contributed one goal each.

SGGS Hockey Club, Sector 26 emerged victorious by defeating Chandigarh Hockey Academy-Blue by 5-2 in the women's final.

SGGS Hockey Club, Sector 26 started their campaign by opening their account in the fourth minute through Gurmail who scored a field goal. Gurmail doubled the score as he beat the defence to score in the 12th minute. Gurmail himself rounded off the winner’s tally with his third field goal in the 44th minute.

Kajal (20th) and Kamaldeep (40th) scored one goal each for the winners

Anjali struck the first goal for CHA-Blue in the 14th minute. Annu got the second goal for CHA-Blue in the 26th minute.

For the third position CHA-Red outclassed PU Hockey Club by  7-1. Prinka (1st), Tamanna (34th, 52nd, 55th), Anjali (38th), and Ram Bhateri (42nd) and 58th) were the star performers for CHA-Red. The lone goal for PU Hockey Club was scored by Ritika in the 28th minute.

Meanwhile Hockey Chandigarh celebrated the Olympic Day, 2025  as per the guidelines of Hockey India. 

According to Anil Vohra, Vice President., Hockey Chandigarh about 500 sports persons from different sports of Chandigarh along with their coaches were present to celebrate the Olympic Day.

Senior office bearers and members of Hockey Chandigarh Mahender Singh Joint Director Sports, Dr. Pushvinderjit Singh, Sr. Vice President, Rajinder Gandhi, Sarvesh Sharma, Ajay Singh, Madam S.K. Goswami, Dr. G.S.Gill, Gurminder Singh  were among those who were  present on the occasion..

Director Sports U.T Chandigarh Sorabh Kumar Aroragave away the trophies and medals to the winners, runners-up and third positions holders.

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SGGSH Club- 26 face CHA-42 in final

 

 SGGSH Club- 26 face CHA-42 in final

CHANDIGARH, JUNE 22

SGGSH Club- 26 will meet Chandigarh Hockey Academy-42 in the  men’s final tomorrow of the Chandigarh State Junior Men & Women Hockey Championships at Sector 42 Hockey Stadium Chandigarh. 

In the semi-final matches, CHA-42 outclassed Panjab University Hockey Club by 4-0 while  SGGSH Club 26 emerged 3-0 winners 3 – 0  against Rock Rovers Hockey Club.

Dominating throughout the match, Chandigarh Hockey Academy scored through Puneet (15th and 28th, PCs), Sahil (31st) and Pawan (52nd) contributed one goal each.

In the second semi-final, SGGSH Club 26 defeated Rock Rovers Hockey Club by 3-0.. The winners owed their triumph to Prabhjot who scored a brace by  striking in the second and  fourth minutes. Prabhjot Junior wrapped up the scorecard with a field goal in the 19th minute.

SGGSHC - 26 advanced to tbe women’s final after blanking PU Hockey Club by 5-0. Kajal (6th, 7th), Gurmail (3rd, 25th) and Kamaldeep (44th) were the winners’ scorers.

In the second semi-final  CHA – Blue got the better of CHA Red by 3-2, CHA-Blue scored through  Annu (2nd, 34th) and Happy (47th). Tamanna (32nd) and Harvinder (41st) put up good fight as the score was 2-2 before Happy struck the match winner for CHA Blue.

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Adil and Parikshit upset top seeded pair in ATP Challenger

  Adil and Parikshit upset top seeded pair in ATP Challenger

ROYAN (FRANCE), JUNE 20

Indian pair of Adil Kalyanpur and Parikshit Somani advanced into the doubles final of the Royan Atlantique Open in France. In the semi-final, the Dindian partners  ousted Egor Agafonov and Maxim Zhukov1-6, 6-4, 10-5.

Vijay Sundar Prashanth of India and Sergio Martos Gornes os Spain pulled off a big upset by shocking top seeds Spanish duo of  Matwe Middelkoop and Jean-Julien Roger 6-7 (3), 7-6 (6), 10-7 in the doubles semi-final of Euro 145, 259  ATP Challenger Enea Poznan Open in Poland..

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A. Srinivas new Chief Election Officer of Haryana

 A. Srinivas new Chief Election Officer of Haryana

CHANDIGARH, JUNE 20

 The Haryana Government today replaced the Chief Election Officer (CEO) of the state, Pankaj Agarwal, IAS. In his place, orders have been issued to appoint 2004 batch IAS officer A. Srinivas as CEO Haryana as well as Commissioner and Secretary, Election Department. Srinivas was earlier posted as Secretary in the Energy Department of the State Government and Managing Director of South Haryana Electricity Distribution Corporation Limited. 

Advocate Hemant Kumar said that Pankaj Agarwal was posted as CEO Haryana a year ago in July 2024 and generally the tenure of the IAS officer posted on this post is three years. However, under certain special circumstances, the officer posted on the said post can be replaced by the state government even before this with the approval of the Election Commission of India.

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Manish Thakran outshines rivals to clinch maiden title

 

Manish Thakran (2nd from right) receives the trophy from Mr. Rajiv Vadhera, COO, Malhotra Realty Pvt Ltd (2nd from left), Mr. Kranti Vadhera, MD, Malhotra Realty Pvt Ltd (extreme right) and Mr. Amandeep Johl, CEO, PGTI (extreme left).

Manish Thakran outshines rivals to clinch maiden title  

LUDHIANA, JUNE 20

Gurugram-based Manish Thakran produced the best score of the third and final round, a five-under 67, to outshine all his rivals and clinch his maiden title with a total score of nine-under 171 at the PGTI NEXGEN Imperial Golf Estate here today.

The 29-year-old Thakran (36-68-67), who was overnight four shots off the lead in tied fourth position, registered a two-shot winning margin on Thursday thus picking up a cheque worth INR 2,54,300 that moved him into 11th position on the 2025 PGTI NEXGEN Order of Merit.

Chandigarh teenager Vasu Sehgal (33-67-73), the overnight leader by three shots, returned a 73 in round three to finish tied second at seven-under 173. Karnal golfer Tushar Pannu (31-72-70), who was overnight tied second, shot a 70 on day three to also finish joint runner-up.

Lucknow’s Rajesh Kumar Gautam (69) and Karnal’s Rohit Narwal (70) ended tied fourth with matching scores of six-under 174. Rajesh Kumar Gautam continues to lead the 2025 PGTI NEXGEN Order of Merit with season’s earnings of INR 5,31,900.

The Imperial Golf Estate is a par-72 nine-hole course where the nine holes were played twice to comprise a round.

Manish Thakran, who has come close to winning on the PGTI’s main tour in the past, began the day on a solid note with some brilliant tee shots and approach shots that earned him two birdies on the front-nine, both coming from a range of five feet.

Manish then made further gains on the back-nine where he scored four birdies in exchange for a solitary bogey. He sank a 30-footer for birdie on the 11th hole after which he bogeyed the 12th as a result of finding the water hazard. Thakran finally capped off his round in style with birdies on the 15th and 18th where he came up with a great bunker shot and a quality chip shot respectively.

Manish said, “Winning my first ever professional title feels special. My ball-striking was the standout feature of my game this week as I hit most of the fairways and greens. I was in good form with my driver and 3-wood.

“I focused hard today and kept it simple. The plan was to look for regulations and make as many pars as possible. This win has come after a long wait for me and now boosts my confidence going ahead. I would like to thank my home course, Classic Golf & Country Club, for being a great source of support for me.

“Playing at the Imperial Golf Estate for the first time has been an amazing experience. I really enjoyed the layout of this course and the playing conditions here. I would love to come back to the Imperial Golf Estate to play more events in the future.”

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Holders Rangpur Riders confirm squad for 2025 GSL

  

 

Holders Rangpur Riders confirm squad for 2025  GSL

 

GEORGETOWN (GUYANA), JUNE 20

Defending champions Rangpur Riders have officially named their squad for the highly anticipated 2025 ExxonMobil Guyana Global Super League (GSL), set to take place at the Guyana National Stadium in Providence from 10 to 18 July.

 

In 2024, the Rangpur Riders were without a point after their first three matches but found their form and eventually won their last three contests to emerge champions.

 

With a combination of dynamic batting, disciplined bowling, and strong leadership, the Riders proved to be deserving champions of an action-packed competition.

 

The Rangpur Riders, one of the leading franchises in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), bring a rich pedigree to the GSL. Having won the BPL championship in 2017, the Riders have consistently been a playoff contender over the last three seasons, showcasing their reputation for excellence and resilience.

 

The Riders are eager to defend their GSL title and have retained key players to help their cause. The defending champions will once again be led by inspirational captain Nurul Hasan. The tournament’s leading run scorer in the inaugural season, Soumya Sarkar is back as is Kamrul Islam Rabbi who spearheaded the bowling attack.

 

To aid the local stars, the Riders have included West Indian top-order batter Kyle Mayers, South Africa’s left-arm wrist spinner bowler Tabraiz Shamsi, Pakistani all-rounder Iftikhar Ahmed and Afghanistan’s top order batter Abrahim Zadran.

 

The squad reflects a good mixture of youth and experience with an eye on the conditions.

 

RANGPUR RIDERS: Nurul Hasan Sohan, Soumya Sarkar, Mohammed Naim Sheikh,  Mahidul Islam Ankon, Kamrul Islam Rabbi, Mohammed Saif Hassan, Abu Haider Rony, 

Rakubul Hasan, Yasir Ali Chowdhury, Kyle Mayers, Tarbaiz Shamshi, Ibrahim Zadran, Iftikhar Ahmed Ahmed, Akif Jadav, Harmeet Singh and Khawaja Nafay.

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