OTHER SPORTS
Ajit Agarkar, wife Fatema to start early learning centre ACE Juniors
Chief selector Ajit Agarkar and his wife Fatema will launch a new-age early learning centre ACE Juniors on July 29 with a curriculum that will focus on developing creativity, emotional intelligence and communication among children.
The curriculum draws inspiration from Cambridge Early Years, Reggio Emilia, Steiner Education, the Alberta Curriculum and the New Zealand Curriculum Framework, while remaining “deeply rooted in Indian developmental and cultural contexts.” “Children today are growing into a world that will demand adaptability, empathy, resilience and problem-solving far beyond academic knowledge.
“ACE Juniors is designed to nurture these real-life capabilities from the very beginning, through inquiry, exploration and meaningful experiences,” said Fatema, educationist, and founder of Agarkar Centre of Excellence.
Starting out as a preschool, ACE Juniors will evolve into a full K-12 ecosystem (from kindergarten to 12th grade) in the coming years.
“Cricket taught me that success is never just about talent. It comes from learning every day, staying adaptable, working as a team, and developing the resilience to handle both success and setbacks. These are lifelong skills, and they should begin developing early in a child’s life,” said Agarkar.
-PTI
GOLF
Diksha finishes Tied 16th in Scotland
A patchy final round of 1-over 73 meant that Indian golfer Diksha Dagar finished tied-16th at the Women’s Scottish Open here.
Diksha was gunning for a fifth Top-10 finish, but slipped after compiling 2-over 290 for four days. The event was co-sanctioned with LPGA.
India’s Pranavi Urs and Avani Prashanth missed the cut.
Korea’s Jenny Shin returned to the winner’s circle after a 10-year absence. Shin won by two strokes as she produced a wire-to-wire victory with rounds of 66, 67, 71 and 75.
It is a second LPGA Tour title for Shin, who won the 2016 Ascendant LPGA benefiting Volunteers of America, and a first title on the Ladies European Tour (LET).
Diksha opened the day with a birdie and added one more on the fourth, but a double bogey on the fifth brought her back to par.
A birdie on the seventh raised hopes of a Top-10, but bogeys on the eighth and the 12th meant another setback. Diksha parred the last six holes for a 73. She will now play the AIG Women’s Open next month.
The result this week also saw Diksha move to sixth place on the LET Order of Merit.
Korea’s A Lim Kim ended the week in solo second place on seven-under-par after a final round of 68 (-4) which included five birdies and one bogey. Thailand’s Pajaree Anannarukarn was third on five-under-par with Germany’s Esther Henseleit one shot further back in fourth.
The LET heads to the final Major championship of the year with the AIG Women’s Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes from July 30 until August 2.
-PTI
SQUASH
Indian men enter pre-quarters in World Junior squash team competition
The Indian men’s team brushed aside Brazil and the Netherlands to advance to the pre-quarterfinal of the World Squash Junior Team Championships in Ontario, Canada.
Fifth seed Indian men swept the Netherlands and Brazil by an identical 3-0 margin to top Group 5 enroute to round of 16.
The women’s team, also seeded fifth, drubbed Chinese Taipei 3-0, and will meet Malaysia next in Group 4.
Anahat Singh was rested for the women’s opening round, a day after being crowned the World Junior champion.
Results (group stage):
Men:
India bt the Netherlands 3-0 (Gurveer Singh bt Freek Bonnema 11-4, 11-0, 11-2; Yusha Nafees bt Jesper Hempenius 11-1, 11-4, 11-2; Aryaveer Dewan bt Quinten van Es 11-4, 11-3, 11-5).
India bt Brazil 3-0 (Purav Rambhia bt Bernardo Jorge Guimaraes 11-6, 11-5, 11-3; Yusha Nafees bt Matheus Frabetti 11-3, 11-2, 11-9; Aryaveer Dewan bt Viggo Hendricks 11-7, 11-0, 11-0).
HOCKEY
Intense competition expected in Hockey India Junior Men National Championship
A total of 30 teams across three divisions will take part in the 16th edition of the Hockey India Junior Men National Championship starting in Coimbatore from Tuesday.
Promotion and relegation will add further significance to every fixture in the competition, which will culminate on August 8, as the teams placed in Division A will compete for the title, while the teams in Divisions B and C will be engaged in a battle for promotion to the next division.
Division A will have 12 teams divided into four pools of three teams each. Pool A comprises Hockey Haryana, Hockey Madhya Pradesh, and Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu. Pool B consists of Hockey Association of Odisha, Manipur Hockey, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu Hockey.
Pool C will have Hockey Punjab, Hockey Jharkhand, and Delhi Hockey, while Pool D features Uttar Pradesh Hockey, Hockey Karnataka, and Hockey Bengal.
After the conclusion of the league stage, the top two teams from each pool will compete in the quarterfinal to be held on August 5. The semifinals will be on August 6 while the playoff for the third-placed side will be on August 8.
– PTI
MOTORSPORT
India’s Aditya wins his first international race at Sepang
Indian racer Aditya Patnaik won Round 3 of the Sporting Class at the Gold Vios Championship Malaysia at the iconic Sepang International Circuit here.
Aditya came third in Race 1 and then won Race 2 to seal the top spot on the podium for Round 3, and collect prize money of MYR 15,000.
This was the Mumbai-based youngster’s maiden international racing victory in his first year on the circuit, after graduating from the Polo Cup India as the Vice-National Champion two years in a row.
Aditya from Rayo Racing, driving for former F1 racer Alex Young’s Team Axle Sports, lost some positions in the opening laps as the front bunch of cars ran up to four cars wide in the first few corners.
The former Indian National Karting Champion then had an intense wheel to wheel battle with Malaysia’s Taj Aiman.
However, it was Lew Xuan Yan who won ahead of Aiman and Aditya.
The top eight finishers of Race 1 get reversed for the start of Race 2.
Aditya’s third place finish meant he had to start sixth. A good start helped him gain some positions and by Lap 3 he was in third place.
Following a battle with Adam Mikail, Aditya eventually took the lead and held it on to bag his maiden international win.
“Race 1 was entirely a wheel-to-wheel battle, and Race 2 turned into my best race of the year — fighting and earning the lead for the win was a great feeling,” said Aditya.
-PTI
Published on Jul 27, 2026
