Indian sports wrap-up, January 25: Maaya and Paparkar exit Australian Open with opening round defeats

TENNIS

Maaya and Paparkar leave the Australian Open with defeats in the opening round

India’s singles challenge at the junior Australian Open ended within hours with Maaya Rajeshwaran Ravathi and Arnav Paparkar losing their respective opening matches here on Sunday.

Competing in the girls’ singles, Maaya struggled to find her rhythm against Anna Pushkareva, going down 4-6, 1-6 in a match that lasted just over an hour.

After a hard-fought first set, the Indian lost momentum in the second as Pushkareva turned up the aggression and raced through the set.

In the boys’ singles, Paparkar also made an early exit, losing 3-6, 4-6 to American Vihan Reddy.

Pararkar fought hard in both sets but was unable to convert key chances, with Reddy proving steadier at the crucial moments to seal the straight-set win.

Paparkar has been named as a practice partner for India’s Davis Cup squad for their upcoming 2026 qualifier against the Netherlands.

-PTI

SQUASH

Anahat almost gets upset before she goes down in New York

Rising Indian squash talent Anahat Singh almost pulled off a shock before falling to Japanese world number 7 Satomi Watanabe in the second round of the Sprott Tournament of Champions in New York.

Women’s world number 31 Anahat, competing in her first event at PSA Platinum level, won the first two matches before the experienced Japanese sixth seed rallied to claim a 6-11, 6-11, 11-2, 11-8, 11-6 result in her favor.

“It was a very difficult match for me – she (Anahat) played such great squash and her winners were insane,” said Satomi.

“All I could do was recall the things that weren’t immediately relevant… I’m just glad I got through today,” she added

-Team Sportstar

TO SHOOT

Sainyam and Gaurav win the final of the 10m Air Pistol Trial 2

Sainyam of Chandigarh and Gaurav Kumar of Uttar Pradesh finished on top in the women’s and men’s 10m Air Pistol Trail 2 finals respectively as the National Selection Trials 1 and 2 concluded in New Delhi on Sunday.

World Cup Final silver medalist Sainyam continued her good form to come out on top in the final with a dominant final score of 243.1, 5.4 points ahead of Rhythm Sangwan (237.7).

Meenu Pathak finished in the top three again in the final, finishing with a score of 218.5.

Earlier in qualifying, Suruchi Singh finished on top with an impressive 587-31x, but could only finish in eighth place in the final. Palak shot 579-16x to finish second in qualifying and shot 178.2 in the final to finish fifth.

Experienced Shwetha Singh took the third spot in the qualification with a score of 578-18x and came back in the final to finish in sixth place.

Meenu Pathak shot 577-12x in qualifying while Priya Muralidhar hit 576-16x. Rhythm Sangwan and Sainyam scored 576-15x and 576-13x while Divya TS completed the top eight with a score of 575-19x.

Gaurav improved on his second place finish in Trial 1 and finished top in T2 in a tightly contested final. Gaurav, who qualified third for the final with a score of 584-21x, shot 245.5 in the final to take the top spot ahead of Yogesh Kumar, who finished second with a final score of 244.6.

Harsh Swami from Uttar Pradesh took the third spot with a final score of 221.9 after qualifying for the final at the second position with a score of 585-26x.

-Team Sportstar

FOOTBALL

India beat Sri Lanka to finish second in the SAFF Women’s Futsal Championship

India ended their SAFF Women’s Futsal Championship 2026 campaign on a positive note with an impressive 5-2 win over Sri Lanka at the Hua Mak Indoor Stadium in Bangkok on Sunday.

India dominated the game from the first whistle, with Sonali Mondal putting in an excellent hat-trick performance. Mithila Ramani and Pooja Gupta also scored a goal each.

The win ensured India finished second in the standings behind champions Bangladesh, collecting 12 points from six matches with four wins and two losses.

-Team Sportstar

East Bengal beat Mohun Bagan in the RFDL regional qualifiers

In a cagey affair at the Naihati Stadium in Kolkata, 10-team East Bengal defeated Mohun Bagan SG 2-0 in their final match of the Reliance Foundation Development League (RFDL) 2025-26 Regional Qualifiers on Sunday.

East Bengal had the bulk of the chances in the first half as they pushed the Mariners’ defense into the background; however, failed to take the lead.

The Red & Gold Brigade continued to look sharp after the restart and quickly took the lead in the 46th minute. Guite Vanlalpeka, who earlier came agonizingly close to scoring for East Bengal, delivered a dangerous pass into the penalty area. Mohun Bagan’s Gurnaj Singh Grewal tried to clear his lines but the ball rebounded off Laikhuram Ricky Singh and went straight into the net.

The game gained momentum after the change in the scoresheet, as Mohun Bagan also had their first series of close tries. However, the East Bengal defenders led by Sonam Tsewang Lhokham maintained their stand.

Despite being reduced to 10 men with Guite’s dismissal, East Bengal looked sharp in attack and doubled their lead in stoppage time. Laikhuram Ricky Singh got on the scoresheet again as he completed a fiery counter-attack in the 92nd minute after Debojit Roy’s attempt was saved by Mohun Bagan goalkeeper Priyansh Dubey.

The result means Mohun Bagan, East Bengal and Diamond Harbor will progress to the zonal group stage of the competition.

-Team Sportstar

Published on January 25, 2026