Indian sports wrap, November 7: Velavan exits London Open squash; St. Froebel lifts Delhi Capitals School Cup

SQUASH

Velavan Senthilkumar bows out of London Open in quarters

India’s Velavan Senthilkumar bowed out of the London Open after losing to French World No. 99 Amir Khaled-Jousselin in the men’s quarterfinals on Friday.

World No. 42 Senthilkumar, the second seed, went down 11-13, 6-11, 7-11 in what was a major upset at the USD 18000 PSA Challenger event.

In-form Senthilkumar had won his second PSA Copper-level crown at the Czech Open earlier this week.

-Team Sportstar

ESPORTS

India to compete in global championship of F1 Sim Racing

The Indian simulator racing unit has earned a spot in the Cup of Nations that will see it compete with top international teams in the two-day global championship in Mumbai.

The event, to be held from November 7-9, is organised by Mumbai Falcons Racing Limited in partnership with Formula 1.

Representing India in the 18-team event will be Karl Verghese and Siddharth Sathgare, following the former’s crowning as the national champion in the Open Category at the F1 Sim Racing.

Verghese finished with 150 points, while fellow Mumbaikar Siddharth Sathgare secured second place with 96 points and Chennai’s Amith Kutti finished third with 91 points.

The podium finishers maintained their distance from the rest of the pack throughout the six-race competition. Karl remained unbeaten across all six races to establish his dominance in the category.

-Press Trust of India

ARCHERY

Youth Olympics: Archer Gatha storms into pre-quarterfinals with straight-set win

India’s lone archer Gatha Khadake made a confident start to her campaign at the Youth Olympics, cruising into the pre-quarterfinals of the women’s recurve under-18 event with a straight-set 6-0 win over Ivory Coast’s Sita Sore in Dakar on Saturday.

The third-seeded Gatha was in complete control throughout the first-round contest, winning 28-21, 28-24, 28-19 to wrap up the match without breaking a sweat.

The 16-year-old was consistent across all three sets, scoring 28 points each time and dropping just two points from her six arrows in every set.

Sore struggled to keep pace, managing scores of 21, 24 and 19.

Gatha opened with two 9s and a 10 to take the first set, 28-21.

She followed it up with two 9s and an X in the second to extend her lead to 4-0.

The Indian then completed the rout with an X, a 10 and an eight in the third set, while Sore managed just 19 points, including two fives.

The archer from a village near Solapur in Maharashtra has already gained valuable international experience despite her young age, having made her senior debut at the World Cup Stage 4 in Madrid last year. She defeated Chinese Taipei’s Chiu Yi-Ching, a 2022 World Cup bronze medallist, to reach the pre-quarterfinals there.

Her most notable performance came at the World Championships in Gwangju last year, where she made an impressive run to the fourth round. With experienced Indian archers Deepika Kumari and Ankita Bhakat having exited earlier, Gatha was the country’s last competitor in the fray before losing to Korean Olympic medallist Lim Sihyeon.

Gatha will next face Bulgaria’s 14th seed Neda Kenderova in the round of 16 on Monday.

-Press Trust of India

CRICKET

St. Froebel ends Modern School’s two-season unbeaten run, lifts 2026 Delhi Capitals School Cup

St. Froebel Paschim Vihar brought an end to defending champion Modern School, Barakhamba Road’s remarkable unbeaten run across two seasons to lift the 2026 Delhi Capitals School Cup title with a comprehensive eight-wicket victory in the final at The Games Forest ground in Gurugram on Friday.

Modern School, which had won all its matches in both the inaugural edition and the 2026 tournament leading up to the final, suffered its first defeat in two seasons in the title clash. However, a clinical bowling performance led by Karn Sharma, followed by a blistering batting display from opener Laksh Narang, ensured that St. Froebel produced a memorable upset against one of the tournament’s most dominant sides, chasing down a target of 56 in just 3.2 overs.

Abeer Sudan of Billabong School, Noida, dominated the individual batting charts to claim the Orange Cap after an outstanding campaign in which he amassed 421 runs in five innings at a remarkable strike rate of 249 and an average of 210. He also topped the overall performance rankings and was adjudged the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the tournament.

In the bowling department, Vinayak of Modern School, Barakhamba Road, claimed the Purple Cap after finishing as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with 15 wickets at an economy rate of 5.55.

The Fair Play Award was presented to Billabong School, Noida, in recognition of the team’s sporting conduct throughout the tournament.

The second edition of the Cup brought together 38 teams for 66 matches across four venues in the Delhi-NCR region. The tournament commenced on October 9 and culminated with the final on November 6.

-Team Sportstar

FOOTBALL

Super League Kerala: Magic break the jinx

Finally, after six games, Thrissur Magic has posted an outright win.

For a team that played the Super League Kerala (SLK) football final last year, this has indeed been a season of disappointment.

On Saturday night, in front of its fans who turned up in fairly large numbers at the Municipal Corporation Stadium, the Thrissur men beat Kannur Warriors 2-0. And it was to Kannur that they lost in the final last year. So, this victory would have pleased them immensely.

Thrissur now has seven points, the same as Kannur. The two sides are at the bottom of the table, which has Calicut FC at the top with 14 points, followed by Forca Kochi (13), Malappuram FC (11) and Thiruvananthapuram Kombans (eight).

Calicut and Kombans have played only six games each, one less than the others, and they come face to face at Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday.

On this night, Thrissur was a deserving winner. The host had taken an early lead in the seventh minute through Valentine Ekejiuba.

The Nigerian scored following a long ball from Sergio Gil; when the goalkeeper S. Hajmal fumbled, Valentine took advantage and celebrated the goal with a double somersault.

Valentine had chances to score two more goals in the first half, though. But he had a hand in his team’s second goal; it was off his pass into the box that Silajit Santra scored.

For the defending champion, it was a fourth straight loss.

-P.K. Ajith Kumar

BEACH WRESTLING

Taniya storms into beach wrestling final at Youth Olympics

India’s Taniya stormed into the women’s 75kg beach wrestling final at the Youth Olympic Games, setting up a gold-medal clash with China’s Zhao Min after an unbeaten run in the competition in Dakar on Saturday.

Taniya was in dominant form throughout the day, winning all four of her bouts to book her place in the title clash.

She began her campaign with a 3-1 victory over Germany’s Mia Mauer in Group B, winning by technical superiority, before getting past Greece’s Vasiliki Karavanou by the same route in her second group bout at Saly Beach West.

The Indian continued her impressive run in the knockout rounds, defeating Estonia’s Merily Vaester 4-1 by technical superiority in the quarterfinals before overcoming Matilda Ann Hruby of the United States 3-1 in the semifinals to seal her place in the final.

Taniya will now take on China’s Zhao Min with a gold medal at stake.

Beach wrestling, a fast-paced combat sport contested on sand within a seven-metre circular area, is making its debut at the 2026 Dakar Youth Olympic Games in Senegal.

Each bout lasts a maximum of three minutes, with a wrestler declared the winner upon scoring three points or executing a decisive throw that lands the opponent on their back.

-PTI

Published on Nov 07, 2026