GOLF
PGA Tour winners Viktor Hovland and Ryan Fox join DP World India Championship field
PGA Tour winners Viktor Hovland and Ryan Fox will join the elite field for the second DP World India Championship in New Delhi from October 15 to 18 this year, the event organizers said on Tuesday.
Some of the best players in the world will once again tee up at the Delhi Golf Club for the USD four million event.
Hovland and Fox join a trio of European Ryder Cup stars in defending champion Tommy Fleetwood, back-to-back Masters winner Rory McIlroy and Major champion Justin Rose.
Hovland returns for his second appearance at the DP World India Championship, after finishing tied sixth on his debut last October.
The 28-year-old was the first player from Norway to win on both the DP World Tour and PGA Tour, and the three-time Ryder Cup player was part of Europe’s historic back-to-back wins in Rome in 2023 and New York last September.
“I really enjoyed the experience at the DP World India Championship last year. We had a lot of fun both on and off the golf course, and the welcome we received everywhere we went was incredible, so I can’t wait to get back to Delhi in October,” he stated in a press release.
Four-time DP World Tour winner Fox will be making his professional debut in India when he tees up at the Delhi Golf Club this year. The New Zealander, who won twice on the PGA Tour in 2025, is defending his RBC Canadian Open title this week.
“I’m excited to play in India for the first time, and especially after hearing such great things about the DP World India Championship. It sounds like a fantastic event, played on an interesting, historic course, and I’m looking forward to everything about the week,” he said.
The DP World India Championship features the largest prize fund ever offered for a DP World Tour event in India and will once again take its place as part of the crucial Back 9 phase of the Race to Dubai.
-PTI
Ridhima looks to continue dominance as 7th leg of Hero WPGT tees off in Mysuru
Ridhima Dilawari, who won three of the six events in the 2026 Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour, will look to continue her dominance as the seventh leg gets underway in Mysuru.
The tournament at the Jayachamaraja Wadiyar Golf Course heralds the start of the second half of the 2026 domestic season. The Par-70 course will play to just under 6000 yards.
Ridhima won the second, fourth and sixth legs of the Tour and holds a sizeable lead over the field on the Hero Order of Merit standings.
Of the remaining three events, Jasmine Shekar, Tvesa Malik and amateur Lavanya Gupta won once each. This week Jasmine and Lavanya are not participating.
Ridhima’s best season was in 2019, when she won five times in 12 starts and was second, behind Gaurika Bishnoi in the Order of Merit.
She won only once in 2025, but has been in great form as she divides her time between the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour, the AM Green IGPL Tour and the Ladies European Tour, where she is hoping to get a few starts.
Ridhima will be up against Vani Kapoor, one of the most successful players ever on the Hero Women’s Pro Golf Tour.
Vani, the 2025 Hero Order of Merit winner with five wins, is looking to get her first win of 2026 after having played only three of the first six events this year.
The experienced Amandeep Drall, Tvesa, the Hero supported player, Neha Tripathi, a resurgent Jahanvi Bakshi, Shweta Mansingh, Durga Nittur, Anvitha Narender, Sneha Singh and Khushi Khanijau too will be hoping to make a mark.
The strong field includes promising young professionals like Mannat Brar, Vidhatri Urs, Heena Kang and others.
The field includes 11 amateurs, headlined by the US-bound Zara Anand, Ananyaa Sood, Alysha Dutt and Ceerat Kang.
In the first round, Ridhima has been grouped with Eti Chaudhary and Khushi, while Vani plays alongside Vrinda Yadav and amateur Nainika V Kumar.
Tvesa will play in the company of Prakruthi Sastry and amateur Ragini Navet, while Amandeep goes out with amateur Ananyaa Sood and Seher Atwal.
-PTI
Abhishek Kumar takes opening-round lead at Vijay Kumar Memorial golf meet
Twenty-four-year-old Abhishek Kumar of Panchkula carded an error-free five-under 65 to open up a two-shot lead after round one of the inaugural Rs 25 lakh DP World PGTI NexGen Vijay Kumar Memorial at Lucknow Golf Club here on Tuesday.
Abhishek, who started from the fifth hole in the shotgun format, made five birdies without dropping a shot to emerge as the sole leader.
The Panchkula golfer currently occupies fourth place on the NexGen Order of Merit, having registered a victory at the season-opening DP World PGTI event in Faridabad in February.
Reflecting on his bogey-free effort, Abhishek said, “It was important for me to stay bogey-free today. I hit the ball well and kept giving myself chances. I found 16 greens in regulation and managed to save par on the two holes where I missed the green.” He added, “The par save on the sixth was important. I missed the green there but holed a 12 to 13-foot putt to keep the card clean.” Forty-one-year-old Pawan Kumar of Delhi and local professional Rishi Kumar shared second place at three-under 67, two shots behind the leader.
Pawan, who started from the third hole, mixed six birdies with three bogeys during his round. His best finish on the main tour remains a tied-sixth place at the Jaipur Open in 2017.
Faridabad’s Sachin Chauhan, Delhi’s Ajay Baisoya, Lucknow’s Rajesh Kumar Gautam and Kolkata’s Tutul Ali were tied fourth at two-under 68.
Talking about his round, he added, “I got off to a strong start with birdies on the opening two holes, which gave me early momentum. One of the highlights of the day was a birdie putt from around 25 to 30 feet on the 10th hole.” Pawan, a regular on the DP World PGTI since 2011, is making his first NexGen start of the season. The event holds special significance for him as it honors Vijay Kumar, one of his earliest mentors.
Pawan first met Vijay during his debut professional season in Lucknow in 2011, where Vijay claimed the title while Pawan finished tied third, just two shots behind.
Pawan regained his playing privileges for the 2026 DP World PGTI season after successfully coming through Qualifying School earlier this year.
The winner of the 2026 DP World PGTI NexGen Order of Merit will earn an exemption on the main tour for the 2027 season.
Launched in 2025, the DP World PGTI NexGen Tour serves as the developmental circuit of Indian professional golf.
-PTI
CRICKET
Shakir leads Adamas Howrah Warriors to first win of the season
Captain Shakir Habib Gandhi scored an unbeaten half-century and Sujit Yadav took three wickets as Adamas Howrah Warriors defeated Kolkata Royal Tigers by seven wickets in a rain-curtailed match to register its first win in the Bengal T20 League at the Eden Gardens here on Tuesday.
Asked to bat, Tigers relied on Ronit Ghosh’s career best knock (71 no, 37b, 3×4, 6×6) to overcome a disastrous start and post 149 for eight. Following a bout of rain, Warriors, which had a revised target of 122 in 15 overs, reached the winning total losing three wickets.
Ronit exhibited his power and range to revive Tigers from 75 for seven. His blitzkrieg, including a few flat-batted straight sixes, helped his team plunder 55 runs in the last three overs.
Warriors’ left-arm spinner Sujit bowled tightly to claim three wickets.
In reply, Warriors lost two wickets for 12 runs. However, Kazi Junaid Saifi (34, 23b, 5×4) and Gandhi (52 no, 32b, 5×4, 1×6) added 55 runs. Gandhi, who earlier shone behind the stumps, ruled the off-side as he formed another vital partnership worth 57 runs with Shashank Singh (32 no, 18b, 5×4) and earned the first points for Warriors.
The scores:
Men:
Kolkata Royal Tigers 149/8 in 20 overs (Ronit Ghosh 71 no, Sujit Yadav 3/20) lost to Adamas Howrah Warriors 124/3 in 13.2 overs (Kazi Junaid Saifi 34, Shakir Habib Gandhi 52 no, Shashank Singh 32 no) (Revised target: 122 in 15 overs, DLS method).
On Monday: Servotech Siliguri Strikers 152/9 in 20 overs (Sudip Chatterjee 50, Karan Lal 53, Saksham Chaudhary 2/20, Toufikuddin Mondal 3/15) bt Murshidabad Kings 62 in 12 overs (Abhishek Raman 26, Ishan Porel 3/11, Karan Lal 4/12).
Women:
Murshidabad Queens 160/4 in 20 overs (Kashish Agarwal 43, Tanushree Sarkar 39) bt Novus Royals Purulia 110/5 in 20 overs (Toriya Singha Roy 50, Jahnabi Raj Paswan 2/16); Shrachi Rarh Tigers 102 in 18.4 overs (Bristi Maji 29, Piyali Ghosh 31, Monika Mal 2/25, Salma Khatoon 2/1, Rupa Dutta 2/7, Soumi Roy 2/8) lost to Rashmi Nes Medinipur Wizards 88/2 in 14.1 overs (Sweta Singh 38, Adrija Sarkar 30 no) (Revised target: 88 in 16 overs, DLS method).
-Team Sportstar
TENNIS
Srishti Kiran becomes World No. 1 in Under-13 tennis
Continuing her meteoric rise on the international junior tennis circuit, 13-year-old Bengaluru prodigy Srishti Kiran has achieved another significant milestone by becoming the World No. 1 in the Under-13 age group rankings.
The achievement comes on the back of an extraordinary run that saw Srishti win five consecutive ITF junior titles before finishing runner-up at the ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors J100 Guatemala last week. Her remarkable consistency and success propelled her to a career-high ITF Junior ranking of No. 357, making her the highest-ranked player globally in the Under-13 category.
-Team Sportstar
Published on Jun 09, 2026
