HOCKEY
Karthi to play in CHA super division league
The 59th Chennai Hockey Association super division league will be held at the SDAT-Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium from March 1 to 24. India players, S. Karthi, S. Mareeswaran and most of the players who had played for the Tamil Nadu State in the recently concluded Senior Nationals in Chennai will be taking part.
Fourteen teams divided into two groups are participating in the league and the top two teams from each group will clash in the semifinals.
Speaking to newspersons here on Wednesday, V. Baskaran, CHA president, said the Association is keen to finish the league on time. “There will be no postponements this time as there aren’t any major tournaments clashing with the league. It will definitely be a better league than last time,” he said.
Mohammed Muneer, the tournament director, said CHA is planning to use the services of umpires from other districts of Tamil Nadu to ensure better quality.
The promoted teams are Tamil Nadu Postal and Adyar United.
The teams:
Pool A: ICF, SDAT, AG’s Office, Income Tax, FCI, Southern Railway, Tamil Nadu Postal.
Pool B: IOB, Indian Bank, Tamil Nadu Police, GST & Central Excise, Greater Chennai City Police, SBI, Adyar United.
-Keerthivasan K
GOLF
Randhawa starts with 69, lies 51st in New Zealand
Veteran Indian golfer Jyoti Randhawa, who plans to divide his time between the Asian Tour and Legends European Tour, got off to a decent start at the New Zealand Open, carding a two-under 69 in the opening round here on Thursday.
The 50-year-old Indian, who is a former Asian Tour No. 1, was placed Tied-51st after the first round in an event that features a Pro-Am format.
Starting from the 10th tee, Randhawa went through the back-nine in a strong four-under 32 and was five-under with a birdie on the first hole.
Then came a crippling triple bogey on Par-4 fifth hole and his score dropped to two-under. He is the only Indian in the field this week.
Another veteran Scott Hend, who has 10 victories, shot a seven-under 64 to take a share of the first-round lead with countryman Matthew Griffin, who won this event in 2016.
Hend made a remarkable recovery from prostate cancer two years ago and last year won on the European Seniors Tour.
The event is being played at two courses, the Remarkables Course and the Coronet Course at Millbrook Resort, just outside Queenstown.
-PTI
Source Agencies
