May 21 Indian sports record: Sania Mirza loses the Strasbourg 2022 final; Priya Mohan wins 400m gold in Geneva
TENNIS
Sania Mirza and Lucie Hradecka were beaten 5-7, 7-5, 10-6 by Nicole Melchar-Martinez and Daria Saville in the doubles final of the €203,024 WTA tennis tournament in Strasbourg, France on Saturday.
The top-ranked Indo-Czech team settled for 180 WTA points and €5,400. The champion team collected 280 points and €9,680.
In the ITF $60,000 USA women’s event, Sharmada Balu and Maria Kononova were beaten 6-4, 6-4 by third seeds Reese Brnatmeier and Elvina Kalieva in the doubles semifinal.
In the $25,000 ITF men’s event in Croatia, 20-year-old Dev Javia won his first doubles title on the professional circuit with Lukas Pokorny of Slovakia.
The results: €203,024 WTA, Strasbourg, France $60,000 ITF Women, Pelham, USA $25,000 ITF Women, Montemor-O-Novo, Portugal $25,000 ITF Men, Osijek, Croatia |
– Kamesh Srinivasan
ATHLETICS
World Under-20 Relay bronze medalist Priya H. Mohan stunned Olympian Lemmens Silke to win the 400m gold medal clocking 52.93 seconds at the Interclub Athletics meet at the CSI League National in Geneva on Saturday.
Silke, the Swiss national indoor champion who ran the women’s 4x400m relay at the Tokyo Olympics and world relays last year, clocked a personal best 52.09 but finished second to Priya in 53.45.
For Priya, 19, who is backed by JSW Sports, this was her third competition on her first European tour in the senior category. She had finished fifth in a meet in Montgeron in 53.18 seconds and won the 200m “B” in 24.29 seconds in Fontainblueau – both in France – last week.
FOURTH SAND
Meanwhile, national record holder Olympian Avinash Sable finished fourth in the men’s 3000m steeplechase with a time of 8:25.82 at the USA Distance Classic in Walnut, Calif. Canadian John Gay, whose personal best is a bit slower than Sable’s 8:16.21, won the gold medal in 8:24.27.
-Stan Rayan