Indian sports wrap, October 1: Gaganjeet Bhullar to lead Indian charge at Jakarta International Championship – Sportstar

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Updated : Oct 01, 2025 21:55 IST , Chennai – 6 MINS READ
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The Indian charge at the Jakarta International Championship will be led by Gaganjeet Bhullar. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Bhullar leads strong Indian contingent into Jakarta International Championship
India will be represented by an 11-player contingent at the inaugural Jakarta International Championship, held at Damai Indah Golf’s PIK Course from October 2 to 5, as part of The International Series.
Leading the charge is Gaganjeet Bhullar, a five-time winner on Indonesian soil and member of the India Olympic team last year in Paris. Bhullar will be joined by Khalin Joshi, Ajeetesh Sandhu, Rahil Gangjee, Karandeep Kochhar, Viraj Madappa, Chikkarangappa S., S.S.P. Chawrasia, Shiv Kapur, Rashid Khan, and Yuvraj Sandhu – representing one of the strongest international line-ups in the field.
Bhullar, 36, has enjoyed a remarkable career on the Asian Tour and remains a formidable force in the region. His most recent triumph on The International Series came at the BNI Indonesian in November 2023.
-Special Arrangement
Premier League to host week-long series of fan engagement and community activity in Mumbai
The Premier League will stage a week-long series of activities in Mumbai, headlined by former Liverpool, Manchester United, and Newcastle United striker Michael Owen, together with the iconic Premier League Trophy.
The activities will begin on October 4, with Premier League Live, a fan-park style screening at the NESCO Centre supported by the League’s official broadcast partner JioStar. More than 1,000 fans will be able to experience a Premier League matchday atmosphere with multiple matches being shown live.
The League will also be delivering a Community Coach Development Programme in collaboration with the British Council to support 27 community coaches and expand access to football.
Led by coaches from the Premier League, Brentford FC and Newcastle United FC, the three-day programme will include a showcase event on October 8 at Cooperage Football Ground in Mumbai.
-Team Sportstar
Punjab National Bank claim dominant win over Tamil Nadu Police in Inter-Department National Championship 2025 
Day two of the 5th Hockey India Senior Men Inter-Department National Championship 2025 witnessed dominant displays from Railway Sports Promotion Board, Comptroller & Auditor General of India, All India Police Sports Control Board, and Punjab National Bank, who all secured convincing wins at the Naval Tata Hockey Academy ground in Jamshedpur.
In the opening clash, Railway Sports Promotion Board defeated Central Reserve Police Force 5-1 in Pool B. Captain Sayyad Niyaz Rahim (6’) set the tone early before Pankaj (12’, 15’) netted twice. Simranjot Singh (43’) and Gursahibjit Singh (56’) added one apiece to complete the tally. For CRPF, Samsher (49’) struck a consolation goal.
In the second encounter, Comptroller & Auditor General of India outclassed Sashastra Seema Bal 9-2 in Pool B. Thrishul Ganapathi H (13’, 38’) led the charge alongside Surya N M (35’, 44’, 52’), who bagged a hat-trick. Venkatesh Telugu (27’), V. Veerathamizhan (35’, 60’), and Sarfaraz Khanpathan Aamid (58’) also chipped in. For SSB, Divit Bisht (20’) and Francis Toppo (24’) were the scorers.
Later in Pool A, All India Police Sports Control Board stunned Petroleum Sports Promotion Board 3-0. Vijay Kumar Gond (6’) put the team ahead early, while Aman Sharma (47’) and Mohammad Haris (52’) sealed a commanding win.
The final fixture saw Punjab National Bank overwhelm Tamil Nadu Police 7-0 in Pool A. After a goalless first half, the floodgates opened in the third quarter. Ningombam Jenjen Singh (33’, 45’) struck twice, while Vishal Antil (40’), Gursimran Singh (47’, 52’), Naveen Antil (48’), and Sanjay (54’) added to the tally in a clinical second-half performance.
-Team Sportstar
Services, Haryana begin strong as inaugural BFI Cup starts in Chennai
The inaugural BFI Cup 2025 got underway at the Vellore Institute of Technology in Chennai on Wednesday, with Services and Haryana boxers registering early wins in the preliminaries to set the tone for the week-long tournament.
In the women’s draw, Haryana’s Mahi Siwach edged past Tamil Nadu’s Deepa S 3:2 in the 48kg weight category, while Lucky Singhmar stopped Janet Philoveena J (Tamil Nadu) with an RSC in the second round of their 75kg clash. Rashi Sharma of Uttar Pradesh and Darshana of All India Police also advanced with narrow victories in their respective sections, while Shena Kumari of Jharkhand (57kg) and Railways pugilist Anjali (70kg) recorded dominant 5:0 wins.
In the men’s section, Services marked their presence early as Deepak defeated Haryana’s Vishesh 3:2 in the 55kg category, Hussam Uddin outclassed Chirag 5:0 in an all Services 60kg section clash, and Arman Ahlawat (75kg) overcame Punjab’s Arshpreet Singh Bhati 5:0. Haryana too opened with a strong result as Pankaj Kumar (65kg) blanked Vaibhav Dahiya of SAI 5:0.
Other winners included Sanjit Singh Keisham (50kg) and Mitesh Deswal (60kg) from Railways, Ratandeep Sharma (65kg) of Uttar Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu’s S Vasanth Raj (70kg), who forced an RSC in the first round against Yash Solanki of Delhi.
-Team Sportstar
Fenesta National tennis championship: Soha beats qualifier Aakruti in women’s pre-quarterfinals
Fourth seed Soha Sadiq was at her competitive best to beat qualifier Aakruti Sonkusare 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 in the women’s pre-quarterfinals of the Fenesta National tennis championship at the DLTA Complex on Wednesday.
In the quarterfinals, Soha will be up against sixth seed Aditi Rawat, who had an equally tough outing against Yubrani Banerjee in a three-setter.
Vaishnavi Adkar, Sahira Singh, Sonal Patil, Jennifer Luikham, Saumya Ronde, and Akanksha Nitture were the others to make the women’s quarterfinals.
Soha Sadiq fought her way into the quarterfinals of the National tennis championship in Delhi on Wednesday. | Photo Credit: Kamesh Srinivasan
In the men’s section, top seed Nitin Kumar Sinha won back-to-back matches against Moksh Puri and Smit Patel to make the quarterfinals.
Smit had done a remarkable job of beating Jagmeet Singh after being down 4-6, 0-4 in the first round. But later in the day, he suffered a bout of painful cramps midway through the second set against Nitin Sinha and retired.
Nitin will have the former champion Manish Sureshkumar to contend with in the quarterfinals.
The other former national champion, Olympian Vishnu Vardhan, was in top form as he sailed past Pratush Mohanty and A Deepak in back-to-back matches, losing four games in all in four sets.
Owing to the heavy rain on Tuesday, the backlog of matches meant the schedule went late into the evening on Wednesday, despite it being bright and sunny.
-Kamesh Srinivasan
Grandmaster P Iniyan wins National Chess Championship
Grandmaster P Iniyan of Tamil Nadu on Wednesday won the 62nd National Chess Championship, remaining undefeated in the tournament played over 11 rounds here.
The top-seeded player collected nine points out of a possible 11 following seven wins and four draws.
On the way to the title, Iniyan scored wins against state-mate and International Master Harsh Suresh, GM Deepan Chakkravarthy of the Railways, and GM Sasikiran Krishnan of Petroleum Sports Promotion Board, who finished third in the tournament.
The 10-day tournament saw 394 players from across the country, including 14 GMs, 30 IMs, and 15 FIDE Masters, compete for the title.
Going into the final round against Abhijeet Gupta (PSPB), Iniyan was in sole lead, but a draw in the match allowed IM Goutham Krishna from Kerala — with whom Iniyan had a drawn game in Round 7 — to catch up on nine points.
But Iniyan was adjudged the winner on the basis of better tie-break results, with Goutham taking the runner-up spot.
The victory makes Iniyan the national champion in both the Classical and Rapid sections. Iniyan had won the National Rapid title in March this year.
The 23-year-old’s fine showing this year has not just made him eligible for the Asian Championship, Commonwealth Championship, and several other events next year but also taken his rating to 2600-plus.
-PTI
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Published on Oct 01, 2025
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