CHENNAI: On a day filled with drama, Delhi’s Harkrishan Wadia (co-driver Kunal Kashyap, Himachal) of Arka Motorsports emerged champion in the 47th MMSC South India Rally here on Sunday while several leading title contenders retired due to various issues with their vehicles.
Wadia not only topped the round of AVT Gold Cup FIA APRC-Asia Cup but also the season-opener of the Blueband Fmsci Indian National Rally Championship 2024 besides taking the P1 spot in the INRC 2 category for a triple crown.
His main rivals in Asia Cup, SIDVIN-MRF Tyres-sponsored Bengaluru pair of Pragathi Gowda and co-driver Trisha Alonkar failed to finish as they ran out of the fuel. The second spot went to Hyderabad pair of Naveen Puligilla and co-driver Santosh Thomas with Coimbatore’s Ramcharan C (co-driver Jeevarathinam, Bengaluru) of Arka Motorsports completing the podium.
In the national championship, Wadia won the overall and INRC 2 titles as overnight leader Himachal’s Aditya Thakur and co-driver Virender Kashyap were docked a 30-second penalty for late check-in as they stopped to repair
Muguntha shines
BB Muguntha Vathanan’s unbeaten 79 helped Autolec ERC to beat Thiruthani CC by seven wickets in the third division match of the TNCA-Thiruvallur DCA league.
Brief Scores: III Division: Thiruthani CC 220 in 30 ovs (B Vimal Raj 90; C Ashok Kumar 4/14) lost to Autolec ERC 224/3 in 28.2 ovs (G Saravanan 50, BB Muguntha Vathanan 79 n.o.). IV Division: DRBCCC Hindu College 154 in 30 ovs (S Sathyanarayan 64, S Adithya 4/50, S Thiyagamoorthi 3/22) bt FSCA 126/9 in 30 ovs (Jeya Singh Michael Mathavan 41).
Akshay scalps five
Akshay Kumar’s 5 for 49 propelled Ait Force Station, Avadi to defeat Ashok Leyland, Ennore by four wickets in the 19th Lucas TVS Thiruvallur DCA Trophy limited-overs tournament. Brief scores: Group A: Ashok Leyland, Ennore 183/9 in 30 ovs (Praveen 40 n.o.; Akshay Kumar 5/49) lost to Air Force Station, Avadi 184/6 in 28.1 ovs (MK Bhatta 86 n.o).
AICF international GM women chess tournament
The 2nd edition of the Velammal-AICF International women Grandmaster round-robin chess tournament will be organised by Tamil Nadu State Chess Association at Chennai from March 18 to 25, 2024.
This tournament consists of 12 players- five foreign players and seven Indian players out of which three players are from Tamil Nadu. Apart from Indian players two players from Mongolia, one player each from France, Italy, Colombia are participating in the tournament.