MOTORSPORT

Meco Meritus Cup: Akshat Misra, Shiv Tummala, Aarav Sureka emerge champions

Bengaluru’s Akshat Misra (Peregrine Racing), with a win and another podium finish, picked up sufficient points to emerge champion in the Senior Max class as the third and final round of the Meco Meritus Cup karting concluded at the CoASTT Kartomania circuit in Coimbatore on Sunday.

Misra was placed third in Sprint Race-1, but he recovered well to win Sprint Race-2 and finished the three-round Meritus Cup, a forerunner to the Rotax Max Class National Championship, with 85 points, ahead of Chennai’s Shivaan Karthik (MSPORT) and Kiaan Shah (Rayo Racing) from Mumbai.

Hyderabad’s Shiv Tummala (Peregrine Racing), among the most consistent of drivers, retained the crown after winning both the sprint races in the Mini Max class.

Rayo Racing’s Aarav Sureka from Mumbai, who finished second and fifth in the two points-scoring outings, won the championship in the Micro Max category. Aarav ended up six points ahead of Bengaluru’s Zidaan Arshaan Anees (Peregrine Racing), winner of both the sprint races, on the leaderboard.

Rivaan Dev Preetham bags IKA Trophy

Meanwhile, in the Indian Karting Academy Trophy, running concurrently, Chennai’s Rivaan Dev Preetham (MSPORT) expectedly emerged champion in the OK-Junior class, though he finished second in the Super Heat and Final race won by teammate Rishik Rohit Reddy from Bengaluru and Rehan Khan Rasheed (Momentum Motorsports), also from Chennai, respectively.

The OKJ Junior class provides the Indian junior drivers an opportunity to experience the FIA OK-J engine, which is a replica of the FIA Karting Academy Trophy that runs with the FIA homologated OK-J engines and the FIA homologated OTK chassis.

-Team Sportstar

GOLF

IGPL Bharath Classic: Bogey-free Kochhar bags third Top-10 of the year; Sweden’s Lindh takes title

Sweden’s Charlie Lindh poses with the IGPL Bharath Classic trophy in El Jadida, Morocco. | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Karandeep Kochhar fired a bogey-free 4-under 68 on the final day to register yet another top-10 finish this season at the $500,000 IGPL Bharath Classic in Morocco. The lanky Chandigarh golfer finished T-9, his third top-10 of the year, which carried him up to 12th place on the Asian Tour Order of Merit.

Kochhar, who had rounds of 66-73-70-68, totalled 11-under, as Sweden’s Charlie Lindh (69-70-67-64) totalled 18-under for a comprehensive win. Lindh was second in his last outing at the Kolon Korea Open, and this week he produced a very consistent performance that saw him rise to third on the Order of Merit. Lindh closed his win in a commanding manner, landing an eagle on the 18th for a four-shot win.

The tournament was co-sanctioned by the Indian Golf Premier League (IGPL) and the Asian Tour.

Among other Indian IGPL players, Gaganjeet Bhullar (75-70-69-68) and Yashas Chandra (75-68-71-68) at 6-under were the next best at T-27. Bhullar had five birdies against one bogey, while Yashas was bogey-free in his 68.

Rashid Khan, with a final round of 71 and a total of 3-under, was T-41, as were Kartik Singh (71) and Sachin Baisoya (67), whose final round had two eagles on the Par-5 third and Par-5 seventh. Kartik had an action-packed round with seven birdies, two bogeys and two double bogeys.

Shaurya Bhattacharya, after a good start, finished close with 71 with three birdies and a double bogey and was T-52, while Aman Raj (70) was T-56, Pukhraj Singh Gill (75) was T-59, and Raghav Chugh (77) was T-64, as was Udayan Mane (73). Amateur Jai Bahl (74) finished T-67.

Winner of IGPL Dubai, Kochhar had an outstanding week in terms of hitting, as he found a lot of fairways and greens in regulation. However, the putter could have been better, as he needed 28 or more putts on each of the four days, including 34 on the second day when he shot 73.

Kochhar, who was T-5 at the International Series Japan, is now looking forward to the $2M International Series Morocco as he continues his search for a maiden Asian Tour win after having had a maiden win in Egypt on the Asian Development Tour, which had led to him gaining an Asian Tour card.

Kochhar birdied the third, 10th, 11th and the 14th, as he had 16 birdies during the week and left many more on the course.

The 28-year-old Lindh started the day three behind the overnight leader, Thailand’s Settee Prakongvech, but his eight-under par 64 was also the best round of the tournament.

Lindh, who had his childhood friend Isaac Bondesson on his bag, reached the edge of the green on the 18th in two shots and then putted from the fringe from 20 feet for the eagle.

Lindh said, “It feels good…feels really good. Feels like I’m still focused, but when everything settles a little bit, I will realise what I have done today. I have been playing well coming into this week, and I have been very, very excited to play golf the last couple of months because the game has been feeling better. And thankfully, I got some good results today.”

Lindh now goes to next week’s $2M International Series Morocco with a lot of confidence.

The Asian Tour will now move to the capital, Rabat, for the $2M International Series Morocco.

-Team Sportstar

ESPORTS

S8UL’s Apex Legends team qualifies for Esports World Cup 2026

S8UL Esports of India has qualified for the Apex Legends tournament at the Esports World Cup (EWC) 2026 following a standout performance in the Apex Legends Global Series (ALGS) 2026: Split 1 Pro League – APAC South.

The qualification makes Apex Legends the fourth title in which the organisation has officially secured a spot at the world’s biggest esports event, after making the cut in Honor of Kings, chess, and Fortnite.

The ALGS 2026 Split 1 Pro League – APAC South brought together 30 of the region’s top teams.

S8UL’s all-Australian roster of Rick Wirth (Sharky), Benjamin Spaseski (Jesko), and Tom Canty (Legacy), under the guidance of head coach Harrison Rogers (Rogers), delivered a consistent performance throughout the season, earning 21 additional Pro League Points to secure second place in the overall regular season standings with a total of 127 Pro League Points.

The result secured qualification for the global event while also earning the team USD 15,000 (approximately INR 14.2 lakh) in prize money and 1,350 Championship Points towards the ALGS 2025-26 rankings.

This marks the second consecutive year that S8UL will compete in Apex Legends at the EWC.

Scheduled to take place in Paris, France, from July 6 to August 23, EWC 2026 will bring together more than 2,000 players representing 200 clubs from over 100 countries competing for a record-breaking prize pool of USD 75 million (~INR 714 crore).

-Team Sportstar

Published on Jun 08, 2026