Sumit Nagal wins title at ATP Challenger, achieves career-best ranking of 135
Buenos Aires (Argentina): Indian tennis player Sumit Nagal notched up a straight-set win over home favourite Facundo Bognis to claim the men's singles title at the USD 54,160 ATP Challenger Tournament here.
The 22-year-old from Haryana, seeded seventh, outclassed 8th seed Bognis of Argentina 6-4, 6-2 in an hour and 37 minutes to win the title.
It was Sumit's second Challenger title of his career, following the triumph in the Bengaluru Challenger event in 2017.
"Brilliant performance @nagalsumit and I extend hearty Congratulations on Winning ATP Buenos Aires Challenger Title. Sumit Nagal will enter Top 135 in Rankings!," Sport minister Kiren Rijiju wrote on his twitter handle.
The talented youngster jumped of 26 spots to achieve a career-best ranking of 135 on Monday.
Last month, Nagal grabbed headlines after he made his Grand Slam debut and produced a spirited fight against the legendary Roger Federer in the first-round of the US Open.
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Air India flights to North America, Europe to use alternative routes
New Delhi (PTI): Air India will operate its flights to North America and Europe using alternative routes over available airspaces in the Middle East and cancel six flights to various European cities on March 2.
The airline, which cancelled 50 international flights on Sunday, said it would extend suspension of all flights to and from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Israel and Qatar till 23:59 hours (IST) on March 2.
In a post on X on Sunday, the carrier said six flights, including Amritsar-Birmingham (AI117) and Birmingham-Delhi (AI114), would be cancelled on Monday.
Besides, AI151 and A152 flights between Delhi and Zurich, as well as AI157 and AI158 flights between Delhi and Copenhagen, would be cancelled on Monday.
“All other flights to North America and Europe will operate as per schedule using alternative routings over available airspaces in the Middle East, which is expected to add to the flying times.
"Additionally, flights to New York (JFK) and Newark (Liberty International) will operate with technical stops at Rome (Fiumicino Airport)," Air India said.
With stops in Rome, the flying time for Air India flights to North America would increase and also result in increased operating expenses.
Since the Iran and Iraq airspaces remain closed, officials said the airline would take the Egypt route to reach Europe, which would mean 30-40 minutes of additional flying time.
The flights would take the route through Oman, the southern part of Saudi Arabia and Egypt for European and North American destinations, the officials added.
The airline also said that it continues to closely monitor the situation and has carefully assessed the evolving circumstances across multiple parameters, including safety, security, airspace availability, and operational feasibility, before deciding on these operations for March 2.
In the wake of the escalating Middle East crisis, flight operations have been significantly disrupted, with the civil aviation ministry saying Indian carriers cancelled 350 international flights on Sunday.
