9 Indian boxers to fight for gold, rest sign off with silver
YEREVAN, Dec 4: Indian boxers Hardik Panwar, Amisha Keretta and Prachi Tokas signed off with silver medals after suffering defeats in their respective finals at the IBA Junior World Boxing Championships in Yerevan, Armenia.Asian junior champion Hardik (80kg) conceded a narrow 2-3 loss to Ashurov Bairamkhan of Russia in a closely-fought contest on Sunday.Both the boxers looked aggressive in the bout, grabbing every opportunity to score points and keeping the spectators on the edge of their seats. However, the Russian did enough to tilt the result in his favour.Meanwhile, Amisha (54kg) and Prachi (+80kg) suffered identical 0-5 losses in their respective final bouts.While Amisha lost to Ayazhan Sydyk of Kazakhstan, Prachi gave her all against two-time Asian junior champion Sobirakhon Shakhobiddinova from Uzbekistan but fell short.India have already secured 17 medals, including five bronze, in the ongoing tournament.Payal (48kg), Nisha (52kg), Vini (57kg), Shrushti (63kg), Akansha (70kg), Megha (80kg), Jatin (54kg), Sahil (75kg) and Hemant (80+kg) are the country’s nine pugilists who will fight for gold medals on the final day of the competition on Monday.Neha (46kg), Nidhi (66kg), Pari (50kg), Kritika (75kg) and Sikandar (48kg) had secured bronze medals earlier after concluding their campaigns in the semifinals. (PTI)
Shuttler Unnati keen to perform well in Guwahati
GUWAHATI, Dec 4: Rising badminton player Unnati Hooda will be the star attraction when the Yonex Sunrise Guwahati Masters Super 100 tournament begins with the qualifying rounds here on Tuesday.Ranked 79th in the world, Unnati will play her opening match against Stephanie Widjaja of Indonesia in the tournament that has the likes of Thailand’s Kantaphon Wangcharoen and Supanida Katethong, among others, in the draw sheet.Unnati, who has won all the BWF Super 100 tournaments played in the country so far, will hope to break into the top-50 of the BWF rankings with a win here.The 16-year-old had earlier set a modest target of breaking into the top-100 in the BWF world ranking by the end of this year.But Unnati has surpassed that target with back-to-back titles in Abu Dhabi and Raipur, and is hoping to get within touching distance of the top-50 spot with a strong showing here.“Our target this year was to only break into the top-100 world ranking. But I managed to finish second in the Infosys Open in Bengaluru and won titles in Abu Dhabi and Chhattisgarh and I was able to achieve that goal quickly.“I have prepared well for this tournament and I am hoping that a good run here will inch me closer to the top-50 mark,” said Unnati, who recently reached the second round of the Syed Modi Super 300 meet in Lucknow. (PTI)
Gold Coast withdraws bid to host Commonwealth Games
CANBERRA, Dec 4: Gold Coast has withdrawn its bid to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games (CWG) due to a lack of backing from the state and federal governments.Gold Coast had proposed a $700 million “scaled down” event after Victoria withdrew its bid to host the games earleir this year, citing major cost blow-outs.But, city’s Mayor Tom Tate said the Gold Coast could not host the Commonwealth Games because he had failed to secure funding from the state and federal governments. according to Sky News.“We did our best and that’s all people can expect,” Tate said in a statement on Sunday night. ““Since announcing in July that the Coast was prepared to host the 2026 games, I have been overwhelmed by support from locals, sports administrators, businesses and athletes, all wanting to see the event saved.”“We couldn’t generate support from the state or federal governments. As such, I have today written to the new Commonwealth Games Federation president, Chris Jenkins, OBE, advising that our city is moving forward and seeking other major sports and festival events,” he said.Craig Phillips, CEO of Commonwealth Games Australia, stated that the organization is actively seeking an alternative solution to support athletes. The uncertainty surrounding the Commonwealth Games’ future arose when Victoria’s withdrawal left the event without a host, marking the second consecutive edition to lose a host city abruptly. (IANS)