Nikhat, Minakshi, Anamika make winning start at Elorda Cup
ASTANA, May 13: Reigning world champion Nikhat Zareen (52kg) made a rampaging start to her campaign with a convincing 5-0 win over Kazakhstan’s Rakhymberdi Zhansaya on the opening day of the Elorda Cup boxing tournament here on Monday.Minakshi (48kg) and Anamika (50kg) also made winning starts to their campaign.While Minakshi progressed to the next round with a 4-1 victory over Gassymova Roxana of Kazakhstan, Anamika defeated Zhumabayeva Arailym with a referee stop the contest (RSC) win in the first round.Fellow Indians Ishmeet Singh (75kg) and Sonia (54kg), however, bowed out after losing 0-5 against Kazakhstan’s Armanuly Armat and China’s Chang Yuan respectively.Six-time Asian Championships medallist Shiva Thapa (63.5kg), Sanjay (80kg) and Gaurav Chauhan (92+) will be in action on Tuesday alongside three other Indian boxers.The Boxing Federation of India has sent a 21-member squad for the prestigious tournament which has been witnessing the participation of pugilists from strong boxing nations such as Kazakhstan, China, India, Japan and Uzbekistan. (PTI)
Adarsh, Manu top qualifications in 4th 25m Olympic selection trial
BHOPAL, May 13: Manu Bhaker and Adarsh Singh emerged winners in the qualification rounds of the women’s 25m pistol and men’s 25m rapid-fire pistol respectively in the Olympic Selection Trial here Monday.All five shooters in both men’s and women’s categories will now clash in the final at the M.P. State Shooting Academy ranges on Tuesday.Anish Bhanwala took a healthy four-point lead from the first precision stage into the second rapid-fire stage, only to be pipped by Adarsh on countback, after both posted scores of 583 with the same number of 24-hits in the inner 10-ring.Ankur Goel too shot the same score but had 10 fewer hits in the inner ring, while Vijayveer Sidhu clinched fourth with 581, scoring just one inner-10 more than Bhavesh Shekhawat.Olympian Manu defeated Esha Singh on inner-10s after both shot an identical 586. Rhythm Sangwan came in third while Abhidnya Patil (582) and Simranpreet Kaur Brar (564) were fourth and fifth respectively.On pure calculations and taking best of three scores, Manu and Esha take the top two spots in the women’s event, while Anish and Vijayveer are 1-2 in the men’s RFP, irrespective of what happens in the finals.The final team for the Paris Olympics will be declared after a meeting of the selection committee post the trials. (PTI)
Squash Worlds: Tandon retires midway in second round clash
CAIRO, May 13: Injury forced India’s Ramit Tandon to retire from his second-round match against World No 7 Mohamed ElShorbagy at the squash World Championships here.Tandon, India’s highest-ranked player at 36, was trailing 3-4 in the second game when he sustained a calf injury following a promising performance in the opening game which former world champion ElShorbagy won 11-8 on Sunday.It was Tandon’s first meeting with the former World No 1. (PTI)