Indian wushu players win 7 medals in Junior World Championships
New Delhi, Sep 29: Indian wushu players bagged a rich haul of seven medals, including two gold, in the 9th Junior World Championships which concluded in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei, on Sunday. India also won 1 silver and 4 bronze in the competition. “This marked the first time that Indian player Aryan, competing in the 48kg weight category, clinched the gold medal after a fierce contest against a Chinese player,” a release from Wushu Association of India said. “Additionally, Indian player Shaurya triumphed over his Iranian opponent to win another gold medal.” Nang Mingbi Borphukan won a silver medal in the Taolu Jian Shu C Group event. Tanish Nagar (56kg), Abhijeet (60kg), Divyanshi (60kg women) and Yuvraj (42kg) won a bronze medal each. (PTI)
Sujin, Vaghela move up to joint second in world junior blind chess
Bengaluru, Sep 29: India’s Rahul Vaghela and John Harris Sujin moved to joint second spot with quick wins in the boys’ section of the World Junior and Women Chess Championship for the Blind and Visually Impaired here on Sunday. Vaghela (1.5 points) defeated compatriot Omkar Sameer, while Sujin (1.5 points) overcame fellow Indian Rahul Sahani in the second round. Poland’s Racis Michal is leading the table with 2 points and on this day he strolled past fellow Polish Fabian Spionkowski. India’s Sam Peniel won his second-round match over Bor Gradisek of Slovakia. In the battle of Indians, Ashwin Rajesh overcame Tanish Waghmare. In the girls’ section, Asian Para gold medallist Megha Chakraborty lost to Emelia Egeman of Poland. Shobha Lokhande gained a win over Bland Marilyn of USA to log her first point of the event, and Aiysha Sainab of India too got onto the points table with a facile victory over Kazakhstan’s Ainagul Tashenova. (PTI)
Delhi’s Tushar breaks 46-second barrier to win gold in 400m
Patna, Sep 29: Delhi quarter-miler Tushar Kanti Manna and Haryana javelin thrower Jyoti were cynosure of all eyes as they bettered meet records on the penultimate day of the Indian Open U23 Athletics Competition here on Sunday. While Manna broke the meet record as well as the 46-second barrier to win gold in 400m, Jyoti improved upon her own javelin throw meet record. Manna shifted gears in the home stretch to post a winning time of 45.92 seconds in the men’s 400m, which was better than the meet record of 46.58 seconds set in 2021 by Ayush Dabas. At the javelin throw arena, defending champion Jyoti was unstoppable. She surged ahead of other competitors on her opening throw but got a big throw on her fifth attempt (58.49m), which was better than her own previous meet record of 52.77m set in 2023. She had a series of 54.92m, 55.83m, 57.41m, 54.27m, 58.49m and 55.40m. Jyoti’s teammate Deepika also bettered the previous meet record. Her silver-medal winning throw was 54.71m. Odisha’s Animesh Kujur and Sudeshna Hanmant Shivankar of Maharashtra emerged as the fastest male and female athletes of the meet. Kujur clocked 10.40 seconds, while Sudeshna’s winning time was 11.76 seconds. On his way to winning gold, Haryana’s Abhimanyu equalled the men’s discus throw meet record of 53.66m set last year by Dinesh Kumar in Chandigarh. Two women high jumpers – Gobika K of Tamil Nadu and Payal of Gujarat – equalled the meet record of 1.76m. Gobika won the gold, while Payal settled for silver. Ankita, who competed in women’s 5,000m at the Paris Olympic Games, made her debut at the 3,000m steeplechase event. She won gold with a time of 10:17.25 seconds. (PTI)