Indian women’s baseball team qualifies for Asian Cup
BANGKOK, April 28: The Indian women’s baseball team on Monday qualified for the Asian Cup to be held this year after entering the gold medal match of the qualifying tournament here.India beat Thailand 6:5 to finish second in Super Round stage standings, while Indonesia took the top spot. The top two teams from the Super Round qualify for the main Asia Cup tournament.The top two teams — Indonesia and India — will also face in the gold medal match on Tuesday. Thailand and Pakistan will play for the bronze medal.In the eight-team Women’s Baseball Asia Cup Qualifiers, India had topped Group A after winning all their three matches — against Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Iran. Indonesia had topped Group B.In the Super Round, India lost to Indonesia before Monday’s win over Thailand.India had also competed in the Asian Cup in 2023 where it failed to get past the opening round. (PTI)
India bags 13 gold medals at South Asian Youth TT C’ships
KATHMANDU, April 28: India bagged 13 gold and three silver in an impressive medal haul in the South Asian Youth Table Tennis Championships here.The qualification event for this year’s Youth Asian Championships saw the Indian contingent dominate the competition across various categories on Sunday.The Indian teams grabbed three gold medals in the Under-19 girls, Under-15 boys, and Under-15 girls sections and made a clean sweep of all six golds in the U-19 and U-15 doubles, including the mixed doubles events.Additionally, India secured four gold medals in the U-19 boys and girls singles events.However, hosts Nepal claimed the fourth gold in the U-19 boys category. Despite a lone loss to Pakistan in the five-team league phase, Nepal finished on top with seven points, securing three wins and edging out Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, who took second and third place, respectively.India, having qualified for the Youth Asian Youth Championships last year, did not have to field its squad in the competition.In the team events, Pritha Vartikar, Ananya Chande, Hardee Patel, and Diya Bramhachary clinched the U-19 girls gold, defeating Nepal 3-1.Prateeti Paul, Aarushi Nandi, Advika Arawal, and Tanmayee Saha triumphed in the U-15 girls category, thrashing Sri Lanka 3-0.In the U-19 boys’ singles final, Kushal Chopda triumphed over fellow Indian R Balamurugan 3-1 to claim the gold. (PTI)
21 Indian boxers to fight for gold at Junior Asian boxing
AMMAN, April 28: India continued its strong showing at Junior Asian Championships with seven more boxers, including six women, booking their place in the U-17 finals here.India has secured 43 medals so far, with 21 boxers across the U-15 and U-17 categories set to fight for gold.The U-17 women boxers delivered an overall dominant display, led by Ahaana Sharma (50kg), who stormed into the final with a first-round knockout victory over Kyrgyzstan’s Akmaral Amantaieva on Sunday.Khushi Chand (44-46kg) edged Ukraine’s Oleksandra Cherevata 3-2, while Jannat (54kg), Simranjeet Kaur (60kg), Harsika (63kg), and Anshika (80+kg) also registered commanding wins to confirm their places in the final bouts.In the men’s U-17 section, Devansh (80kg) produced a composed performance to defeat Vietnam’s Nguyen Trong Tien 4-1 and secure his spot in the final. (PTI)
Shoaib Akhtar, Basit Ali’s YouTube channels banned
NEW DELHI, April 28: Former Pakistan cricketers Shoaib Akhtar and Basit Ali’s Youtube channels have been blocked in India following “an order from the government related to national security or public order” in the wake of Pahalgam terror attack.The Indian government has withheld several Pakistani channels after the April 22 terror attack.The move follows recommendations from the Ministry of Home Affairs in which it said that the Pakistani YouTube channels were “disseminating provocative and communally sensitive content, false and misleading narratives and misinformation against India, its Army and security agencies”.Dawn News, Irshad Bhatti, BOL NEWS, Raftar, The Pakistan Reference, Geo News, Samaa Sports, GNN, Uzair Cricket, Umar Cheema Exclusive, Asma Shirazi, Muneeb Farooq, SUNO News and Razi Naama are the other Pakistani channels banned in India.Following the order, the channels have been withheld by Youtube. (PTI)