Men’s freestyle wrestlers also win team title at U23 Asian c’ship
Vung Tau (Vietnam), June 22: The Indian men’s freestyle team produced its best ever show at the U23 Asian Asian Wrestling Championship, winning six gold and a silver to clinch the team title. In an unprecedented success for India, both men’s and women’s teams won the team championships. The women team had won medal in each of the 10 categories. Winning the gold were Nikhil (61kg), Sujeet Kalkal (65kg), Jaideep (74kg), Chander Mohan (79kg), Sachin (92kg) and Vicky (97kg). Jaspooran Singh won the silver in 125kg weight class. The Greco Roman team won three medals, including a gold, in the tournament. (PTI)
India bag four medals on opening day of Para Powerlifting WC
Beijing, June 22: India made a strong statement on the opening day of the Para Powerlifting World Cup here by winning four medals, including a gold, silver, and two bronze. The tournament features top para powerlifters from over 40 countries and serves as a qualification event for the 2026 World Championships and the 2028 Paralympic Games. Gulfam Ahmed opened India’s account with a bronze in the highly competitive men’s elite 59kg category. He lifted 145kg in his opening attempt and followed it up with a best lift of 151kg in his second. His third attempt of 153kg was disallowed, but his earlier lifts were enough to secure India’s first medal of the tournament. In the men’s elite 72kg category, Ramubhai Bambhava added another bronze to India’s tally with a successful lift of 151kg in his first attempt. Although his next two attempts — 155kg and 156kg — were not validated, the opening lift earned him a spot on the podium. Veteran lifter Joby Mathew delivered a standout performance in the masters category, securing gold in the total lift and silver for the best lift. After an unsuccessful opening lift of 140kg, he bounced back with confident lifts of 145kg and 150kg. (PTI)
Six Indian boxers in finals of Seychelles National Day tourney
Mahe (Seychelles), June 22: India is assured of several top-podium finishes with six of its pugilists entering the finals of the Seychelles National Day Boxing Tournament here. Aditya Pratap (65kg) of Uttar Pradesh, who has represented the country in the Elorda Cup in Kazakhstan and had bagged a silver in the National Combined Finals, impressed with an RSC win in the third round over home favourite Jovanie Bouzin. Neeraj (75kg), another silver medallist at the National Combined, too came up with a referee stops contest (RSC) verdict against his opponent in the second round. Himanshu Sharma (50kg) of Haryana, a former Belgrade Boxing champion and bronze medallist at the 6th Elite Nationals, secured a confident 4-1 win against Mathieu Soupprayen of Mauritius. In the 55kg bout, Ashish Mudshaniya of Uttar Pradesh, the reigning National Combined champion, continued his fine form with an easy 4-1 victory over Guillaume Francis, also from Mauritius. Haryana’s Anmol (60kg), a National Combined silver medallist, earned a composed 4-1 split decision win against Dario Gaberiel of Seychelles. Kartik Dalal (70kg) showed heart in a closely contested bout but lost 1-4 on points to South Africa’s Blessing Nziyana. Gaurav Chauhan (90+kg) from Services, a seasoned heavyweight who won gold at the 37th National Games and bronze at the 2024 Elorda Cup, has received a direct entry into the final. (PTI)
National Junior Athletics C’ships: Eight runners improve meet record
Prayagraj, June 22: Distance runners hogged the limelight on the opening day of the three-day 23rd National Junior (U-20) Federation Athletics Championships that got underway at Madan Mohan Malaviya Sports Complex here on Sunday. As many as eight male runners bettered the previous meet record in the 3000m track race in the morning session. Kavinraja S of Tamil Nadu also improved a year old meet record of 5.10m set by Kuldeep Kumar in the men’s pole vault. His gold medal winning height was 5.11m. While Himanshu of Haryana and Nipam of Uttar Pradesh emerged fastest male and female athletes of the meet. The men’s 3,000m track race saw as many as eight runners improve on the previous meet record of 8:26.72 set by Ajay in 2021 in Sangrur, Punjab. However, it was Vinod Singh of Madhya Pradesh who surged ahead of his rivals to win gold with a time of 8:14.22 seconds. Haryana’s Himanshu clocked 10.49 seconds to win gold in the men’s 100m. The Haryana sprinter narrowly missed the meet record of 10.47 seconds set by Gurindervir Singh in 2018.Nipam’s winning time was 11.86 seconds. (PTI)
Aurionpro Chess: Five in lead after Rd 6; Aansh, Madhesh lead juniors
Mumbai, June 22: Overnight leaders, Indian Grandmaster M Lalit Babu and Armenia’s Arsen Davtyan, ended their match in a draw, leaving the door open for others to climb into lead after round six of Aurionpro International Grandmaster and Junior Chess tournament here on Sunday. After six rounds, five players are tied at 5.5/6, setting up a thrilling race to the finish. In one of the biggest upsets of the tournament, International Master Nayaka Buddhidharma of Indonesia held top seed GM Levan Pantsulaia of Georgia to a well-earned draw. In other matches, Armenian GM Manuel Petrosyan won a fine game with the white pieces against Alexander Slizhevsky of Russia, while GM Aleksej Aleksandrov of Belarus also made a statement by defeating Georgian GM Luka Paichadze in convincing fashion. In the Under-13 section, Aansh Nandan Nerurkar and Madhesh Kumar maintained their unbeaten records after a hard-fought draw on the top board. They continue to share the lead with 5.5/6 points apiece. (PTI)
Kamal Chawla off to blazing start in Asian Snooker
Colombo, June 22: Kamal Chawla, the reigning IBSF World 6-Red snooker champion, was the most impressive of the three Indians in the fray, scoring a lopsided 4-1 win over Wai Ip Lam of Macao China on the opening day of the ACBS Asian 6-Red Snooker Championship here Sunday. After getting his eye in, the 45-year-old Chawla rifled in a brilliant 66 clearance in the second frame. Chawla followed that up with a sizzling 67 clearance to take a vice-like grip over the proceedings. An error while going for a long red pot gave his rival an opening. Lam made a crucial break of 40 to pull one back. But, Chawla closed out the match in the next frame to begin his campaign with a win. (PTI)