Lakshya, Diksha shine at badminton Asia U-17,U-15 C’ships
CHENGDU, Oct 23: Lakshya Rajesh and Diksha Sudhakar reached the pre-quarterfinals in the girls’ singles with contrasting wins while Jagsher Singh Khangurra made the same stage in the boys’ event on day two of the Badminton Asia U-17 & U-15 Championships, here.In the U-17 girls’ singles, Lakshya eased past Chinese Taipei’s Kuan Yi Lin 21-17, 21-11, while Diksha produced a strong comeback to beat China’s Luo Ya Ru 17-21, 21-16, 21-11 in her match on Wednesday..Among the boys, Jagsher impressed with a commanding 21-14, 21-17 victory over China’s Zhang Yu Feng..India’s doubles contingent also looked sharp..The girls’ doubles pair Deepak Raj Aditi and P. Vriddhi overcame Malaysia’s Sue Mei Teoh/Zi Qing Wan 22-20, 21-12, while the U-15 mixed duo Hemanth Sri Sammetla and Sharayu Ranjane cruised past fifth seed Singapore pairing Ng Yu Ze/Loo Kit Rei Chara 21-9, 21-11 to move into the Round of 16.Anvi Rathore, Wazir Singh, and SL Dhakshan Sugumaran continued their winning start to the tournament, joined by the top-seeded girls’ singles player, Shaina Manimuthu, who registered a 21-6, 21-10 victory against Malaysia’s Jing Er Tan.India had won a gold and a bronze in 2024, and one gold, one silver, and one bronze in 2023, with both editions taking place in Chengdu.A 36-member squad is fighting for silverware across two age categories this time around. (PTI)
Nishu, Pulkit and Srishti reach U23 World C’ship semifinals
NOVI SAD (Serbia), Oct 23: Putting up a strong show at the U23 World Championships, three Indian women wrestlers — Nishu, Pulkit and Srishti — reached the semifinals in their respective categories, here Thursday.Nishu (55kg) began in an impressive fashion by beating Japan’s Moe Kiyooka, whom she pinned while leading 6-2.Up against Kira Solobchuk, she won 10-1 and marched into the semifinals.Pulkit (65kg) was as cool as ice in her two technical superiority wins. Hardly showing emotions, Srishti beat Canada’s Maria Sawiak (10-0) and Turkiye’s Beyza Akkus (18-8).In the 68kg category, Srishti easily tackled Canadian wrestler Angelina Ellis Toddington for a technical superiority win (12-2) and followed that up with a controlled 6-3 win over Ukraine’s Manola Skobelska in the quarterfinals.Meanwhile, Neha Sharma, competing in the 57kg weight category, lost at the quarter-finals stage. She lost by technical superiority to Japan’s Akari Fujinama after beating Romania’s Georgiana Lirca (6-0) and Kazakhstan’s Nilufar Raimova (5-0).Hanny Kumari (50kg), Diksha Malik (72kg) have exited the competition while Priya will fight for bronze in the 76kg weight class. (PTI)
Anti-Doping: India re-elected Vice-Chair of COP (Asia-Pacific)
NEW DELHI, Oct 23: India was re-elected vice-chair of the Conference of Parties (Asia-Pacific) to the International Convention against Doping in Sport at its 20th anniversary meeting in Paris that featured representatives of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) among others.The event was held from October 20-22 at the UNESCO Headquarters in the French capital. The Indian delegation, comprising Secretary (Sports) Hari Ranjan Rao and Anant Kumar, Director General of the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA), engaged with delegates from over 190 States Parties.More than 500 representatives of national governments, anti-doping organisations, and permanent delegations to UNESCO attended the meeting.The ministry said that the discussions at the meeting focused on strengthening governance and compliance under the Convention, financing the Fund for the Elimination of Doping in Sport, and addressing emerging challenges, including gene manipulation. The COP9 Bureau and Approval Committee’s report highlighted institutional coherence, strategic communication, and cross-sectoral integration. (PTI)
Ranjana Yadav bags silver in 5,000m walk at Asian Youth Games
RIFFA (Bahrain), Oct 23 : Ranjana Yadav clinched a silver medal in the girl’s 5000m walk at the Asian Youth Games at the Bahrain National Stadium, here on Thursday.The Indian clocked 23 minutes 25.88 seconds to finish behind China’s Liu Shiyi, who took gold in 24:15.27.Korea’s Jeong Chaeyeon bagged bronze in 25:26.93.This was India’s first medal in athletics at the AYG, taking the country’s overall tally to two silver and four bronze medals.India have won one silver and two bronze in kurash, and two bronze in taekwondo. (PTI)
