Indian U-15 girls storm into nine finals after dominant performances
Tashkent, May 9: India’s U-15 girls delivered commanding performances in the semifinals at the Asian Boxing U15 and U17 Championships, with nine boxers advancing to the finals across weight categories here on Saturday. In the 30-33kg category, Akshita registered an emphatic win by RSC against Ayazhan Marat of Kazakhstan. Anzee (37kg) continued India’s strong run with a convincing 5-0 victory over Sarvinoz Riskulova of Uzbekistan, while Soniya (40kg) also secured a dominant 5-0 win against Diana Mendigarayeva of Kazakhstan. In the 43kg category, Tanvi clinched a win by RSC against Sezim Nurlubek of Kazakhstan. Hanshika Attri (46kg) followed it up with an impressive RSC victory over Yuhui Cheon of Korea (KOR). Sunaina (58kg) delivered a strong performance, winning by RSC against Ardak Abdikhan of Kazakhstan (KAZ). In the 61kg category, Bhumika secured a win by RSC against Chiao-Ying Chang of Chinese Taipei. Tannvi (64kg) registered a hard-fought 4-1 victory over Yasmin Jautkhanova of Kazakhstan to progress to the finals. (PTI)
Ben Stokes takes 2 wickets, completes 20 overs for Durham on comeback
Worcester (England), May 9: England captain Ben Stokes took two wickets and completed 20 overs for Durham on Saturday in a successful comeback from breaking a cheekbone in February. Stokes finished with economical figures of 2-54 against Worcestershire in a second-tier county championship game. It was his first outing in any cricket format since the fifth and final Ashes Test against Australia in early January. Stokes needed an operation after being struck in the face by a cricket ball while coaching his county team Durham’s academy players. He said last month during an in-house interview with the England and Wales Cricket Board that he felt fortunate to be alive. That Stokes opened the bowling for Durham and showed both pace and his trademark seam movement is good news for England heading into a busy summer of Test cricket. The 34-year-old allrounder may even be an option to open the attack in the first Test against New Zealand at Lord’s on June 4. He has done so twice before, but not since 2022 against Pakistan. (AP)
Ramit, Velavan bow out in Squash Worlds
Giza (Egypt), May 9: India’s singles challenge ended at the World Squash Championships with the defeats of Ramit Tandon and Velavan Senthilkumar, here om Saturday. A day after Veer Chotrani edged out higher-ranked compatriot Abhay Singh in the first round, world No. 40 Tandon lost to Egyptian world No. 21 Kareem El Torkey 6-11 11-7 6-11 0-11. World No. 50 Senthilkumar went down to world No. 5 Victor Crouin, the Frenchman, who won 11-8 11-8 11-3. Chotrani will meet Egyptian world No. 1 and defending champion Mostafa Asal in the second round on Sunday. (PTI)
