India lose 1-2 against Australia in opening match of friendly series
Perth, May 26: The Indian women’s hockey team squandered an early advanatage to go down a 1-2 against Australia in the opening match of the four-game friendly series here on Tuesday. India struck first in the opening quarter, with Navneet Kaur converting a penalty corner to give her side an early lead. The Indian defence remained resolute for much of the first half, successfully maintaining their advantage through the second quarter. However, momentum shifted in the second half as Australia’s Abby Wilson capitalised on two penalty-corner opportunities, scoring in both the third and fourth quarters to secure a comeback win for the hosts. The two sides will meet again on Wednesday. (PTI)
Panneerselvam wins double gold at Commonwealth Chess C’ship
New Delhi, May 26: Grandmaster Iniyan Panneerselvam clinched double gold after winning both the Rapid and Blitz titles at the Commonwealth Chess Championship in Sri Lanka. The Tamil Nadu player scored 6.5 points from seven rounds in each format to emerge champion in both sections. In the Rapid event, Grandmaster Srihari took the silver medal, while GM Mitrabha secured bronze. In the Blitz competition, Grandmaster Rohith Krishna finished with the silver medal, while Srihari added another podium finish with bronze. The Classical title was won by Mitrabha, while Sri Lankan player Ranindu Liyanage claimed silver and Srihari settled for bronze. The tournament, held from May 16 to 26, featured players from India, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Mauritius, Maldives, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Kenya, Malaysia, Singapore, Scotland and Canada. (PTI)
Manya Balani upsets AGM Rajveer Nahar in All India Chess
Mumbai, May 26: Manya Balani (1653) produced an upset victory over higher ranked AGM Rajveer Nahar (1801) in the fourth season of the Mumbai FIDE Rated All India Chess Masters here on Tuesday. Both players launched aggressive attacks against each other’s kings, creating sharp tactical complications in the middle game. But Manya converted advantage to win in 35 moves. Top seed Shreyansh Somaiya (1973) continued his winning run with a convincing win over Vihaan Ravi Rao (1725), while Reyaansh Venkat (1906) defeated Ahaan Kataruka (1686) to remain among the leaders. A closely-fought contest between Aryan Sista (1658) and Kush Ajay Agarwal (1835) ended in a draw whereas Dhruv Muthe (1619) registered victory over Mayuresh Parkar (1781) in another notable result (PTI)
Kumar Mohit, Chandermohan strike gold in Vietnam
Da Nang (Vietnam), May 26: Indian freestyle wrestlers maintained their solid form at the U-23 Asian Championships here Tuesday, adding four more medals to the country’s tally on day four of the competition. Kumar Mohit and Chandermohan led the charge by winning gold medals in their respective weight classes, while Deepak took silver medal in the 61kg division and another Indian grappler, also named Deepak, claimed a bronze in the 74kg category. These finishes take India’s freestyle medal count to six, building on the success from the previous day where Akshay T Dhere (57kg) and Vicky (97kg) both secured gold medals. Kumar Punit added another silver to India’s tally in the 92kg division after going down 1-12 against Kyrgyzstan’s Ulukbek Soorombekov in the championship bout. Mor Sachin secured a bronze medal in the 86kg category with a solid 4-1 victory over Boburbek Ruzimboev. Lacky settled for silver in the 125kg category after suffering a 0-10 defeat against Kazakhstan’s Rizabek Aitmukhan. (PTI)
