ICC team visits Bangladesh ahead of BCB elections
DHAKA, June 4: A two-member ICC delegation visited Bangladesh to review the developments within the country’s cricket board BCB ahead of its scheduled election on June 7.The BCB is currently run by an interim committee headed by former opener Tamim Iqbal after the national sports council dissolved the previous regime led by Aminul Islam for alleged large scale irregularities.“A two-member delegation appointed by the International Cricket Council (ICC), comprising ICC Board Directors Dr Mohammed A.S. Moosajee (Cricket South Africa) and Mr Tavengwa Mukuhlani (Zimbabwe Cricket), recently visited Bangladesh to engage with a range of stakeholders to review developments linked to the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB).“The ICC wishes to clarify that the delegation will submit its findings and observations to the ICC Board in due course and will not be making any media comment on the matter,” said the ICC in a statement.It was also under Aminul Islam’s tenure that BCB had decided to pull out of the T20 World Cup in India in retaliation to BCCI’s instruction to KKR for removing senior pacer Mustafizur Raham from their IPL 2026 roster. (PTI)
Chaufla, Nandal win big at CCI All India Racketlon Open
MUMBAI, June 4: Vikramaditya Chaufla and Sidharth Nandal were the standout performers in the All India Racketlon Open at the Cricket Club of India here, bagging four and two medals respectively.Racketlon is a combination sport in which the competitors are required to play four racket sports: table tennis, badminton, tennis and squash. This year, the organisers replaced squash with pickleball, calling the format racketlon rite.Chaufla, who has captained India at World Racketlon Championships, won gold in the men’s singles (40 and above) and finished runner-up to Nandal in the men’s singles b category.Chaufla’s second gold came in men’s doubles (40 and above) alongside Varun Motasha.Nandal won the b category singles gold as well as the men’s doubles gold with Nikhil Mansukhani in the same category.Chaufla, a former badminton player who represented India in the World University Games, will next been seen at the World Championships in Rotterdam in August.Krishna Kotak, founder of Racketlon India Sports Association (RISA), won gold in the 65 plus category. RISA is headed by president KK Cheema. (PTI)
Jaismine climbs to World No. 1 in World Boxing rankings
NEW DELHI, June 4: Reigning world champion Jaismine Lamboria climbed to the top of the women’s 57kg rankings, while Asian championships gold medallists Priya Ghanghas (60kg) and Vishvanath Suresh (50kg) broke into the top three of their respective categories in the latest World Boxing rankings.Indian boxers featured in the top 10 across nine of the 10 women’s weight categories and eight of the 10 men’s divisions.In the women’s section, Minakshi retained her World No. 1 ranking in the 48kg category, while Preeti Pawar jumped five places to third in the 54kg weight class.Jaismine, who won the silver at the Asian Championships earlier this year, moved up a spot to be the top ranked boxer in her weight class.World Cup medallists Arundhati Choudhary (70kg), Pooja Rani (80kg) and Nupur (+80kg) were all ranked second in their respective divisions.Two-time world champion Nikhat Zareen (51kg), who failed to qualify for this year’s Commonwealth Games and Asian Games, slipped one place to fourth, while Olympic medallist Lovlina Borgohain (75kg) held on to her seventh position.In the men’s categories, Sachin Siwach (60kg) and Asian Games medallist Narender Berwal (90+kg) broke into the top-5. World Cup gold medallist Hitesh Gulia (70kg) dropped one place to sixth, while Abhinash Jamwal (65kg) was ranked eighth.Akash (75kg) and Lokesh (85kg) also entered the top 10, both ranked eighth.India currently stands third overall in terms of top-10 ranked athletes globally, while emerging as a dominant force in women’s boxing, where it is placed second, and holding a strong fourth position in the men’s category.The depth extends well beyond the top 10. On the women’s side, Parveen (60kg) is ranked 13th while Ankushita Boro (65kg) is ranked 11th.Among the men, Ankush (80kg) sits just outside the top 10 at No. 11, while Deepak (70kg) is ranked 12th.(PTI)
