Panwar leads India’s 10-medal show at Asian Rowing C’ships
New Delhi, Oct 18: Olympian Balraj Panwar spearheaded India’s impressive show at the 2025 Asian Rowing Championships in Hai Phong, Vietnam, as the country bagged 10 medals including three gold and five silver, marking one of their strongest performances in recent years. Paris Olympian Panwar produced a commanding show to win the gold in the men’s single scull (M1X) event. India’s other gold medals came through the lightweight men’s double scull (LM2X) pair of Lakshay and Ajay Tyagi, who combined superb rhythm and endurance to dominate their final, and in the men’s quadruple scull (M4X), where the quartet of Kulwinder Singh, Navdeep Singh, Satnam Singh and Jakar Khan rowed with perfect coordination to clinch the top spot. Another highlight of the campaign was Gurbani Kaur and Diljot Kaur ending a 15-year medal drought for Indian women at the Asian Championships by finishing second in the lightweight women’s pair (LW2-) event. India also pocketed silver medals in the men’s eight (M8+), where Nitin Deol, Parvinder Singh, Lakhveer Singh, Ravi, Gurpratap Singh, Bheem Singh, Jaswinder Singh, Kulbir and Kiran Singh Maiom powered through a strong field to finish second. In the men’s double scull (M2X), Jaspinder Singh and Salman Khan produced a determined effort to secure silver, while the lightweight men’s quadruple scull (LM4X) crew of Rohit, Ujjwal Kumar Singh, Lakshay and Ajay Tyagi added another silver to the tally. The lightweight men’s four (LM4-) team of Sannee Kumar, Iqbal Singh, Babu Lal Yadav and Yogesh Kumar also finished second after a closely fought final. The bronze medals came in the lightweight men’s pair (LM2-), where Nitin Deol and Parvinder Singh displayed great composure to claim third place, and in the women’s eight (W8+), where the crew of Gurbani Kaur, Diljot Kaur, Suman Devi, Alenna Anto, Kiran, Poonam and Haobijam Tendenthoi Devi combined effectively to secure a podium finish, rounding off a remarkable campaign. (PTI)
Lisa Tertsch becomes world women’s triathlon champion
Wollongong (Australia), Oct 19: Germany’s Lisa Tertsch fulfilled her considerable potential, breaking away from a star-studded field Sunday to win the elite women’s race at the World Triathlon Championship finals and to become world champion for the first time. Tertsch was near the head of the field for most of the 1.5 kilometres swim, 40 kilometre cycle and 10 kilometre run, finishing strongly to beat Bianca Seregni of Italy by 14 seconds. Emma Lombardi of France finished third 26 seconds behind Tertsch. Olympic champion Cassandre Beaugrand of France and Beth Potter of Britain came into the finals tied atop the world championship points standings with Tertsch in fourth place overall. But Sunday’s win catapulted Tertsch into first place.The 26-year-old Harvard-educated Tertsch was a member of the gold medal-winning German team in the mixed team relay at last year’s Paris Olympic Games and has twice been an event winner on the world championship circuit. (AP)
Rybakina rallies from set down to beat Alexandrova in Ningbo Open
Ningbo (China), Oct 19: Elena Rybakina stormed back from a set down to beat Ekaterina Alexandrova 3-6, 6-0, 6-2 in the Ningbo Open final on Sunday. The third-seeded Rybakina started slowly, falling behind to her Russian opponent 4-1 in the opener. She bounced back in the second and went on to dominate her fourth-seeded opponent with a strong service game that included 11 aces. It was the second title of the year for the Kazakhstan player who also won in Strasbourg and the 10th of her career. Rybakina’s late-season surge is keeping her in contention for the season-ending WTA Finals in Riyadh in November. (AP)
Leylah Fernandez wins Japan Open for her fifth career title
Osaka, Oct 19: Leylah Fernandez beat 18-year-old qualifier Tereza Valentova 6-0, 5-7, 6-3 in the final of the WTA’s Japan Open on Sunday for her fifth career title. Playing in her eighth career final, the one-time U.S. Open runner-up raced through the first set in 29 minutes, before Valentova settled her nerves in the second set and found a way to level the match when she broke Fernandez in the 12 game. In the deciding set, the 27th-ranked Fernandez made a crucial break in the fourth game and then saw off a late challenge by the Czech player to claim her second title of the season after taking the WTA 500 DC Open in July. (AP)
