Indian U-15 boys enter 6 finals; 7 boxers win bronze medals
Tashkent (Uzbekistan), May 10: India’s U-15 boys delivered a strong showing in the semifinals of the Asian Boxing U15 Championships, with six pugilists advancing to the finals and seven others settling for bronze medals here on Sunday. In the 33kg category, Yash Kumar registered a dominant 5:0 victory over Kiyan Iqbal of UAE to advance to the final. Sastha Vasanth Ashok Kumar (37kg) also secured a win against Aziretali Sanzharbekov of Kyrgyzstan. In the 43kg category, Samir Bohra delivered a composed performance to defeat Adizbek Ilkhombekov of Uzbekistan 4:1. Sudarsan Vasudeva Chandak (52kg) impressed with an RSC (Referee Stopped Contest) win against Amirmahdi Shad of Iran. In 58kg, Mohd Yasser recorded a convincing 5:0 win over Seyyedariyamohammad Mousa of Iran. Ronak Parag Lokhande (67kg) rounded off the winning performances with an RSC victory against Mukhammadali Berdikulov of Kyrgyzstan. In other semifinal bouts, Rohit Pothina (35kg) went down 0:5 against Zhaksylyk Yermekuly of Kazakhstan, while Nitin (40kg) lost a closely contested bout 2:3 to Jasurbek Khayrullaev of Uzbekistan. Nongpoknganba Meitei Oina (46kg) lost 2:3 to Mansur Abdukhamitov of Uzbekistan, and Parshant (49kg) went down 0:5 against Sardor Omonboev of Uzbekistan. In 55kg, Harshvardhan Jeena suffered a 0:5 defeat against Nurislam Baktubayev of Kazakhstan. Dev (64kg) lost 1:4 to Hyeonseok Yoo of Korea. In the 70+kg category, Sushant Jayani lost by RSC against Ibrokhim Mirzakarimov of Uzbekistan (UZB). The six finalists will now aim to convert their strong performances into gold medals. (PTI)
Super Rapid and Blitz: Gukesh ends sixth; Niemann wins
Warsaw, May 10: World champion D Gukesh had to be content with a sixth-place finish while Hans Moke Niemann of the United States kept his nerves towards the end to win the Super rapid and blitz, a part of the Grand Chess Tour. Gukesh ended his stint with 17 points out of a possible 36 that included 9 rapid and 18 blitz games. With each rapid game win worth two and blitz one point, Gukesh scored nine points in rapid and eight points in blitz. Things could have been worse but Gukesh won the last round against Duda Jan-Kryzstztof of Poland to finish around the middle bracket. It may be recalled that Gukesh had withdrawn from the main events of GCT and will only be playing the rapids and blitz this year. Gukesh is also slated to play his match against Javokhir Sindarov of US later this year apart from the Norway chess tournament. Gukesh’s three victories on the last day came against Wesley So of US, Niemann and Duda while most notable of his four losses was against Sindarov who won the personal battle against the Indian by 2-1 margin out of the three games played between them here. Meanwhile, Niemann showed his steely nerves and won the last two rounds to to clinch the trophy. (PTI)
