Indian boxer Lalbiakkima stuns Oly champ
NEW DELHI: Indian boxer N Lalbiakkima (49kg) notched up a sensational triumph over Olympic champion Hasanboy Dusmatov to enter the semi-finals of the President’s Cup Tournament in Astana, Kazakhstan on Friday.
Lalbikkima, hailing from Manipur, prevailed 4-1 to clinch the biggest win of his career and assure himself of a medal. Dusmatov is also a silver-medallist from last year’s World Championships. Also advancing to the semifinal was former world youth champion Sachin Siwach (52kg) who claimed a 4-1 win over Thailand’s Yurachai Wuttichai.
However, Devanshu Jaiswal bowed out, losing to Uzbekistan’s Melikuziyev Bektemir.
ANAND BEAT KARJAKIN, FINISHES JOINT SECOND
STAVANGER: PLAYING out his third successive decisive game, Viswanathan Anand got the better of Sergey Karjakin of Russia in the final round to end joint second in the Altibox Norway chess tournament, here on Friday.
In a solid start, the Indian ace started off with as many as six drawn games and ended with three decisive games in a row. But for his loss against Fabiano Caruana of the United States in the previous round, the Indian ace could have been at the helm in the strongest chess tournament of the year.
Having lost the tournament-opener itself, the rise of Caruana continued as the American scored a fine victory over compatriot Wesley So to win the tournament with five points.
With Caruana winning his third super tournament of the year after Grenke and Candidates, Anand, Hikaru Nakamura of United States and Magnus Carlsen of Norway ended tied for the second spot on 4.5 points apiece.
SREEJESH FEELS INDIA CAN FINISH ON TOP IN CT
BANGALORE:AN upbeat India captain PR Sreejesh feels the men’s hockey team has the calibre to finish on top in the FIH Champions Trophy to be held in Breda, Netherlands from June 23 to July 1.
Back to full fitness after recovering from medial collateral ligament (MCL) injury, Sreejesh said the Champions Trophy provides India the best chance to judge its potential ahead of the season-ending World Cup.
“We have a good team balance with experience and youth. Our preparations have been earnest and the team certainly has the calibre to finish on top provided we play our A-game and not make silly mistakes and lose out on scoring opportunities,” Sreejesh said. “This is the best chance to see where we stand against top teams in the world before the men’s World Cup,” he added.
JISNA WINS 400M GOLD, FIVE BRONZE FOR INDIA
NEWDELHI: Defending champion Jisna Mathew kept her reputation intact by winning gold in the women’s 400m on the second day of the Asian Junior Athletics Championships at Gifu, Japan, on Friday. Her winning time was 53.26 seconds. Indian athletes also won five bronze medals to swell the medal tally to 10. M Sreeshankar (long jump), Durga Deore (1500m), Ajay Bhalothia (shot put), Abhinaya Sudhakara Shetty (high jump) and Kartik Kumar (10,000m) won bronze.