Boxers Thapa, Manoj enter GP finals
Asian silver-medallist Shiva Thapa (60kg) and Gaurav Bidhuri entered the finals while five other Indians made the semifinals at the Grand Prix Usti Nad Labem boxing tournament in Czech Republic. Shiva defeated local favourite Erik Huleiv in a unanimous verdict to advance. Bidhuri (52kg) made the final in his category after getting a bye.
Meanwhile, former Commonwealth Games gold- medallist Manoj Kumar (69kg), along with two other Indians, advanced to the finals. Manoj defeated Kristian Cholinsky to enter the final. Also advancing to the final were Satish Kumar (+91kg) and Manish Panwar (81kg). While Satish defeated Adam Kolarik of the Czech Republic, Manish got the better of a local favourite in Kamil Hladky.
Courtesy his US Open Grand Prix Gold title triumph, Indian shuttler HS Prannoy has jumped six places to be at 17th position in the latest BWF world rankings. Parupalli Kashyap, who reached his first final at US Open in more than two years after recovering from multiple injuries, also gained 12 places to be at the 47th spot. Sameer Verma, who has qualified as the fourth Indian for the World Championship, jumped four spots to be 28th in the standings.
With Prannoy improving his position, India have four men in the top-20. Kidambi Srikanth, who clinched back-to-back titles at Indonesia and Australia, is the highest ranked Indian at number 8. Ajay Jayaram is ranked 16th, while B Sai Praneeth is 19th spot after losing a place.