India assured of bronze in Sofia boxing meet

SOFIA: Seema Punia was assured of a medal without a fight, while L Sarita Devi entered the quarters with a hard-fought win on the opening day of the 69th Strandja Memorial Boxing. Punia (+81kg) was guaranteed a medal due to the presence of just three boxers in her draw. She will face local favourite Mihaela Nikolova for a place in the final where Russia’s Anna Ivanova has got a direct entry. Sarita (60kg) defeated Italian Manchese Conceha in a split 3-2 verdict.

CWG WALKERS SQUAD

NEW DELHI: Irfan KT and Manish Singh Rawat will represent India in the men’s 20km race walking event at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast from April 4 to 15. Soumya B and Khushbir Kaur will take part in the women’s 20km race walk.

SUPER CUP FINAL ROUND

NEW DELHI: The inaugural Super Cup’s final round will be held from March 31 to April 22, but a consensus on the number of foreigners will be arrived at after another round of discussion with stakeholders, the All India Foot- ball Federation said. “The number of foreign players to be registered for the Super Cup was discussed and a final decision will be taken after a discussion with all stakeholders,” the AIFF said in a statement after an I-league Committee meeting here. The qualifiers for the Super Cup are to be played between March 12 and March 31. AIFF senior vicepresident Subrata Dutta chaired the meeting.

LAHIRI FINISHES 26TH

PACIFIC PALISADES (USA): A series of three-putts came in the way of a strong final round for India’s Anirban Lahiri, who slipped to tied 26th on the final day of the Genesis Open golf tournament. The Indian ace shot three-over 74 and slipped from overnight tied 13th. Lahiri began well with birdies on first and third holes at which point a top-10 finish looked realistic. Then came a series of three putts and he dropped bogeys on sixth, seventh and eighth. On back nine, he bogeyed four times against two birdies.

Bubba Watson ended his twoyear title drought with his third win at Riviera winning by two shots.