Boxers Shiva, Sachin in semis
NEW DELHI: Three-time Asian medallist Shiva Thapa (60kg) and former youth world champion Sachin Siwach (52kg) were among six Indians to enter semifinals and be assured of medals at the 38th GeeBee Boxing Tournament in Helsinki, Finland. Thapa beat Polish Dominik Palak 5-0 in the quarter-final on Friday after getting an opening bye. He’ll face Russian Mikhail Varlamov next. Siwach got the better of Russian Tamir Galanov 4-1. The 20-year-old will face Kyrgyz Azat Usenaliev. Also making the last-four were Md Hussamuddin (56kg), Kavinder Bisht (56kg), Dinesh Dagar (69kg) and Naveen Kumar (+91kg).
INDIA HOLD CHINA
ASTANA: Indian men stayed afloat in the World Team Chess Championship by holding defending champions China to a 2-2 draw here on Friday. After Round 4, India are joint second.
LAHIRI MAKES CUT
ORLANDO: Anirban Lahiri staged a superb fightback to make the halfway cut at Arnold Palmer Invitational with a three-under 69 in Round 2 here. Lahiri, who was two-over for Round 1, seemed in trouble with a double bogey start that put him in danger of a missing the cut but managed to get to one-under, which saw him improve 30 places from tied 72nd to tied 42nd.
DIKSHA TIED SEVENTH
QUEANBEYAN (AUSTRALIA): Diksha Dagar continued her upward movement in Women’s New South Wales Open with a sterling Round 3 display that put her in sight of her first top-10 as a pro outside India. Dagar was aided by an eagle on par-5 third hole to card two-under 69 on the heels of a 67 a round earlier. She is tied seventh with a five-under 208, five shots behind the leaders.
LIU SETS 50KM RECORD
BEIJING: China’s Liu Hong on Saturday set a new world record for the women’s 50km race walk, becoming the first woman to complete the event in under four hours.
The Olympic gold medallist completed the Chinese Race Walk Grand Prix in the eastern city of Huangshan in just three hours, 59 minutes and 15 seconds, the IAAF said.