Amritpreet in asian youth semis
New Delhi: Heavy weight boxer Amritpreet Singh (91kg) became the second Indian pugilist to advance to the medal rounds after defeating Yousef Al-nubani of Jordan 16-9 in the quarterfinals of the ASBC Asian Youth Boxing Championship in Subic bay, Philippines on Wednesday.
Singh, the 2012 Junior National Championship gold medallist, made up for an early exit from the AIBA Youth World Boxing Championship in Armenia last year. In an exciting encounter, the 18-year-old made a slow start to his quarterfinal bout but soon gathered pace. After an even-stevens first round - with both boxer scoring 4 points, Amritpreet took the game away from the Jordanian boxer by not allowing him many scoring opportunities. He went on to make his place in the round of four with a 16-9 victory in the end. 2012 Aglorav Cup bronze medal winner Abhishek Beniwal (81kg) also made a place in the final four of the light heavy weight category by virtue of a bye.
Kashyap, Prannoy enter 2nd rd
Basel: It was a mixed day for the Indian shuttlers as world number 9 Parupalli Kashyap and H S Prannoy cleared the first round hurdle in the men’s singles event while others lost their respective matches in the Swiss Open Badminton Championship here. Fifth seed Kashyap entered the second round with a comfortable 21-7, 21-19 victory over Hsuan Yi Hsueh of Chinese Taipei in 33 minutes, while Prannoy came back from a game down to register a 18-21, 21-9, 21-12 win against Michael lahnsteiner of Austria in 53-minute battle. However, Sourabh Varma and K Srikanth ended their campaign in the first round of the tier three tournament at at St. Jakobshalle. london Olympics quarterfinalist Kashyap will next take on Germany’s Dieter Domke, while Prannoy will face Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand.
Rafath Habib posts easy win
New Delhi: Former Asian Games gold-medallist and second seed, Rafath Habib showed his class when he beat Sachin Yadav in straight frames while third seed Divya Sharma suffered a shocking 2-3 defeat against Sharad Kumar in the RKG Snooker Masters North Zone championship, here on Wednesday. Chennai’s Habib, playing his first match in the championship, was on a roll, potting the ball all around the table skillfully to outclass Uttar Pradesh’s Sachin Yadav 3-0 at the Megapool Snooker Academy in Dwarka. Habib hardly broke a sweat as he put it across his opponent with consummate ease to advance to the next round on the fifth day of the championship.
3 Indians in asian archery finals
New Delhi: Indian archers are in line for more medals in the Asian Grand Prix with Rahul Banerjee, Jignas Chittibomma and Anjali Kumari advancing to the finals of their respective events in Bangkok on Wednesday. Rahul beat compatriot Atanu Das 6-2 in the semifinals of the men’s individual recurve event by winning three of the four sets with scoreline 24-27, 28-27, 27-26, 29-27. Rahul faces london Olympics silver medallist Takaharu Furukawa of Japan in the summit clash on Thursday. PNS/Agencies