Neeraj to defend title on Saturday
New Delhi: The booming professional boxing scene in India is set for another boost come Saturday with the WBC Asia title bout between defending champion Neeraj Goyat and Australia's Ben Kite, both of whom will be aiming to inch closer to a shot at the world title. The ticketed event will be held at the Talkatora Stadium, which has been host to the 2010 Commonwealth Games boxing event. Neeraj, who lifted the title last year and has won 7 of his 11 bouts, is up against a rather greenhorn rival, who has an accumulated experience of 9 fights. The 26-year-old has won five of his bouts since turning pro in 2014. "This is a very important bout for me because if I win on Saturday, then I would enter the WBC rankings and that would give me a chance to aim for the world title. It is going to be a 12-round contest as is the norm in WBC," said the 24-year-old.
Dipa may get cash instead of BMW
Agartala: Ace gymnast Dipa Karmakar has been placed in a tricky situation over a BMW car presented to her by the Hyderabad District Badminton Association. Dipa, alongwith India's two other medallists from Rio — badminton star PV Sindhu and wrestler Sakshi Malik — and Sindhu's coach Pullela Gopichand, received a BMW car in August for her achievement at the Rio Olympics. Dipa, however, strongly refuted media reports that she wants to return the BMW car to Hyderabad District Badminton Association President V Chamundeshwarnath who gifted her the BMW. The star gymnast insisted that her decision to return the premier vehicle is only due to maintenance problems that she envisaged facing in her north-eastern state of Tripura. "Sir (her coach Bisheshwar Nandi) discussed these matters with V Chamundeshwarnath. He agreed to deposit money equal to a BMW car cost to my bank account. We would be happy whatever amount they give instead of the BMW car," she added.
Delhi confident vs Maharashtra
Mumbai: Title contenders Delhi and minnows Maharashtra will start off from completely contrasting situations when they square off against each other in the second round Ranji Trophy group league encounter, here on Thursday. While Delhi whipped Assam by an innings and 83 runs in the first game, Maharashtra lost to Jharkhand by six wickets. Also Maharashtra will be a depleted side with their regular skipper Kedar Jadhav joining the national squad for the ODI series against New Zealand. Delhi have an injury concern with senior all-rounder Pradeep Sangwan down with a side strain.
Raid De Himalaya called off
Shimla: The competition in Extreme category of 18th Maruti Suzuki Raid-de-Himalaya was called off after the death of a biker in the third leg of the race. A 47-year old biker Shubhamoy Paul from Kolkata died on Tuesday after his two-wheeler fell 70-feet down in the third leg of Raid-de-Himalaya near Chhatru in the losar-Gramphoo section, about 67 km from Keylong compelling the organisers to cancel the extreme category. However, the Adventure category would proceed as scheduled but maximum speed for the riders has been limited to 45-km per hour. "The third, fourth and fifth legs of Extreme category race have been called off in after the death of biker in the midst of third leg yesterday but there is no change in the Adventure category and the race would continue as scheduled," said organiser Manjeev Bhalla.