Momota stuns Chen for asian title
shanghai: Japan's Kento Momota shocked Olympic Gold-medallist Chen long to be crowned badminton's Asian champion in a stunning upset on Sunday. The world number 17 had never previously won a game against Chen, but he floored the strong Chinese favourite 21-17, 21-13 at the Badminton Asia Championships in Wuhan. Momota, a compact left-hander, had Chen firmly on the back foot as he reeled off seven straight points to clinch the title in one hour when the world number three netted. Momota clenched his fists in triumph and kissed the Japan badge on his singlet after his victory, which follows his straight-sets dismissal of Malaysian great lee Chong Wei in the semi-finals. The 23-year-old's breakthrough follows a steady rise up the rankings, and comes after four previous defeats to Chen, a two-time world champion.
India finish 12th in Changwon shooting WC
new delhi: Indian shooters drew a blank in the men's skeet competition as the country finished 12th at the year's second ISSF World Cup Rifle/Pistol/Shotgun stage in Changwon, Korea on Sunday. Sheeraz Sheikh, who had shot 49 out 50 to place 11th after the first day of qualifications on Saturday, shot rounds of 23, 22 and 24 on Sunday to end in the 23rd place with a score of 118. Two other Indians in the fray Smit Singh and Angad Bajwa shot scores of 116 each to finish 37th and 43rd respectively. Only the top six among 81 shooters in the fray qualified for the finals and 121 was the final qualifying score. USA's Vincent Hancock, a double Olympic and three time world champion, beat reigning Olympic champion Gabriele Rossetti of Italy to win the men's skeet Gold on the concluding day of the event. Shahzar Rizvi's Silver in the 10m men's air pistol competition helped India finish 12th in the medals tally here.
Sumit, Nikhat strike gold at Belgrade boxing
new delhi: The fit-again duo of Sumit Sangwan (91kg) and Nikhat Zareen (51kg) was among the three Gold-medallists in India's stupendous campaign at the 56th Belgrade International Boxing Tournament in Serbia. Himanshu Sharma (49kg), who defeated Algeria's Mohammed Touareg 5-0 in his final bout, was the third top spot finisher on Saturday night as India ended the tournament with three Gold, five Silver and five Bronze medals in all. Continuing his fine comeback from a wrist injury, Sumit, an Asian Silver-medallist, defeated Ecuador's Castillo Torres in a unanimous 5-0 verdict to claim the yellow metal. Former junior world champion Nikhat, also returning to action after recovering from a shoulder injury, notched up a 5-0 win over Greece's Koutsoeorgopoulou Aikaterini to pick up a morale-boosting Gold.
Shubhankar finishes Tied-15 in China Open
beijing: Going on a birdie-spree towards the end, Shubhankar Sharma fired a 5-under 67, his best card of the week, to finish T-15th at the Volvo China Open here on Sunday. The 21-year-old finished at 12-under 276, best among all Indians in the fray. He had six birdies, three of them in last four holes, for a fine finish. Sharma, who leads the Asian Tour's Habitat for Humanity Rankings is also second behind Masters champion Patrick Reed on the Race to Dubai standings. Among other Indians, Arjun Atwal (71) was T-32nd, Gaganjeet Bhullar, who at one stage rose to T-2 earlier in the week, ended T-63, while Shiv Kapur (71) was T-66 and Khalin Joshi (79) was T-68.