Gaurav Solanki enters quarters
New Delhi: Down with fever and without a team doctor due to India's international termination, Asian silver-medallist Gaurav Solanki (52kg) fought through to enter the quarterfinal of the World Youth Boxing Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria on Sunday. Solanki defeated Ireland's William Donoghue 3-0 to set up a clash against China's l V Ping, who got the better of Spain's Gabriel Escobar in the pre-quarterfinal bout. Solanki had been battling fever for the past two days and in the absence of a team doctor, the Indian contingent had to seek help from the doctor of Belarus' team. But he did not let that affect his performance in the ring as he out-witted his Irish rival. However, what it once again highlighted was the problems that Indian boxers are facing due to the termination. Owing to it, the International Boxing Association has barred any officials, including doctors, from accompanying the Indians. However, it was curtains for Neeraj Parasar (64kg), who lost to Richard Toth of Hungary. The Indian fought hard but eventually lost 1-2.
Adhiban in joint lead, Sasi loses
Sharjah (UAE): Grandmaster and former National champion B Adhiban continued with his winning ways by defeating compatriot G N Gopal in the third round of 13th Asian Continental Chess championship here on Sunday. Showing precision with his clock ticking away, Adhiban had to sweat it out for long before his three pieces came good against Gopal's lone queen on the board and the Indian registered his third victory in as many games coming after 93 moves. It turned out to be a bad day for the highest rated Indian Krishnan Sasikiran in the fray as he went down fighting against Ehsan Ghaem Maghami of Iran. With six rounds still to come, Sasikiran will have some catching up to do in the championship as he is 1.5 points behind leaders. On the brighter side, it was recovery time for Grandmasters Parimarjan Negi and Abhijeet Gupta. For Negi, the first victory in the event after two draws came at the expense of Munkhgal Gombosuren.
Anirban lahiri finishes 10th
Kuala lumpur: Anirban lahiri went without a birdie in his last 13 holes and ended in tied 10th, leaving him with somewhat mixed feelings at the end of the Maybank Malaysian Open here on Sunday. lahiri, the highest ranked Indian on World rankings, carded a final round of 70 and finished at eight-under 280. Meanwhile, former World No. 1 lee Westwood enhanced his reputation in the East as he marched to a convincing seven-stroke victory for his first title in two years after a flawless four-under-par 68. The Englishman completed his wire-to-wire win in style when he holed a 20-foot birdie putt on the last for an 18-under-par 270 winning total at the Kuala lumpur Golf and Country Club. Aiming other Indians, Shiv Kapur added a 71 to finish at three-under 285 in tied 31st place while SSP Chowrasia dropped two double bogeys on the back nine to end with a card of 76 that saw him drop to two-under 286 and in tied 33rd place.
Chandhok's team ends eighth
Silverstone: Karun Chandhok reeled off four fastest laps in a row but a puncture cost his team Murphy Prototypes dearly as they had to be content with a eighth place finish at the opening round of the European le Mans (ElMS) race here on Sunday. The team was in contention for a podium from third position on the grid as Rodolfo Gonzalez, who started the race had moved into second position by the first corner. Approaching the end of his stint, the team received a big blow that ruined their podium chances with a puncture. Gonzalez brought the Hertz Car Sales Oreca 03 Nissan machine back to the pits carefully but the damaged bodywork meant the team had to bring the car into the garage for further repairs. Alex Kapadia took over driving duties after Alan McGarrity (Team Manager) and his team performed a superb repair job on the car. Returning to the track in 28th position, Kapadia drove well and was the fastest car on the circuit for the majority of his stint. Towards the second half of the race, the safety car was deployed to aid the recovery of the stricken Jota Sport Zytek.
Meghna, Rahul, Ankita shine
Panaji: Shot putter Meghna Devanga defended her title on the opening day of 11th National Youth Athletics Championships here on Sunday. In addition to retaining her crown, Meghna, who is a National youth record-holder, also erased the meet mark by putting the shot to a new distance of 14.63m. The burly Maharashtrian has a personal best of 15.35m to her credit which she registered after finishing sixth in the World School Gymnasiade at Brasilia last year. She also came close to winning a medal in the Asian Youth Games at Nanjing in 2013, finishing fourth with a mark of 14.51m. The GMC Athletics Stadium in Bambolim, which was built especially for the lusofonia Games organised by Goa earlier this year, had the honour of hosting the state's first-ever national athletics championships. Earlier, Maharashtra's Kisan Tadvi (8:31.77) and UP girl Sudha Pal (10:40.81) bagged gold medals in the 3,000m race for boys and girls respectively.
Wins for Chitra, Umadevi
leeds: Chitra Magimairaj and Umadevi Nagaraj registered wins in the preliminary league of the Eden World ladies Snooker Championships here. The matches are played over two frames with one point awarded to the player scoring a 2-0 scoreline and half a point for a 1-1 result. The points will be tabulated on completion of the league phase with top four players from each of the groups advancing to the pre-quarter-finals. In her three matches so far, Magimairaj has recorded a 2-0 win against Alena Asmolova, 1-1 each with Emma Bonney and laura Evans in matches played on Sunday. Umadevi shared two frames with Carmelita Yumoto and defeated Elizabeth Black 2-0.