Smooth start for Indian boxers
New Delhi: India were assured of a medal without a fight, owing to the small size of the draw, even as favourites such as M C Mary Kom (48kg) advanced to the quarter-final of the India Open boxing tournament here on Sunday. Pooja was through straight to the welterweight (69kg) semifinals due to the small size of her draw, opening India's account on the first day itself. Seeded 12th, five-time world champion Mary Kom, who claimed a fifth Asian Championships gold medal just a couple of months ago, advanced to the quarterfinals after defeating surprise fifth-seed compatriot Varsha Choudhary.
Gokulam pip Shillong lajong in I-league
Kozhikode: Gokulam FC rode on Arjun Jayaraj's late strike to beat Shillong lajong 3-2 and register their maiden home win of the season in a thrilling I-league match here on Sunday. Abdoulaye Koffi took only 25 minutes to put lajong in the driver's seat as the visitors went into the changing room with the slender lead. More thrilling action unfolded in the second half with four goals being scored in the next 45 minutes. Bahrainian midfielder Mahmood Alajmi restored the parity for the hosts in the 52nd minute before they conceded another within 60 seconds.
Hockey India suffer loss to Belgium
Hamilton: India suffered a heartbreaking loss to Belgium via penalty shootout after holding the World No 3 side to 4-4 in regulation time in the final of the Four-Nations Invitational Tournament's second leg here. It was Felix Denayer, Sebastien Dockier and Arthur van Doren who scored for Belgium in the shootout. Tanguy Cosyns (41), Cedric Charlier (43), Amaury Keusters (51') and Felix Denayer (56') scored during regulation time. For India, Ramandeep Singh (29', 53'), Nilakanta Sharma (42') and Mandeep Singh (49') were the goal scorers before the shootout.
Bihar win 1-0 in sr women hockey c’ship
Ranchi: Action in the 8th Hockey India Senior Women National Championship 2018 (B Division) continued here on Sunday into its second day with Hockey Bihar, Telangana Hockey, Kerala Hockey, Hockey Andhra Pradesh, Bengaluru Hockey Association and Sports Authority of India, all registering victories in their respective pool matches of the competition. In a Pool A match, Hockey Bihar defeated Hockey Madhya Bharat by a score line of 1-0.Telangana Hockey defeated Hockey Puducherry 8-0.