Sports
Asian Games, Boxing: Nikhat Zareen Bows Out In Semis; Parveen Hooda Assures Medal
World Championship bronze medallist boxer Parveen Hooda assured India of a medal and also grabbed a Paris Olympic quota by moving into the 57kg semifinals in the Asian Games in Hangzhou on Sunday. Parveen, who won the bronze medal in the 63kg at the 2022 World Boxing Championships, moved past Uzbekistan’s Sitora Turdibekova by unanimous verdict in the quarterfinal. However, Nikhat Zareen, competing in the women’s 50kg category, had to settle for bronze after losing to Rakast Chuthamat of Thailand.
(Asian Games 2023 Medals Tally | Asian Games 2023 Full Schedule)
The Thai girl won 2-1 on split decision in the semifinal contest. Zareen had won the first round, but her rival emerged the victor in the two following rounds.
Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Jaismine Lamboria, however, crashed out of the 60kg contest after conceding a second round RSC (referee stops contest) to North Korean boxer Won Ungyong in her quarterfinal bout.
Parveen, the reigning Asian champion was in her elements from the word go, using her long arms to throw punches from a distance and control the proceedings.
She switched between the left jab and the right cross to unnerve the 21-year-old Uzbek.
Parveen fought a strategic bout as after going on the offensive in the opening round, she waited for Turdibekova to come forward, only to pummel her with accurate scoring punches.
Turdibekova did make a strong comeback by landing several blows on Parveen, but it wasn’t enough to convince the judges to rule the bout in her favour.
After winning the first round 5-0, Jaismine asked for her headgear to be adjusted but once that was done, the Indian lost concentration as she was hit by a series of hooks and jabs by Won.
Jaismine lost energy, becoming a standing target for Won as the referee gave the Indian three standing counts in less than a minute before calling off the contest.
The two-time world champion Nikhat Zareen (50kg), Preeti Pawar (54kg), Lovlina Borgohain (75kg ) and Narender Berwal (+92kg) have already secured Olympic quotas in their respective categories.
In women’s events, the semifinalists in the 50kg, 54kg, 57kg, and 60kg, as well as the finalists in the 66kg and 75kg, will qualify for the Paris Olympics.
The gold and silver medallists in each of the seven weight divisions in the men’s event will receive Olympic quotas.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Topics mentioned in this article
India was on Sunday drawn in a tricky group along with Bangladesh, Hong Kong and Singapore for the 2027 Asian Cup Qualifiers final round matches, beginning March 25 next year. The draw, which saw 24 teams divided into six groups of four, was held at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) House in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Only the six group winners will qualify for the main tournament to be held in Saudi Arabia in 2027 and join the 18 teams who have already booked their tickets after the second round of qualifying.
The final round will be contested over six match days in a home-and-away format between March 25, 2025 and March 31, 2026.
Aiming to qualify for the third successive time, India will begin its Group C campaign at home against Bangladesh.
India is the highest-ranked team in the group at 127, followed by Hong Kong (156), Singapore (161) and Bangladesh (185). But, they won’t be easy opponents.
India has faced all three opponents in the recent past. The Blue Tigers last faced Bangladesh (1-1 draw) in the 2021 SAFF Championship, Hong Kong (India won 4-0) in the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers in Kolkata in June 2022, and Singapore (1-1 draw) in the Hung Thinh Friendly Tournament in Vietnam in September 2022.
After the draw, India head coach Manolo Marquez said, “We are a Pot 1 team and we need to show why we are the favourites to qualify. There are not too many differences between groups. Every group is difficult.
“Hong Kong has improved a lot with naturalised players and with their coach Ashley Westwood.
“We will play against Bangladesh first in March, who have been our regular opponents in the SAFF Championship. We know the calendar. We have six games and we need to top the group and qualify for the Asian Cup.” India’s fixtures: March 25, 2025: India vs Bangladesh (home) June 10, 2025: Hong Kong vs India (away) October 9, 2025: India vs Singapore (home) October 14, 2025: Singapore vs India (away) November 18, 2025: Bangladesh vs India (away) March 31, 2026: India vs Hong Kong (home).
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Topics mentioned in this article
File image of Harbhajan Singh© BCCI
Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh and veteran Australia batter Matthew Hayden pointed out that the Rohit Sharma-led side’s lack of building ‘big partnerships’ has resulted in their 10-wicket defeat in the second Test at Adelaide Oval. Indian batters faltered against Mitchell Starc and captain Pat Cummins as the duo shared 15 wickets between them to level the five-Test series 1-1. In the first Test of the series in Perth, Yashasvi Jaiswal (161) and Virat Kohli (100 not out) struck centuries in the second innings while KL Rahul played a gritty knock of 77 to guide India to a 295-run emphatic win in the absence of regular captain Rohit Sharma.
However, the momentum shifted in Australia’s favour in the second Test with Indian batters failing to tackle the attack from Starc and Cummins as they bundled out the visitors for 180 & 175 at Adelaide Oval.
“One area where India would like to improve is the partnership. We need to have big partnerships We didn’t get a good partnership in Adelaide because of which we did not have enough runs on the board. If we have 300-350 on the board then our bowlers have the capability to bowl them out,” Harbhajan said on Star Sports.
Hayden also flagged India’s batting performance in the pink-ball Test and called for a better show in Brisbane.
“Team India just did not bat well enough, there’s no doubt. Even though this was a difficult track to bat on, they should not have been bowled out in under a day and a half. So that needs to be rectified for the Brisbane Test match,” Hayden said.
Meanwhile, the former Australian batter extended praise for India’s bowling performance led by speedster Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj despite Travis Head’s scintillating 140-run knock that set the tone of the match for the hosts.
“Bowling I thought, on average was pretty good. When you thought of the freakish innings that Travis Head played, 140 off 141 deliveries that was just something else. Sometimes, batsmen have their way,” Heyden said.
The third Test between India and Australia will be played in Brisbane from December 14.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Topics mentioned in this article
Former India players Ravi Shastri and Suni Gavaskar want skipper Rohit Sharma to return to the opening spot so that he can be his aggressive and expressive self. Rohit, who had missed the first Test, dropped down to the number six spot in the pink ball Test after KL Rahul excelled at the top in the series opener in his absence. However, the Indian skipper looked “too subdued” as he managed scores of 3 and 6 in India’s 10-wicket loss.
“That’s the reason I want him at the top. That’s where he can be aggressive and expressive. Just thought he was a little too subdued, just seeing his body language,” Shastri told ‘Star Sports’.
“The fact that he didn’t make runs, I don’t think there was enough on the field there. I just wanted to see him more involved, and a little more animated,” the former India coach added.
Ahead of the Adelaide Test, Rohit stated that he didn’t wish to tinker with a combination that brought the team success in the series opener which the visitors won by 295-run win at Perth. He even batted in the middle order in the warm up game in Canberra.
However, Rohit did admit it was not an easy decision for him to take personally.
“Personally, it was not easy. But for the team, yes, it made a lot of sense,” Rohit, batted in the middle order for the first time since 2018, had said.
Rahul, who had looked solid with scores of 26 and 77 while sharing a 201-run partnership with fellow opener and centurion Yashasvi Jaiswal in the second innings of the first Test, failed to replicate his form in the second match.
Rahul’s failure to capitalise on the opportunity has prompted former India captain Gavaskar to call for Rohit’s return to his opening slot.
“He should return to his regular spot. We should remember why Rahul had opened. He did that because Rohit Sharma was not available for the first Test,” Gavaskar said on ‘Sports Tak’.
“I can understand why they kept him as an opener in the second Test, he had a 200-plus partnership with Jaiswal.
“But now that he couldn’t score this Test, I feel Rahul should go back to No. 5 or No.6 and Rohit Sharma should open. If Rohit scores quickly in the beginning, then he can score a big century also later,” he added.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Topics mentioned in this article
$9.9B Net Inflow into Spot BTC ETFs Following Trump’s Election Win
India Get Tricky Group In 2027 Asian Cup Qualifiers Final Round
“Need To Have Big Partnerships”: Harbhajan Singh After India’s Debacle In Adelaide Test
‘Status Symbol’: As Splinter Faction Claims to Be ‘Real JD(S)’, Is Party Headed Shiv Sena, AIADMK, NCP Way?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi To Launch Projects Worth ₹21,500 crore In Poll Bound Telangana | News18
Google Chrome Launches A New AI Tool Named ‘Help Me Write’
-
Politics12 months ago‘Status Symbol’: As Splinter Faction Claims to Be ‘Real JD(S)’, Is Party Headed Shiv Sena, AIADMK, NCP Way?
-
Politics1 year agoPrime Minister Narendra Modi To Launch Projects Worth ₹21,500 crore In Poll Bound Telangana | News18
-
Press Release1 year agoGoogle Chrome Launches A New AI Tool Named ‘Help Me Write’
-
Cryptocurrency1 year agoRecent Funding Rounds for Crypto Projects & Companies on October 19th💼🚀
-
Tech1 year agoAndreessen Horowitz backs Civitai, a generative AI content marketplace with millions of users
-
Tech1 year agoCharacter.AI introduces group chats where people and multiple AIs can talk to each other
-
Cryptocurrency1 year agoRecent Funding Rounds for Crypto Projects & Companies on Oct 18th🚀💰
-
Entertainment7 months agoWhy Brenda Edwards is wearing an eye patch on Loose Women