Indian sports news wrap: March 24
BOXING
Haryana boxers confirm 19 medals at 3rd Sub Junior National Championship
Continuing its dominant show in the tournament, 19 Haryana boxers entered semifinals and confirmed their medals at the 3rd Sub Junior National Championship at the Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex in Greater Noida.
The girls from Haryana managed to secure 10 medals while the boys sealed the semifinals berth in nine categories to assure themselves of at least bronze medals.
Bhoomi (35kg) and Nischal Sharma (37kg) started the day for Haryana in girls with contrasting victories. Bhoomi thrashed Delhi’s Apeksha in a bout that ended with the referee stopping the contest in round three whereas Nischal had to work hard against S Sarah of Tamil Nadu during her thrilling 3-2 win.
Diksha (40kg), Diya (61kg), Sukhreet (64kg) and Manshi Malik (67+kg) clinched identical wins with a unanimous 5-0 decision.
Rakhi (43kg) and Navya (55kg) won their respective bouts with RSC decisions. Rakhi faced Mizoram’s Malsawmdawngkimi while Navya was up against Andhra Pradesh’s Naga Navya.
Khushika (49kg) and Naitik (52kg) were the other Haryana boxers to progress into the semifinals.
Extending his winning form in the boys category Uday Singh (37kg) grabbed an easy 5-0 win over Mizoram’s Jerry Varte.
Nitin (40kg), Ravi Sihag (49kg), Naman (58kg), Siddhant (61kg), and Kartik Dagar (70kg) also won their respective quarterfinals bout with a similar 5-0 decision.
Sanchit Jayani (46kg), Lakshay (52kg) and Anmol Dahiya (64kg) from Haryana also made their way into the semifinals with a win.
Meanwhile, Uttarakhand’s six pugilists entered the boys semifinals and eight girls from Delhi confirmed medals after winning their quarterfinals bout.
– PTI
FOOTBALL
Barboza’s twin strikes give Delhi FC 2-0 win against Gokulam
Twin strikes in the second half by substitute Brazilian striker Sergio Barboza helped Delhi FC register a 2-0 win over a 10-man Gokulam Kerala FC in an I-League match here.
The home side was reduced to 10 men in the 40th minute when a rough tackle from Mashoor Shereef on Balwant at the edge of the box earned the defender a red card late on Saturday.
Following the win, Delhi FC is now seventh on the table with 26 points from 21 games. Gokulam Kerala is in fifth spot with 36 points from 22 matches.
Gokulam wingers were guilty of wasting several opportunities in the first half following which Delhi FC slowly grew into the game and even threatened the rival citadel through a solo effort from former India international Balwant Singh.
Having fallen out of the title race too seemed to have dampened the spirits of Gokulam forwards as they lacked the killer touch.
The man advantage after the 40th minute red card gave Delhi the impetus in the second half with Barboza, who was introduced in the 55th minute, showing his Brazilian flair to torment the Gokulam defence.
After having been played through by a fellow substitute Tondomba Naorem, Barboza outpaced his markers and slotted his shot into the bottom corner to give Delhi the lead.
Barboza scored the second goal with three minutes of regulation time left, latching on to Hudson Dias’ through ball before blasting it in.
– PTI