Indian sports wrap, January 5: Top pugilists register easy wins to advance in National boxing championships
BOXING
Top pugilists register easy wins to advance in National boxing championships
After the chaos and mismanagement of the opening day, things appeared to get better on Day Two of the Elite Men’s and Women’s National boxing championships, even though the inability to complete the day’s proceedings meant the organisers had to scramble to bring things back on track on Tuesday.
While play was supposed to begin at Gautam Buddha University in the afternoon, Monday’s delayed bouts meant action began early in the morning as the officials tried to clear up the backlog. With all three rings finally available for the competition, the results in the opening round of the competition were on expected lines with most of the top names registering easy, unanimous wins.
World champion Minakshi Hooda was one of the first to take the ring and duly completed the formalities, winning 5-0 against V. Lakshya S. Vijayan of Tamil Nadu in the 48kg even as Manju Rani of RSPB got a walkover against West Bengal’s Monika Mallick. Services, not surprisingly, dominated the proceedings with most of its boxers advancing to the next round.
Nikhat Zareen (51kg) and Lovlina Borgohain (75kg) too cruised into the second round with identical 5-0 wins against Nidshi(Chandigarh) and Krisha Verma (Punjab) respectively while in the men’s section, recent World Boxing Cup medalists Hitesh Gulia (70kg), Pawan Bartwal (55kg), Sachin Siwach (60kg) and Sumit Kundu (75kg), all representing SSCB, won 5-0 each.
“It’s good to be here and begin on a winning note. Since this is my first competition of the year and given the cold here, the body is still getting used to the conditions, so to get the first win feels good. I just hope to reclaim the national title after missing out last year due to injury and start the year on a winning note,” Nikhat said.
-Uthra Ganesan
MOTORSPORT
Chheda, Madesh top; triple delight for Sankaran in MRF single-seater categories
Three 17-year-olds, Pune’s Arjun Chheda and Sai Shiva Makesh Sankaran, and Ishaan Madesh from Bengaluru were in the spotlight with victories in the MRF single-seater categories as the third and penultimate round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Car Racing Championship 2025 concluded at the Madras International Circuit, here on Monday.
Chheda and Madesh, the reigning National karting champion, won a race apiece today in the MRF Formula 2000 category, while Sankaran dominated the MRF Formula 1600 class, winning all three races this round for a total of five victories in races this season, which will conclude at the same venue later this month.
The results saw Chheda, with five wins to his credit, keeping his top spot in the provisional championship standings, just five points ahead of Madesh, while Sankaran enjoys a 24-point advantage over Bengaluru’s Arjun Nair.
Results:
MRF F2000 (Race-2, 10 laps): 1. Ishaan Madesh (Bengaluru) (15mins, 58.080secs); 2. Arjun Chheda (Pune) (16:09.792); 3. Tarun MB (Bengaluru) (16:21.957). Race-3 (8 laps): 1. Arjun Chheda (12:50.994); 2. Ishaan Madesh (12:51.970); 3. Shivesh Selvarathnam (Bengaluru) (13:03.884).
MRF F1600 (Race-2, 10 laps): 1. Sai Shiva Makesh Sankaran (Pune) (17:26.932); 2. Nigel Abraham Thomas (Bengaluru) (17:29.862); 3. Arjun S Nair (Bengaluru) (17:34.344). Race-3 (8 laps): 1. Sai Shiva Makesh Sankaran (13:51.994); 2. Arjun S Nair (13:52.734); 3. Nigel Abraham Thomas (13:59.360).
Indian Touring Cars (Race-2, 10 laps): 1. Ritesh Rai (Chennai, Buzzing Hornet Motorsports) (18:51.494); 2. Biren Pithawala (Mumbai, Team N1) (18:59.574); 3. Karna Kadur (Coimbatore, Arka Motosports) (18:59.800). Race-3 (8 laps): 1. Ritesh Rai (Chennai, Buzzing Hornet) (14:58.815); 2. Dhruv Chavan (Lonavla, Pvt) (15:22.189); 3. Biren Pithawalla (Mumbai, N1 Racing) (17:10.467).
ITC 1625 (Race-2, 10 laps): 1. Vidyaprakash Damodaran (Thrissur, Team Performance Racing) (19:46.309); 2. Nikanth Rambalu (Coimbatore, Team Performance Racing) (19:46.466). Race-3 (8 laps): 1. Nikanth Rambalu (16:35.344). (Only one finisher).
Indian Junior Touring Cars (Race-2, 10 laps): 1. Viswas Vijayaraj (Nellore, Team Performance Racing) (19:23.558); 2. Rithvik Thomas (Bengaluru, Race Concepts Motorsports) (19:47,878); 3. Jarshan Anand (Chennai, pvt) (20:11.101). Race-3 (8 laps): 1. Viswas Vijayaraj (15:34.116); 2. Jarshan Anand (16:16.844).
Super Stock (Race-2, 10 laps): 1. Diljith TS (Thrissur, DTS Racing) (20:45.227); 2. Kesara Godage (Colombo, Redline Racing India) (18:45.845 +1 lap); 3. Lal Kattikulam Bharathan (Thrissur, DTS Racing) (18:58.193 + 1 lap). Race-3 (8 laps): 1. Diljith TS (16:34.197); 2. Kesara Godage (16:40.033); 3. Krishanu Dutta Bhuyan (Guwahati, Zion Racing) (16:52.865).
Formula LGB 1300 (Race-2, 10 laps) (Open and Junior): 1. Joel Joseph (Ernakulam, DTS Racing) (22:48.689); 2. Lokithlingeash Ravi (Pollachi, DTS Racing) (22:48.778); 3. Aditya Patnaik (Navi Mumbai, Momentum Motorsports) (22:57.522). Race-3 (8 laps, Open and Junior): 1. Joel Joseph (15:05.346); 2. Vinith Kumar (Tirupur, DTS Racing) (15:08.935); 3. Bhuvan Bonu (Visakhapatnam, MSPORT) (15:20.145).
MRF Saloons (Toyota Etios) Race-2 (10 laps): 1. Akshay Muralidharan (Coimbaroe) (21:27.550); 2. Mohammed Arfath (Chennai) (21:32.038); 3. Yash Pawar (Mumbai) (22:35.920). Race-3 (8 laps): 1. Mohammed Arafath (17:14.385): 2. Tarushi Vikram (Bengaluru) (17:14.800); 3. Akshay Muralidharan (Coimbatore) (17:15.536).
-Team Sportstar
TABLE TENNIS
WTT Youth Contender: Bhowmick loses U19 girls’ title to Matsushima
Divyanshi Bhowmick — regarded as one of India’s most promising young paddlers — fell short of top honours, going down fighting to second seed Miku Matsushima of Japan in the Under-19 girls’ final of the WTT Youth Contender in Vadodara on Monday.
In a gruelling contest that capped a punishing day for both players — who featured in four knockout matches over a span of seven hours — Matsushima prevailed over Divyanshi 11-6, 9-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-3 in a gruelling 45-minute encounter at the SAMA Indoor Sports Complex.
The Japanese left-hander made a strong start, using her pace and early aggression to race to an 8-3 lead in the second game after winning the opener. Divyanshi, the reigning Under-15 Asian champion, initially struggled to cope with Matsushima’s quick-fire exchanges.
However, the Indian teenager responded impressively, rediscovering her rhythm with the long-pimpled rubbers. A seven-point winning streak helped her turn the tables and level the match by converting her second game point. She carried the momentum into the third game, showing greater control and variation to move ahead 2-1.
Bhowmick had an opportunity to close out the contest in the fourth game when she surged to a 6-3 lead. But a couple of missed regulation forehand winners proved costly, allowing Matsushima to claw back and force the match into a decider.
In the fifth game, the Japanese player regained full control, stepping up the aggression and dictating rallies from the outset. Matsushima raced through the decider to seal the title, before consoling a teary-eyed Bhowmick at the net after the handshake.
Results:
Final: (IND unless specified)
Girls: U-19: Miku Matsushima (JPN) bt Divyanshi Bhowmick 11-6, 9-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-3; U-15: Sreejani Chakraborty bt Tanishka Kalbhairav 8-11, 11-8, 7-11, 11-7, 11-5; U-11: Aadya Baheti bt Sakshya Santosh 15-13, 11-8, 12-10.
Boys: U-19: Priyanuj Bhattacharyya bt Sarthak Arya 12-10, 11-8, 14-12; U-15: Aditya Das bt Sanjay Jagdish 11-4, 11-9-11-8; U-11: Rajdeep Biswas bt Sharvil Karambelkar 11-8, 11-6, 11-13, 11-4.
-Amol Karhadkar
ARCHERY
Archery trials: Yashdeep tops in men’s recurve qualification
Yashdeep Bhoge (690) claimed the number one position in the recurve men’s section, while Simranjeet Kaur, Kriti Sharma and Deepika Kumari (659) were tied for the top spot in the women’s section after the qualification round of the first archery selection trials at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) ground here on Monday.
Olympians Atanu Das (679) and B. Dhiraj (672) were at second and fourth slots respectively in the men’s section.
In the women’s section, Olympians Ankita Bhakat (653) and Bhajan Kaur (650) were at fourth and joint sixth spots respectively.
V. Jyothi Surekha (709) topped the chart in the compound women’s qualification. Madhura Dhamangaonkar (705), Taniparthi Chikitha (701) and Parneet Kaur (697) were placed second, tied third, and joint-ninth, respectively.
The compound men’s qualification will be held on Tuesday.
-Team Sportstar
Published on Jan 05, 2026