Indian sports wrap, June 19: S8UL seals grand final spots in three titles of Esports World Cup

ESPORTS

S8UL qualifies for grand finals in three titles at Esports World Cup 2025

Indian esports organisation S8UL has officially qualified for the grand finals of Apex Legends, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB), and EAFC 25 at the upcoming Esports World Cup (EWC) 2025 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Featuring a record-breaking prize pool of USD 70 million (approx. INR 598 crore), the EWC 2025 will be one of the biggest esports events in history.

S8UL’s Apex Legends squad, featuring Rick Wirth (Sharky), Benjamin Spaseski (Jesko), and Tom Canty (Legacy), qualified for the EWC 2025 through the Apex Legends Global Series (ALGS) 2025: Split 1 Pro League for APAC South.

Competing in a challenging triple round-robin format against 30 of the best teams from the region, the squad clinched its EWC spot by finishing in the top five with 109 points.

The all-Australian line-up has a strong competitive track record, having competed at the inaugural EWC and several ALGS Championships, with team captain Sharky notably winning the ALGS Championship in 2022.

The team now advances to the ALGS Midseason Playoffs, set to take place at the EWC from July 10 to 13, where 40 of the world’s best teams will compete for a $2 million (INR 17.2 crore) prize pool.

S8UL will also be representing India in EAFC 25 through Germany’s Jonas Wirth (Jonny), who secured his spot by finishing in the top four of the Virtual Bundesliga 2024–25.

After winning three of his four group stage matches, Jonny advanced to the playoffs, where he dominated the round of 16 and quarterfinals before narrowly missing out in the semifinals.

A seasoned veteran, Jonny was the champion of both the Virtual Bundesliga and the eChampions League last year. He will now compete in the FC Pro 25 World Championship at the EWC from August 7 to 10, where 32 of the world’s top players will battle for a $1.5 million (INR 12.5 crore) prize pool.

Meanwhile, S8UL’s Aaron Rivera (Happy) qualified for the FC Pro 25 Play-Ins following a dominant run in the LATAM North region, where he won three consecutive FC Pro 25 Open Cups.

He will compete against 47 other top players for the four remaining spots at the EWC.

S8UL’s MLBB roster qualified for the MLBB Mid Season Cup (MSC) at EWC 2025 after a commanding victory in the NACT Spring Season.

The team, featuring Michael Cosgun (MobaZane), Ian Hohl (FwydChickn), Jang Seong-hun (Hoon), Ziameth-Jei Caluya (ZIA), Vo Trung (Shark), and Carlos Ortega Vega (Bestplayer1), was dominant throughout the tournament, defeating Area 77 with a 4–2 scoreline in the grand finals to secure their berth.

BOXING

640 boxers to compete in Junior Boys and Girls’ Nationals in Rohtak

Around 640 up-and-coming pugilists from across the country, including 350 boys and 290 girls, will face off in the sixth Junior (Under-17) Boys and Girls National Championships at the National Boxing Academy in Rohtak, Haryana, between June 19-26.

Both the Junior Boys and Junior Girls competitions will feature 13 weight categories each, ranging from 44-46 kg to 80+ kg. The Services Sports Control Board will look to defend its title from the fifth Boys’ Nationals, while Haryana enters as the defending champion in the Girls’ category.

“The Junior National Championship is a crucial platform for young boxers to showcase their skills in front of national selectors and coaches. It plays a key role in helping BFI identify and nurture future talent. I am happy to see strong participation from all teams as we look to discover the next generation of Indian boxing stars. Many of these young boxers will represent India in the 2032 and 2036 Olympic Games, and therefore, this championship is of great importance,” said Ajay Singh, Boxing Federation of India (BFI) president-chairperson, Interim Committee.

“This championship also comes before the Asian Youth Games in October this year, where, for the first time, boxing has been included. The winners from here will go on to represent India at these Asian Games, where 14 medals will be up for grabs. With robust systems already in place, BFI is committed to supporting these young athletes in realising their full potential,” he added.

The gold and silver medallists of the REC Combined Talent Hunt (Junior Boys and Girls) held in October 2024 would be eligible to participate in the National Championships under the REC banner, provided they fulfil the eligibility criteria of being born between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2010.

The championships will be conducted as per the World Boxing Technical & Competitions Rules, wherein each bout will consist of three rounds of two minutes each, with a minute’s rest in between. A ten-points-must scoring system shall be followed.

-Team Sportstar

ARCHERY

Indian junior archers enter three finals at Asia Cup Stage 2

The Indian junior archers continued their dominating run by storming into three team finals at the Asia Cup Stage 2 in Singapore on Thursday.

The Indian men’s recurve team, seeded second, defeated fifth-seeded Bangladesh 5-1 in a one-sided semifinal to set up a summit clash with third seeds Japan.

The trio of Vishnu Choudhary, Paras Hooda and Juyel Sarkar dominated from the outset, taking the opening set 55-48.

Although the second set was tied at 55-55, the Indians bounced back strongly, dropping just one point in the third set to win it 59-56 and seal the issue.

In the recurve mixed team event, Vaishnavi Pawar and Vishnu Choudhary defeated Singapore’s Tabitha Ern Lin Yeo and Yue Long Li 5-3 to enter the final.

The Indian pair won the first set 37-35, tied the second 37-all, and lost the third 36-38 to make it 3-3. But Pawar and Choudhary held their nerves to close out the match with a commanding 38-34 win in the final set.

India also assured itself of a medal in the compound men’s team event after the trio of Kushal Dalal, Ganesh Thirumuru, and Mihir Apar edged past fifth-seeded Australia in a tense semifinal decided by a shoot-off (30-29) after both teams were tied at 232 after four sets.

India will take on Kazakhstan in the final.

The top-seeded Indian compound women’s team, comprising Shanmukhi Budde, Tejal Salve, and Tanishka Thokal, defeated fourth-seeded Kazakhstan 230-229 in a nail-biting semifinal to ensure another medal. They will meet Malaysia in the final.

The top-seeded Indian compound mixed team pairing of Shanmukhi and Kushal also confirmed another medal by defeating Indonesia’s Nurisa Dian Ashrifah and Prima Wisnu Wardhana 155-154 in a nail-biting semifinal.

They will face third-seeded Kazakhstan in the final.

However, there was heartbreak for the Indian women’s recurve team. Seeded fifth, the troika of Vaishnavi Pawar, Kirti, and Tamanna lost a thrilling quarterfinal to fourth seeds Japan 4-5 (26-28) in the shoot-off after a five-set battle.

They lost the opening set 47-49 and slumped further after managing only 34 in the second set to Japan’s 55. But the Indians showed great resilience to take the third set 55-53 and level the scores 4-4 after claiming the fourth set 54-52.

In the shoot-off, Japan edged ahead by just two points.

Indian archers are also in the hunt for four individual medals on the concluding day on Friday. The women’s compound final will be an all-Indian affair, with Shanmukhi set to face Tejal for gold. In the men’s compound section, India will be in the hunt in both the gold and bronze medal matches. Kushal will face Joshua Mahon of Australia for the gold, while Sachin Chechi will take on Himu Bachhar of Bangladesh for bronze.

-PTI