Guwahati

World Championships silver medallist Sonia Lather (57kg), Asian Championships bronze medallist Manisha Moun (57kg) and former world youth champion Sachin Siwach (52kg) gave India a bright start as the second edition of the India Open International Boxing Tournament began here on Monday.

2017 youth world champion Jyoti (51kg), 2018 world youth silver medallist Anamika (51kg) and Shashi Chopra (60kg) led the youth brigade to wins as all seven Indians emerged victorious on an opening day to move into the quarter-finals.

Sonia proved too strong for Nepal’s Chandra Kala Thapa and was declared a winner by unanimous decision to move into the 57kg quarter-finals.

Manisha, who won the bronze in the continental event in 54kg, continued her good form to notch up a 4-1 win over Nesthy Alcayde Petecio of Philippines and join Lather in the last-eight.

Having impressed at the GeeBee Boxing tournament this year with a bronze, the lanky Sachin Siwach used his height and exuded confidence with his flurry of punches to secure a flawless 5-0 win over Argentina’s Ramon Nicanor Quiroga.

In 60kg, Preeti Beniwal boosted her medal-winning hopes with a commanding 5-0 win over Nepal’s Sangita Sunar. Among the rising stars, Jyoti put up a spirited display in her 4-1 win over Irish Ardiente Magno of Philippines while Anamika was deemed the winner by virtue of RSC (Referee Stop Contest) over Filipino Claudine Decena Veloso in Round 3.

Shashi Chopra, youth world champion in 2017 in 57kg, made a seamless transition to 60kg to start off with a one-sided 5-0 victory over Tandin Choden over Bhutan.

Thailand’s two-time Olympian and former Asian champion Chatchai Decha Butdee asserted his supremacy in 56kg with a dominant 5-0 victory Nepal’s Surendra Rai.

On Day 2, some of the key bouts will feature Mary Kom, Nikhat Zareen in 51kg, local girl, Ankusihta Boro (64kg) and Ankit (60kg), Ashish (64kg) and Pawan Kumar (69kg) in men.

Key Results:

Sonia Lather (57kg) def Chandra Kala Thapa (Nepal) 5-0

Manisha (57kg) def Nesthy Alcayde Petecio (Philippines) 4-1

Jyoti (51kg) def Irish Ardiente Magno (Philippines) 4-1

Anamika (51kg) def Claudine Decena Veloso (Philippines) RSC (Round 3)

Shashi Chopra (60kg) def Tandin Choden (Bhutan) 5-0

Preeti Beniwal (60kg) def Sangita Sunar (Nepal) 5-0

Sachin (52kg) def Ramon Nicanor Quiroga (Argentina) 5-0

Chatchai Decha Butdee (56kg) (Thailand) def Surendra Rai (Nepal) 5-0

Harpal Singh Bedi

Manipur Police and Sethu FC (Tamil Nadu) chalked out contrasting victories over their respective rivals on Monday to set up a title clash in the Hero Indian Women’s Football League in Ludhiana.

In the first semi final of the day, riding on Bala Devi’s four goals Manipur Police overpowered Gokulam Kerala FC 4-2 despite being one player down in the second half, while in the other semi final Sethu FC thrashed SSB Women FC 8-1

Thanks to Bala Devi, Manipur Police ousted Gokulam after trailing 1-2 at one stage and played with one player less after defender Romi Devi was sent off on the 47th minute.

Manipur took the lead the quarter-hour mark. Daya was played into the box via an aerial through ball, but was fouled by Gokulam centre back Poli Koley resulting in a penalty and Bala Devi made no mistake in converting it..

Gokulam, started to play their counter-attacks off Manisha and got their equalizer through a corner, as Bina Devi turned it into her own net from a melee.

In the second half, Gokulam striker Anju Tamang penetrated the Manipur box and fired a shot that was blocked off the line. However, it had struck Romi Devi’s hand and she was subsequently sent off. Ranjana Chanu converted the ensuing penalty to put Gokulam in front for the first time.

Manipur, however, did not lie low, despite being one player down. They pressed forward, and earned another foul inside the opposition box, which gave them a penalty to equalise from. Bala Devi duly converted it to put her side level.

10 minutes of regulation Bala put Manipur ahead again with a superb goal. A minute later, Bala with a powerful left-footer sent the ball home (4-2)

With this performance, Bala now moves on to 26 goals six matches in this tournament so far.

In other semi final Sabitra Bhandari scored four goals enabling Sethu FC rout SSB Women FC 8-1

Dangmei Grace put them in the lead within the first quarter of an hour. The India international was on form as she created the chance that led to the second goal which was off scored by Nepal international Sabitra Bhandari. Grace soon added a third on the stroke of half time,

Grace scored one a few minutes after the restart, while Sabitra Bhandari scored two more as both the India and the Nepal internationals completed their hat-tricks, before Dular Marandi pulled one back for SSB. However, Ratanbala soared up the pitch from the restart and immediately restored Sethu’s six-goal cushion just a minute later.

The final will be played on Wednesday

AMN

India In Hockey, Indian women’s team defeated hosts South Korea 2-1 in the first match of the three-match bilateral series in Jincheon today.

Young striker Lalremsiami in the 20th minute and Navneet Kaur in the 40th minute scored for India, while Shin Hyejeong found the net for Korea in the 48th minute.

High on confidence after its impressive outings in Spain and Malaysia earlier this year, India made a strong start against the hosts. India will play its second match of the tour on Wednesday.

India missed a chance to take the lead when they missed out on an opportunity to score through a penalty corner early in the first quarter. However young striker Lalremsiami put the visitors ahead with a splendid field goal in the 20th minute.

Indian team, backed by good results in their previous tournaments in Spain and Malaysia earlier this year, exhibited fast paced game throughout

The visitors second goal came in the 40th minute when Navneet Kaur struck beautifully that took India’s lead to 2-0.

Though the hosts earned five penalty corners in the course of the match, including a penalty stroke in the last quarter, they managed to convert only one PC in 48th minute through Shin Hyejeong.

India’s experienced goalkeeper Savita made some commendable saves to keep her team in lead throughout the match.

Speaking about their performance today, India’s Chief Coach Sjoerd Marijne said: “Considering this was our first match, I think the result was good but the performance can be better. We tried some new things in the match and it was interesting to see how we handled the change.”

India will play their second match against the hosts on Wednesday, 22 May.

For the upcoming match, Marijne feels the team must up their technical skills. He said, “We must bring our technical skills to a higher level in order to play faster and that will be one of our priorities for the next match.”