Vijender Singh (81kg) and Akhil Kumar (56kg) settled for bronze medals after losing in the semi-finals, but the women pugilists kept India's chances of a boxing gold in the Arafura Games alive as all three advanced to the final in their respective categories in Darwin, Australia, on Thursday.
It may be winter but that does not mean their bikinis are far away.
Diwarkar Prasad beat Morocco's Hamid Ait Bighrade in the 54 kg bantamweight round of 32.
Back from a conditioning camp in South Africa after going up a division, Olympian boxer Akhil Kumar on Monday said he will make his feather weight debut in the Asian Championship in June. The Haryana-boxer, who went 3 kgs up from the bantam weight division after winning the World Cup bronze medal in December, says he does not expect instant success in the new division.
India's comeback-man Akhil Kumar (60kg) pummelled his Nepalese rival Purna Bahadur Lama before notching up a Technical Knockout win to give Indian boxers a good start on Wednesday.
Vijender Singh, Akhil Kumar and Jitender Kumar will return to the ring when the national camp kicks off in Patiala from October 1.
The rejigging of weight categories by AIBA brings Akhil Kumar back to bantam weight but the transition that now pits him against his own protege Jitender Kumar is hardly a concern for the injury-ravaged Olympian, who says he is ready to fight for his place.
Commonwealth Games gold medallist Akhil Kumar capped a remarkable comeback from a career-threatening injury lay-off to become the second Indian boxer to qualify for Beijing Olympics through the Asian qualifying tournament in Bangkok, on Friday. The 27-year-old bantamweight pugilist out-pointed his People's Republic of Korea opponent Ryom Chol Jin in a semi-final bout.
The shoddy state of the Games Village stood exposed on Saturday when the Indian boxing team checked in at their residential block only to find defending Commonwealth Games gold medallist Akhil Kumar's bed collapsing.
Asian silver medallist Jai Bhagwan put India's faltering campaign at the World Boxing Championships back on track by advancing to the second round in the lightweight category with a thumping victory over Venezuela's Angel Rodrigues in Milan, Italy. The Indian out-punched his opponent 10-4 to bring some cheer in the Indian camp, which had been left stunned by three early exits.
KSCA T20 auction saw Indian international batter Devdutt Padikkal lead the charts as the most expensive player of the day,
The Indian claimed Bantamweight gold by beating Louis Richard Bruno Julie of Mauritius
The true story lies beyond the dazzling ramp. It is in the tireless efforts of everyone involved both in front of and behind the camera.
The wrist injury that led to his early exit from the World Championships in Italy is likely to keep Olympian boxer Akhil Kumar out of action for at least six to eight weeks.
Continental champion Shiva Thapa (56kg) was barely tested as he advanced to the quarter-finals but it was curtains for comeback-man Akhil Kumar (60kg) after he lost an edge-of-the-seat last-16 bout on a bitter-sweet day for Indian boxing in the 17th Asian Games.
Akhil Kumar's wound may never heal but fellow pugilists Vijender and Jitender believe they can at least ease it it by winning their quarterfinal bouts on Wednesday.
Akhil Kumar (54kg) fought hard but fell short of luck, losing on count-back to Olympic silver medallist Yankiel Leon Alarcon in the semifinals to settle for a bronze medal -- along with Jitender Kumar (51kg) and A L Lakra (57kg) -- at the AIBA Boxing World Cup in Moscow on Saturday.
Commonwealth Games gold medallist Akhil Kumar and three of his compatriots entered the semi-finals of the Asian Boxing Championships at Ulan Bator in Mongolia on Wednesday.
'We will inform them how Pakistan not only helps terrorists, it also provide training to them to target India and spread terror.'
Indian boxer Akhil Kumar out-punched Nauru's Maakal Dj to enter the semifinals and assure himself of at least a bronze medal at the Arafura Games in Darwin, Australia on Wednesday.
Vijender Singh (75kg) took just over a minute to pull off an intimidating knock-out win and assure himself of a second successive Commonwealth Games medal. However, it was curtains for defending champion Akhil Kumar who was beaten by Olympic bronze-medallist Bruno Julie in the boxing quarter-finals of the event in New Delhi on Sunday.
Rookie L Devendro Singh was the surprise pick while established names such as Vijender Singh and Akhil Kumar expectedly fetched a berth in a 10-member Indian boxing team announced on Thursday for the World Championships in Azerbaijan next month.
Akhil Kumar out-punched Olympic silver medallist Worapoj Pitchkoom to complete an all-conquering run at the Asian Olympic Qualifiers by clinching India's lone gold medal and being adjudged the best boxer of the meet in Bangkok on Saturday.
Akhil Kumar gave India a resounding start at the inaugural AIBA boxing World Cup, out-punching Germany's Marcel Schneider 15-6 to enter the bantamweight semi-finals and assure himself a medal, in Moscow on Wednesday. The 27-year-old Indian will be up against Beijing Olympics silver medallist Yankiel Leon Alarcon of Cuba in the next round on December 13.
Five months after winning a gold medal at the Asian Games, Vijender Singh is back in action in a higher weight category to spearhead India's boxing challenge at the Arafura Games in Darwin.
India's boxers are remembered only during a big event, says Olympics medal hope Akhil Kumar. 'Before and after that no one cares.'
An Uttar Pradesh government-run university has debarred a professor from all examination and evaluation work for life after a question paper she set for a Political Science exam allegedly linked the RSS to the rise in religious and caste-based politics. The decision came after protests by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the students' wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
Justice Vinod Diwaker made the observation while rejecting a plea to cancel an FIR against four people accused under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Act, 2021.
The RSS-affiliated ABVP has won the post of joint secretary in the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) election, ending a nine-year period out of office. The ABVP's victory marks a significant shift in the political landscape of JNU, breaking the Left's long-standing dominance. Left candidates won the remaining three central panel posts, but the ABVP's victory is seen as a major gain for the right-wing group.
'We used to give these boxers a hammering in the ring and now they are teaching youngsters how to defend. Come on man!' 'People like Akhil Kumar and Jitender Kumar were among the top boxers in the world, but instead of choosing them to train young boxers they are picking people who are yes men.'
All but written off after a string of injuries wrecked havoc on his career four years ago, enigmatic boxer Akhil Kumar staged a remarkable comeback to make the 10-member Indian men's team for the Asian Games, in Incheon, South Korea.
The old tax regime remains unchanged. 'Taxpayers opting for it will continue to follow the existing slab rates and deductions.'
Political sources say Modi is 'keen' on getting the NCP (SP) over to the Mahayuti to counter Eknath Shinde's 'demands' and to act as a cushion against his present allies, Nitish Kumar and N Chandrababu Naidu, 'in case their relationship became untenable'.
Twenty coaches of the Ahmedabad-bound Sabarmati Express passenger train derailed near Govindpuri station in Kanpur early Saturday after the engine hit an 'object placed on the track'.
A court in Budaun will decide on December 24 whether to proceed with a hearing in the Jama Masjid Shamsi versus Neelkanth temple case. The dispute arose in 2022 when a Hindu group claimed the temple existed at the mosque site and sought permission to worship. The Supreme Court recently restrained all courts from entertaining and passing any orders on lawsuits seeking surveys of religious places under the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991. The Muslim side argues that the lower court should not proceed with the hearing as it cannot pass any orders, while the Hindu side maintains the Supreme Court order does not stop the hearing. The court will now decide whether to continue the proceedings.
Samajwadi Party leader and Kairana MP Iqra Choudhary has moved the Supreme Court seeking effective implementation of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991. This move comes amidst several petitions challenging the law's validity, including those filed by the Akhil Bhartiya Sant Samiti and lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay. The Supreme Court, in December 2022, had restrained all courts from examining fresh suits and passing interim orders in pending cases seeking to reclaim religious places. The Act aims to maintain the religious character of places of worship as they existed on August 15, 1947, but the dispute relating to Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid at Ayodhya was kept out of its purview. The court has listed Choudhary's plea with other pending pleas for February 17.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar also indicated that it may not take up the pending scheduled petitions, heard earlier by a three-judge bench, during the day as it was sitting in a combination of two judges.
Rekha Gupta had the support of the RSS, which actively participated in the Delhi assembly poll campaign to help the BJP win.
The cabinet of the new government led by Rekha Gupta balances representation of all major communities that propelled the Bharatiya Janata Party to power in Delhi with a massive majority after over 26 years.
The Reserve Bank of India has rejected three applications, including that of West End Housing Finance, for setting up small finance banks. These applications were found not suitable for granting of in-principle approval to set up small finance banks, it said in a statement on Tuesday. RBI had received about a dozen applications to set up banks under the guidelines for 'on tap' Licensing of Universal Banks and Small Finance Banks (SFBs).
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