BOXING
U-19 & U-23 Asian Boxing Championships: Futures Cup Stars Chandrika, Joyshree power India to flying start
India opened its campaign at the U-19 Asian Boxing Championships in emphatic fashion as World Boxing Futures Cup gold medallist Chandrika Pujari and silver medallist Joyshree Devi registered dominant victories on the opening day in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Competing in the preliminary rounds, Chandrika outboxed Mongolia’s Lakham Tsendbaatar to secure a unanimous 5-0 victory in the girls’ 51kg category. Joyshree followed with an equally commanding display, forcing a second-round referee stopped contest (RSC) against Chinese Taipei’s Chen Ning Hong in the girls’ 54kg division to book her place in the next round.
The Boxing Federation of India has fielded a strong contingent across the U-19 and U-23 categories, with 20 boxers competing in each age group. The championships provide an important platform for India’s next generation to test itself against Asia’s finest, as the country looks to build on its recent success and continue its dominance on the continental stage.
India’s campaign continues on Monday with a strong quartet of U-23 men’s boxers set to enter the ring. Asian champion Vishwanath Suresh (50kg) opens proceedings against Uzbekistan’s Amirbek Ismoilov, before Ganga (55kg) faces Mongolia’s Amgalanbaatar Bulgankhuu. Sagar Jakhar (60kg) then takes on Japan’s Koichi Nakayama, while Hitesh (70kg) rounds off the day’s action against Chinese Taipei’s Jun-Zhanglin as India looks to build on its impressive start in Jakarta.
– Team Sportstar
MOTORSPORT
Formula 2: Kush Maini finishes third at Silverstone feature race
ART Grand Prix driver Kush Maini secured a third place finish at the Silverstone feature race on Sunday. Maini, who started third on the grid, got a strong getaway at the start to take the lead by Turn 1.
The 25-year-old displayed strong pace and built a substantial gap to eventual race winner, Campos Racing’s Nikola Tsovolo in the intial laps of the race.
The Indian’s resistance, however, came to an end on Lap 20 as he was overtaken Tsolov at Maggots and Becketts. Maini dropped a place further on the penultimate lap to VAR’s Rafael Villagómez to finish third.
Tsolov became the first driver in Formula 2 history to win three consecutive races as he completed a historic Silverstone double.
Maini is currently sixth in the F2 standings with 63 points, including a sprint race victory at Barcelona de Catalayuna.
-Team Sportstar
CHESS
Abhijeet Gupta stays sole leader at Pune GM chess tournament
Top seed Grandmaster Abhijeet Gupta strengthened his grip on the Pune International Grandmaster Round Robin Chess Tournament with a clinical victory over Belarus’ Aleksej Alexandrov in the sixth round here on Sunday.
The Indian GM remained the sole leader with five points from six rounds after four of the five matches ended decisively.
Playing with the white pieces, Gupta employed the London System and gradually built up pressure after gaining a slight advantage in the opening.
Alexandrov’s slow play in the middlegame allowed Gupta to launch a decisive kingside attack, winning material before converting his advantage into a comfortable victory.
Indian International Masters Aswath S and Kushagra Mohan occupied the second and third spots respectively with four points each.
Kushagra scored an important win over USA’s Vaidyanathan Kannan, while Aswath was held to a draw by FIDE Master Advik Agrawal.
Elsewhere, Belarus’ Alexei Fedorov defeated India’s Nitish Belurkar, while Sri Lanka’s L. M. S. T. De Silva got the better of India’s Akshay Borgaonkar.
With three rounds remaining, both Aswath and Kushagra need to win all their remaining games to secure Grandmaster norms.
In the race for International Master norm, Advik remained in contention with three points, while Vaidyanathan stayed in the hunt with 2.5 points.
Results (Round 6): Kushagra Mohan bt Vaidyanathan Kannan; L.M.S.T. De Silva bt Akshay Borgaonkar; Abhijeet Gupta bt Aleksej Alexandrov; Aswath S drew with Advik Agrawal; Alexei Fedorov bt Nitish Belurkar.
-PTI
GOLF
Shubhankar misses cut, Rosenmueller cards 65 to move into contention
ndia’s Shubhankar Sharma missed the cut on his return to competitive golf after a lengthy break as Germany’s Thomas Rosenmueller surged into contention with the day’s best round at the BMW International Open on Saturday.
Sharma, who carded back-to-back rounds of 73, failed to make the weekend after struggling to find momentum in his comeback event.
Rosenmueller carded the lowest round of the day on Saturday as he shot 7-under 65 to move into contention for the title at the BMW International Open.
Rosenmueller is now placed T-4 on the leaderboard with a total score of 11-under par (69-71-65) and is just two strokes shy of leaders Bernd Wiesberger (68-68-67) and Michael Hollick (66-68-69) who have a score of 13-under par.
-PTI
Diksha, Aditi stay in title hunt at tied third in Belgium
India’s experienced Olympians Diksha Dagar and Aditi Ashok remained firmly in contention for a strong finish at the Hulencourt Women’s Open after moving into a shared third place here.
Keeping India’s hopes alive in the Ladies European Tour event, Diksha (71) and Aditi (70) closed the third round at five-under-par 211, five shots behind Australia’s Kelsey Bennett.
Bennett seized control of the tournament with a composed three-under 69 to reach 10-under and open a two-shot advantage over Spain’s Carolina Chacarra.
Hero-backed Diksha produced another steady display, carding a one-under 71 to stay in touch with the leaders despite difficult scoring conditions.
Starting confidently, she picked up birdies on the second and ninth holes before dropping her lone shot of the day at the 10th.
A string of eight successive pars thereafter ensured the two-time LET winner remained within striking distance entering Sunday’s decisive round.
Aditi, meanwhile, overcame a mixed day to post a two-under 70.
The five-time LET winner appeared to be slipping out of contention after three bogeys during the round, but she responded impressively by birdieing three of her final four holes to join Diksha in tied third.
The finish underlined Aditi’s ability to recover under pressure and kept alive her hopes of adding another LET title to her impressive resume.
Her maiden victory on the Tour had come at the Hero Women’s Indian Open exactly a decade ago.
Among the other Indians, Pranavi Urs slipped to tied 42nd after returning a one-over 73.
Her round featured three birdies but was offset by four bogeys as she dropped down the leaderboard.
Youngster Avani Prashanth endured a disappointing day on a day of strong winds.
She mixed an eagle and a birdie with three bogeys on the front nine but unravelled on the inward half with four consecutive bogeys from the 11th, another dropped shot on the 16th and a double bogey on the closing hole. Her seven-over 79 pushed her down to tied 51st.
Speaking after the round, Aditi admitted she had not been at her best but was pleased with how she salvaged her score.
“I didn’t feel like I had my good stuff today, but I managed to hole a couple of long putts towards the end and that made a big difference,” she said.
Playing in Belgium for the first time, Aditi is using the tournament as preparation for next week’s Amundi Evian Championship.
“I’ve always gone straight from the United States to Evian and struggled there. This year I wanted to arrive in Europe earlier, get used to the conditions and time zone, and playing here is good preparation,” she added.
At the top of the leaderboard, Bennett emerged as the player to catch after producing another mature performance.
Beginning the day two shots behind overnight leader Carolina Chacarra, the Australian quickly narrowed the gap with an early birdie before capitalising on a dramatic swing at the ninth hole.
While Bennett birdied the par-five, Chacarra suffered a costly double bogey, handing the Australian a two-shot lead.
Both players birdied the 10th, but Bennett briefly gave one shot back with a bogey at the next.
As winds strengthened over the Hulencourt Golf Club during the afternoon, scoring became increasingly difficult.
Bennett responded with a crucial birdie on the 15th before safely negotiating the closing holes to sign for a 69 and establish a two-shot cushion.
Chacarra, who had dazzled with a course-record 65 in the second round, struggled to replicate that form in the tougher conditions and settled for a two-over 74, dropping into second place on eight-under.
Bennett is chasing her second Ladies European Tour title after winning the Australian Women’s Classic earlier this year and currently sits among the leading players on the LET Order of Merit.
Thailand’s Trichat Cheenglab occupied fifth place on three-under, while Ireland’s Anna Foster, England’s Bronte Law and Switzerland’s Morgane Metraux shared sixth on two-under.
With Bennett holding the advantage but only five shots separating the leader from the Indian duo, Diksha and Aditi will look to produce a low final round and mount a strong challenge for the title in Belgium.
-PTI
HOCKEY
Indian junior men’s hockey team leaves for Belgium exposure tour
A 24-member Indian junior men’s hockey team under new coach Frederic Soyez has left for Belgium for its exposure tour scheduled from July 7 to 17.
The team departed from the Kempegowda International Airport here on Saturday night.
The team will play six matches against Austria, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands as part of its preparations for key upcoming international competitions, including the Junior Asia Cup.
India will play two matches each against Austria and Belgium, along with one match each against Germany and the Netherlands.
Five matches will be played at the Belfius Hockey Arena in Wavre, while the final fixture against the Netherlands will be held at the Hockey Center of Excellence in Antwerp.
-PTI
Published on Jul 05, 2026
