Four junior boxers advance to semis of Asian Championships

Astana: Indian boxers Jadumani Singh (51kg), Nikhil (57kg), Ajay Kumar (63.5kg) and Ankush (71kg) registered impressive victories to move into the men’s U-22 semifinals at the ASBC Asian U-22 and Youth Boxing Championships. Late on Wednesday, Aryan (92kg), Nisha (52kg), Akansha Phalaswal (70kg) and Rudrika (75kg) won their quarterfinals in the youth category.

Beijing
Shubhankar shoots flawless 6-under, lies tied-7th

Shubhankar Sharma was off to his best start of the year with a bogey-free 6-under 66 that placed him tied-seventh at the end of Round 1 of the China Open. Sharma was three shots behind leaders Romain Langasque and Sebastian Soderberg, who also produced flawless rounds. Om Prakash, the other Indian in the field, was

2-under 70 and tied-51st.

Seoul
Sandhu, Chikka open with even-par rounds

Indian golfers Ajeetesh Sandhu and S Chikkarangappa were off to modest starts, opening with an even-par 71 each at the Maekyung Open on the Asian Tour. The duo was T-33 as Kyungnam Kang, one of Korea’s most experienced players, shot a bogey-free 6-under 65 to take the lead. SSP Chawrasia (72) was T-52, Shiv Kapur (76) was T-110 and Karandeep Kochhar (78) was T-133.

New Delhi
Salima replaces Savita as skipper of hockey team

Salima Tete replaced veteran goalkeeper Savita Punia as captain of the 24-member Indian women’s hockey squad for the Belgium and England legs of the FIH Pro League starting later this month. Navneet Kaur has been named her deputy for the tour. Drag-flicker Gurjit Kaur has been dropped.

London
WI’s Thomas hit with ban after agreeing to fix matches

West Indies batter Devon Thomas has been banned for five years, with 18 months suspended, after admitting to seven charges, including those related to match-fixing, in franchise-based leagues in Sri Lanka, UAE and West Indies, the ICC said. The sentence will be backdated to May 23 last year, when the West Indies batter was provisionally suspended. —Agencies