Manika Batra fights her way into semis at WTT Contender table tennis tournament

Budapest: Manika Batra (in pic) reached the women’s singles semifinals at the WTT Contender table tennis tournament after beating compatriot Sreeja Akula and then paired up with G Sathiyan to make it to the title round of the mixed doubles event. In the singles quarterfinals, Manika beat Sreeja 7-11 11-1 8-11 13-11 11-6. In the mixed doubles event, Manika and Sathiyan beat Aliaksandr Khanin and Daria Trigolos of Belarus 11-6 11-5 11-4.

Advertisement

Wrestler Bipasha wins silver

Ufa (Russia): Bipasha (76kg) had to be content with the silver medal but a tenacious Sanju Devi kept her cool and relied on her stamina to secure a place in the 62kg title clash at the wrestling Junior World Championships. Simran (50kg) and Sito (55kg) won bronze medals but Arju forfeited her 68kg bronze playoff due to injury. Bhateri entered the 65kg final, while Saneh will fight for bronze after losing her 62kg semifinal. Bipasha lost her final by technical superiority to USA’s Kylie Renee Welker. Sanju was down 0-5 in the semifinals but relied on her supreme stamina to win 8-5 against Azerbaijan’s Birgul Soltanova.

OM Nambiar, PT Usha’s coach, dies

Kozhikode: Renowned athletics coach OM Nambiar, who nurtured one of India’s greatest track and field stars, PT Usha, died here on Thursday due to age-related illness. He was 89. Nambiar was a Dronacharya and Padma Shri awardee.

Deepa, Arhan in Tokyo for Paralympics

New delhi: Paralympic Committee of India president Deepa Malik and Deputy Chef-de-Mission Arhan Bagati reached Tokyo today for the Paralympic Games, which get underway on August 24. At 22 years of age, Bagati is the youngest-ever Deputy Chef-de-Mission of India’s Paralympic contingent. As many as 54 Indian para-athletes in nine disciplines will feature in the mega event. This is India’s biggest ever contingent to the Paralympic Games.

Rohan books semis berth in 400m hurdles

Nairobi: Rohan Kamble made it to the men’s 400m hurdles semifinals in the World Athletics U20 Championships. Kamble finished fourth in his heat, clocking 55 seconds. Punjab’s Amandeep Singh Dhaliwal fouled his first two attempts and managed a disappointing 17.08m to finish 12th. Three weeks ago, Dhaliwal had registered a personal best of 19.15m. PTI