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Hisar, Jan 6 (Ians) Heavy favorites Shiva Thapa and Mohammad Hussamuddin powered their way to remarkable victories and bagged gold medals while defending champions Services Sports Control Board (Sscb) topped the rankings with 10 medals at the 6th Elite Men’s National Boxing Championships, here on Friday.

The record six time Asian medalist Shiva of Assam had a pretty comfortable day at the office as he defeated the 2021 World Youth Championships bronze medalist Ankit Narwal of Railways Sports Promotion Board (Rspb) to win by unanimous decision in the 63.5kg final.

Contrastingly, the Sscb pugilist Mohammad Hussamuddin had to toil hard to prevail against the 2016 World Youth champion Sachin of Rspb in the 57kg final. Having suffered defeat in last year’s final, the two time Commonwealth Games bronze medalist showcased brilliant tenacity to emerge victorious this time round with a 4-1 scoreline.

The 2022 Asian Championships bronze medalist Narender (+92) received a walkover in...

Hisar, Jan 4 (Ians) The record six-time Asian medalist Shiva Thapa and 2019 World Championships bronze winner Manish Kaushik produced power packed performances on the fifth day and will face each other in the semi-finals of the 6th Elite Men’s National Boxing Championships here on Wednesday.

Thapa (63.5kg) who is representing Assam hardly had to break a sweat in his quarters bout against Ashutosh Kumar of Punjab. The pugilist who also has the 2015 World Championships bronze to his name was at his attacking best and put up a sensational display of skill and strength to secure a 5:0 victory by unanimous decision against his opponent.

Kaushik (63.5kg) on the other hand, is representing Services Sports Control Board (Sscb) and was facing Rohit Ningehougan Singh of Manipur in his bout. Thapa, the 2018 Commonwealth Games silver medalist also portrayed his attacking dominance by blanking his opponent to win by unanimous decision.

Thapa and...

Hisar, Jan 2 (Ians) The record six-time Asian medallist Shiva Thapa and 2022 and Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Rohit Tokas produced sensational performances on the third day and progressed to the quarterfinals of the 6th Elite Men’s National Boxing Championships here on Monday.

Representing Assam, Thapa (63.5kg) was up against Jaswinder Singh of Delhi in his Round-of-16 bout. Living up to his name, the 2015 World Championships bronze medallist utilised his experience and supreme technical ability to dominate the bout and secured the win by unanimous decision. He will face the winner of the bout between Sanu T. of Kerala and Ashutosh Kumar of Punjab in his quarter-final bout on Wednesday.

Tokas (67kg), who is representing Railway Sports Promotion Board (Rspb), faced Jai Singh of Chhattisgarh and just like Thapa, put up a stellar performance. Courtesy of his attacking brilliance, Tokas had the upper hand over his opponent and managed to keep him quiet throughout the bout.

Gandhinagar, Oct 5 (Ians) Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain, Commonwealth Games bronze medallists Jaismine Lamboria and Mohammed Hussamuddin registered convincing victories to advance to the next round of their respective weight categories as boxing competitions at the 36th National Games kicked off at the Mahatma Mandir here on Wednesday.

Flanked by former world championship medallist Shiva Thapa, Lovlina walked into the ring amidst cheers from the sizeable crowd, more so from the Assam contingent, and took firm control of the bout against Nishi Bharadwaj in the 75kg category. The difference in class was pretty evident between the opponents from either corner, with Nishi’s short frame making it even more difficult for her to connect the punches and judge had to stop fight.

Returning from a nose injury, Lovlina warmed up for the tougher bouts ahead with a flurry of punches that connected right on the Bihar pugilist’s face,...

New Delhi, April 6 (Ians) Indian boxer Ashish Kumar continued his brilliant form at the 2022 Thailand Open International Boxing tournament and entered the finals alongside country’s three other pugilists in Phuket on Wednesday. Monika, Govind Sahani and Varinder Singh were the other Indians to progress into the finals. Ashish, who won gold medal in […]...

Dubai, May 26 (Ians) Olympic Games-bound Amit Panghal entered the semi-finals of the men's 52kg category of the Asian Boxing Championships here on Wednesday, and assured a medal for India.

Panghal, the World silver medallist and defending champion, defeated Kharkhuu Enkhmandakh of Mongolia 3-2 in a quarter-final bout.

The Indian made a cautious start, but shifted gears as the match progressed. On the other hand, the Mongolian boxer was aggressive from the word go and kept pace with Panghal throughout the nail-biting contest. But it was Panghal's tactical brilliance that enabled him to edge past Enkhmandakh.

Vikas Krishan (69kg) and Ashish Kumar (75kg) will be seen in action late on Wednesday evening.

In the women's section, six-time world champion Mc Mary Kom (51kg) will be seen in action in the semi-finals on Thursday.

The Indian women's team has entered the semi-finals in almost all the weight categories, including 60kg and 54kg.

Dubai, May 25 (Ians) India's Shiva Thapa outpunched Kuwait's Nader Odah in the men's 64kg quarter-final to assure India of a medal at the Asbc Asian Boxing Championships in Dubai on Tuesday.

With a comprehensive 5-0 victory, the Assam boxer also confirmed his fifth back-to-back medal at the Asian Championships. Thapa has also won a gold (2013), a silver (2017) and two bronze (2015 and 2019) at the championships.

Thapa dominated Odah throughout and hardly gave him an opportunity to score a point. The Indian will have a tough task in the semi-final when he takes on top seed Bakhodur Usmonov of Tajikistan.

There was disappointment for India's Mohammad Hussamuddin, who went down fighting to reigning world champion and top seed from Uzbekistan, Mirazizbek Mirzahalilov, in the 56kg quarter-final bout.

Defending champion Mirzahalilov started the contest with an aggressive intent and landed some fierce punches. Hussamuddin, however, tried to gain momentum with a good defence...

Dubai, May 25 (Ians) India's Olympic-bound boxers Amit Panghal, Vikas Krishan and Ashish Kumar have a tough challenge ahead when they play their quarter-finals in Asbc Asian Championships here on Wednesday.

World Championships silver-medallist and defending champion Panghal will face stiff competition from Mongolia's Kharkhuu Enkhmandakh in 52kg category. When the duo last met, at Asian Olympic Qualifiers in Amman last year, the Indian had to dig deep into his energy reserves to win the bout.

Krishan, the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games champion, will square off against Iran's Moslem Malamir in 69kg, while Ashish Kumar (75kg), who clinched silver in the last edition of the event, and Narender (+91kg) will also be up against powerful opponents from Kazakhstan.

While Ashish will play World Championships and Asian Games silver-medallist Abilkhan Amankul, Narender is set to fight two-time World Championships silver-medallist Kamshybek Kunkabayev, who is also aiming for his third successive medal at the Asian championships.

New Delhi, March 8 (Ians) Continuing his splendid run, Manish Kaushik clinched gold as Indian boxers concluded their impressive campaign at the Boxam International Tournament with 10 medals in Castellon, Spain.

The 2018 Commonwealth Games silver medallist Kaushik, who returned into the ring for the first time after the Asian Olympic Qualifiers held in March last year, beat Denmark's Nikolai Terteryan with a split 3-2 decision in the men's 63kg summit bout. However, the World Championship bronze medallist Vikas Krishan went down fighting 4-1 against local favourite Ndiaye Sissokho to settle for silver medal in the men's 69kg.

Meanwhile, in the women's category, Asian champion Pooja Rani lost to Word Championships bronze medallist USA's Naomi Graham 5-0 in the 75kg final while young Jasmine, who was playing her maiden senior international tournament, showed great attacking display but couldn't hold edge over 2019 European Champion Irma Testa of Italy and settle for a silver in...

Castellon (Spain), March 6 (Ians) Asian Championship gold medallist Pooja Rani (75 kg) defeated world champion Atheyna Bylon of Panama in a semi-final bout as nine Indian boxers stormed into the finals of the 35th Boxam International boxing tournament here.

Pooja dominated her opponent from the beginning and looked unfazed throughout and assured a unanimous win on Friday. She will now square off against Melissa Graham of USA in the final on Sunday night.

Other women boxers joining Pooja in the final are debutant Jasmine (57 kg) and Simranjit (60 kg).

Young Jasmine, who is playing her first senior international tournament showed great composure and played from distance to ensure a comfortable 4-1 win over Italy's Sirine Charaabi. She will be up against European champion Irma Testa in the gold medal bout.

World Championship bronze medallist Simranjit was up against veteran Puerto Rican Kiria Tapia and in a close encounter which saw both the...

Castellon (Spain), March 6 (Ians) Vikas Krishan Yadav outpunched 2012 London Olympic Games bronze medallist Vicenzo Mangiacapre to progress to the men's 69kg semi-finals on the third day at the Boxam International Tournament here.

Commonwealth Games champion Vikas, who has already secured a berth for his third Olympics in Tokyo, got rid of Italian Mangiacapre in a 3-2 split decision.

Apart from Vikas, five more Indian men boxers registered victories in their respective quarter-final bouts to assure India six medals in men's category at the 35th edition of the tournament.

The 2018 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Mohammed Husamuddin notched up a 5-0 win against Italy's Simone Spada in the 57kg while, World Championships bronze medallist Manish Kaushik, who's making return in the ring after a year, managed 4-1 win against Safiullin Zakir of Kazakhstan.

Ashish Kumar (75kg), the 2019 Asian Championship silver medallist, and Sumit Sangwan (81kg) also made it to the semi-finals with...

Castellon (Spain), March 2 (Ians) Six-time world champion Mary Kom (51 kg) and World Championship silver medallist Amit Panghal (52 kg) are both one win away from securing a medal at the Boxam International Tournament in Castellon, Spain after they were drawn in the quarterfinals of the tournament.

Mary faces Italian Giordana Sorrentino in her opening bout on Wednesday while Panghal will be up against local favourite Gabriel Escobar in his quarterfinal clash. Both pugilists got byes in their respective first round bouts.

Meanwhile, Vikas Krishan (69 kg) also got a bye in the first round and will fight Italy's Vincenzo Mangiacapre. Ashish Kumar (75 kg), and Sumit Sangwan (81 kg) are also drawn in the quarter-finals because of the lesser entries in their weight classes. Satish (+91 kg), the first super heavyweight from the country to qualify for the Olympics, is also drawn in the quarterfinals of his weight category.

Among women, Jasmine and Manisha are...

New Delhi, March 1 (Ians) Fourteen elite Indian boxers, including six-time world champion M.C. Marykom, on Monday began preparation for the Boxam International Tournament beginning on Tuesday in Castellon, Spain, with two light training sessions.

The team comprises all nine Olympic Games quota winners, including Marykom, who has qualified for the Tokyo Games in the women's 51 kg category.

The team reached Castellon late Sunday evening.

"The boxers had a light training session on Monday morning and evening. We will chalk out competition strategy once we get the fixtures," a team coach told Ians.

The elite 14-member Indian boxing team is aiming for a good show in the week-long tournament in the Spanish coastal city, and are taking all precautionary measures because of the Covid-19 pandemic, said the coach.

"When an athlete steps out of the hotel room it's mandatory to wear a mask. Athletes have also been told not to...

Cinemapreneur is a pay-per-view Ott with a library of independent films available to stream online globally.

India has made its mark in world cinema with the work of talented filmmakers like Chaitanya Tamahe, which recently got into the list of competing films for the Venice International Film Festival. However Indian independent films remain limited to festivals as avenues for a proper release and monetization are localised and few. A traditional release through theatres is very expensive and it’s tougher for small-budget films to find a place in major Ott platforms. Many are available for viewing outside India but there is a lack of spaces within the country itself which can take these films to the right audience.

To change this, Cinemapreneur decided to launch an online pay-per-view platform exclusively for Indian independent films. While the Ott was being set up, they also organised offline screenings for films like Achal...

Though Avengers 4 is still over six months away from arriving in cinemas, these last couple of weeks have seen another sort of drama unfold on social media amongst the team behind the Avengers: Infinity War sequel.

To give a quick recap of the ongoing saga, earlier this month, performer Mark Ruffalo publicly admitted that he’d accidentally dropped a huge Avengers 4 spoiler on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, prompting directors Anthony and Joe Russo to tweet, “Mark, you’re fired.”

Of course, contrary to the incensed responses of a few fans, the Russo Brothers were clearly joking with this remark, but that hasn’t stopped them from recently messaging the Bruce Banner actor with another reminder of his dismissal, tweeting: “You’re still fired, Mark.”

Once more, the internet has offered its reactions, with many fans joking that with nothing left to lose, Ruffalo might as well drop some...