Amit Panghal, Sanjeet strike gold at French boxing tourney
New Delhi: World silver-medallist Amit Panghal (52kg) and Sanjeet (91kg) struck gold in their first competition after a coronavirus-forced break, claiming the top honours at the Alexis Vastine International Boxing Tournament in Nantes, France.
Amit, also an Asian Games champion, defeated American Rene Abraham 3-0 with a dominating performance.
Sanjeet, a former India Open gold-medallist, too put up a clinical show to get past Frenchman Soheb Bouafia in his summit clash and secure a gold.
However, Asian silver-medallist Kavinder Singh Bisht (57kg) settled for a silver medal after going down to local favourite Samuel Kistohurry in a split 2-1 verdict.
India had earlier secured three bronze medals through four-time Asian medallist Shiva Thapa (63kg), Sumit Sangwan (81kg) and Satish Kumar (+91kg). All three of them lost in the semifinal stage.
This was the first international competition that Indian boxers featured in since the Olympic qualifiers in Jordan in March.
In that event, nine Indians -- five men and four women -- qualified for the Tokyo Olympics, postponed to next year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Indians' competition calendar as well as training schedule has been severely hampered by the shutdown that followed the spread of the pandemic which has caused a bar a on sparring at the national camp.
The Indians are currently on a 52-day training trip to Europe during which they have been primarily based in Assisi, Italy. The boxers and their support staff left for the trip on October 15.
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23-year-old youngster drowns after diving into swimming pool in Haveri district
Haveri: A 23-year-old youth drowned in a swimming pool at Byadagi town in Haveri district on Sunday after diving into the water, police said.
The deceased has been identified as Dakanachari Nagaraj Badiger, a resident of Byadagi.
According to sources, Badiger had gone to the Mahakuteshwar Swimming Pool on Kakol Road along with his friends. CCTV footage reportedly shows him diving headfirst into the pool. Moments later, he appeared to struggle in the water and was unable to stay afloat.
It is said that his friends did not immediately notice that he was in distress. Another swimmer reportedly spotted him lying at the bottom of the pool and alerted others.
Badiger was pulled out of the pool and attempts were made to revive him. However, efforts to save him were unsuccessful, sources said.
Byadagi Police have registered a case and initiated an investigation into the incident.
