Amit Panghal wins gold medal in boxing at Asian Championships
Bangkok: Indian boxer Amit Panghal (52kg) picked up his second successive gold medal of the year, claiming the top honours in the Asian Championships here Friday.
Panghal, who won the Asian Games gold medal last year, defeated Korea's Kim Inkyu Korea in a unanimous decision. He came into the tournament on the back of a gold at the Strandja Memorial Tournament in February.
This was his maiden international competition since moving up to 52kg from 49kg earlier this year.
However, national champion Deepak Singh (49kg) had to settle for a silver after going down in a split verdict to Nodirjon Mirzahmedov of Uzbekistan.
India have challenged the verdict under the Bout Review System and a decision is awaited on it. Up against a lanky opponent, who was willing to play the waiting game, Panghal started in his usual aggressive style.
The strategy of stumping rivals with relentless attacks paid off against Inkyu and the Korean simply had no answer to Panghal's aggression.
The Indian managed to corner his rival quite often and his solid defences thwarted the feeble attempts at connecting by Inkyu. Earlier, Deepak put up a gutsy performance that failed to find favour with the judges.
It was a bout in which both the boxers were mostly looking to counter-attack. Deepak's focus was getting his straight punches across, while Mirzahmedov looked to connect right hooks occasionally.
The Indian was a clear winner in the opening round but Mirzahmedov came back strongly in the second.
The Uzbek turned a shade defensive in the last three minutes, which gave Deepak a chance to assert himself. However, the final outcome was in favour of the Uzbek, much to the surprise of the Indian camp which immediately sought a review of the decision.
The tournament has a Bout Review Process in place for any contentious decisions. Teams have been handed yellow cards at the beginning of their respective bouts. Coaches get a minute after the fight to appeal against a decision.
A slow motion footage of the bout is used for reviews by an observer to decide the merits of the appeal.
In case the decision does not favour the team concerned, the national federation has to pay USD 1,000 as penalty.
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Nitish likely to file nominations for Rajya Sabha polls
Patna (PTI): Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is likely to file nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha polls on Thursday, according to JD(U) leaders.
Kumar may file his nomination papers at the state assembly around 11 am, they said.
BJP president Nitin Nabin will also file his nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha polls.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah is expected to be present at the time of filing of the nomination papers.
State minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary had confirmed on Wednesday that Kumar was considering entering the Rajya Sabha, which would bring to an end his tenure as the longest-serving chief minister of the state.
With Kumar likely to step down after leading the ruling NDA to a landslide victory in the 2025 assembly elections, a BJP leader is expected to take over the top post.
If that happens, Bihar will get its first BJP chief minister -- the only Hindi heartland state where the party has not held the office so far.
However, an official announcement regarding Kumar's entry into the Upper House of Parliament is yet to be made.
Five Rajya Sabha seats from Bihar will go to the polls on March 16.
The elections will be held as the tenures of JD(U)'s Harivansh Narayan Singh and Ram Nath Thakur, RJD's Prem Chand Gupta and Amarendra Dhari Singh, and RLM's Upendra Kushwaha are ending.
As per the latest tally in the state legislature, all five seats would now go to the ruling NDA.
Before filing his nomination papers, the BJP president will visit the revered Mahavir Temple here and offer prayers.
