Boxing: Pooja Rani, Vikas Krishan book Olympic berth, enter semis of Asian qualifiers
Amman (Jordan): Asian champion Pooja Rani (75kg) and the seasoned Vikas Krishan (69kg) on Sunday became the first set of Indian boxers to qualify for this year's Tokyo Olympics by advancing to the semifinals of the continental qualifiers here.
While fourth-seeded Rani notched up a facile 5-0 win over Thailand's Pornnipa Chutee, Krishan endured a tough one against third-seeded Japanese Sewonrets Okazawa before also prevailing in a unanimous verdict against the Asian silver-medallist.
While Rani secured her maiden Olympic spot, Krishan will be making his third successive appearance at the quadrennial showpiece, scheduled in July-August.
"I had never fought against this girl before today and honestly, I was a bit scared. I had told my coaches about it before the bout. They instilled confidence in me and I could pull off a one-sided result. I am happy," said the 29-year-old Rani, who fought career-threatening shoulder and hand injuries before her gold at last year's Asian Championships.
Rani will next face the reigning world and Asian champion Li Qian of China, who has the top billing in this category. Qian had no trouble beating Mongolia's Myagmarjargal Munkhbat 5-0 in the opening bout of the day.
Taking full advantage of her longer reach, Rani outpunched the inexperienced but determined Chutee. The Indian is a three-time Asian medallist, besides being a former bronze-winner at the 2014 Asian Games.
Krishan, however, had to slog hard against a brilliant boxer, whose performance was eye-catching despite the loss. Okazawa, a gold-winner at the Olympic Test Event last year, kept Krishan on his toes with his right jabs being particularly effective.
What worked for the Indian was the consistent straight punches to the body, which fetched him the bulk of the points.
Later in the day, Sachin Kumar (81kg) will face China's Chen Daxaing in another quarterfinal bout.
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Delhi polls: BJP releases second list of 29 candidates, features ex-CM's son, Kapil Mishra
New Delhi, Jan 11: The BJP on Saturday released its second list featuring 29 candidates for the Delhi Assembly polls, fielding Kapil Mishra, a former AAP leader now identified with hardline Hindutva politics, from Karawal Nagar.
It has fielded Harish Khurana, son of former Delhi chief minister Madan Lal Khurana, from the Moti Nagar constituency.
With the latest announcement, the party has so far named candidates for 58 seats of the 70-member Delhi Assembly.
The elections are scheduled to be held on February 5 and the votes will be counted on February 8.
Mishra, who replaced sitting party MLA Mohan Singh Bisht, made several speeches, denounced as inflammatory by rival parties, just before communal riots broke out in northeast Delhi in February 2020.
Sitting BJP MLA from Laxmi Nagar seat Abhay Verma will seek reelection from the same seat. He won the constituency in 2020 with a narrow margin of just over 800 votes.
Both Mishra and Verma are Purvanchalis. Two other candidates, Bajrang Shukla from Kirari and Pankaj Singh from Vikaspuri, also belong to the same community.
Delhi BJP's Mandir Prakoshth (temple cell) chief Karnail Singh is the party's candidate against sitting AAP MLA and former minister Satyendar Jain at Shakoor Basti seat.
Former Kasturba Nagar MLA Neeraj Basoya, who recently defected to the BJP from Congress, was fielded from the same seat.
Former Delhi BJP general secretary (organisation) Pawan Sharma will contest Uttam Nagar seat that he won in 2013.
Deepti Indora, Matia Mahal, Urmila Kailash Gangwar, Madipur (SC), Shweta Saini, Tilak Nagar, Priyanka Gautam, Kondli (SC), and Neelam Pahalwan from Najafgarh are the party's women candidates so far.
The list features four former MLAs and eight sitting municipal councilors.
Former mayor Shyam Sharma was fielded from the Hari Nagar seat which has a significant number of Sikh voters.
Tickets on remaining 12 tickets will likely be announced soon after discussions on seats like Delhi Cantt, Greater Kailash and Shahdara.
Party sources said former Union minister Meenakshi Lekhi was considered for the Greater Kailash seat, although she was interested in contesting from Delhi Cantt.
भाजपा की केन्द्रीय चुनाव समिति ने दिल्ली में होने वाले विधानसभा चुनाव 2025 के लिए निम्नलिखित नामों पर अपनी स्वीकृति प्रदान की है। pic.twitter.com/STdMQZZ2VM
— BJP (@BJP4India) January 11, 2025
