World Boxing Championship: Indian boxer Manju Rani secures Silver medal at debut event
Ulan-Ude (Russia): Indian boxer Manju Rani's stupendous debut run at the Women's World Championships ended with a silver medal on Sunday after she lost the light flyweight (48kg) final to Russia's Ekaterina Paltceva here.
The Haryana-boxer, who was seeded sixth, went down 1-4 to the second-seeded local favourite in the first final of the day. Rani, who turns 20 on Saturday, was the lone Indian to make the finals after six-time champion M C Mary Kom (51kg), Jamuna Boro (54kg) and Lovlina Borgohain (69kg) settled for bronze medals. In case of Borgohain, it was her second successive third-place finish.
There was very little separating Rani and her rival, both of whom looked to attack in the first round. The Russian stood out for her near perfect left hooks in the opening three minutes.
In the second round, the Indian connected some good straights and seemed to have the upperhand over the crowd favourite.
The proceedings slowed down in the final three minutes when both the boxers adopted a cautious approach. There was quite a bit of holding, requiring the referee's intervention quite a few times.
However, at the end of it the Russian emerged victorious perhaps for her a shade sharper reflexes. The Indian contingent was however visibly upset after the Paltceva's hand was raised as the victor.
Rani broke into the national camp only this year by winning the national crown for Punjab after not getting the selection nod in Haryana.
Earlier this year, she won a silver medal on debut at the prestigious Strandja Memorial Tournament, one of Europe's oldest and most competitive boxing events.
Rani hails from Rithal Phogat village in th
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Family of five from Bengaluru killed in road accident in Andhra
Palamaneru (Andhra Pradesh) (PTI): Five members of a family from Bengaluru died on the spot after the car in which they were travelling to Tirupati rammed into a stationary truck in Chittoor district on Wednesday, a police official said.
The deceased included three women, and the accident occurred on the four-lane highway near Palamaneru at around 8.45 am on Wednesday, police said.
"Five members of a family travelling from Bengaluru to Tirupati were killed on the spot when their car rammed into a stationary truck near Palamaneru," the official told PTI.
According to police, the accident is suspected to have occurred due to overspeeding and the driver possibly feeling sleepy.
Meanwhile, relatives of the deceased have been informed and are on their way to the accident site, the official added.
