Sports Shorts: India's women clinch five gold, two silver for men

It rained gold for India at the Asian Youth Boxing Championship as all five of the country's women finalists emerged victorious while two men signed off with silver medals, in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, on Sunday.

Naorem Chanu (51kg), Vinka (64kg) Sanamacha Chanu (75kg), Poonam (54kg) and Sushma (81kg) fetched the yellow metal for the country in a phenomenal sweep.

Among the men, Selay Soy (49kg) and Ankit Narwal (60kg) settled for the second place after going down in their respective summit clashes.

India signed off with 12 medals in the event with bronze coming from Arundhati Choudhury (69kg), Komalpreet Kaur (+81kg), Jaismine (57kg), Satender Singh (91kg) and Aman (+91kg).

Soy began the proceedings for India, going down to Kazakhstan's Bazarbay Ullu Mukhamedsayfi. Narwal was then defeated by Japan's Reito Tsutsume.

But Poonam defeated China's Weiqi Cai to open India's gold account, to which Sushma added one by going past Kazakhstan's Bakytzhankyzy.

Naorem Chanu got the better of another Kazakh Anel Barkyah. Vinka outpunched China's Haini Nulataiali, while Sanamachu Chanu, a product of the legendary M C Mary Kom's academy in Manipur, edged past Uzbekistan's Navbakhor Khamidova. 

Raja-Ramanathan wins Pune Challenger doubles title

India's Purav Raja and Ramkumar Ramanathan clinched their second consecutive doubles title by beating compatriots Arjun Kadhe and Saketh Myneni in straight sets in the final of the KPIT MSLTA Challenger event in Pune.

Raja and Ramanathan won 7-6(3), 6-3 to pocket $ 3100 and 80 ATP points, while Arjun and Saketh had to be content with $ 1800 and 48 ATP points.

In the men's singles, James Duckworth of Australia won his fourth Challenger title of the year as he defeated Jay Clarke of Britain in a three-setter in the final.

Second seeded Duckworth won 4-6 6-4 6-4 over his fifth seeded rival in a tight match that lasted 2 hours and 18 minutes.

Duckworth was richer by USD 7200 and 80 ATP points. The win in Pune will take Duckworth back in the top 100, cementing his place in the main draw of the Australian Open next year.

"I am thrilled to win the event, it has been a lot of handwork for me. I have been out of tennis since the later part of 2017 and have gone through five major operations. This is for my family who has supported me," said Duckworth who was earlier ranked as high as 82.

"I am glad to get back to the Top 100 as it guarantees entry into bigger events and also ensures that I am comfortable on finances."

Harmeet claims Indonesia Open TT Championship

Indian paddler Harmeet Desai staved off a strong challenge from compatriot Amalraj Anthony to win the ITTF Challenge Indonesia Open in Batam, Indonesia.

In an all-Indian men's singles final, it was Harmeet who started on a positive note winning the opening game 11-9 but he lost the next game 9-11, allowing Amalraj to draw level.

World no 104 Harmeet, however, took control of the proceedings and won the next two games by an identical margin of 11-9 to go 3-1 up in the match.

Amalraj reduced the lead by winning the next game 12-10, but the reigning Commonwealth TT Champion did not make any further mistake and won the 6th game 11-9 to seal the match 4-2 and win his second international title of the year.

Both the players looked in ominous form in the previous rounds getting past their respective opponents with consummate ease.

Harmeet trounced Yuto Kizikuri of Japan and Siu Hang Lam of Hong Kong by the same scoreline of 4-2 in the quarters and semifinals respectively, while Amalraj recorded identical 4-0 victories over Joao Monteiro of Portugal and Ibrahima Diaw of Senegal in the round of eight and four.

Harmeet and Amalraj also teamed up in the men's doubles event and made it to the semifinals of the championship.

Playing against the talented pair of Man Ho Kwan and Siu Hang Lam of Hong Kong, the duo came up with a spirited challenge but unfortunately capitulated 3-0 (7-11, 9-11, 9-11) to bow out of the tournament. 

Shiv, Chikkarangappa finish tied second, Kim wins Panasonic Open India

A double-bogey on the last hole proved costly as Indian golfer Shiv Kapur signed off tied second along with compatriot S Chikkarangappa at the Panasonic Open India in Nuh, Haryana.

Kapur (70), who lost out in a playoff at the Thailand Open last week, was again denied victory this week as he conceded a one-shot lead to 17-year-old Korean sensation Joohyung Kim, who fired a seven-under 65 to bag the top honours with a total of 13-under-203.

Kapur and Chikkarangappa (67) ended with a total of 12-under 204 at the Classic Golf and Country Club.

Indians Vikrant Chopra (10-under-206) and Veer Ahlawat (eight-under-208) claimed career-best finishes of tied fifth and tied eighth respectively.

Kim, who earned his Asian Tour card for the remainder of the 2019 season after claiming three wins on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) this year, continued his hot streak in India with rounds of 70, 68 and 65 at the $ 400,000 event which was contested over 54 holes.

"I'm really speechless. It has been a dream of mine to play on the Asian Tour ever since I was young. It's really wonderful to come here, be in contention and win," said the Korean, who became the second youngest Asian Tour winner.

"I cannot describe the feeling now. The season has been great especially coming back from my injuries and winning three times on the ADT and now this victory."

Kapur (67-67-70), who was in a three-way lead after the penultimate round, mixed five birdies with a bogey and a double-bogey on Sunday.

Kapur, the 2017 Panasonic Open India champion, was leading by one shot till he hit his tee shot out of bounds on the 18th. The Dubai-based golfer finally missed a 20-feet bogey putt that would've taken him into a playoff with Kim.

Chikkarangappa (69-68-67) produced his best round of the week on Sunday to secure the joint runner-up position, his best for the season.

Chikka got his confidence going with the early birdie on the third where he made an 11-feet conversion.

The Bengalurean then added two more birdies and a bogey till the 10th. Chikka managed to finish well with three birdies over the last five holes where he made two quality chip-putts and a 30-footer after a poor second shot on the 15th.

The other Indians in the top-20 were Arjun Prasad and M Dharma (both tied 11th at seven-under-209) as well as Om Prakash Chouhan, Karandeep Kochhar, Khalin Joshi and Rashid Khan (all in tied 14th at six-under-210.