Sports Shorts: Lifter Pardeep books berth for 2018 Commonwealth Games

A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Saturday

Pardeep Singh on Saturday qualified for next year's Commonwealth Games with a gold medal, even as 34 new records were created by the Indians in the last five days of the Commonwealth Youth, Junior & Senior Weightlifting Championships at Gold Coast, Australia.

On the final day of the competition, India bagged two yellow metals, one silver and two bronze to wrap up their successful campaign in style.

Pardeep finished on the top of the podium after lifting 147kg in snatch and 195kg in clean & jerk for a total of 342kg in 105kg category.

In the process, he also overhauled the national senior record in the snatch event.

Gurdeep Singh (+105 kg) lifted an overall total of 371kg (171kg + 200kg) to settle for the bronze medal. He also created a new record in the snatch section.

In the men's junior division 105kg category, Lovepreet Singh finished with a gold medal with a total effort of 325kg (150kg + 175kg), while Tejpal Singh Sandhu (+105 kg) claimed a bronze with a lift of 313kg (135kg + 178kg).

Purnima Pandey clinched a silver in junior women +90kg with a lift of 94kg in snatch and 121kg in clean & jerk for a total of 215kg. 

Joshna loses in final of HKFC International Squash

Indian squash star Joshna Chinappa's hopes of lifting the trophy went up in smoke after she lost to El Tayeb in straight games in the final of the US$25,000 HKFC International to Egyptian Nour El Tayeb in Hong Kong on Saturday.

The former Egyptian national champion, currently ranked 14, two rungs below Joshna, defeated the third seeded Indian 11-4, 11-4, 11-4 to lift only her fourth PSA title, the last coming more than a year ago.

The Indian had on Friday shocked top seed Annie Au of Hong Kong to storm into the final.

Indian eves lose 0-1 to local club side in warm-up encounter

The Indian women's hockey team lost 0-1 against Ladies Den Bosch in a closely fought match during their ongoing tour of Europe in Den Bosch, Netherlands.

The 'Ladies Den Bosch' consists of nine players who regularly turn up for the Dutch national squad.

For India, goalkeeper Rajani Etimarpu was up to the task, keeping the Dutch women at bay early in the match.

But in the 33rd minute, a well-assisted Lieke Hulsken beat goalkeeper Savita who replaced Rajani in the second half to score a splendid field goal and take a 1-0 lead.

Their defence line kept up the tempo in the following minutes of the match and kept a close check on the Indian forwards with good man to man marking to seal the match.

Cyclist Sagan takes 100th win in Grand Prix de Quebec

World champion Peter Sagan of the Bora-Hansgrohe team celebrated his 100th victory when he claimed the Grand Prix de Quebec in impressive fashion on Friday.

The Slovak, who also won the race last year, outsprinted Olympic champion Greg van Avermaet (BMC Racing), leaving the Belgian to finish second in Quebec for the third time.

Australian Michael Matthews (Orica-Scott) took third place.

Colombian Rigoberto Uran, who finished second overall in the Tour de France in July, attacked from the main pack with two kilometres left, hoping to repeat his 2015 win.

But the Cannondale-Drapac rider was reined in and Sagan won the final sprint comfortably.

The Grand Prix de Quebec is followed by the Grand Prix de Montreal on Sunday.