Vikas, Manoj book Rio berths

BAKU, AZERBAIJAN: Asian Games champion Vikas Krishan (75kg) and Commonwealth Games gold-medallist Manoj Kumar (64kg) on Thursday booked Olympic berths after advancing

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BAKU, AZERBAIJAN: Asian Games champion Vikas Krishan (75kg) and Commonwealth Games gold-medallist Manoj Kumar (64kg) on Thursday booked Olympic berths after advancing to the semifinals of the International Boxing Association’s (AIBA) World Qualifying Tournament here.

Manoj thrashed Tajikistan’s Rakhimov Shavkatdzhon, while second seed Vikas got past Korea’s Lee Dongyun in the quarterfinals by a similar margin of 3-0.

In Friday’s semifinal, Manoj will face European champion Pat McCormack of Britain, who defeated Frenchman Amzile Hassan in his quarterfinal bout.

Vikas, on the other hand, will go against Turkmenistan’s Achilov Arslanbek, who got past Italian Cavallaro Salvatore.

The two join Shiva Thapa (56kg) who had made the cut for Rio during the Asian Qualifiers in March.

BINDRA, NARANG OUT OF MEDALS IN WORLD CUP

BAKU: Ace Indian shooters Abhinav Bindra, Gagan Narang and Kynan Chenai narrowly missed out on medals after qualifying for the finals of their respective events at the ISSF World Cup here on Thursday.

Bindra eventually finished sixth in the event after having shot a solid 627.4 in qualifying to make the final in fourth position. Narang shot 626.6 to qualify for the final round in sixth place, before eventually settling for seventh position in the final standings.

Chenai shot a superb 123 out of 125 to qualify for the finals in second place. In the final rounds, he was the first to be eliminated, having shot 12 birds out of 15 to end in sixth place.

KOM WON’T QUIT OVER ‘HEARTBREAKING’ RIO KO

NEW DELHI: MC Mary Kom was heartbroken after failing to gain a wildcard for the Rio Olympics, but the five-time world champion stressed she wasn’t about to quit boxing.

Kom failed to qualify after losing a crucial bout at the Women’s World Boxing Championships in Kazakhstan last month.

The 2012 Olympic bronze medallist had been pinning her hopes on a plea for a wildcard spot, who was denied to her.

“It is heartbreaking,” Kom was quoted as saying. “I have to accept this decision but I am not quitting the sport right now.”