New Delhi: Shiva Thapa and Sumit Sangwan struck gold on Thursday to round off a brilliant performance by India in the Asian Olympic qualifiers in Astana, Kazakhstan where the country bagged three London tickets to make it an unprecedented seven-strong contingent for the quadrennial extravaganza.
The 18-year-old Shiva (56kg), who is the youngest Indian boxer to qualify for the Olympics, defeated Syria's Wessam Salamana 18-11 to clinch his second successive senior international gold medal. The 19-year-old Sumit (81kg) beat Tajikistan's Dzhakon Qurbanov 14-9 to bag his maiden senior international gold in his debut event.
Besides these two, Vijender Singh (75kg) also booked a London berth by making the semi-finals of the last qualifiers for the July-August mega-event. Four Indian boxers -- L Devendro Singh (49kg), Jai Bhagwan (60kg), Manoj Kumar (64kg) and Vikas Krishan (69kg) - had already booked their Olympic berths in last year's World Championship.
The Assam-lad, who displayed fantastic reflexes and came up with precise jabs, took a narrow 5-4 lead in the opening round. Although his rival matched him in aggression, the Indian was more accurate in his placement of punches, winning the second round 5-3 to make it 10-7. ...
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05:01 PM, Apr 12, 2012
New Delhi: A pat on the back by none other than International Boxing Association president Ching Kuo Wu came as a shot in the arm as five Indian boxers geared up for the Asian Olympic Qualifiers semi-finals in Astana, Kazakhstan on Wednesday. Of the five in fray, only Vijender Singh (75kg) is assured of a London berth so far as his category has four slots on offer. The 26-year-old Olympic...
03:14 PM, Apr 10, 2012
New Delhi: Teen Indian boxer Shiva Thapa Monday stunned former Olympic silver-medallist Worapoj Petchkoom 16-10 to enter the semi-finals of the Asian Olympic Qualifiers in Astana (Kazakhstan) and is now just one win away from booking a berth for the London Games. The 18-year-old Youth Olympics silver-medallist notched up a comprehensive triumph over his 30-year-old Thai rival, who also happens to be an Asian bronze-medallist from the 2006 edition. "In...
04:58 PM, Apr 09, 2012
New Delhi: Vijender Singh (75kg) became the first Indian boxer to qualify for the Olympic Games for a third successive time after reaching the semi-finals of the Asian Olympic Qualifiers in Astana, Kazakhstan on Sunday. The first Indian to win an Olympic and World Championships medal - bronze in both events - Vijender outpunched Chuluuntumur Tumurkhuyag of Mongolia 27-17 to not just assure himself of an Olympic berth but also...
04:18 PM, Apr 08, 2012
New Delhi: The Asian Olympic Qualifiers are his last chance to book a ticket to the London Games, but star Indian boxer Vijender Singh claims he is not the least bit intimidated by the challenge at hand as the situation is all too familiar. "I have always been under pressure ever since I won the bronze medal in the Beijing Olympics. It is nothing new for me. It's there before...
12:41 PM, Apr 02, 2012
New Delhi: Monetary rewards continued to trickle down for the Indian men's hockey team as Sahara India Pariwar on Tuesday announced a cash incentive of Rs 1.12 crore for the players and support staffs of the side, that emerged winners in the just-concluded London Olympic qualifiers. India trounced France 8-1 in the final on Sunday to seal a place in the upcoming London Olympics after having missed the Beijing Games...
04:13 PM, Feb 28, 2012
Indian men's hockey coach Michael Nobbs talks to CNN-IBN about India's journey back into the Olympic Games. ...
09:43 PM, Feb 27, 2012
The Indian hockey team celebrates with family and friends after that spectacular win last night against France to book their berth for the London Olympics 2012. ...
01:09 PM, Feb 27, 2012
New Delhi: Former players lavished praise on the Indian hockey team and its Australian coach Michael Nobbs for convincingly qualifying for the London Olympics, and said a top-four finish there "is a tall ask but not impossible" for the eight-time champions. India put up a superlative performance and routed France 8-1 in the final of the men's Olympic qualifiers on Sunday to keep a date with the London Games after...
12:45 PM, Feb 27, 2012
Tonight at 10 pm CNN-IBN's Deputy Editor Sagarika Ghose discusses with a panel of experts, can hockey get back its standing as India's national sport?
12:20 PM, Feb 27, 2012
New Delhi: The International Hockey Federation (FIH) has given the two warring factions, Hockey India (HI) and the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) a month's time to sort out their differences over power sharing and form a unified body. After two days of discussions with HI officials and former IHF president and now its adviser KPS Gill and his team, FIH president Leandro Negre said that within a month both the...
01:03 AM, Feb 27, 2012
New Delhi: Ecstatic after guiding India to Olympic men's hockey event, coach Michael Nobbs Sunday said his team would look to play with the same "intensity" during the London Games in July. "We have done every single thing possible before the tournament and I am happy we delivered. We were confident but still the job needed to be done. We have played all the matches right from beginning to finish...
12:51 AM, Feb 27, 2012
Chandigarh: Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda Sunday congratulated the Indian men's hockey team for qualifying for London Olympics and announced cash rewards for the players. India thrashed France 8-1 in the qualification tournament in New Delhi to book an Olympics berth after missing out the 2008 Beijing edition. The Chief Minister said that the bonanza of cash rewards would include Rs five lakh per goal scored by each player...
12:16 AM, Feb 27, 2012
New Delhi: Former players Sunday lavished praise on the Indian men's hockey team for qualifying in London Olympics after a gap of four years and said that the achievement would bring back the interest of the game in the country. India Sunday thrashed France 8-1 in the final of the qualification tournament to book a berth in this year's London Olympics after missing out on the Beijing Games in 2008...
12:01 AM, Feb 27, 2012
New Delhi: Indian hockey returned to its roots, the Olympics, on a super Sunday in an emotionally charged up atmosphere at the most appropriate venue for a historic moment " the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium. The eight-time former Olympic champions beat France 8-1 to replace the tears of 2008 with joyful smiles of 2012. Sandeep Singh once again turned out to be the King with five goals that took...
09:10 PM, Feb 26, 2012
New Delhi: Canada edged past Poland 4-3 in a pulsating encounter to secure the bronze medal in the men's hockey Olympic Qualification tournament, here on Sunday. The third-fourth place classification match between Canada and Poland turned out to be a lively contest as both the teams came out with attacking hockey in a bid to outsmart each other. But in the end the 14th ranked Canadians managed to hold on...
08:26 PM, Feb 26, 2012
Indian hockey is on the threshold of making a return to the Olympics after facing the ignominy of missing qualification in 2008. But it's not going to be easy even though France " their final opponents " are ranked 18th in the world. The tournament has narrowed down to just one game now. The winner goes through to play at the Olympics, while the loser returns home empty-handed. India may...
11:46 AM, Feb 26, 2012
New Delhi: Conceding a goal within five minutes into the match played a huge role in India's defeat in all important London Olympic qualification final against South Africa, coach CR Kumar said. India were down by one goal as early as in the fourth minute of the game, and it proved costly as the home team played catch-up hockey from there to eventually lose the title clash 1-3. "We conceded...
11:53 PM, Feb 25, 2012
New Delhi: Former captain Rajpal Singh, who was overlooked for the ongoing men's hockey Olympic qualifiers, feels India have let in some soft goals but should comfortably win Sunday's final against France. The 28-year-old is confident that India, eight-time Olympic champions, will qualify for London after missing the Games for the first time in 80 years at the 2008 Beijing edition. "There is no doubt in my mind that we...
11:32 PM, Feb 25, 2012
New Delhi: Canada beat Poland 3-0 to grab fifth position leaving their opponents without a single win in the women's hockey Olympic qualifier at the Major Dhyan Chand Stadium here on Saturday. Poland, the lowest-ranked team in the competition, finished the round-robin with five straight losses, while Canada, originally ranked fourth, struggled and could only collect points from a draw against Italy on the opening day and a win against...
06:54 PM, Feb 25, 2012
