World bronze-medallist Manish Kaushik (63kg) on Wednesday became the ninth Indian boxer to book an Olympic berth with a brutal box- off win at the Asian Qualifiers as the country recorded its best-ever qualifying numbers for the quadrennial showpiece. Kaushik defeated second seed Harrison Garside 4-1 to make the cut for Tokyo. However, there was no golden finish to the qualifying flourish as Olympic-bound finalists Vikas Krishan (69kg) and Simranjit Kaur (60kg) ended with silver medals. While Krishan had to pull out owing to an eye injury, Kaur was outwitted by Yeonji Oh of South Korea.
Shivpal qualifies
Indian javelin thrower Shivpal Singh has qualified for his maiden Olympic Games this year by breaching the qualification mark at an event here. Shivpal became the second Indian javelin thrower after Neeraj Chopra to qualify for the Olympics. The 24-year-old Shivpal crossed the qualifying standard of 85m by hurling the spear to a distance of 85.47m late on Tuesday.
Reserve day
A harsh lesson learnt after England women bowed out of the T20 World Cup without playing the semi-final against India, the ICC has allocated a reserve day each for the two semi-finals and final of the 2021 ODI edition in New Zealand. The ICC released the 31-match schedule for the tournament, from February 6 to March 7, with reserve days scheduled for all three knockout matches a day later.
Aussie tour
Australia will tour Bangladesh for a two-match Test series in June ahead of their limited overs tour in England, the country’s cricket board said on Wednesday. The first Test will be played from June 11 in Chittagong while the second will be played from June 19 in Dhaka, with 120 points up for grabs in the World Test Championship.
Chennai City draw
A 90th-minute strike by Adolfo Araujo Fito helped Chennai City FC salvage a 2-2 draw with Maziya S&RC from Maldives in an AFC Cup Group E first leg match here on Wednesday. Spanish forward Fito scored both goals.
RKFC complaint
Real Kashmir Football Club (RKFC) has filed a complaint with the All India Football Federation (AIFF) against the referee who officiated their I-League match against East Bengal here.
The ill-tempered match, played in front of 10,000 spectators, saw three red and several yellow cards being brandished by the referee.
