Boxing News -

Jitender Kumar (51 kg - Flyweight) became the fifth Indian boxer to make the cut for Beijing Olympics after winning the third-place playoff in the Asian Boxing Qualifiers in Astana, Kazakhstan ... He defeated Philippines' Castro Godfrey 13-6 in the bronze medal play-off to book his first trip to Olympics.

But Dilbag Singh (69 kg - Welterweight) had heart-breaking loss in the final, he lost 11-16 to Turkmenistan's Bashirov Aliasker where only the winner was getting an Olympic quota place.

In finals, Vijender (75 kg - Middleweight,) defeated Korean Cho Deok-Jin in the finals today to claim the gold medal but Dinesh Kumar (81 kg - Light Heavyweight) lost 10-16 to Ghorbani Mehdi of Iran (both qualified for Olympics yesterday after winning their respective semi-finals).

Jitender gave credit of qualifying for Olympics to a pep talk from his Akhil Kumar, who already qualified for Olympics -
"I was very disturbed and could not sleep properly after losing the semifinal. Akhil called me and helped me get over the gloom. He also helped me strategise for today's bout. I put my uppercut to good effect against Godfrey whose short frame also worked to my advantage."
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Chess News -
At $336K 17TH Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament, Nice, France

Sunday March 23 Round VIII

Blindfold Chess -
Aronian-Anand 1-0
Carlsen-Mamedyarov 1-0
Karjakin-Topalov 1/2-1/2
Van Wely-Leko 0-1
Gelfand-Morozevich 1/2-1/2
Ivanchuk-Kramnik 1/2-1/2

Rapid Chess -
Anand-Aronian 1/2-1/2
Mamedyarov-Carlsen 0-1
Topalov-Karjakin 1-0
Leko-Van Wely - 1/2-1/2
Morozevich-Gelfand - 1-0
Kramnik-Ivanchuk - 1/2-1/2

Anand lost against Aronian in 50 moves in Blindfold and managed only draw in Rapid ... With that Anand's title chances at Amber r very slim ... He is currently lying on 4th position with 8½ pts and 2 pts behind leader Aronian.