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  India's first Dronacharya awardee coach in boxing, O P Bhardwaj died on Friday after battling prolonged illness and age-related issues here. He was 82 and had tragically lost his wife Santosh to ill-health about 10 days ago. Bhardwaj was bestowed the highest national honour in coaching jointly with Bhalchandra Bhaskar Bhagwat (wrestling) and O M Nambiar (athletics), when it was introduced in 1985. "He had been unwell for many days with a lot of health issues and was hospitalised. Age was a factor and there was also the shock of losing his wife about 10 days back," T L Gupta, a close family friend and a former boxing coach, told PTI. Bhardwaj was India's national boxing coach from 1968 to 1989 and also served as a national selector. Read More

Six-time world champion M C Mary Kom (51kg) was assured of a medal in her first competitive outing since qualifying for the Olympics last year when she entered the semifinal of the Boxam International Tournament in Castellon, Spain on Wednesday. The 37-year-old Mary Kom, who had not competed since her Tokyo qualification last year in Jordan, defeated Italian Giordana Sorrentino with a split verdict in the quarterfinal stage of the event. Also advancing to the medal rounds were Olympic-bound Simranjit Kaur (60kg) and debutant Jasmine (57kg), competing in her maiden international tournament. Jasmine defeated American Selma Medina in her quarterfinal fight, while Simranjit prevailed over Spaniard Eugenia Albons. Both the Indians notched up unanimous victories. Read More