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Preeti, Priya enter semis, assure India two boxing medals at CWG 2026
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Updated: Jul 28, 2026 11:59 PM IST Both Preeti (left) and Priya (right) are assured of bronze at the 2026 CWG. Preeti Pawar became the second Indian boxer at the 2026 Commonwealth Games to ensure a boxing bronze medal was coming back home with her after Lovlina Borgohain was handed byes all the way to the semifinals of her event. Pawar, India’s entrant from its most contested weight category, dispatched Northern Ireland’s Nicole Clyde to enter the semifinals and assure herself of at least a bronze medal. Later in the evening, Priya Ghanghas beat Scotland’s Niamh Mitchell 4-1 to also book a semifinal berth. The story of the bout was a punch of beauty. Operating as a southpaw, Pawar has the usual left-handed shots that most Indians possess. But she often finishes exchanges with a right uppercut of sorts. The power of the shot comes from the back, and the right hand rolls from the ground up. Opponents expecting the left from varying degrees of angles get blindsided when the right cut lands flush. The shot is exquisite not just for its craftiness, but also because of how Preeti uses it. In the first round, Preeti used it to gain points.FOLLOW LIVE | CWG 2026 Day 6 She could have loaded up on the power factor and tried to hit the shot harder. But instead Preeti chose to use it to end combinations and landed it multiple times in the first. Her opponent made no adjustments to counter it, and the Northern Ireland coaching corner offered no advice or solutions as well. Soon the referee gave a standing count to Clyde, who looked at her corner and quizzed why she was reprimanded. Every judge gave the round to the boxer from Bhiwani, as was the expected result. With several traditional boxing nations absent, India’s women’s boxers have a significant opportunity to add to the medal tally. The women’s contingent in particular has the opportunity to bump up the medal count. Pawar has the chance to go deep and even fight for gold based on her performance on Tuesday. Perhaps future bouts were in mind when she slowed down for the second and third rounds. The volume of that right uppercut reduced, but Preeti’s offense still found its mark when used. Clyde landed her shots too, but the volume of clean hits was visibly higher on the Indian’s count, and the judges gave her a unanimous decision in the end. Pawar adds a definite bronze medal to the bronze she won at the 2022 Hangzhou Games. Right after Preeti’s bout, Priya Ghanghas ensured another medal for India, beating home favourite Niamh Mitchell 4-1 after losing the opening round before roaring back with sustained pressure and heavier punches to seal her semifinal place.
Updated: Jul 26, 2026 12:20 AM IST The teenage prodigy from Delhi had a dominant start to the final, winning the first game 11-3, leaving her opponent Salem with little to no chance.Indian squash prodigy Anahat Singh created history on Saturday, as she became the first Indian to win a squash world title at any level after winning the World Junior Championships in Ontario, Canada. The 19-year-old Indian defeated second seed Ruqayya Salem of Egypt in straight games 11-3, 11-7, 11-9. Prior to this achievement, she had already become the second Indian woman after Joshna Chinappa to enter the final of the world junior title. Now, she has conquered a frontier that even Chinappa could not.The teenage prodigy from Delhi had a dominant start to the final, winning the first game 11-3, leaving her opponent Salem with little to no chance. In the second game, Anahat won 11-7 and had one hand on the title. However, the Egyptian gave a scare in the third game, with Anahat trailing 6-8 at one point. But the Indian fended off the pressure and took the important points to win the game 11-9 and claim the junior title at the fifth time of asking. History Made! 🇮🇳 Congratulations to Anahat Singh (@Anahat_Singh13) on becoming the first Indian ever to win the World Squash Junior Championship. A phenomenal achievement and a proud moment for every Indian. pic.twitter.com/SfURD0Zg69 — Dr Mansukh Mandaviya (@mansukhmandviya) July 25, 2026 “I still feel like I am dreaming. This tournament has been the worst for me as I have been losing in semis and quarters every edition,” Anahat told Squash TV after her title win. Indeed, there was a period where the World Junior Squash Championships felt like a curse to the wunderkind, as Anahat repeatedly failed to progress beyond the quarter or semi-finals. All of her last three appearances have ended in quarters. In the 2025 edition, she made it to the semi-final but lost to Egypt’s Nadien Elhammamy 3-0 before clinching the bronze medal. However, in her last chance on the junior circuit, Anahat delivered.Story continues below this ad “This tournament has been like a curse to me as I have been losing in semis and quarters. I knew this was my last chance to win this tournament,” she said. Having turned pro at the age of 16, Anahat is already a seasoned campaigner, with a world ranking of 20 and multiple Asian Games medals under her belt. The experience was on display as she blunted the retaliation from the Egyptian in the third game. When asked if she had realised she was trailing, Anahat said, “I didn’t even realise the scores. I realised that I have lost a few points in a row and I need to play my game. I just made sure that I am hitting my lines well. I just wanted to enjoy every moment of playing in the World Championships final.” 21 years ago, Joshna Chinappa had entered the final, but finished with a silver medal after losing to Raneem El Weiley of Egypt.Story continues below this ad Anahat not only achieved unprecedented success for India, but she also broke the Egyptian dominance in the tournament. She happens to be the first non-Egyptian winner of the tournament in 16 years, after Amanda Shoby of the USA won it in 2010. Currently coached by former world champion Gregory Gaultier and mentored by Indian legend Saurav Ghosal, Anahat is expected to lead the charge of Indian hopes at the 2028 LA Olympics.
Manush Shah, ranked 40th in singles, employed his pedigree and years on the circuit to dismantle Ankur 11-7, 11-5. (UTT Photo)Manush Shah has been flying the Indian flag high in doubles, rising to an unprecedented world number 2 along with Manav Thakkar recently. On Saturday, though, he came up clutch with his singles game to eke out the tie-winning points for U Mumba against a spirited Ankur Bhattacharjee and HVR Kolkata Thunder Blades. Manush, who had set it up by winning his mixed doubles rubber prior to that, hence powered the Mumbai-based franchise into the Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) season 7 final. They will defend their title against the unbeaten Dempo Goa Challengers on Sunday. Ankur, dubbed the ‘Conor McGregor of Indian TT’ by commentator Adam Bobrow for his combative style, was not an easy opponent by any means. The 19-year-old had not tasted defeat in the 2025 edition and was one of just four players retained across the six teams, this time around.But Manush, ranked 40th in singles, employed his pedigree and years on the circuit to dismantle Ankur 11-7, 11-5. “Ankur is a strong player and I think we have a good bond as well. But at the same time, we are professional athletes and he is playing very well at the moment. For me, it was very important to stick to the tactics and the coaches and the support staff helped me with it,” Manush told The Indian Express after the encounter. Juggling singles with doubles is admittedly “the most challenging part” for Manush currently. “I try to keep up with the workload management. I feel I must recover from each particular match. It is tough but I am managing all the events pretty well and hopefully in the coming Asian Games, we will do wonders.” Asked if he was prioritising one format over the other, the 25-year-old pithily responded, “my priority is exactly what next match I am going to play”. How Mumbai won Kolkata drew first blood in the tie. In a rollercoaster of an opening game, Eduardo Ionescu employed third-ball attacks to target both corners of Lilian Bardet’s court and repeatedly prevail in short rallies. He took the game 11-9. The rallies became longer and play turned more riveting in the second game, which went to a golden point. Ionescu extracted the error from the Frenchman’s forehand to subject him to only his second defeat of the season.Story continues below this ad Bardet clawed one back for U Mumba by taking the third game, another topsy-turvy one with a five-point lead built and erased, 11-8. In the second match, Ayhika Mukherjee was forced onto the backfoot from the outset by Anna Hursey. The 20-year-old Welsh player directed most of her attacking venom towards Ayhika’s backhand, depriving the Indian of time and space to twiddle her racket or smash from the forehand. But the West Bengal paddler did her supposed job in the singles rubber by taking a game off the fancied Hursey. It was in the subsequent mixed doubles clash where Ayhika, allied with Ankur, was expected to deliver the goods for Kolkata. Manush, however, had other ideas. The doubles star brandished the power of his forehand topspins to deleterious effect. Together with Hursey, he completed an 11-7, 11-5, 11-2 shellacking of the Bengali duo to propel the reigning champs to a 6-3 advantage in the tie.Story continues below this ad Manush was not done yet. He knew he had to blunt Ankur to make sure Nithyashree Mani did not have to face the daunting challenge of Zeng Jian in a potential decider. The southpaw did just that, and in style.
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