Firstpost Spodcast Episode 257: Mary Kom, Simranjit Kaur bag boxing gold medals, Max Verstappen claims German GP title and more

Welcome to Spodcast, the sports update on Firstpost. Six-time world champion Mary Kom and 2018 World Championships bronze winner Simranjit Kaur grabbed a gold medal each on Sunday as Indian boxers finished their campaign at the 23rd President’s Cup in Indonesia with nine medals. The medal haul comprised seven gold and two silvers. While the women had a flawless record in the finals, winning all four gold medals on offer, the men had mixed fortunes and had to settle for two silver along with three gold. That all-round performance helped the contingent win the ‘Best Team’ award. Mary Kom arrived at this prestigious tournament with the aim of testing herself against the world’s best ahead of the World Championships in October. In her first bout on Saturday, Mary Kom had to dig deep to stave off Vietnam’s Anh vo Thi Kim 3-2 but she was magnificent in the 51kg final as she powered to a 5-0 win over Australia’s April Franks. She will be looking to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the World Championships in Yekaterinburg, Russia. Simranjit Kaur was equally impressive in the final of the 60kg event against Indonesia’s Asian Games bronze medallist Hasanah Huswatun. The Asian Boxing Championships silver medallist dominated her opponent 5-0. In the 54kg final, Assam’s young talent Jamuna Boro did not put a foot wrong in a 5-0 demolition of Italy’s veteran boxer Giulia Lamagna as she added to the gold she won at the India Open in May. In 48kg, youngster Monika ended the challenge of Endang of Indonesia by a similar scoreline to round off what was a memorable campaign for Indian women pugilists. Among the men, 2017 Ulaanbaatar Cup gold medallist Ankush Dahiya, 2017 Simon Prestige Memorial tournament bronze medallist Neeraj Swami, and Ananta Pralhad Chopade were crowned champions in the 64kg, 49kg and 52kg categories respectively. In F1 news, Max Verstappen took full advantage of his rivals’ calamities on Sunday to win an epic, rain-lashed and wildly-spectacular German Grand Prix ahead of Sebastian Vettel. The 21-year-old Dutchman secured his second win of the season, and the seventh of his career, finishing ahead of the Ferrari driven by four-time world champion Vettel, who had started 20th and last on the grid. Daniil Kvyat of Toro Rosso was third as he secured only his third Formula One podium. The race was a washout for Mercedes, who were celebrating their 200th Formula One start of the modern era and 125 years of motorsport. Both defending champion Lewis Hamilton and team-mate Valtteri Bottas crashed and failed to score any points. Hamilton eventually finished 11th after making six pit-stops as he missed out on a points finish for the first time in 23 races even as Verstappen continued his rich streak. After driving his Red Bull car to a win, he said, “It was amazing, but really tricky out there. To make the right calls, you had to be focussed. We put on the slick tyres and we had a 360! But it was alright." He pitted four times and survived a 360-degree spin. Vettel, for whom the result brought redemption after he had crashed out while leading in heavy rain last year, said, “It was a long race and at some stages if felt like it was never-ending. I am just very happy.” In cricket, Avishka Fernando hit a quick-fire half-century as Sri Lanka eased to a seven-wicket win over Bangladesh in the second one-day international to seal the three-match series in Colombo on Sunday. Fernando, who opened the innings, made 82 off 75 balls, helping Sri Lanka reach 242/3 in 44.4 overs after Bangladesh were restricted to 238/8, despite wicketkeeper-batsman Mushfiqur Rahim making an unbeaten 98 runs. Bangladesh had Mushfiqur to thank for providing them something to fight with after their top-order crumbled for the second time in the series. He slammed six fours and a six in a 110-ball innings to bail out Bangladesh who lost their first six wickets for just 117 runs. Mushfiqur and number eight Mehidy had an 84-run partnership, a seventh-wicket record for Bangladesh against Sri Lanka, to give the visitors’ innings some respectability. For Sri Lanka, Fernando and skipper Dimuth Karunaratne set the tone for the run chase with a 71-run stand. Mehidy then bowled Karunaratne for 15 but Fernando and Kusal Perera continued the onslaught to put Sri Lanka firmly in control. Mustafizur Rahman dismissed Fernando and Perera, who made 30 off 34 balls, in quick succession to revive Bangladesh’s hopes but Kusal Mendis and Angelo Mathews denied them further success. Former captain Matthews was unbeaten on 52 from 57 balls and was well supported by Mendis who remained 41 not out. They shared an unbroken 96-run fourth wicket stand that saw the hosts go 2-0 up in the three-match series. The final ODI will be played on Wednesday. Dabang Delhi continued their winning run in the seventh season of the Pro Kabaddi League, defeating Haryana Steelers 41-21 in a lop-sided game on Sunday. Meanwhile, defending champions Bengaluru Bulls handed home side Mumbai their second defeat of the season. Delhi’s third win of the season saw Chandran Ranjit score 11 points and Naveen Kumar score 10. Naveen grabbed his second ‘Super 10’ of the season after grabbing the first against Telugu Titans in Hyderabad. Successful raids by Chandran and Naveen took Delhi 7-3 ahead five minutes into the match. But Haryana reduced the deficit to 6-8 and a successful tackle by them ensured that Chandran, Delhi’s star raider, was sent out. Going into the break, Delhi had a five-point lead as the score-line read 15-10. After the break, Delhi continued the good show by their strong defence and successful raids as they went 18-10 ahead. They then inflicted an ‘all-out’ twice, to go up 33-16. Delhi eventually won 41-21, handing Haryana their first defeat of the season. Meanwhile, riding on a terrific raid performance by Pawan Sehrawat, Bengaluru Bulls beat U Mumba 30-26. The match was built as the battle between Pawan Sehrawat and Fazel Atrachali, and it was the raider who came out on top. Hosts Mumbai put on a strong performance in their home stadium against Puneri Paltan, and were more than ready to face Bengaluru Bulls, against whom they have their second-best record with 10 victories. Pawan Sehrawat got a Super 10 and single-handedly flipped the table for Bengaluru Bulls as they sneaked their way through to victory against U Mumba. A strong performance from U Mumba’s Arjun Deshwal and Fazel Atrachali went in vain as some unforced errors towards the end cost them the match.