Varanasi bag state youth athletics championship

Lucknow: Varanasi bagged three gold, four silver, and four bronze medals to win the overall championship in the UP State Youth Athletics Championship 2025 at Guru Gobind Singh Sports College on Sunday. Saharanpur and Sonbhadra shared the runner-up position, securing two gold, one silver, and one bronze medal each. In individual events, Lucknow's Ashita clinched gold in the girls' long jump, while Komal Yadav secured gold in the girls' 400m event. UPAA's Rashi Singh dominated the championship, winning two gold medals. Meanwhile, in the heptathlon, Varun Rajput of Etawah topped the boys' category, while Priya Mishra of Sitapur secured first place in the girls' division, excelling in all seven events.
Medhansh emerges champ
Top-seeded Medhansh Saxena delivered an outstanding performance to clinch the 43rd Shivani Cup Special Open Chess Tournament title, remaining unbeaten with the highest score of six points. In the age-category competitions, Anay Agarwal (U-9), Jayesh Kishore Arya (U-13), and Ujjwal Raj Srivastava (U-16) emerged as champions. CEO of Shivani Group of Schools, Sudhir Dubey, presented the prizes.
The Inheritor wins Army Cdr's Cup
The Inheritor, owned by JN Mathur, displayed remarkable speed and stamina to clinch the Army Cdr's Cup in the Thoroughbred category, winning a cash award of Rs 10,000 at the Lucknow Race Course on Sunday. Pinnacle, owned by Amar Habibullah, and Shan-e-Azeem, also owned by JN Mathur, settled for second and third place, respectively. Earlier in the day, the Class II Thoroughbred 1,100m race saw Shubharak (ridden by Garvit Pandey) finishing first, ahead of Sunlight (Shabab Abbas Naqvi) and Aloha (Amar Habibullah). The event began with the Indian-bred 800m race, where Mohd Abdullah's Burak raced to victory, while Vikas Pandey's Rudra finished second, followed by Night Queen of Sikandar Siddiqui in third place.
Lucknow enter handball semis
Lucknow, Mau, Gorakhpur, and Amethi Hostel secured their places in the semifinals of the State-Level Open Senior Men's Handball Tournament at the KD Singh ‘Babu' Stadium on Sunday. Lucknow topped Pool B with four consecutive wins, followed by Amethi Hostel with three victories, while in Pool A, Mau secured the top spot with three wins, and Gorakhpur clinched the final semifinal berth with two victories.