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Edinburgh Reporter
22-05-2025
- Sport
- Edinburgh Reporter
Josh Taylor aims to get his journey 'rebooted and kickstarted again' on Saturday
Land of the Brave' takes place at the OVO Hydro in Glasgow on Saturday night when a new, welterweight version of Josh Taylor will take on former British champion Ekow Essuman on his debut at the weight, having been undisputed champion at the weight below, shown live on DAZN Worldwide. Also on the bumper card is future heavyweight star Moses Itauma who takes on Mike Balugon who's only loss was against Murat Gassiev. In a pair of all-Scottish match-ups, Nathaniel Collins faces Lee McGregor while Aston Brown and Reece Porter will go at it in a battle of unbeaten prospects. An intriguing cruiserweight clash sees Aloys Junior and David Jamieson contest Junior's WBA Continental and the vacant Commonwealth Championships. While the sons of two Scottish boxing legends, Alex Arthur Jr and Drew Limond, make their pro debuts. GLASGOW, SCOTLAND, MAY 22: Josh Taylor v Ekow Essuman Press Conference 'Land of the Brave' at the Scottish Event Campus, Glasgow, Scotland on the 22nd May 2025. Queensberry Promotions. Credit: Leigh Dawney/Queensberry. The final press conference took place at the Scottish Event Campus this afternoon. Taylor said: 'It is great to be back here and this has been my home since the Commonwealth Games. I've had most of my big fights here, Victor Postol, my first world title against Ivan Baranchyk, so I've had most of my big nights here, so I am looking forward to getting back. It has been a little while since I've been here, so I am looking to put on a big show on Saturday. 'Obviously training has been gruesome and hard, hard work, but it feels like I am at holiday camp this week. No dieting, cutting weight or drying out tonight, getting the last bit of water you can out of you. There is none of that this week, I am full of beans, full of energy with a spring in my step. I can't wait to get going on Saturday. 'I will get this journey rebooted and kickstarted again. Take care of business on Saturday, do it in a good fashion and look forward to moving on to big fights in the future. GLASGOW, SCOTLAND, MAY 22: Josh Taylor v Ekow Essuman Press Conference 'Land of the Brave' at the Scottish Event Campus, Glasgow, Scotland on the 22nd May 2025. Queensberry Promotions. Credit: Leigh Dawney/Queensberry. 'At 140lbs what else was there left for me to do? I'd completed boxing in a sense and won every single belt in boxing you can win. What else was there for me in terms of challenges, setting new targets? There was nothing to do. So, what there was, was moving up with an assault on becoming a two-time, two-weight world champion. 'I am planning on taking this guy out on Saturday and that is what I'm going to do.' Ekow Essuman added: 'Thank you to everyone in Glasgow for accepting me, everyone has been extremely welcoming and it is a beautiful place. I am just happy to be here. 'That is the whole point of it, we're supposed to do that [in response to Taylor's taking out comment]. I don't take offence to it, it is what it is. He's in my way, I'm in his way. 'Of course he believes it, he should. That is good, if he wants to try and end it early it might be to his detriment. We are going to find out on Saturday. I came prepared for the best Josh Taylor there can be, so this is just confirming what I thought would come. 'It doesn't matter about being his backyard or if it was back in Nottingham or in London. I don't have a lot of shows I've boxed on in my home city, like big shows, so I am used to being the away fighter. 'It is just same job, different venue.' GLASGOW, SCOTLAND, MAY 22: Josh Taylor v Ekow Essuman Press Conference 'Land of the Brave' at the Scottish Event Campus, Glasgow, Scotland on the 22nd May 2025. Queensberry Promotions. Credit: Leigh Dawney/Queensberry. Francis Warren said: 'It is an absolutely great show to reintroduce Queensberry back in Scotland. We have had some terrific nights here over the years and it is an absolute pleasure to be back. It is fantastic to be working with Josh and what he has done in this sport is second to none, literally, with him being the only guy in the UK to be undisputed in the four-belt era. 'Ekow has decided this is the challenge he wants to take and it is going to take a phenomenal effort from him to come up to Josh's hometown and disrupt what I am sure Josh wants to be a successful campaign at welterweight. But Ekow has got his own ambitions at world level and, if he does come up here and do the business on Josh, he is making a real statement. Josh also wants to make a big dent in the world scene. 'We've got some terrific youngsters on the undercard as well, local guys, and it is a pleasure to be back in Glasgow alongside a couple that we brought up from down south in Aloys and Moses. I am looking forward to a cracking night on Saturday.' Like this: Like Related
Hans India
14-05-2025
- Sport
- Hans India
KIYG 2025: Bihar, J&K bag first weightlifting medals; 13 national records set in 5-day event
Rajgir (Bihar): Hosts Bihar and Jammu & Kashmir clinched their first weightlifting medals at the Khelo India Youth Games 2025 on Wednesday. At the Rajgir Sports Complex, Satwik Luthra of J&K lifted 263kg to claim silver, and Ujjwal Singh of Bihar grabbed the bronze by lifting a total of 241kg. The gold went to Sunny Bhati of Haryana, who completed a 151kg lift in a clean & jerk to comfortably get past his J&K rival. The five-day weightlifting competition concluded on Wednesday. The first four days saw a flurry of records, but there were none on the final day. IN all, 13 national youth records have been set this time. Maharashtra accounted for five of them, three by Uttar Pradesh, Odisha two, and one each by Tamil Nadu, Assam, and Haryana. In the Khelo India Youth Games in Tamil Nadu, eight national youth records were created. J&K's Luthra kept his cool and almost clinched the gold. If his third and final attempt of 151kg in clean & jerk had been cleared, it would have put pressure on Bhati. Luthra overcame the wrist injury he sustained two months prior to the Indian Weightlifting Federation National Championships this January to compete at his second Khelo India Youth Games. 'Many things were going on in my mind, with things happening across the border. But my coach, Aakash Virdhy, gave me only one lesson, and that was to concentrate on one lift at a time. I am very happy to have clinched the silver medal. My coach always motivated me, and I came this far only because of his guidance. I began lifting three years ago, and my father only nudged me to try it. Previously, I also had a silver medal at the National Championships,' Luthra told SAI Media. Ujjwal Singh, who hails from the Jehanabad district of Bihar, trains at the Sports Authority of India's Khelo India Centre in his hometown. Around 50 children from the cadet class (under-12) to senior lifters (Age 21 & above) train there. 'I was a bit nervous at the start, but then my brother offered me tips to calm myself down and focus on just giving my best. And that has clicked. This is my first medal in Khelo India and on any platform like this. I began training at the SAI Khelo India centre in Jehandabad last year, and it is very heartening that I became the first individual from Bihar to clinch a weightlifting medal,' Singh told SAI Media. Son of a retired armyman Amarnath Singh, he aspired to go for the selection trials for the Commonwealth Championships in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, this August. 'This medal has given me a lot of confidence. I now intend to keep working hard and try to get selected for the Commonwealth Championships later this year. The support from SAI has been immense as I receive the best quality equipment for training, good coaches and physios for recovery from injuries. I am yet to get the monthly scholarship, hopefully this performance will attract the talent scouts,' he added. Kerala's Amrutha P. Suni lifted 79kg in snatch and 102kg in clean & jerk to take the youth girls +81kg gold. Karnati Naga Ramalakshmi of Andhra Pradesh took the silver with a total lift of 176kg (75+101). Punjab's Gagandeep Kaur grabbed the bronze by lifting 167kg in total. Amrutha, who trains at NCOE Lucknow, got interested in weightlifting through her father, who was also a national-level lifter. He works as an engineering supervisor. Despite being good at studies, her father wanted her to fulfil his dream of representing India in international competitions. 'I am delighted to win the gold medal, as I was under much tension thinking there would be a neck-to-neck battle today. When I am on the stage, only one thing is on my mind, and that is to complete the task, give my best. My ultimate target is to represent India in the Olympics. I know I will have to do a lot of hard work for this – I will have to start with winning medals at the Asian Championships, Commonwealth Games, and Asian Games. But I am ready for it,' Amrutha told SAI Media. 'Being part of NCOE Lucknow, I receive a lot of benefits from getting top-quality coaches, sports science experts, to nutritionists. Our diet and injuries are monitored very carefully, and masseurs, physios are always present to help and guide us. This is what an athlete needs,' she added.
Mint
11-05-2025
- Sport
- Mint
Khelo India Youth Games 2025: Asmita Dhone eyes junior world championship medal after lifting youth national records
Asmita Dattatray Dhone of Maharashtra broke two youth national weightlifting records on her way to clinching gold medal in the 49kg class in the ongoing Khelo India Youth Games (KIYG) at the Rajgir Sports Complex. Dhone shattered her own youth national record in both clean and jerk and overall total set at the Commonwealth Championships in Doha, Qatar, five months back. She had won a silver medal at the 2022 Khelo India Youth Games in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. Asmita first breached the 94kg mark with a 95kg lift in clean and jerk to create a youth national record and then added another two kilograms on the barbell to again breach the national record and take her overall total to 170kg, an improvement of 8 kilograms from her Commonwealth Championships performance. Uttar Pradesh's Mansi Chamunda (75+88) settled for silver with a youth national snatch record, improving upon the mark set by Panchami Sonowal of Assam in 2022. Hailing from a humble background, Asmita, who turned 18 this month, was born in Karad town of Satara district. Her father Dattatray Dhone drives an autorickshaw and mother Nirmala is a dairy farmer. Asmita began training under Samrat Pawar in her hometown, which she continues to do even today. 'I started lifting weights when I was in Class 7, roughly 14 years of age. My elder sister was also into weightlifting and so her coach Samrat sir told me to also start weightlifting along with her. I am very happy with my performance as I broke the national record,' Asmita told SAI Media. Asmita Dhone has numerous national and international medals under her belt and that helped her get inducted in both the Khelo India scheme and Sports Authority of India's Netaji Subhash National Institute of Sports in Patiala since 2023. Asmita won gold at the World Youth Championship last year in Suva, Fiji, with an overall lift of 158kg (70+88kg). She had also won a gold at the Commonwealth Youth Championship in 2023 in Noida with a total lift of 136kg (60+76kg). She has a bronze each at last year's Asian Youth Championship and 2023 World Youth Championship. Asmita captured a hat-trick of gold medals in IWLF Youth Nationals from 2022 to 2024. 'I receive a scholarship from Khelo India and also train at NIS Patiala, which is a National Centre of Excellence (NCOE), since last two years. Khelo India is a big platform for all of us. It inspires me a lot. It gives me energy and confidence. The stipend of ₹ 10,000 is a great help for someone like me as my father is an autorickshaw driver. We have a small field and two cows at home, which is taken care of by my mother, who is a housewife. I receive sports kits to travel and accommodation costs from SAI,' she added. Talking about her ward, coach Pawar said: 'First of all, I would like to tell you that she has inherited strong genes from her parents. To add to that, she is very disciplined. That is enough proof of her dedication. Weightlifting is a technical event. It requires both muscular strength and technique. She has a brilliant technique in clean and jerk. If she improves her snatch, Asmita will be unstoppable.' With a target of winning gold at next year's World Junior Weightlifting Championships in Ningbo, China, Asmita plans to face selection trials after the Commonwealth Youth and Junior Championships in Ahmedabad this August.
Hans India
11-05-2025
- Sport
- Hans India
KIYG 2025: Daughter of an autorickshaw driver, Asmita Dhone eyes junior world weightlifting medal
Asmita Dattatray Dhone of Maharashtra broke two youth national weightlifting records on her way to clinching gold medal in the 49kg class in the ongoing Khelo India Youth Games here at the Rajgir Sports Complex. Dhone shattered her own youth national record in both clean and jerk and overall total set at the Commonwealth Championships in Doha, Qatar, five months back. She had won a silver medal at the 2022 Khelo India Youth Games in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. Asmita first breached the 94kg mark with a 95kg lift in clean and jerk to create a youth national record and then added another two kilograms on the barbell to again breach the national record and take her overall total to 170kg, an improvement of 8 kilograms from her Commonwealth Championships performance. Uttar Pradesh's Mansi Chamunda (75+88) settled for silver with a youth national snatch record, improving upon the mark set by Panchami Sonowal of Assam in 2022. Hailing from a humble background, Asmita, who turned 18 this month, was born in Karad town of Satara district. Her father Dattatray Dhone drives an autorickshaw and mother Nirmala is a dairy farmer. Asmita began training under Samrat Pawar in her hometown, which she continues to do even today. 'I started lifting weights when I was in Class 7, roughly 14 years of age. My elder sister was also into weightlifting and so her coach Samrat sir told me to also start weightlifting along with her. I am very happy with my performance as I broke the national record,' Asmita told SAI Media. Asmita Dhone has numerous national and international medals under her belt and that helped her get inducted in both the Khelo India scheme and Sports Authority of India's Netaji Subhash National Institute of Sports in Patiala since 2023. Asmita won gold at the World Youth Championship last year in Suva, Fiji, with an overall lift of 158kg (70+88kg). She had also won a gold at the Commonwealth Youth Championship in 2023 in Noida with a total lift of 136kg (60+76kg). She has a bronze each at last year's Asian Youth Championship and 2023 World Youth Championship. Asmita captured a hat-trick of gold medals in IWLF Youth Nationals from 2022 to 2024. 'I receive a scholarship from Khelo India and also train at NIS Patiala, which is a National Centre of Excellence (NCOE), since last two years. Khelo India is a big platform for all of us. It inspires me a lot. It gives me energy and confidence. The stipend of Rs 10,000 is a great help for someone like me as my father is an autorickshaw driver. We have a small field and two cows at home, which is taken care of by my mother, who is a housewife. I receive sports kits to travel and accommodation costs from SAI,' she added. Talking about her ward, coach Pawar said: 'First of all, I would like to tell you that she has inherited strong genes from her parents. To add to that, she is very disciplined. That is enough proof of her dedication. Weightlifting is a technical event. It requires both muscular strength and technique. She has a brilliant technique in clean and jerk. If she improves her snatch, Asmita will be unstoppable.' With a target of winning gold at next year's World Junior Weightlifting Championships in Ningbo, China, Asmita plans to face selection trials after the Commonwealth Youth and Junior Championships in Ahmedabad this August.
Daily Record
29-04-2025
- Sport
- Daily Record
West Lothian athlete needs a boost on her way to World Championships in Norway
An athlete from West Lothian is looking for some assistance as she prepares to power her way to compete with the world's best in Scandinavia. Eilin Alsop, from Murieston in Livingston, is set to represent Great Britain in the World Benchpress Championships which take place from May 18 to 24 in Drammen, Norway. Powerlifter Eilin, 22, has previously competed successfully at the British Juniors, where she placed third, and the British Benchpress Championship, where she finished second, as well as winning the Scottish Universities title. The tournament in Norway will be Eilin's second international for benchpress, after winning at the Commonwealth Championships last October. The sport is largely underfunded in the UK and the Edinburgh University student, who is currently working towards a Masters Degree in Sports Studies, has to find the money for kit, as well as travel and accommodation in Norway. She has launched a GoFundMe page to try and raise as much as possible to allow her to compete with the best on the planet in her category. A former James Young High School pupil, Eilin trains at the Marrvelous Lifting Club in Livingston where she's encouraged by coach Darren Marr. Eilin said: 'I've been powerlifting for two-and-a-half years now. I started just trying to build muscle in my legs when I was playing football, I was at uni at Stirling and they had a team and I had joined that. 'Then I did the university competition and found out there's a powerlifting gym in Livingston and joined and just kept going since. I just decided I would take on powerlifting over football. 'I've always been quite athletic and used to swim, sport comes quite easy to me and the technique for powerlifting came quite easy to me. 'I'm hoping to pursue a career in strength and conditioning when I finish university.' Eilin is grateful to her parents for thei assistance since she started competing but there's a limit on how much help they can provide. 'My parents are fully behind me and always have with all my sports but I did the Commonwealth Championships in South Africa last year and had to set up a GoFundMe page for that as well. 'My parents put in as much as they can and I try to but I'm a student and it does take a bit of a toll. 'The kit is affordable and can be covered but flights and accommodation have to be purchased by the athletes. That happens with all the competitions, as athletes aren't sponsored. Powerlifting right now isn't very large as a sport. 'The community of Scottish and British powerlifting is something that has kept me in the sport. Marrvelous Lifting Club and all the athletes there have always supported and pushed me to do better than I ever thought I could, building my confidence and technique on bench press. "My coach Darren Marr, the owner of Marrvelous, has always seen the potential in my talent and has done everything possible to put me in the position I am in now. 'Getting the opportunity to represent Great Britain on the platform is something I never thought was possible.' You can help Eilin compete against the best, by donating at: Don't miss the latest news from the West Lothian Courier. Sign up to our free newsletter here .
