Archives for November 2018

New Delhi Veteran Indian stars M.C. Mary Kom and Laishram Sarita Devi will spearhead the Indian campaign when the women’s World Boxing Championships start here on Thursday.

Both boxers are strong contenders for the gold in their respective weight categories in what is possibly the last world championships of both their careers.

With both boxers eyeing medals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the upcoming tournament will be crucial.

Five-time world champion Mary will compete in the 48 kilogram category at the November 15-24 event.

Although she is the favourite for a sixth world title, the 35-year-old Manipuri warned that competition will be tough.

“Home advantage will be a factor that will help us. But it is going to be very tough. All our boxers will be up against tough opponents from the first round itself. We will have to be at our best,” she said.

Sarita will compete in her usual 60 kg division. The four-time Asian champion had won the world title in the 52 kg category way back in 2006 and will be hoping for an encore in the twilight of an illustrious career.

“I have trained really hard and I am definitely expecting a medal. This tournament is extremely important for me and I want to win at any cost,” Sarita told IANS.

When the event was last held in the capital in 2006, India had finished as the top nation with four gold, three silver and one bronze.

For a similar result this time around, the other Indian boxers will have to step up and be counted.

Former World Cup silver medallist Simranjit Kaur, who competes in the 64 kg division, is expected to be more prominent among them.

Lovlina Borgohain (69 Kg) and Saweety Boora (75 Kg) are also expected to put up a strong fight for medals.

The experienced Pinky Jangra is also a strong contender in the 51 Kg class and is expected to get a medal.

Indian squad: Mary Kom (48 Kg), Pinky Jangra (51 Kg), Manisha Maun (54 Kg), Sonia (57 Kg), L Sarita Devi (60 Kg), Simranjit Kaur (64 Kg), Lovlina Borgohain (69 Kg), Saweety Boora (75 Kg), Bhagyabati Kachari (81 Kg) and Seema Poonia (+81 Kg).

(IANS)

New Delhi The United Nations Children’s Fund-India (Unicef-India) has appointed Asian Games gold-medalist sprinter Hima Das as the country’s first ever youth ambassador.

The name of the woman athlete from Assam was announced by the world organisation in a tweet on Wednesday eveing coinciding with the Children’s Day celebrated on November 14 commemorating the country’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s birthday.

“I’m honoured to be chosen as Unicef India’s Youth Ambassador, and I hope I will be able to inspire more children to follow their dreams,” Das responded.

Hailing from Nagaon district, Das clinched a gold medal in Women’s 4×400 metre relay event at the 2018 Asian Games. She also won a silver in the Women’s 400m Race event.

(IANS)

Mumbai Vikas Kandola’s brilliant effort wasn’t enough to bring a win for Haryana Steelers as they had to settle for a 32-32 draw against Tamil Thalaivas in an inter-zonal clash of the ongoing Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) at the NSCI stadium here on Wednesday.

Vikas collected 14 raid points, while his teammate Naveen managed to pick four. For Tamil Thalaivas, Sukesh Hegde, skipper Ajay Thakur and all-rounder Manjeet Chillar bagged seven, six and four points respectively.

Tamil Thalaivas started on a brilliant note as their consecutive successful raids and tackles helped them take a 6-2 lead in the first five minutes.

They continued to collect points on most of the occasions as the Ajay Thakur-led side moved to 10 points, while their opponents were still at four.

Sukesh kept on breaking Haryana’s defence as his side reached 13 points, eight above Haryana.

However, the game witnessed a change in the final 10 minutes as Haryana shifted gears and Vikas along with Naveen kept on earning raid points, while their opponents suddenly started to falter.

Haryana slowly cut the deficit to just two points as the scoreline read 11-13 and later inflicted an All-Out to take a one-point lead with the score being 14-13 with four minutes left.

Vikas continued to raid successfully and his side’s defenders also rose to the occasion to collect tackle points as Haryana took a 19-15 lead at half-time.

The second-half saw both the teams creeping ahead with Haryana still managing a 25-23 lead by the 32nd minute.

With the score reading 26-24 in favour of Haryana in the final five minutes, Ajay and Jasveer’s successful raid tied the issue at 27-27 to make the matter interesting.

Tamil Thalaivas then inflicted an All-Out to make a comeback in the contest as they took a 31-29 lead.

Vikas’ failed attempt saw the Tamil Thalaivas moving to 32 points however, his back-to-back successful attempts tied the issue again at 32-32 before the final whistle and the contest ended in a draw.

(IANS)

New Delhi Dhruv Shorey yet again top-scored with an unbeaten 106 to help hosts Delhi post a massive 376-run target for Himachal Pradesh, who ended the penultimate day at 44/1 in a Ranji Trophy Group B match at the Feroz Shah Kotla here on Wednesday.

After taking a comfortable 94-run first innings lead, Delhi rode on Shorey’s unbeaten century, coupled with a few useful knocks from veteran Gautam Gambhir, captain Nitish Rana and the middle order to declare on 281/4 before India veteran Ishant Sharma struck early to remove Himachal captain Prashant Chopra as the tourists found themselves at 44/1 at stumps.

In another Group B tie, Kerala folded for 348 after being 241/1 against Andhra in Thiruvananthapuram. However, off-spinner Jalaj Saxena’s magical 7/44 helped the hosts inch closer to victory as Andhra found themselves tottering at 102/8 in their second innings, with a slender lead of 28 and just two wickets in hand.

In the other Group B matches, Abhinav Mukund stroked an unbeaten 101 to help Tamil Nadu reach 163/2 against Hyderabad, who posted 565/8 in their first innings, while Madhya Pradesh rode skipper Naman Ojha’s 74 to reach 254/5 but still trail by another 256 runs against Bengal’s mammoth 510/9.

In Group A, Vishnu Solanki’s ton helped Baroda dominate Maharashtra as his unbeaten 156 helped the side end the day on 367/3 with a massive lead of 421. Kedar Devdhar (91) and Deepak Hooda (96) missed their respective hundreds but their scores were enough to take the game away from Maharashtra.

In Nagpur, Vidarbha took a slim 1-run lead after reaching 72/2 against Karnataka while Chhattisgarh trailed Gujarat’s 538/7 by 172 runs at Valsad.

In the other Group A tie, India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja coupled his unbeaten 178 with three wickets in the second innings as hosts Saurashtra reduced the Railways to 278/8. The visitors now have a 130-run lead in their second essay.

In Group C, Assam found themselves in the driver’s seat after reducing hosts Tripura for 68/4 in their chase of 428 while Rajasthan ended the third day at 95 for no loss, needing 277 more on the final day against the Services in Jaipur.

In the other two Group C matches, Jammu and Kashmir ended the day at 246/7 to trail hosts Goa’s first innings score of 468/9 by 222 runs at Porvorim while Odisha lost seven wickets for 180 runs in their second innings to trail by Uttar Pradesh’s first innings total of 437 by 1 run.

Coming to the Plate Group, Uttarakhand cantered to an 8-wicket win over Manipur as they chased down 99 with ease in Dehradun. They are now second in the plate group with 13 points from two games after their bonus point win over Bihar in the first round.

Sikkim rode on a splendid double ton by Milind Kumar as they defeated Nagaland by 9 wickets to pick up their second win and climb to the top of the table.

In Assam’s Jorhat, Akhil Rajput starred for Mizoram with a handsome 124 to help his team reach 244/2 and now require only 166 on the final day to beat Arunachal Pradesh.

In Puducherry, Yogesh Nagar’s 141 helped Meghalaya post 326 but the Northeastern side however, failed to take the first innings lead after Puducherry scored 389. The hosts, in their second innings scored 95/4 to take a 158-run lead going to the final day.

(IANS)

 In no time he has become one of the latest posterboys in Indias cash-rich Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) but U Mumba skipper Fazel Atrachali, the Iranian defender, feels it is a tough task to become a standout player in a country like India, the powerhouse of this game for several years.

Fazel, who has led his Mumbai-based team to become one of the strongest contenders of this year’s title, shared his experiences with an exclusive chat with IANS.

“It is always difficult to become a star in a country like India as it produces a number of great and skilfull players. Here, one must perform very well to make your team believe in you,” opined the Iranian.

“India has a bunch of talented players and so, it is always a challenge to perform here,” added Fazel, whose side is currently leading the charts in zone A of the league.

Fazel had become the costliest purchase in this year’s PKL auction as U Mumba pocketed him for a whopping Rs 1 crore but the Iranian believes his game is more important than money.

“I don’t think about money at all. It is for just three months. I want to play like this for next five-six years more so I focus on future and try to get better every day,” Fazel explained.

The Iranian may be leading a completely new team in the ongoing season but feels it is the challenge that he enjoys the most.

“I like to play with a new team, with young players,” he said besides explaining the reason behind it.

“They (young players) never play for themselves, these players play for the team which I like the most and I like such a challenge to lead them.”

Sharing his PKL experience so far, Fazal expressed: “What I have learnt is that one must play with both his mind and body. Both must work together for you.”

“Also, if I think just about myself that I am a great player, it will not work at all. All players should come as a unit and stick to the team’s strategy and plan. Only then your team could win,” he pointed out.

Fazel, however does not subscribe to the general view that being a defender and skipper together is an added advantage in kabaddi, since a defender is on the mat till the last moment.

“No, it is not like that. Kabaddi is all about both your raiders and defenders,” the 26-year-old said.

“It is not just your raiders are performing or just your defenders, both have to work together only then it is an advantage. It is never about the one side, the whole team needs to click together on every occasion,” Fazel concluded.

IANS