The national shooting federation Monday recommended pistol ace Heena Sidhu and trap shooter Ankur Mittal for the Rajeev Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, the country’s highest sporting honour. 

Anjum Moudgil (rifle), Shahzar Rizvi (pistol) and Om Prakash Mitharwal (pistol) have been nominated for the Arjuna Awards.

The first Indian pistol shooter to reach number one in the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) world rankings, the 29-year-old Sidhu is a multiple gold medallist at the World Cup, Commonwealth Games, Commonwealth and Asian Championships.

She also held the world record in the 10 metre air pistol event with a final score of 203.8.

Mittal has been one of the most consistent Indian shooters in shotgun, having won silver and gold medals at the World Cups in 2017.

The double trap exponent continued his impressive showing the following year, bagging gold medals at the Asian Championships and Commonwealth Championships. He then claimed silver at the ISSF World Shotgun Championship and became the world No 1 in double trap.

Moudgil was the first Indian to secure a quota place in shooting for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics when she won the women’s air rifle silver in style in the World Championship last September.

The 23-year-old Mitharwal was a smashing success in the last World Championship, winning the men’s 50m gold medal in Changwon, Korea.

Having lost his place in the national squad despite winning World Cup gold and silver medals – with a world record to boot – in 2018, Rizvi fought his way back in for the World Cups in Beijing and Munich.

The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) has recommended wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia for India’s the highest sporting honour, Rajeev Khel Ratna Award. 

Besides, WFI has also recommended Rahul Aware, Harpreet Singh, Divya Kakran and Pooja Dhanda for Arjuna award. 

India’s Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports gives the Arjuna Awards to recognize outstanding achievement in sports. 

WFI also recommended Virender Kumar, Sujeet Maan, Narendra Kumar & Vikram Kumar for Dronacharya award, which is a sports coaching honour, given for the outstanding coaches in sports and games. 

Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) recommends Rahul Aware, Harpreet Singh, Divya Kakran and Pooja Dhanda for Arjuna award; Recommends, Virender Kumar, Sujeet Maan, Narendra Kumar & Vikram Kumar for Dronacharya award.

Punia has eight gold medals from his previous nine international tournaments including last year’s Commonwealth and Asian Games. 

Asian champion Bajrang Punia is to become the first Indian wrestler to fight at New York’s iconic Madison Square Garden. 

Punia, who won the 65kg men’s freestyle gold at the recent Asian championships, will be among top wrestlers selected by the American governing body for the May 6 tournament. 

The 25-year-old will take on two-time US national champion Yianni Diakomahlis in the “Grapple at the Garden” Beat the Streets event which since 2010 has become a major showcase for international wrestling. 

Agencies

India ended their campaign at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup with a total of four medals: three golds and a silver.

Divyansh Panwar and Anjum Moudgil had won the first medal for India at the Beijing ISSF World Cup after clinching gold in 10m Air Rifle Mixed event. They defeated the Chinese pair of Liu Ruxuan and Yang Haoran on Thursday.

Thereafter, Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Choudhary won the gold medal in 10m Air Pistol Mixed event. The pair of Bhaker and Chowdhary outshot Jiang Ranxin and Pang Wei of China 16-6 in the final on Thursday.

On Friday, 17-year-old Divyansh won another medal for the country by winning a silver medal in 10m Air Rifle event. While the next day, Abhishek Verma won the gold in 10m Air Pistol event.

On Sunday, none of the Indians was able to add to the medals tally as they failed to qualify for the finals in their respective events.

While Gaayathri, Sunidhi Chauhan and Kajal Saini finished to make it to the finals of the Women’s 50m Rifle 3P event, Manu Bhaker, Rahi Sarnobat and Chinki Yadav could not make it to the summit clash of the 25m Pistol Event.

At the ISSF World Cup, India secured five quotas in shooting for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Abhishek and Saurabh secured the Olympic quota in 10m Air Rifle event while Divyansh clinched the quota in 10m Air Rifle event. In women’s, Anjum Moudgil and Apurvi Chandela secured an Olympic quota in the 10m Air Rifle event.

Agencies

New Delhi, Apr 27: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) suggested India pacers Mohammad Shami and Jasprit Bumrah, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and women’s team player Poonam Yadav for the Arjuna award here on Saturday.

Supreme Court-appointed CoA held a meeting in the capital, where the decision was taken.

Shami is a right-arm fast-medium swing and seam bowler, who bowls consistently around the 87 mph mark, which makes him a deceptively potent fast bowler. He is also known as a reverse swing specialist, while all-rounder Jadeja has also made a comeback in the limited overs team.

The 25-year-old Bumrah consistently bowls at 140?145 kilometres per hour making him one of the fastest bowlers in India. He also specialises in bowling in-swinging yorker deliveries.

The 27-year-old leg-spinner, Poonam from the women’s team, is the fourth name to be nominated. So far, she has picked up 63 wickets from 41 ODIs and 74 wickets from 54 T20 games.

Asian champion Bajrang Punia is to become the first Indian wrestler to fight at New York’s iconic Madison Square Garden. 

Punia, who won the 65kg men’s freestyle gold at the recent Asian championships, will be among top wrestlers selected by the American governing body for the May 6 tournament. 

The 25-year-old will take on two-time US national champion Yianni Diakomahlis in the “Grapple at the Garden” Beat the Streets event which since 2010 has become a major showcase for international wrestling. 

“If you see it from a player’s perspective then it is quite an experience fighting at Madison Square Garden. It’s great exposure. But there is happiness and there is fear,” Punia told AFP. 

“Happiness because I am the first Indian to be invited there. Fear because of my country’s expectations whether I will be able to meet up with it or not,” added Punia, who hails from Jhajjar district of the north Indian state of Haryana. 

Punia has eight gold medals from his previous nine international tournaments including last year’s Commonwealth and Asian Games. 

Punia’s mentor Yogeshwar Dutt who won the 60kg bronze at the 2012 London Olympics praised his achievement.

“He has been winning all this time and he will triumph at Madison Square Garden,” Dutt told AFP. 

“He wins finals everywhere he goes. I just tell him to keep working hard.” 

American wrestler Kyle Snyder, who won the 97kg title at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, and Jordan Burroughs — 2012 London Olympics gold winner — are the other top attractions at the event. 

Agencies

Indian shooter Abhishek Verma won the gold medal in the 10m Air Pistol event at the ongoing International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup here on Saturday.

Verma, 29, appearing only in his second ISSF World Cup, shot 242.7 in the finals of the event to claim the top honours. Russia’s Artem Chernousov clinched the silver medal with a score of 240.4 while Korea’s Han Seungwoo secured bronze with a score of 220.0.

With this gold, the 2018 Asian Games bronze medallist also secured a fifth quota for India in shooting for the 2020 Olympic Games to be held in Tokyo.

On Friday, 17-year-old Divyansh Singh Panwar had secured an Olympic quota by winning a silver medal in the 10m Air Rifle event at the ongoing tournament. Earlier, Saurabh Choudhary had also clinched the Olympic quota in the 10 m Air Pistol event.

In women’s, Anjum Moudgil and Apurvi Chandela had earlier secured an Olympic quota in the 10m Air Rifle event.

Indian boxer Amit Panghal (52kg) clinched the gold medal at the Asian Championships.

Amit Panghal gave India it’s first gold medal in the men’s 52-kg category at the Asian Boxing Championships by defeating Inkyu Kim of Korea in the final of the event. Amit Panghal, who had won the gold medal at the Asian Games last year, beat his Korean opponent by a unanimous decision tp clinch the gold. This was Amit Panghal’s second straight gold medal this year, gaving won the the Strandja Memorial Tournament in February. This was also his maiden international competition since moving up to 52kg from 49kg earlier this year.

However, national champion Deepak Singh (49kg) had to settle for a silver after going down in a split verdict to Nodirjon Mirzahmedov of Uzbekistan.

India have challenged the verdict under the Bout Review System and a decision is awaited on it.

Up against a lanky opponent, who was willing to play the waiting game, Amit Panghal started in his usual aggressive style.

The strategy of stumping rivals with relentless attacks paid off against Inkyu and the Korean simply had no answer to Panghal”s aggression.

The Indian managed to corner his rival quite often and his solid defences thwarted the feeble attempts at connecting by Inkyu.

Earlier, Deepak put up a gutsy performance that failed to find favour with the judges.

It was a bout in which both the boxers were mostly looking to counter-attack. Deepak”s focus was getting his straight punches across, while Mirzahmedov looked to connect right hooks occasionally.

The Indian was a clear winner in the opening round but Mirzahmedov came back strongly in the second.

The Uzbek turned a shade defensive in the last three minutes, which gave Deepak a chance to assert himself. However, the final outcome was in favour of the Uzbek, much to the surprise of the Indian camp which immediately sought a review of the decision.

The tournament has a Bout Review Process in place for any contentious decisions. Teams have been handed yellow cards at the beginning of their respective bouts. Coaches get a minute after the fight to appeal against a decision.

A slow motion footage of the bout is used for reviews by an observer to decide the merits of the appeal.

In case the decision does not favour the team concerned, the national federation has to pay USD 1,000 as penalty.

After Virat Kohli’s brilliant century in the KKR vs RCB IPL 2019 match, AB de Villiers christened him with a new nickname.

[Nasheman news] AB de Villiers called Virat Kohli a “little biscuit” after a brilliant century in KKR vs RCB IPL match.

Virat Kohli produced a batting masterclass to smash his fifth Indian Premier League (IPL) century. Virat Kohli’s stunning knock in the KKR vs RCB IPL 2019 match at the Eden Gardens helped his team register only it’s second win in IPL 12. Virat Kohli’s knock was all the more significant for RCB as star batsman AB de Villiers had been ruled out before the start of the match in Kolkata. After Virat Kohli reached the three-figure mark, AB de Villiers took to Twitter to hail the RCB captain and christen him with a new nickname.

Virat Kohli goes by a lot of names ‘Cheeku’, ‘King Kohli’ but ‘little biscuit’ has never cropped up before.

Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed and Deepak Chahar have impressed in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Monday named four fast bowlers to assist Team India in their preparation for World Cup 2019. The list released by the cricket board on their official website includes Navdeep Saini,Avesh Khan, Khaleel Ahmed and Deepak Chahar. The impressive bunch of young pacers Saini, Khaleel and Chahar have displayed their potential for their respective franchises in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019. While Avesh featured in only a solitary match in the ongoing season of the lucrative season.

The core 15-member squad, led by Virat Kohli, saw veteran Dinesh Karthik pipping young turk Rishabh Pant in the fight for the second wicket-keeper’s slot.

The 33-year-old Karthik got the nod ahead of the 21-year-old Pant despite an indifferent IPL campaign with the Kolkata Knight Riders.

“The second wicketkeeper comes into play only if Mahi (Mahendra Singh Dhoni) is injured. We went ahead with Karthik because of his experience in big matches,” Prasad said while announcing the squad here. The side, expectedly led by Virat kohli, comprises five specialist batsmen, two wicket-keepers, three fast bowlers, three all-rounders and two specialist spinners.

Tamil Nadu all-rounder Vijay Shankar made it for his “three-dimensional” qualities.

India, touted as one of the favourites to win the World Cup, will get their campaign underway on June 5 against South Africa, who are expected to announce their squad on April 18.

India will later face defending champions Australia on June 6, followed by heavyweights New Zealand on June 13. The much-awaited clash between India and Pakistan will take place on June 16.

Mumbai Indians needed 22 runs from the last two overs but Hardik Pandya took just six balls to hit the required runs.

Mumbai Indians have now moved to the 3rd position in the IPL 2019 points table.© BCCI/IPL

Hardik Pandya produced a sensational late cameo of 37 not out off just 16 balls as he guided Mumbai Indians to a five-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bangalore in an IPL match in Mumbai on Monday. Chasing 172 for a win, the match was in a balance when he came out in the 16th over but Hardik, who was named in India’s World Cup squad on Monday, turned the game on its head, smashing five boundaries and two sixes during his unconquered 16-ball innings on a turning track at the Wankhede Stadium.              

Mumbai needed 22 runs from the last two overs but Hardik took just six balls to hit the required runs, smashing left-arm spinner Pawan Negi for two boundaries and as many sixes to end the run chase. He finished the game with a single off the last ball of the 19th over as Mumbai reached 172 for 5 in 19 overs.           

This was Mumbai’s fifth win in eight games and they are now at third spot with 10 points, while RCB suffered their seventh defeat in eight matches and the Virat Kohli-led team are languishing at the bottom of the table.              

Earlier, veteran Sri Lankan pacer Lasith Malinga took four wickets for 31 runs as Mumbai restricted RCB to 171 for 7. Mumbai were off to a flying start in their run chase with openers Rohit Sharma (28) and Quinton de Kock (40) finding the boundaries with ease.          

De Kock took 16 runs from the third over bowled by Umesh Yadav, smashing two boundaries and a six while captain Rohit was elegant as ever, hitting a four and a six off Mohammed Siraj the next over.               

Mumbai were wallopping at 67 for no loss at the end of first powerplay overs but suddenly off-spinner Moeen Ali (2/28) brought RCB back into the match with a two-wicket burst in a single over.           

The Englishman removed the two set openers Rohit and de Kock in the space of four deliveries in the eighth over. Rohit was done in a by a delivery which turned viciously from the offside while de Kock was plumbed in front as he was beaten by a delivery which skidded instead of turning and Mumbai were 71 for 2 in 7.4 overs.   

Ishan Kishan (21) came out and nonchalantly smashed two sixes off Negi before he fell to Yuzvendra Chahal (2/27), stumped by Parthiv Patel.           

The Mumbai run chase started stuttering and with the pitch turning, Suryakumar Yadav (29) and Krunal Pandya (11) was finding it difficult to get the boundaries. Play was held up for a few minutes in the 13th over with Chahal seemingly having some problem on his little finger but he returned to bowl his fourth over and had the wicket of Suryakumar who holed out to Navdeep Saini near the boundary.    

Hardik was nearly out in the 17th over but it was his elder brother Krunal who was out in the next over off the bowling of Mohammed Siraj. It was then left to Hardik to take Mumbai to victory in a dramatic fashion. Earlier, AB de Villiers and Moeen Ali hit impressive half centuries to guide Royal Challengers Bangalore to a respectable 171 for 7 after being put into bat.       

After RCB lost skipper Virat Kohli (8 off 9 balls) and Parthiv Patel (28 off 20 balls) inside seven overs, de Villiers (75 in 51 balls) along with Ali (50 runs in 32 balls) resurrected the innings with a 95-run stand for the third wicket.               

The South African star stamped his authority, hammering six fours and four sixes, as he completed his half-century in 41 balls. Ali was a little bit more aggressive than De Villiers as he hit five sixes and a lone boundary as the two took the MI attack to cleaners.          

Ali initially played second fiddle but later upped the ante. He was particularly severe on Australian pacer Jason Behrendorff (1/49), whom he hit for two sixes and a four in the 16th over, which fetched 17 runs for RCB. De Villiers, who took time to settle, then showed his class, as he hit round the park.

However, veteran Sri Lankan pacer Lasith Malinga (4/31) pegged the visiting side back by removing Ali and Marcus Stonis (0) in the 18th over and taking two wickets in the final over. De Villiers was run out in the final over off a brilliant throw from long-on.