Abhinav Bindra seals fifth consecutive berth for Olympics

May 29, 2015

New Delhi, May 29: Abhinav Bindra walked away with India’s fourth Olympic quota place in his first final of the year. After failing to make the cut in the previous two World Cups at Fort Benning and Changwon, luck smiled on the country’s only Olympic gold medallist.

BindraBindra totalled 627.5 points to qualify sixth for the final on Thursday, and once he shot 122.4 in the final to finish sixth at the ISSF World Cup in Munich, a quota place for the Rio Olympics was India’s.

There were three spots up for grabs in the 10m air rifle event and of the eight finalists, Zhu Qinan and Yang Haoran of China, having already won quota places were ruled out.

Belarusian Vitali Bubnovich too had already won a quota place and Russia’s Vladimir Maslennikov was not in contention as two of his countrymen had already bagged spots in the event.

So the moment reigning Olympic champion Alin George Moldoveanu of Romania was eliminated in the final, the quota places were decided. Ukraine’s Oleh Tsarko was awarded the first quota of the day while Serbia’s Stephen Pletikosic was the third after Bindra.

Gagan Narang (50m prone), Jitu Rai (10m air pistol) and Apurvi Chandela (10m air rifle) are the other shooters to bag quotas before Bindra.

Bindra had faced fitness issues before flying to Munich. He had complained of shoulder impingement, but the injury wasn’t serious.

National Rifle Association of India chief Raninder Singh lauded Bindra for the result.

“He is not an Olympic champion for nothing. He is very clear about his goals and preparations leading up to big events. It is something every professional sportsman in this country should emulate. We have our fingers crossed for him for the Olympics,” he said.

The gold was won by Qinan with a total of 206.0 points while Maslennikov finished second with 205.7. Tsarkov finished third with 184.2 points. This was Qinan’s 21st medal in World Cups.

Rio would be Bindra’s fifth successive Olympic Games and maybe the last time he will compete in India colours. He had announced his retirement from active sports during last year’s Asian Games in Incheon.

“Tomorrow will mark the end of my professional shooting life! I will, however, still shoot, compete as a hobby shooter, training twice a week. Yes, I will still try to be at Rio and my bio is now most appropriate! Great times and am sure there will be a few more!” Bindra had tweeted then.

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Agencies
May 9,2020

Tokyo, May 9: As the world continues to grapple with coronavirus pandemic, the organisers of Tokyo Game Show have cancelled 2020 showpiece event.

TGS 2020 was slated to be played from September 24 to September 27 at the Makuhari Messe convention center. However, there now talks going on for holding an online event instead.

According to the Verge, this is the first time that TGS has ever been cancelled since it started in 1996.

TGS 2020 gained more attention because of its status as the last major trade show before the launch of the upcoming next-gen consoles, the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5.

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Agencies
June 8,2020

New Delhi, Jun 8: Indian pacer S Sreesanth has slammed England all-rounder Ben Stokes for questioning MS Dhoni's intent during a World Cup match, saying that the former captain will end Stokes' career.

Stokes in his book titled 'On Fire' had questioned Dhoni's intent during India's 31-run defeat at the hands of England in the premier tournament last year.

"For Ben Stokes, I will only say that you should pray that Dhoni does not play against you in the future. Dhoni does not forget things easily," Sreesanth said during a Live session on Helo.

"I wish Stokes all the best for whenever he faces Dhoni again, be it IPL or an England vs India match. You must be earning in millions now, Dhoni Bhai will end your career. Dhoni will strike the ball everywhere and he (Stokes) can never dismiss Dhoni. Before he (Stokes) opens his mouth, he should make sure to wear a helmet," he added.

Former West Indies pacer Michael Holding had also come out in support of Dhoni and said that the wicket-keeper batsman wanted to win the match against England.

"Well, people will write anything in books these days, because people are a lot more free with their opinions and when they are writing books, they need to be making headlines at times," Holding had said on his official YouTube channel.

"...It was not the game that India had to win, but I don't think anyone can say that was a team tactic to lose the game. I watched that game and it appeared to me as if India weren't putting up their 100 percent, but I realised it was not the case when the expression on MS Dhoni's face told me that he desperately wanted to win, so I do not think it was a team decision to not try to win," he had added.

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News Network
July 6,2020

Karachi, Jul 6: Former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq has said that questions will be raised if Indian Premier League is slotted in the window allotted to ICC T20 World Cup in Australia, which in all likelihood will be cancelled in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The ICC is yet to decide the fate of the T20 World Cup in Australia which is scheduled to take place from October 18 to November 15.

"There are rumors that the World Cup was clashing with the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the Australia-India series, therefore, it (T20 World Cup) won't take place," Inzamam said in his YouTube channel on Sunday.

"The Indian board is strong and has control in the International Cricket Council (ICC). If Australia says that we cannot hold the World Cup because of the Covid-19 pandemic, then their stance will be easily accepted, but if any such kind event happens during the same time, then questions will be raised," he said.

The 50-year-old former batsman, who has scored 8,830 runs in 120 Tests and 11,739 runs in 378 ODIs for Pakistan, further said, "People will think, if a country could host 12 to 14 teams (16 teams), then why the ICC could not look after the teams, after all Australia is such an advanced country.

"Another thing is the ICC should not be allowed to give priority to private leagues (IPL) on international cricket. This will lead to young players forcing on private leagues other than international matches."

The former coach, however, agreed that it is not easy to host 16 nations during the T20 World Cup.

"Australia can say that it was difficult for it to manage 18 teams (16) for the mega event as it is not easy. Likewise, the Pakistan team was in England in a hotel and all the facilities were being provided there, therefore, it has not been easy to manage 18 teams (16)," he said.

The fate of Asia Cup which PCB will be hosting in a neutral country for security reason is also an issue as no one knows the fate of the tournament originally scheduled in September.

Inzamam said: "I have also heard that objections are also raised on the dates of the Asia Cup as it is clashing with some other event.

"The ICC, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) and all cricket boards should sit together and give a strong message that any such kind of impression (giving priority to private leagues instead of international cricket), won't take place," he said.

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