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Bindra clinches gold, Malaika wins silver in shooting

July 26, 2014

Bindra clinches

Glasgow, Jul 26: Star marksman Abhinav Bindra stole the limelight by clinching a gold medal while unheralded teenager Malaika Goel bagged a silver as shooters added two more medals to India's kitty on the second day of competitions in the 20th Commonwealth Games in Glasgow on Friday (July 25). The 31yearold Bindra kept his nerve to take the honour in his favourite 10 m air rifle event with a final games record score of 205.3 to bring cheers for the Indian contingent.

The 16yearold Malaika Goel gave India their first shooting medal with a silver in the women's 10m Air Pistol event while favourite Heena Sidhu fell by the wayside at the Barry Buddon Shooting Centre at Dundee. With the addition of two more medals from the shooting ranges, India's overall medals tally climbed to 9 after collecting seven medals on the opening day. India were placed fourth on the medals table with a tally of 3 gold, 4 silver and two bronze behind toppers England (18), Australia (15) and Scotland (10).

It was Bindra's first individual gold medal in the Commonwealth Games. He had won the pairs gold in Manchester (2002), Melbourne (2006) and in front of the home crowd in New Delhi fours years ago. In the women's section, Goel shot an aggregate of 197.1 in the finals to finish second and grab her first senior international medal after a close fight for the gold on the opening day of shooting competitions.

Former world number one and a precompetition favourite Heena Sindhu finished a disappointing seventh after topping the qualifications. She was the second shooter to be eliminated in the eightwomen field in the final round. The Indian men's hockey team launched their campaign on a sluggish note as they toiled hard to register a 31 win over a lowly Wales in their opening Pool A match at the National Hockey Centre.

Ranked ninth in the world, India had to dig deep to overcome a resolute Wales defence and pocket full points. India scored two goals through penalty corner conversions by V R Raghunath (20th minute) and Rupinder Pal Singh (42nd) before comeback man Girvinder Singh Chandi scored from a field effort in the 47th minute. Wales' lone goal was netted by Andrew Cornick in the 23rd minute from field play.

India will next play hosts Scotland tomorrow, while Wales will be up against world champions and reigning Commonwealth Games champions Australia. Indian judokas failed to replicate their opening day performance with only Sunibala Huidrom managing to enter the bronzemedal contest in the women's 70kg category. Sunibala faced a tough test in the repechage contest but she managed to prevail over Monika Burgess of Canada in a battle that lasted for three minutes and 58 seconds to make the medal round.

She will now fight for the bronze medal with Scotland's Sally Conway later in the day. However, it was curtains for Garima Choudhary in the women's 63kg category after she went down fighting in her repechage round. Earlier in the day, Sunibala got the better of Australia's Catherine Arscott in the quarterfinals in another tough fourminute contest, while it took her just 53 seconds to beat Memory Zikhale of Botswana in her round of 16 bout, as she got a couple of Wazaris, which is equivalent to an 'Ippon' that finishes a contest.

Garima, who was the only Indian judoka to have qualified for the London Olympics in 2012, lost to K J YeatsBrown of England in the repechage. YeatsBrown won on the basis of two Wazaris. Indian men had a disappointing outing as both Balvinder Singh and V Vikender Singh lost in the round of 32 in 73kg and 81kg, respectively. In swimming, Sandeep Sejwal became the first Indian swimmer to clear the qualification round and make it to the semifinals of the men's 100m breaststroke event.

Sejwal finished 12th overall after clocking 1:02.97 seconds in the heat to advance to the next round. A total of 16 swimmers qualified for the semifinal stage of the competition at the Tollcross Swimming Centre. Sejwal came fourth in heat number three but 12th overall in a field of 34 swimmers. However, India failed to make the main round of men's 200m freestyle event, as Sajan Prakash finished a lowly 22nd in the qualification.

Indian paddlers continued their rampaging form as the men's and women's teams blanked Guyana and Kenya 30 respectively in the group stage of the table tennis team competition. After thrashing Vanuatu 30 on the opening day, the Indian men's team continued their good showing with Anthony Amalraj brushing aside Shamar Britton 114 113 113 to give his side an early lead.

Young Soumyajit Ghosh then beat Christopher Franklin 118 115 119 to make it 20 in India's favour. Sanil Shankar Shetty and Amalraj then paired up to get the better of Paul David and Franklin 118 116 115 to complete the rout. Indian squash star Joshna Chinappa suffered a 13 defeat against World No. 4 Joelle King of New Zealand in the round of 16 to crash out of the women's singles competition.

The 27yearold from Chennai, who won the Winnipeg Winter Open trophy her maiden WSA world title in February this year lost 311 811 118 511 against her third seeded opponent at the Scotstoun Campus.

Indian cyclists' dismal show continued at the Games as they failed to qualify for the finals of both Men's 4000m Individual pursuit and Women's 3000m Individual pursuit events.

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News Network
May 6,2020

May 6: They have similar impact on their teams but Virat Kohli is driven by sheer passion to subdue the rivals while Steve Smith just enjoys batting, says Australia opener David Warner.

India skipper Kohli and top Australian batsman Smith are arguably the top two cricketers of the current era. They achieve new milestones consistently, invoking debates, who is better between them.

"Virat's passion and drive to score runs is different to what Steve's would be," Warner said while speaking to Harsha Bhogle on 'Cricbuzz in Conversation'.

"Steve is going out there for a hit in the middle, that's how he sees things. He's hitting them out in the middle, he's having fun, he's enjoying himself, just does not want to get out."

Warner feels, while Kohli is batting he is aware that if he sticks around the middle his team will be on top of the proceedings.

"Virat obviously doesn't want to get out but he knows if he spends a certain amount of time out there, he's going to score plenty of runs at a rapid rate. He's going to get on top of you. That allows the guys coming in, especially in the Indian team you've got a lot of players who can be flamboyant as well."

The Australian opener added that both men are mentally strong and a good knock by them boosts the morale of the entire team.

"When it comes to cricket, they both have got the mental strength, the mental capacity to score runs. They both love spending time in the middle.

"They stabilise, they boost morale - if they score runs, everyone else's moral is up. If they are out cheaply you almost sense that on the field that everyone is (down on morale and thinking) 'now we all have to step up'. It's a very bizarre situation," he added.

Asked about the similarities between himself and Kohli, who are both live wires on the field, Warner said the passion to do better than the opponent keeps him going.

"I can't speak for Virat, obviously, but it's almost like we got this thing in us when we go (out to the middle) we need to prove people wrong, prove someone wrong."

"If you're in that contest, and if I'm going at him for example, you're thinking, 'Alright, I'm going to score more runs than him, I'm going to take a quick single on him'. You are trying to better that person in that game. That's where the passion comes from."

Warner also explained how he breaks down a match into smaller competitions.

"Obviously you want to win the game but you almost break it down to: If I can score more runs than Virat, or if Pujara scores more runs than Steve Smith, you have these little contests and that's how you try to narrow the game in the sense that if we do these little things, we can be ahead of the game or we can be behind the game.

"The passion is driven by...I know my sense - one, the will to win and two, wanting to do better than that person in the opposition," said Warner.

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Agencies
August 5,2020

New Delhi, Aug 5: Indian cricketers Suresh Raina and Harmanpreet Kaur were on Wednesday appointed as the global brand ambassadors of the WTF Sports.

Raina is also joining the brand as a Strategic Partner. WTF Sports, a fantasy sports gaming platform, was today formally launched in India and globally.

The announcement was made through a web conference with prominent cricket host, Vikram Sathaye moderating and hosting the webinar and Vinit Bhatia, Manit Parikh and Yash Kadakia Co-Founders - India and Global, WTF Sports introducing the cricketers as the Global Brand Ambassadors.

Kaur said it was a perfect fit for her and she can use her strategy and experience while playing.
"WTF Sports was the perfect fit with me, I can use strategy and my experience while playing, I've actually learnt to strategize better as I've played along. Additionally, when we were under lockdown and I couldn't really practice, it was fun to come on the platform and feel like I'm still playing," Kaur said in a statement.

On the other hand, Raina said, "It is exciting to be a part of a fantasy sports platform like WTF Sports not just as an ambassador but also as the strategic partner, it is everything that I embody and what I believe in, it's fierce, fun and competitive."

The app currently hosts three major sports, multiple playing modes, and exciting contests, ensuring that sports fans can get more skillful by letting them strategize and use their sports knowledge into rewarding behaviour.

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News Network
March 12,2020

Miami, Mar 12: The NBA has suspended its season "until further notice" after a Utah Jazz player tested positive Wednesday for the coronavirus, a move that came only hours after the majority of the league's owners were leaning toward playing games without fans in arenas.

Now there will be no games at all, at least for the time being. A person with knowledge of the situation said the Jazz player who tested positive was center Rudy Gobert. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because neither the league nor the team confirmed the test.

"The NBA is suspending game play following the conclusion of tonight's schedule of games until further notice,'' the league said in a statement sent shortly after 9:30 p.m. EDT. "The NBA will use this hiatus to determine next steps for moving forward in regard to the coronavirus pandemic.''

The test result, the NBA said, was reported shortly before the scheduled tip-off time for the Utah at Oklahoma City game on Wednesday night was called off. Players were on the floor for warmups and tip-off was moments away when they were told to return to their locker rooms. About 30 minutes later, fans were told the game was postponed ``due to unforeseen circumstances."

Shutdown for two weeks?

Those circumstances were the league's worst-case scenario for now -- a player testing positive. A second person who spoke to AP on condition of anonymity said the league expects the shutdown to last a minimum of two weeks, but cautioned that time-frame is very fluid.

"It's a very serious time right now," Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "I think the league moved appropriately and prudently and we'll all just have to monitor the situation and see where it goes from here."

The Jazz released a statement saying a player -- they did not identify Gobert -- tested negative earlier Wednesday for flu, strep throat and an upper respiratory infection. That player's symptoms diminished as the day went along, but the decision was made to test for COVID-19 anyway. That test came back with a preliminary positive result.

"The individual is currently in the care of health officials in Oklahoma City," the Jazz said, adding that updates would come as appropriate.

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