Swimmer Sharath Gayakwad wins six medals in the Asian Para-games; breaks P T Usha's record

October 28, 2014

New Delhi, Oct 28: Sharath Gayakwad became the first Indian to win six medals in a multi-disciplinary sporting event when he achieved this feat at the Asian Para-games in Incheon, South Korea. The para-swimmer went past sprinter P T Usha, who had won five medals at the 1986 Seoul Asian Games.

Sharath Gayakwad

Sharath’s medal run started in the 200m Individual Medley event where he clinched silver. He then went on to win bronze in the 100 m butterfly,100 m breaststroke,100 m backstroke, and the 50 m freestyle. The Bangalorean teamed up with Prasanta Karmakar, Swapnil Patil and Niranjan Mukundan to win bronze medal in the 4x100 m Medley Relay. He won medals on all days of the competition.

Coach impressed by Sharath’s achievement

Sharath thanked all the people behind his success.

"I'm extremely happy about my performance at the Games. For the past six months, I, along with the other swimmers have trained hard for this competition, and it feels great when our hard work pays off.”

“I would like to thank my parents for their constant support, John (Christopher) sir for years of guidance and encouragement, GoSports Foundation for their support, and all others who have helped me so far, including Speedo, and my fellow swimmers at the pool,” he said.

Coach John Christopher was equally delighted.

"Sharath has performed exceptionally well. I'm extremely proud of his performance, more so because he has overcome a serious shoulder injury to achieve these results. With GoSports Foundation's support, he is being mentored by Rahul Dravid, whose advice has helped Sharath immensely.

"I'm also delighted with the performance of Niranjan Mukundan, who was part of the medal winning relay team, and finished 4th in the 200m IM. Both Sharath and Niranjan have been very committed and we have trained sincerely for the Asian Games. I'm happy that we have the results to show for our efforts," he added.

“Rahul Dravid motivated me”

The 23-year old para-swimmer was on the verge on quitting the sport after he missed out on a medal at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in July this year. Former Indian cricket captain Rahul Dravid encouraged Sharath to not give up on his dreams.

"Rahul (Dravid) told me, 'I know you are planning to retire, but let's keep that aside for now. Right now your focus should be the Asian Games and to win medals for India.' He then gave examples from his life on how he dealt with pressure, the final years of his career and experiences with new and younger teammates," Gayakwad recalled.

"I was having a lot of trouble concentrating on my career and Rahul's wise words helped me a lot. We were in touch through emails and his tips on how to build partnerships and be a team player has definitely helped me become a better sportsperson," he added.

Sharath suffers from a dysfunctional left short arm and the recurring shoulder injury is what bothers him when he thinks of the 2016 Rio Olympics.

"My recurring shoulder injury takes a big toll on my body. At Incheon, I had qualified for eight events and had to compete in nearly 13 to 15 races (including heats) and it hurt a lot. Therefore, it affects my training as well. I'm undergoing physiotherapy but I'll have to wait and see about Rio," he explained.

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News Network
April 25,2020

New Delhi, Apr 25: The love and loyalty of the fans will never let him leave Royal Challengers Bangalore till the time he is playing IPL, skipper Virat Kohli said on Friday.

RCB have reached the IPL final thrice but have not gone on to win the trophy.

During a live session on Instagram with former South African captain and RCB teammate AB de Villiers, Kohli said winning the tournament remains the goal but he would not leave the team irrespective of the results.

"It has been such an amazing journey. It is always going to be our dream, winning the IPL together. There is no scenario where I could think of leaving the team ever.

"You can feel emotional about the season not going well but till the time I am playing IPL, I am never leaving this team. The fans, their loyalty has been amazing," said the India skipper.

Responding to Kohli's feelings towards RCB, De Villiers too acknowledged the support of fans over the past nine years. Kohli, on the other hand, has been with RCB since 2008.

"Same for me. I never want to leave RCB but to do that I got to keep scoring runs. I am not the captain you see," said the South African in jest.

Both recalled their early days in international cricket and their growth as cricketers and friends.

Kohli said at times, the youngsters coming in have too much regard for the "system" and he wants to see them break the norm.

"I want to see youngsters coming in scoring 500-600 runs. I want people to break the norm. Sometimes I feel people have too much regard for the system in sport. When you break the shackles, you do something special."

Kohli also acknowledged contribution of Mark Boucher, Gary Kirsten and Duncan Fletcher early on in his international career.

"Gary always gave me positive feedback. Boucher told me in 2008 to improve my game against the short ball. He had the vision. Then Fletcher, he had a keen eye for the game. So many people who have contributed (to my growth)," said Kohli.

De Villiers picked the 119 at Wankhede in the 2015 series decider as his best knock against India. Kohli picked the 119 he scored in Johannesburg Test in 2013.

"I was always really motivated to win the series after 2-2 . I was incredibly motivated to do something special," de Villiers said.

They also picked their combined South Africa and India ODI team. It included Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ab de Villiers, Jacques Kallis, M S Dhoni (captain), Yuvraj Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Dale Steyn, Jasprit Bumrah and Kagiso Rabada.

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News Network
May 11,2020

Mumbai, May 11: The French Open, which was postponed to September from May due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, could be held without fans, the organisers of the claycourt Grand Slam have said.

Roland Garros had been scheduled for May 24 to June 7 before the French tennis federation (FFT) pushed it back to Sept. 20-Oct 4 in a bid to save the tournament from falling victim to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last week the FFT said all tickets purchased for this year's French Open would be cancelled and reimbursed instead of being transferred.

"Organising it without fans would allow a part of the economy to keep turning, (like) television rights and partnerships. It's not to be overlooked," FFT President Bernard Giudicelli told French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche.

"We're not ruling any option out."

The tennis season was suspended in early March due to the pandemic and the hiatus will continue at least until mid-July with many countries in lockdown.

Wimbledon has been cancelled while the status of the U.S. Open, scheduled to take place in late August, is still unclear.

COVID-19 Pandemic Tracker: 15 countries with the highest number of coronavirus cases, deaths

The FFT was widely criticised when they announced in mid-March that the French Open would be switched, with players bemoaning a lack of communication as the new dates clashed with the hardcourt season.

Organisers said last week they had been in talks with the sport's governing bodies to fine tune the calendar amid media reports that the Grand Slam tournament would be delayed further by a week and start on Sept. 27.

The delayed start would give players a two-week window between the end of the U.S. Open, played on the hardcourts of New York, and the Paris tournament.

"The 20th or the 27th, that does not change much," Giudicelli said.

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News Network
January 10,2020

Karachi, Jan 10: Former Pakistan batsman and current U-19 head coach Ejaz Ahmed feels that his side can beat defending champions and arch-rivals India in the forthcoming ICC Youth World Cup beginning in South Africa on January 17.

"India has a very good cricket system and it is organized but I know that we have more passion than them when we play against each other and that is how we also beat them in the semi-finals of the recent Asian Emerging Nations Cup," Ejaz said.

Ejaz, who has played 60 Test and 250 ODIs, was head coach of the Pakistan Emerging side which beat India before eventually winning the title in Bangladesh last year.

"Even in the past, we beat India because of our greater passion and this time also I know the passion of our players will prevail over them although they have a very strong outfit," he added.

The 51-year-old Ejaz, however, said at the end of the day it would be all about how a team plays on that particular day.

"It is the same in the World Cup it does not matter which team is number one or defending champions what will matter is how a team plays on a given day. I personally feel our team is well balanced," he said.

Ejaz did not believe that India would get advantage of having played a four-nation tournament with South Africa, New Zealand and Zimbabwe in South Africa before the World Cup.

"Our players have also trained hard in Lahore and we have played around 11 matches. We will also reach South Africa nine days before the World Cup and we have some practice games and I think our preparations are also very good for the tournament," he said.

The former batsman also said the absence of fast bowler Naseem Shah will not impact much on the team's performance. Naseem was withdrawn from the Pakistan U-19 squad after he played for the senior team in three Test matches against Australia and Sri Lanka.

"Look there was no controversy at all. The way we now see things is that you can't expect a MBA to go and take BA exams. That is how we look at Naseem Shah, he has made the grade for Pakistan and now he should be performing for the senior team," said the head coach.

"We have a couple of exciting young talent in the ranks. I expect Rohail and Haider to play for the senior team in two to three year's time, they are that good."

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