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CWG 2014: India placed at 5th position after winning silver in Discus, Table Tennis

August 2, 2014

CWG 2014Glasgow, Aug 2: The table tennis players Achanta Sharath Kamal and Anthony Amalraj made the nation proud by winning a silver medal in the men's doubles event on the ninth day of the 20th Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, while boxers stole the limelight.

Indian boxers led by Olympic bronze medallist Vijender Singh became the centre of attraction for the contingent with four of them assuring silver medals for India.

India is currently placed fifth in the standings with 51 medals consisting of 13 gold, 20 silver and 15 bronze. England lead the list with 140 medals, followed by Australia (124), Canada (75) and hosts Scotland (49).

Star boxer Vijender produced yet another dominating performance against Connor Coyle of Northern Ireland in the men's middleweight (75kg) in an unanimous 3-0 verdict by the judges to book a place in the final and lead an Indian charge on the penultimate day of boxing competitions on Friday.

Mandeep Jangra (men's 69kg), Laishram Devendro Singh (men's 46-49kg) and L Sarita Devi (women's 57- 60kg) also boxed their way to the finals while Pinki Rani (women's 51kg) lost her semifinal bout to settle for a bronze.

Female discuss thrower Seema Punia also bagged a silver for India while defending champion Krishna Poonia finished a disappointing fifth. Seema, who had won a bronze in 2010 Delhi Games and a silver in 2006 Melbourne, threw the discus to 61.61m, her season's best, to grab the silver late last night while a struggling Krishna could just come up with a below-par effort of 57.84m.

Later in the day, Sharath and Amalraj lost to Singapore's Ning Gao and Hu Li in the final of the men's doubles table tennis event to settle for a silver. By virtue of these medals, India have consolidated its fifth spot in the standings with 51 medals (13 gold, 23 silver, 15 bronze). England lead the chart (140 medals), followed by Australia (124), Canada (75) and hosts Scotland (49).

It all started with women's boxing competition where experienced Sarita Devi outpunched her Mozambique opponent Maria Machongua to storm into the final of the 60kg category. Earlier in the day, another Indian pugilist Pinki lost a close semifinal bout against Michaela Walsh of Northern Ireland to settle for a bronze medal in women's 51kg category.

Pinki, who had beaten Olympic bronze medallist Mary Kom in the national trials to make it to the Indian boxing squad, gave a valiant fight but could not pack enough punch against a taller opponent.

Mandeep, on the other hand, fought his way back in a remarkable fashion after trailing in the first two rounds of his semifinal bout against Steven Donnelley of Northern Ireland.

Mandeep was trailing at the end of the first round with the three judges giving identical 10-9 scores in favour of the Irishman. The Indian recovered a bit in the second round with two judges giving 10-9 scores in his favour.

Mandeep, however, stormed back in a fine fashion in the final round with the three judges giving identical 10-9 scores in his favour to win the semifinal bout in a split 2-1 verdict. In the men's lightfly weight (46-49kg) category, Devendro played true to his aggressive self as he outclassed Ashley Williams of Wales in a thrilling contest to book a place in the final.

The 22-year-old Devendro won a 3-0 unanimous verdict against his opponent in a bout which kept the packed crowd on the edge of their seats.

Meanwhile, India witnessed success on the table tennis board as well with Sharath and Amalraj securing the first medal for the table tennis in the ongoing Glasgow Games. Sharath and Amalraj squandered a game lead to lose 1-3 (11-8 7-11 9-11 5-11) against the Singaporean duo in the final.

Sharath continued his fine showing and also made it to the semifinals of the men's singles event. Sharath humbled England's Paul Drinkhall 4-1 to enter the last four round. Sharath comfortably beat Drinkhall 11-7 11-6 12-10 9-11 11-6 in the best-of-s even quarterfinal encounter that lasted just 43 minutes.

However, it was curtains for another Indian Soumyajit Ghosh in the men's singles quarterfinals as he lost to England's Liam Pitchford 4-2.

In badminton, India's medal aspirants P V Sindhu and Parupalli Kashyap notched up straight-game wins in the women's and men's singles event to storm into the semifinals.

World No. 11 Sindhu didn't break any sweat as she brushed aside New Zealand's Anna Rankin 21-10 21-9 in a 24-minute match while Kashyap, ranked 22, thrashed Daren Liew 21-13 21-14 in a match that lasted 38 minutes.

Sindhu, the world championship bronze medallist, will next take on Canada's Michelle Li, while Delhi Games bronze winner Kashyap will meet Rajiv Ouseph of England at the Emirates Arena.

R M V Gurusaidutt followed on compatriot Kashyap's footsteps and also qualified for the semifinals of the men's singles event with a hard-fought 21-15 8-21 21-17 win over Chong Wei Feng of Malaysia. Gurusaidutt will next face Derek Wong of Singapore in the last four round.

Wong beat another Indian Kidambi Srikanth 21-10 12-21 21-12 in another quarterfinal that lasted exactly 50 minutes. However, promising shuttler P C Thulasi crashed out in the quarterfinals of the women's singles event after losing 21-18 19-21 19-21 against Malaysia's Jing Yi Tee.

It was good news for India in the women's doubles event as well as defending champions Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa stormed into the semifinals with a comfortable 21-10 21-9 win over Sri Lankan pair of Achini Rathnasiri and Upuli Weerasinghe. On the hockey turf, Indian women's team secured a hard-fought 2-1 win over hosts Scotland to finish a disappointing fifth.

However, it w as disappointment for Indian gymnast Ashish Kumar as he finished last in the men's vault final due to a fall on the mat.

Ashish had won silver in vault and bronze in floor event in 2010 Delhi CWG to become the first Indian gymnast to win a medal in the Commonwealth Games but failed to repeat his feat. Ashish, who had finished sixth in the floor event final yesterday, ended his campaign on a faulty note after he failed to land on his feet in his second vault.

India also missed out on a historic bronze medal in the lawn bowl men's fours team event after the quartet of Kamal Kumar Sharma, Chandan Kumar Singh, Samit Malhotra and Dinesh Kumar squandered a huge lead midway to lose to Australia in the third-place encounter.

Meanwhile, apart from the women's doubles pair of Dipika Pallikal and Joshna Chinappa, it turned out to be a rather disappointing in office for Indian squash players. Pallikal and Chinappa assured at least a silver medal by entering the final of the women's doubles event.

Pallikal and Chinappa beat Australian combination of Kasey Brown and Rachael Grinham 2-1 (11-9 7-11 11-4) to seal their place in the gold medal match, where they will face English pair of Jenny Duncalf and Laura Massaro.

But Saurav Ghosal and Pallikal crashed out of the mixed double event after being easily beaten 2-0 (11-6 11-9) in the quarterfinals by Australia's David Palmer and Rachael Grinham Another Indian mixed doubles pair of Harinder Pal Sandhu and Chinappa also bowed out in the quarterfinals after losing a hard-fought 11-7 8-11 6-11 battle against second-seeded New Zealand pair of Martin Knight and Joelle King.

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News Network
June 19,2020

Jun 19: The BCCI is open to reviewing its sponsorship policy for the next cycle but has no plans to end its association with current IPL title sponsor Vivo as the money coming in from the Chinese company is helping India's cause and not the other way round, board treasurer Arun Dhumal said on Friday. Anti-China sentiments are running high in India following the border clash between the two countries at Galwan valley earlier this week. The first skirmish at the India-China border in more than four decades left at least 20 Indian soldiers dead. Since then, calls have been made to boycott Chinese products.

But Dhumal said Chinese companies sponsoring an Indian event like the IPL only serve his country's interests.

The BCCI gets Rs 440 crore annually from Vivo and the five-year deal ends in 2022.

"When you talk emotionally, you tend to leave the rationale behind. We have to understand the difference between supporting a Chinese company for a Chinese cause or taking help from Chinese company to support India's cause," Dhumal said.

"When we are allowing Chinese companies to sell their products in India, whatever money they are taking from Indian consumer, they are paying part of it to the BCCI (as brand promotion) and the board is paying 42 per cent tax on that money to the Indian government. So, that is supporting India's cause and not China's," he argued.

Oppo, a mobile phone brand like Vivo, was sponsoring the Indian cricket team until September last year when Bengaluru-based educational technology Byju's start-up replaced the Chinese company.

Dhumal said he is all for reducing dependence on Chinese products but as long as its companies are allowed to do business in India, there is no harm in them sponsoring an Indian brand like the IPL.

"If they are not supporting the IPL, they are likely to take that money back to China. If that money is retained here, we should be happy about it. We are supporting our government with that money (by paying taxes on it)."

"If I am giving a contract to a Chinese company to build a cricket stadium, then I am helping the Chinese economy. GCA built the world's largest cricket stadium at Motera and that contract was given to an Indian company (L&T)," he said.

"Cricketing infrastructure worth thousands of crores was created across country and none of the contract was awarded to a Chinese company."

Dhumal went on to say the BCCI is spoilt for choice when it comes to attracting sponsors, whether Indian or Chinese or from any other nation.

"If that Chinese money is coming to support Indian cricket, we should be okay with it. I am all for banning Chinese products as an individual, we are there to support our government but by getting sponsorship from Chinese company, we are helping India's cause."

"We can get sponsorship money from non-Chinese companies also including Indian firms. We can support our players any way but the idea is when they are allowed to sell their products here, it is better that part of money comes back to the Indian economy."

"The BCCI is not giving money to the Chinese, it is attracting on the contrary. We should make decision based on rationale rather than emotion," he added.

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News Network
March 12,2020

New Delhi, Mar 12: No foreign player will be available for this year's IPL till April 15 due to visa restrictions imposed by the government to contain the novel coronavirus threat, a top BCCI source told PTI on Thursday, casting fresh doubts on the fate of the event.

"The foreign players who play in the IPL come under the Business Visa category. As per the government's directive, they can't come till April 15," a BCCI source told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

The government issued fresh advisory with a ban on all existing foreign visas, except a few categories like diplomatic and employment, till April 15 in the wake of new positive cases of novel coronavirus in the country.

India has reported 60 positive cases in the outbreak which has led to over 4,000 deaths globally.

The fate of the IPL itself will be decided on March 14 at the event's Governing Council meeting in Mumbai. "All decisions will be taken by the GC in Mumbai," the source said.

Having the IPL, starting March 29, played in empty stadiums is an option being explored.

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News Network
January 27,2020

Auckland, Jan 27: : K.L. Rahul made an unbeaten 57 Sunday to steer India to a seven-wicket win over New Zealand in the second Twenty20 international and to a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.

Rahul and Shreyas Iyer put on 86 for the third wicket as India cruised past New Zealand's total of 132-5 with 2.3 overs to spare. Shivam Dube (13 not out) hit a six from the bowling of Tim Southeein in the 18th over to lift India to 135-3.

Iyer made 58 not out and Rahul 56 as India beat New Zealand by six wickets with an over to spare in the first match of the series.

New Zealand made 203-5 batting first in that match but on Sunday, on the same pitch, it struggled to achieve any real momentum. During the second match the pitch played much slower and India bowled expertly to restrict New Zealand's total.

Martin Guptill made 33 in a 48-run opening partnership with Colin Munro and Tim Seifert made an unbeaten 33 at the end of the innings but New Zealand wasn't able to reach a total that could stretch India's deep batting lineup.

Rohit Sharma (8) and captain Virat Kohli (11) were out relatively cheaply but Rahul and Iyer (44) sped India towards a comprehensive victory.

Dube came to the crease shortly before the end and quickly brought the match to a conclusion.

"I think we backed up the first match with a very good performance today, especially with the ball," Kohli said. "We demanded that the bowlers stood up and took control of what we wanted to do out there.

"I think our line and length and the way we wanted to bowl on that wicket, sticking to one side of the wicket and being shorter was a very good feature of us as a team and helped us restrict a very good New Zealand team."

New Zealand's total was inadequate, even on a slower pitch, and India almost toyed with the home side as it made its way to a comfortable win.

New Zealand named the same team that lost the first match of the series and batted after winning the toss, just as it batted when it was outplayed in the first match of the series.

The match raised further questions about the coaching and captaincy of the New Zealand team after its humiliating test series loss in Australia last month. New Zealand showed again Sunday it hasn't the talent to compete with the best teams in the world.

"As a batting unit we probably needed another 15 or 20 to make that total more competitive," said New Zealand captain Kane Williamson. "But credit to the way the India side bowled, they're a class side in all departments and they put us under pressure throughout that middle period."

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