Dutee Chand wins 100m gold in World Universiade, creates history

Agencies
July 10, 2019

Napoli (Italy), July 10: National record holder Dutee Chand became the first Indian woman track and field athlete to clinch a gold medal in the World Universiade after she won the 100m dash event in Napoli.

The 23-year-old Dutee clocked 11.32 seconds to win the gold as she led the race from start to finish.

Running at lane number 4, Dutee was the first one out of the eight athletes to blast off the starting blocks and she made most of it to fend of a late challenge from Del Ponte (11.33) of Switzerland.

Lisa KwaYie of Germany took the bronze in 11.39 seconds in the race run past midnight Indian time on Tuesday.

The Odisha runner, whose national record stands at 11.24 seconds, thus became the first Indian to win a 100m gold in a global event.

She has now become only the second Indian sprinter to win a gold in a global event after Hima Das, who clinched the top spot in 400m in the World Junior Athletics Championships last year.

Dutee, who had a silver each in 100m and 200m in the 2018 Asian Games, is also only the second Indian track and field athlete to win a gold in the World Universiade. Inderjeet Singh had clinched the top spot in men’s shot put event in the 2015 edition.

After winning the race, Dutee, who recently admitted to having a relationship with a girl, tweeted: “Pull me down, I will come back stronger!”

She further added: “With years of hardwork and your blessings, I have yet again broken the record by winning the Gold in 100m dash in 11.32 seconds at The World University Games, Napoli. In the pictures (picture of all three medal winners), are the winners too, with a heart of Gold from Germany and Sweden.

Earlier on Tuesday, Dutee qualified for the final with a time of 11.41 seconds in the semifinal, which had made her the first Indian sprinter to make it to the final of World Universiade.

On Monday, she had advanced to the semifinals from the heats with a time of 11.58 seconds.

Dutee has a season best of 11.26 seconds in 100m, recorded in the Doha Asian Championships in April. She could not reach the semifinals in the previous edition of the World University Games in Taipei City in 2017, where Sanjivani Jadhav had won a silver in women’s 10000m race.

Dutee is a student at Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology, a deemed university in Bhubaneswar. She is yet to qualify for the World Championships to be held in Doha in September-October.

President Ram Nath Kovind congratulated Dutee on her feat.

“Congratulations @DuteeChand for winning the 100m sprint at the Universiade, the World University Games, in Naples. This is India’s first such gold and a moment of immense pride for our country. Please keep up the effort, and look to greater glory at the Olympics,” the President tweeted.

Dutee replied to the President’s tweet, saying: “Thank you, sir. I will try my best to bring Olympics Gold Medal home. Once again, many thanks for your blessings.”

Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju also applauded Dutee’s efforts.

“I’ve been passionately following since my childhood but it never came. Finally, for the first time, a gold for India! Congratulations @DuteeChand for winning the 100m sprint at the Universiade, the World University Games, in Naples,” Rijiju said in his tweet.

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News Network
June 10,2020

Jun 10: "It is never too late to fight for the right cause," said opening batsman Chris Gayle as he came out in support of former T20 World Cup-winning skipper Darren Sammy. The debate around racism in sport has kickstarted once again after former Windies T20 World Cup-winning skipper Darren Sammy alleged racism during his stint with SunRisers Hyderabad in the 2014 Indian Premier League. Taking note of Sammy's revelation, Gayle tweeted: "It's never too late to fight for the right cause or what you've experienced over the years! So much more to your story, @darensammy88. Like I said, it's in the game".

Earlier, Gayle had also revealed that he too has been a victim of racism, and added that racism is something that has been bothering cricket as well.

On Tuesday, Sammy had released a video specifying that the racial slurs against him were used within the SunRisers camp.

"I have played all over the world and I have been loved by many people, I have embraced all dressing rooms where I have played, so I was listening to Hasan Minhaj as to how some of the people in his culture describe black people," Sammy said in a video posted on his Instagram account.

"This does not apply to all people, so after I found out a meaning of a certain word, I had said I was angry on finding out the meaning and it was degrading, instantly I remembered when I played for SunRisers Hyderabad, I was being called exactly the same word which is degrading to us black people," he added.

Sammy said that at the time when he was being called with the word, he didn't know the meaning, and his team-mates used to laugh every time after calling him by that name.

"I will be messaging those people, you guys know who you are, I must admit at that time when I was being called as that word I thought the word meant strong stallion or whatever it is, I did not know what it meant, every time I was called with that word, there was laughter at that moment, I thought teammates are laughing so it must be something funny," Sammy said.

The former Windies skipper has been a vocal supporter of the protests that are currently going on in the United States over the death of an African-American man named George Floyd.

Sammy had also made an appeal to the ICC and other cricket boards to support the fight against social injustice and racism.

Ever since the demise of Floyd, protests erupted from the demonstrations in cities from San Francisco to Boston.

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News Network
January 18,2020

Hobart, Jan 18: In a dream start to her second innings after a two-year break, Sania Mirza lifted the WTA Hobart International trophy with partner Nadiia Kichenok after edging out Shaui Peng and Shuai Zhang in the final, here on Saturday.

The unseeded Indo-Ukrainian pair pipped the second seed Chinese team 6-4, 6-4 in one hour 21 minutes.

Playing her first tournament after giving birth to son Izhaan, the 33-year-old Sania has begun well in the Olympic year as she warmed up for the Australian Open in style.

It is Sania's 42nd WTA doubles title and first since Brisbane International trophy in 2007 with American partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands.

Sania did not compete on the WTA circuit in the entire 2018 and 2019 seasons to start a family with Pakistani cricketer husband Shoaib Malik.

Sania and Nadiia began by breaking the Chinese players in the very first game of the match but only to drop serve in the next.

The two pairs played close games towards the end and at 4-4, 40-all, Sania and Nadiia got the crucial break, earning the opportunity to serve out the set.

There was no twist in 10th game with Sania and Nadiia comfortably pocketing the first set.

The second set could not have started better for them as they broke the Chinese rivals to take early lead and consolidated the break with an easy hold.

The game of the Chinese was falling apart as they dropped serve again in the third but broke back immediately to repair some damage.

Sania and Nadiia were now feeling the heat at 0-30 in the sixth game but Peng and Zhang let them hold serve for a 4-2 lead. The Chinese though kept fighting and made it 4-4 with another break in the eighth game.

The Indo-Ukraine team raised its game when it mattered as it broke Peng and Zhang for one final time in the ninth and served out the match in the next game.

Sania and Nadiia split USD 13580 as prize money and eared 280 ranking points each for their winning effort.

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News Network
March 27,2020

New Delhi, Mar 27: Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar on Friday donated Rs 50 lakh to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, which has so far claimed 17 Indian lives and wreaked havoc globally.

Tendulkar's donation is so far the biggest contribution among India's leading sportspersons, some of whom have pledged their salaries while a few others have donated medical equipment to fight the dreaded outbreak, which has caused more than 24,000 deaths globally.

"Sachin Tendulkar decided to contribute Rs 25 lakh each to Prime Minister's Relief Fund and Chief Minister's Relief Fund in his bid to join the fight against COVID-19. It was his decision that he wanted to contribute to both funds," a source privy to the development, told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

Tendulkar has been associated with a lot of charity work and there has been umpteen times, he has taken up social causes, helped people, which has never been brought to public notice.

Among other prominent cricketers, the Pathan brothers -- Irfan and Yusuf -- donated 4000 face masks to Baroda police and health department while Mahendra Singh Dhoni, through a Pune based NGO, made a contribution of Rs 1 lakh.

Among athletes from other disciplines, wrestler Bajrang Punia and sprinter Hima Das are some of the prominent names to have donated their salaries in the battle against the dreaded virus which has led to a 21-day national lockdown.

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