Heena Sidhu secures Olympic quota with gold medal

January 28, 2016

New Delhi, Jan 28: India's top pistol shooter Heena Sidhu today secured an Olympic quota for the country after she led from start to finish and claimed the gold medal in women's 10-m air pistol on day one of competition at the Asia Olympic Qualifiers for shooting here.

HeenaThe current world record holder and former world number one, Heena shot 199.4 in the eight-woman finals to finish ahead of Chinese Taipei's Tien Chia Chen (198.1) and Gim Yun Mi (177.9) of Korea at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range.

Heena shot an impressive 10.3 in the second last shot of the finals to extend her lead to 1.5 points over her rival from Chinese Taipei. The Indian shot exactly 10 in her final attempt and it was enough to get her the top prize, despite a 10.2 from Tien Chia Chen.

This was India's ninth quota from shooting for the upcoming Olympic Games.

However, it was a bad day at the office for the host country in men's 50-m rifle prone and women's trap as none of the Indian participants could clear the qualification hurdle.

In men's rifle prone event, young Swapnil Kusale finished 14th after aggregating 617.2 over a series of six shots.

Sushil Ghale was 17th, while Surendra Singh Rathod was 24th in the pecking order.

In women's trap, where only one quota for Rio Games was on offer, Shreyashi Singh lost out in the shoot-off.

After stage 1 of men's 25-m rapid fire pistol, London Olympics silver medallist Vijay Kumar was placed seventh with a score of 285, including seven Xs. The other two Indian participants in the event, Neeraj Kumar and Harpreet Singh, were placed 13th and 16th, respectively.

From India's point of view, the day easily belonged to Heena, whose long wait to earn a quota for the quadrennial extravaganza ended finally in front of her home crowd.

Prior to this tournament, the 26-year-old Patiala-born girl clinched a gold medal each in the Asian Air Gun Championships and Asian Shooting Championships in Kuwait last September and November, respectively.

Heena's confidence was high as she entered the final as leader of the pack with a score of 387 in the qualification.

The other Indian participants in the women's air pistol event, young Yashaswini Deshwal and Shweta Singh finished 11th and 12th, respectively.

"I was just concentrating on the process. I knew that I was doing well. I was confident that I would win a quota today," Heena told reporters after the event.

Heena's husband Ronak Pandit, who is also her coach, was as relieved as the shooter herself.

Three ISSF World Cups will be held before the Rio Games get going in August, and Heena's preparation is going on the right track.

"There are three World Cups lined up but Heena will skip the first one. She is not a kid anymore who needs international exposure all the time," said Ronak, who chalks out her schedule.

"After SAG (South Asian Games), she will compete in Rio World Cup which is very important," he said.

Ronak said they will now focus on Heena's "technical exercise" to fine tune her game.

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Agencies
January 26,2020

Chennai, Jan 26: Former India cricketer Kapil Dev on Saturday said that it will be a big loss for the Indian side when MS Dhoni decides to hang up his boots.

"I think he has served the country so well and nobody has done it like him. Everyone has to retire sooner or later. He is not playing matches currently. So I don't know when he will come out one day and say -- I have had enough. I think it will be our loss because he is such a fabulous cricketer," Dev told reporters here.

In the recently released BCCI contracts list, Dhoni did not find a place for himself. The former World Cup winning captain Dev said that it is unfortunate that Dhoni was not included in the contract list.

"I feel sorry that they have not included him. 

Tendulkar, Gavaskar had to witness the same. It's not my job and I am not there to give the contract to anyone. It is the job of the cricket board. So, I don't know. You can ask this question to the cricket board. They will be able to answer this question," Dev said.

The 38-year-old Dhoni is currently enjoying some time away from the game. He last played competitive cricket during the 2019 World Cup.

Dhoni had to face criticism for his slow batting approach during India's matches in the tournament. 

Especially in the games against England and New Zealand (semi-final), he had to bear the brunt of netizens, who deemed him as the reason for the Men in Blue's loss.

BCCI released the list of central contract list of players for the period from October 2019 to September 2020.

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Agencies
January 14,2020

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News Network
March 26,2020

New Delhi, Mar 26: As India continues its fight against coronavirus, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Sourav Ganguly pledged to donate rice worth Rs 50 Lakhs to the needy people.
The Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), in its statement, said Ganguly along with Lal Baba Rice will provide rice to people who have been put in government schools for safety and security.
"#Sourav to provide Free Rice to the Needy It is heartening to note that Sourav Ganguly along with Lal Baba Rice has come forward to provide free rice worth Rs 50 lacs to the needy people who have been put in government schools for safety and security. Hope this initiative of Ganguly would encourage other citizens of the state to take up similar initiatives to serve the people of our state. #CAB," CAB said in a statement.
CAB President Avishek Dalmiya has also lent support to the needy people as he donated Rs 5 lakhs to the Government's Emergency Relief Fund.
"CAB President donates 5 lakhs to the Government's Emergency Relief Fund to fight against #CoronaVirus/#Covid19," CAB said in a statement.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced a 21-day nation-wide lockdown to contain coronavirus.

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