Hurt and pain of last six months still affecting me: Jwala Gutta

April 30, 2014

Jwala_Gutta

New Delhi, Apr 30: Threatened with a ban by the administrators and labelled an enfant terrible by her detractors, ace shuttler Jwala Gutta says such has been the "hurt and pain" of the last six months that she has not been able celebrate her bronze medal at the recent Asian Badminton Championships to the fullest.

India's best doubles player, Jwala had to endure a bitter legal battle with the Badminton Association of India after its disciplinary committee recommended a life ban on her for allegedly delaying a match between Krrish Delhi Smashers and Banga Beats in the Indian Badminton League last year.

The 30-year-old Hyderabadi, who has brought many laurels to the country in her over-a-decade-long career, said the bronze medal at the Asian Badminton Championship has healed some of the pain that she went through last year.

"This medal is sort of revenge for me. I am now playing with vengeance. There is a lot of hurt and pain. If I would not have had to go through the trauma of what happened six months back, I would have enjoyed this medal win with more calmness," Jwala said.

"What happened to me was completely unnecessary. Why should a sportsperson go through it? I didn't demand money for my achievement, I demanded respect and acknowledgement. But there has been nothing. Why doubles is discriminated?" the feisty player asked.

"Frankly, I don't understand why I have to prove myself again and again. I have achieved enough and I am proud of my achievements. I won medals at Commonwealth Games, World Championship, I represented India in Olympics. Even the bronze at ABC is a first for Indian badminton. There is still no one in the team to replace me and Ashwini.

"We have achieved all that without support. But even today we have to struggle for sponsorship," she added.

A Commonwealth Games gold, a bronze at 2011 World Championship and qualifying for London Olympics, Jwala has achieved it all but despite her accomplishments, she has found herself at the receiving end of BAI's ire time and again.

The 14-time national champion has once again answered her critics with her performance and buoyed by her feat at the ABC, Jwala is now targetting a medal at the Rio Olympics in 2016.

"Playing the next Olympics is my main aim. I started playing again after the break only because I want to win a medal at Rio Olympics," Jwala said.

"Qualifying for the London Olympics in two events was a very big achievement for me. Now, I want to try and win a Olympic medal, I will give my last shot. I don't want to have any regrets. I want to end my career with an Olympic medal."

Asked about rankings, Jwala said: "I focus more on matches and performance and don't want to calculate much. But I think a place inside the top 15 by this year end would be good.

"I hardly played six tournaments after coming back and after the ABC performance, our ranking will improve further, which is a good sign. I am stronger now.

"Mentally, I think I am stronger. After all the nonsense that happened, I'm able to block myself under pressure and moreover I am playing just one event, women's doubles. So I am more relaxed," added Jwala, who is looking to focus on her strengths.

Her women's doubles partner, Ashwini Ponnappa too is upbeat about their latest achievement and said it has come at the right moment for the duo.

"It has been a great confidence-booster for us. It is important that we keep playing as many tournaments as possible and I am sure we will get better with time. We have played well in ABC. We are headed in the right direction," Ashwini said.

Asked about areas that the two need to improve on, she said: "I think we need to be more consistent. That is our focus and personally for me, I need to add more variety in my game. It is important to vary the game to break the rhythm of opponents in match situation."

"We will be playing a few tournaments in June but before that it is all about Uber Cup now. It is the biggest tournament in India and the focus is to do well for India at the Uber Cup," she added.

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News Network
April 6,2020

London, Apr 6: As the coronavirus brings the international sports calendar to a grinding halt, news agency Sport looks at three long-standing habits which could change forever once competition resumes.

Saliva to take shine off swing bowling

It's been a tried and trusted friend to fast bowlers throughout the history of cricket. But the days of applying saliva to one side of the ball to encourage swing could be over in the aftermath of Covid19.

"As a bowler I think it would be pretty tough going if we couldn't shine the ball in a Test match," said Australia quick Pat Cummins.

"If it's at that stage and we're that worried about the spread, I'm not sure we'd be playing sport."

Towels in tennis - no touching

Tennis players throwing towels, dripping with sweat and blood and probably a tear or two, at ball boys and girls, has often left fans sympathising for the youngsters.

Moves by officials to tackle the issue took on greater urgency in March when the coronavirus was taking a global grip.

Behind closed doors in Miki, ball boys and girls on duty at the Davis Cup tie between Japan and Ecuador wore gloves.

Baskets, meanwhile, were made available for players to deposit their towels.

Back in 2018, the ATP introduced towel racks at some events on a trial basis, but not everyone was overjoyed.

"I think having the towel whenever you need it, it's very helpful. It's one thing less that you have to think about," said Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas when he was playing at the NextGen Finals in Milan.

"I think it's the job of the ball kids to provide towels and balls for the players."

Let's not shake on it

Pre-match handshakes were abandoned in top football leagues just before the sports shutdown.

Premier League leaders Liverpool also banned the use of mascots while Southampton warned against players signing autographs and stopped them posing for selfies.

Away from football, the NBA urged players to opt for the fist bump rather than the long-standing high-five.

"I ain't high-fiving nobody for the rest of my life after this," NBA superstar LeBron James told the "Road Trippin' Podcast".

"No more high-fiving. After this corona shit? Wait 'til you see me and my teammates’ handshakes after this shit."

Basketball stars were also told not to take items such as balls or teams shirts to autograph.

US women's football star Megan Rapinoe says edicts to ban handshakes or even high-fives may be counter-productive anyway.

"We're going to be sweating all over each other all game, so it sort of defeats the purpose of not doing a handshake," she said.

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News Network
May 3,2020

New Delhi, May 3: In a startling revelation, India speedster Mohammed Shami has claimed that he thought of committing suicide thrice while battling personal issues a few years ago, forcing his family to keep a watch over him at all times.

He said his family members feared he "might jump" from their 24th floor apartment.

Shami, one of India's leading bowlers in recent years, opened up on his personal and professional life during an Instagram chat with teammate and limited overs squads' vice-captain Rohit Sharma.

"I think if my family had not supported me back then I would have lost my cricket. I thought of committing suicide three times during that period due to severe stress and personal problems," Shami revealed during the session on Saturday.

Now one of the mainstays of Indian bowling attack across formats, the 29-year-old was struggling to focus on his cricket, then.

"I was not thinking about cricket at all. We were living on the 24th floor. They (family) were scared I might jump from the balcony. My brother supported me a lot.

"My 2-3 friends used to stay with me for 24 hours. My parents asked me to focus on cricket to recover from that phase and not think about anything else. I started training then and sweated it out a lot at an academy in Dehradun," Shami said.

In March 2018, Shami's wife Hasin Jahan had accused him of domestic violence and lodged a complaint with the police, following which the India player and his brother were booked under relevant sections.

The upheaval in his personal life forced his employer BCCI to withheld the player's central contracts for a while.

"Rehab was stressful as the same exercises are repeated every day. Then family problems started and I also suffered an accident. The accident happened 10-12 days ahead of the IPL and my personal problems were running high in the media," Shami told Rohit.

Shami said his family stood like a rock with him and the support helped him get back on his feet.

"Then my family explained that every problem has a solution no matter how big the problem. My brother supported me a lot."

Speaking about another painful period in his life after his injury in the 2015 World Cup, Shami said it took him almost 18 months to get back on the field.

"When I got injured in the 2015 World Cup, after that it took me 18 months to fully recover, that was the most painful moment in my life, it was a very stressful period.

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News Network
January 23,2020

Jan 23: Quinton de Kock has been named as the new captain of the South Africa One-Day International side, taking over from Faf du Plessis, who is dropped altogether from the three-match series against England next month.

Du Plessis led South Africa in their disastrous 2019 World Cup campaign and has hinted at international retirement from all formats following the Twenty20 global finals in Australia later this year.

"We all know the quality of the player that Quinton de Kock has grown to become," CSA director of cricket Graeme Smith said in a statement on Tuesday.

"Over the years we have watched him grow in confidence and become one of the top ODI wicket-keeper batsmen in the world. He has a unique outlook and manner in which he goes about his business and is tactically very street smart."

De Kock leads a 15-man squad with five uncapped players in seamers Lutho Sipamla and Sisanda Magala, left-arm orthodox spinner all-rounder Bjorn Fortuin, opening batsman Janneman Malan and wicketkeeper-batsman Kyle Verreynne.

Magala, leg-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi, seamer Lungi Ngidi and hard-hitting opening batsman Jon Jon Smuts must pass fitness tests before they can join the squad.

Fast bowler Kagiso Rabada will be rested for the series, while allrounders Chris Morris and Dwaine Pretorius have also not been able to force their way in.

"The road towards the 2023 Cricket World Cup starts now and we want players doing well in our domestic structures to see the rewards of the hard work that they have put in," CSA Independent Selector Linda Zondi added.

The first ODI will be staged in Cape Town on Feb.4th, with the second in Durban three days later and the final match of the series to be held in Johannesburg on Feb.9th.

Squad: Quinton de Kock (captain), Reeza Hendricks, Temba Bavuma, Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller, Jon Jon Smuts, Andile Phehlukwayo, Lutho Sipamla, Lungi Ngidi, Tabraiz Shamsi, Sisanda Magala, Bjorn Fortuin, Beuran Hendricks, Janneman Malan, Kyle Verreynne.

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