Indian Athletics' Dope Cheats

December 22, 2013

Indian_AthleticsNew Delhi, Dec 22: Doping shame and administrative goof-ups dominated the Indian athletics scene with the hosting of Asian Championships for only the second time in its history providing the only silver lining in an otherwise disappointing year.

Athletics remained one of the top two disciplines which produced the most number of dope cheats in the tests conducted by the National Anti-Doping Agency with 23 from track and field returning positive.

India also faced embarrassment just a day before the start of the July 3-7 Asian Championships in Pune when shot-putter P Udaya Laxmi had to be pulled out after it came to be known that she had returned positive for stimulant methylhexaneamine in a test conducted by NADA during National Inter-State Championships in Chennai in June.

The AFI faced further shame as it tried to include quartermiler Ashwini Akkunji into the women's 4x400 relay team, just a few days after she ended her two-year ban period for a doping offence in 2011.

The technical delegate of the Championships politely rejected India's request.

National record holder triple jumper Renjith Maheswary found himself embroiled in a controversy, due to a five-year old doping incident, which eventually stopped him from being honoured with the Arjuna Award in humiliating circumstances just hours before the award ceremony.

After days of agonising wait, the Sports Ministry found out that Maheswary indeed failed a dope test during the Kochi Nationals in 2008.

The Sports Ministry came down hard on the Athletics Federation of India for failing to furnish critical information about Maheswary's dope flunk and the apparent suppression of facts related to a doping violation in its recommendation of the athlete for Arjuna Award in 2011, 2012 and this year.

Initially, the AFI was in denial mode even about the positive test, but informed the Ministry later that there indeed was a dope violation at the Kochi Nationals, though it could not locate the files.

A letter the AFI wrote to the Railway Sports Promotion Board -- Maheswary's employers -- in January 2009, informing it of the suspension of the athlete, turned out to be the most authentic piece of evidence in the complicated case.

Maheswary's case came just a month after another major administrative goof-up by the AFI during the August 16-28 Asian Youth Games in Nanjing, China. 17 Indian track and field athletes were thrown out after the AFI sent over-age participants.

Participants in athletics and weightlifting were required to be born on or after January 1, 1997 though the age criteria for other disciplines were different.

The AFI officials, despite the competition manual clearly stating that the participants should be of Under-17, included 17 over-age athletes -- those born in 1996, and they were disqualified by the organisers.

A furious Sports Authority of India asked an explanation and demanded compensation of Rs 10 lakh it had spent for the travel expenses of the disqualified athletes.

On the brighter side, India hosted the 20th Asian Championships in Pune, for only the second time after New Delhi hosted the continent's top event in 1989.

But the hosts could pick up just two gold medals (though third highest medal tally of 17) to finish sixth in a Championship which lost much of the sheen with Asian leaders China sending a contingent without some of their top athletes.

Stars like 2012 London Olympics bronze-medallist high jumper Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar and London silver medallist discus thrower Ehsan Hadadi of Iran also decided to skip the event.

Despite sending a depleted team, China ran away with top honours with 16 gold, six silver and five bronze, while Bahrain and Japan came second and third respectively.

Ace discus thrower Vikas Gowda and the women's 4x400m relay quartet of M R Poovamma, Tintu Luka, Anu Mariam Jose and Nirmala won gold to salvage some pride for India while the likes of Krishna Poonia (women's discus throw) and Sudha Singh (women's 10,000m race) flopped in the five-day event.

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Agencies
January 9,2020

Kuala Lumpur, Jan 9: BWF World Championships defending champion PV Sindhu on Thursday cruised to the quarterfinals of the ongoing Malaysia Masters after winning a second-round match.

The 24-year-old had the upper hand in the clash and thrashed Japan's Aya Ohori in straight games 21-10, 21-15 that lasted for 34-minute. The world number six will now play in her quarterfinal match on January 10.

Earlier in the day, Saina Nehwal defeated South Korea's An Se Young 25-23, 21-12 in 38 minutes. The first game saw back and forth action between both shuttlers. In the end, Nehwal kept her cool to win the match.

On Wednesday, the 29-year-old had outclassed Belgium's Lianne Tan 21-15, 21-17 to progress to the pre-quarterfinals.

Shuttlers Parupalli Kashyap and Kidambi Srikanth crashed out of the tournament after losing their matches to Japan's Kento Momota and Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei respectively. 

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News Network
July 6,2020

New Delhi, Jul 6: India's cricket chief Sourav Ganguly says improved fitness standards and a change in culture have led to the country developing one of the world's best pace attacks.

Spearheads Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah are part of a battery of five formidable quick bowlers that have helped change India's traditional reliance on spin bowling.

"You know culture has changed in India that we can be good fast bowlers," Ganguly said in a chat hosted on the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Twitter feed.

"Fitness regimes, fitness standards not only just among fast bowlers but also among the batters, that has changed enormously. That has made everyone understand and believe that we are fit, we are strong and we can also bowl fast like the others did."

The West Indies dominated world cricket in the 1970s and 1980s led by a fearsome pace attack that included all-time greats such as Michael Holding, Andy Roberts, Malcolm Marshall and Joel Garner.

Recently Indian quicks have risen to the top in world cricket with Shami, Bumrah, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar in a deadly arsenal.

"The West Indies in my generation were naturally strong," the former India captain said.

"We Indians were never such naturally strong... but we worked hard to get strong. But I think it is the change in culture as well that is very important."

Shami last month claimed that the current Indian pace attack may be the best in Test history.

"You and everyone else in the world will agree to this -- that no team has ever had five fast bowlers together as a package," said Shami.

"Not just now, in the history of cricket, this might be the best fast-bowling unit in the world."

Shami took 13 wickets during India's 3-0 home Test sweep over South Africa last year, while Bumrah has claimed 68 scalps in 14 Tests since his debut.

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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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