Indian cyclists finish second with 16 medals in Track Asia Cup

September 17, 2016

New Delhi, Sep 17: The Indian Cyclists finished second in the Track Asia Cup campaign by winning 16 medals overall, including 5 Gold, 4 Silver and 7 Bronze here at the Indira Gandhi Stadium velodrome on Friday.

Asia

On the final day of the Track Asia Cup, India bagged eight medals including 2 gold, 2 silver and 4 bronze medals.

Hongkong took the top spot with 18 medals overall, including 11 Gold, 4 Silver and 3 Bronze.

On finishing second in the medal tally, Coach RK Sharma said "I am satisfied with the performance of our cyclists in the Track Asia Cup especially Junior cyclists have shown good performance in this prestigious event and lived upto the expectations. I am sure this event has been a great learning experience for all the cyclists looking ahead Asian Track Cycling Championship in 2017. We have ample time before our next event and our cyclists will surely improve their performance by then".

Onkar Singh, Secretary General, CFI said "5 years back, when we taken over Cycling Federation of India at that time Indian Cyclists were at 149th place in World Ranking but now Indian Cycling has been improved much and most of our riders are Under-10 rank in UCI World Ranking. The day is not so far when we will win the medals in World Championships, he added."

Indian cyclist Deborah Herold in her final Sprint event took the first position, grabbing a gold medal with a time of 12.576 and 12.493 in the first and second round respectively. She beat Zhaojuan of Hong Kong, who went on to take the silver medal, clocking 12.820 and 12.734 in both the rounds respectively. The third position was awarded to Farina Shawati of Malaysia with a timing of 12.552 and 12.342 in the rounds. While Kezia Vargheese of India was given the fourth in this event.

Deborah lost the gold medal in her favourite event 'Keirin' by a whisker and could manage only silver ahead of her teammate Kezia Varghesse (Bronze) while two other riders of Hongkong and Malaysia collapsed and fell down after which they were unable to complete the race.

Deborah turns out to be the star performer of the event with 3 golds and one silver medal with her.

On winning silver medal in her favourite event 'Keirin', Deborah said, "I am unlucky that I lost the easy gold, I lost my focus due to the collision of other riders, this happened to me even last year also because of which I failed to win any medal in this event and this time I don't want to repeat the history and lost the medal. I am determined to do better in the Asian Track Cycling Championship to be held in India in February 2017 where riders from nearly 31 countries will take part".

In the Men's elite Keirin event, Indian cyclist Amarjeet Singh fails to win any medal and finished 8th.

In the Men Junior Sprint final, the gold and silver was awarded to Chun Long and TSZ Chun from Hong Kong respectively. Chun Long was clocked at 11.315 and 12.842 in both the rounds respectively and Tsz Chun was timed at 11.445 and 13.098 for the rounds. The bronze medal was awarded to our Indian cyclist Sanuraj P with a timing of 12.203 and 12.322 in the first and second round respectively. Emerson was at the fourth position with timing of 12.225 and 11.352 in both the rounds.

In the Men's Junior Keirin, Emerson wins bronze medal for India.

The Women Junior Sprint final however saw India bag the first two positions adding another gold and a silver to the medal tally. Nayana Rajesh, was awarded the gold medal and was clocked at 12.658 and 12.865 in both the rounds respectively. Anu Chutia grabbed the silver position, with a timing of 12.764 and 13.178 in the first and second rounds. Hoi Wah of Hong Kong was at the third position with a time of 13.644 and 13.300.

However, the Men Elite Sprint Final could not manage getting any positions in the event, the gold and silver positions were awarded to Shih Fang from Taiwan and Ali Askari from Iran respectively. The bronze medal went to Shih Hsin from Taiwan. Shih Fang was timed at 11.085 and 11.091 and Ali Askari was clocked at 10.994 and 11.412.

In the team Elite Women's team pursuit, India bagged bronze medal comprising Raj Kumari Devi, Bidya Luxmi Tourangbam, Ratuja Satputhe and G Amritha Regunath.

The main attraction of the last day was the point race of 30 km, where 14 riders took part together and they have to complete the 120 rounds of the track. However, Indian couldn't win the medal in this race and Krishna Nayakodi and Ramesh Nagarajan could secure 8th place and 10th place respectively.

Ka Yu Leung and Chun Wing Leung of Hong Kong distributed Gold and Silver each other with 90 and 73 points respectively. The third place went to Yousif Alhammadi of UAE with a total of 40 points.

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News Network
February 18,2020

Berlin, Feb 18: Sachin Tendulkar being lifted on the shoulders of his teammates after their World Cup triumph at home in 2011 has been voted the Laureus best sporting moment in the last 20 years.

With the backing of Indian cricket fans, Tendulkar got the maximum number of votes to emerge winner on Monday.

Tendulkar, competing in his sixth and last World Cup, finally realised his long-term dream when skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni smacked Sri Lankan pacer Nuwan Kulasekara out of the park for a winning six.

The charged-up Indian cricketers rushed to the ground and soon they lifted Tendulkar on their shoulders and made a lap of honour, a moment etched in the minds of the fans.

Former Australian skipper Steve Waugh handed the trophy to Tendulkar after tennis legend Boris Becker announced the winner at a glittering ceremony.

“It's incredible. The feeling of winning the world cup was beyond what words can express. How many times you get an event happening where there are no mixed opinions. Very rarely the entire country celebrates,” Tendulkar said after receiving the trophy.

“And this is a reminder of how powerful a sport is and what magic it does to our lives. Even now when I watch that it has stayed with me.”

Becker then asked Tendulkar to share the emotions he felt at that time and the Indian legend put in perspective how important it was for him to hold that trophy.

“My journey started in 1983 when I was 10 years old. India had won the World Cup. I did not understand the significance and just because everybody was celebrating, I also joined the party.

“But somewhere I knew something special has happened to the country and I wanted to experience it one day and that's how my journey began.”

“It was the proudest moment of my life, holding that trophy which I chased for 22 years but I never lost hope. I was merely lifting that trophy on behalf of my countrymen.”

The 46-year-old Tendulkar, the highest run-getter in the cricket world, said holding the Laureus trophy has also given him great honour.

He also shared the impact the revolutionary South African leader Nelson Mandela had on him. He met him when he was just 19 years old.

“His hardship did not affect his leadership. Out of many messages he left, the most important I felt was that sport has got the power to unite everyone.

"Today, sitting in this room with so many athletes, some of them did not have everything but they made the best of everything they had. I thank them for inspiring youngsters to pick a sport of their choice and chase their dreams. This trophy belongs to all of us, it's not just about me.”

In a tweet on Tuesday, Tendulkar dedicated the award to his country, teammates and fans.

"Thank you all for the overwhelming love and support! I dedicate this @LaureusSport award to India, all my teammates, fans and well wishers in India and across the world who have always supported Indian cricket," he tweeted.

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News Network
April 7,2020

Bengaluru, April 7: India batsman Robin Uthappa has said that he reckons he still has a World Cup left in him, despite being out of the team for than four years.

Uthappa had last played a match for the Men in Blue in 2015 on the tour of Zimbabwe.

"Right now I want to be competitive. I still have that fire burning in me, I really want to compete and do well. I honestly believe I have a World Cup left in me, so I'm pursuing that, especially the shortest format. 

The blessings of lady luck or god or whatever you call it, plays a massive factor," ESPN Cricinfo quoted Uthappa as saying.

"Especially in India, it becomes so much more evident. I don't think it is as evident when you're playing cricket outside of India. But in the subcontinent and India especially, with the amount of talent that we do have in our country, all of those aspects become evident," he added.

The 34-year-old Uthappa has played 46 ODIs and 13 T20Is for India and he was also a part of the T20 World Cup-winning squad in 2007.

Uthappa has scored 934 runs in ODIs at an average of 25.94, while in T20Is his numbers are 249 runs at an average of 24.90.

"You can never write yourself off. You would be unfair to yourself if you write yourself off.

Especially if you believe you have the ability and you know that there is an outside chance. So I still believe in that outside chance," Uthappa said.

"I still believe that things can go my way and I probably can be a part of a World Cup-winning team and play an integral role in that as well.

Those dreams are still alive and I think I'll keep playing cricket till that is alive," he added.

Uthappa had enjoyed great success with IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders. He went on to become their leading run-scorer in the 2014 edition.

However, he was released by the side after a below-par 2019 season, and last November he was picked up by the Rajasthan Royals for the 2020 edition.

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News Network
June 5,2020

Jun 5: The Asian Football Confederation has awarded the hosting rights of the 2022 Women's Asian Cup to India for the first time since 1979.

The decision was taken at the AFC Women's Football Committee meeting. In February, the AFC Women's Football Committee had recommended India to be hosts.

In a letter to the All India Football Federation, Dato Windsor John, General Secretary, AFC wrote: "The Committee awarded the hosting rights of the AFC Women's Asian Cup 2022 Finals to the All India Football Federation."

The tournament will likely be held in the second half of the year. In the 1979 edition, India had finished as runners-up.

"I need to thank the Asian Football Confederation for finding us suitable to host the AFC Women's Asian Cup in 2022," AIFF President, Praful Patel said.

"The tournament will galvanise the aspiring women players and bring in a holistic social revolution as far as women's football in the country is concerned," he added.

The tournament will feature 12 teams, expanded from the previous slot of eight teams.

India qualifies directly as hosts. The event will also serve as the final qualification tournament for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup.

The tournament comes as the latest boost to AIFF as India is slated to host the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup next year.

India had also hosted the AFC U-16 Championships in 2016 and the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2017.

"The tournament will play a huge role in further popularising women's football in India. The Women’s Asian Cup 2022 comes on the back of the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup India 2020, and will help us sustain, and build on the momentum gained," AIFF General Secretary, Kushal Das said.

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