Indian woman Aditi Chauhan makes debut for West Ham United

August 18, 2015

Dubai, Aug 18: Aditi Chauhan has become the second Indian-born female footballer to play in England after making her debut for West Ham United Ladies on Sunday.

Aditi ChauhanThe 22-year-old Delhi-born goalkeeper endured a baptism of fire in a 5-0 defeat away to Coventry United in West Ham’s Women’s Premier League Southern Division opener, having signed for The Hammers late in pre-season.

The Indian press have billed Chauhan as the first Indian-born player to play in the English Premier League (EPL). However, unlike the men’s EPL, the division she plays in is the third tier of women’s football in England and Delhi-born Fulham midfielder Tanvie Hans, 25, has already preceded her.

Hans holds a British passport, which prevents her from representing the Indian national team, whereas Chauhan — in the UK on a student visa — holds an Indian passport and plays for the national team, which makes her the first India-capped player to feature in England.

Due to her student visa status, Chauhan, who has just finished a Masters Degree in Sports Management at Loughborough University — who she also represented — cannot feature in England’s Women’s Super League divisions one or two due to Football Association rules.

Chauhan sought to clarify that on her Facebook page, tagging Hans, who replied: “This is the truth. What we’ve achieved is not a cake walk for sure, but it is highly achievable. Still, we’re happy to be trail blazers if it inspires people and encourages them to achieve even bigger things in the future.”

In reaction to her signing and subsequent debut, Chauhan tweeted: “Thank you all for the overwhelming response and wishes. I will work hard to make this opportunity count.”

Of their opening 5-0 defeat, she added: “There is no other way but to improve from here. We need to build ourselves back, get together and move forward. It’s a step up for me after playing for Loughborough.”

West Ham United Ladies were still revelling in her signing despite the defeat, however, with an obvious eye on the marketing potential India’s billion-strong population has to offer. Not only were they tweeting links to shirt purchases with Chauhan’s name and number (42) on the back, costing £54.99 (Dh314.93), but they were also appealing for more followers from the subcontinent.

“Trying to work out what percentage of India’s population we’d need to follow us to get us to 20k! I lost count!! #COYI [Come on you Irons],” read one tweet from West Ham.

Chauhan represented the Delhi Under-19 squad at just 15 years of age and was selected for India under-19s at 17, before going on to feature in India’s South Asian Football Federation’s Women’s Cup win in 2012. She’s currently India’s first choice keeper with nine caps for the Blue Tigresses.

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News Network
January 28,2020

Columbo, Jan 28: The Sri Lanka Cricket Board on Monday announced the 15-member squad for the upcoming ICC Women`s T20 World Cup, slated to commence from February 21. The board also announced five standby players for the ensuing tournament.

The squad members are -- Chamari Atapattu (captain), Harshitha Madavi (vice captain), Anushka Sanjeewani, Hansima Karunaratne, Shashikala Siriwardene, Nilakshi De Silva, Ama Kanchana, Kavisha Dilhari, Udeshika Probodhani, Achini Kulasuriya, Hasini Perera, Sathya Sandeepani, Umesha Thimashini, Sugandika Kumari, Dilani Manodara.

The standby players are -- Sachini Nisansala, Prasadani Weerakkody, Oshadi Ranasinghe, Tharika Sewwandi, Inoka Ranaweera.

Sri Lanka will take on New Zealand in their opening encounter on February 22.

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Agencies
January 11,2020

London, Jan 11: Former cricketer Sachin Tendulkar's famous lap around the Wankhede Stadium after the World Cup 2011 win has been nominated in Laureas's list for the most inspiring sporting event in the last twenty years.

The moment featuring Tendulkar has been described as "Carried on the shoulders by a nation".

On his sixth attempt at the World Cup and with India not having won the competition since 1983, Tendulkar finally became a part of the team that lifted the coveted trophy. Carried on the shoulders of the Indian team, he made a lap of honour, shedding tears of joy after the victory was sealed in his home city.

The 2011 World Cup was also the first time, in which a host nation ended up winning the trophy.

Apart from Tendulkar, England's Andrew Flintoff is the only other cricketer to feature in the list. In 2005, England managed to defeat Australia in an Ashes Test, but Flintoff chose to first shake hands with Brett Lee rather than celebrate with his side.

Matthias Steiner (weightlifting), Natalie du Toit (swimming), Sky Brown (skateboarding), Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee (triathlon), Xia Boyu (mountaineering) have been nominated in the list.

Female tennis stars also feature in the list for coming up with an equal play, equal pay campaign. After pressure from Venus Williams and others, Wimbledon announced that female tennis players would receive prize money equal to the men's.

German international footballer Miroslav Klose was playing for Lazio in Italy's Serie A in 2012 against Napoli when he rose for a ball in the early moments of the game.

The ball came spiraling off his hand and skirted into the back of the net and a goal was awarded. While most players would carry on as if nothing had happened, Klose was honest with the referee and admitted that he handled the ball.

As a result, he also finds a place on the list.

The Laureus Sporting Moment Award celebrates the moments where the sport has unified people in the most extraordinary way.

This campaign has shortlisted 20 sporting stories from the last 20 years that have left their mark on the world.

The winner will be decided on the basis of public voting. It has already started, and the final date to cast the vote is February 16.

Finally, the result will be declared on February 17.
With three knock-out rounds, the top-20 moments will be whittled down to ten then five, with the top-five moments going head-to-head.

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News Network
June 10,2020

Kingston, Jun 10: "Enough is enough", said West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo as he opened up on the raging issue of racism and called for "respect and equality" for black people, who have faced discrimination for years.

Bravo joined the likes of his former captain Darren Sammy and Chris Gayle in denouncing racism in the wake of African-American George Floyd's killing at the hands of a white police officer in the USA.

"It's sad to see what's going on around the world. As a black man, we know the history of what black people have been through. We never ask for revenge, we ask for equality and respect. That's it," Bravo told former Zimbabwe cricketer Pommie Mbangwa in an Instagram live chat on Tuesday.

"We give respect to others. Why is it that we are facing this over and over? Now enough is enough. We just want equality. We don't want revenge, war.

"We just want respect. We share love and appreciate people for who they are. That's what is most important."

The 36-year-old, who has played 40 Tests, 164 ODIs and 71 T20Is for West Indies, said he wants the world to know that they are powerful and beautiful people and gave the example of greats such as Nelson Mandela, Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan.

"I just want our brothers and sisters to know that we are powerful and beautiful. And at the end of the day, you look at some of the greats of the world, whether it is Nelson Mandela, Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan we have had leaders who paved the way for us," he said.

Two-time T20 World Cup-winning captain Sammy had earlier alleged that a racist nickname was used to address him during his IPL stint with Sunrisers Hyderabad and demanded an apology.

Sammy said he was called 'Kalu' while he was in India. 'Kalu' is a derogatory word to describe black people.

Gayle, who too plays in the IPL, took to Twitter to back Sammy, saying that racism does exist in cricket.

"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!!," Gayle tweeted.

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