Kabaddi golds prop India in Asiad, total haul at 57

October 3, 2014

Incheon, Oct 3: India brought the curtains down on their campaign in the 17th Asian Games, maintaining their domination of kabaddi with two gold medals as the country rose a rung to eighth in the overall standings on the penultimate day of competitions here today.kabaddi india

The two gold medals provided the final flourish for India at the Games, which can be considered a disappointment for the country given that the overall medal count went down in this edition.

Although the women's team won their match against Iran quite comfortably, it was not a cakewalk for the men's team which literally overcame a scare before notching up their seventh successive gold medal in the event.

With two gold medals coming today, India were placed eighth on the table with a total haul of 57 medals -- 11 gold, nine silver and 37 bronze. China continued to be at the top with an impressive haul of 329 (145-103-81) followed by hosts South Korea 222 (75-70-77) and Japan 190 (46-72-72).

The medal collection was well below India's expectation as they had managed a haul of 65 -- 14 gold, 17 silver and 34 bronze -- in the previous edition of the Games in Guangzhou.

With no Indian participation on the last day of competitions tomorrow, the country's overall standing can change depending on others' performance.

Today, staging a fantastic second-half recovery, Indian men surged to gold by defeating Iran 27-25 in a thrilling final at the Songdo University Gymnasium.

India thus completed a golden double on the kabaddi mat for the second successive edition after the women defeated the same nation 31-21 in their final held earlier in the day.

The country thus boosted its overall gold tally to 11 on the final day of competitions here.

But it was touch and go for the Indian men, who have won the gold medal with ease on the six previous occasions since kabaddi was introduced in the 1990 Games at Beijing. They played catch-up with Iran for most part of the game before drawing level with the last seven minutes of the 40-minute match left.

The winners were trailing by a big margin of 13-21 at half time and a huge upset was on the cards before the defending champions pulled it around in the second half with some aggressive raiding and smart catching.

Captain Rakesh Kumar played with a bandaged head after getting injured by a rival defender's knee during his raid in the second half.

Rakesh said at half time, the strategy chalked out was to pack off Iran quickly for a 'lona' -- with only four players of the rivals left as compared to their own five -- at that stage and come back into the game.

India started on the wrong foot against the super-fit Iranians who looked like men possessed as they raided with gusto and defended with zeal to jump to a 17-7 lead before the Indians, who even conceded a 'lona' (after being all out), knew what happened.

Experienced raider Jasvir Singh appeared to be a bit overconfident and paid the penalty for that as he was packed off when raiding thrice in the initial stages.

It was left to India's most experienced player Anup Kumar to pull in three points with a good raid and narrow the lead. With five minutes left for the end of the opening half, India trailed 11-18 which became 13-21 before the first half ended.

The crucial turnaround happened soon after the start of the second half when India secured a 'lona' and then caught up with their rivals at 21-all.

They, however, slipped down to 21-24 before staging another recovery to catch up at 24-all when seven minutes were left.

Anup raided to secure a valuable point to help India lead 25-24, the first time they had done in the entire match. They added one more when Iranian's fast raider Meraj Sheykh was caught and though Anup failed in his next raid, Meraj was again caught just as the clock ticked to full time with India ahead by two points.

Earlier, Indian women too staged a strong second half performance to get the better of a fighting Iran 31-21 to retain the gold.

The Indian women led 15-11 at the halfway stage of the 30-minute final but then put up a determined show in the second half to maintain their supremacy for the second edition running, having clinched gold when the event made its debut four years ago in Guangzhou.

They, in fact, had only a two-point lead at 12-10 soon after securing the first of their two lonas (all outs) in the gold medal contest against the fitter-looking Iranian women who played with head scarves and leggings.

Abhilasha Mhatre then effected a crucial raid to not only get back two points for her side but also revive two players who had been packed off by Iran's aggressive raider Khalaj Ghazal.

Thereafter, India took firm control from the first five minutes of the second half following a strong raid by Abhilasha Mhatre to take a 19-15 lead.

They got another timely lona in the seventh minute to lead 25-16 and there ended Iran's hopes though they tried to stage a fight back towards the end.

Iranian women were in tears after the loss, having come here with a mission to dethrone India for the gold medal. The team even had a computer software engineer and a doctorate in agriculture in its ranks.

There was, however, no cheer for India's taekwondo players at the Asian Games with Shaloo Raikwar and Margarette Maria losing their respective quarterfinal bouts.

Shaloo lost her 73kg quarterfinal bout to Alfahad Abrar of Kuwait. Both the players finished 3-3 after the regulation four rounds but Abrar was declared 'Winner on Superiority' as the Indian had conceded two penalty points against her rival's one.

Later, Maria lost 1-15 to China's Li Donghua in the 73kg quarterfinal.In volleyball, India prevailed over Qatar 3-2 in a hard-fought contest to finish fifth in the men's volleyball competition.

In men's 5th-6th place classification match at the Songnim Gymnasium here, the Indians rallied to beat the Qataris 25-21 20-25 25-22 20-25 15-10 in a keenly contested match, which lasted an hour and 47 minutes.

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News Network
June 25,2020

New Delhi, Jun 25: India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin on Thursday called the 1983 World Cup win as the 'landscape' changing moment for the game of cricket in the country.

Today, India is celebrating the completion of the 37 years of the maiden World Cup triumph under the leadership of Kapil Dev.

"Today 37 years ago, changed the cricketing landscape in India. Thank you @therealkapildev and team for making the game a career for many of us today. Deeply indebted," Ashwin tweeted.

In 1983, in the finals between India and West Indies, the latter won the toss and opted to bowl first.

The Kapil Dev-led side managed to score just 183 runs as Andy Roberts took three wickets while Malcolm Marshall, Michael Holding, and Larry Gomes picked up two wickets each.

Defending 183, India did a good job of keeping a check on the Windies run flow, reducing the side to 57/3.

Soon after, the team from the Caribbean was reduced to 76/6 and India was the favourites from there on to win the title.

Mohinder Amarnath took the final wicket of Michael Holding to give India their first-ever World Cup title win.

In the finals, West Indies was bowled out for 140, and as a result, India won the match by 43 runs.

Kapil Dev lifting the trophy at the balcony of Lord's Cricket Ground still remains an image to savour for all the Indian fans.

In the finals, Mohinder Amarnath was chosen as the Man of the Match as he scored 26 runs with the bat and also picked up three wickets with the ball.

India has been the regular participant in the World Cup from its beginning to the latest edition. The first edition was held in 1975 and from there on, it has taken place after a span of every four years.

West Indies won the first two World Cup titles (1975, 1979) and was the runner-up in 1983. India has won the title two times, in 1983 and in 2011.

MS Dhoni captained the 2011 team to win their second title after 28 years. Australia has won the tournament five times (1987, 1999, 2003, 2007, and 2015).

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News Network
April 2,2020

New Delhi, Apr 2: BJP MP and former cricketer Gautam Gambhir on Thursday said that he will donate his two year's salary to PM-CARES Fund to support the battle against coronavirus pandemic in the country.

"People ask what can their country do for them. The real question is what can you do for your country? I am donating my 2 year's salary to #PMCaresFund. You should come forward too! @narendramodi @JPNadda @BJP4Delhi #IndiaFightsCorona," Gambhir tweeted.

The total number of coronavirus cases in India climbed to 1965 on Thursday after 131 people confirmed positive in the past 12 hours, said the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

At present, there are 1764 COVID-19 active cases in the country and 50 people have died due to the lethal infection.

Interestingly, on this day in 2011, India lifted its second World Cup title after a drought of 28 years. Gambhir played a crucial role in the final and anchored the run-chase.

India won its first World Cup in 1983 under the leadership of former all-rounder Kapil Dev. 

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Agencies
August 4,2020

New Delhi, Aug 4: Former India women's team captain Anjum Chopra firmly believes that the BCCI has a plan for women's cricket but she wants the Board to communicate its ideas more specifically.

Speaking to news agency, Chopra, who is now a successful broadcaster, said the BCCI is thinking in earnest about the progress of women's cricket.

"It's not that the BCCI is not thinking about women's cricket. I only think they need to be more specific in communication about women's cricket," Chopra said.

"I firmly believe that they must be thinking about women's cricket but the communication all this while has been very specific to men's cricket."

The latest trigger for criticism of BCCI was India's withdrawal from a tour of England in September owing to logistical issues arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chopra concedes it was "not nice" but Indian players' participation in the women's IPL, in November, will still be useful preparation for next year's ODI World Cup.

"It is heartening to see women's cricket making headlines. They should have been a part of that England tour and it did not feel nice initially but the women's IPL, irrespective of the format, will be helpful for World Cup preparations. Any form of cricket is good preparation," Chopra said.

"Missing out on a tournament is not nice, but logistically there may have been issues. And you can't send an under-prepared team."

"If you see in isolation we may have missed out on an opportunity to play in England. The more the girls play the better it is, before playing a tournament of the stature of World Cup. The assurance from the president is a very good thing."

Chopra welcomed the Sourav Ganguly-led BCCI's decision to hold the women's event in the UAE alongside the IPL, which will run from September 19 to November 10. The women's IPL will coincide with the business end of the men's league.

"I am definitely happy, it's always nice to be part of any cricket anywhere across the world.

"They should have been nearing the final stages of the preparation for the World Cup by now, but because of the pandemic things did not go as planned," she added.

Chopra had a successful international career spanning over 17 years, during which she represented India in a record six World Cups and became the first woman cricketer to appear in 100 One-day Internationals.

She also felt that the pandemic would not have much impact on the women's game that has gained momentum in recent times.

"...Cricket was on pause button...Once cricket resumes and players are back on the park, everything is going to get picked up. It might take some time to get started as everything starts from zero...

"The awareness the women's game has created, I hope it stays. They will just restart, not start after the pandemic."

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