Mary Kom, Shiva in boxing squads for Asian Olympic Qualifiers

March 16, 2016

New Delhi, Mar 16: Five-time world champion M C Mary Kom (51kg) pipped arch-rival Pinki Jangra in the women's squad, while World Championships bronze-medallist Shiva Thapa (56kg) expectedly made the cut in a star-studded men's boxing team announced today for the Asian Olympic Qualifiers in China from March 23.

marrykom

The squad for the event to be held in the Chinese city of Qian'an was picked after selection trials conducted on March 7 and 8 in Patiala.

There were no surprises on offer in both the squads and Mary Kom once again managed to get the selectors' nod over Pinki, who has emerged as the strongest rival to the celebrated Manipuri, who is a bronze-medallist from the 2012 London Olympic Games.

Asian Games bronze-medallist L Sarita Devi (60kg) was the other prominent name in the three-member women's squad which also featured Pooja Rani (75kg).

The men's squad was also on expected lines with Shiva, who injured himself during the trials, getting the nod. The 22-year-old, a former Asian champion, had missed a qualification chance during last year's World Championships when he lost in the Olympic quota box-off after winning the bronze medal.

Commonwealth Games silver-medallists L Devendro Singh (49kg) and Mandeep Jangra (69kg) are among the prominent contenders for a quota place along with Asian silver-medallist Vikas Krishan (75kg).

The team is expected to leave for China on March 20, subject to getting Chinese visa on time, the AIBA ad-hoc committee administering boxing in India, said in a statement.

In all the weight categories, the top three boxers in men and top two in women would qualify for the Olympics in August to be hosted by the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro.

In all, 30 men's slots and six women's slots will be filled via these qualifiers.

The flipside for the Indians is that even if they qualify, they could be barred from the Olympics if a new national federation does not take shape by the end of this month.

The Squads:

Men: L Devendro Singh (49kg), Gaurav Bidhuri (52kg), Shiva Thapa (56kg), Dheeraj (60kg), Manoj Kumar (64kg), Mandeep Jangra (69kg), Vikas Krishan (75kg), Sumit Sangwan (81kg), Parveen Kumar (91kg), Satish Kumar (+91kg).

Women: M C Mary Kom (51kg), L Sarita Devi (60kg) and Pooja Rani (75kg).

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News Network
March 28,2020

Milan, Mar 28: Juventus star Paulo Dybala revealed how he "struggled to breathe" after contracting coronavirus which has killed over 9,000 people in Italy.

The Argentine international announced last Saturday he was one of three Juventus players to catch the virus along with Daniele Rugani and Blaise Matuidi, who both had no symptoms.

"I feel better now after some strong symptoms," the 26-year-old Dybala told JTV channel.

"A couple of days ago I was not well, I felt heavy and after five minutes of movement I had to stop because I was struggling to breathe.

"Now I can move and walk to start trying to train, because when I tried in the past few days I started to shake too much.

"I gasped for air and as a result I couldn't do anything, after five minutes I was already very tired, I felt the body heavy and my muscles hurt.

"Now I'm fine. My fiancee Oriana (Sabatini) has also overcome the symptoms."

Dybala has scored 13 goals in all competitions this season, including in league leader's Juventus's last game against Inter Milan before Serie A and all sport in Italy was suspended.

"The goal against Inter was the greatest emotion, (Aaron) Ramsey provided the perfect assist - it's a pity that there was no public," added Dybala.

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May 5,2020

May 5: Former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar says he is interested in becoming India's bowling coach if there is an offer, asserting that he is capable of grooming "more aggressive, fast and talkative" pacers.

Akhtar expressed his willingness in an interview on social networking app 'Helo'.

Asked if he would like to be associated with the Indian bowling unit in future, he responded in the positive. India's current bowling is Bharat Arun.

"I will definitely. My job is to spread knowledge. What I have learned is knowledge and I will spread it," Akhtar said.

One of the fastest bowlers to have played the game, he added, "I will produce more aggressive, fast and more talkative bowlers than the current ones who will tell-off the batsmen in a way that you will enjoy a lot."

He said he has always wanted to share his knowledge among budding cricketers and that he is looking to produce more aggressive bowlers.

He also added that he would like to "coach" IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders, for whom he has played in the cash-rich T20 league's inaugural edition.

The former pacer also spoke about his early interactions with Indian batting great Sachin Tendulkar in the 1998 series.

"I had seen him but didn't know how big a name he was in India. In Chennai, I got to know that he was known as a god in India.

"Mind you, he is a very good friend of mine. In 1998, when I bowled as fast as I could, Indian public celebrated with me. I have a big fan following in India," Akhtar said.

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News Network
April 5,2020

New Delhi, April 5: England batsman James Vince lashed out at people for not taking proper measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic and said people are going out as if "everything is normal".

"Just seen the pictures of people out and about today as if everything is normal. What selfish people, surely by now they've realised this is serious. Well done to everyone who's doing their bit and staying in," Vince tweeted.

On March 13, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said that Europe was now the 'epicentre' of the disease.

The death toll due to the novel coronavirus in the UK has exceeded 4,313 with at least 708 new deaths in the last 24 hours, the largest one-day rise since the start of the outbreak as confirmed by the Department of Health and Social Care.

The total number of cases in the UK as on Saturday is 41,903, a rise of 3,735 cases in the last 24 hours.

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