Ganesh ready for London run as athletes await clarity on cash awards

July 4, 2012

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Bangalore/Kochi, July 4: His travel file cleared and other formalities completed, Kerala sports minister KB Ganesh Kumar is set for the London Olympics. So are sports secretary M Sivasankaran and Kerala sports council president Padmini Thomas. Kerala's top athletes, meanwhile, are yet to receive cash awards promised by the state, most as far back as 2008.

Though the London itinerary of Ganesh and others is yet to be drawn up, sources said each delegate will enjoy a daily allowance of 400 (around Rs 27,500). The three-member delegation is expected to be in London for at least for 10 days and the expense on allowances alone would amount to 12,000 euros, or Rs 8,23,000.

The Kerala government's move to splurge public money on a London Olympics junket of Kerala sports minister KB Ganesh Kumar and two babus has left athletes and sports lovers fuming.

"Karnataka is giving Rs 5 lakh to each London-bound sportsperson. Punjab and Haryana are giving more. But the Kerala government has not given anything to us," a top athlete who has qualified for the Olympics told TOI.

"At the last National Games I won a silver representing Jharkhand. As promised, the government gave me Rs 5 lakh within six months. Those who won medals for Kerala are yet to get a single penny," said an athlete who hails from Kerala.

In a move to stem such criticism, the minister, at a hurriedly convened press meet on Tuesday, announced that the government will disburse cash awards on Thursday to all athletes who have won medals since 2008.

A few athletes greeted this delayed gesture with disbelief. "They always come up with some or the other excuse to justify delays. Only Preeja Sreedharan, Mayookha Johny and Sajeesh have got the awards till now. The others have been cold-shouldered. Why should we believe them when they say the cash awards would be disbursed on Thursday?" an athlete said.

According to sources even Tuesday's announcement came after sustained pressure. "At the Patiala Federation Cup athletics held in April, several top athletes refused to represent Kerala. They all represented Chhattisgarh to register their protest," sources said.

According to sources in the Union sports ministry, several states - including Haryana, Jharkhand and Punjab - have made plans to send contingents at their own cost after the Indian Olympic Association rejected their requests for accreditation.




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News Network
June 23,2020

Karachi, Jun 23: Pakistan cricketers Shadab Khan, Haris Rauf and rookie Haider Ali on Monday tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

"The Pakistan Cricket Board has confirmed three players - Haider Ali, Haris Rauf and Shadab Khan - have tested positive for Covid-19," said the PCB in a statement.

"The players had shown no symptoms until they were tested in Rawalpindi on Sunday ahead of the Pakistan men's national cricket team's tour to England."

The infected players will go into self-isolation.

"The PCB medical panel is in contact with the three who have been advised to immediately go into self-isolation," the statement said.

Earlier this month, former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi was tested positive for the deadly virus.

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News Network
January 17,2020

Jan 17: Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza cruised into the women's doubles final of the Hobart International with her Ukrainian partner Nadiia Kichenok here on Friday.

Sania and Kichenok sailed past the Slovenian-Czech pair of Tamara Zidansek and Marie Bouzkova 7-6 (3) 6-2 in the semifinal contest that lasted one hour and 24 minutes.

The fifth-seeded Indo-Ukrainian combination will lock horns with second seeds Shuai Peng and Shuai Zhang of China. The Chinese pair got a walkover after Belgium's Kirsten Flipkens and Alison Van Uytvanck conceded the other semifinal match because of injury.

While Sania and Kichenok had to fight hard in the opening set, the second set was a cakewalk for the combination.

The first set was a tough contest between the two pairs, bringing the tie-breaker into the equation after it was level at 6-6.

In the tie-breaker, Sania and Kichenok upped their game by a few notches to outsmart their opponents and take the lead.

The second set was a no-contest as Saina and Kichenok broke their opponents thrice -- in the second, sixth and eighth game -- to easily pocket the set and a place in the summit clash.

Saina and Kichenok got 11 break chances out of which they converted four, while their opponents utilised two out of the five break chances that came their way.

The 33-year-old Sania is returning to the WTA circuit after two years. During her time away from the game, she battled injury breakdowns before taking a formal break in April 2018 to give birth to her son Izhaan. She is married to Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik.

Before the ongoing event, Sania last played at China Open in October 2017.

A trailblazer in Indian tennis, Sania is a former world No.1 in doubles and has six Grand Slam titles to her credit.

She retired from the singles competition in 2013 after becoming the most successful Indian woman tennis player.

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News Network
March 7,2020

Melbourne, Mar 7: Ahead of the Women's T20 World Cup against Australia, India spinner Poonam Yadav said that skipper Harmanpreet Kaur has given her a lot of support.

"Harmanpreet has been of immense support. When I got hit for a six in the first over, she came to me and said, 'Poonam, you're one of the most experienced players in the team, and we expect better of you'," Poonam said.

The 28-year-old experienced bowler has played 68 shortest format games for India and taken 94 wickets at an average of 22.66.

She has been in devastating form throughout the tournament and has bagged nine wickets so far.

"So, that kind of stirred something within me. I told myself if my captain has that much faith in me, I should be able to make a comeback," she said.

"I took a wicket in the very next ball, and didn't look back since. Now when I look back at that moment, it means so much in the context of my individual performance and run to the final," she added.

In the opening game against Australia at Sydney Showground, Poonam came within a whisker of the third hat-trick in Women's T20 World Cup history, dismissing Rachael Haynes and Ellyse Perry before Jess Jonassen was dropped.

The final of the tournament will be played at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on March 8 -- International Women's Day.

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