Sushil Kumar named flag-bearer

July 16, 2012

sushilNew Delhi, July 16: Beijing Olympic bronze medallist Sushil Kumar will be India's flag-bearer during the opening ceremony of the London Games, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) announced on Sunday.

Sushil, one of the stars of India's history-making Olympics four years ago, will lead the strong Indian contingent that will hope to better the three-medal haul of Beijing.


The 66-kg wrestler, who would be competing in his third Games, was among the four Olympic medal winning sportspersons chosen for the role. Others were Beijing Olympics medal winners-- gold-medallist shooter Abhinav Bindra and bronze-medallist boxer Vijender Singh and tennis's doubles exponent Leander Paes, a bronze medallist at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

“It's a proud moment for me that such an honour has been bestowed upon me. I know there were other names considered as well. I feel privileged to have been chosen to lead the Indian contingent,” said a delighted Sushil.

The IOA was keen on having Bindra doing the honours but the shooter had reportedly conveyed his reluctance with his 10m air-rifle event scheduled two days after the opening ceremony on July 30. Likewise, Vijender's competition begins the very next day, scheduled for July 28.

With Paes having done the honours at the Sydney Games in 2000, Sushil was chosen for the role.

"With Abhinav Bindra and Vijender Singh having their events soon after the opening ceremony and Leander Paes already donning the role in Sydney Olympics, we have chosen Sushil Kumar to be the flag-bearer of the Indian contingent for the London Games," IOA acting president VK Malhotra told reporters on the sidelines of a send-off function by the ONGC.

However, it will not be easy for Sushil either as the wrestlers will be training in Belarus from July 20th to August 5. Indian wrestlers' competition will begin only on August 10 and the team will only reach a few days before their event. Sushil, whose event is slated on August 12, will have to come specially to London for the opening ceremony.

“He will come for a day to London and will then return to his training at Belarus. The wrestler will be coming to London on August 6th. The IOA discussed the matter with us and we agreed. It is a good news for wrestling that Sushil is becoming the flag-bearer. It will encourage more youngsters to take up the sport,” Wrestling Federation of Indai (WFI) general-secretary Raj Singh told Deccan Herald.

Sushil too wasn’t worried about the cramped schedule. "I will be in Belarus with the wrestling team but will fly down to London for the opening ceremony,” he pointed out. “It’s just a 2-2.5 hours away by flight. It is because of the love and respect of the people that I have got this opportunity. It will only motivate me to do well. It is a big thing for us wrestlers and it will encourage a lot of youngsters.”

Sushil was also the World Champion in 2010, and a gold medallist at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi.



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Agencies
July 31,2020

Hampshire, Jul 31: David Willey's maiden five-wicket haul guided England to a six-wicket victory over Ireland in the first ODI here on Friday.

With this win, the hosts have taken a 1-0 lead in the three-match ODI series.

Chasing a small target of 173 runs, England got off to a bad start as opener Jonny Bairstow was given LBW in the third over, bowled by Andy McBrine. Jason Roy was then joined by James Vince and the duo added 22 runs on the board before the former was dismissed.

Craig Young then got hold of Vince, who was caught behind after scoring 25 runs. Sam Billings and Tom Banton then took the charge of the chase but the latter too was caught behind which ended his 11-run innings.

Banton's dismissal brought skipper Eoin Morgan on the field. Billings and Morgan played stunning innings and kept scoring boundaries. Morgan struck a scintillating six on the last bowl of the 28th over to take England over the line. Morgan scored 36 runs while Billings played a knock of 67 runs.

Earlier, after being asked to bat first, Ireland witnessed a poor start as Paul Stirling was dismissed in the very first over of the innings, bowled by Willey. Andy Balbirnie then joined Gareth Delany but Willey struck again in his next over, removing Balbirnie.

Delany then played furiously and smashed three consecutive boundaries to Saqib Mahmood in the fourth over. However, the fall of wickets did not stop as England took three wickets in quick succession. Mahmood bowled Harry Tector while Delany and Lorcan Tucker were sent back to the pavilion by Willey.

Kevin O'Brien and Curtis Campher then took the charge and played cautiously, taking their struggling side over the 50-run mark. Adil Rashid got hold of O'Brien (22) in the 22nd over before Simranjit Singh was run out in the same over.

Andy McBrine was the next batsman and he played brilliantly along with Campher, who went on to complete his half-century. Both formed a 66-run partnership before McBrine (40) was dismissed by Tom Curran.

Campher remained unbeaten on 59 but failed to find a partner as England bundled out Ireland on 172 runs.

The second ODI between both teams will be played on Saturday.

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News Network
June 2,2020

Jun 2: Former West Indies captain Daren Sammy has spoken strongly against the killing if George Floyd in USA, and has now urged the ICC & all the other boards in the world to come together and fight the evil.

In a series of tweets Sammy wrote how the blacks have been suffering for a long time.

“For too long black people have suffered. I’m all the way in St Lucia and I’m frustrated If you see me as a teammate then you see #GeorgeFloyd Can you be part of the change by showing your support. #BlackLivesMatter,” Sammy wrote.

He also wrote, “@ICC and all the other boards are you guys not seeing what’s happening to ppl like me? Are you not gonna speak against the social injustice against my kind. This is not only about America. This happens everyday #BlackLivesMatter now is not the time to be silent. I wanna hear u.”

“Right now if the cricket world not standing against the injustice against people of color after seeing that last video of that foot down the next of my brother you are also part of the problem.”

Earlier, West Indies star batsman Chris Gayle has said racism exists in cricket too, saying he gets the 'end of the stick' even within teams.

"Black lives matter just like any other life. Black people matter, p***k all racist people, stop taking black people for fools, even our own black people wise the p***k up and stop bringing down your own! I have travelled the globe and experience racial remarks towards me because I am black, believe me, the list goes on," Gayle wrote in his Instagram story.

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News Network
May 15,2020

New Delhi, May 15: Former England skipper David Gower feels Sourav Ganguly has the right "political skills" to lead the ICC one day and he has already displayed that as BCCI president, which is a "far tougher job".

The elegant left-hander is very impressed with Ganguly's leadership abilities and believes that he has what it takes to head the global body in the future.

"One thing I have learnt over the years is that if you are going to run BCCI, you need to be many, many things. Having a reputation like he (Ganguly) has is a very good start, but you need to be a very deft politician.

"You need to have control of a million different things," Gower said ahead of "Q20", a unique chat show for the fans presented by 'GloFans'.

Gower reckons being president of the BCCI is the toughest job imaginable in world cricket.

"And of course, you need to be responsible for a game that is followed by, I mean, should we say a billion people here in India," he said.

"We all know about the immense following for cricket in India. So it is indeed a wonderful thing to behold. Sourav has the toughest task imaginable in charge of BCCI, but so far I would say the signs are very good.

"He has listened, given his own opinion and has pulled strings gently," he said.

Political skills are a must in administration and that's where Gower finds his fellow left-hander ticking all the boxes.

"He is a very, very good man and has those political skills. He has the right attitude and can keep things together and will do good job. And if you do a good job as BCCI chief in the future, who knows?

"But I would actually say the more important job, to be honest, is running BCCI. Being head of ICC is an honour, there is a lot that can be done by ICC, but actually look at the rankings, look at where the power is heading up. BCCI is definitely the bigger job," he said.

On the cricketing front, Gower believes World Test Championship has given the format much-needed context.

"The idea of this World Test Championship has come about for one very simple reason that people are worried about the survival of Tests. Back in the seventies, eighties, I don't think we needed context to be fair.

"Test cricket was very much more obviously the most important format and if there was anything to be judged by, it was the performances in Test matches both as an individual and as a team.

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