Deepika eyeing a fairytale finish at iconic Lord’s

July 21, 2012

deepikakumar


New Delhi, July 21: ‘Winning a medal is my dream, my life’


Her coy smile belies the fierce ambition; her reluctance to be under the spotlight is ironical too. Perhaps, it is this demeanour that has taken Deepika Kumari to the top of world archery.

In a sport that demands incessant concentration and ability to recoil within, the Jharkhand teenager has flourished and emerged as one of India’s best medal hopes in the London Olympics.

From targeting mangoes in the backyard to picking up the bow and giving a meaningful direction to her talent, Deepika has done it with a lot of fervour. Her progress has been rapid despite her preference for the demanding recurve format where the bow has adjustable string length and does not have a lens.

But Deepika’s shyness has found solace in the power of a bow and arrow. As a 15-year-old, she won the gold medal in Turkey and followed it up with one more at the 11th Youth World Archery Championships in the US, where she pulled off a thrilling victory (115-109) over Russia’s Sayana Tsyrempilova in the finals.

However, it was the gold in the Commonwealth Games which caught the imagination of the country and brought her to the limelight. In May, the 18-year-old won her first World Cup individual recurve gold medal at Antalya, Turkey where she beat Korea’s Lee Sung Jin by six set points to four in the final before becoming the world No 1.

Her rise instantly leapfrogged medal expectations from her but she is far from being swayed. She makes no bones that it is the Olympic gold she has set her heart on.

“Being world number one does not guarantee a medal. It means nothing unless I and all my team members perform well,” says Deepika, whose father is an auto-rickshaw driver and mother a nurse. “It is difficult for me to tell you what an Olympic medal means to me. I have been dreaming of it ever since I picked up the bow. It is my dream, my life.”

Deepika finds it rather unfair to be touted as the lone medal hope in archery. She insists the training of the whole team has been so good that they stand a chance in both individual and team event.

“Our preparations have been very good. We have had a lot of exposure trips and working with the Korean coach has really helped me improve technically. But why expect a medal from only me? Our whole team is good enough to get medals. We all have worked very hard,” she emphasises.

In the team event, Deepika is combined with senior archers Chekrawolu Swuro and Laishram Bombayala Devi and feels they have in them to compete against the best.

"Our combination is very good. We have trained together and we have improved a lot from the time we qualified. We have the confidence to compete against the best,” she assures.

It is Deepika’s first Olympics but she brushes away the talk of pressure with a gentle smile. “I don't feel pressure. The competition will be stiff but I will give my all to win a medal.”

The team prepared in hot and humid Kolkata before leaving for London to acclimatise to the cold and windy conditions. Deepika also had to battle a bout of flu and hoped to be fit before the competition.

“Weather will play a crucial role. How soon we adjust to the chill and wind will be decisive. But we are not afraid. We have done everything we could. Rest is in the god’s hand.”

The world may come knocking at her doors if Deepika’s arrows hit the bull’s eyes. It will be a fairytale finish that could well inspire countless others in native Jharkhand.



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News Network
January 28,2020

Hamilton, Jan 28: No one sits on the seat that Mahendra Singh Dhoni made his own in the team bus, revealed India leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, saying that the talismanic former skipper is missed by the side.

In a video shot inside the team bus while it was on its way to Hamilton for the third T20 International against New Zealand, Chahal is seen talking to several members of the squad including Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul.

Towards the end of the video, he moved to the rear of the bus and pointed to an empty seat which, he said, was the former captain's preferred spot before he went on a sabbatical last year.

"Yeh woh seat hai jahan ek legend baithate the. Mahi bhai. Abhi bhi yaha koi nahi baithata. Hum unhe bohot miss karte hai (This is the seat that used to be occupied a legend. MS Dhoni. No one sits here now. We miss him a lot)," Chahal said in the video posted on 'bcci.tv'.

The-38-year-old Dhoni has not played a competitive game since the World Cup semifinal loss to New Zealand on July 9. Earlier this month, Dhoni was dropped from the BCCI's list of centrally contracted players, raising fresh doubts on his future.

However, on the same day, Dhoni returned to training, batting fluently in the Jharkhand team nets.

Head coach Ravi Shastri has hinted that the celebrated wicketkeeper-batsman might retire from ODIs soon but will be in contention for a T20 World Cup berth provided he does well for Chennai Super Kings in the IPL.

The Indian team lead the five-match T20 series against New Zealand 2-0.

Virat Kohli's men will take on the hosts in the third T20 here on Wednesday.

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News Network
January 2,2020

New Delhi, Jan 2: On the first day of the New Year 2020, Hardik Pandya announced his engagement with Serbian actor Natasa Stankovic.

The cricketer took to Instagram to share a photo with the actor and captioned the post: "Mai tera, Tu meri jaane, saara Hindustan. 01.01.2020 #engaged".

The 26-year-old shared three pictures and a short clip on the social media platform. In one photo, Stankovic can be seen flaunting her ring.

The couple got engaged in Dubai and were seen taking a ferry ride along with close friends.

On work front, Stankovic was last seen in a song from Bollywood movie The Body starring Emraan Hashmi and Rishi Kapoor. She had also made it to the finals of the TV show Nach Baliye with her ex-boyfriend Aly Goni.

Stankovic first became a household name after appearing as a contestant on famous reality show 'Bigg Boss 8'.

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News Network
July 25,2020

New Delhi, Jul 25: Former India spinner Anil Kumble said that he has never understood why people compared him with Australia's Shane Warne.

Kumble was doing an Instagram live session with former Zimbabwe pacer Pommie Mbangwa and it was then that the spinner also talked about being the third-highest wicket-taker in Test cricket.

"It feels really wonderful to finish with these many wickets. I never bothered about statistics or what my average should be, I wanted to bowl the whole day and be the one to take wickets. To finish as the third-highest wicket-taker in Tests alongside Murali and Warne is very special. All three of us played in the same era, there were a lot of comparisons, I do not know why people compared me with Warne. Warne was someone really different and he was on a different plane," Kumble told Mbangwa during the interaction.
"These two guys could spin the ball on any surface so it became really difficult for me when they started comparing me with Warne and Murali. I learnt a lot by watching them both bowl," he added.

The Indian spinner announced his retirement from international cricket in 2008. He finished with 619 wickets in the longest format of the game.

He has the third-highest number of wickets in Tests, only behind Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan (800) and Australia's Shane Warne (708).

Kumble is the second bowler in the history of international cricket after England's Jim Laker to take all ten wickets in an innings of a Test match.

He had achieved the feat against Pakistan in 1999 at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in Delhi. Kumble had bowling figures of 10-74 from 26.3 overs in the second innings of the Test match.
Kumble will be coaching Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League (IPL). 

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