Indian fencers not allowed to take part under national flag

February 22, 2013

Indian-fencers

New Delhi, Feb 22: India's junior fencing team will not be able to participate in the Asian Junior & Cadet Championship scheduled to be held in Thailand under national flag owing to IOC's ban on India and this move could also hit the progress of the game as government may stop funding.

Following IOC's ban on India in December last year, the International Fencing Federation (FIE) had suspended the national body but the Indian fencers have been allowed to take part in the March 2-11 Asian event in Thailand under the banner of Fencing Confederation of Asia.

If the fencers take part in the Asian Junior and Cadet Championships under the FCA banner, it will be the first time in India's sports history to represent an international entity.

The fencers are also still uncertain to take part even under the FCA banner as they have to find private sponsors as the government have not responded to their request for financial help with just a week left for the event.

Even in normal times, the fencers have been given help on case by case basis as the Fencing Association of India does not get government grant as the sport is now in the 'other sport' category of the ministry.

"The international fencing federation has assured the suspension will be lifted but that can happen only by a decision of its Executive Committee and its meeting is coming up only in April and so there will be no lifting of the suspension till that time.

"But the FCA has allowed Indian fencers to participate under its banner in Thailand," Fencing Association of India (FAI) secretary general Sanjay Pradhan said.

"But the problem is FAI does not have fund because we no longer get government grant as fencing has been placed in other category by sports ministry and we do not have private sponsors.

"So the fencers will have to spend from their own pockets. We have asked the fencers who won medals in last National Junior Championships last year to tell us if they have their own resources and after that we will send their entry for the event," he said.

Pradhan said that the Asian body has given extension of the deadline of sending entry up to the end of this month.

He said anybody among the first four-finishing fencers in the last Nationals in Gwalior in the men's and women's sections in the three categories of sabre, foil and epee can take part in Thailand if they have the individual resources.

Among these, eight fencers -- all girls -- are from the Sports Authority of India Centre at Kannur in Kerala but they are uncertain about their participation in the Asian event.

Their coach Sagar Suresh Lagu said that they had written to SAI and Kerala government for help but yet to get any response. He said each fencer will need Rs 80,000-85,000 to take part in the Asian event

"SAI had provided us the fund in 2010 and 2011 in an Asian event and Commonwealth event where my wards had done exceedingly well by winning medals. This time also we had written a letter to SAI and state government also for financial help but we have not got any response as yet," he said.

"We have to leave for the event by February 28 and it's just a week left from now. We are trying to get some money from friends and private individuals and don't know how we would go," he said.

Out of these eight girls, six will take part in the junior (under 20) category while two will participate in Cadet (under 17).

The six in the junior category are Bhavani Devi (sabre), Stefitha Chalil (epee), Neha Khare (sabre), Radhika Awati (foil), Aswathy Raj (epee) and S G Aarcha (foil), all from Kerala.

Sagar said according to the amount of money he can gather, the number of participants will be decided.

"We have to see how much money we can collect and accordingly decide how many from these eight fencers from SAI Centre Kannur will take part. And if course we will have to take into account the medal prospect," he said.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
July 14,2020

New Delhi, Jul 14: Indian bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who features in the list of A category players released by BCCI, has revealed his first-ever paycheck.

Bhuvneshwar was participating in a question and answer session on Twitter where he gave his take on fans' queries.

The 30-year-old bowler was asked about his first paycheck by a fan and Bhuvneshwar responded by saying, "It was for Rs 3000. I shopped and still managed to saved some."

During the question and answer session Bhuvneshwar picked Barcelona striker Lionel Messi over Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo.

The right-arm bowler also revealed that football and badminton are his favourite sports other than cricket.

Earlier this year, Bhuvneshwar was named in the list A category of players. BCCI had released the list of centrally contracted players for the period from October 2019 to September 2020. Annually, A category players get Rs 5 crore.

The right-arm bowler would have been in action for Sunrisers Hyderabad if the Indian Premier League (IPL) had commenced from March 29. However, the tournament was postponed indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
May 14,2020

May 14: Veteran South Africa batsman Faf du Plessis has proposed a two-week isolation period for players before and after the T20 World Cup as a way to stage the event as per schedule later this year.

Like other sports, cricketing action too has come to a complete halt due to the coronavirus pandemic. The fate of the T20 World Cup to be held in Australia in October-November is shrouded in uncertainty.

Talking to Bangladesh ODI captain Tamim Iqbal, du Plessis said travel was going to be an issue despite Australia being less affected by the deadly contagion.

"I am not sure... reading that travelling is going to be an issue for lot of countries and they are talking about December or January. Even if Australia is not affected like other countries, to get people from Bangladesh, South Africa or India where there is more danger, obviously it's a health risk to them," du Plessis said.

"But you can go in before the tournament (for) two weeks isolation and then play the tournament and afterwards two weeks isolation," said the former captain.

Several countries across the globe, including South Africa, Australia and India, have travel restrictions in place and the veteran Proteas batsman joked travelling by boat is not an option.

"But I don't know when South Africa will open their travel ban because we can't go there like old days on boats," du Plessis said.

In March, South Africa's ODI series against India was called off after the first match in view of the pandemic.

The coronavirus outbreak, which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan, has infected more than 44 lakh people worldwide while causing close to 3 lakh deaths.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
April 12,2020

New Delhi, Apr 12: As devotees across the world celebrate Easter today, former Sri Lanka skipper and current Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) president Kumar Sangakkara on Sunday condoled the demise of people who lost their lives during last year's Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka and said someone must seek answers to the questions which still remain unresolved.

"A year on we all share the pain of the families grieving lives lost, we stand with you and for you. We remember. So many questions still unanswered, but answer them someone must," Sangakkara tweeted.

On April 21, 2019, multiple blasts ripped through Sri Lanka when the Christian community was celebrating Easter Sunday.
The explosions rattled churches and high-end hotels across the country, killing 258 people and injuring over 500.

A local terror group called National Thowheeth Jama'ath had claimed responsibility for the devastating attacks.

The island nation was put under a state of emergency for a period of four months from April to August.

The Sri Lankan police had then said that 293 suspects were arrested in connection with the Easter Sunday bombings in the island country in April.

This year, most of the devotees would be offering the prayers from their homes as mass gatherings have been suspended in most countries due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Easter marks the resurrection of Jesus Christ following his crucifixion on Good Friday. It also marks the culmination of Lent, a 40-day period of fasting and penance.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.