Ahmedabad, Mar 16: Cricketer Irfan Pathan met Chief Minister Narendra Modi in his chamber in the Assembly building Friday and invited him for the wedding of his elder brother and cricketer Yusuf Pathan in Mumbai on March 27.
Yusuf is getting married to physiotherapist Afreen. She works in Vadodara while her parents live in Mumbai. Officials in CMO said Modi, who had so far avoided attending wedding of cricketers, was willing to attend Yusuf's wedding.
New Delhi, Apr 2: BJP MP and former cricketer Gautam Gambhir on Thursday said that he will donate his two year's salary to PM-CARES Fund to support the battle against coronavirus pandemic in the country.
"People ask what can their country do for them. The real question is what can you do for your country? I am donating my 2 year's salary to #PMCaresFund. You should come forward too! @narendramodi @JPNadda @BJP4Delhi #IndiaFightsCorona," Gambhir tweeted.
The total number of coronavirus cases in India climbed to 1965 on Thursday after 131 people confirmed positive in the past 12 hours, said the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
At present, there are 1764 COVID-19 active cases in the country and 50 people have died due to the lethal infection.
Interestingly, on this day in 2011, India lifted its second World Cup title after a drought of 28 years. Gambhir played a crucial role in the final and anchored the run-chase.
India won its first World Cup in 1983 under the leadership of former all-rounder Kapil Dev.
Rome, Jan 19: India's star wrestlers Bajrang Punia and Ravi Kumar Dahiya kicked off the Olympic year in style, winning a gold medal each in their respective weight categories at the Rome Ranking Series here.
The 25-year-old Bajrang staged a remarkable comeback to secure a 4-3 win against USA's Jordan Michael Oliver in the summit showdown of the 65kg freestyle category.
Ravi, who competed in the 61kg category instead of his regular 57kg, also bagged gold after getting the better of Kazakhstan's Nurbolat Abdualiyev 12-2 in his final bout late on Saturday night.
The 23-year-old from Sonepat had made the final round after securing impressive wins over Moldova's Alexaandru Chirtoaca and Kazakhstan's Nurislam Sanayev.
Up against one of India's biggest medal prospects in the Tokyo Olympics, Oliver conceded that it was not his night against Bajrang.
The American lauded the competitive spirit of Bajrang.
"Wasn't my night… but I got a lot of work to do to be where I want to be! Hats off to @BajrangPunia dude is heck of a competitor! Until next time my friend," the American tweeted.
Bajrang had to sweat it out in the first round against Zain Allen Retherford of the USA before prevailing 5-4.
In the quarterfinal, the ace Indian wrestler went past another American Joseph Christopher Mc Kenna 4-2, before getting the better of Vasyl Shuptar of Ukraine 6-4 in the semi-finals.
However, it was curtains for Jitender in the 74kg and world championship silver medallist Deepak Punia in the 86kg category.
Jitender won his first bout against Denys Pavlov of Ukraine 10-1 before going down in the quarterfinals against Turkey's Soner Demirtas 4-0.
Jitender got a chance to fight in the repechage after Demirtas entered the final, but the Indian wasted the opportunity, losing 2-9 to Daniyar Kaisanov of Kazakhstan.
In the 86kg category, Deepak crashed out in the opening round, losing 1-11 to Ethan Adrian Ramos of Puerto Rico.
May 13: With the Olympics postponed due to the coronavirus, top Japanese fencer Ryo Miyake has swapped his metal mask and foil for a bike and backpack as a Tokyo UberEats deliveryman.
The 29-year-old, who won silver in the team foil at the 2012 London Olympics and was itching to compete in a home Games, says the job keeps him in shape physically and mentally -- and brings in much-needed cash.
"I started this for two reasons -- to save money for travelling (to future competitions) and to keep myself in physical shape," he told AFP.
"I see how much I am earning on the phone, but the number is not just money for me. It's a score to keep me going."
Japanese media have depicted Miyake as a poor amateur struggling to make ends meet but he himself asked for his three corporate sponsorships to be put on hold -- even if that means living off savings.
Like most of the world's top athletes, he is in limbo as the virus forces competitions to be cancelled and plays havoc with training schedules.
"I don't know when I can resume training or when the next tournament will take place. I don't even know if I can keep up my mental condition or motivation for another year," he said.
"No one knows how the qualification process will go. Pretending everything is OK for the competition is simply irresponsible."
In the meantime, he is happy criss-crossing the vast Japanese capital with bike and smartphone, joining a growing legion of Uber delivery staff in demand during the pandemic.
"When I get orders in the hilly Akasaka, Roppongi (downtown) district, it becomes good training," he smiles.
The unprecedented postponement of the Olympics hit Miyake hard, as he was enjoying a purple patch in his career.
After missing out on the Rio 2016 Olympics, Miyake came 13th in last year's World Fencing Championships -- the highest-ranked Japanese fencer at the competition.
The International Olympics Committee has set the new date for the Olympics on July 23, 2021.
But with no vaccine available for the coronavirus that has killed nearly 300,000 worldwide, even that hangs in the balance.
Miyake said the Japanese fencing team heard about the postponement the day after arriving in the United States for one of the final Olympic qualifying events.
With his diary suddenly free of training and competition, he said he spent the month of April agonising over what to do before hitting on the Uber idea.
"Sports and culture inevitably come second when people have to survive a crisis," he said.
"Is the Olympics really needed in the first place? Then what do I live for if not for the sport? That is what I kept thinking."
However, the new and temporary career delivering food in Tokyo has given the fencer a new drive to succeed.
"The most immediate objective for me is to be able to start training smoothly" once the emergency is lifted, he said.
"I need to be ready physically and financially for the moment. That is my biggest mission now."
But not all athletes may cope mentally with surviving another "nerve-wracking" pre-Olympic year, he said.
"It's like finally getting to the end of a 42-kilometre marathon and then being told you have to keep going."
As a child, Miyake practised his attacks on every wall of his house -- and he said his passion for the sport was what was driving him now.
"I love fencing. I want to be able to travel for matches and compete in the Olympics. That is the only reason I am doing this."
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