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Vikas Gowda clinches India's first gold at Asian Athletics Championships

July 5, 2013

Vikas_GowdaPune, Jul 5: Vikas Gowda's towering personality can be very intimidating at times but the Indian discus thrower has been a calm and composed figure. All that yielded rich dividends on Thursday as Gowda opened India's gold account with an authoritative performance at the Asian Athletics Championships.

India also won a silver medal through M.R. Poovamma in the women's 400m while Ratiram Saini clinched bronze in the men's 10,000m run.

Gowda was second behind Mohammad Samimi of Iran till the third attempt but the Indian's fourth throw almost touched his personal best and secured a gold medal for him.

The US-based Indian changed his shoes for the fourth attempt and cleared 64.90m as none could challenge his imposing feat. "It's a good result. All my hard work seems to be paying off well. It is not often that you come close to your personal best in a major event and somehow it happened for me. I almost touched 65m," said Gowda, whose personal best is 66.28m.

Samimi, whose best was 61.93m, bagged silver, while Mohammad Ahmed of Qatar (60.28m) won bronze.

It was only in 2011 after a series of dope incidents that M.R. Poovamma got a chance to make it to India's 400m squad and on Thursday, the Bangalore girl grabbed the opportunity with both her hands.

The 23-year-old quarter-miler looked at ease in the semi-finals on Wednesday but Chinese Yanmin Zhao dominated the proceedings on Thursday, recording her personal best with 52.49sec.

Poovamma, who was also watched by Ashwini Akkunji from the stands, clocked 53.37sec, which was less than her personal best of 52.75sec. The bronze went to Lebanese Gretta Taslakian (53.43sec), while India's Anu Mariam Jose finished a close fourth in 53.49sec.

"At the Asian Grand Prix, the competition is not as tough as it is here. I can proudly say that I have won an Asian Championship silver," said Poovamma.

"In the men's 10,000m, Ratiram bagged India's fifth medal of the event to add to Mayookha Johny and Om Prakash's bronze medals on Wednesday. The men's 10,000m was dominated by Bahrain with a 1-2 finish.

Alemu Bekele Gebre (28:47.26min) won the gold while Bilisuma Shugi Gelas followed him to the finish line in 28:58.67min.

"I am happy but I think I could have done even better because towards the end, I allowed them (gold and silver medallist) to go ahead," said Ratiram, who clocked 29:35.42min.

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Agencies
August 4,2020

New Delhi, Aug 4: Former India women's team captain Anjum Chopra firmly believes that the BCCI has a plan for women's cricket but she wants the Board to communicate its ideas more specifically.

Speaking to news agency, Chopra, who is now a successful broadcaster, said the BCCI is thinking in earnest about the progress of women's cricket.

"It's not that the BCCI is not thinking about women's cricket. I only think they need to be more specific in communication about women's cricket," Chopra said.

"I firmly believe that they must be thinking about women's cricket but the communication all this while has been very specific to men's cricket."

The latest trigger for criticism of BCCI was India's withdrawal from a tour of England in September owing to logistical issues arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chopra concedes it was "not nice" but Indian players' participation in the women's IPL, in November, will still be useful preparation for next year's ODI World Cup.

"It is heartening to see women's cricket making headlines. They should have been a part of that England tour and it did not feel nice initially but the women's IPL, irrespective of the format, will be helpful for World Cup preparations. Any form of cricket is good preparation," Chopra said.

"Missing out on a tournament is not nice, but logistically there may have been issues. And you can't send an under-prepared team."

"If you see in isolation we may have missed out on an opportunity to play in England. The more the girls play the better it is, before playing a tournament of the stature of World Cup. The assurance from the president is a very good thing."

Chopra welcomed the Sourav Ganguly-led BCCI's decision to hold the women's event in the UAE alongside the IPL, which will run from September 19 to November 10. The women's IPL will coincide with the business end of the men's league.

"I am definitely happy, it's always nice to be part of any cricket anywhere across the world.

"They should have been nearing the final stages of the preparation for the World Cup by now, but because of the pandemic things did not go as planned," she added.

Chopra had a successful international career spanning over 17 years, during which she represented India in a record six World Cups and became the first woman cricketer to appear in 100 One-day Internationals.

She also felt that the pandemic would not have much impact on the women's game that has gained momentum in recent times.

"...Cricket was on pause button...Once cricket resumes and players are back on the park, everything is going to get picked up. It might take some time to get started as everything starts from zero...

"The awareness the women's game has created, I hope it stays. They will just restart, not start after the pandemic."

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News Network
February 13,2020

Feb 13: Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna were buried in a private funeral service in Southern California last week, multiple outlets reported late Tuesday.

Citing Kobe Bryant's death certificate, Los Angeles Fox affiliate KTTV reported the remains of the former Lakers star and his daughter were transferred to Pacific View Memorial Park and Mortuary in Corona del Mar. Kobe and Brianna were laid to rest in a private ceremony there last Friday.

According to KTTV, the death certificate cited Kobe's cause of death as "blunt trauma" sustained in a "commercial helicopter crash." It also said his death was "rapid."

Corona del Mar is a community within Newport Beach, where the Bryant family lives.

Kobe, 41, and Gianna, 13, were among nine people killed when the helicopter they were in crashed on a hillside in Calabasas, Calif., northwest of Los Angeles, on Jan. 26. Orange Coast College baseball coach John Altobelli, 56; his wife, Keri; and their daughter Alyssa, 14 -- who played on the same club basketball team as Gianna Bryant -- also were killed. Christina Mauser, a 38-year-old who was the top assistant coach of the Mamba girls basketball team, was also killed in the accident, as were Sarah Chester, 45; her daughter Payton Chester, 13; and pilot Ara Zobayan, 50.

A public memorial service for the Bryants will be held Feb. 24 at Staples Center, beginning at 10 a.m. PT.

While the date -- 2/24 -- conveniently falls between two Lakers' home games, it still could have been chosen symbolically. Gianna -- one Kobe and Vanessa' four daughters -- wore No. 2 on her basketball jersey while Kobe was No. 24 for part of his 20-year-tenure with the Lakers, and his retired jerseys -- he also wore No. 8 -- hang at Staples Center.

The Los Angeles Times reported that "entry is expected to be severely restricted" at the venue despite Staples Center's capacity of about 20,000.

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News Network
June 12,2020

New Delhi, Jun 12: The BCCI on Friday called off Indian cricket team's short tour of Zimbabwe in August due to the threat posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The announcement was on expected lines after Sri Lanka Cricket announced on Thursday that India's limited overs tour in June-July was postponed indefinitely.

"The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Friday announced that the Indian Cricket Team will not travel to Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe owing to the current threat of COVID-19," BCCI secetary Jay Shah said in a statement.

"Team India was originally scheduled to travel to the island nation from 24th June 2020 for three ODIs and as many T20Is and to Zimbabwe for a series comprising three ODIs starting 22nd August 2020," Shah added.

The Indian team is yet to resume training and the camp is unlikely to take place before July. The players will take around six weeks to be match-ready.

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