Racism: Sikh man kicked out of queue to watch Wimbledon match in UK

July 14, 2016

London, Jul 14: A 20-year-old Sikh man was kicked out of an overnight queue to watch the Wimbledon tennis championships as he apparently made other people around him “uncomfortable”.

sikhThe unnamed tennis-lover took to Facebook last week to voice his anger at being thrown out and claimed it was an act of racism, cases of which have reported a rise in the wake of Britain’s vote to leave the European Union (EU).

He wrote on Friday: “Kicked out of the overnight camping line for centre court Wimbledon line ‘because you make some people around you uncomfortable, so we’re gonna have to report you and ask you to leave immediately, sir’“.

“Post-Brexit racism and the overt rise of neo-facism. Please advise how best to report this,” he said.

The sportsman who himself dreams of playing professional tennis was eventually allowed to enter the ground after re-queuing in the line a few hours later and made an official complaint about his treatment.

“I felt awful. I felt like I should’ve fought and negotiated but I backed down and silently left. I don’t feel like I’m ever going back now. It’s still one of my favourite tournaments but can no longer definitively say it’s a lifelong dream to play on centre court,” he was quoted as saying by Metro.

Dozens of people responded to his post saying he should report the “discrimination” to police.

A Wimbledon spokesperson said: “We can confirm that a gentleman was asked to leave the queue at 4.42am this morning (Friday) after a number of complaints from his fellow queuers about his behaviour.”

He has previously been warned about his conduct in The Queue on up to six separate occasions during this year’s Championships.

“We do acknowledge, however, that in this instance the event safety staff could have provided a better explanation to him. Happily, the same person has been in the Grounds today (Friday) watching the tennis,” he said.

But the man insists he did nothing that would warrant being escorted off the grounds, was not intoxicated, loud or aggressive and had not been previously warned about his behaviour.

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News Network
January 8,2020

Indore, Jan 8: Skipper Virat Kohli struck an unbeaten 30 as India beat Sri Lanka by seven wickets in the second Twenty20 international in Indore on Tuesday.

The hosts rode a 71-run opening stand between KL Rahul, who hit 45, and Shikhar Dhawan, who made 32, to chase down their target of 143 in 17.3 overs and take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series after the first match was rained off.

Leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga took the wickets of the Indian openers but Shreyas Iyer, who scored 34 before falling to paceman Lahiru Kumara, and Kohli, who hit the winning six, got the team home.

The third match is on Friday in Pune.

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News Network
May 8,2020

Karachi, May 8: A cricket museum based in India has bought a bat auctioned by Pakistan Test captain Azhar Ali to raise funds for the needy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Azhar had put two of his precious belongings -- the bat he used to score 302 runs against the West Indies in a Test in 2016 and the jersey he wore during the 2017 Champions Trophy final win over India -- on an online auction to raise funds for the people affected by the deadly disease.

Both the bat and jersey were signed by members of the Pakistan team.

Azhar announced on social media that he had kept a base price of one million each for the bat and jersey and they had sold for 2.2 million.

He confirmed that Blades of Glory Cricket Museum based in Pune bought the bat by making a winning offer of Rs. 1 million for the bat.

Azhar said that the auction of the shirt also generated a lot of interest and Kash Villani, a Pakistani based in California, came up with the highest bid of Rs. 1.1 million for the shirt before the conclusion of the auction.

Another Pakistani based in New Jersey, Jamal Khan also donated Rs. 100,000 for the cause.

"I put two of my closest belongings on auction with base price of 1 million PKR each to support people suffering due to ongoing crisis. Auction starts now and will close on 11:59 PM 05 May, 2020," Azhar had tweeted.

Ali became the first international player to score a test triple century in Day/Night Test when he scored an unbeaten 302 against the West Indies team in UAE in 2016.

"The shirt is from 2017 Champions Trophy which we won, it has the signature of all the players which were present in the squad," Ali said in a video posted on Twitter.

"Both these things are close to my heart but if it can be used in the difficult times for the benefit of the people I will more than happy."

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Agencies
January 26,2020

Mumbai, Jan 26: Boxing great Mary Kom has been selected for the Padma Vibhushan, the country's second highest civilian award. Olympic silver medallist and reigning badminton World Champion PV Sindhu has been named for Padma Bhushan as the names of Padma awardees were disclosed on Saturday on the eve of the 71st Republic Day.

Rated as one of the most successful amateur boxers of all time, Mary Kom won bronze at the 2012 London Olympics and has won gold at the boxing World Championships for a record six times. She has won a total of eight medals at the World Championships, the most recent of which came in October 2019 in Ulan Ude, Russia. The 36-year-old is now looking to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Sindhu became the only Indian woman to win an Olympic silver when she reached the final of the women's singles event at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazi. In August last year, the 24-year-old became the first Indian to win gold at the badminton World Championships.

She has also won two silver and two bronze medals at the World's in the past, thus making her only the second woman after Chinese two-time Olympic gold medallist Zhang Ning to win five medals in the competition.

Indian women's hockey captain Rani Rampal, who has been the face of women's hockey in the country and played a pivotal role in the team qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, is among those who have been nominated for the Padma Shri award.

Women's football stalwart Oinam Bembem Devi, former cricketer Zaheer Khan, shooter Jitu Rai, former hockey captain and coach M.P. Ganesh and archer Tarundeep Rai are the other sportspersons to be selected for the Padma Shri award.

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