Rampaging Vijender delivers hat-trick of knockout wins

December 20, 2015

Manchester, Dec 20: Star Indian boxer Vijender Singh continued his remarkably dominant run in the professional circuit, notching up a third successive knockout triumph by thrashing Bulgaria's Samet Hyuseinov in less than two rounds here today.

vijerndraBarely 35 seconds into the second round of what was to be his maiden six-round contest, Vijender cornered Hyuseinov with a flurry of combination punches to force the referee into stopping the bout and give the Indian a win via Technical Knockout.

The former Olympic and World Championships bronze-medallist thus continues to remain unbeaten since making his debut in October, all three of his wins being knockouts in under three rounds.

"I practice a lot when I am sparring so that helps me finish it off early in actual contest," Vijender said after the bout.

With a sizeable crowd in attendance to cheer him, Vijender walked in to the beats of 'Singh is King' and made sure that the song resonated well after he was done with the job inside the ring.

For all his tall talk before the bout, Hyuseinov looked intimidated the moment Vijender stepped in. While the Indian moved around confidently and had the Bulgarian on the backfoot with his telling jabs and piercing left uppercuts, Hyuseinov seemed clueless on whether to go all out or stick to counter-attack.

Vijender made full use of his longer reach and his opponent's confused strategy to complete a dominating first round. The 30-year-old then seemed in a hurry to finish off the contest in the second round and he did exactly that by simply pummelling Hyuseinov.

The assault was so fierce that referee stepped in to rescue the cowering Bulgarian, who had promised to send Vijender back to India "beaten and broken." The Haryana-lad, on his part, had vowed to answer inside the ring and he did that in style to walk away a deserving winner.

Vijender had beaten Sonny Whiting and Dean Gillen in his previous two bouts, both of which were to be four-round contests but lasted barely over two rounds.

Vijender, who would be coming to India tomorrow night for a break, said the victory was a Christmas present for all his fans.

"I am happy to get another knockout win and for making it 3-0. For this bout I had done a lot of physical hard work and have improved my technique also which helped to win against an opponent who had the experience of playing 14 bouts," Vijender said.

"I was confident of beating him. My win is a Christmas gift for all my Indian friends and fans and I am feeling happy that I am ending the year on a winning note," he added.

Hyuseinov was the most experienced opponent that Vijender faced so far and the Bulgarian had spoken about making that count in today's bout. After the comprehensive triumph, Vijender said it gave him immense satisfaction to outpunch his big-talking rival.

"Before my bout everyone was asking me that your opponent speaks a lot about giving you tough time in the ring but I think now my punches have replied to him and it will be lesson for future opponents also," he said.

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News Network
June 5,2020

Jun 5: The Asian Football Confederation has awarded the hosting rights of the 2022 Women's Asian Cup to India for the first time since 1979.

The decision was taken at the AFC Women's Football Committee meeting. In February, the AFC Women's Football Committee had recommended India to be hosts.

In a letter to the All India Football Federation, Dato Windsor John, General Secretary, AFC wrote: "The Committee awarded the hosting rights of the AFC Women's Asian Cup 2022 Finals to the All India Football Federation."

The tournament will likely be held in the second half of the year. In the 1979 edition, India had finished as runners-up.

"I need to thank the Asian Football Confederation for finding us suitable to host the AFC Women's Asian Cup in 2022," AIFF President, Praful Patel said.

"The tournament will galvanise the aspiring women players and bring in a holistic social revolution as far as women's football in the country is concerned," he added.

The tournament will feature 12 teams, expanded from the previous slot of eight teams.

India qualifies directly as hosts. The event will also serve as the final qualification tournament for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup.

The tournament comes as the latest boost to AIFF as India is slated to host the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup next year.

India had also hosted the AFC U-16 Championships in 2016 and the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2017.

"The tournament will play a huge role in further popularising women's football in India. The Women’s Asian Cup 2022 comes on the back of the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup India 2020, and will help us sustain, and build on the momentum gained," AIFF General Secretary, Kushal Das said.

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News Network
February 4,2020

Feb 4: India captain Virat Kohli on Tuesday said the death of NBA legend Kobe Bryant in a helicopter crash has impacted his outlook towards life, which he feels, is sometimes taken for granted in pursuit of control over the future.

Bryant, a two-time Olympic gold-medallist and one of the most decorated basketball players of all time, died in a helicopter crash last month along with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, who was also a budding hoopster.

"Firstly, it was a shock to everyone. I grew up watching those NBA games in the morning and watching what he did on court. But when someone that you have looked up to in some ways, passes away like that, it does put things in perspective," Kohli said on the eve of the first ODI against New Zealand here.

"...at the end of the day, life can be so fickle. It's so unpredictable. I think a lot of the times we get too caught up in the pressures of what we have to do tomorrow...we really forget living life and enjoying life and just appreciating and being grateful for the life we have," he added.

Kohli said a tragedy like this makes one realise that nothing can be more important than enjoying every moment of existence.

"...it did put things in perspective for me massively. It just makes you feel like not wanting to have control of things in front of you all the time, and just embracing life and appreciating it.

"You start looking at things from a different point of view suddenly and you want to enjoy every moment you're going through. You realise that what you're doing at the end of the day is not the most important thing. The most important thing is life itself," Kohli signed off.

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March 2,2020

Mar 2: Indian captain Virat Kohli was left frustrated and deflated as New Zealand won the second Test inside three days in Christchurch on Monday to sweep the series.

India started the day at 90 for six and were all out for 124, before New Zealand chased down the required 132 to win for the loss of three wickets in 36 overs.

It ended a disappointing tour for India and Kohli as New Zealand, who won the first Test by 10 wickets early on day four, wrapped up the series with ease.

New Zealand are now unbeaten in their last 13 home Tests, winning nine of them, and in the past decade their record as hosts is played 39, won 20, drawn 13 and lost five.

In the latest series, on traditional New Zealand green wickets, India managed scores of 165, 191, 242 and 124, reflecting the low contributions from Kohli of 2, 19, 3 and 14.

Kohli came to New Zealand as the world's top Test batsman and oozing charm as he described New Zealand as the “nice guys” of cricket.

But during the series he lost his top ranking to Australian Steve Smith and when Kane Williamson went for three in the first innings of the second Test the pressure showed when he gave the New Zealand skipper a very animated send-off.

There was further evidence of frustration when he was caught on camera yelling an obscenity at a group of New Zealand supporters on Sunday.

The end came quickly for India on day three as Tim Southee and Trent Boult tormented the batsmen with their variety of inswing and outswing deliveries targeting both sides of the stumps.

Hanuma Vihari was the first to fall, in Southee's second over, when he turned a legside delivery too fine and was caught by BJ Watling diving to his left.

Five balls later and with no addition to the score, India's other overnight batsman Rishabh Pant was caught behind off a Boult delivery that swung away.

Mohammed Shami was caught for five by Tom Blundell at deep mid-wicket and Jasprit Bumrah was run out when trying to give the strike to Ravindra Jadeja, who was unbeaten on 16.

Boult and Southee signed for most of the dismissals with Boult taking four for 28 and Southee three for 36. The swing pair accounted for 25 of the 40 Indian wickets in the series.

There was enough seam and swing available for India to keep the New Zealand batsmen guessing but Bumrah and Umesh Yadav were unable to apply consistent pressure and Mohammed Shami was troubled by a sore shoulder.

New Zealand coasted through a century opening stand by Tom Latham and Blundell before losing three quick wickets.

Latham notched his 18th half-century and second of the Test before he was caught behind off Yadav for 52, Kane Williamson had a short stay for five, and Blundell went for 55.

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