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
April 24,2020

New Delhi, Apr 24: Veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh said he doesn't think Mahendra Singh Dhoni will play for India again, adding to the guessing game over the future of the superstar former captain.

Dhoni, 38, has not appeared for club or country since last year's 50-over World Cup and India's coronavirus lockdown could threaten his chances of getting back into the national team.

The Indian Premier League, the main platform before this year's scheduled T20 World Cup, is likely to be truncated or cancelled because of the pandemic.

Harbhajan, who plays with Dhoni at IPL side Chennai Super Kings, said international retirement was on the cards for Dhoni and that he was increasingly being asked about his teammate.

"It's up to him. You need to know whether he wants to play for India again," Harbhajan said in an online forum.

"As far as I know him, he won't want to wear India's blue jersey again. IPL he will play, but for India I think he had decided the (2019) World Cup was his last."

Dhoni, who gave up Test cricket in 2014, started training for the Super Kings in March but has not commented on his international future.

Dhoni led India to win the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup in 2007. He hit a six to seal the 2011 World Cup final victory and, along with it, his status as a national hero. He has amassed 10,773 runs from 350 ODIs.

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News Network
April 28,2020

Chennai, Apr 28: Former Karnataka batsman J Arun Kumar was on Tuesday appointed coach of the USA cricket team and listed earning a Test status, by his own admission a "far-fetched" thought at the moment, among his long-term goals.

Jak, as he is known in the cricketing circles, has worked with the Karnataka team for several years and as batting coach with IPL franchise Kings XI Punjab.

"... Following an exhaustive recruitment process, former first class Ranji Trophy and IPL player and coach, J Arun Kumar, had been identified as the preferred candidate for the next men's head coach," USA Cricket chief executive Iain Higgins said on its website.

The CEO added, "He travelled to the USA to meet support staff, selectors and players at a talent camp in Houston and to continue those discussions with us.

"I'm delighted to say that we have subsequently reached agreement with Jak that he will take up the role and be permanently based in the United States as and when his working visa has been obtained."

Arun Kumar was also in charge of a fledgling Puducherry team before quitting in February owing to differences with the association officials.

The COVID-19 pandemic has however prevented a prompt departure for the United States.

"Of course, the COVID-19 crisis has now presented some challenges around the scope of the role in the short/medium term, but we look forward to completing all of the arrangements and to welcoming him more formally in due course," Higgins said.

Arun kumar, who scored over 7,200 runs in first-class cricket and over 3,000 runs in List 'A' games, had guided Karnataka to a treble for two successive seasons -- Ranji Trophy, Vijay Hazare Trophy and Irani Cup -- in 2013-14 and 2014-15.

Delighted to get the role, the 45-year old said he has a vision for USA cricket, including making it a Test-playing nation.

"The first thing is based on my visa and when the coronavirus situation will end in the US, so it's all based on that. At what time my visa will be approved, that's when I will be heading there.

"There are long, mid and short-term goals and my vision obviously will be that the USA in the coming years will be one of the Test playing nations.

"It's a far-fledged goal, but yes, that's the vision and as of now the short term will be World Cup league.

"We will have to be the top side in that and then go to the next level," Arun Kumar told PTI in an interaction.

He further said the immediate aim is to get the team together after a bad run in Nepal.

"Priority is to get the team together, we had a bad run in Nepal, so obviously the team is on little down slide, so we will get up and the immediate short-term goal is to get in touch with players.

"This lockdown gives us time to actually know each other, although we are spread out in different parts of the country, and it is gives us time to connect better and work on certain mental and tactical aspects of the game," he added.

Arun Kumar had been in the US briefly some time ago and had met some officials, selectors and players at a camp in Houston.

"I met some officials, selectors and players at a talent camp in Houston and got an insight of what I can expect in the future and based on those we have designed a pathway for junior to senior cricket and women's cricket.

"It is a work in progress," he said.

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News Network
March 23,2020

Colombo, Mar 23: Sri Lankan batting great Kumar Sangakkara has said he is currently in self-quarantine, following his government's guidelines for those recently returning from Europe, which has now become the epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The authorities are concerned over people returning from the most-affected COVID-19 countries in Europe not registering with the police and practising isolation.

"I have no symptoms or anything like that, but I'm following government guidelines," Sangakkara told News First.

"I arrived from London over a week ago and the first thing was there was a news bulletin saying that anyone who had travelled from within March 1 to 15 should register themselves with the police and undergo self-quarantine. I registered myself with the police."

The former captain said this even as the government confirmed there have been at least three cases of recent returnees attempting to hide the novel coronavirus symptoms from authorities.

Both Sangakkara and his former teammate Mahela Jayawardene have been active on social media, urging Sri Lankans to avoid panic and to exercise proper social distancing, as the country went into curfew on Friday evening.

Sri Lanka has so far reported more than 80 active COVID-19 positive cases in the country.

Across the world, the number of infected has crossed three lakh besides a death toll of more than 14,000 people.

Meanwhile, former Australia pacer Jason Gillespie has also gone into a two-week isolation after returning from the United Kingdom.

Gillespie, who is the head coach at Sussex, had been in Cape Town with the team for a pre-season tour, which was cut short as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.

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