Ritu rested, Deepika to lead India women at Hawke's Bay Cup

March 18, 2016

New Delhi, Mar 18: Hockey India (HI) on Thursday decided to rest captain Ritu Rani for the eight-nation Hawke's Bay Cup to be held in New Zealand from April 2-10 as it announced the women's squad to be led by defender Deepika.

rituAce midfielder Ritu, leading the side since 2012, is currently part of the national camp in the Sports Authority of India (SAI) centre in Bengaluru. But she will not travel with the 18-member squad to Hasting, New Zealand in order to be in perfect shape in the Olympic year.

"There are no injury issues with her (Ritu). She is training with us. She has been rested," senior forward Poonam Rani said.

In place of Ritu, seasoned Deepika has been assigned the responsibility of captaining the side. P. Sushila Chanu will be her deputy.

"It's an important tournament for us especially in an Olympic year. A good performance in New Zealand will definitely boost our confidence. The team has players with enough talent and skills to get the better of some of the higher ranked teams in our pool," said Deepika.

India, currently ranked 13th according to the latest world rankings have been grouped in Pool B with New Zealand (4th), China (5th) and Ireland (15th). Apart from India, both New Zealand and China have also qualified for the Olympics.

Pool A consists of Australia, Korea, Japan and Canada. The pool league matches will determine the seeding for the quarter-finals with all eight teams proceeding to the knock-out stage.

The challenge for the Indian team would be to improve upon their last year's seventh place finish. India will take on the formidable hosts in their opening encounter on April 2, before going up against Ireland on April 3 and China on April 5.

Training under the vigilant eyes of chief coach Neil Hawgood, the Indian eves will be aiming to put up an improved show in the tournament and further fuel their spirit ahead of the most crucial 2016 Rio Olympics.

"The Hawke's Bay Cup will give the team a useful competition exposure. We will be trying out some new combinations and strategies," Hawgood said.

"It's also a good opportunity to test the bench strength. Our preparations have been good and we are hoping for a good performance in New Zealand," the Australian coach, who is in his second stint with the side, added.

The squad:

Goalkeepers: Savita, Rajani Etimarpu

Defenders: Deep Grace Ekka, Deepika (captain), Sunita Lakra, Sushila Chanu Pukhrambam (vice captain), H. Lalruatfeli, Namita Toppo, Nikki Pradhan.

Midfielders: Lilima Minz, Navjot Kaur, Monika, Preeti Dubey.

Forwards: Rani Rampal, Poonam Rani, Vandana Kataria, Anuradha Devi Thokchom, Sonika

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News Network
March 28,2020

Milan, Mar 28: Juventus star Paulo Dybala revealed how he "struggled to breathe" after contracting coronavirus which has killed over 9,000 people in Italy.

The Argentine international announced last Saturday he was one of three Juventus players to catch the virus along with Daniele Rugani and Blaise Matuidi, who both had no symptoms.

"I feel better now after some strong symptoms," the 26-year-old Dybala told JTV channel.

"A couple of days ago I was not well, I felt heavy and after five minutes of movement I had to stop because I was struggling to breathe.

"Now I can move and walk to start trying to train, because when I tried in the past few days I started to shake too much.

"I gasped for air and as a result I couldn't do anything, after five minutes I was already very tired, I felt the body heavy and my muscles hurt.

"Now I'm fine. My fiancee Oriana (Sabatini) has also overcome the symptoms."

Dybala has scored 13 goals in all competitions this season, including in league leader's Juventus's last game against Inter Milan before Serie A and all sport in Italy was suspended.

"The goal against Inter was the greatest emotion, (Aaron) Ramsey provided the perfect assist - it's a pity that there was no public," added Dybala.

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News Network
June 13,2020

Mumbai, Jun 13: Vasant Raiji, who was India's oldest first-class cricketer at 100, died in Mumbai in the wee hours of Saturday.

Raiji was 100 years old and is survived by his wife and two daughters.

"He (Raiji) passed away at 2.20 am in his sleep at his residence in Walkeshwar in South Mumbai due to old-age," his son-in-law Sudarshan Nanavati told PTI.

Raiji, a right-handed batsman, played nine first-class matches in the 1940s, scoring 277 runs with 68 being his highest score.

He made his debut for a Cricket Club of India team that played Central Provinces and Berar in Nagpur in 1939.

His Mumbai debut happened in 1941 when the team played Western India under the leadership of Vijay Merchant.

Raiji, also a cricket historian and chartered accountant, was 13 when India played its first Test match at the Bombay Gymkhana in South Mumbai.

Cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar and former Australian skipper Steve Waugh had paid a courtesy visit to Raiji at his residence in January when he had turned 100.

It has been learnt that the cremation will take place at the Chandanwadi crematorium in South Mumbai on Saturday afternoon.

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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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