South Asian Games: India's archers on target, women's football team disappoints

February 6, 2016

Shillong, Feb 6: Returning from a prolonged layoff, defending champion Tarundeep Rai produced his best along with country's Olympic hope Deepika Kumari to top their respective qualification rounds as India reigned supreme in recurve archery competitions of the 12th South Asian Games here.

AsianGames

India also topped in the compound section with Abhishek Verma and Purvasha Shende claiming the honours in men's and women's sections respectively at the Polo ground.

Following the Asian Games protocol, two archers from each country made the cut into the elimination round as India's Olympian archer Jayanta Talukdar made an exit with promising Army archer Gurucharan Besra (666 points) making the last-16 along with topper Tarundeep, who logged 676.

The next best was Bangladeshi Sojeb Shiek who had a score of 653 to finish third in the men's recurve.

Having finished top two, the Indian duo will get a bye into the quarters as they also topped the team event along with Jayanta Talukdar as the hosts will get a bye into the semifinals of the team event which has a draw of eight.

In the women's recurve event, former world number one Deepika lived up to her expectation to finish top along with Bombayla Devi Laishram with scores of 668 and 646 respectively as Laxmirani Majhi, who had won the national ranking here in January, failed to make the cut.

Laxmirani with scores of 632 joined Deepika and Bombayla in the team event as India also topped in the women's recurve section.

However, there was disappointment for reigning champions India as they had to be content with a goalless draw against lower-ranked Maldives in the women's football competition, the only other discipline that kicked off the Shillong leg of the SAG here.

Nepal, meanwhile, shocked Bangladesh 3-0 in the women's football to top the group.

The Indian eves dominated the proceedings but could not find a goal as Maldives, who are ranked 129 in FIFA women's football compared to India's 57, stole a point.

It was a display of attacks after attacks by the eves but the only missing link was finding the net as none of their raids resulted in a goal.

Coached by Sajid Yousuf Dar, the Indian eves played with a 4-3-3 formation but their forwards could not find their coordination going.

"It's disappointing we could not capitalise on our chances and find a goal. We did not expect this but we must give credit to their defence who stood out," the Indian coach said.

Sajid further said it would be tough for the defending champions from now as the top two will only make the final but he hoped the return of their star forward Bala Devi against Sri Lanka on February 9 will "make a difference".

India almost had all the possesion in the second-half with Maldives defence kept on toes all the while.

Indian forward Sasmita Mallick had some attacking moves from the left flank but she had very little assistance from central forward Kamala Devi as several of their first-half raids went in vain.

After the changeover, Indian eves scored a goal but the linesman showed the flag out ruling it an off-side.

It was a moral victory for the Maldives, their Japanese coach Naoko Kawamoto said as she credited the entire side, especially defender duo of Aminath Zaahiya and Sanfa Ibrahim Didi.

"It was tough playing conditon in the severe cold climate and some of our players had breathing problem but our defence stood out and warded off all their challenges," Kawamoto said.

Maldives will next take on table leaders Nepal on February 7.

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Agencies
August 2,2020

New Delhi, Aug 2: BCCI president Sourav Ganguly on Sunday said the Women's IPL or the Challenger series, as it is better known, is "very much on", ending speculation about the parent body not having a plan for Harmanpreet Kaur and her team.

The men's IPL will be held between September 19 and November 8 or 10 (final date yet to be locked in) in the UAE due to the surge in Covid-19 cases in India. The women's IPL will also be fit in to the schedule, according to the BCCI chief.

"I can confirm to you that the women's IPL is very much on and we do have a plan in place for the national team also," Ganguly told PTI ahead of the IPL Governing Council meeting later on Sunday.

The BCCI president, who is awaiting a Supreme Court verdict on waiver of the cooling-off period to continue in the position, did not divulge details but another senior official privy to the development said that women's Challenger will be held during the last phase of IPL like last year.

"The women's Challenger series is likely to be held between November 1-10 and there could be a camp before that," the source said.

The former India captain also said that the centrally contracted women players will have a camp which has been delayed due to the prevailing situation in the country.

"We couldn't have exposed any of our cricketers -- be it male or female to health risk. It would have been dangerous," Ganguly said.

"The NCA also remained shut because of Covid-19. But we have a plan in place and we will have a camp for women, I can tell you that," he added.

The BCCI's cricket operations team is chalking up a schedule where Indian women are likely to have two full-fledged white-ball series against South Africa and the West Indies before playing the ODI World Cup in New Zealand. 

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News Network
January 8,2020

Indore, Jan 8:  India skipper Virat Kohli has added yet another feather to his cap by becoming the fastest player to score 1,000 runs in T20I cricket as a captain. Kohli played an unbeaten knock of 30 during India''s seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the second T20I of the ongoing three-match series on Tuesday evening.

Kohli achieved the milestone of scoring 1,000 runs as captain in his 30th T20I inning. He is the second Indian and sixth overall after MS Dhoni to have achieved the feat. Dhoni had scored 1112 runs in 62 T20I games as captain.

Faf du Plessis (1273 runs from 40 games), Kane Williamson (1083 runs in 39 games), Eoin Morgan (1013 runs in 43 games) and Ireland''s William Porterfield (1002 runs in 56 games) are other captains on the list.

During India''s emphatic victory at the Holkar Stadium, Kohli also surpassed team-mate Rohit Sharma, who has been rested for the series, as the top run-getter in the T20Is. Kohli now has 2663 runs from 71 innings.

Both had finished 2019 as joint top-scorers in T20Is, with 2633 runs each.

India, already with an unassailable lead of 1-0 in the series, will now face Sri Lanka in the final T20I on Friday in Pune. The first match between the two teams was called off without a ball being bowled due to wet patches on the pitch in Guwahati last Sunday.

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News Network
March 7,2020

Melbourne, Mar 7: Ahead of the Women's T20 World Cup against Australia, India spinner Poonam Yadav said that skipper Harmanpreet Kaur has given her a lot of support.

"Harmanpreet has been of immense support. When I got hit for a six in the first over, she came to me and said, 'Poonam, you're one of the most experienced players in the team, and we expect better of you'," Poonam said.

The 28-year-old experienced bowler has played 68 shortest format games for India and taken 94 wickets at an average of 22.66.

She has been in devastating form throughout the tournament and has bagged nine wickets so far.

"So, that kind of stirred something within me. I told myself if my captain has that much faith in me, I should be able to make a comeback," she said.

"I took a wicket in the very next ball, and didn't look back since. Now when I look back at that moment, it means so much in the context of my individual performance and run to the final," she added.

In the opening game against Australia at Sydney Showground, Poonam came within a whisker of the third hat-trick in Women's T20 World Cup history, dismissing Rachael Haynes and Ellyse Perry before Jess Jonassen was dropped.

The final of the tournament will be played at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on March 8 -- International Women's Day.

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