Unbeaten Vijender to take on Hungary's Alexander Horvath in fourth pro bout

February 26, 2016

London, Feb 26: Unbeaten with demolishing victories in the previous three contests, star Indian boxer Vijender Singh will take on a slightly more experienced Hungarian Alexander Horvath in his fourth professional bout on March 12 in Liverpool.

VijenderVijender is preparing for a homecoming to India in June when he will fight maiden title bout -- the WBO Asia belt.

The in-form middleweight has been unbeaten in the circuit, having clinched all his three wins by knockouts in only six rounds of action since his pro debut last October.

Vijender will have no time to rest as he has another big fight lined up just three weeks' later at the Harrow Sports Centre, London, as he builds towards his ground-breaking title opportunity in India.

Horvath comes into the fight against Vijender with a record of five wins from seven fights. The 20-year-old has the edge in experience over Singh with 31 rounds under his belt and has no fear of fighting abroad, taking bouts in Slovakia and France.

"It's my absolute dream to fight back home in India in front of my countrymen and women so I won't let Horvath get in my way of that at all," stated Vijender Singh.

"I need to continue my unbeaten record and it's important that I put on a commanding performance against Horvath and then next at Harrow to keep on course for my title shot and my homecoming," he said.

Speaking about his opponent, Vijender said he does not consider Hungarian a major threat.

"Horvath is a good solid opponent, maybe he will give me a few new tests, he has done more rounds than me and has a bit more experience, but will that compete with the power that I have and when I start landing my shots. I don't believe that he'll be standing around for too long," he said.

"I'm really excited as this is my first fight of the year and there are big plans ahead so I aim to make a very big statement of intent in Liverpool against Horvath that will show that I'm ready to fight for a title later this year."

Horvath said he has seen plenty of weaknesses in Vijender and he can be the first man to exploit them and inflict the first defeat to shatter his homecoming title dreams.

"Three before me have tried and failed to beat Singh, so now I will finally end this pretender's hope of winning a title," said Horvath.

"Everyone who has gone into the ring with him seem like they are a rabbit in headlights. I have seen nothing from Singh that worries me or causes sleepless nights so I'm fully confident going into the fight and ready to knock him out.

"I hope that his chin is ready for the punches that I will be landing on them because for once he will be put under a real test by me," he added.

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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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News Network
January 28,2020

Gibraltar, Jan 28: Young Indian Grand Master R Praggnanandhaa pulled off a huge upset, beating former world champion Veselin Topalov in the sixth round of the 18th Gibraltar chess festival to record his fifth straight win here.

The 14-year-old Chennai lad needed just 33 moves to put it across the Bulgarian. He had started with a loss against compatriot P V Nandhidhaa but since then he has been on a winning spree.

Praggnanandhaa, who recently won the world under-18 title, said: "It was very tough to prepare against him."

He is in second spot on five points with six other players and will take on Chinese GM Wang Hao in the seventh round.

Seventeen-year-old Russian GM Andrey Esipenko jumped to sole lead with 5.5 points with a win over Georgia's Ivan Cheparinov

The Russian player would be unpaired in the seventh round as he decided to take a bye.

A bunch of players including Indians — B Adhiban, K Sasikiran, Shardul Gagare, Karthikeyan Murali, SL Narayanan — are in joint third place with 4.5 points.

Adhiban beat Gabriel Flom, while D Gukesh, the world's second youngest Grand Master ever, defeated Martin Percivaldi to move to four points.

Also winning were Karthikeyan Murali against Qi B Chen and Gagare over France's Maxime Lagarde.

Top-seed Shakhriyar Mamedyarov's moderate run continued as he was held to a draw by GM Aryan Chopra.

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Agencies
June 8,2020

New Delhi, Jun 8: Indian pacer S Sreesanth has slammed England all-rounder Ben Stokes for questioning MS Dhoni's intent during a World Cup match, saying that the former captain will end Stokes' career.

Stokes in his book titled 'On Fire' had questioned Dhoni's intent during India's 31-run defeat at the hands of England in the premier tournament last year.

"For Ben Stokes, I will only say that you should pray that Dhoni does not play against you in the future. Dhoni does not forget things easily," Sreesanth said during a Live session on Helo.

"I wish Stokes all the best for whenever he faces Dhoni again, be it IPL or an England vs India match. You must be earning in millions now, Dhoni Bhai will end your career. Dhoni will strike the ball everywhere and he (Stokes) can never dismiss Dhoni. Before he (Stokes) opens his mouth, he should make sure to wear a helmet," he added.

Former West Indies pacer Michael Holding had also come out in support of Dhoni and said that the wicket-keeper batsman wanted to win the match against England.

"Well, people will write anything in books these days, because people are a lot more free with their opinions and when they are writing books, they need to be making headlines at times," Holding had said on his official YouTube channel.

"...It was not the game that India had to win, but I don't think anyone can say that was a team tactic to lose the game. I watched that game and it appeared to me as if India weren't putting up their 100 percent, but I realised it was not the case when the expression on MS Dhoni's face told me that he desperately wanted to win, so I do not think it was a team decision to not try to win," he had added.

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