Vijender Singh offers to return title, wants peace with China

Agencies
August 6, 2017

Mumbai, Aug 6: Boxer, Vijender Singh has offered to return his WBO Oriental Super Middleweight title to Chinese Zulpikar Maimaitiali in lieu of peace at the Indo-China border.

Vijender, a double champion in pro boxing, has urged India and China to maintain peace at the border.

The 31-year-old Olympic bronze medallist grew in stature last night by not just outslugging Maimaitiali in a close bout to annex the dual WBO Asia Pacific Super Middleweight and WBO Oriental Super Middleweight title, but by also urging for peace.

"To India-China friendship (I dedicate my title), because the tension on the border is not good because I see on social media, news, it keeps getting on and on and that's not good. I give this title to people, peace, it's all about friendship, Hindi-Chini bhai bhai," Vijender said during a media interaction.

Vijender's comments came in the backdrop of the stand-off between India and China.

He won the thrilling 10-round bout by one of the closest unanimous decisions 96-93 95-94 95-94 to maintain his unbeaten streak at the professional boxing.The bonhomie between the two boxers was evident as Zulpikar hugged Vijender and made him wear his cap. Vijender also returned the gesture by offering his belt to the Chinese boxer.

Vijender said, "He (Zulpikar) gave me that cap, he said I asked him for the cap and he gave it to me, I simply gave him the belt but he couldn't understand it."The Beijing Games bronze medallist admitted that he did not expect the fight to go down the wire.

"The fight was really good, I didn't expect (it will go all the way), it was 10 rounds, at times the Chinese products last a little long, it was an amazing fight and fun! The fight was tough and a lot of blood oozed out, but finally win was ours, it was nice," he said.

During the fight, the southpaw hit Vijender below the belt and the Indian said that he was disturbed by it.

"As you have seen, 3-4 times he (Zulpikar) hit below the belt and that disturbed me, that was a foul and the refree gave him a warning.

"It's painful and it disturbed your game, you have planned in the mind and when you get that kind of below the belt punches, that distracts you. He is young kid, strong kid, but it's all about winning," said Vijender, who was floored on numerous occasions.

Asked if he was confident of winning, the Indian said, "I am a positive person and I never think of losing, it's all about scoring and rounds, the first six rounds were so good, my coach (Lee Beard) was saying it's going round to round and winning every round (was important)."

Vijender also said he wants to challenge for the world championship soon."Just pray for me, one day I will be a world champion. I would like to thank everyone who came for this fight. It was great to see you all," he signed off.

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News Network
April 21,2020

New Delhi, Apr 21: India skipper Virat Kohli on Tuesday said people seem to have become more compassionate while coping with the COVID-19 pandemic and hoped the sense of gratitude towards frontline workers like doctors and police personnel remains even after the crisis is over.

Speaking in an online class organised by "Unacademy", Kohli and his actor wife Anushka Sharma spoke at length about the challenges they faced before tasting success.

"The one positive out of this crisis that we as a society have become more compassionate. We are showing more gratitude to the frontline workers in this war, be it police personnel, doctors or nurses.

"I hope it stays this way even after we overcome this crisis," said Kohli with Sharma seated next to her.

Kohli said the pandemic has taught the world a very important lesson.

"Life is unpredictable. So, do what makes you happy and not get into comparisons all the time. People have a choice now how to come out of this phase. Life is going to be different after this," said the skipper.

For Sharma, the pandemic has forced people to care about the basics in life.

"There is a learning in all of this. Nothing happens without a reason. If the frontline workers were not there, we would not have access to basics," she said..

"This has taught us that no one is special than the other. Health is everything. We are more connected as a society now," she added.

During the session, Kohli was asked about the moment when he felt most helpless.

"I felt nothing was working for me when I was not picked for the state team initially. I cried the whole night and asked my coach 'why did I not get selected'?" he responded.

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Agencies
April 25,2020

London, Apr 25: Former Australian cricketer Graeme Watson who was fighting cancer, has died at the age of 75.

Primarily a middle-order batsman and a medium-pace bowler, he featured in five Tests from 1967 to 1972 and two ODIs in 1972, ESPNcricinfo reported.

The all-rounder earned the national call during the 1966-67 tour of Rhodesia and South Africa. Watson slammed a half-century in the first innings of the second Test of the series.

However, the medium-pace bowler was ruled of the next test after suffering an ankle injury. He returned for the fourth Test in Johannesburg where scalped his career-best 2 for 67 but failed to leave a mark with the bat as Kangaroos lost the series.

In 1971-72 he moved to Western Australia and played a major role in their Sheffield-Shield win in 1971-72, 1972-73, and 1974-75 seasons.

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News Network
April 12,2020

Mumbai, Apr 12: Always eager to share his vast knowledge and experience, cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar has interacted with 12,000 doctors on sports injuries.

In his over two decade long illustrious career, Tendulkar suffered many health issues, the most prominent being the tennis elbow injury.

The veteran of 200 Tests and 463 ODIs, got to know through one Dr Sudhir Warrier, an orthopaedic surgeon, that several young doctors across the country were utilising the lockdown time to effectively gain knowledge on sports injuries through live webinars.

A session on sports injuries was held on Saturday and Tendulkar, knowing that his experiences will help these doctors, volunteered to be a part of it.

Tendulkar, accordingly, interacted with around 12,000 doctors, who attended the session.

It is reliably leanrt that the 46-year-old legend said he was grateful to the medical fraternity for their service.

During the session, the young orthopaedic doctors got to know how the requirements and treatment outcomes of athletes are different from regular patients, sources said.

Dr Warrier moderated the session with Dr Nitin Patel, physiotherapist, who has worked with Indian cricket team and IPL franchise Mumbai Indians.

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