Will work harder than ever for Olympic medal: Dipa Karmakar

April 22, 2016

New Delhi, Apr 22: A long cherished dream of qualifying for the Olympics achieved, India's history-making gymnast Dipa Karmakar on Thursday said that she will leave no stone unturned in her quest for a medal in the Rio Games later this year.

Dipa returned to a hero's welcome early in the morning three days after she became the first Indian woman to qualify for Olympics at a qualifying event in the same Brazilian city.

Karmakar"Since the time I started gymnastics, I wanted to compete at the Olympics. I had dreamt that one day I will compete at the Olympics and bring laurels for my country. I have qualified for the Olympics now," 22-year-old Dipa told reporters with a sigh of relief.

"Now, I will work harder than before and hopefully I can win a medal at the Rio Olympics. I will put every effort to ensure that I keep creating history. That is my target now," said Dipa who reached here after a 36-hour-long flight from Rio de Janeiro.

Asked about the effort she had to put in to qualify for the Olympics, the Tripura girl said, "I wanted to qualify for the Olympics last November during the World Championships (where she finished fifth). But that did not happen (a podium finish was required)."

"So, my target at the Rio Test event was to qualify at any cost and I am happy that I have achieved my target," Dipa said.

Dipa qualified in artistic gymnastics for the Olympics after she garnered a total score of 52.698 points. Apart from being the first Indian woman gymnast, she also became first from the country to qualify for the Olympics after 52 long years.

Since the independence of the country, 11 Indian male gymnasts have taken part in the Olympics (two in 1952, three in 1956 and six in 1964).

Despite all the accolades she has got after her feat, the Tripura girl sought to remain grounded and said she does not consider herself as a star sportsperson.

"I am not a star. Nothing like that. I don't think on those lines. My job is to keep working harder and bring laurels for the country. Doing well in the Olympics is my immediate target now," she said.

Asked if the infrastructure provided by the Sports Authority of India here would be good enough for her to prepare for the Olympics, Dipa said, "I think the infrastructure is good here. At the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, we have the foam pit (to protect gymnasts from dangerous falls) and SAI has promised me to bring a new springboard in two days time.

"Now my job is to focus on my training and do well at the Olympics. To do that, I need help from everyone in my endeavour."

Dipa dedicated her Olympic qualification to her long-time coach Bisheshwar Nandi who has been her coach since she was a six-year-old

"It was very difficult but I have got a great mentor because of whom, I am here. Without him nobody would have known my name. I dedicate my achievement to my coach," she said.

Asked about the Produnova vault she performed in Rio, which very few top gymnasts can do because of the risk involved, Dipa said, "To achieve something, you have to take risk. I am thankful that special arrangements were made at the Indira Gandhi Stadium where I practiced and learnt Produnova vault.

"Otherwise it would have been impossible. So, I am thankful to Sports Authority of India and also to Gymnastics Federation of India. The words of praise from the Prime Minister, Sports Minister and from other top sportspersons were really encouraging."

Nandi said that Dipa's best is yet to come and her hunger for perfection would take her to places.

"She is a girl hungry for perfection. She is stubborn also and she won't stop before doing something which she wants to do. These traits of her, I have used to my advantage," he said.

"The performance at the test event in Rio was her best so far but her best is yet to come. She can do better than this in Rio," he said.

Nandi, also from Agartala, refrained from making tall claims about the Olympics and simply said his ward will give her best and the result can be anything.

"I will not say anything about the results in Olympics. I will not make any predictions about Dipa. Gymnastics is a sport different from others. It is technical as well as unpredictable. Everything depends on the day of the event, on the performance.

"The best in the business can slip during the performance and anything can happen. So, we will try hard, very hard and give our best and keep fingers crossed," he said.

Dipa and Nandi will take a short break and spend some time in Tripura before starting intense preparation for the Rio Olympics.

"I think we do not need to go abroad for Dipa's training, we have good facilities at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium and SAI has promised that whatever is required will be provided to us. So, we will start our preparation very soon and we can achieve our target."

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News Network
January 27,2020

Hamilton, Jan 27: In awe of Jasprit Bumrah, New Zealand wicketkeeper Tim Seifert says the Indian speedster's subtle variations have been difficult to pick in the ongoing T20 series and his side needs to a learn a thing or two about adapting from the visitors.

India beat New Zealand by seven wickets in the second T20 International in Auckland on Sunday to grab a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.

Bumrah returned with figures of 1-21 from his four overs as Indian skipper Virat Kohli changed his bowling plans from the first game.

"Even in the first game, Bumrah bowled slower balls that were going wider. Normally, death bowlers get into straighter lines, plus yorkers and mix it with chest height. He kind of changes things a lot and is tougher to play," Seifert said.

"...the ball was holding a lot more which made it tougher. So sometimes as a batsman you have to move away from the stumps and see if they bowl straight. I was backing myself to do something different instead of just standing there at the wicket," said the stumper, who remained unbeaten on 33 off 26 balls.

"It was tricky and the ball was holding a little bit. When Kane (Williamson) got out in the over against Yuzvendra Chahal, we knew it was the over to push because they had Bumrah coming back," he added.

He said New Zealand batsmen need to take a cue from their Indian counterparts on how to adapt to different conditions quickly.

"...Indian batsmen showed how to get under the ball and time it. They showed it a couple of times that and on the slower wickets you just have to keep it like that. Once you lose your shape, you are not in position," he said.

"Try to get them (bowlers) off line or off balance, try to get into that position to hit good balls. That's T20 cricket as well. Sometimes it's going 100 per cent but some times you have to take a breath and re-assess. Indian batters did that well."

Seifert believes New Zealand bowlers did reasonably well in the two games but they have been outplayed by the Indian batsmen.

"To be honest, in the first game they were 110-1 and they had wickets in hand. We didn't bowl too badly in that first game. In the second game, we only got 130 and it is tough to bowl at Eden Park (with that total)," he said.

"170 was the target in mind but once you get 130 on the board, that was going to be very hard at Eden Park against a team that is very strong and playing really well. But our spinners were outstanding. Good balls have gone to boundary.

He said coming into the T20 series on the back of a lost Test rubber in Australia also didn't help New Zealand's cause in the first two games.

"Boys are coming off a Test series (in Australia) and a lot of them haven't played T20 cricket for a while," he said.

"But for some like me, I have had the Super Smash for the last two months, so I have played a lot of T20 cricket. They have two games under their belt now so hopefully they will have a better understanding."

Asked if New Zealand would want to play on India's strength of chasing, Seifert replied, "Even in ODI cricket, India have chased down big totals but I think on that wicket it was going to get slower and slower.

"But with that small target on Eden Park, something special has to happen with top six (for a collapse). One batsman got fifty and the other was batting very well. We needed top five-six in the first 10 overs," he said.

The Black Caps are still confident of bouncing back in the series.

The third T20 will be played here on Wednesday before back-to-back matches in Wellington and Mt Maunganui. Seifert said they would like to replicate the 2019 tour of India, where New Zealand came out 2-1 victorious in the three-match series.

"We have lost the first two games but we haven't played badly. We definitely haven't played our best though while India has played very well. If we lose the series on Wednesday, it is not the end of the world. But if we can turn things around, and win, we will take things from there," he said.

"We won the series 2-1 last time, so we have to treat it like a three match series again. But we have to treat it like the first two are must-win games."

"We are not playing our best at the moment. There are 20-odd games before the World Cup, and that tournament is the pinnacle, so we will get there (in preparation),” he signed off.

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Agencies
May 9,2020

Tokyo, May 9: As the world continues to grapple with coronavirus pandemic, the organisers of Tokyo Game Show have cancelled 2020 showpiece event.

TGS 2020 was slated to be played from September 24 to September 27 at the Makuhari Messe convention center. However, there now talks going on for holding an online event instead.

According to the Verge, this is the first time that TGS has ever been cancelled since it started in 1996.

TGS 2020 gained more attention because of its status as the last major trade show before the launch of the upcoming next-gen consoles, the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5.

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News Network
June 2,2020

New Delhi, Jun 2: Manchester United's Paul Pogba on Monday paid tribute to George Floyd, stressing that violent acts of racism can no longer be tolerated and they have to stop.

Pogba took to Instagram to write: "During the past few days I have thought a lot about how to express my feelings about what happened in Minneapolis. I felt anger, pity, hatred, indignation, pain, sadness."

"Sadness for George and for all black people who suffer from racism Every day! Whether in football, at work, at school, Anywhere! This has to stop, once and for all! Not tomorrow or the next day, it has to end today! Violent acts of racism can no longer be tolerated," he added.

Protests erupted in Minneapolis and other US cities on Tuesday after Floyd, an African-American man, died following his arrest by the four officers.

A viral video showed a police officer, Derek Chauvin, pinning 46-year-old Floyd to the ground with his knee on his neck for nearly eight minutes. Floyd died at a local hospital shortly thereafter.

The four police officers were fired. Chauvin was also charged with murder and manslaughter, according to Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman.

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zaki ahmed
 - 
Wednesday, 3 Jun 2020

This photograph in the above mentioned article is of Floyd Mayweather Jr , the world welterweight & super heavy weight champion & wrongly menitoned as Pogba .

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