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
July 3,2020

Karachi, Jul 3: Pakistan limited overs captain Babar Azam is tired of his constant comparisons with India skipper Virat Kohli and says he would rather be compared to the greats at home.

Babar, six years younger to Kohli, has a long way to go in getting close to Kohli's staggering numbers across formats. The India skipper has 70 hundreds to his name and averages more than 50 in all three formats.

"I would be more happy if you compare to me say a Javed Miandad, Muhammad Yousuf or Younis Khan. Why compare me to Kohli or any Indian player?" asked the 25-year-old, who is in England with the national team, said in an online media interaction on Thursday.

Babar has scored 16 international hundreds and averages more than 50 in ODIs and T20s. In 26 Tests, he has scored 1850 runs at 45.12.

He also said that he is not targeting any English bowler for the series next month.

"I don’t see who the bowler is or his reputation. I just try to play each ball on merit. England no doubt has a top bowling attack and they have advantage of playing at home but this is a challenge I want to score runs in," he said.

Before the squad’s departure for England, Pakistan batting coach Younis Khan said that pacer Joffra Archer will be a handful for the Pakistani batsmen.

Babar said that he would try to play every English bowler on merit but conceded that after getting runs in Australia last year, he was keen to leave his footprint in the coming Test and T20 series in England.

Reminded that some former Test players had already written off Pakistan for the England series, Babar said they were entitled to their opinion.

"But we don’t have a bad team and already we have been enjoying our training. It is good to be back on the field after such a long lay-off. I think we have the bowlers to trouble them like Abbas, Naseem, Shaheen and others while we have some experience in our batting line-up."

Babar said he would love to get a triple century in a Test match.

"When you score a century, you naturally want to go on and convert that into a double or a triple century. This is something I would like to do during the Test series.

"I like to play my natural game but my selection of shots depends on the conditions and bowlers."

Babar also ruled out any problems in the Pakistan dressing room due to the presence of former skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed, who was sacked last year.

But he said that since Muhammad Rizwan had been playing in all formats for Pakistan in recent times, he would be the starting keeper in the Test series ahead of Sarfaraz.

"I think we first have to give Rizwan a proper chance and Sarfaraz is there as back up."

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Agencies
August 5,2020

New Delhi, Aug 5: As Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, Bollywood celebrities have taken it to their social media platforms to express their excitement and shared their thoughts.

Taking to Twitter handle, senior Bollywood actor Anupam Kher extended his best wishes to his legion of followers for the Ram Janmabhoomi Pujan.

While 'Masti' actor Riteish Deshmukh, on the micro-blogging site tweeted multiple hashtag 'Jai Shree Ram' to mark the historic day.

'Queen' actor, Kangana Ranaut's official Twitter handle team wrote: "What could not happen in 500 years happened this year.... this is not picture of the day but the moment of many centuries #JaiShreeRam #RamMandirAyodhya"

Actor Kirron Kher, legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar, filmmaker Ashok Pandit and others also marked the day and expressed their excitement.

Earlier, evergreen star Hema Malini, through an audio recording congratulated the devotees of Lord Ram on the occasion.

The Mathura MP expressed her excitement on the foundation stone-laying ceremony of the much-awaited Ram Temple.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi performed the special Bhoomi Poojan at Ayodhya ahead of the foundation stone laying ceremony.

He also released a commemorative postage stamp on 'Shree Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir'. Earlier, Prime Minister Modi had offered prayers at the Hanuman Garhi Temple in Ayodhya.

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News Network
January 31,2020

Wellington, Jan 31: A nervous New Zealand threw it away yet again as a perseverant India prevailed in the Super Over for the second successive time to take a 4-0 lead in the T20 International series on Friday.

Needing just 11 runs off the last two overs with seven wickets in hand, New Zealand dug a hole for themselves yet again, taking the game to a Super Over two nights after doing the same in Hamilton.

New Zealand managed 13 runs in six balls and India got there effortlessly.

KL Rahul smashed 10 runs off the first two balls before he was caught. Then, a fired-up Virat Kohli and Sanju Samson finished the game in style.

Earlier, Manish Pandey proved his value to the team with an unbeaten 50 off 35 balls, taking India to 165 for eight from 88 for six in the 12th over.

India's total wasn't enough considering the batting-friendly conditions but the hosts made life a lot tougher for themselves from a commanding position before succumbing to pressure.

The entertaining knocks from Colin Munro (64 off 47) and Time Seifert went in vain (57 off 39).

Mohammed Shami, who was rested on Friday, had bowled a brilliant 20th over on Wednesday and man of the match Shardul Thakur was up to the task this time, conceding just six runs when the opposition needed seven for victory.

With the series already in the bag, India gave opportunity to Sanju Samson, Washington Sundar and Navdeep Saini for the first time in the five-match series, resting Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja and Shami. However, none of them was able to make an impact in the game.

Chasing 165, New Zealand lost Martin Guptill early. But Munro and Seifert put on 74 runs for the second wicket to put themselves on track.

Munro scored a half-century of 38 deliveries, inclusive of six fours and three sixes. He was out against the run of play as Kohli's direct hit surprisingly found the target after a relay throw from the deep.

It was the turning point as New Zealand lost regular wickets. Yuzvendra Chahal bowled Tom Bruce (0), but Seifert found a partner in Ross Taylor as they pushed the score past 150 in the 18th over.

Seifert scored a half-century off 32 balls, including four fours and three sixes. But the great choke was yet to come again. Needing 18 off 18, the Black Caps lost four wickets in the last over bowled by Thakur.

Taylor holed out of the first ball, while Seifert was run out two balls later. Daryl Mitchell (4) was caught next and Mitchell Santner (2) couldn't steal two runs off the last ball as the sides engaged in a tie-breaker for the second game running.

This was after New Zealand won a fourth consecutive toss and opted to field. Kane Williamson didn't take part in the match owing to a shoulder niggle.

Tim Southee was the stand-in skipper, with the Black Caps making two changes.

Put in to bat, the visitors were struggling at 88-6 at one stage before Pandey's lonesome rescue act took them to a respectable total. KL Rahul contributed 39 runs off 26 balls, inclusive of three sixes and two fours.

Leg spinner Ish Sodhi got into the act and ran through India's batting order. First to go was Shreyas Iyer (1) and then Shivam Dube (12) was caught at mid-wicket.

Sodhi finished with 3-26 while Santner dismissed Sundar for nought as the New Zealand spinners rounded up a good outing with 4-54 in eight overs.

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