After Asiad low, Indian women's boxing on a high at World Championships

Agencies
November 22, 2018

New Delhi, Nov 22: The number of medals assured is half of what they managed in their best ever performance but Indian women's boxing regained some of the ground lost by a barren Asian Games campaign with four semifinalists in the world championships.

The celebrated M C Mary Kom (48kg), Lovlina Borgohain (69kg), Sonia Chahal (57kg) and Simranjit Kaur (64kg) have assured themselves of at least a bronze by reaching the semifinals.

"The performance has exceeded expectations and we could have won more medals but for a couple of results. Mary Kom is of course the star but it's nice to see other girls also stepping up," Indian boxing's High Performance Director Santiago Nievatold news agency.

"Looking at this performance, we are doing fine in the sport," he added.

Out of the 40 semifinalists in 10 weight categories, five are from China, while North Korea, Turkey, United States have three boxers each.

Germany, Japan, Kazakhstan, Netherlands, Chinese Taipei and Ukraine have two boxers each in the semifinals to be held on Thursday and Friday.

Australia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Colombia, Ireland, South Korea, Mongolia, Russia, Thailand and Wales still have one participant each in the last-four stage.

Altogether 21 countries will win at least a medal in New Delhi, which is higher than the Astana 2016 edition where 19 countries were in the medal rankings.

Asia continued its domination of world boxing with 21 medals set to be won by boxers from this continent, five more than in 2016.

Europe will get 14 medals while the Americas and Oceania will pocket four and one medal respectively. No boxer from the African continent is left in the fray at the semifinal stage.

For India, this edition at home will be the best in the last five editions of the biennial marquee event.

India's best performance ever was the eight medals, including four gold, in 2006, an event held at home. After that, India won four medals in 2008, two in 2010, one in 2012, two in 2014 and one in 2016.

India have not won a gold since 2010 when Mary Kom won her last medal.

The 35-year-old Mary Kom, a mother of three, has become the most successful pugilist in the women's world championships history by assuring herself a seventh medal.

Her previous six medals include a five gold and a silver.

If the diminutive Manipuri, also called 'Magnificent Mary', wins a gold on Saturday, she can match Cuban men's legend Felix Savon as the joint most successful pugilist in the World Championships history.

Savon, who also won three Olympic gold medals during his illustrious career, won six gold and one silver in heavyweight in the World Championships between 1986 and 1989.

Mary Kom has enjoyed a stellar year so far, claiming gold medals at the Commonwealth Games, the inaugural India Open and an international tournament in Poland.

"The country and the fans want a gold and I am also trying a gold. But anything can happen in a boxing bout," she had said after her first bout of the tournament.

The three other Indian semifinalists are among the young brigade in the 10-member Indian team. All the three are in their early 20s and are competing in their debut championships.

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News Network
June 20,2020

Dhaka, Jun 20: Former Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Mortaza on Saturday tested positive for coronavirus.

The skipper had gone for a coronavirus Test last week, and now his reports have come back as positive, ESPNCricinfo reported.

As per a report in ESPNCricinfo, it is not known how Mortaza contracted the virus.

Mashrafe, also a member of the parliament from Narail 2 constituency, had stepped down as the ODI captain of the country in March this year.

Covid-19 cases have crossed 1,00,000 mark in Bangladesh and the government is now planning area-wise lockdown.

Bangladesh was slated to face Sri Lanka in July in a three-Test series and the side would have later hosted New Zealand in August, but both series look unlikely now.

The Asia Cup, scheduled for September, is also uncertain due to the coronavirus.

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News Network
May 13,2020

May 13: With the Olympics postponed due to the coronavirus, top Japanese fencer Ryo Miyake has swapped his metal mask and foil for a bike and backpack as a Tokyo UberEats deliveryman.

The 29-year-old, who won silver in the team foil at the 2012 London Olympics and was itching to compete in a home Games, says the job keeps him in shape physically and mentally -- and brings in much-needed cash.

"I started this for two reasons -- to save money for travelling (to future competitions) and to keep myself in physical shape," he told AFP.

"I see how much I am earning on the phone, but the number is not just money for me. It's a score to keep me going."

Japanese media have depicted Miyake as a poor amateur struggling to make ends meet but he himself asked for his three corporate sponsorships to be put on hold -- even if that means living off savings.

Like most of the world's top athletes, he is in limbo as the virus forces competitions to be cancelled and plays havoc with training schedules.

"I don't know when I can resume training or when the next tournament will take place. I don't even know if I can keep up my mental condition or motivation for another year," he said.

"No one knows how the qualification process will go. Pretending everything is OK for the competition is simply irresponsible."

In the meantime, he is happy criss-crossing the vast Japanese capital with bike and smartphone, joining a growing legion of Uber delivery staff in demand during the pandemic.

"When I get orders in the hilly Akasaka, Roppongi (downtown) district, it becomes good training," he smiles.

The unprecedented postponement of the Olympics hit Miyake hard, as he was enjoying a purple patch in his career.

After missing out on the Rio 2016 Olympics, Miyake came 13th in last year's World Fencing Championships -- the highest-ranked Japanese fencer at the competition.

The International Olympics Committee has set the new date for the Olympics on July 23, 2021.

But with no vaccine available for the coronavirus that has killed nearly 300,000 worldwide, even that hangs in the balance.

Miyake said the Japanese fencing team heard about the postponement the day after arriving in the United States for one of the final Olympic qualifying events.

With his diary suddenly free of training and competition, he said he spent the month of April agonising over what to do before hitting on the Uber idea.

"Sports and culture inevitably come second when people have to survive a crisis," he said.

"Is the Olympics really needed in the first place? Then what do I live for if not for the sport? That is what I kept thinking."

However, the new and temporary career delivering food in Tokyo has given the fencer a new drive to succeed.

"The most immediate objective for me is to be able to start training smoothly" once the emergency is lifted, he said.

"I need to be ready physically and financially for the moment. That is my biggest mission now."

But not all athletes may cope mentally with surviving another "nerve-wracking" pre-Olympic year, he said.

"It's like finally getting to the end of a 42-kilometre marathon and then being told you have to keep going."

As a child, Miyake practised his attacks on every wall of his house -- and he said his passion for the sport was what was driving him now.

"I love fencing. I want to be able to travel for matches and compete in the Olympics. That is the only reason I am doing this."

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Agencies
April 12,2020

London, Apr 12: Former Formula 1 legendary driver Stirling Moss died at the age of 90 on Sunday.

"All at F1 send our heartfelt condolences to Lady Susie and Sir Stirling's family and friends," Formula 1 said in a statement.

Often referred to as the greatest driver never to win the world championship, Moss contested 66 Grands Prix from 1951 to 1961, driving for the likes of Vanwall, Maserati and Mercedes, where he famously formed a contented and ruthlessly effective partnership with lead driver Juan Manuel Fangio.

In his 10-year-long stint at the tracks, Moss took 16 wins, some of which rank among the truly iconic drives in the sport's history - his 1961 victories in Monaco and Germany in particular often held up as all-time classics.

Moss won the 1955 Mille Miglia on public roads for Mercedes at an average speed of close to 100mph, while he also competed in rallies and land-speed attempts.

Following an enforced retirement from racing (barring a brief comeback in saloon cars in the 1980s) after a major crash at Goodwood in 1962, Moss maintained a presence in Formula 1 as both a sports correspondent and an interested observer, before retiring from public life in January of 2018.

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