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 10,2020

New Delhi, Jun 10: Former India skipper Rahul Dravid has praised the batting of MS Dhoni during the backend of a match, saying that the wicket-keeper often played during the period as if the result did not really matter to him.

Dravid also said that in pressure-cooker situations, not worrying about consequences can help players bring out the best in themselves.

"You watch MS Dhoni play during the backend of a match when he was at his best, you always felt like that he is doing something really important to him but he is playing it like the result does not really matter to him," Dravid told Sanjay Manjrekar during a videocast hosted by ESPNCricinfo.

"I think you need to have that or you need to train for it. It is a skill that I never had. The consequences of any decision mattered to me. It would be interesting to ask MS Dhoni that is this something that has come naturally to him or did he work on this during his career," he added.

Dhoni made his ODI debut against Bangladesh in 2004, but he truly arrived in the series against Pakistan in 2005 when he scored 148 runs in the second ODI of the six-match series at Vishakapatnam.

He is the only captain to win all major ICC trophies (50-over World Cup, T20 World Cup, and Champions Trophy). Under his leadership, India also managed to attain the number one ranking in Test cricket.

He first led an inexperienced Indian side to the T20 World Cup triumph in 2007. He then took over ODI captaincy, but he had to wait for leading the Test side as Anil Kumble was doing the duties in the longest format.

Over his career, Dhoni has been reowned for his finishing skills and he is often viewed as the best finisher that the game has ever seen.

In December 2014, Dhoni announced his retirement from the longest format of the game.

Then in 2017, Dhoni handed over the captaincy reins to Virat Kohli in the 50-over format.

Dhoni was slated to return to the cricket field on March 29 in the IPL's opening match between CSK and Mumbai Indians. However, the tournament has been suspended indefinitely as a precautionary measure against coronavirus.

Thirty-eight-year-old Dhoni has been currently enjoying some time away from the game. He last played competitive cricket during the 2019 World Cup.

Dhoni recently had to face criticism for his slow batting approach during India's matches.

Earlier this year, Dhoni did not find a place in the list of BCCI's centrally contracted players from October 2019 to September 2020.

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Agencies
July 21,2020

New Delhi, Jul 21: With the T20 World Cup's postponement clearing the decks for a full-fledged IPL, the glitzy event's Governing Council will meet in a week or 10 days' time to plan its next course of action, eyeing UAE as the host this year.

An IPL between September and early November has been made possible by the ICC's decision on Monday to postpone the T20 World Cup in Australia, scheduled for October-November, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The IPL GC will meet within a week or 10 days and all decisions (including final schedule) will be taken there. As of now, the plan is to have a full fledged IPL comprising 60 games and most likely in the UAE," Patel told PTI.

Asked about the main challenges in conducting the event in current scenario, Patel added: "Just the operational side of it. Whether you do it here or outside, it doesn't matter (with no crowds)."

The franchisees had already been working on their plans for the IPL even before the ICC announcement.

With majority of the Indian players not having access to grounds amid the pandemic, teams will need at least three to four weeks to get them match ready.

Foreign players will fly in directly to the UAE from their respective countries.

"Our players will need at least three to four weeks of training, if not more. We will finalise all our plans once the BCCI announces the dates. It looks like the IPL will be in the UAE and we are ready for that," a team owner told PTI.

Since India tour Australia for a four-Test series right after the IPL, training of the Test players is also an important issue.

Test specialists like Cheteshwar Pujara and Hanuma Vihari, who are not part of the IPL, are likely to train for the eagerly-awaited series in a bio-secure environment at the newly-renovated Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad during the time of the IPL.

A few fringe players are expected to join them at Motera along with the Indian team's support staff, which is free during the IPL.

Work from home has become the norm amid the pandemic, therefore, there is a possibility that IPL commentary will happen from the comfort of the living room, a safer and cost effective-option considering the likes of Sunil Gavaskar, who is 71, are involved.

The viewership is expected to be a record one with people craving for live cricket, something KXIP co-owner Ness Wadia has said.

However, it remains to be seen how much the broadcasters and teams are able to attract from the sponsors in the current financial climate.

More moot points and questions ahead of the IPL GC meeting:

1) More double headers expected (original schedule had only five double headers).

2) BCCI will need to provide a Standard Operating Procedure to IPL teams even though they will have their own SOPs in place.

3) Will the BCCI compensate teams for not being able to generate gate money this year?

4) Will there be virtual commentary from Star Sports? It was seen in the recent 3TC event in South Africa with the likes of Aakash Chopra, Deep Dasgupta and Irfan Pathan commentating from home.

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News Network
March 12,2020

New Delhi, Mar 12: No foreign player will be available for this year's IPL till April 15 due to visa restrictions imposed by the government to contain the novel coronavirus threat, a top BCCI source told PTI on Thursday, casting fresh doubts on the fate of the event.

"The foreign players who play in the IPL come under the Business Visa category. As per the government's directive, they can't come till April 15," a BCCI source told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

The government issued fresh advisory with a ban on all existing foreign visas, except a few categories like diplomatic and employment, till April 15 in the wake of new positive cases of novel coronavirus in the country.

India has reported 60 positive cases in the outbreak which has led to over 4,000 deaths globally.

The fate of the IPL itself will be decided on March 14 at the event's Governing Council meeting in Mumbai. "All decisions will be taken by the GC in Mumbai," the source said.

Having the IPL, starting March 29, played in empty stadiums is an option being explored.

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