Aruna clinches bronze, becomes first Indian to win medal at Gymnastics World Cup

Agencies
February 25, 2018

Melbourne, Feb 25: Aruna Budda Reddy on Saturday created history by becoming the first Indian gymnast to win an individual medal at the Gymnastics World Cup as she clinched a bronze in the women's vault event.

The 22-year-old Reddy, who hails from Hyderabad, scored 13.649 average points to win the bronze at the Hisense Arena.

Tjasa Kysslef of Slovania won the gold with a score of 13.800 while Emily Whitehead of Australia took the silver with 13.699.

Another Indian in the final round, Pranati Nayak finished sixth with a score of 13.416. The sport of gymnastics has a series of World Cup events in a year and they are second in importance after the World Championships.

"Aruna is now the first and the only Indian to have won a medal in the World Cup and we are proud of her," Shantikumar Singh, secretary of a faction of Gymnastics Federation of India said.

Dipa Karmakar, who finished fourth in the 2016 Rio Olympics in women's vault event, has won a bronze each in the Asian Championships and 2014 Commonwealth Games but not at the level of a World Cup.

This was Aruna's first international medal through she has taken part at the 2013 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, 2014 Commonwealth Games and 2014 Asian Games and the 2017 Asian Championships.

Her best international performance before today's feat was the sixth place finish at the 2017 Asian Championships vault event.

In all the other international events, she could not go beyond the qualification stage.

Aruna will also contest in the final round of the floor event tomorrow. In other events, Rakesh Patra finished fourth in the men's rings event. He is still in the fray for the final round of the parallel bars on Sunday.

The 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games and 2-14 Asian Games bronze medallist Ashish Kumar will also feature in the men's vault event final round on Sunday after he finished sixth in the qualifying round.

Sixteen countries are featuring in the World Cup series event this year across two days of qualification with the top eight teams athletes on each apparatus heading to the finals.

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News Network
May 6,2020

New Delhi, May 6: He has flattered to deceive on umpteen occasions but highly-rated wicketkeeper-batsman Sanju Samson says he has learnt to accept his failures in pursuit of the calm demeanour that former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni possesses.

The 25-year-old from Kerala has always been talked about by the likes of Rahul Dravid and Gautam Gambhir but it hasn't translated into international success with only four T20 Internationals in his kitty in the last five years.

"I have learnt to understand and focus more on my strengths and (be more) accepting (of) the failures. I try to contribute to the team's cause and try to take the team over the line. I am learning to focus and control my emotions while batting like MS Dhoni," Samson said during a podcast organised by Rajasthan Royals.

He recently made a comeback in India's T20 side and it was a worthy experience for him.

"It was great to be a part of the Indian team again. To be a part of one of the best teams in the world, surrounded by players like Virat bhai and Rohit bhai, it was a fantastic experience," Samson said.

In one of the games in New Zealand, Samson was sent to bat in the Super Over, something which made him feel wanted in the Indian set-up.

"It was a great feeling to be trusted by the players such as Virat bhai and Rohit bhai to go out there and bat in the crucial moments. It's a great feeling when the team and the players consider you to be a match winner."

On a lighter note, Samson revealed that he refers to Steve Smith as "chachu" (uncle) after Brad Hodge once started calling him by that name.

"I share a very good relationship with 'Chachu' Steve Smith. He is one of the best brains in world cricket and we all enjoy a lot playing under him."

Asked what's the back story of the nickname, Samson said: "It started with Brad Hodge, he used to call Smith 'Chachu', then when Hodgy left, I started calling Smith 'Chachu'. In return Smith also started calling me 'Chachu'. We both really enjoy and continue calling each other that."

While Dhoni is his idol, he also loves watching Jos Buttler in Royals and makes notes on how the star Englishman prepares for games.

"I observe Jos especially given he too is a wicketkeeper-batsman. He's always working on his skills and his game and never sits idle.

"He's either working on his keeping, batting in the nets or running around the park. I love to observe and know how he thinks and prepares as a keeper before a game.

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News Network
March 7,2020

New Delhi, Mar 7: No country in the world says everybody is welcome, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Saturday, hitting out at those criticising India over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

Jaishankar criticised the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) for its criticism on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, saying its director had been wrong previously too and one should look at the UN body's past record on handling the Kashmir issue.

"We have tried to reduce the number of stateless people through this legislation. That should be appreciated," he said when asked about the CAA at the ET Global Business Summit. "We have done it in a way that we do not create a bigger problem for ourselves."

"Everybody, when they look at citizenship, have a context and has a criterion. Show me a country in the world which says everybody in the world is welcome. Nobody says that," the minister said.

The external affairs minister said moving out of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) was in the interest of India's business.

Asked about the UNHRC director not agreeing with India on the Kashmir issue, Jaishankar said: "UNHRC director has been wrong before.

"UNHRC skirts around cross-border terrorism as if it has nothing to do with country next door. Please understand where they are coming from; look at UNHRC's record how they handled Kashmir issue in past," he added.

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News Network
February 18,2020

New Delhi, Feb 18: A Delhi court today sent Sharjeel Imam, who has been named as an "instigator" by the Delhi Police in its chargesheet on violent protests against the amended citizenship act at New Friends Colony near Jamia in Delhi last year, to judicial custody till March 3.

Sharjeel Imam was arrested on sedition charges last month.

The Delhi Police has filed a chargesheet before Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Gurmohina Kaur, naming Sharjeel Imam as an instigator of the violence.

It said it has attached CCTV footage, call detail records and statements of over 100 witnesses as evidence in the chargesheet.

The court had on Monday sent Sharjeel Imam to one-day custody of Delhi Police in the case.

Protestors had torched four public buses and two police vehicles as they clashed with police in New Friends Colony near Jamia Millia Islamia in Delhi during the demonstration against the CAA on December 15, leaving nearly 60 people including students, cops and fire fighters injured.

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