Asian Games 2014, Day 11: Mary Kom in final, Sarita Devi robbed of gold medal chance

October 1, 2014

Incheon, Oct 1: India's L Sarita Devi (60kg) was robbed of a sure place in the women's 60kg boxing final when the verdict went in favour of her South Korean rival Jina Park in a bout the Indian dominated, after her senior teammate M C Mary Kom stormed into the gold medal round in the 51kg class at the Asian Games here.

Mary KomSarita Devi and middle weight (75kg) woman boxer Pooja Rani, who too lost her semi final bout, settled for bronze while two men boxers Vikash Krishan (75kg) and Satish Kumar (+91kg) fought their way into the semi finals by winning their quarter finals at the Seonhak Gymnasium.

Two other men L Devendro Singh (49kg) and Shiva Thapa (56kg) - made their exit after losing their quarter final bouts and would return home without a medal.

Though the day's proceedings ended with Satish Kumar and Vikas assuring India of at least two bronze medals after Mary Kom made sure of a silver, to go with the two bronze medals won by Sarita and Pooja, the daylight robbery of Sarita?s place in the gold medal contest left a bitter taste in the mouth.

woes, the protest lodged by the Indian camp against the verdict, after paying USD 500, was also rejected .

But what triggered massive outrage was Sarita's loss which left the Manipuri in tears. Up against home favourite Jina Park, Sarita, the Commonwealth Games silver-medallist, went down 0-3 despite clearly being the better boxer.

Sarita simply pummelled her rival with her flurry of quicksilver blows -- at times raining four to her rival's one.

But shockingly, Park was not given a single standing count by the Algerian referee Hammadi Yakoub Kheira despite looking rocked back by Sarita's blows to her chin.

In the end, all three ringside judges ruled in favour of the Korean by identical 39-37 margins.

The ringside judges were Braham Mohamad of Tunisia, Albino Foti of Italy and Mariusz Josef Gorny of Poland.

Immediately after the bout, a tearful Sarita broke down while talking to journalists.

"All my hard work has come to nought. It has happened to me but kindly see that this kind of injustice is not meted out to anyone else in the competition. I request you," she said tearfully with folded hands.

"If they wanted to award the bout to her, then why allow us to fight in the first place," she added.

Her husband and former footballer Thoiba Singh was even more furious and shouted obscenities at the ring officials, saying it was a clear case of cheating.

"You are killing boxing," he shouted repeatedly and even went to the extent of trying to enter the ring again to cry out at the injustice but was prevented by the security officials.

India's long-time Cuban coach B I Fernandez also called it a clear case of cheating, but said no purpose would be served by lodging a protest.

"There's no point. It was pre-decided, the 3-0 verdict is a clear cut indication. The Korean deserved to have been given many standing counts, going by what happened in the ring, and the bout should have been stopped," he said.

"Sarita was a clear-cut winner but money has talked here and the judges deserve to be thrown out. It happened in Seoul during the 1988 Olympic Games, it's happening now again.

Nothing seems to have changed. The new rules have made no difference," he fumed.

Later, the International Boxing Association's (AIBA) technical Committee rejected the appeal against this scandalous verdict.

Prior to the action-charged and scandalous bout, India's best medal hope and former five-time world champion Mary Kom scored a convincing 3-0 victory over her taller Vietnamese opponent Ler Thi Bang.

Two of the ringside judges adjudged her the winner by giving her 40-36 score in the four rounds combined while the third put her 39-37 ahead on points.

Mary was a clear winner even though she was the shorter of the two southpaws, she easily came inside the Vietnamese boxer's territory to score with jabs and rights to the face.

Mary, who won a bronze in the 2010 Asian Games and the 2012 Olympic Games before taking a break from the sport, is now assured of at least a silver medal.

However, Sarita's shock defeat also left her with mixed emotions.

"I am shocked and disappointed. Sarita was the clear winner. This should not have happened," she said.

She will now fight against Zhaina Shekerbekova of Kazakhstan who earned a 3-0 verdict over N Myagmardulam of Mongolia in the other semifinal bout.

"I will keep my focus because a gold has to be won for the country," she said.

Later, Pooja put a spirited performance against Qian but eventually lost the bout 2-1 to finish a bronze-medallist, leaving Mary Kom with the task of earning the first-ever gold in women?s boxing for the country.

The men?s quarter final bouts followed after which only Vikas (75kf) and Satish Kumar (+91KG) sailed through to the last four while their lesser weighing compatriots Devendro (49kg) and Thapa (56kg) were sent packing.

Thapa, the reigning Asian champion who is ranked third in the world, lost a unanimous points verdict against his Filipino rival Mario Fernandez, with the three judges ruling 30-27, 29-28, 30-27 in the winner?s favour.

Devendro followed him to the exit gate, beaten 3-0 by South Korea?s Shin Jonghum. The Indian, who took the fifth spot in the London Olympics two years ago, lost 28-29, 27-30, 27-30.

In between these two bouts super heavy boxer Satish Kumar earned a split (2-1) points verdict against Jordan?s Eishaish Hussein. He will meet Ivan Dychko of Kazakstan in the semis on October 2.

At the end of the day Vikas, the defending champion, won the battle of southpaws against Hurshidben Normatov of Uzbekistas with a unanimous 3-0 (29-28, 30-27, 29-28) points verdict to bring down curtains on the Indians? show for the day. He meets A Zhanibek of Kazakstan on October 2 in the semis.

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News Network
January 27,2020

Los Angeles, Jan 27: Kobe Bryant, the 18-time NBA All-Star who won five championships and became one of the greatest basketball players of his generation during a 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers, died in a helicopter crash Sunday. He was 41.

Bryant died in a helicopter crash near Calabasas, California, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press. A different person familiar with the case confirmed that Bryant's 13-year-old daughter Gianna also was killed.

Both spoke on condition of anonymity because details of the crash had not been released publicly. The crash happened around 10 a.m. about 30 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles.

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer said it was a Sikorsky S-76 and it was not known what caused the crash. The LA County Sheriff's Department confirmed five dead in the crash, but had not released identities.

Bryant lived south of Los Angeles in coastal Orange County for much of his adult life, and he often used helicopters to save time and avoid Southern California's notorious traffic. Even as a player, he often traveled to practices and games by helicopter, and he kept up the practice after retirement as he attended to his business ventures.

The crash occurred several miles from Mamba Sports Academy, Bryant's basketball training complex in Thousand Oaks, California. Bryant, who had four daughters with his wife, Vanessa, dedicated himself to boosting women's sports in his retirement.

Colin Storm was in his living room in Calabasas when he heard ``what sounded like a low-flying airplane or helicopter.''

“It was very foggy so we couldn't see anything,'' he said. ``But then we heard some sputtering, and then a boom.''

A short time later the fog cleared a bit and Storm could see smoke rising from the hillside in front of his home.

Bryant retired in 2016 as the third-leading scorer in NBA history, finishing two decades with the Lakers as a prolific scorer with a sublime all-around game and a relentless competitive ethic. He held that spot in the league scoring ranks until Saturday night, when the Lakers' LeBron James passed him for third place during a game in Philadelphia, Bryant's hometown.

“Continuing to move the game forward (at)KingJames,'' Bryant wrote in his last tweet. “Much respect my brother.''

Bryant had one of the greatest careers in recent NBA history and became one of the game's most popular players as the face of the 16-time NBA champion Lakers franchise. He was the league MVP in 2008 and a two-time NBA scoring champion, and he earned 12 selections to the NBA's All-Defensive teams.

He teamed with Shaquille O'Neal in a combustible partnership to lead the Lakers to NBA titles in 2000, 2001 and 2002. He later teamed with Pau Gasol to win two more titles in 2009 and 2010.

Bryant retired in 2016 after scoring 60 points in his final NBA game.

Bryant looms large over the current generation of NBA players. After James passed Bryant on Saturday, he remembered listening to Bryant when the superstar came to speak at a childhood basketball camp.

“I remember one thing he said: If you want to be great at it, or want to be one of the greats, you've got to put the work in,'' James said. “There's no substitution for work.''

James later teamed up with Bryant on the 2008 U.S. Olympic team in Beijing.

“He had zero flaws offensively,'' James said. “Zero. You backed off of him, he could shoot the 3. You body him up a little bit, he could go around you. He could shoot from mid-range. He could post. He could make free throws. ... He was just immortal offensively because of his skill set and his work ethic.''

Bryant was a basketball superstar for his entire adult life. He entered the NBA draft straight out of high school in 1996 after a childhood spent partly in Italy, where his father, former NBA player Joe “Jellybean'' Bryant, played professionally.

The Lakers acquired the 17-year-old Bryant in a trade shortly after Charlotte drafted him, and he immediately became one of the most exciting and intriguing players in the sport alongside O'Neal, who had signed with the Lakers as a free agent. Bryant won the Slam Dunk Contest as an upstart rookie, and the Lakers gradually grew into a team that won three consecutive championships.

Bryant and Gasol formed the nucleus of another championship team in 2008, reaching three straight NBA Finals and eventually winning two more titles.

In 2003, Bryant was charged with attacking a 19-year-old employee at a Colorado resort. He had said the two had consensual sex. Prosecutors later dropped the felony sexual assault charge against Bryant at the request of the accuser.

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Agencies
July 20,2020

Vitoria, Jul 20: Lionel Messi won a record seventh top scoring title in the Spanish league after netting twice in Barcelona's 5-0 rout of Alav s in the final round.

Messi ended with 25 goals, four more than Karim Benzema, who did not score in Real Madrid's 2-2 draw at Legan s.

Messi is the first player to finish as the league's top scorer in seven different seasons. He reached the milestone despite missing games because of an injury early in the season. The Argentine's 25 goals came in 33 matches.

Messi was tied with Telmo Zarra with six scoring titles. He has also now equaled Hugo Sanchez's feat of four straight top-scorer trophies.

"Individual achievements are always secondary," Messi said on Sunday.

"I wished it could have come along with the league title."

This is also the third successive season that Messi finished with the most assists 21 in the league.

Ansu Fati, Luis Su rez and Nelson Semedo also scored Sunday for Barcelona, which had already secured second place behind Madrid.

Fati opened the scoring in the 24th minute, Messi added to the lead 10 minutes later and Su rez closed the first-half scoring in the 44th. Semedo got on the board in the 57th and Messi in the 75th to help Barcelona rebound from a 2-1 home loss to Osasuna.

"Today things were different," Messi said.

"The team showed better attitude and commitment. It was an important step forward for us ahead of what's left in the season."

Barcelona now turns its focus to its Aug. 8 home game against Napoli in the round of 16 of the Champions League. The first leg, played before the break, ended 1-1.

Barcelona coach Quique Seti n finished under pressure after the team relinquished a two-point lead over Madrid when the league resumed following the pandemic break. It was four points back before Madrid's match at Legan s.

Barcelona defender Cl ment Lenglet had to be substituted early in the second half because of an apparent muscle injury.

Alav s, sitting in 15th, had already done enough to stay up.

BAR A "B" TEAM

American winger Konrad de la Fuente scored twice as Barcelona's "B" team beat Valladolid B to keep alive its hopes of reaching the second division next season. The victory put Barcelona in the second round of the promotion playoffs.

The 19-year-old De la Fuente, who recently had his contract with Barcelona extended through the 2021-22 season, scored in each half.

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Agencies
May 25,2020

Chandigarh, May 25: Legendary former hockey player Balbir Singh Senior died in a private hospital on Monday, his family said.

He was 96 years old. His condition was critical for nearly a fortnight.

He was undergoing treatment at Fortis Mohali and was in a "semi-comatose condition".

He was hospitalised on May 8 with high fever and breathing trouble. His COVID-19 test came negative.

Balbir was part of the Indian teams that won gold at the 1948 London Olympics, Helsinki 1952 and Melbourne 1956. His record for most individual goals scored in an Olympic men's hockey final remains unbeaten.

Balbir had set this record when he scored five goals in India's 6-1 win over Netherlands in the gold medal match of the 1952 Games.

He was the head coach of the Indian team for the 1975 men's World Cup, which India won and the 1971 men's World Cup, where India earned a bronze medal. He was also conferred with the prestigious Padma Shri in 1957.

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