Asian Games: Heena Sidhu wins bronze, heartbreak for Manu Bhaker

Agencies
August 24, 2018

Palembang, Aug 24: Heena Sidhu put behind a modest qualification to win her maiden Asian Games individual medal today, her bronze in the women's 10m air pistol taking India's haul at the Jakabaring Shooting Range to nine.

Sidhu came from behind in the finals and was just 0.1 from the lead after she produced a 10.8 on the 21st shot. Her next shot was a 9.6 and her overall score of 219.2 could only give her a bronze.

Sixteen-year-old Manu Bhaker was left disappointed again, this time in her main event, finishing fifth.

The gold went to China's Wang Qian, whose 240.3 was a Games Record. South Korea's Kim Minjung took the silver, aggregating 237.6.

It was another medal for Sidhu in a major event, having won the gold and silver in the 25m pistol and 10m pistol at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast. Bhaker had finished ahead of her senior teammate Sidhu at Gold Coast in the 10m event.

Sidhu, a two-time World Cup gold medallist and former world number one, had recovered well in the qualification earlier in the day to finish seventh with 571 while Manu was third with 574.

"It is all because of my efforts in the finals (that I have won a medal). The qualification was low. I am not happy with it at all," Sidhu told news agency when asked about her effort in the high-pressure finals.

"In the finals, I kept fighting from the first shot. In the beginning, the group was more on the left (of the bulls eye). I kept giving clicks to my sighter so that I could hit the bulls eye but I should have given more clicks.

"In the finals you are under pressure. You are not sure that 'are you making the mistake or is it just the grouping that has shifted'. So I was trying to be very defensive. I think if I would have been more decisive and given more clicks in the beginning, I am sure I would have won the gold," said the 28-year-old from Ludhiana.

Sidhu was picked for only one event and Bhaker competed in three – 10m pistol, 25m pistol and mixed team event. Ahead of the Asian Games, Sidhu had said that she should have been in the mixed team as per the selection criteria.

"The competition is over. There is no point talking about it now. Though I think I should have been in the mixed team," she added.

Heena and Manu were fifth and sixth respectively after the first series of five shots each. Bhaker made a slight surge in the second series but was still nowhere near a medal.

After 14 shots of the 24-shot final, Heena moved to third with a 10.6 and 10.3, and was able to maintain it for bronze.

Bhaker could not meet the rising expectations but would be fired up to do her best at the upcoming World Championships. Her coach Jaspal Rana said Bhaker should be given more time.

"She is still very young. She needs to learn how to cope up with the pressure in big finals. The experience will come with time. You need to be mature enough to be winning medals at this level or the Olympics," Rana said.

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News Network
February 10,2020

Potchefstroom, Feb 10: India's under-19 cricket team manager Anil Patel says the ICC has taken a serious view of the aggressive celebrations by Bangladesh players after their World Cup triumph and will be reviewing the footage of the final game's "last few minutes".

Some Bangladeshi players got carried away while celebrating their historic three-wicket win over India in the final on Sunday. While their captain Akbar Ali apologised for the "unfortunate incident", his Indian counterpart Priyam Garg said their reaction was "dirty".

"We don't know what actually happened," Patel told 'ESPNCricinfo' on Sunday.

"Everybody was in a shock, absolutely, but we don't know what happened exactly. The ICC officials are going to watch the footage of the last few minutes and they are going to let us know," he said.

Even when the match was on, the Bangladesh players were overly aggressive while fielding and their lead pacer Shoriful Islam sledged the Indian batsmen after every delivery.

As soon as the match ended, it became tense with Bangladeshi players rushing to the ground and displaying aggressive body language. The two teams nearly came to blows before the situation was defused by the coaching staff and on-field officials.

Patel claimed that match referee Graeme Labrooy met him and expressed regret at what transpired on the field.

"The referee came to me. He was sorry about the incident. He clarified the ICC is going to take very seriously what has happened during the match and the last session. They are going to witness the footage and they will tell us in the morning (Monday)."

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News Network
July 12,2020

New Delhi, Jul 12: Former India batsman Sachin Tendulkar has urged the International Cricket Council (ICC) to do away with 'umpire's call' whenever a team opts for a review regarding a leg-before wicket (LBW) decision.

The Master Blaster has also said that a batsman should be given out if the ball is hitting the stumps.

Whether more than 50 per cent of the ball is hitting the stumps or not should not be matter, he further stated.

"What per cent of the ball hits the stumps doesn't matter, if DRS shows us that the ball is hitting the stumps, it should be given out, regardless of the on-field call," Tendulkar tweeted.

With this tweet, the former India batsman also shared a video, in which he has a discussion with Brian Lara regarding the working of DRS.
"One thing I don't agree with, with the ICC, is the DRS they have been using for quite some time. It is the LBW decision where more than 50 per cent of the ball must be hitting the stumps for the on-field decision to be overturned," Tendulkar said in the video.

"The only reason they (the batsman or the bowler) have gone upstairs is that they are unhappy with the on-field decision, so when the decision goes to the third umpire, let the technology take over, just like in tennis, it's either in or out, there's nothing in between," he added.

This call for doing away with umpire's call has been recommended by many former players.
Whenever a verdict pops up as 'umpire's call, the decision of the on-field umpire is not changed, but the teams do not lose their review as well.

ICC recently introduced some changes to the game of cricket, and they gave all teams liberty of extra review as non-neutral umpires will be employed in Test matches due to the coronavirus pandemic.

As a result, all teams will now have three reviews in every innings of a Test match. 

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News Network
January 10,2020

Jan 10: Australian cricketer Shane Warne’s prized 'baggy green' cap raised more than A$1 million ($686,000) on Friday for bushfire relief efforts after the former leg-spinner donated it for auction.

Twenty-seven people have been killed and thousands made homeless in recent months as huge fires scorched through more than 25.5 million acres of land, an area the size of South Korea.

The baggy green is presented to Australian players when they make their Test debut and they receive just one for their entire career. The Aussie cricketer donated the cap to an online auction site on Monday. The auction closed at 10 a.m. on Friday (2300 GMT Thursday) with a final public bid of A$1,007,500.

"Unbelievable … so generous from everyone. Totally blown away," Warne said on Twitter shortly before the auction closed.

The auction attracted global interest and the price eclipsed the A$425,000 achieved by the late Don Bradman's baggy green when it was sold in 2003.

"We have been overwhelmed and it is a fantastic result," Marc Cheah, head of marketing for auctioneers Pickles, said.

"Other baggy greens have been auctioned and Don Bradman’s got $425,000 about 15 years ago, but the Don is the Don. He’s the greatest cricketer that ever lived," Cheah said in relation to the widely held recognition Bradman was the best batsman the game has produced.

"But Shane is also right up there and that drove a lot of traffic and momentum, while the cause is also very worthwhile."

Warne, 50, is one of many local and international athletes to support the fundraising for bushfire victims with several cricketers promising to donate a sum based on the number of sixes they hit in Australia’s Big Bash Twenty20 competition.

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