1. Home
  2. Bengaluru to host 10th AASF Asian Age Group championships 2019

Bengaluru to host 10th AASF Asian Age Group championships 2019

Agencies
August 2, 2019

Bengaluru, Aug 2: Bengaluru will host the 10th AASF Asian Age Group Championships 2019 for the first time, giving the Indian swimming enthusiasts an opportunity to witness the largest aquatic event in the continent.

The nine-day sporting extravaganza, scheduled to be held between September 24 and October 2, is set to have over 40 countries and more than 1200 participants competing for top honours in four different aquatic disciplines, including swimming, diving, water polo, and the visually-mesmerizing artistic swimming.

The event venues will be spread across the city with swimming to be held at Padukone-Dravid Centre for Sports Excellence from September 24 to 27, Water Polo to take place at the Sports Authority of India, Kengeri from September 24 to 30.

Diving will be held at the Sports Authority of India, Kengeri from September 29 to October 2 and Artistic swimming will be conducted at the Kensington Swimming Pool, Ulsoor from September 29 to October 2.

"It is a true honour and pride for us to host the 10th AASF Asian Age Group Championships 2019 in Bengaluru, a city which has seen scores of international swimmers being produced under the Karnataka Swimming Association's umbrella. We are geared up to ensure the event is a mega success and that every participant will return home with memories they would cherish for a lifetime," President of the Organising Committee (AAGC 2019), IPS (Rtd), Gopal B Hosur said.

He further said that the support provided by the Government of Karnataka has ensured the mega event is conducted on-par with top world-class aquatic events.

"I must extend my sincere gratitude to the Government of Karnataka and the Department of Youth Services and Sports who have come on board as the main sponsor for this event. Their support has come as a shot in the arm in our endeavour to ensure the event is conducted on-par with other top nations," Hosur said.

The event will see a strong contingent from India, including the likes of Olympians Virdhawal Khade, Sajan Prakash and Shivani Kataria, backstroke sensation Srihari Nataraj, sprinter Anshul Kothari, national record holder in breaststroke Likith SP, freestyle specialist Khushagra Rawat take part in the open category while Kenisha Gupta, Kushi Dinesh, Suvana C Baskar, Tanish George Mathew, Sanjay CJ, and Riddhima Virendra among others promise to create headlines in the age-group categories.

The 10th AASF Asian Age Group Championships will also witness top swimmers from Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore.

"This is the largest Aquatic Championships in Asia as it's not only for open categories (18 years and above) like the Asian Games and Asian Championships but will also include participants from Age Groups I (15-17 years) and II (14 years and below)," Swimming Federation of India, Secretary-General, Monal Chokshi said.

"The last time India hosted this event was in 1999 and I am sure this Championships coming to India will spur the popularity of the sport with aspiring swimmers getting to watch their icons live in action. Traditionally, Indian swimmers have always done well at this competition and I am confident they will make use of the home advantage this time to surpass the previous edition's medal tally,"
With the event recognised by FINA as an Olympic Qualifier, Indian swimmers will enjoy home advantage as they aim for A Qualification Mark for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Bengaluru is the most preferred city for Olympians and top Indian swimmers to train and excel.

Meanwhile, Vice President of Indian Olympic Association and veteran sports administrator Virendra Nanavati said, "This is a very crucial period for the Indian swimmers as some of them are vying for the 'A' Qualification mark for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics."

"At the recent FINA World Championships we had good participation with six swimmers, four Open Water swimmers and one diver qualifying to take part and some of them even improved the best Indian Performance record. Good show here at the 10th AASF Asian Age Group Championships Bengaluru 2019 will put them in good stead to make the qualification mark for the forthcoming Olympics," Nanavati added.

In the previous edition held in Uzbekistan in 2017, India won a total of 40 medals in swimming with five gold, 13 silver, and 22 bronze Medals. While in diving, India won three gold, two silver, and three bronze medals.

Srihari Nataraj, the national record holder in 50, 100 and 200m backstroke said it is a great opportunity for Indian swimmers to create match-winning performances and get more support in the sport.

"It is very exciting that the 10th AASF Asian Age Group Championships 2019 is happening in my hometown Bengaluru. This is a great opportunity for Indian swimmers to create winning performances and garner more support for swimming in the country. With nearly 45 days to go for the event, I am looking forward to being in my best form and I will be vying for Gold in all my events and make use of the home advantage."

Nataraj further said he is confident of achieving the A Qualification mark. The backstroke player also highlighted that his performance improved at the recent World Championships.

"At the recent FINA World Championships, I further improved my personal best in 50m (25.83), 200m (2:02.08) backstroke slashing my own National Record in these events and I clocked 55.55 in the 100m backstroke."

"Though I could not achieve my goal of securing the A Qualification Mark for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, I believe there are quite a few opportunities coming up and I am confident of achieving the A Qualification mark. I was one of the youngest swimmers in my event at the FINA World Championships, so in that sense, I am happy with my performance," Nataraj added.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
July 28,2020

New Delhi, Jul 28: Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot had "unconstitutionally" merged six MLAs of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) with the Congress in Rajasthan, he did the same in his earlier tenure too, for which we wanted to teach him and his party a lesson, said BSP chief Mayawati on Tuesday.

The BSP chief added that her party could have gone to courts earlier but decided to wait for the "right opportunity".

"In Rajasthan, after elections results, BSP gave unconditional support of all its 6 MLAs to Congress. Unfortunately, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, out of his malicious intent and to damage BSP, merged them with Congress unconstitutionally. He did the same even during his earlier tenure," Mayawati said here.

"BSP could have gone to the court earlier too but we were looking for the time to teach Congress party and CM Ashok Gehlot a lesson. Now we have decided to go to the Court. We will not let this matter alone. We will go even to the Supreme Court," she added.

The BSP chief further reiterated that the party has asked the six MLAs to vote against the Congress government led by Ashok Gehlot if a trust vote takes place on the floor of the Rajasthan Assembly, failing which "their party membership will be cancelled".
She further said that the merger of BSP MLAs with Congress was immoral and went against the mandate given by voters in Rajasthan.
"Ulta-chor kotwal ko daante (the thief accuses the cop of wrongs) they (Congress) themselves indulge in wrongdoing and then accuse us," she further said.
On Sunday, the BSP issued a whip to six MLAs, asking them to vote against Congress in case of a no-confidence motion or any proceedings to be held during the Rajasthan Assembly session.

National General Secretary of BSP Satish Chandra Mishra, while speaking to news agecncy said, "Notices have been issued to the six MLAs separately as well as collectively, pointing out that since BSP is a National Party, there cannot be any merger at the state level at the instance of six MLAs unless there is a merger of BSP at the national level. If they violate it, they will be disqualified.

Notices have been issued to all six MLAs- - R Gudha, Lakhan Singh, Deep Chand, JS Awana, Sandeep Kumar and Wajib Ali, who are elected to the Rajasthan Assembly."
However, later on Monday, Lakhan Singh, hit back saying he and the five others had already joined the Congress.

"We six MLAs have already joined the Congress. BSP remembered us after nine months. They have issued this whip, after a message from the BJP. On this basis they are going to court", said Karauli MLA Lakhan Singh.

Rajasthan government is in turmoil after simmering differences between Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot and Gehlot came out in the open. Pilot was removed as the Deputy Chief Minister and the state unit chief of Congress.

The Congress has accused the BJP of indulging in horse-trading to bring down the Gehlot government. The BJP has rejected the allegations.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
June 9,2020

Bengaluru, Jun 9: Former India skipper Rahul Dravid has said that Virat Kohli understands that the real respect for him as a cricketer will come through success in the longest format of the game.

Dravid, popularly known as 'The Wall', also said that Test batsmanship has become exciting to watch now as batters play aggressive shots more often.

"I actually believe Test batsmanship has become more exciting than before, the aggressive element of Test batsmanship is going forward, players are playing shots and it is good to see, a good thing for India is Virat Kohli really values Test cricket, he understands that the real respect for him as a cricketer will come from his success in Test cricket," Dravid told Sanjay Manjrekar in a videocast hosted by ESPNCricinfo.

He also said that defensive batting in cricket is not irrelevant, but added that players can have successful careers without having a good defensive technique.

"I don't think it is becoming irrelevant, maybe the value of defensive batting is not the same as it was a generation ago, it can never become irrelevant, I think you still need to defend your wicket if you want to score suns, I feel now you can survive without a good defensive technique in cricket," Dravid said.

"Today, you do not need to have a good Test career to have a successful career, look at the best players in the world today, a lot of them have a good defensive technique and they can play out difficult periods of the game," he added.

The 47-year-old Dravid also said that all young players want to represent their country in all three formats during their initial days, but eventually, they become realistic as time passes by.

"I would say in my interaction with the younger players, everyone's hero is someone who has succeeded in all formats of the game. I think all players start off wanting to play all formats, but then guys get a little realistic about their careers, superstars of the game will still want to play to all formats of the game," Dravid said.

Dravid is the only player in the history of cricket to be involved in two 300-plus ODI partnerships.

He played 164 Tests, 344 ODIs and one T20I for India. Dravid had announced his retirement from international cricket in March 2012.

He finished his career with 48 international centuries.

He has also coached the Indian junior sides (India U-19 and India A) and he is now the head of the National Cricket Academy (NCA).

Dravid has also led the side during his playing days and under his leadership, the side had managed to register their first Test series win in England.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
May 7,2020

Dubai/Abu Dhabi, May 7: A group passengers who are scheduled to fly to Kozhikode on the first COVID-19 Indian repatriation flight have begun streaming in to Terminal 2 at Dubai International Airport.

Wearing masks and gloves, the passengers are now waiting for the medical screening and check-in services to begin.

Airport officials gave entry to the departure terminal only to passengers with tickets.

Naif resident Mahamood P.P, 60, was among the first to reach as he was not informed about the change in the flight schedule, he told Gulf News.

“I reached here at 9.30am as I didn’t get any information about the 2.10pm flight getting rescheduled to the evening,” he said.

Suffering from a heart disease, Mahmood, who works as a juice maker at a juice shop near Naif Police station, said he stepped out of his room for the first time in two months.

“As there were many cases in Naif, I never went out because of my health condition. Since I was not in contact with anyone else other than my roommates who also never went out, I didn’t go for the COVID screening also. I was worried that I might be exposed to infection while waiting for the tests,” he said.

He thanked the Indian Consulate for giving him priority to fly home. “I need to go for my heart checkup. So I wanted to fly home as soon as possible.”

However, he said his son, a civil engineer who came here searching for a job, is not flying back though he is on a visit visa.

“Since the UAE government has allowed people on visit visa to stay here till December, he has decided to try his luck in getting a job,” said Mahamood.

Sneha Thomas, who is eight months pregnant, was also among the first to arrive at the airport.

Her husband Somi Jose came to drop her.

Thomas is among 11 pregnant women flying on the Dubai-Kozhikode flight.

Sharjah resident for 30 years, Mohammed Ali Yaseen, who is also the secretary of the Kerala Muslim Cultural Centre in Sharjah, said he is flying home as the restaurant he was running had to be closed due to a demolition plan of the building.

“Three months ago I got the notice to vacate the building and I had to close the restaurant. I was looking for another shop. But then the coronavirus hit. Now there is no point in me opening me a new shop as those who are already operational are not getting any business.”

He said he decided to drop the plan and go home for now. “My visa and license are still valid. I will try to come back when this pandemic ends and things are better.”

Meanwhile, at the Au Dhabi International Airport, families with kids were given priority to proceed towrards check-in. at terminal 3. The passengers coming in right now were mostly women who were on a visit visa. Pregnant women and the elderly too were given priority.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.