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Boxer Vijender Singh clashes with French opponent at weigh-in

April 30, 2016

London, Apr 30: Sparks flew thick and fast between Indian boxing sensation Vijender Singh and his French opponent Matiouze Royer during Friday’s official weigh-in at Stratford’s Copper Box Arena.

VijenderVijender has promised another knockout show but the Indian boxing star’s unbeaten run will be put through a tough challenge when he squares off against the experienced Frenchman in a super middleweight contest here tomorrow.

Royer, 29, is Vijender’s most experienced opponent to date. Vijender has won all his four bouts via Technical Knockouts in under three rounds.

The tall pugilist from Bayonne in South West France got embroiled in a confrontation with Vijender after the pair had weighed in. Despite the massive showdown being little more than 24 hours away, Royer couldn’t wait to get his hands on the Indian.

Both men were forced away from each other by officials as tempers threatened to boil over. Royer is a veteran of 44 fights, claiming 3 of his 14 wins via knockout and is promising to spoil the Indian party.

“I know I’ve got the beating of Vijender already; I saw it in his eyes. He looked scared to me. There’s no doubt in my mind I’ll knock him out tomorrow night. There’s a lot of hype around this guy and I can’t wait to be the one to put him in his place,” said Royer.

He added: “I’m the more experienced fighter and I’ll show it tomorrow. There’s no way I’m letting this guy beat me; he’s only had four professional fights. He won’t have a reply for anything I throw at him and once I start landing it will be game over for India’s golden boy.”

Vijender looked in impressive condition as he hit the scales at 11 stone 13lbs while Royer came in at 11 stone 13lbs.

If Vijender carries on his impressive knockout streak, he may be rewarded with a mega-fight with British boxing star Amir Khan.

Khan, a two-time former world champion, has a glitterring career which includes 31 wins, three losses and 19 knockouts. He is expected to face one of the biggest challenges of his career when he steps up in weight to take on Mexican boxer Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez in what could be a career defining fight.

The Bolton hero has said that he would love to take on fellow Olympic star Vijender in a blockbuster showdown in India in the future.

“That’s good, I’m very interested in that fight. I’d accept the challenge 100 percent. Obviously there’s the difference in weight but I’m sure we could get that sorted somewhere down the line if I carry on progressing. It would be absolutely huge in India,” Vijender said.

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News Network
April 24,2020

New Delhi, Apr 24: India's World Cup-winning former opener Gautam Gambhir performed the last rites of his deceased domestic help after her mortal remains could not be sent to her home in Odisha due to the coronavirus-forced national lockdown.

Gambhir, also a BJP Lok Sabha MP, posted a tribute on his Twitter page for his employee Saraswati Patra, who was working at his residence for the past six years.

"Taking care of my little one can never be domestic help. She was family. Performing her last rites was my duty," he tweeted.

"Always believed in dignity irrespective of caste, creed, religion or social status. Only way to create a better society. That's my idea of India! Om Shanti," said the 38-year-old Gambhir, who played 58 Tests for India between 2004 and 2016.

Media reports in Odisha said the 49-year-old Patra hailed from a village in Jajpur district.

She was admitted to Sir Ganga Ram Hospital a few days ago and was battling diabetes and high blood pressure for a long period. She breathed her last while undergoing treatment on April 21.

Union Minister of Petroleum and Steel Dharmendra Pradhan appreciated Gambhir.

"Taking care of Saraswati throughout the course of her illness, he also ensured her dignity in death by performing her last rites himself since her mortal remains could not be sent to her family back home in Odisha," Pradhan, who also belongs to Odisha, tweeted.

"His act of compassion will enliven the faith in humanity for millions of poor, who are working far from their home for livelihood and will garner respect from all folds of the society."

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News Network
May 30,2020

New Delhi, May 30: Former world chess champion Viswanathan Anand will be finally reaching India late on Saturday after being stuck in Germany for over three months due to the travel restrictions imposed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Yes.. Anand will be returning today," the chess maestro's wife Aruna told PTI on Saturday morning. Anand, who boarded an Air India flight (AI-120) from Frankfurt on Friday night will reach Bengaluru via Delhi.

He is expected to reach Bengaluru at 1.15 pm. The five-time world champion will undergo 14 days quarantine as per rules laid down by the Karnataka government.

"He will complete quarantine procedures and come to Chennai as per protocol," Aruna Anand said. The flights from Germany are only scheduled to land only in Delhi and Bengaluru.

The chess ace was in Germany to play in the Bundesliga chess league and was to return to India, but was forced to stay put after the COVID-19 outbreak disrupted sporting schedules across the globe, apart from restricting movement.

He was staying near Frankfurt and was doing online commentary for the Candidates tournament which was called off mid-way due to the pandemic and led the Indian team in the Online Nations Cup early this month.

Anand had been in touch with his family in Chennai on a regular basis via video calls and kept himself busy with chess-related work.

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Agencies
August 2,2020

New Delhi, Aug 2: Batting great Rahul Dravid has attributed Chennai Super Kings' consistent run in the IPL to skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni's instincts, game-smarts and the incredible amount of work that goes behind the scenes.

N Srinivasan, the former BCCI president and head of India Cements, which owns the CSK franchise, agreed that Dhoni is a man of instinct who doesn't believe in attending team meetings and going over data.

Both were speaking at a webinar organised by the Great Lakes Institute of Management.

"If you look at the success CSK has had, they've got really good access to data and they've got really good access to people behind the scenes and they've run cricket teams at the junior level," Dravid said at the webinar according to ESPNcricinfo.

The former India captain added, "They understand talent and they've obviously got a good scouting process in place. But, what they also have is a captain who really understands instincts.

"So, I mean, look, I know Dhoni quite well and I hope he hasn't changed, but I know Dhoni is probably not one to look at reams of data and statistics."

The Super Kings have won the lucrative tournament three times -- one less than Mumbai Indians -- and reached the knockouts in each of the 10 seasons they have been a part of.

Srinivasan also spoke about how Dhoni's instinct and judgement contributed to his team's success at a time when a lot of emphases is placed on data.

"We're awash with data just now. To give you an example, there are bowling coaches and in a T20 game, they play videos of every batsman whom they're going to come against and they see how he got out, what's his strength, what's his weakness etc.

"So, MS Dhoni doesn't attend this, he's a pure instinct man. The bowling coach, (head coach Stephen) Fleming will be there and everybody will be there, everyone is giving opinions, (but) he'll get up and go.

"In the context of instinct, he feels that okay he can assess a batsman or player on the field, that's his judgement. On the other hand, there is so much of data that is available to help a person also analyse. It's a very difficult line to draw (between data and instinct)."

Srinivasan also recalled how Dhoni once refused to take "one outstanding player" suggested by the franchise boss as that could have broken the team's cohesion.

"There was one outstanding player that we suggested to MS, he said: 'no sir, he will spoil the team'. The cohesion within the team is important and see in America, franchise-based sport has been there for such a long time," he said.

"In India, we're just starting and we're new to it. But we at India Cements have had a lot of experience running teams at junior levels."

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