Dutee Chand wins 2nd gold in Taiwan but still in search of 2016 Rio berth

May 21, 2016

Taoyuan City, May 21: Promising sprinter Dutee Chand bagged her second gold by winning the women's 200m race in a clean sweep of medals by the Indians at the Taiwan Open Athletics Championships here today.

ChandDutee clocked 23.52secs in the 200m sprint final to win the gold while compatriots Srabani Nanda and H M Jyothi picked up the silver and bronze in 23.55secs and 23.92secs respectively.

The trio were part of the Indian quartet that set a national record in women's 4x100m relay at the IAAF World Challenge in Beijing on May 18.

The women's relay team, however, could not repeat the Beijing show here in Taiwan yesterday as they were disqualified in the heats after a botch up in the baton exchange.

Dutee had won a gold in the women's 100m dash here yesterday in a slow time of 11.50secs, thereby failing to qualify for Rio Olympics, for which she needed to touch 11.32secs.

In the Federation Cup National Athletics Championships in New Delhi last month, Dutee had run 11.33secs in 100m dash, raising hopes of a Rio Games berth in the coming days.

Today's 200m timings of both Dutee and Srabani were below their 23.34 and 23.36 (heat timings) efforts in New Delhi.

Meanwhile, the other Indians in the fray came up with disappointing performances today, raising questions why they have been sent at all outside India at a time when athletes are seeking Olympics qualifications.

Kirpal Singh Batth hurled 58.20m to win gold in the men's discus while compatriot Arjun was second with 55.50m, in an event which has Olympic qualification standard of 65m.

Former national record holder Om Prakash Karhana continued to disappoint with a mediocre performance of 17.85m to bag the silver in men's shot put. The Olympic qualification standard in this event is set at 20.50m. Karhana has a personal best of 20.69m, which he did in 2012.

In men's triple jump, Arivu Selvam Devendran won the bronze with an effort of 15.62m. The Olympic qualification standard in this event is set at 16.85m.

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May 18,2020

Karachi, May 18: Former Pakistan captain Younis Khan believes it is at least five years too early to compare Virat Kohli and Babar Azam as the Indian skipper has proven himself in "every kind of situation" and the latter has not.

"Virat Kohli is far more experienced than Babar. He has at least five years more experience of top cricket and he is at the peak of his career," said Younis, Pakistan's leading run-getter in Tests.

"Kohli has far more exposure than Babar and he has been in every kind of situation and proven himself. No one gets 70 international centuries like that and this are proof of his class and abilities. He has scored runs in every situation and all opposition."

Younis said said Babar still has a long way to go.

"Babar has been in top cricket for just around five years. He has got a very impressive batting average across all three formats and he is getting better by the day.

"You see him batting and you can see he has got the same qualities that Kohli had at the start of his career."

Besides amassing 70 international hundreds, 31-year-old Kohli averages more than 50 in all three formats. The India skipper has scored more than 20,000 runs while 25-year-old Babar has 6680 runs across formats though the Pakistan limited overs skipper has played significantly lesser number of games.

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February 18,2020

Berlin, Feb 18: Sachin Tendulkar being lifted on the shoulders of his teammates after their World Cup triumph at home in 2011 has been voted the Laureus best sporting moment in the last 20 years.

With the backing of Indian cricket fans, Tendulkar got the maximum number of votes to emerge winner on Monday.

Tendulkar, competing in his sixth and last World Cup, finally realised his long-term dream when skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni smacked Sri Lankan pacer Nuwan Kulasekara out of the park for a winning six.

The charged-up Indian cricketers rushed to the ground and soon they lifted Tendulkar on their shoulders and made a lap of honour, a moment etched in the minds of the fans.

Former Australian skipper Steve Waugh handed the trophy to Tendulkar after tennis legend Boris Becker announced the winner at a glittering ceremony.

“It's incredible. The feeling of winning the world cup was beyond what words can express. How many times you get an event happening where there are no mixed opinions. Very rarely the entire country celebrates,” Tendulkar said after receiving the trophy.

“And this is a reminder of how powerful a sport is and what magic it does to our lives. Even now when I watch that it has stayed with me.”

Becker then asked Tendulkar to share the emotions he felt at that time and the Indian legend put in perspective how important it was for him to hold that trophy.

“My journey started in 1983 when I was 10 years old. India had won the World Cup. I did not understand the significance and just because everybody was celebrating, I also joined the party.

“But somewhere I knew something special has happened to the country and I wanted to experience it one day and that's how my journey began.”

“It was the proudest moment of my life, holding that trophy which I chased for 22 years but I never lost hope. I was merely lifting that trophy on behalf of my countrymen.”

The 46-year-old Tendulkar, the highest run-getter in the cricket world, said holding the Laureus trophy has also given him great honour.

He also shared the impact the revolutionary South African leader Nelson Mandela had on him. He met him when he was just 19 years old.

“His hardship did not affect his leadership. Out of many messages he left, the most important I felt was that sport has got the power to unite everyone.

"Today, sitting in this room with so many athletes, some of them did not have everything but they made the best of everything they had. I thank them for inspiring youngsters to pick a sport of their choice and chase their dreams. This trophy belongs to all of us, it's not just about me.”

In a tweet on Tuesday, Tendulkar dedicated the award to his country, teammates and fans.

"Thank you all for the overwhelming love and support! I dedicate this @LaureusSport award to India, all my teammates, fans and well wishers in India and across the world who have always supported Indian cricket," he tweeted.

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March 28,2020

Milan, Mar 28: Juventus star Paulo Dybala revealed how he "struggled to breathe" after contracting coronavirus which has killed over 9,000 people in Italy.

The Argentine international announced last Saturday he was one of three Juventus players to catch the virus along with Daniele Rugani and Blaise Matuidi, who both had no symptoms.

"I feel better now after some strong symptoms," the 26-year-old Dybala told JTV channel.

"A couple of days ago I was not well, I felt heavy and after five minutes of movement I had to stop because I was struggling to breathe.

"Now I can move and walk to start trying to train, because when I tried in the past few days I started to shake too much.

"I gasped for air and as a result I couldn't do anything, after five minutes I was already very tired, I felt the body heavy and my muscles hurt.

"Now I'm fine. My fiancee Oriana (Sabatini) has also overcome the symptoms."

Dybala has scored 13 goals in all competitions this season, including in league leader's Juventus's last game against Inter Milan before Serie A and all sport in Italy was suspended.

"The goal against Inter was the greatest emotion, (Aaron) Ramsey provided the perfect assist - it's a pity that there was no public," added Dybala.

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