Heena Sidhu secures Olympic quota with gold medal

January 28, 2016

New Delhi, Jan 28: India's top pistol shooter Heena Sidhu today secured an Olympic quota for the country after she led from start to finish and claimed the gold medal in women's 10-m air pistol on day one of competition at the Asia Olympic Qualifiers for shooting here.

HeenaThe current world record holder and former world number one, Heena shot 199.4 in the eight-woman finals to finish ahead of Chinese Taipei's Tien Chia Chen (198.1) and Gim Yun Mi (177.9) of Korea at the Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range.

Heena shot an impressive 10.3 in the second last shot of the finals to extend her lead to 1.5 points over her rival from Chinese Taipei. The Indian shot exactly 10 in her final attempt and it was enough to get her the top prize, despite a 10.2 from Tien Chia Chen.

This was India's ninth quota from shooting for the upcoming Olympic Games.

However, it was a bad day at the office for the host country in men's 50-m rifle prone and women's trap as none of the Indian participants could clear the qualification hurdle.

In men's rifle prone event, young Swapnil Kusale finished 14th after aggregating 617.2 over a series of six shots.

Sushil Ghale was 17th, while Surendra Singh Rathod was 24th in the pecking order.

In women's trap, where only one quota for Rio Games was on offer, Shreyashi Singh lost out in the shoot-off.

After stage 1 of men's 25-m rapid fire pistol, London Olympics silver medallist Vijay Kumar was placed seventh with a score of 285, including seven Xs. The other two Indian participants in the event, Neeraj Kumar and Harpreet Singh, were placed 13th and 16th, respectively.

From India's point of view, the day easily belonged to Heena, whose long wait to earn a quota for the quadrennial extravaganza ended finally in front of her home crowd.

Prior to this tournament, the 26-year-old Patiala-born girl clinched a gold medal each in the Asian Air Gun Championships and Asian Shooting Championships in Kuwait last September and November, respectively.

Heena's confidence was high as she entered the final as leader of the pack with a score of 387 in the qualification.

The other Indian participants in the women's air pistol event, young Yashaswini Deshwal and Shweta Singh finished 11th and 12th, respectively.

"I was just concentrating on the process. I knew that I was doing well. I was confident that I would win a quota today," Heena told reporters after the event.

Heena's husband Ronak Pandit, who is also her coach, was as relieved as the shooter herself.

Three ISSF World Cups will be held before the Rio Games get going in August, and Heena's preparation is going on the right track.

"There are three World Cups lined up but Heena will skip the first one. She is not a kid anymore who needs international exposure all the time," said Ronak, who chalks out her schedule.

"After SAG (South Asian Games), she will compete in Rio World Cup which is very important," he said.

Ronak said they will now focus on Heena's "technical exercise" to fine tune her game.

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May 10,2020

New Delhi, May 10: Former Australia captain Ian Chappell has proposed radical changes in the LBW laws, stating that a batsman should be given out leg before as long as the ball is hitting the stumps irrespective of the spot of its landing and impact.

Chappell also said captains should agree on one way of working up the ball which will encourage swing bowling, even as the ICC is considering the use of artificial substances to shine the ball instead of sweat and saliva in post-COVID-19 scenario.

"The new lbw law should simply say: 'Any delivery that strikes the pad without first hitting the bat and, in the umpire's opinion, would go on to hit the stumps is out regardless of whether or not a shot is attempted'," he wrote in a column for ESPNcricinfo.

"Forget where the ball pitches and whether it strikes the pad outside the line or not; if it's going to hit the stumps, it's out."

The 76-year-old said the change in lbw law would attract expected criticism from the batsmen but it would make the game more fair.

"There will be screams of horror - particularly from pampered batsmen - but there are numerous positives this change would bring to the game. Most important is fairness.

"If a bowler is prepared to attack the stumps regularly, the batsman should only be able to protect his wicket with the bat. The pads are there to save the batsman from injury not dismissal.

"It would also force batsmen to seek an attacking method to combat a wristspinner pitching in the rough outside the right-hander's leg stump," said Chappell.

He cited Sachin Tendulkar's example on how he negotiated Shane Warne's round the wicket tactic during the 1997-98 Test series in India.

"Contrast Sachin Tendulkar's aggressive and successful approach to Shane Warne coming round the wicket in Chennai in 1997-98 with a batsman who kicks away deliveries pitching in the rough and turning in toward the stumps. Which would you rather watch?

"The current law encourages "pad play" to balls pitching outside leg while this change would force them to use their bat. The change would reward bowlers who attack the stumps and decrease the need for negative wide deliveries to a packed off-side field," he said.

Chappell said his proposed change to the lbw law would also cut down "frivolous" DRS challenges.

"This change to the lbw law would also simplify umpiring and result in fewer frivolous DRS challenges. Consequently, it would speed up a game that has slowed drastically in recent times.

"It would also make four-day Tests an even more viable proposition as mind-numbing huge first-innings totals would be virtually non-existent."

On the substitute of shining the ball without sweat and saliva, Chappell said international captains should find out a way of working up the ball.

"With ball-tampering always a hot topic, in the past I've suggested that administrators ask international captains to construct a list (i.e. the use of natural substances) detailing the things bowlers feel will help them to swing the ball.

"From this list, the administrators should deem one method to be legal with all others being punishable as illegal," the cricketer-turned-commentator added.

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June 10,2020

Kingston, Jun 10: "Enough is enough", said West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo as he opened up on the raging issue of racism and called for "respect and equality" for black people, who have faced discrimination for years.

Bravo joined the likes of his former captain Darren Sammy and Chris Gayle in denouncing racism in the wake of African-American George Floyd's killing at the hands of a white police officer in the USA.

"It's sad to see what's going on around the world. As a black man, we know the history of what black people have been through. We never ask for revenge, we ask for equality and respect. That's it," Bravo told former Zimbabwe cricketer Pommie Mbangwa in an Instagram live chat on Tuesday.

"We give respect to others. Why is it that we are facing this over and over? Now enough is enough. We just want equality. We don't want revenge, war.

"We just want respect. We share love and appreciate people for who they are. That's what is most important."

The 36-year-old, who has played 40 Tests, 164 ODIs and 71 T20Is for West Indies, said he wants the world to know that they are powerful and beautiful people and gave the example of greats such as Nelson Mandela, Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan.

"I just want our brothers and sisters to know that we are powerful and beautiful. And at the end of the day, you look at some of the greats of the world, whether it is Nelson Mandela, Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan we have had leaders who paved the way for us," he said.

Two-time T20 World Cup-winning captain Sammy had earlier alleged that a racist nickname was used to address him during his IPL stint with Sunrisers Hyderabad and demanded an apology.

Sammy said he was called 'Kalu' while he was in India. 'Kalu' is a derogatory word to describe black people.

Gayle, who too plays in the IPL, took to Twitter to back Sammy, saying that racism does exist in cricket.

"It's never too late to fight for the right cause or what you've experienced over the years! So much more to your story, @darensammy88. Like I said, it's in the game!!," Gayle tweeted.

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June 13,2020

Mumbai, Jun 13: Vasant Raiji, who was India's oldest first-class cricketer at 100, died in Mumbai in the wee hours of Saturday.

Raiji was 100 years old and is survived by his wife and two daughters.

"He (Raiji) passed away at 2.20 am in his sleep at his residence in Walkeshwar in South Mumbai due to old-age," his son-in-law Sudarshan Nanavati told PTI.

Raiji, a right-handed batsman, played nine first-class matches in the 1940s, scoring 277 runs with 68 being his highest score.

He made his debut for a Cricket Club of India team that played Central Provinces and Berar in Nagpur in 1939.

His Mumbai debut happened in 1941 when the team played Western India under the leadership of Vijay Merchant.

Raiji, also a cricket historian and chartered accountant, was 13 when India played its first Test match at the Bombay Gymkhana in South Mumbai.

Cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar and former Australian skipper Steve Waugh had paid a courtesy visit to Raiji at his residence in January when he had turned 100.

It has been learnt that the cremation will take place at the Chandanwadi crematorium in South Mumbai on Saturday afternoon.

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