India beat Korea 5-3 to enter men's hockey semifinals

Agencies
August 27, 2018

Jakarta, Aug 26: Defending champions India continued their unbeaten run and beat South Korea 5-3 in a pool match to storm into the semi-finals of the men's hockey competition at the 18th Asian Games on Sunday.

India scored through Rupinder Pal Singh (1st minute), Chinglensana Singh (4th), Lalit Upadhyay (15th), Manpreet Singh (49th) and Akashdeep Singh (55th), while Korea's goals came from the sticks of Manjae Jung (33rd, 35th) and Jonghyun Jang (59th).

By virtue of this result, India lead Pool A with 12 points from four victories. The title holders will play lowly Sri Lanka in their last pool engagement.

Even though it was India's fourth consecutive win in the pool, it was a far from impressive display from Harendra Singh's men against the Koreans.

In their previous three games, the Indians had thrashed Indonesia 17-0 before registering a record 26-0 win over Hong Kong China and 8-0 victory over Japan.

Going by international ranking, the gulf between world no.5 India and their no.14 opponents was quite evident in the first two quarters, but the Koreans gained confidence after the change of ends, and surprisingly, controlled the game in the third quarter.

But it was India who started with a bang and scored as early as the opening minute when Rupinder scored from the spot after being awarded a penalty stroke.

The Indians continued to press hard and doubled their lead in the fourth minute through Chinglensana, who neatly deflected in a Rupinder free hit from outside the circle.

India soon earned back-to-back penalty corners but wasted both.

Seconds into the second quarter, an unmarked Lalit beautifully pushed in Simranjeet Singh's aerial ball from deep to make the scoreline 3-0 in favour of India.

But, after the change of ends, the Koreans looked a different side and dominated the Indians.

Korea reduced the margin in the 33rd minute when Jung scored from a penalty corner variation and then two minutes later, their captain again found the back of the net to stun the Indians.

The holders, however, regained their composure and grip over the proceedings in the fourth quarter, which resulted in two beautiful reverse hit field goals from the sticks of Manpreet and Akashdeep.

Korea earned three back-to-back penalty corners in the dying minutes of the game, courtesy a defensive error from Rupinder, and Jang converted in the third attempt.

India's chief coach Harendra Singh will not be a happy man with his wards' performance, especially with the fact that they wasted five penalty corners despite having four dragflikers in the squad.

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News Network
June 25,2020

New Delhi, Jun 25: India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin on Thursday called the 1983 World Cup win as the 'landscape' changing moment for the game of cricket in the country.

Today, India is celebrating the completion of the 37 years of the maiden World Cup triumph under the leadership of Kapil Dev.

"Today 37 years ago, changed the cricketing landscape in India. Thank you @therealkapildev and team for making the game a career for many of us today. Deeply indebted," Ashwin tweeted.

In 1983, in the finals between India and West Indies, the latter won the toss and opted to bowl first.

The Kapil Dev-led side managed to score just 183 runs as Andy Roberts took three wickets while Malcolm Marshall, Michael Holding, and Larry Gomes picked up two wickets each.

Defending 183, India did a good job of keeping a check on the Windies run flow, reducing the side to 57/3.

Soon after, the team from the Caribbean was reduced to 76/6 and India was the favourites from there on to win the title.

Mohinder Amarnath took the final wicket of Michael Holding to give India their first-ever World Cup title win.

In the finals, West Indies was bowled out for 140, and as a result, India won the match by 43 runs.

Kapil Dev lifting the trophy at the balcony of Lord's Cricket Ground still remains an image to savour for all the Indian fans.

In the finals, Mohinder Amarnath was chosen as the Man of the Match as he scored 26 runs with the bat and also picked up three wickets with the ball.

India has been the regular participant in the World Cup from its beginning to the latest edition. The first edition was held in 1975 and from there on, it has taken place after a span of every four years.

West Indies won the first two World Cup titles (1975, 1979) and was the runner-up in 1983. India has won the title two times, in 1983 and in 2011.

MS Dhoni captained the 2011 team to win their second title after 28 years. Australia has won the tournament five times (1987, 1999, 2003, 2007, and 2015).

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News Network
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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News Network
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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