Meticulous planning key to success in Olympics, says Poonia

July 8, 2012

poonia


New Delhi, July 8: Winning a medal in the Olympics is a "lifetime dream" for India's top discus thrower Krishna Poonia, who is "meticulously planning" her every move to brighten her podium chances in London.

Fully aware of the pressure associated with a mega-event like the Olympics, Poonia plans to enter the Games Village as late as possible to keep herself in the training mode ahead of the actual competition, which will be held on August 3 and 4 at the showpiece London Olympic Stadium.

"Winning an Olympic medal is a lifetime dream. It's all about meticulous planning, from where to train to when to enter the Games Village," she told PTI from Basildon, at the outskirts of London, where she is training.

"I am here in London much before any Indian athlete but I don't want to be in the Olympics mode yet because of the pressure associated with it. I want to enter the Village as late as possible," she added.

Poonia hurled the discus to her personal best of 64.76m at Wailuku, Hawai Islands in the United States in May but she knows in order to win a medal in London she will have to clear the 65m mark.

"I have to cross 65m if I have to have any chance of a medal in London. I am doing above 65m during training," said the 30-year-old Commonwealth Games gold medallist.


"There is pressure in all international competitions and an athlete will have to cope with it. But Olympics is something different, it's the biggest stage. So pressure will be huge and I want to avoid pressure as much as possible," said Poonia, who in 2010 became the first Indian woman to win an individual gold in Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.


Poonia is at number nine in the latest IAAF rankings, and all eight ahead of her have above 65m personal best, with Germany's Nadine Muller leading the chart with 68.89m.


The Indian said she had been undergoing yoga and other mental exercises during her training in the United States under 1976 Olympic champion Mac Wilkins so that she concentrates on her throw during the Olympics.

"Concentration is the most important thing to get the distance. I do yoga especially breathing exercises and meditation in the United Sates (at Portland where she had a three-month training). I also had regular discussion with Virender (her husband-cum-coach) and Mac Wilkins (at the training centre at Portland in US)," she said.


She, however, keeps away from following what the other season leaders were doing so that she does not feel the pressure.

"I don't want to follow what Nadine Muller or Sandra Perkovic or Stephanie Brown Trafton (Beijing Games gold medallist from United Sates) are doing. That will put pressure on me. I want to concentrate on my strength," she said.

"I don't want to put myself under pressure. I don't want to think that I can become the first Indian track and field athlete to win an Olympic medal. People may have expectations after my Commonwealth Games feat but for me I will be happy if I give my 100 per cent," she added.



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coastaldigest.com web desk
August 3,2020

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will not end its partnership with Chinese companies. Vivo, the Chinese smartphone maker, is the main sponsor of the new IPL season as well. Apart from Vivo, PayTM and Dream 11 will also be at the helm of the 13th edition of the IPL. The IPL governing council meeting on Sunday decided to retain the old sponsors.

As soon as the IPL GC announced the decision of retaining the sponsors, a huge number of fans took to Twitter to slam the board for the same. #BoycottIPL started trending as the users urged others to boycott the tournament for the Chinese connection.

Earlier, the demand for exclusion of Chinese companies from the IPL was strong in the wake of the India-China border dispute. But the BCCI cannot abruptly end its collaboration with them. Because of the signed contract itself. And in this age of declining economy, it is difficult to find new sponsors quickly.

The current BCCI contract with Vivo is for five years. Vivo has invested Rs 2,199 crore to become the main sponsor of the IPL. The contract was signed in 2017. However, the BCCI’s move is paving the way for new discussions as calls are mounting across the country to boycott Chinese companies.

The BCCI announced other important decisions besides retaining sponsors. The IPL will be held from September 19 to November 10. The Indian government has given permission to the BCCI to hold the IPL in the UAE. With this, all obstacles in the way of organizing the tournament were removed.

The IPL matches will be played at 7.30 pm Indian time (6 pm UAE time). Most matches are about one match a day. There are a total of ten ‘double headers’ (two matches a day) in the tournament. Franchisees are allowed to appoint as many replacements as they want in the new season in view of the new health situation. At the same time, the maximum number of players a franchise can accommodate is 24. The BCCI is also planning to host a women’s IPL tournament.

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Agencies
February 25,2020

Bengaluru, Feb 25: India opening batsman KL Rahul will be available for Karnataka's Ranji Trophy semi-final clash against Bengal at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on February 29.

Rahul had asked to be rested from Karnataka's quarter-final match but is now available for the climactic stages of the Ranji Trophy. 

Karnataka had already been strengthened by the addition of Manish Pandey for the quarter-finals, with both Pandey and Rahul having returned from New Zealand after India completed the limited-overs leg of their tour, ESPNcricinfo reported.

Last year's finalists Saurashtra will take on Gujarat in the other semi-final at Rajkot. The other prominent players who will be part of the last four include Parthiv Patel (Gujarat), Jaydev Unadkat (Saurashtra) and Manoj Tiwary (Bengal).

Gujarat, Bengal, Karnataka, and Saurashtra had finished on top of the combined Groups A and B table, and all four progressed to the semi-finals after dominating their respective quarter-final matches.

Rahul has been phenomenal with the bat in the limited-overs series against Australia and New Zealand. He scored one century and four fifty-plus scores in his last ten innings in ODIs and T20Is combined

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News Network
February 18,2020

Feb 18: Spinner Poonam Yadav claimed three wickets as India geared up for the ICC women's T20 World Cup with a thrilling two-run win over the West Indies in a low-scoring warm-up match in Brisbane on Tuesday. Electing to bat, India posted a lowly 107/8 in their stipulated 20 overs before returning to restrict the West Indies to 105/7. Chasing 108 to win, West Indies were comfortably placed at 57 for one in 13 overs when Deepti Sharma struck, cleaning up opener Lee-Ann Kirby (42) to trigger a collapse. Soon skipper Stafanie Taylor (16), Chedean Nation (0) and Deandra Dottin (1) were back in the hut as West Indies slipped to 67 for five in the 17th over.

Hayley Matthews (25) and Chinelle Henry (17) blasted three fours and a six in the 19th over to leave them with 11 to get off the last six balls.

Henry blasted Poonam for a four but the Indian dismissed Matthews in the fourth ball.

West Indies needed three runs off the last ball but Henry was caught by Veda Krishnamurthy.

Earlier, India's top-three failed to fire as they were reduced to 17 for three in 3.1 overs.

Opener Smriti Mandhana (4) lasted just six balls, while Jemimah Rodrigues (0) failed to open her account.

Young Shafali Verma blasted a couple of fours before being caught by Britney Cooper off Shamilia Connell (2/20).

Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (11), too, didn't stay long, while Krishnamurthy was cleaned up by Afy Fletcher (1/26), as India slumped to 52 for five in 11.2 overs.

Deepti Sharma made a 32-ball 21 before becoming a victim of Anisa Mohammed (2/16), while Pooja Vastrakar (13) was removed by Aaliyah Alleyne (1/9).

Stafanie taylor then got rid of Taniya Bhatia for 10. Shikha Pandey finally smashed a 16-ball 24 to give some respectability to the total.

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