Vijender is an amateur, not in my league: Kerry

June 26, 2016

New Delhi, Jun 26: Former European champion and an experienced Australian boxer Kerry Hope has dared Indian knockout king Vijender Singh ahead of their WBO Asia Pacific Super Middleweight championship title to be held at the Thyagaraj Sports Complex here on July 16.

VijenderWBC Asian Boxing Council champion Kerry Hope, who is currently training hard in Wales, comes into the title fight against Vijender with an impressive record of 23 wins from 30 fights.

"I'm leaving no stone unturned in my preparation. Make no mistake, Vijender Singh is in trouble," said the 34-year-old Southpaw, who has an edge in experience over Vijender with 183 rounds under his belt.

"He knows it and I know it. I saw the fear in his eyes at the press conference. He knows that he's not in my league. He's been fighting trash and still seems like an amateur fighter so I am going to show him what professional boxing is all about.

"He's not used to going long rounds and having to dig deep and find a second wind. I'm going to bring the pressure and he's going to wilt. On 16 July there will be 1.25 billion disappointed fans of Vijender Singh," he added.

Vijender has a huge fan following in India but Kerry said in any sport, athlete needs experience not support of crowd.

"I know there will be an army of support for Singh, but they can't help him or fight for him. It'll be just Vijender, the referee and me in the ring when the bell goes," Hope said.

"Vijender has fought absolutely nobody so far and he's out of his depth facing me so early in his career. I'm not quite sure what his team were thinking accepting the fight, but I believe he's been overmatched.

"India is one of the greatest sporting nations on earth but the country will be in a state of mourning when Singh is knocked out by me," he added.

Vijender is undefeated in six fights with six knockouts in only seventeen rounds of action since his pro debut last October. He is currently training in Manchester.

Vijender's fight will be telecasted live on Star Sports 4 and HD 4 alongwith Hotstar.

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News Network
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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News Network
January 10,2020

Karachi, Jan 10: Former Pakistan batsman and current U-19 head coach Ejaz Ahmed feels that his side can beat defending champions and arch-rivals India in the forthcoming ICC Youth World Cup beginning in South Africa on January 17.

"India has a very good cricket system and it is organized but I know that we have more passion than them when we play against each other and that is how we also beat them in the semi-finals of the recent Asian Emerging Nations Cup," Ejaz said.

Ejaz, who has played 60 Test and 250 ODIs, was head coach of the Pakistan Emerging side which beat India before eventually winning the title in Bangladesh last year.

"Even in the past, we beat India because of our greater passion and this time also I know the passion of our players will prevail over them although they have a very strong outfit," he added.

The 51-year-old Ejaz, however, said at the end of the day it would be all about how a team plays on that particular day.

"It is the same in the World Cup it does not matter which team is number one or defending champions what will matter is how a team plays on a given day. I personally feel our team is well balanced," he said.

Ejaz did not believe that India would get advantage of having played a four-nation tournament with South Africa, New Zealand and Zimbabwe in South Africa before the World Cup.

"Our players have also trained hard in Lahore and we have played around 11 matches. We will also reach South Africa nine days before the World Cup and we have some practice games and I think our preparations are also very good for the tournament," he said.

The former batsman also said the absence of fast bowler Naseem Shah will not impact much on the team's performance. Naseem was withdrawn from the Pakistan U-19 squad after he played for the senior team in three Test matches against Australia and Sri Lanka.

"Look there was no controversy at all. The way we now see things is that you can't expect a MBA to go and take BA exams. That is how we look at Naseem Shah, he has made the grade for Pakistan and now he should be performing for the senior team," said the head coach.

"We have a couple of exciting young talent in the ranks. I expect Rohail and Haider to play for the senior team in two to three year's time, they are that good."

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Agencies
June 9,2020

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has confirmed interim changes to its playing regulations, which include the ban on the use of saliva to shine the ball and allowing home umpires in international series as per a release issued by the international body.

The ICC Chief Executives' Committee (CEC) ratified recommendations from the Anil Kumble-led Cricket Committee, aimed at mitigating the risks posed by the COVID-19 virus and protect the safety of players and match officials when cricket resumes.

COVID-19 Replacements

Teams will be allowed to replace players displaying symptoms of COVID-19 during a Test match. In line with concussion replacements, the Match Referee will approve the nearest like-for-like replacement.

However, the regulation for COVID-19 replacements will not be applicable in ODIs and T20Is.

Ban on Saliva on Ball

Players will not be permitted to use saliva to shine the ball. If a player does apply saliva to the ball, the umpires will manage the situation with some leniency during an initial period of adjustment for the players, but subsequent instances will result in the team receiving a warning.

Whenever saliva is applied to the ball, the umpires will be instructed to clean the ball before play recommences.

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