Wrestler Vinod Kumar on track for Rio Olympics after being thrown from train

June 3, 2016

Melbourne, Jun 3: The path to the Olympics is paved with potholes for many athletes but few can claim to have overcome hardship like wrestler Vinod Kumar, who was thrown from a speeding train by a rival's family in India before landing on his feet in Australia.

WrestlerMelbourne-based Kumar will compete for his adopted country in the 66 kg-class of Greco-Roman wrestling at the Rio de Janeiro Games, six years after landing Down Under with a suitcase in hand and a head full of troubled childhood memories. Winning the Olympic ticket was karma, according to Kumar, and a reward for forgiving the people who all but killed him when he was a teenager competing on India's wrestling circuit.

"Wrestling is big in India," the 31-year-old Kumar told Reuters in an interview at his Melbourne home. "Fathers all want their sons to win... I forgave them because I believe in karma and I believe in God."

Born in a small village near New Delhi and raised in a family of wrestlers, Kumar competed at junior national tournaments across the country from a young age.

In 2001, he boarded a long-haul train to an event in southern India with other young wrestlers but never arrived.

BROKEN BONES

As the night train coursed through coastal forests in Karnataka state, Kumar was handed a spiked soft-drink and immediately felt dizzy after taking a mouthful.

He went groggily to the carriage's doorway to get some air and two men, one the father of a rival wrestler, hurled him from the train before it sped into a tunnel.

Bones were broken in his arms and legs as his body careened off the tracks to settle by a body of water.

"The train was going very fast. Maybe 100-130 kilometres (per hour)," the shaven-headed wrestler said in halting English.

"My clothes were all torn, like I was just wearing my underwear."

Fifteen years later, Kumar lifts up his shirt and trouser leg to show deep scars along his chest and knee but can now chuckle about the absurdity of what happened.

He spent the night conscious and in searing pain, unable to move as mosquitoes bit him and flies buzzed around his wounds.

Kumar believes he would have died if he had not been discovered by rail workers in the morning, putting him on another train bound for a hospital that could treat him.

"No one knew where I was for 15 days, everybody thought I was dead," he laughed.

When returned to his family, police arrested five of the men who were on the carriage.

DIRT WRESTLER

His family launched legal action as Kumar lay bed-ridden for a year. One of his brothers refused a compensation payment from the boy-wrestler's father.

Kumar eventually returned to competition and although he appeared in court "two or three times", the case dragged on for years and he told his family to drop the lawsuit.

His forgiveness was not shared by his family, however, and caused a rift so deep that Kumar left home for good.

He then spent years roaming the country, competing for cash prizes in towns and villages in conventional freestyle events and in 'pehlwani', India's traditional dirt wrestling.

Australia promised a fresh start but it has been tough for Kumar since landing in 2010 with little English and no skills.

With no professional wrestling to speak of in Australia, Kumar has worked as a courier and a bouncer at nightclubs to earn money and says he owes friends up to A$15,000 ($10,800).

Both parents have died since he left India, his mother of a heart attack only two weeks before his interview with Reuters. "Sometimes I'm feeling very upset, thinking I am here and I have no money, nothing here," said Kumar, sitting on his bed with a clutch of medals hanging by the wall.

"I feel it's too hard here and I want to quit... Then I go to the club (to train) and have a better feeling."

After earning his ticket to Rio in April at a qualifying tournament in Algeria, Kumar feels the grind has been worth it. Melbourne's prominent Indian community have rallied to his cause and he will head to Brazil hoping to become Australia's first wrestling medallist in more than 60 years.

He said the boy-wrestler's father who threw him from the train is dead and that the man's wife had hanged herself. Their son has not succeeded in wrestling. "Now he's nothing and I'm an Olympian," Kumar said. "This is karma."

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News Network
February 21,2020

New Delhi, Feb 21: Vinesh Phogat yet again fell to Japanese nemesis Mayu Muakida to go out of the gold medal race but Sakshi Malik will fight for the title after winning her semifinal bout at the Asian Wrestling Championship, here on Friday.

Vinesh had lost twice to Mukaida in 2019 – at World Championship and Asian Championships —and the trend continued as the gritty Indian yet again struggled to break the strong defence of the Japanese.

In a tough opening round, Vinesh tried single leg attacks a number of times but every time Mukaida blocked her move and eventually got the upper body lock to subdue the home favourite.

In her last two meetings, Vinesh had not scored a single point against the 2019 world silver medallist. She managed a takedown this time before eventually losing 2-6.

The hard-working Vinesh will now fight for bronze against Vietnam's Thi Ly Kieu but even a medal won't suffice to lift her mood as she and the fans have high expectations from her.

Rio Olympic bronze medallist Sakshi Malik, who has been struggling of late, lost her opening round 1-2 to Naomi Ruike from Japan but later overcame two weak opponents to eventually reach the final of the non-Olympic 65kg category.

She could hardly attack Naomi but outplayed Korea's Ohyoung Ha in the next round, winning by technical superiority.

In her semifinal against Uzbekistan's Nabira Esenbaeva, Sakshi led 5-0 but her rival pulled off consecutive two-point moves to make it 5-4.

Sakshi has been losing in closing stages of late but this time she managed to hold on to her narrow lead, surviving anxious last two seconds.

Also in medal contention are India's brightest youngsters Sonam Malik (62kg) and Anshu Malik (57kg).

Sonam, who had defeated Sakshi in the trials, showed good tactical mind in her resounding win against Korea's Hanbit Lee and also in the 2-5 defeat against world bronze medallist Yukako Kawai.

She pulled off a superb point-scoring move from a disadvantageous position and resisted the 2018 U-23 world champion Yukako in a good fashion.

She will now fight for bronze against Aisuluu Tynbekova.

Anshu Malik opened up her campaign against Kyrgyzstan's Nuraida Anarkulova, winning by technical superiority but was outplayed by reigning world champion from Japan Riskao Kawai.

She will have to beat Sevara Eshmuratova from Uzbekistan to grab a bronze.

In the non-olympic 72kg, Gursharanpreet Kaur is in bronze medal contention. She beat Uzbekistan's Svetlana Oknazarova but lost to Kazakhstan's Zhamila Bakberzenova.

She still made it to the semifinal in which she lost to Japan's Mei Shindo.

She is now up against Mongloia's Tsevegmed Enkhbayar.

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Agencies
February 26,2020

It could be Virat Kohli versus Faf du Plessis in the Asia XI-World XI two-match T20 series that has been organised by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) on March 18 and 21 -- subject to the India skipper confirming his availability.

The matches will be played to celebrate the 100th anniversary of their founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The BCB is awaiting a confirmation from Kohli as well as K.L. Rahul for the March 18 game as India are set to play South Africa on the same day in the final ODI of a three-match series at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

Agencies had earlier reported that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Sourav Ganguly had sent the names of Kohli, Mohammed Shami, Shikhar Dhawan and Kuldeep Yadav to the BCB for the two matches. And they all feature in the Asia XI team with the addition of wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant and Rahul.

Announcing the names, BCB President Nazmul Hassan said: "We have already received four names from India. We haven't signed contracts but Rishabh Pant, Kuldeep Yadav, Shikhar Dhawan and Mohammed Shami are supposed to come. They have said K.L. Rahul and Virat Kohli will play one game each, but that hasn't been finalised.

"Players like Rashid Khan and Mujeeb Ur Rahman have finalised with us, from Afghanistan. Nepal's Sandeep Lamichhane will play while from Sri Lanka, we will have Lasith Malinga and Thisara Perera. From Bangladesh, we will have Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mustafizur Rahman, Mahmudullah and Liton Das.

"I don't remember all the names, but we will have three or four players from South Africa. Definitely, there will be the same number of players from West Indies. Australia and New Zealand will be playing but we will try to find some (players). Bairstow is definitely coming. Ngidi is coming. Chris Gayle is supposed to play. Faf du Plessis. We will have some of the best players around. We are uncertain about Pakistan since the PSL is will be ongoing. We will invite some of the cricketing greats."

Squads: Asia XI: Virat Kohli*, K.L. Rahul*, Rishabh Pant, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Shikhar Dhawan, Tamim Iqbal, Liton Das, Mushfiqur Rahim, Thisara Perera, Rashid Khan, Mustifizur Rehman, Sandeep Lamichhane, Lasith Malinga, Muzeeb ur Rehman

World XI: Alex Hales, Chris Gayle, Faf du Plessis (Captain), Nicholas Pooran, Ross Taylor, Jonny Bairstow, Kieron Pollard, Adil Rashid, Sheldon Cottrell, Lungi Ngidi, Andrew Tye, Mitchell McClenaghan. (Coach: Tom Moody)

Note: (*) For one game; Kohli's selection subject to confirmation.

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News Network
July 21,2020

Melbourne, Jul 21: Cricket Australia's chief executive Nick Hockley has said that the Indian players and staff will most likely be asked to face two weeks of quarantine before the four-match Test series.

This scenario will bring the Adelaide Oval and its newly constructed hotel firmly into view as the sort of biosecure bubble, ESPNCricinfo reported.

India and Australia are slated to face each other in a four-match Test series, which is to begin from December 4 at Brisbane.

"The two-week quarantine is pretty well-defined. What we are working on is making sure that even within that quarantine environment, the players have got the absolute best training facilities, so that their preparation for the matches is as optimal as it can possibly be," ESPNCricinfo quoted Hockey as saying.

"Certainly the fact that the Adelaide Oval has a hotel. It does provide a facility not dissimilar to Old Trafford or Ageas Bowl where the hotels are integrated into the venue," he added.

Hockley also said that an exacting standard of biosecurity and testing would be applied before the series against India as the coronavirus cases are spiking in the subcontinent.

"It's widely known and it's unlikely that international travel restrictions would have lifted by the time that India will be due to come into the country. Clearly there will be testing regimes. We will be able to test people before that they get on to the plane and it is the nature of the situation of making sure we have the quarantine arrangements in line with government and health authority protocols," Hockley said.

"The key thing for the players is that there's regular testing and that we appropriately quarantine them when they come in and all of those plans are currently in development," he added.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday announced the postponement of the T20 World Cup 2020 slated to be held in Australia from October 18-November 15 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Following the announcement, the BCCI is likely to go ahead with the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the October-November window. However, it is known where the T20 tournament will be played as cases continue to rise in India.
"I think the BCCI has made no secrets that they are considering what that means for the IPL. For us, it's about getting a bit of an understanding and certainty around what that means. Clearly, in a normal course, some of our best players are obviously top picks for those IPL teams," Hockley said.

"It's a bit premature to speculate on that. We need to understand what the plans are if any and once we understand that we will make decisions accordingly," he added.

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