Indian sports News- September 20th
September 20, 2019
Bytes: Wrestling World Championship, Mirabai Chanu creates NR, Hockey squad announced, Hyderabad cricket association, Pakistan team captain, IPL-RCB revamped, China Open, FIFA Rankings, Bengaluru FC, Europa League, Pro Kabaddi League, Athletics World Championship, Rugby WC, Shooting in CWG
YoGems makes sure that you won’t miss a thing in the field of sports, so here is a quick recap to all the happenings from the last 24 hours:
WRESTLING:
World Championship-
Today was probably the worst possible morning in seven days for the Indian contingent. Out of the four wrestlers who were in action in the morning, not a single one managed to even get a repechage round.
92kg update: And now Parveen’s hopes of making it to the repechage round have also been dashed after Liubomyr Sagaliuk goes down 2-12 (technical superiority) against Alireza Karimimachiani in the quarter-finals.
74kg update: That’s officially the end of the road for Sushil Kumar in the world championship. Khadzimurad Gadzhiyev did well to reach the quarter-finals but four-time world champion Jordan Burroughs was too big a challenge even for him and his 8-1 loss meant that Sushil was officially knocked out of the championship.
70 kg update: Karan Mor has been officially knocked out of the world championship after Ikhtiyor Navruzov, who had defeated him in the qualification round, loses his quarter-final bout against David Baev of Russia 11-5
74kg update: Khadzimurad Gadzhiyev has kept Sushil’s chances of making it to the repechage round alive after another hard-fought victory. The Azerbaijan wreslter got the better of Uzbekistan’s Abdurakhmnonov 12-9 in an end-to-end battle with a couple of four points throw. His biggest challenge would now be in the quarter-finals against USA’s Jordan Burroughs, who hasn’t been at his best so far but has managed to do enough to reach the last eight stage.
In the evening session- 57kg bronze medal match, Ravi Kumar Dahiya will take on Reza Ahmadali Atrinagharchi. The medal rounds will start after the semi-finals of four other weight categories. Ravi Kumar’s match will be on Mat B
Indian wrestling fans would hope the Bajrang Punia and Ravi Dahiya, who are scheduled to play their bronze medal bouts in the evening session will bring some cheer. They have already booked their Tokyo Olympic berths.
WEIGHTLIFTING:
World Championships- Former champion Mirabai Chanu bettered her own national record but missed out on a place in the podium, finishing a creditable fourth in the women’s 49kg event at the World Weightlifting Championship at Pattaya on Thursday. The 25-year-old lifted a personal best in all the three sections. In snatch, she lifted 87kg followed by 114kg in clean and jerk for a total of 201kg. Mirabai’s earlier national record was 199kg (88kg+111kg) which she recorded in the Asian Weightlifting Championship in China in April. The gold medal went to Jiang Huihua of China who set a new world record with an effort 212kg (94kg+118kg). The earlier record was held by Hou Zhihui of China, who had lifted 210kg. Incidentally Zhihui clinched the silver medal, lifting 211kg (94kg+117kg) in the gold level Olympic qualifier. North Korea’s Ri Song Gum claimed the final spot on the podium by lifting 204kg (89kg+115kg).
HOCKEY:
Belgium Tour- Forward Lalit Upadhyay and drag-flicker Rupinder Pal Singh on Friday returned to the 20-member Indian men’s hockey squad, to be led by Manpreet Singh, for the tour of Belgium from September 26 to October 3. India will be playing three matches against Belgium and two matches against Spain during the week-long tour. Upadhyay will be making a comeback after having last played during the men’s World Cup in Bhubaneswar. Rupinder had missed out on the Olympic Test Event earlier this year. Goalkeeper PR Sreejesh joins the side after being rested for the Olympic Test Event while Krishan B Pathak is the other goalkeeper in the team.
Squad:
Goalkeepers: PR Sreejesh, Krishan B Pathak.
Defenders: Harmanpreet Singh (Vice-Captain), Surender Kumar, Birendra Lakra, Varun Kumar, Amit Rohidas, Gurinder Singh, Khadangbam Kothajit Singh, Rupinderpal Singh.
Midfielders: Manpreet Singh (Captain), Hardik Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Nilakanta Sharma.
Forwards: Mandeep Singh, SV Sunil; Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Ramandeep Singh, Simranjeet Singh, Akashdeep Singh.
FOOTBALL:
FIFA Rankings- The Indian football team on Thursday slipped a place to 104th position in the latest Fifa rankings. Igor Stimac’s side have been playing regularly since the 2019 Intercontinental Cup in July. Earlier this month, India had held Asian champions Qatar to a goalless draw in Doha to gain their first point in the 2022 World Cup Qualifiers. The match was also a preliminary qualifier for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup. India has been clubbed alongside Oman, Qatar, Bangladesh and Afghanistan in Group E of the second round World Cup Qualifiers. Qatar held on to their ranking of 62nd position, despite not being able to beat India. Oman, however, gained three places to 84th spot, following their 2-1 win over India. Belgium managed to hold on to the top spot, while reigning world champions France have surpassed Brazil to reach the second spot. In the qualifying tournament for Fifa 2022 World Cup, India will next face Bangladesh on October 15, followed by a match against Afghanistan on November 14.
Bengaluru FC- Former India sprinter Ashwini Nachappa slammed Indian Super League side Bengaluru FC for treating athletes at the Sree Kanteerava stadium like criminals since shifting their home base to the arena in 2015. Nachappa, an Arjuna awardee, is among the athletes who had filed a PIL to reclaim the Sree Kanteerava stadium solely for athletics after Bengaluru FC were given permission to host their home matches at the ground. With the court currently enquiring the matter in which Bengaluru FC were allowed to host matches at the stadium, the club have enlisted Pune’s Balewadi stadium as a venue to host its home matches for the upcoming season. The move was made in case the court rules against them using the facility. With the court currently enquiring the matter in which Bengaluru FC were allowed to host matches at the stadium, the club have enlisted Pune’s Balewadi stadium as a venue to host its home matches for the upcoming season. The move was made in case the court rules against them using the facility.
Europa League- Last season’s runners-up Arsenal romped to an impressive 3-0 victory at Eintracht Frankfurt in their Europa League opener on Thursday as Mason Greenwood spared Manchester United’s blushes and Rangers got the better of Feyenoord. Meanwhile, Steven Gerrard’s Rangers started in fine fashion as they edged out Feyenoord 1-0 at Ibrox in Group G with Sheyi Ojo scoring the only goal of the game midway through the first half. They now host CFR Cluj, the same side who eliminated them in the Champions League qualifying. The Romanians shocked Lazio 2-1 on Thursday.
CRICKET:
Pakistan Team- Former Pakistan captain Zaheer Abbas and Shahid Afridi feel that Sarfaraz Ahmed should not continue as Test captain even though he can lead the national team in white-ball formats. Afridi while talking to the media in Karachi felt that while the decision to retain Sarfaraz as captain of the ODI and T20 squads was sensible but he is not the perfect choice for red ball format. Sarfaraz has led Pakistan in all three formats since 2017 after the retirement of Misbah-ul-Haq but faced plenty of criticism in the longest format where Pakistan has slid down to 7th in the ICC rankings.
IPL- Former India trainer Shanker Basu was on Thursday appointed as strength and conditioning coach of Royal Challengers Bangalore for the next season of the Indian Premier League. Basu thus made a return to the RCB dugout after his successful stint with the national team ended with India’s semifinal exit from this year’s ICC Men’s ODI World Cup in the United Kingdom. He was with the RCB before joining the national team in 2015 and is regarded as one of the best trainers in India. Besides Basu, former India cricketer Sridharan Sriram has been appointed as the batting and spin bowling coach of the IPL franchise. RCB also appointed Australia’s Adam Griffith as the bowling coach, while South Africa’s Evan Speechly has been named as the team’s physiotherapist.
Hyderabad Cricket Association- Former India captain Mohammad Azharuddin has filed his nomination for the president’s post in the Hyderabad Cricket Association, which will hold its elections on September 27. Azharuddin, whose nomination was unceremoniously rejected two years ago, submitted his papers to former Chief Election Commissioner VS Sampath on Wednesday. “I want to take inputs from everybody and work for promoting cricket. I want to do something for districts also (towards growth of cricket),” Azharuddin told PTI. Vikram Man Singh, son of former cricket administrator PR Man Singh, has submitted his nomination for the vice-president’s post.
BADMINTON:
China Open- World Championship bronze medallist B Sai Praneeth’s challenge in the China Open Super 1000 badminton tournament in Changzhou came to an end on Friday after he went down 16-21, 21-6, 21-16 in the men’s singles quarter-finals against Indonesia’s Anthony Ginting. Sai Praneeth’s loses also ended India’s campaign in the tournament after all the other participants had been knocked out before the quarter-final stage. The 27-year-old, who had upset the Indonesian in the World Championship last month, began well as he opened up a 10-2 lead in the opening game and then controlled the proceedings to draw first blood. But the change of ends also changed fortunes for both players as Ginting raced through the second game and forced a decider. He will now face eighth seed Anders Antonsen of Denmark in the semi-final on Saturday.
RUGBY:
Rugby WC- New Zealand captain Kieran Read said Saturday’s highly anticipated clash with South Africa is one of the biggest matches of his career as the All Blacks launch their bid for a record third consecutive world crown. The Pool B match-up at Yokohama features two of the most successful sides in rugby history, and two of the sport’s greatest rivals, in a tournament where no team has lost a pool match and gone on to lift the trophy. The pre-match exchanges focused on whether referees do or do not have a bias towards the All Blacks, but the match reality centres on the the rapid improvement of the Springboks since they were caned 57-0 by New Zealand two years ago.
ATHLETICS:
World Championship- India’s 4x400m mixed relay team can reach the final of the Doha World Championships despite the absence of top quarter-miler Hima Das, deputy chief coach Radhakrishnan Nair said on Thursday. World junior champion Das was on Wednesday ruled out of the showpiece event beginning on September 27 due to her persistent back injury in a setback to the Indian team which was putting a lot of hope in the newly introduced mixed 4x400m relay event. The top eight finishers in the relay events of the World Championships will automatically qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. India qualified in the World Championships as the 14th ranked team in the mixed 4x400m relay based on its Asian Games gold winning time of 3:15.71.
KABADDI:
PKL- Maninder Singh was the star for the Bengal Warriors as they beat Haryana Steelers 48-36 in their Pro Kabaddi match in Pune on Thursday. The victory helped Bengal Warriors consolidate their stay in the second place of the points table. Bengal Warriors dominated the first half of the match with their raiding trio of Maninder Singh, K Prapanjan and Mohammad Nabibakhsh picking points with ease against a Haryana defence that evidently lacked leadership. Bengal’s dominance wasn’t limited to their raids though as their aggressive approach in defence paid rich dividends. Steelers’ star raider Vikas Kandola suffered five tackles in the first half as he struggled to break free from an in-form Bengal defence led by Baldev Singh. On Friday, Telugu Titans take on Patna Pirates before Puneri Paltan finish their home leg with a match against defending champions Bengaluru Bulls.
SHOOTING:
CWG- Bangladesh on Thursday joined India in appealing to the British government to intervene to have shooting included in the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. The Birmingham organising committee dropped shooting because of a lack of suitable venue, prompting a boycott threat from the Indian Olympic Association. Zahid Ahsan Russel, Bangladesh’s sports minister, this week wrote to Tariq Ahmad, British Commonwealth minister, saying that the Games “should include shooting for the sake of its historical image and goodwill”. Bangladesh’s only two medals at the Commonwealth Games in Australia in 2018 were in shooting, as were all its eight medals in the history of the event.
