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Lift-off away from the mire of doping
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Good Samaritan
Three gold and a silver: Wrestling haul for the day
Harpreet, a tad upset with silver
India go down to Australia
Amit’s long, arduous road to glory
Eves eyeing win against Proteas for semis berth
England wrest total control
Great to get ton after strange dismissals: Bell
Ishant’s absence has hurt the team: Agarkar
Wrestle
mania
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Lift-off away from the mire of doping
When Punam Yadav of Varanasi, 19, enters the weightlifting arena, she is tough and strong. She’s strong-jawed and muscular. She yelps and barks to fire herself up. She screams when she lifts the weights, and jumps up and shouts when the lift is declared legal. Punam Yadav of Chandmari near Varanasi is one tough teen — that much is amply evident. But what lies under the toughness can make your heart melt.
After she won the bronze in the women’s 63kg weightlifting competition, on the podium, Punam started crying and just could not stop her tears. The winner, Olauwatoyin Adesanmi of Nigeria, took Punam in her arms and held her tight, and Punam cried and cried — perhaps it was the memory of the recent past, of her struggle with poverty, that made her sad and happy. It won’t be too farfetched to liken Punam’s fortunes to that of Indian weightlifting — Indian weightlifting is robust now, but its recent history is a story of pain and tears and, it must be said, disgrace. Lifters like Punam, 22-year-old Satish Sivalingam and 20-year-old Vikas Thakur are the emerging stars of the sport in the country. Their stories are touching and inspirational; they also inspire hope that Indian weightlifting will rid itself of an unsavoury reputation — that of being deeply involved in the use of performance-enhancing drugs.
The Weightlifting Federation of India (WFI) has been banned several times because of the positive dope tests; this meant that the weightlifters could not participate in any international events. Due to the most recent ban, the Indian lifters were in the danger of missing the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi. They were able to participate only because the Indian government released a sum of Rs 3 crore, to be paid to the International Weightlifting Federation as penalty. India did well, finishing with eight medals, in Delhi. The weightlifting community heaved a collective sigh of relief when no Indian lifter was found guilty of using drugs. Has Indian weightlifting turned the corner? There is reason to hope it has. The ten medals India have won at Glasgow, including three gold and three silver, make this India’s best performance ever at the event. "Our aim is to win with honour," says WFI president Biren Baisya. Baisya says it was a huge challenge to clean up the sport after the difficult times of the recent years. "It’s very difficult, because this is a high-risk sport in terms of doping," he says. "Fingers crossed, I think that we’ve managed to do a good job, as no efforts have been spared to keep the sport clean." Just before the London Olympic Games, Monica Devi was excluded from the Indian team after she tested positive in a dope test. That was two years ago - that was the last bit of bad news on the dope front. WFI’s efforts included increasing the frequency of out-of-competition tests, and greater vigilance around the lifters and the coaches. Sivalingam, one of the gold medal winners here, says that the lifters are more aware about the banned substances. "This is because we are regularly briefed about the banned substances, we are regularly educated about the harms of the use of drugs," he says. "So the lifters are making sure that they eat the right supplements." The bans imposed by the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF), and pressure from the Indian government, made the WFI work harder to clean up weightlifting. Hansa Sharma, coach of Sanjita Khumukcham and Mirabai Chanu Saikhom, is proud that their efforts have borne fruit. "Indian weightlifting went through some dark days, but this must be emphasised now that we’ve been able to clean up the sport," she says. Baisya says that they are focussing on the grassroots level, to ensure that younger weightlifters are aware that banned substances are a strict no-no, and infringement of the rules would never be tolerated. "We have also changed the way the lifters train - we not put greater emphasis on quality training and improving the their diet of the lifters," says Baisya. "We ensure that the lifters have access to the safe dietary supplements." Former national coach Pal Singh Sandhu concurs, and says that since most federations across the world have got much tougher with drug cheats, the focus has turned to better techniques and training. "Since the sport is now much cleaner, competition is much more fair, and things are much better," he says. Not long ago, Punam came close to quitting weightlifting —she wanted to find some employment to support her large family. Her guardian angel, her uncle Satish Fauji, helped out. He paid her expenses and motivated her to fight on and make a better career in weightlifting. She found success here in Glasgow. WFI too seems to have found success in its fight against drugs, as evidenced by the performance in Glasgow - fingers crossed.
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Good Samaritan
Glasgow, July 29 Gurbinder Singh is a British weightlifter, winner of a silver medal at the Manchester Commonwealth Games in 2002. He is the son of Gian Singh Cheema, who won a bronze medal for India in the 1982 Asian Games. The Cheemas love England – but, as part of their multicultural identity, they love India, too. So when they helped the Indian weightlifting team train in Birmingham, they didn’t do it for money. “No, money isn’t something we were interested in here,” says Gian Singh. “I won a bronze medal for India in 1982, and I still hold an Indian passport, though I came to England way back in 1963, when I was 11 then.” Gian Singh, who had limited education in both India and Punjab, has done diverse jobs in his career – he qualified as an engineer and worked as a toolmaker, he’s run a pub; now he has a has a textiles factory. He also runs a gym and is a weightlifting coach – in fact, he was England’s weightlifting coach in the 2004 Athens Olympics. He says he’s in touch with his Punjabi roots. “Mera pind Bhardwajiyan, district Jalandhar, haiga,” he says. “We still have property there, and I often come to Punjab.” He offered help when the Indian weightlifting team was seeking a venue to train, where the weather and conditions would be similar to those in Glasgow. Gian Singh offered his help. Ravi Katulu, who won a silver in the 76kg category, says: “All credit to these guys… They gave us great accommodation, they arranged the food for us, and they made sure that we never missed home in any way.” Gurbinder, the modest fellow that he is, tries to turn away some of the praise coming his way, but Ravi insists that India wouldn’t have done so well without the help from the Cheemas. “We arranged a hotel for them, a 3-Star hotel,” says Gurbinder, who works in a bank. “We had Indian type food for them, the curries and the proteins they need. In fact, the hotel owner, who is a friend of ours, hired a cook for these guys!”Three gold and a silver: Wrestling haul for the day
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Three gold and a silver: Wrestling haul for the day
Glasgow, July 29 Sushil, who has a Olympic bronze and a silver, took just 107 seconds to beat Pakistan's Qamar Abbas to win the gold medal in the men's freestyle 74kg category wrestling final. Former World Champion Sushil, who had won the gold in the 66kg category in 2010, was leading 6-2 in the first period when referee V. Keelan decided to give it in favour of the Indian, who pinned down Abbas. It was the third gold for India after Amit Kumar and Vinesh Phogat's triumph in their respective categories. Amit won the gold medal in the men's freestyle 57kg category beating Nigerian Ebikweminomo Welson. Amit won the bout 3-1 on classification points. Amit won six points in the two periods while Welson got two. Teenager Vinesh Phogat added to the tally by registering a thrilling 11-8 win over England's Yana Rattigan to clinch the gold medal in the women's freestyle 48kg wrestling competition. Vinesh, 19, is the cousin of Geeta Phogat, who had won the first gold medal for India in women's wrestling in the 2010 Delhi Games. Vinesh had beaten Canadian Jasmine Mian in the semifinals of the women's 48kg freestyle category and Nigerian Rosemary Nweke in the quarterfinals. Rajeev Tomar however had to settle for a silver as Canadian Korey Jarvis beat him 3-0 in the final.
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Harpreet, a tad upset with silver Glasgow, July 29 “Vekhayin yaar, gold medal kiddan da haiga!” said Harpreet as he inspected the medals of the two armymen. Harpreet, the 25m Rapid Fire Pistol shooter, didn’t seem particularly impressed with the quality of the make of the medals, but said: “Let’s see if I get one of these tomorrow.” Harpreet, a clean-shaven Sikh who often sports the turban and who has roots in both Punjab and Haryana, now has a silver of his own, but he’s still not much impressed. “Medal taan gold hi hunda hai!” he says. “I wanted only the gold medal.” Harpreet is an easygoing fellow, but he’s a bit upset with his silver for a few reasons. One, he would have wanted teammate Vijay Kumar, the Olympics silver medallist, in the final — Vijay, in a major shock, couldn’t qualify for the final. Harpreet was upset also because early in the final the Malaysian shooter at his right had, unwittingly, distracted him by moving when Harpreet was about to shoot. Finally, he said that there was a problem with the light at the venue. Harpreet’s event has its own peculiar challenges — in each round, a shooter must take five shots at five targets placed in series side by side on the wall 25 metres away. Only one shooter shoots at a time — five shots at the five targets, in four seconds. “This is a game of four seconds — if you’re slow, or if you’re distracted, you’re gone,” Harpreet says. In the final, the laggard shooters are eliminated step by step and the top two shooters are left fighting for gold in the eighth round. In eight rounds, the two finalists would have had fired 40 times each. One successful attempt is worth one point —40 points is the maximum a shooter can score in the final. Harpreet ended up with 21 successful hits for 21 points; the winner, David Chapman of Australia, had two points more. Going into the last round, with at least a silver medal assured for themselves, Harpreet and Chapman had 19 points. Harpreet shot first and hit the target twice to points. Under great pressure, Chapman reeled off four points in the final round to go up to 23. Was he nervous? “No, it was only an issue of technique,” he says. “Yes, there is some tension, but I’m past that stage of extreme tension. There is some problem with the light, and Vijay Kumar was also troubled by it.” However, in the qualification round, he came close to his personal best of 582 points. “I was on target to set a new personal best, but I had a bad final round,” he says. Harpreet’s hometown is in Karnal, where his late father ran a shop, but he started his schooling in Rajpura in Punjab. He moved to Karnal after school and graduated from college there. He then joined Indian Navy, as a non-commissioned officer, and he is due to retire shortly. “I’ve been in the Navy for 15 years, now it’s time to retire,” he says with a grin. Harpreet had won two gold medals in the New Delhi CWG four years ago; despite the successes, he remains charmingly straightforward. “Please don’t write any bad quote from my side,” he says, walking off for a friendly chat with Chapman, the man who took away the gold medal Harpreet desires. Silver for Sanjeev, bronze for Manavjit Indian shooters continued to dominate with Sanjeev Rajput clinching a silver medal but there was heartbreak for Olympic silver winner Vijay Kumar. Star marksman Gagan Narang had to be contend with a bronze while Manavjit Singh Sandhu and Lajja Gauswami, too, finished third on the podium. Narang shot 423.3 while Rajput aggregated 436.8 in the final held under windy conditions at the Barry Buddon Shooting Center at Dundee. Manavjit finished third in the semis after hitting 13 of the maximum 15 targets. In the bronze medal match, both Manavjit and Diamond hit 11 targets out of the 15. It required a 'shoot-off' where the Indian was on target to clinch a podium finish. Gauswami aggregated 436.1 to bag the bronze medal in women's 50-metre rifle 3 position.
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Glasgow, July 29
After two easy victories, it was supposed to be a real test for the Indian team and coach Terry Walsh's boys didn't fare too badly against the Kookaburras, who had thrashed them 0-8 at Delhi four years ago. India started on a positive note as they invaded the rival semicircle but some clever defending from Australia kept them at bay. Australia, however, didn't take long to assert their supremacy as the 2010 Champions scored twice within a space of two minutes to push India on the backfoot. Ciriello drew first blood when he converted their second penalty corner while a minute later Orchard scored a field goal when he capitalised on a defensive lapse to slot home from close range. — PTI
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Amit’s long, arduous road to glory
New Delhi, July 29 It's the story of Amit's unrivaled grit and determination while growing up in a one-room tenement of his Nahri village in Sonepat district which culminated into a gold medal in the 57kg weight category. His father would ride the bicycle with the milk in two cans on the handlebars in the morning, and double up as a labourer at the construction site later in the day to earn the extra income required to support the family of five. "Those were the days when I and my wife (Sheila Devi) would sleep with empty stomachs just to feed our kids. I didn't earn much from selling milk. But, it looks like all those sacrifices were worth making as Amit's medal has made me really proud," Narendra told The Tribune. Amit’s maternal uncle Dharamvir would recall how Amit used to tell him that one day he would free his parents from the shackles of poverty. "Amit started grappling when he was just seven tears old at a local akhada in Nahri. His coach Hansraj used to tell him that one day he will make big at the international level. Hansraj took him to coach Satpal at the Chhatrasal Stadium in Delhi when Amit turned 10. That moment changed his life for good. Amit started participating in the National School Games and won the gold medal for nine consecutive years," Dharamvir said. Deservedly, Amit became the youngest wrestler to represent the country at the age of 18 in the 2012 London Olympics and was the youngest to clinch the historic silver medal at the World Championships last year. Narendra said Amit has only one target in his mind. “Win the first ever gold medal for India in wrestling in the 2016 Rio Olympics.”
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Eves eyeing win against Proteas for semis berth
Glasgow, July 29 While South Africa will be looking at their experienced Captain Marsha Cox to guide them through, Ritu Rani will be looking at her young brigade to fire from all directions. "Tomorrow's match is very important for us as the result will decide our fate. The team understands this but we are not allowing the pressure overwhelm us. The girls aspire for a win and enter the semi-final stage," Rani said. — PTI
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Shuttlers lose mixed team bronze medal playoff
India lost all three doubles matches, including the final crucial women’s doubles. In the first match, scratch pair of R.M.V. Gurusaidutt and Ashwini Ponnappa were drubbed 19-21, 19-21 in 40 minutes by Danny Chrisnanta and Vanessa Neo in mixed doubles. However, Parupalli Kashyap came out with a sterling performance to defeat Chao Huang 21-15, 22-20 in 37 minutes in the men’s singles to level the tie at 1-all. Then regular men’s doubles combine of Akshay Dewalkar and Pranaav Chopra lost 12-21, 16-21 in 33 minutes to Chrisnanta and Chayut Triyachart to go down 1-2. –Agencies
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England wrest total control
Southampton, July 29 Almost all the Indian batsmen got starts but failed to convert into a big score which is required while chasing a mammoth first innings score. India are still 246 runs behind England's first innings score of 569 for seven. Dhoni (50 batting) and Mohammed Shami (4 batting) were at the crease battling to keep India in this Test match with two full days to go. James Anderson (3/52) and Stuart Broad (3/65) hunted in pair while Moeen Ali (2/62) was a beneficiary of poor shotmaking by a couple of Indian players. It was terible shot selection that brought about the downfall of Rohit Sharma (28) and Ajinkya Rahane (54), both of whom looked set for long haul. Rohit after a 74-run stand with Rahane was guilty of charging down to part-time off-spinner Ali failing to clear Stuart Broad at mid-off. Rahane, who scored a gutsy half-century after a fine spell from Broad in the pre-lunch session, mishit a half-tracker from Ali to be caught by substitute fielder Sean Terry at mid-on. Rahane hit five boundaries in his 113 ball knock and his dismissal proved costly in the broader context of the Indian innings. Even Virat Kohli (39) looked like hitting some form before he nibbled at an awaygoing delivery from his nemesis Jimmy Anderson to be caught by Alastair Cook at first slip. Skipper Dhoni curbed his natural instincts to play a subdued game and added 58 runs for the seventh wicket with Ravindra Jadeja (31), who was the dominant partner. Jadeja, as usual, batted in his flowing self, hitting six oundaries in the process before the second new ball did the trick. Anderson got one to swing back into the left-hander trapping him plumb in-front. Twice Dhoni took risk during his 103 ball knock. Once when he dispatched Moeen Ali's long hop over mid-wicket for a six and the other time while hitting Broad over extra cover to complete his 31st Test half century. Bhuvneshwar Kumar (19) got his first below-20 score in the tournament and it was left to Dhoni to carry on the battle of avoiding follow-on. The post-lunch session started with Kohli and Rahane looking to build a partnership. But they could only go as far as 48 runs before India lost another wicket. — PTI Scoreboard England 1st innings 569/7 India 1st innings (at tea) Vijay b Broad 35 Dhawan c Cook b Anderson 6 Pujara c Buttler b Broad 24 Kohli c Cook b Anderson 39 Rahane c sub (Terry) b Ali 54 Rohit c Broad b Ali 28 Dhoni not out 50 Jadeja lbw b Anderson 31 Kumar c Ballance b Broad 19 Shami not out 4 Extras: (b 12, lb 13, w 8) 33 Total: (8 wickets; 102 overs)323 Fall of wickets: 1-17, 2-56, 3-88, 4-136, 5-210, 6-217, 7-275, 8-313 Bowling Anderson 24-9-52-3 Broad 23-6-65-3 Jordan 17-4-59-0 Woakes 20-8-60-0 Ali 18-0-62-2
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Great to get ton after strange dismissals: Bell
Southampton, July 29 His 167 runs helped the hosts declare at 569 for seven in their first innings. "I have felt like I have been playing well and then found some strange ways to get out," said Bell. "So it was nice to go through the whole process and get a big hundred. It is frustrating without a big score because the job of the top six batsmen is to score runs. You train hard and you prepare well, but that doesn't guarantee results." The English senior players, including skipper Alastair Cook, who scored 95 runs, and Bell himself, have come in for some slack after India won the second Test at Lord's. "All the senior guys in the dressing room try hard. It is frustrating for all of us, not just as individuals but as a team. Like I said, you can prepare well but the end results are not guaranteed," said Bell. — PTI ICC bans Moeen from wearing 'Save Gaza' wristbands
Moeen Ali has been banned from wearing wristbands featuring the slogans "Save Gaza" and "Free Palestine", the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced on Tuesday. Moeen, who is Muslim and of Pakistani descent, helped raise funds for charities working with those affected by the three-week conflict with Israel. He wore the wristbands on Day 2 of the third Test. Moeen, 27, risked disciplinary action under the ICC Code of Conduct, which forbids players wearing, displaying or conveying messages through arm bands or other items on clothing or equipment without prior approval. — Reuters |
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Ishant’s absence has hurt the team: Agarkar
Mumbai, July 29 "Obviously, you want a form player to play throughout. You don't want the guy to miss out on any cricket when he is in form. It has hurt them a little bit and plus it was a good pitch. As long as India bat well, they will do okay in the third Test," Agarkar said. Ishant was ruled out of the third Test against England due to an ankle injury after a match winning performance at Lord's. Senior India bowler Ashish Nehra hoped his Delhi team mate could be back in action in the remaining two matches. "For any bowler picking up seven wickets in one innings is great. When a bowler is in form, it is always good for the team and the captain, especially in a five Test match series,” Nehra said. — PTI
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Wrestle mania All over in 107 seconds – Sushil Kumar made it short and snappy to grab his obligatory gold medal in the 74kg freestyle wrestling category. It was a win of supreme simplicity and ease. Six seconds into his gold medal bout with Qamar Abbas of Pakistan, Sushil came up with a stunning move. He grabbed Abbas by his shoulder and threw him over – four points for the Indian. That was the first move of the match. Thirty-seconds into the bout, Sushil got around the back of the Pakistani 24-year-old to pin him – two more points. Abbas was completely overpowered and just couldn’t get a hold or a look in into the India’s Was Abbas too passive, or was he not being allowed to make any move by Sushil? The referee decided that the Pakistani wasn’t making enough moves and gave him a warning. Shortly after resumption of the fight after this break, Sushil went for Abbas’s right leg and got a hold; then he turned Abbas over, over his own shoulder, and got him where he liked it, on his back. Sushil pinned Abbas down. Then it was all over. The referee gave Sushil the bout and the gold through a pin – the full flat of Abbas’s back was on the mat, and that meant curtains. Game over in 107 seconds. After finishing off Abbas, Sushil hardly seemed breathless – with furrowed brows, he talked to his coach and the supporters and came off smiling, India’s flag around his shoulders. Sushil had a much tougher fight in the semifinal, when he managed to get the better of Nigeria’s Melvin Bibo, winning 3-1. “Experience counts,” Sushil later said, referring to the controversy surrounding his selection, which was challenged by another wrestler in court. “The president and secretary of the federation are former wrestlers who know how to pick the team. And as far as I know, it helps when you have experience. It’s been a great experience, contesting in the new category.” There were some doubts about Sushil’s fitness – this was only his second competition after he moved up from his 66kg category, in which he’s won two Olympic medals. But Sushil was strong in the preliminary bouts, beating Jayden Lawrence of New Zealand 4-0 in the Round of 16, and then Sri Lanka’s Sandrage 4-0 in the quarterfinal. Gold for Amit, Vinesh Earlier in the day, Amit Kumar won the gold in the men's freestyle 57kg by beating Ebikweminomo Welson of Nigeria 3-1 in the final. Teenager Vinesh Phogat won the women’s 48kg category title by beating England's Yana Rattigan 11-8. When Vinesh left India to participate in the CWG, her cousin Geeta Phogat told her: “You’re going to represent India, izzat rakh lena.” Nineteen-year-old Vinesh, the strong and agile youngster from Balali village of the Bhiwani district of Haryana, told her cousin that there was no real cause for concern – that she was going to be back with the gold medal. Earlier this year, Vinesh had won the gold in the Junior Asian Championship in Mongolia. She is coached by her uncle Mahaveer Phogat, the father of Geeta and Babita Phogat. Geeta hasn’t made it to the squad, but Babita is here. She had won the gold in the 51kg freestyle category at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, and she also has a World Championship bronze to her credit. Amit, who turns 21 in December, had beaten Bokang Masunyane of South Africa in the quarterfinals and Azhar Hussain of Pakistan in the semifinals. This was a fitting finale for Amit on his CWG debut, the rising star of Indian wrestling. They say I feel proud that we (wrestlers) are doing very well in the Games here. Our wrestling team has Olympic medallist and medallist in other top international events and we will get more medals in the Glasgow CWG in the coming days. Sushil I’ve won gold, it feels really good. It’s my first Commonwealth Games. I come from a family of wrestlers and they have really supported me. I also feel proud for them. Vinesh Phogat I feel really happy with my effort and am very happy. I am definitely aiming for the Rio 2016 Olympics, and winning a medal there. Amit Kumar
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Indian wrestlers put up a stunning show with two-time Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar, Amit Kumar and teenager Vinesh Phogat bagging gold medals in their respective categories at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre
(SECC) Tuesday. Rajeev Tomar fetched silver in the 125kg category, making it a brilliant day for Indian wrestlers at the Games.
Yesterday, as we set up an impromptu photoshoot for Jitu Rai and Gurpal Singh after they’d won the 50m Pistol gold and silver, a tall man entered the picture frame. It was Indian shooting team member Harpreet Singh, who works for Indian Navy. 
"We slept with empty stomach, but made sure our three kids will have something to eat," said an emotionally drained Narendra Kumar, the proud father of Sonepat wrestler Amit Kumar
Dahiya, who fought acute poverty under extreme adverse circumstances to bring home the gold or silver medal from the Glasgow Commonwealth Games on Tuesday.
The most worrying aspect of this scary story was that even a large number of juniors were involved in the use of performance enhancing drugs. In 2009, five lifters were caught in out-of-competition dope tests conducted by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Two national junior camp members tested positive for the use of an anabolic steroid in 2011.
India managed to re-group themselves and put up a stronger defence in the second half, where they conceded one and scored one. Chris Ciriello (14th minute, 49th), Simon Orchard (16th) and Jacob Whetton (26th) were the goal scorers for Australia, while Rupinder Singh (34th) and Ramandeep Singh (48th) sounded the board for India.
