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This Yogi loves gold
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My defence was good: Yogeshwar
Punjab, Haryana girls pack a punch
Quick notes
Battle of greats: Lee falls yet again to Super Dan
clt20
Messi scores 400th goal, Barca routs Granada
Donaldson seals Ryder Cup glory
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This Yogi loves gold
Yogeshwar Dutt prefers to stoop to conquer. He likes to dive in and get his opponent’s ankles and knees in an iron grip; he then proceeds to apply a strong twist on the unfortunate antagonist; it produces a strong torque force, and the opponent finds himself spinning helplessly on the ground. Going for gold in the men’s 65kg freestyle final, Dutt was on the lookout for a chance to grab his opponent, Zalimkhan Yusupov of Tajikistan, by his feet. Yusupov knew what was coming, and spent most of his time trying to guard his feet. Dutt’s reputation as a dangerous grabber of the ankles made Yusupov wary and defensive — that’s what happens when the reputation of a fighter precedes him. Yusupov concentrated mostly on defence; he spent much time in the two rounds on one leg — Yogeshwar had managed to grab his ankles twice, once in each round. Now, for Yogeshwar’s twister (called ‘Phee-taale’) to work, he must have both ankles of the opponent in his grip, in a tight embrace. Yusupov’s defence on one leg was very impressive — with one leg in Yogeshwar’s grip, he grabbed the Indian’s torso, and stretched his free leg back. Yogeshwar heaved and pulled, dropped to his knees, leapt up, tried everything to turn Yusupov, to pin him down. Then the hall resonated with cries of ‘India, India’, raised by a section of Indians in the stands — Dutt had scored one technical point! Yusupov’s defence was good, though not adequate; his attack was ineffectual. When a wrestler launches himself at his opponent’s feet, he leaves himself vulnerable, too: a quick opponent could, in a flash, go round to his back and pin him down. Yusupov did that to Dutt, but Dutt managed to escape both times. Dutt was delighted that he won his second medal in the Asian Games, eight years after his bronze in the 60kg class in the 2006 Doha Asiad. He could fight for the gold only because of a stunning move he executed in the semifinal against Katai Yeerlanbieke of China. Yogeshwar was trailing in the second period, 3-5 and then 5-7 — then the Indian star pulled off a deadly move, called ‘bitha nikla’ by the wrestlers. He grabbed Yeerlanbieke’s right leg above the thigh with his own left hand; pushed the Chinese’s left thigh down with his left shoulder; and exerted tremendous pressure on his torso with his right hand. Yeerlanbieke was pinned, helpless. Yogeshwar had around three hours to recover for the final — his calf muscle was aching, but the mind was strong. His coaches motivated him to go beyond the pain. They told him that he must fight hard in the final, for the country – they used war imagery to pump him up – they told him of the heroes of the Kargil War of 1999. “We told him that our soldiers knew they were going to get hit by the bullets, but they went on,” said Anoop Kumar, an India coach. “We told him that for the country, he could, and he must, forget the pain.” Yogeshwar did that — he said the pain was gone when the gold was won.
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My defence was good: Yogeshwar
After his first Asiad gold medal, Yogeshwar Dutt dedicated it to the nation and his father, who died in 2006.
Excerpts: What does this medal mean to you? We've won a gold in the Asian Games after 28 years, and that’s great. Korea has been very lucky for me — three times I've been the champion in Korea. The first time was in 2008, when I won the Asian Championship for the first time; then I won it in 2012, too, and now I’ve got this medal. India's last Asiad gold was won when you were a child. Yes. When I won the gold medal in the Asian Championship in 2008, that gold had come for India after 21 year. Now this gold has come after 28 years in the Asian Games. So I'm very happy. The final was quite tough? All three bouts were tough, and I had a problem in my calf, a muscle was getting tight, right from my first bout today. But the gold is good, and the pain that I was feeling, that pain is gone. The semi was tough, too. Talk about turning it around. Yes, I was trailing 3-5, but I had enough time, I had one-a-half minutes of the bout left. I knew that I fight the semifinals well, and was confident that I'd do well. It’s all because of the blessings of the people. You tried to grab Yusupov's legs all through to execute your favourite move? Yes, but his defence was very good. If it had been some other wrestler, I'd have got 2-3 points from those moves. I could get only one point today. The good part was that my own defence was good and I didn't give him any point, even though he managed to hold me two times. Were you tired towards the end of the final? My calf had a pain, and when you have that problem, a few bouts can be difficult. I was having this problem right from the first bout in the morning. You've won three gold in three tournaments this year, happy with your season? Yes, I’ve won three gold medals this year, in Italy, the CWG, and now the Asian Games. So yes, I’m happy. You were the senior in the team, so there was pressure? Yes, there was some pressure. A couple of our reporter brothers had written that we'd not be able to do well here... But at the World Championship (where India didn’t do well), it was our B team. So, it's good that we've won this gold, and the two girls won medals too. You're happy that you missed the Worlds for this? Yes, that helped, because it would have been very difficult to prepare for the Asiad in just 10 days, and there's also the fear of getting injured. Maybe the criticism from the media helps, for it fires you up! No, it shouldn't come during that time, because then the mind gets diverted. All countrymen should encourage us, because every player comes here to do well for the country. You won this gold medal for anyone special? It’s a big medal for me, and I want to dedicate this to my father and my countrymen. In 2006, my father passed away, and I won a bronze medal in the Doha Asiad… I couldn’t win the gold then. I wish he were around now. — Rohit Mahajan |
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Unmoved by opponents, knocked out by emotions
Incheon, Sepptember 28 Mary Kom and Sarita Devi were competitors — once they were both 51kg boxers, trying to knock each other’s head off, trying to get into the Indian boxing team. Only one of them could make it — only one boxer from one weight category can represent the country. In 2010, both of them sparred in the trials for the 51kg category at the Guangzhou Asian Games. Sarita Devi was the Asian champion in the 51kg category, Mary Kom had been the 45, 46 and 48kg world champion who was moving up a weight category because the lighter classes weren’t part of the Asian Games. In the trials, Mary Kom was declared the winner —Sarita Devi believed that that was not fair. She threatened to give back the Arjuna Award she’d won in 2009, and declared that she’d quit boxing if this “injustice” was not corrected. Sarita said that the trial was a sham, and that Mary Kom had already been selected by the judges. Today, after winning their bouts, the two women were on very friendly terms in the warm-up area behind the boxing stadium. They had spotted Angom Lenin Meitei, their coach, who arrived in Incheon today morning, and met them only after reaching the venue. They jumped in joy, and hugged their coach — and then Mary Kom burst into tears. This seemed inexplicable, for Mary had assured herself of a medal by reaching the semifinal. Meitei, Gurbax Singh Sandhu and Sarita tried to help Mary Kom become composed; Sarita herself seemed on the verge of tears. There were two reasons behind this burst of emotion. Four months ago, after losing the trial for the Commonwealth Games, Mary Kom was left heartbroken — she sat in a New Delhi hotel, left alone by everyone, completely deserted. “She locked herself in a room and cried,” Meitei said. “She said the result wasn’t fair, that it was fixed.” At that time, she again started picking up old threads of friendship, said Meitei. “This was the time that the dislike between the two women began to melt away,” added Meitei. “It’s not even three weeks since they started talking with each other,” said a member of the boxing squad. “Now there’s no clash also because they are in separate weight categories, and they’re close to the end of their careers.” The second reason the two women became so emotional today was that they’d been missing their coach. Meitei had helped them get back into fighting shape after they became mothers, and they wanted him here with him from the start. But he wasn’t cleared by the Indian Olympic Association to be part of the Asian Games squad because “he’s not a star coach”. “We requested everyone but no one listened to us,” said Mary. The boxers reached Incheon on September 19 and their event began on Saturday. The two boxers missed their long-time coach, who they believe knows them and their style the best. “When we were returning after giving birth to babies, it was Lenin who helped us to get fit and helped us in training,” Sarita said. “We have been following a certain training regimen and would have liked to continue with it. He knows us very well.” “Even if he is not staying with us (at the Games Village), he could have helped us in our training here,” said Sarita.
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Punjab, Haryana girls pack a punch
Incheon, September 28 As Pooja fought, he shouted at her in Haryanvi: “Chhori peechhey na ja, usney attack kariya ni, maar inhe — girl, don’t back off, she’s not going to attack, so you go forward and hit her!” Pooja, though, had gone in with a different tactic — her plan was to let Dara Flora Shen of Taipei come to her, and then hit her on the counter. “I could see him and I could hear what he was saying, but I wasn’t able to fully apply his instructions,” Pooja said later. But she did enough – less than five years after taking up boxing, Pooja became the third woman boxer to assure herself of a medal here by reaching the semifinals, after Sarita Devi and Mary Kom. Studying in Bhiwani, Pooja would hang around Sanjay’s wife, Mukesh Sheoran, her physical education lecturer in college. Pooja used to call Mukesh ‘ma’ — mother. She wanted to box, and she’d ask ‘ma’ to ask Sanjay to train her. But Sanjay wasn’t keen. Pooja, he thought, wouldn’t really become a boxer — rich girls don’t become boxers, he thought. “Boxing is a sport of the poor,” the coach now says. “She comes from an affluent background, she used ride a motorcycle to our house, or drive a car. I didn’t think that she’d be tough enough.” Pooja persisted, and started going to Sheoran’s academy in Bhiwani. Two months on, there was a boxing event in the district, and Sanjay’s boxers entered too. They didn’t have a woman boxer in the 60kg class, so Sanjay let her box. “In that category was a international boxer, Preeti Beniwal, who had participated in the World Cup,” Sheoran says. “Pooja innocently asked me ‘Will I beat her?’ and I told her, in jest, that yes, she would. And guess what, Pooja did beat Preeti!” Sanjay then decided that, rich kid or not, he’d train Pooja. But her parents weren’t keen to let her box — ‘good kids don’t box,’ they’d tell her. Pooja couldn’t give up, so she started concealing her bruises and injuries from her parents. If concealment wasn’t possible, she’d stay with her ‘ma’ and ‘pa’, Mukesh and Sanjay. She won her parents’ support when she won the Haryana state championship. Next up in the semifinal is a huge challenge, in the form of China’s Li Qian. Pooja is determined to do what it takes to win. Hard Kaur silver Khushbir Kaur, 21, a poor girl from Rusulpur Kalan, won the silver medal in the 20km Race Walk event, with a new national record. The Amritsar girl timed 1 hour, 33.07 minutes, to better the previous record, 1:33:37, which too was owned by her. Khushbir’s walk of life, of which Incheon is only the latest milestone, began in great adversity; she’s defied the odds, inspired by her mother, Jagbir Kaur. In 2000, when Khushbir was seven, her father, who worked with the Punjab State Electricity Board, passed away after a heart attack. The family was left bereft, and Jagbir Kaur had a struggle on her hands to provide for her three children. Jagbir Kaur, a survivor, is illiterate, and did everything she could do to eke out a living — running chores for people. Times were tough, money was short and difficult to come by, and the family dealt daily with adversity. “The financial situation too wasn’t that good, and we managed to get through somehow,” Khushbir said. “My mother is illiterate and she doesn’t have a proper fulltime job,” Khushbir, overcome with emotion, said today. “But she has sacrificed a lot to help me get where I am today. She supported me since the beginning, never said no to anything I wanted. I am not doing this for myself, this is for her.” Khushbir became a sportsperson only to make her mother happy. “I was more inclined towards studies, I used to spend hours reading my textbooks,” Khushbir said. “But my mother loved sports and wanted me to become a sportsperson. So I took up sports.”Her life turned when she started working with coach Baldev Singh, and took a huge step ahead when she joined the national camp in 2011. “I started working with Alexander Artsybashev in the national camp,” she said. “Since then, I’ve broken the national record four times.” Artsybashev, a Russian, believes that Indians are motivated because they want to achieve something in life. “They are disciplined, respect their parents and want to achieve something,” he said. He probably had Khushbir Kaur most prominently in his mind when he said this. |
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Qatar's Ogunode sets Asian mark in blistering 100m
Incheon, September 28 On a day when China smashed through the 100 gold medal mark, and second-placed South Korea put daylight between themselves and rivals Japan, Ogunode blasted out of the blocks and motored home ahead of China's Su Bingtian and Japan's Kei Takase. Originally hailing from Nigeria, Ogunode won the 200-400 double four years ago and is going for the 100-200 in Incheon. While his task was made easier by the withdrawal of Japan's Yoshihide Kiryu due to injury, his time of 9.93 seconds in atrocious conditions confirmed his status as Asia's fastest man. "I had always confidence in myself," he said. "I don't know what to say. So grateful and so happy. After four months of training, I am now looking forward to going back home to meet my family." In the women's blue riband sprint, China's Wei Yongli pipped Japan's Chisato Fukushima by a hundredth of a second, with Kazakhstan's Olga Safronova another hundredth back in third. “I didn't think I could be the champion," said Wei. "I had a very good coach from America." Bahrain's Ruth Jebet finally got her hands on a gold medal after her disqualification from the women's steeplechase the previous night was overturned. The Kenyan-born 17-year-old had momentarily stepped off the track during her run at the Asiad Main Stadium and was then stunningly stripped of her gold medal while waiting for the prize-giving ceremony and had to be led away in tears. However, reviews later showed that her infraction had not impeded any of her competitors and the decision was reversed, allowing Jebet to stand atop the podium at a rearranged ceremony on Sunday. “I was quite shocked because I wasn't even aware of the mistake," she said at a news conference. “I'm happy to become a gold medallist because I had a problem yesterday. But I fought for my king. I was waiting for the gold.” After nine days of competition, China are out of sight at the top of the medals table on 105 golds. South Korea, who have finished runners-up at the last four Games, look likely to do so again after finishing the day with 42 golds, eight more than Japan. The Northeast Asian rivals went head-to-head in the quarterfinals of the men's soccer tournament, with the hosts coming out on top 1-0 after scoring a late penalty kick. Japanese captain Ryota Oshima inexplicably bundled Lee Jong-ho over in the box, leaving the South Korean substitute with blood streaming for his nose, and Jang Hyun-soo slammed home the spot kick.
— Agencies |
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Myneni in line for two gold medals
Saketh Myneni got himself in line for two gold medals by reaching the finals of both men’s doubles and mixed doubles events even as other Indian tennis players, including Sania Mirza, clinched three bronze at the Games today. Saketh and Sanam Singh overcame experienced Thai twins Sanchai and Sonchat Ratiwatana 4—6 6—3 10—6 in the men’s doubles semifinals, which lasted 67 minutes. Later in the day, the big—serving Myneni combined with seasoned doubles exponent Sania to reach the mixed doubles summit clash with a convincing 6—1, 6—3 win over Chinese pair of Zie Zheng and Ze Zhang. Yuki settles for bronze in Asiad tennis
Yuki Bhambri clinched India’s lone singles’ medal, settling for a bronze after unforced errors cost him the semifinal clash against Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka. A profligate Yuki lost the match 6-3 2-6 1-6 in one hour and 46 minutes. Arokia, Poovama win surprise bronze in 400m
Rajiv Arokia today bagged a surprise bronze in men's 400m race in a personal best timing on the second day of the athletics competitions in the Asian Games here today. Arokia clocked a creditable 45.92s to better his earlier best of 46.13s which he clocked at the National Inter-State Championships in Lucknow in June. Arokia's effort today was the seventh best ever by an Indian. The national record in this event is in the name of K M Beenu with a timing of 45.48secs set in Athens in 2004 Olympics. In the women’s 400m, M R Poovamma bagged a bronze too. She clocked 52.36s in the final race behind pre-match favourite Oluwakemi Adekoya (51.59s) of Bahrain and Vietnam's Thi Lan Quach (52.06s). Manju wins bronze in hammer throw
India's Manju Bala won the bronze medal in the women's hammer throw in the 17th Asian Games at the Incheon Asiad Main Stadium here Sunday. Manju threw the hammer to a distance of 60.47 metres in her first attempt to win the bronze. The gold and silver went to China's Wenxiu Zhang (77.33m) and Zheng Wang (74.16m) respectively. Mane fourth in individual section
Udayan Mane came agonisingly close to winning a bronze medal before ending one stroke off the third-place finish as he was tied fourth in the men's individual golf in the Asian Games here today. Mane, whose second round 66 had put him into medal contention, shot a three-under 69 and ended at 11-under 277. Chinese Taipei's Pan Cheng-tsung shot one under-71 in the last round to take the gold medal by a convincing two-shot margin over Korea's Kim Namhun (68).
— Agencies |
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Battle of greats: Lee falls yet again to Super Dan
Incheon, September 28 On Sunday, it was his Chinese nemesis, the man who has denied the Malaysian glory on so many occasions, that brought him to his knees once more. "This is my last Asian Games, so I tried my best," said a disappointed Lee, who fought back from a set down to level the match but was blown away by Lin's pace and power in the decider. "In the first set, I led the game until the middle of set, but finally lost. In third, I couldn't match his speed." Lin won a close first set 22-20 but Lee stepped up his game in the second, capitalising on uncharacteristic errors from his opponent to level the match 21-12. But the double Olympic and five-time world champion took his game to a new level in the third set and took the decider 21-12. "Even though I couldn't win the gold and lost in the semi-finals, I'm very satisfied with my result," said Lee. Lin was the only man that stood between Lee and Olympic gold both in London and Beijing, but the Chinese sensation always had the best of him at the Games. He also beat him the final of the world championships twice and denied him gold at the last Asian Games in Guangzhou four years ago. Lin, who will now meet compatriot Chen Long in Monday's final, had nothing but praise for his long-time rival. "Lee Chong Wei is the greatest competitor," he said. "It was my honour to compete with him."
— Agencies AFC says looking into match-fixing allegations
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is looking into reports of possible match-fixing at the
Incheon, the continental governing body said. An official of the betting-related data provider Sportradar recently told a Singapore newspaper about possible match-fixing in Incheon without revealing which teams were involved."Following recent reports of possible match manipulation at the Incheon Asian Games 2014 football competition, the AFC would like to confirm that we are closely monitoring the situation," the AFC said. The soccer body said it was collaborating with the OCA to look into the matter.
— Agencies |
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Kings XI, Hurricanes book berth in semifinals
Deepankar Sharda Tribune News Service
Mohali, September 28 Openers Virender Sehwag and Manan Vohra chipped in with identical scores (23) to give a good start. Saha with Glenn Maxwell cobbled 108-run partnership to take the team near victory. Kings bowling was impressive too. Skipper George Bailey utilized the services of six bowlers but it was medium pacer Anureet Singh (3/12) and left armer Akshar Patel (3/15) who delivered the goods for the home team. For Cobras the lower order performed miserably after openers Richard Levi (42) and Hashim Amla (40) gave a solid start. Hurricanes win
Hobart Hurricanes chased down a total of 113 and beat Barbados Tridents by 6 wickets (with 10 balls remaining) to book their berth in the semifinals. While it was an unbeaten knock of Shoaib Malik (39) that helped, leggie Xavier Doherty did the initial damage (4/27) that led to the downfall of Carribean team. Malik played big shots and stayed till end along with Jonathan Wells (23). The Tridents' also had a bad day in the field, twice dropping Aiden Blizzard and once skipper Tim Paine, at the crucial moments. Hobart bowlers had done half of the job by dismissing the opposition cheaply. Brief Scores: Kings XI Punjab 139/3 (Saha 42*, Peterson 2/19) beat Cape Cobras 135 (Levi 42, Amla 40, Anureet 3/12, Akshar 3/22) by seven wickets; Barbados Tridents: 113 in 19.4 overs (Jonathan Carter 42, Xavier Doherty 4/27); Hobart Hurricanes 117/4 in 18.2 overs (Shoaib Malik 39 no, Jonathan Wells 23 no). Hobart Hurricanes win by 6 wkts. |
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Messi scores 400th goal, Barca routs Granada
Barcelona, September 28 Real Madrid are also in hot pursuit, four points behind in fifth, after Cristiano Ronaldo kept up his rich scoring form with the second goal in a 2-0 win at Villarreal where Luka Modric had put them ahead. Messi's extraordinary achievement of reaching the career landmark of 400 goals was the highlight of Barca's victory, leading to effusive praise for the great Argentine from manager Luis Enrique. “He (Messi) is someone who has been given a real magic and who enjoys playing football. I was thinking about taking him off but I enjoy watching him so much that I left him on for the 90 minutes,” Enrique said. Messi's second goal, thieving the ball off Jeison Murillo and slotting past the keeper, was the landmark 400th — his 358th for Barcelona to accompany the 42 he has scored for Argentina. In other La Liga games on Saturday, Athletic Bilbao drew 0-0 with Eibar and Rayo Vallecano won 2-0 away at Levante.
— Agencies |
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Yogeshwar Dutt prefers to stoop to conquer. He likes to dive in and get his opponent’s ankles and knees in an iron grip; he then proceeds to apply a strong twist on the unfortunate antagonist; it produces a strong torque force, and the opponent finds himself spinning helplessly on the ground.
Pooja Rani, 23, a rich girl form Bhiwani, has assured herself of at least a bronze medal at the Asian Games.
Even as she fought in the 75kg boxing quarterfinal, Pooja Rani, looking over her right shoulder, had the reassuring view of a tall, strapping man in the first floor gallery, who had the crazed eye of a fanatic.
Badminton world No.1 Lee Chong Wei fell yet again to his great adversary Lin Dan in the semifinals of the Asian Games on Sunday, ending the Malaysian's last hope of winning a gold medal at the
Asiad. The 31-year-old is winding down a career that has seen him win more than 50 career titles and crowned the world's top player, but the search for that elusive major title goes on.
Kings XI Punjab maintained their unbeaten streak to sail into the semifinals by beating Cape Cobras by seven wickets in the Champions League T20 at Mohali.
Chasing a total of 135, Kings reached home (139/3 in 18.1 overs) as Wriddhiman Saha (42) and David Miller (16) remained unbeaten and made the task look like a walk in the park.
