202_CH_26_July_2016

CITY
HILIGHTS
Vol 1, Issue 202 `.1.00/-
Tuesday, July 26, 2016
www.ibcworldnews.com www.cityhilights.news
English Daily 6
BUSINESS SPORTS
THERE IS NO EASY
MATCH IN OLYMPICS:
SREEJESH
Bengaluru: Newly-appointed
Indian men’s
hockey team captain PR
Sreejesh said there is no
“easy match” in a sporting
extravaganza like
the Olympics, and all 12
teams will fancy their
chances of qualifying for
the quarterfinals in Rio.
“It is Olympics and
there is nothing easy.
Every match will be serious
affair,” he said before
departing for Spain
en route to Rio.
“In each group there
are six teams out of
which four will qualify
for the quarterfinals.
Therefore, it is very important
for us to garner
as many points as
possible to increase our
chances because the new
format gives an opportunity
to every team,” he
said.
Unlike previous editions,
the International
Hockey Federation (FIH)
has introduced a new
competition format in
this year’s Olympics.
As per the new format
12 teams have been divided
into two pools of
six with each team initially
playing round-robin
games within their
pool. Following the completion
of the round-robin
games, the top four
teams from each pool
will advance to the quarterfinals.
Previously, after completion
of round robin
games top two teams
from each pool used to
directly qualify for the
semifinals. Sreejesh,
who took over the captaincy
mantle from
long-standing Sardar
Singh just ahead of the
Olympics, said they are
ready to face any side in
the quarterfinals.
“We are ready to meet
anybody in the quarterfinals.
We cannot say we
want this team or that
team. We will give our
100 per cent against any
side, be it world world
champions Australia,” he
said.
Sreejesh said hockey
is a team and a captain
hardly has any role on
the pitch.
“Hockey is a team
game and all 11 players
on the field are captains.
They have specific responsibilities
to shoulder.We
are going to Rio
as a team,” he said.
The experienced goalkeeper
said a few practice
matches in Spain before
heading to Rio will
hold India is good stead
in the Olympics.
“We are going to Spain
mainly for acclimatisation.
We need a break
from here. We will play
a couple of practice
matches there and know
where we stand. The climate
of Rio during the
Games will be to similar
Spain. So, it is a good
decision to go to Spain
before landing at Rio,”
Sreejesh said.
FAILED DRUG TEST OF NARSINGH’S
ROOMMATE RAISES SUSPICION
New Delhi: With Narsingh
Yadav’s roommate
Sandeep Yadav at the SAI
Sonepat camp also testing
positive for the same
banned substance, WFI
said that it strengthens the
conspiracy theory and indicates
at a clear case of sabotage.
“The fact that Narisngh’s
teammate at the camp has
also tested positive for the
same substance, it clearly
looks to be a foul play. Both
the wrestlers were consuming
the same supplements
as they were roommates.
It arises suspicion,”
WFI Assistant Secretary
Vinod Tomar said.
“There was a high quantity
of steroid in the sample,
which is hard to believe. It
seems like a deliberate
thing.Why would anyone
take such high dose,” he
questioned.
Asked if anyone else in
the camp has also failed the
dope test, the official replied
in negative.
“No. Only these two guys
have failed it and this clearly
indicates that something
is wrong.”
NADA Director General
Navin Agarwal on Sunday
confirmed that Narsingh’s
‘B’ sample tested positive
for a banned substance.
Sources said that he had returned
positive for methandienone,
a banned anabolic
steroid.
With his Olympic dreams
in jeopardy after a failed
dope test, Narsingh had
claimed innocence, saying
that the entire episode was
a conspiracy against him.
“This is a conspiracy
against me. I have never
IOC BOWS TO PUTIN AND
RUSSIAN DOPERS
Moscow: Once again, the
people who run the Olympics
just can’t say no to
Vladimir Putin.
Not when he spends
more than USD 50 billion to
host a winter Olympics to
show off a resurgent Russia.
Not when he talks darkly
about returning to the
days of Olympic boycotts in
1980 and 1984.
Certainly not when he
suggests that doping officials
of one powerful country
can you guess which
one? are behind efforts to
ban Russia from the Rio
Olympics.
When Putin talks, Olympic
officials listen. And
that’s the biggest reason
why Russian athletes at
least some of them will
march in opening ceremonies
less than two weeks
from now in Brazil.
With Russian prestige
on the line, the executive
board of the International
Olympic Committee
caved in. Instead of banning
Russia from Rio for
running a state-sanctioned
doping operation, the IOC
members decided instead
Sunday to allow individual
sports federations to
decide which Russians can
compete.
Spineless, yes, but that’s
to be expected. No reason
to let a little doping scandal
get in the way of a cozy relationship
that serves both
sides so well.
It was just a little more
than two years ago that Putin
was the face of a winter
Olympics that he saw as far
more than just a sporting
event. He cheered Russian
athletes in arenas and in
the mountains, and celebrated
with them as they
added to the host country’s
medal haul.
Meanwhile, his agents
were working late into the
night at the Sochi doping
lab, exchanging urine samples
taken from the country’s
athletes for clean ones
in an elaborate scheme to
escape detection.
It paid off with 33 medals
for Russia, 11 of them
gold.The country led the
medal standings, and Russian
pride surged with every
big win.
That much of it was a
scam wouldn’t be uncovered
until many months
later. When it was, it was
clear the scope of the
cheating effort was so great
that it couldn’t have been
pulled off without cooperation
and approval from the
highest levels of the Russian
government.
Yet Russian athletes will
still compete in Rio. The
official explanation for just
why came from IOC President
Thomas Bach, who
said it would be unfair to
ban all Russians when it
has not been proven that all
of them cheat.
“At the end of the day,
we have to be able to look
in the eye of the individual
athletes concerned by this
decision,” Bach said. The
unofficial explanation was
more telling.
“The IOC decision was
to be expected. You can’t
behave improperly toward
a power like Russia,” said
Gennady Alyoshin, a Russian
Olympic Committee
official.
WE WERE PLAYING A TOUGH CATCH-UP
GAME THROUGHOUT: HOLDER
North Sound (Antigua):
West Indies’ skipper Jason
Holder conceded that his side
were always playing “catchup”
game throughout the first
Test against India, which they
surrendered meekly losing
by an innings and 92 runs.
“It is always tough to play
catch-up cricket. We never
bowled well in the first innings.
Yes, we had some good
bowling partnerships but not
for long sessions. Going forward
we definitely need to
improve, to string together
better bowling partnerships,
and bowl more maidens.
Having said that we were not
able to create enough pressure
in their first innings,”
Holder said after the defeat.
“In hindsight, you can say
a lot of things. The combination
we played had four
bowlers and an all-rounder
in Roston Chase who bowls
some off-spin. But execution
is the name of the game. I
don’t think we executed well
enough,” he added.
Holder said that the current
Test side is a young one
and they also have their pride
taken any banned substance,”
said Narsingh.
Narsingh, who was
picked ahead of the double
Olympic medallist Sushil
Kumar to represent India
at the Rio Games in 74kg
Freestyle category, has
been handed provisional
suspension and virtually
ruled out of next month’s
Olympics.
The 26-year-old wrestler’s
Olympics accreditation
has also been withheld.
The WFI also cried foul,
claiming that Narsingh has
a clean history and it was a
clear case of sabotage.
On the basis of Narsingh
bagging the 74kg Olympic
quota berth with a World
Championships bronze last
year, WFI had named him
to represent India at the
Rio Games and Sushil’s demands
for a trial were rejected
by the Federation as
well as the Delhi High Court
after a lengthy legal battle.
at stake.
“I think it boils down to
personal pride. Roston, Shane
Dowrich and RajendraChandrika,
myself, Jermaine Blackwood,
we are all quite young
players. We are all looking to
make a mark in the international
circuit,” he said.
“For us its just personal
glory, personal pride. That’s
what each person coming to
Test cricket is looking to do.
I think all of us want to do
that. I think we need to come
up with a strong collective effort,”
said the skipper.
There were only two
three-centuries in the match
from the hosts, and they
needed to do better to even
have a hope of saving the
match. Clearly, the team
needed more from its experienced
batsmen, Darren Bravo
(11 and 10) and Marlon
Samuels (1 and 50).
“Ideally, that’s what we
would expect from top-order
batsmen. To be fair, they
have to carry the demands of
this young batting side. Unfortunately,
Bravo didn’t get
any runs in this Test. Marlon
showed some form in the
second innings and it is important
for those two guys to
carry the batting and lay the
foundation. The onus is on
them, but we also have more
enough capable batsmen,”
said Holder.
NARSINGH DEMANDS
CBI PROBE INTO DOPING
SCANDAL
New Delhi: A defiant
Narsingh Yadav on
Monday demanded a CBI
probe into the doping
scandal which has jeopardised
his participation
in the Olympics, alleging
that a conspiracy has
been hatched to scuttle
his Rio dream.
“There should be a CBI
inquiry. The whole episode
relating to my selection
had gone to court.
There was a CID report
that my life is under
threat. All this makes it
clear, I have been framed
so that I am stopped from
going to Rio,” Narsingh
said.
“I have given my complaint
to the federation
in which I have made
it clear that something
could have been mixed
in the food that was prepared
at the mess. It is a
conspiracy against me,”
he added.
Narsingh has returned
positive for a banned
substance barely 10
days before the start of
the Olympics and that
has cast a doubt on his
participation in the Rio
Games.
The 26-year-old,
who would be pleading
innocence in front
of the NADA panel that
is scheduled to meet on
Wednesday, is hopeful
that he would be able to
convince the committee
members that the entire
episode is a conspiracy.
“I am hopeful that everything
will be clear
soon. I have got the 100
per cent backing of everyone.
I am still hopeful
of going to Rio,” 26-yearold
wrestler said.
INDIA RECORD BIGGEST TEST WIN
OUTSIDE ASIA
North Sound (Antigua):
India recorded their biggest
win outside the sub-continent
as they thrashed a
listless West Indies by an
innings and 92 runs in the
opening cricket Test, riding
on a fantastic seven-wicket
haul by off-spinner RavichandranAshwin.
Ashwin produced an offspin
bowling master class
to grab 7/83 and triggered
a second-innings slide that
saw the hosts collapse from
88/2 to 132/8 on the fourth
and penultimate day.
A defiant ninth-wicket
stand of 95, West Indies’
highest in the game, between
Carlos Brathwaite
(51 not out) and DevendraBishoo
(45) delayed the
inevitable before Ashwin
came back to seal the issue
by bowling the hosts out for
231.
IT’S GOOD TO HAVE CONTAGIOUS
WINNING HABIT: KOHLI
North Sound: Winning
is “contagious” and Indian
Test captain Virat Kohli
feels that it is a “good habit”
that his boys can create in
order to become a formidable
Test team anywhere in
the world.
India trounced West Indies
by an innings and 92
runs well inside four days
in the first cricket Test of
the four-match series.
“We want to create winning
habits, good habits.
And you know, winning
is contagious. If we learn
to win Test matches, then
we’ll learn how to win
Tests everywhere. We will
learn how to play in different
situations and we will
know exactly what to do
when a certain situation is
going a certain way,” Kohli
told mediapersons after a
thumping victory against
the hosts.
“We want to be consistent
side, we need to set
ourselves goals and look
to execute that rather than
looking at the opposition
which I think this team is
willing to do,” said Kohli after
the win.
This was also the Tamil
Nadu spinner’s first
five-wicket haul outside the
Asian continent.
India bowled out the
West Indies for 243 in
their first innings, having
amassed 566 for eight declared
after opting to bat.
Forced to follow-on after
conceding a massive lead of
323, the hosts failed to cope
up with intense pressure
created by Ashwin and Co
on a pitch that offered assistance
to slow bowlers.
At the Sir Vivian Richards
Stadium, the visitors shot
out the hosts in three hours
over the post lunch and tea
session to finish their two
innings at 243 and 231.
“That for me is a very
pleasing thing as a captain
and for the team as well.
Everyone understands the
way we want to play on
the field, where we need to
bat, how we need to bowl,
etc. We need to be comfortable
with what the team
requires and I think that’s
the most important for this
team going forward,” he
added.
It was an all-round effort
from the bowlers with pacers
Mohammed Shami and
Umesh Yadav snaring eight
scalps among themselves
in the first innings and premier
spinner Ravichandran
Ashwin with his 7 for 83
singlehandedly decimating
After tea, Brathwaite
reached his third Test fifty,
but the rest of the innings
folded in just over 40 minutes.
Bishoo hit straight to
midwicket off Ashwin in
the 78th over, and three
balls later bowled Shannon
Gabriel (4) to wrap up the
proceedings with a day to
spare.
Post lunch, it was an
extended session of play
which proved enough for
India to force a win. But first
they had to break through
the 67-run partnership between
Rajendra Chandrika
(31) and Marlon Samuels
(50). The two batsmen began
again in the same vein,
trying to play for time,
and in doing so, the latter
crossed the 50-mark off 74
balls raising hopes of a fight
back.
But it was short-lived as
Chandrika had a faint inside-edge
off Ashwin in the
36th over, judged accurately
by the umpire and caught
on the third attempt by
WriddhimanSaha.
It started the slide
for West Indies and the
off-spinner barged into the
opening he had found.
In the very next over, he
removed Jermaine Blackwood
(0) for a second duck
in the match, with skipper
Virat Kohli holding a
magnificent diving catch at
midwicket to aid in the dismissal.
the opposition in the second
innings.
“It was a very good effort
from the bowlers. The
good thing was that we
did not bowl that much
in the first innings, so everyone’s
mindset in the
second innings was, yes,
we can bowl again. I think
the first innings ended at a
perfect time for us last evening,
and then we got 13-
14 overs and got a wicket
again.So it was good to get
some rest in the evening,
and the bowlers’ attitude
was very good, all of them
voluntarily said, yes, we
will bowl, and the spinners
took the responsibility,”
said the skipper.
NARSINGH IS INNOCENT, IT’S A CONSPIRACY: WFI
New Delhi: The Wrestling
Federation of India
(WFI)on Monday threw its
weight behind NarsinghYadav,
whose Olympic participation
is in serious doubt
after a failed dope test, saying
the grappler is a victim
of conspiracy.
Doubting foul play, WFI
president BrijBhushanSharan
Singh said the federation
believes Narisingh is
innocent and will support
him to the hilt.
“The federation believes
Narsingh is innocent. Injustice
has happened with him
and we are hopeful he will
get justice.
I will try my level best to
help Narsingh get out of this
problem so that he can represent
India in 74kg in the
Olympics and win a medal,”
BrijBhushanSharan Singh
told a press conference on
Monday.
The WFI chief said Narsingh
has a clean record and
would be foolish to jeopardise
his career by taking a
banned substance just days
before the Olympics.
“It is our duty to
protect Narsingh
and all our wrestlers.
Narsingh’s record is
clean. He is someone
who never shied
away from dope
tests,” BrijBhushan
said.
“Narsingh complained
in writing to
us that a conspiracy
has been hatched against
him and I and the entire nation
believe him because he
has nothing to do with the
substance.”
Narsingh, who was
picked ahead of the double
Olympic medallistSushil
Kumar to represent India at
the Rio Games in, has been
handed provisional suspension
after he tested positive
for a banned substance.
On the basis of Narsingh
bagging the 74kg Olympic
quota berth with a World
Championships bronze last
year, WFI had named him
to represent India at the
Rio Games and Sushil’s demands
for a trial were rejected
by the Federation as
well as the Delhi High Court
after a lengthy legal battle.
BrijBhushan hoped Narsingh
would get a clean chit
in the final NADA hearing
on Wednesday, the result of
which is expected the next
day.
“The NADA committee
formed to hear the case
will hold its final hearing on
Wednesday. I hope they will
examine all aspects and on
Thursday I hope we will get
the clear picture,” he said.
For the time being, the
26-year-old wrestler’s
Olympics accreditation has
also been withheld.