Norma Godinho challenges sporting know-it-alls.
The India hockey captain said it will provide younger players an opportunity to showcase their skills at the highest level.
Hockey fraternity including three former captains on Friday expressed shock over the decision to appoint women's team coach Sjoerd Marijne as head coach of the Indian men's side, saying the abrupt move 'defies logic'.
India entered the final of the men's hockey tournament at the Asian Games after a solitary goal victory over South Korea in the semi-finals, in Incheon, on Tuesday.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
'Indian hockey will lose out on one of its most important nurseries of good hockey talent.'
India's limited-overs vice-captain Rohit Sharma, star wrestler Vinesh Phogat, TT player Manika Batra and Paralympic gold-winning high jumper Mariyappan Thangavelu were on Tuesday picked for this year's Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award by the sports ministry's selection committee.
The penalty-corner ace, who was seriously injured in a road accident last September, says he is totally fit and looking to prove himself on the ground.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday.
Bollywood star Salman Khan's appointment as the Indian Olympic contingent's goodwill ambassador has not gone down well with star wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt, who feels a sportsperson should have been chosen for the role. Salman, who is playing the role of a wrestler in his upcoming film 'Sultan', was named goodwill ambassador by the Indian Olympic Association on Saturday in the presence of star woman boxer M C Mary Kom, hockey captain Sardar Singh, and shooter Apurvi Chandela among others. Yogeshwar, the London Olympics bronze-medallist, said he cannot understand what purpose such an appointment will serve for the athletes. "Everybody has the right to promote movies in India, but Olympics is not a place to promote films." Yogeshwar tweeted in Hindi. "Can anyone tell me what the role of goodwill ambassador is? Why are you fooling the public?" he added.
Do you think the IOA has done the right thing in apponting Salman as the brand ambassador which they clam is to the motivate the athletes and also increase awareness of Olympic sports in the country? Or do you think the appointment is just a gimmick?
He was blessed with celestial ability, a once-in-a-generation player destined to pull India out of its hockey inertia and lay down for it a new, exciting, path of greatness. Then he was shot and unsure if he would walk, let alone play hockey again. Dhruv Munjal hopes Soorma, the biopic on Sandeep Singh's life, will bring him back where he belongs -- in the spotlight.
A resurgent Indian hockey team, with its penetrative attack and solid defence, can actually challenge for the top spot in the Champions Trophy.
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