A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Sunday
The sudden postponement of the boxing trials for the Asian Games has left Olympic bronze medallist MC Mary Kom fuming as she termed the last-minute schedule change as highly unprofessional' on the part of the organisers.
'If a person whom Vijender had thrashed earlier is now a World champion, why can't Vijender be champion now too?'
Ending days of speculation, the Indian Olympic Association on Sunday announced that wrestler Sushil Kumar, a bronze medallist at the Beijing Games, will be the flag bearer of the Indian contingent at the upcoming London Olympics.
With just a week to go for mega double title defence fight, African champion Ernest Amuzu threatened to stop India's boxing sensation Vijender Singh and end his unbeaten run in the pro circuit.
From Prime Minister Narendra Modi to India's lone individual Olympic gold-medallist Abhinav Bindra, congratulatory messages poured in from all corners for Rio Paralympic Games' T-42 high-jump gold-medallist Mariyappan Thangavelu and bronze medal winner Varun Bhati.
The super charge led by athletes, boxers and tennis players in the last seven days of the Asian Games not only provided the impetus to the floundering Indian campaign but also scripted a memorable climax as the country recorded its best ever performance at the sporting event.
India's M C Mary Kom (46kg) re-asserted her status as the world's most successful woman boxer, clinching an unprecedented fourth successive gold medal, but India failed to retain the team crown at the fifth AIBA World Championships in Ningbo City, China, on Saturday. In a repeat of the previous World Championship final in New Delhi, the 25-year-old Indian out-punched Romania's Steluta Duta for a 7-1 verdict to grab India's only gold medal at the event.
Some stellar performances by seasoned veterans and promising youngsters continued to raise the bar in Olympic sports but there was heartbreak in equal measure when corruption scandals blighted India's favourite obsession, cricket, in a see-saw year for the country's sportspersons.
'Boxing is all about being aggressive and maintaining a tempo while you are in the ring. I film-making I realised how important it was to take a step back and be patient.'
'I started as a kabaddi player but that's a team sport and credit is shared. Boxing attracted me because it's an individual sport'
2019 became a 'Year to Remember' in Indian sports for trailblazing performances in Olympic disciplines
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday
Five-time world champion M C Mary Kom (51kg) would be India's lone flagbearer and a gold medal hope when women's boxing makes its historic Olympic debut in three weight categories on Sunday.
India added seven more medals, including two gold, to their kitty on the penultimate day of competition at the fifth Commonwealth Youth Games in Apia, Samoa, on Thursday. Archer Prachi Singh, in the girls' recurve individual event, and the tennis mixed doubles team of Sasikumar Mukund and Dhruthi Tatachar Venugopal accounted for the gold medals.
India added seven more medals, including two gold, to their kitty on the penultimate day of competition at the fifth Commonwealth Youth Games in Apia, Samoa, on Thursday. Archer Prachi Singh, in the girls' recurve individual event, and the tennis mixed doubles team of Sasikumar Mukund and Dhruthi Tatachar Venugopal accounted for the gold medals.
She is over the moon after becoming the first Indian woman boxer to clinch an Olympic medal but bronze is not the colour for M C Mary Kom, who feels she could have finished higher on the podium had it not been for the "confusion" that gripped her during her semifinal bout.
For M C Mary Kom, the London Olympics is a dream realised twice over. The five-time World champion is not just excited about being the only Indian woman boxer at the quadrennial extravaganza, but is also overjoyed about having her mother in the stands to watch her live for the first time.
Mary Kom says being an active boxer and a Parliamentarian at the same time is no laughing matter as the twin jobs are exhausting and exhilarating in equal measure.
Fourth seed Shiva Thapa (60kg) stunned Olympic bronze-medallist and top seed Dorjnyambuug Otgondalai of Mongolia to enter the Asian Boxing Championships final, in Tashkent, on Friday.
Mary Kom will represent the Asian bloc in the group
Worried about the administrative logjam in Indian boxing, recently-crowned WBO Asia Pacific champion Vijender Singh pleaded with the officials to put together a new federation at the earliest for the sake of country's pugilists.
The 2008 Beijing Olympics gold medallist will be making his fifth Olympic appearance this year.
Neeraj ran in fast, did the crossover. The javelin flew out of his hands and he did not look towards the sector. He just knew he had bettered the first attempt. The moment the javelin left his hand, he knew he had done it.
MC Mary Kom advanced to the final but Shiva Thapa settled for a bronze medal after an upset semi-final loss in the India Open boxing tournament for men and women in New Delhi on Wednesday.
Competing for the first time in over a year, Olympic bronze-medallist M C Mary Kom (51kg) assured herself and India of at least a bronze medal by advancing to the semifinals of the International Boxing Association's (AIBA) Olympic Test event in Rio de Janeiro on Friday.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Sunday
Nita Ambani, the chairperson at Reliance Foundation and International Olympic Committee (IOC) member from India, hosted a gala dinner in honour of Thomas Bach, IOC president.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Friday
It was a dream day for India at the sixth Asian Women's Boxing Championships, in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, as three of the four pugilists on view won their quarter-final bouts. With five boxers having qualified for the semi-finals earlier, the Indian team is assured of a record eight medals from the event.
Sania Mirza's was officially named for the coveted Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award on Friday. The Hyderabadi lady is only the second tennis player to be nominated for the country's highest sport honour.
Five-time world champion M C Mary Kom (51kg) on Friday added another feather to her already crowded cap by becoming the only Indian woman boxer to qualify for the London Olympics.
M C Mary Kom (51kg) and Shiva Thapa (60kg) were among the prominent names assured of medals as the host nation continued to dominate the ring in the US $100,000 India Open boxing tournament for men and women, in Delhi, on Tuesday.
The marriage, solemnised at the Delhi Flying Club, was attended by family and friends of the 25-year-old boxer, India's first Olympic and World Championships medallist. He claimed bronze medals in both these meets.
Under pressure from AIBA, Boxing India (BI) said it has decided to issue a show cause notice to boxer Sarita Devi's husband and personal coach for their unauthorised presence at the ringside during the Incheon Asian Games.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Tuesday, felicitated the medal winners from the recently-concluded Asian Games over a breakfast meeting at his residence and said sportspersons do as much for the country as political leaders.
India finished the Championships with one silver and two bronze medals. 2010 Commonwealth champion Paramjeet Samota (91kg) and 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games gold medallist Balwinder Beniwal (64kg) had to settle for bronze medals each after losing in the semi-finals.
The overall tally of six gold, five silver and 14 bronze medals at the end of day six put the country in 8th spot in the table with China leading the pack by quite a distance, having already crossed the 100-mark.
'Mary just stopped talking to me. Maybe she did not like the fact that she was the gold medallist, but it was me (Sarita), not her, who was getting all the attention.'
