WRESTLING DROPPED
PRAVEEN KUMAR BANNED
From 2020 Olympics
From Ranji ODIs
The International Olympic Committee leaders have dropped wrestling for the 2020 Games in a surprise decision to scrap one of the oldest sports on the Olympic program. The IOC executive board decided to retain modern pentathlon, the event considered most at risk, and remove wrestling instead from its list of core sports. The IOC board acted after reviewing the 26 sports on the current Olympic program. Eliminating one sport allows the International Olympic Committee to add a new sport to the program later this year. Wrestling, which combines freestyle and Greco-Roman events, goes back to the inaugural modern Olympics in Athens in 1896. Wrestling featured 344 athletes competing in 11 medal events in freestyle and seven in Greco-Roman at last year’s London Olympics. Wrestling will now join seven other sports in applying for inclusion in 2020. The others are a combined bid from baseball and softball, karate, squash, roller sports, sport climbing, wakeboarding and wushu. They will be vying for a single opening in 2020. The IOC executive board will meet in May in St. Petersburg, Russia, to decide which sport or sports to propose for 2020 inclusion. The final vote will be made at the IOC general assembly in September in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The last sports removed from the Olympics were baseball and softball, voted out by the IOC in 2005 and off the program since the 2008 Beijing Games. Golf and rugby will be joining the program at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro. The sport’s governing body, the UIPM, has been lobbying hard to protect its Olympic status, and the efforts apparently paid off. UIPM President Klaus Schormann had considered traveling from Germany to Lausanne for the decision, but decided to stay away.
S P O R T S
Pacer Praveen Kumar has been suspended from participating in the upcoming inter-state Vijay Hazare Trophy matches after being issued a show cause notice by the BCCI following his unruly behavior in a Corporate Trophy game recently. Praveen, who was named in Uttar Pradesh’s 15-member squad for the Vijay Hazare trophy, has now been left out of the squad. The bowler was issued a letter by the BCCI asking him to explain his stand on the incident at the Board’s Corporate Trophy held in Raipur, where he was playing for ONGC. Praveen had bowled a short-pitched delivery at Ajitesh Argal of Income Tax and when the batsman checked with the umpire whether it was a no ball, the former started abusing him. Praveen continued to express his displeasure with the on-field umpires, Kamlesh Sharma and Ajit Datar, who then reported the incident to match referee Dhananjay Singh. The match referee described Praveen as ‘mentally unfit’ as he lost his composure at the least provocation, and reported the incident to the BCCI. Previously before this trophy game also, Praveen had a showdown with the crowd and the local cricket authorities had to provide tighter security at the ground.
TULIP
ENTERTAINMENT
RANCHI RHINOS EMERGE AS WINNERS In the inaugural Hockey India League Ranchi Rhinos came from a goal down to beat Delhi Wave riders 2-1 and win the inaugural Hockey India League. The Rhinos were trailing for most part of the match after Simon Child gave Delhi the lead in the 25th minute. But the Ranchi outfit never gave up and displayed tremendous fighting spirit to score through Austin Smith (55th) before Manpreet Singh (63rd) scored a late winner for the home team. Uttar Pradesh Wizards rode on captain V R Raghunath’s four goals, including a hat-trick, to finish third, defeating Jaypee Punjab Warriors 4-3 in the bronze medal play-off match. As expected, the title clash, a match between the two best outfits of the tournament, displayed scintillating hockey by both Delhi and Ranchi, which was fast and free-flowing. The Rhinos made continuous inroads into the rival citadel in search of the equalizer and their consistent pressure finally paid off in the 55th minute. After managing to equalize, the Rhinos went for the killer blow which rocked the Delhi defense. After holding on to most part of the game, the Wave riders’ backline started to buckle under Ranchi’s consistent pressure and in the process made a mistake which cost them the title. Ranchi earned another penalty corner in the 63rd minute and Manpreet scored from a rebound after Ashley Jackson’s initial flick was saved. With time running out, Delhi pressed hard for an all-important equalizer but it was not to be as the Rhinos’ defenses were up to the task. It was a double celebration for the Rhinos as they not only won the inaugural HIL title but also bagged the Fair Play Trophy. Ranchi’s young forward Mandeep Singh also won the most promising player of the tournament. Despite the defeat there was something to cheer about for the Wave riders as its skipper Sardar Singh was adjudged player of the tournament. Besides the trophy, champions Ranchi Rhinos pocketed Rs 2.5 crores, while runners-up Delhi Wave riders took home Rs 1.25 crore. Third-placed Uttar Pradesh Wizards got richer by 75 lakhs. MARCH, 2013 65