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sports
Sakshi returns to hero’s welcome
Chief minister of Haryana Manohar Lal Khattar interacts with olympic bronze medalist Sakshi Malik at a felicitation ceremony in Gurgaon on Wednesday. (PTI) CHANDIGARH, Aug 24 (PTI): A rousing state reception was accorded by the Haryana government to the Olympic bronze medallist Sakshi Malik after she arrived this morning from Rio de Janeiro. Sakshi touched down in the Capital in the wee hours and was received by the Ministers of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Haryana.
Haryana’s sports and youth affairs minister Anil Vij, who was present in Rio as head of state delegation, accompanied the wrestler on the return flight. Sakshi then travelled to Bahadurgarh in Jhajjar district, where Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar along with his senior cabinet colleagues Capt Abhimanyu and O P Dhankar, among oth-
ers, welcomed the star athlete. At the grand felicitation function at Bahadurgarh, Sakshi was handed a cheque of Rs 2.5 crore by the Chief Minister. She was also appointed as Haryana’s brand ambassador for ‘Beti Padhao-Beti Bachao’ programme. “It is a proud moment for us that girls of the country have done so well. Our two
daughters, Sakshi Malik and PV Sindhu (who won a silver medal at the Rio Games), have made the nation proud,” Khattar said. He said that sportspersons from Haryana have once again made the country and their state proud. “Our government is taking a number of steps for the promotion of sports. Sakshi has made everyone proud including her country, her state, besides her coaches, her town Rohtak and her family,” Khattar said in the presence of Sakshi’s family members. The CM said Sakshi, who is employed with the Railways, would be soon promoted. “We have also offered her a Class II job in the Haryana Government. She has said that she will think over it and decide,” Khattar said. On the occasion, Sakshi, in her brief speech, thanked everyone for their support and best wishes. “I want everyone to support me in future as well so that I can win more medals for my country,” she said. Hailing ‘Beti PadhaoBeti Bachao’ scheme, Sakshi said, “Now we have added Beti Khilao (encourage girls to take up sports) to this.” The 23-year-old was also honoured with a traditional ‘pagri’ at Bahadurgarh. Sakshi, who opened India’s medal account at the Rio Games, will make multiple
Sri Lanka square series with big win
Sri Lanka’s Angelo Mathews celebrates his fifty runs against Australia in Colombo, Wednesday. (AP/PTI) C O L O M B O, A u g 2 4 (Agencies): Australia’s James Faulkner claimed his maiden hat-trick but could not deny Sri Lanka a serieslevelling 82-run victory in the second one-day international on Wednesday.
Faulkner dismissed Kusal Perera, Angelo Mathews and Thisara Perera to achieve the feat but ended up on the losing side as Australia, chasing 289 for win, were all out for 206 in 47.2 overs. Matthew Wade topscored for the touring side with
a fighting 76 but Sri Lanka’s biggest win over Australia in terms of runs means the teams move to Dambulla for Sunday’s third one-dayer with the five-match series level at 1-1. Australia needed a strong start to chase down such a big total but Thisara Perera (3-33) dismissed openers David Warner and Aaron Finch to reduce the tourists to 16 for two. Skipper Steve Smith (30) rekindled Australia’s hopes of a fightback and Wade showed tremendous grit down the order but it was not enough to complete what would have been a record chase at the ground. Left-arm spinner Amila Aponso was the pick of the Sri Lankan bowler, claiming 4-18 in his second one-day international. Sri Lanka posted 288 before being all out in the 49th over, losing their last five wick-
ets for 27 runs. After opting to bat, Sri Lanka lost openers Danushka Gunathilaka and Tillakaratne Dilshan off successive deliveries inside the first 19 balls. Kusal Mendis (69) and Dinesh Chandimal (48) revived the hosts with a 125run stand. Mendis cruised to his second successive fifty but Adam Zampa (3-42) dismissed both batsmen. Kusal Perera (54) added 103 runs with skipper Mathews (57) to consolidate Sri Lanka’s position but Faulkner and Mitchell Starc (3-53) ripped out the lower order. Faulkner trapped Perera lbw with the final delivery of his eighth over. The all-rounder dismissed Mathews with the first ball of his next over, caught at longoff, and bowled Thisara Perera with his next to become the sixth Australian cricketer to claim a one-day hat-trick.
stops before she reaches her native village, Mokhra, later in the day. Khattar also announced to set up a Sports Nursery and Stadium for Sakshi’s village -- Mokhra Khas, which is also known as ‘pehalwan village’. “We took a number of steps for the promotion of sports in the State. In future, we are going to recruit 1000 coaches so that at village and block level sports is encouraged,” he said. Attacking the previous governments, Khattar said stadia were constructed but adequate facilities were not given. About BJP Gover nment’s Sports Policy, he said, “We have decided to catch them young. We will also set up a Sports University.” All the players from Haryana, who participated in the Rio Olympics, would also be given Rs 15 lakh each. Khattar said that the Haryana Government had decided to give Rs 6 crore to Olympic gold medal winner, an amount which is highest in the world. Haryana is a state which is infamous for its skewed sex ratio and Sakshi today said upon her arrival at the airport that the girls should be given equal opportunities as boys. “The girls should be given equal opportunities like boys to express their talent and make the country proud in their chosen field,” she said.
Nagaland Post, Dimapur thursday, august 25, 2016
11 Beijing 2008 medallists fail retests London, Aug 24 (Agencies): Three Olympic champions from China are among 11 weightlifters who face being stripped of their medals after failing retests of their Beijing 2008 doping samples. The 11 medallists tested positive for a range of banned substances, says the International Weightlifting Federation. Among those to fail are gold medallists Cao Lei, Liu Chunhong and Chen Xiexia. The other eight medallists to test positive are from Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Ukraine. Andrei Rybakou of Belarus, who holds the 85kg world record with a 187kg snatch and won silver in 2008, tested positive in the retests. The others to fail are Anastasia Novikova of Be-
Liu Chunhong of China won gold in the 69kg snatch at the 2008 Olympics.
larus, Kazakhstan’s Maria Grabovetskaya and Irina Nekrasova, Russia’s Khadzhimurat Akkaev and Dmitry Lapikov and Ukraine’s Natalya Davydova and Olha Korobka. They are all provisionally suspended until the cases are
resolved. Four other weightlifters from Beijing 2008, who did not win medals, also failed retests. An earlier set of retests in June and July led to suspensions for 10 weightlifters who competed at the 2008 Olympics, including five medallists.
Blatter in last fight against FIFA ban GENEVA, Aug 24 (Agencies): Sepp Blatter will mount his final challenge against his six-year FIFA ban on Thursday, following more than a year of scandal that saw him thrown out of football in disgrace. The former FIFA boss has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) seeking to overturn a suspension imposed by world football’s governing body. “I’m very confident,” the 80-year-old Blatter told AFP last week, although his prospects for an outright victory would appear to be remote. The now infamous, endlessly debated case first emerged in September of last year, when Swiss prosecutors said they were investigating Blatter over a suspect 2 million Swiss franc payment ($2 million, 1.8 million euros) he authorised in 2011 to his one-time heir apparent, Michel Platini.
ISL: Pune City FC rope in Eidur Gudjohnsen as marquee player
Eidur Gudjohnsen
PUNE, Aug 24 (Agencies): Indian Super League team FC Pune City on Wednesday announced former Chelsea and Barcelona star Eidur Gudjohnsen as its marquee player for the 2016 edition of the league. The 37-year-old was part of the Chelsea side that won the Premier League twice in a row in 2004-05 and 2005-06 and also won La Liga and Champions League with Barcelona in 2008-09. Introducing the striker, Gaurav Modwel, CEO of the club said, “To me Eidur is a true marquee who will be an inspiration to the rest of the squad. He has made valuable contributions to every team he has been a part of - Chelsea, Barcelona or Iceland National team. I am anxious to witness his sublime touches and creative vision which could unsettle any defence. I am sure that both as a world class player and a thorough gentleman he will leave a lasting impression on fellow players, fans, and Indian football lovers at large.” The Iceland legend started his club career with Valur in Reykjavik in 1994 season. From 1995, he played for PSV in the
Netherlands until 1998. He made his national senior team debut at the age of 17 against Estonia in Tallinn in April 1996 when he came on as a half-time substitute for his own father, Arnor. “There were other clubs interested in me but when FC Pune City show their interest, intent and plans, I knew this was it. I have the confidence of the coach and will ensure that they find it difficult to leave me out. Everyone needs to be motivated to succeed, and I have the same aim here. I love the sport. I still love going to training every day,” Gudjohnsen said expressing his joy on joining the club. In 1998, the forward joined Bolton Wanderers in England. And in his second season with the Trotters he became their top-scorer with 21 goals. This secured a £4m transfer to Chelsea in the summer of 2000. After two successive title wins with Chelsea, scoring scored 78 goals in 263 appearances for Chelsea, Gudjohnsen joined European champions Barcelona in the summer of 2006. And his stay at the Catalan giants saw the club winning the treble in 2009.
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