Rio Olympics 2016: Boxer Manoj Kumar's marvelous performance boosts Indian contingent's hopes

Haryana lad Manoj Kumar in the 64kg welter weight category made a huge difference for the Indian contingent by defeating two times Olympic bronze medalist Evaldas Petrauskas of Lithuania.
Five feet eight inches tall Manoj tried to use his long reach as much as possible throughout the bout and scored at regular intervals to maintain his lead. Stockily built the Lithuanian tried vigorously to make inroads to Manoj’s defense but using good foot work Manoj kept him away. Manoj connected couple of body punches in the first round and also used left right combination punches through the defenses of his opponent. Petrauskas made numerous efforts to break the defense of the Indian but was unsuccessful except on one occasion when he managed to land a powerful right on Manoj’s left jaw. The end of first round saw the Indian having a slender lead in a split two-one decision amongst the judges.

Manoj Kumar celebrates after winning his bout against Evaldas Petrauskas. Reuters

The second round was an exclusive show of the Indian who crafted beautiful combination punches along with jabs and straights. It gave a feeling that Manoj will floor his opponent with a powerful right but it did not happen as the experienced Lithuanian boxer evaded such onslaught. In this round Manoj carried the bout to his opponent time and again and earned a unanimous verdict of three to nil in his favour from the judges.
The third and the final round saw Petrauskas, the Lithuanian boxer going all out to clinch the bout in his favour by knocking off his Indian counterpart. The Indian, understanding the move, stayed away but landed effective scoring blows on the face and body of the Lithuanian. The final score rightly came in favour of Manoj by a split two-one decision of 29-28, 29-28, 28-29.
It was a marvelous performance by Manoj who clinched the bout in his favour from a double Olympic medalist with a superior performance. The Indian camp did not have high hopes of Manoj winning but he proved it to be otherwise by bringing in all his experience and skill to out point his opponent.
Manoj will face Uzbekistan boxer in his next bout who won just before his own bout. As of now, the boxers are doing well and two out of the three have advanced to the next round. Shiva Thapa in the 54kg Bantam weight category will throw his challenge to his Cuban opponent in the evening on Thursday.
It was not a good day for the Indians at Rio Olympics as some of the medal expectants lost, but some excellent performance from unexpected quarters brought the smile back. Bombayla Devi and Deepika Kumari from archery and Manoj from boxing have once again boosted up the medal hope.

Source:-firstpost
Viewmore:-Punjab Mobile Number Database

Rio 2016: Michael Phelps wins 200m butterfly to claim 20th gold

RIO DE JANEIRO: Michael Phelps won his 20th Olympic gold medal Tuesday after pulverising fierce rival Chad le Clos to regain his 200m butterfly title in a grudge race bristling with emotion.

The American, the most decorated athlete in Olympic history, added to his staggering title tally by overpowering the South African in the Rio final, clocking 1min 53.36sec.

Le Clos, the defending champion, faded badly in the final 50m and finished out of the medals as Japan's Masato Sakai came through for a surprise silver in 1:53.40 with Hungary's Tamas Kenderesi taking bronze in 1:53.62.


World record-holder Phelps, who won the title in 2004 and 2008, celebrated by pointing to the ceiling and pumping his fists, gesturing to the crowd to "bring the noise" after becoming the oldest individual gold medallist in Olympic swimming history at 31.


Competing in his fifth and final Olympics, victory was twice as sweet for Phelps after clashing with le Clos in the media since losing to the South African in an epic tussle in London.


Phelps won his 19th Olympic gold in the men's 4x100m freestyle relay at the weekend and could win a 21st in the 4x200m free later Tuesday.


If he feels greedy there is more potential gold for Phelps in the 100m fly and the 200m individual medley - events he has incredibly won at the past three Olympics.
Source:-TOI
Viewmore:-Punjab Mobile Number Database

Rio Olympics 2016: Abhinav Bindra leads Indian contingent as Games get underway

Rio de Janeiro: Brazil showcased its rich history and cultural heritage, combined with Rio's famous 'Samba' dance, at the opening ceremony of the 31st Olympic Games on Friday. A subtle yet powerful message, of global warming plaguing the world, was put across in a simple but passionate display.

The organisers put their passion for football aside and made climate change and depletion of natural resources asthe central theme of the ceremony, in a thought-provoking nearly four-hour long display to signal the opening of the 17-day extravaganza which will see more than 11,000 athletes from 209 countries take part, including India, and a refugee Olympic team.

Brazil's Acting President Michel Temer declared the Games open, the first Games to be held in South America, in the presence of International Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bach and United Nations head, Ban-Ki Moon.

"I declare the Rio Olympics open, and celebrate the 31st Olympic Games of the modern era," Temer said to formally signal the commencement of competitions, just as the Rio night sky was lit with fireworks emanating from the Maracana Stadium.
Abhinav Bindra carries the flag of India during the opening ceremony for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. AP

Abhinav Bindra carries the flag of India during the opening ceremony for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. AP

After the formal declaration of the Games, Brazilian 2004 Athens Olympics marathon bronze winner Vanderlei de Lima lit the Olympic cauldron after former tennis world number one and three-time French Open winner Gustavo Kuerten brought the torch into the arena, to the thunderous applause of the spectators.

Having witnessed many memorable clashes on its pitch, the 78,000-capacity Maracana Stadium bore testimony to Brazil's effort to make the world a better place. It, in a way, put aside the trouble-torn build up to the Games that the host city faced from the Zika virus threat, the slumping economy and the cost over-runs.

"It is not enough to stop harming the planet, it's time to begin healing it. This will be our Olympic message: Earthlings, let's replant, let's save the planet," said the creators of the opening ceremony.

Following the tradition, Greece, the birthplace of ancient Olympics, led the athletes' parade with the hosts country Brazil coming last. The countries marched in alphabetical order, based on the spelling of their names in Portuguese.

The Indian contingent, led by its flag bearer and the only individual Olympic gold medallist, Abhinav Bindra, who is in his swansong Olympics, entered the stadium as the 95th country. Around 70 Indian athletes (out of 118) and 24 officials took part in the march past, with the male athletes wearing navy blue colour blazer and trousers, and their female counterparts donning blue blazers and traditional Sarees.

Making his record seventh Olympic appearance, tennis ace Leander Paes was seen waving at the crowd, while the spotlight among the female members fell on the likes of shuttlers Jwala Gutta, Ashwini Ponappa and gymnast Dipa Karmakar.

Among the officials who were part of the march past were chef de mission Rakesh Gupta and his deputy Anandeswar Pandey. The men's hockey players skipped the parade as they had to rest before their match against Ireland on Saturday. The archery, table tennis and weightlifting teams also skipped the opening ceremony.

There were loud cheers for the Spanish and British teams with the popular tennis duo of Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray, both multiple-time Grand Slam champions, leading their respective countries on to the pitch holding aloft their national flags. A 60-member Jamaica contingent walked onto the pitch without its biggest star and champion sprinter Usain Bolt, as the athletes were seen waving flags and blowing kisses.

Led by the most-decorated Olympian ever, swimmer Michael Phelps, a 500-member strong Team USA arrived donned in red, white and blue from head to toe. Kenyan running legend and two-time Olympic champion Kipchoge Keino was conferred the first ever 'Olympic Laurel', a distinction created by the IOC to honour an outstanding individual for achievement in education, culture and peace through sport. The 76-year-old Keino won a gold each in the 1968 Mexico Olympics (1500m) and 1972 Munich Games (3000m steeplechase).

The ceremony was divided into 22 segments with the first 11 focussing on Brazil and its evolution. The first 45 minutes were about the history of Brazil and its evolution billions of years ago, before the theme moved along to planet earth. 

The hugely popular song, 'The girl from Ipanema', was rendered by Daniel Jobim as Brazil's supermodel Gisele Bundchen sashayed her way on the stage. Carioca funk, rap, Maracatu (or typical folk dance of Pernambuco with origins in Portuguese, Indigenous and African cultures), Bate-Bolas or carnival dance, fire sword battle of Cruz Das Almas ensured that the world was treated to something special. 1500 performers then filled the stage dancing a typical 'Baile Charme' and were joined by 60000 others dancing to the choreography.

After the athletes' march past, the formal ceremony began with Bach and Rio Organising Committee chief Carlos Arthur Nuzman giving their speeches.

"Olympics will prosper peace. We're living in a world of crisis, mistrust and uncertainty. 10,000 best athletes are competing and living in one Olympic village, sharing their meals and one emotion. In this Olympic world, there's one universal law for everybody. We are all equal," said Bach.
"I call upon you the athletes, respect yourself, each other to make the Olympic values unique for the entire world. Selfishness is gaining ground, certain people claim to be superior, here is our Olympic answer," he added.

A former Olympic champion in fencing, Bach had a special mention for the newly inducted Refugee Olympic Team. "With greatest respect, we welcome the refugee Olympic team. You are sending a message of hope to all the millions. Because of violence, hunger or just because you're different. You're making a great contribution to society. In this Olympic world, we do not just tolerate diversity, we welcome you as an enrichment to your uniqueness in diversity," said the German.

After this, the hallowed Olympic flame, after travelling 26,000 kms, was carried into the Maracana by Kuerten, who then passed it to basketball Olympic silver medalist Hortencia Marcari. Finally the Olympic cauldron was lit by Brazilian marathoner Vanderle Cordeiro de Lima as firecrackers went off in the Rio night sky. Football legend Pele was to light the Olympic cauldron but he pulled out of the ceremony, citing health concerns.
Source:-firstpost
Viewmore:-Punjab Mobile Number Database

Narsingh Yadav doping fiasco: Why its difficult to look beyond the conspiracy theories

India's build-up to the Rio Olympics took a turn for the worse on Sunday when National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) confirmed that Rio-bound wrestler Narsingh Yadav had failed a dope test after both his samples tested positive.

"Yes, he (Narsingh) tested positive for a banned steroid. His B sample was also found to be positive. Narsingh was personally present when his B sample was opened," the NADA Director General Navin Agarwal told PTI.

Narsingh appeared before a NADA disciplinary panel on Saturday. Sources said he had tested positive for methandienone — a banned anabolic steroid.
Narsingh Yadav appears to be a victim of conspiracy as his Rio Olympic dream hangs by a thread. Reuters

Narsingh Yadav appears to be a victim of conspiracy as his Rio Olympic dream hangs by a thread. Reuters

Responding to the failed dope test, Narsingh has cried conspiracy, claiming his food supplements and water intake was sabotaged to stop him from participating in the Rio Olympics. "I believe that there is foul play involved in this entire episode. Someone has sabotaged my food supplements and water intake," the wrestler said on Sunday.

In an interview to The Indian Express, the 26-year-old wrestler highlighted the fact that he had no reason to take such a steroid so close to the Olympics, especially when he has refrained from taking any banned substance throughout his career.  "Why would I dope so close to the Olympics? Why would any athlete do that?  It's about my life. I have been preparing this moment for the last four years. Now, with just four weeks before Olympics, why would I do something so silly?" he told The Indian Express.

"I take pride in the fact that I have competed in every competition, international and domestic, in an honest, fair and transparent manner and I will continue to do so. I am a responsible athlete with an understanding of the country's expectations and hopes on me. I would never dream of betraying that hope," Narsingh had previously asserted in a statement.

"I have undergone three tests in the last month and a half. I appeared for a dope test on the 2nd of June before leaving for a training camp in Bulgaria. I was again tested on my return on the 25 June and once again on the 5 July," he added.

Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the WFI President came out and backed the wrestler. "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. In fact whenever he was asked for his samples, he has always been very prompt in submitting it, without any hesitation" Brij Bhushan said.

Before being informed about his failed dope test while training at the SAI center in Sonipat, Narsingh claimed he hadn't heard of the drug before and it was of no use to a wrestler.

"No. This is the first time I have heard of this drug. I had not heard of it before. I asked my doctor about it and he explained what this drug does.

Whatever this drug is, it is not of any use to a sportsman. It is for muscle development. It is of no use in wrestling." Narsingh told Indian Express.

Methandienone — the substance that was found in Narsingh's sample — is a performance enhancing substance. It aids protein synthesis and muscle growth in a short span of time. “This is an anabolic steroid which belongs to the Nandrolone group. It helps in muscle building and for producing explosive power,” PSM Chandran, former director of sports medicine (Sports Authority of India) told Indian Express.

When taken orally — as it is suspected to be the case with Narsingh — the traces of the substance remain in the body at least for a period of 2-4 weeks, making it more unlikely for a seasoned sportsman like Narsingh to subscribe to it so close to the Olympics.

“I won’t comment on foul play, but given it’s Metadienone, the timing is very, very intriguing. You have to be a complete dud to try this.’’ Dr Ashok Ahuja, expert and senior doctor who served with the Sports Authority of India’s medical team for over two decades, told Indian Express.

In addition, the drug helps in water retention which leads to gain in weight. So at a time when the wrestlers are going through weight loss regimes, consuming the drug makes no sense at all.

CEO of JSW Sports, Mustafa Ghouse — organization who has been funding Narsingh — highlighted this aspect, backing the Maharashtra-based wrestler.
Source:-inditimes
View more:-Punjab Mobile Number Database