News Analysis India

Tag: asian games

  • Asian Games: Indian men’s kabaddi players protest referee’s decision during games

    By PTI

    HANGZHOU: Controversy struck the Asian Games men’s kabaddi summit clash between India and Iran on Saturday with players sitting on the mat in protest against the referee’s decision, leading to heated arguments between the rival sides here.

    In scenes rarely seen on a kabaddi mat, play was held up for nearly one hour in the final match between the arch-rivals.

    Iran had beaten India in the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games final and the Pawan Sehrawat-led side exacted revenge eventually, winning Saturday’s summit clash to regain the gold medal.

    The controversy happened with just one minute left in the match and both sides were tied 28-28.

    Sehrawat was the raider then.

    “When Pawan (Sehrawat) raided, he got self-out after stepping into the lobby area. While chasing him, four Iranians also entered the lobby area,” coach Kavitha Selaraj told PTI.

    The lobby areas are the strips on either side of the mat which are considered active only when contact has been made between the raider and a defender.

    As per the lobby rule, if a raider steps out of bounds and a defender follows him to the lobby area, he (the defender) is also ruled out.

    “Under International Kabaddi Federation (IKF) rules, the Indian team was to get four points and Iran one point, but the referees gave just one point each,” Kavitha added.

    India then asked for a video review, and after several minutes they won.

    But mayhem followed later as it was the turn of the Iranians to protest the referees who again changed the decision.

    After that, the Indians sat on the mat for around one hour, holding up play.

    “Finally, we got four points and Iran one with one minute left in the match. The score was 28-28 at that time,” she added.

    From 28-28, the scoreline became 32-29 and the match resumed and the remaining one minute was played.

    India got one point in the remaining one minute and won 33-29 to win the gold.

    This lobby rule was done away with in the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) last year and a defender following a raider into the lobby is no longer eliminated.

    Only the raider is eliminated.

    But the lobby rule still remains in the IKF rulebook.

    HANGZHOU: Controversy struck the Asian Games men’s kabaddi summit clash between India and Iran on Saturday with players sitting on the mat in protest against the referee’s decision, leading to heated arguments between the rival sides here.

    In scenes rarely seen on a kabaddi mat, play was held up for nearly one hour in the final match between the arch-rivals.

    Iran had beaten India in the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games final and the Pawan Sehrawat-led side exacted revenge eventually, winning Saturday’s summit clash to regain the gold medal.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    The controversy happened with just one minute left in the match and both sides were tied 28-28.

    Sehrawat was the raider then.

    “When Pawan (Sehrawat) raided, he got self-out after stepping into the lobby area. While chasing him, four Iranians also entered the lobby area,” coach Kavitha Selaraj told PTI.

    The lobby areas are the strips on either side of the mat which are considered active only when contact has been made between the raider and a defender.

    As per the lobby rule, if a raider steps out of bounds and a defender follows him to the lobby area, he (the defender) is also ruled out.

    “Under International Kabaddi Federation (IKF) rules, the Indian team was to get four points and Iran one point, but the referees gave just one point each,” Kavitha added.

    India then asked for a video review, and after several minutes they won.

    But mayhem followed later as it was the turn of the Iranians to protest the referees who again changed the decision.

    After that, the Indians sat on the mat for around one hour, holding up play.

    “Finally, we got four points and Iran one with one minute left in the match. The score was 28-28 at that time,” she added.

    From 28-28, the scoreline became 32-29 and the match resumed and the remaining one minute was played.

    India got one point in the remaining one minute and won 33-29 to win the gold.

    This lobby rule was done away with in the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) last year and a defender following a raider into the lobby is no longer eliminated.

    Only the raider is eliminated.

    But the lobby rule still remains in the IKF rulebook.

  • Asian Games medalists from Madhya Pradesh roped in by EC to ‘motivate voters’ in poll-bound state

    By Express News Service

    BHOPAL: Athletes from Madhya Pradesh, who made India proud at the ongoing Asian Games in China, have a new role to don once they are back home in the assembly poll-bound state.

    The Election Commission of India (ECI) has decided to rope in MP’s star athletes, who won medals for the country at the Hangzhou Games, as state icons for the assembly polls. They will motivate the state’s electorate to exercise their franchise in greater numbers in the coming assembly polls.

    “We’ll have them as our state icons in MP to motivate the voters in the state to go and vote in the coming assembly polls enthusiastically. Since their practice for further excellence in the world sporting arena is more important, we’ll use their videos and messages, particularly on social media, to boost voters,” chief electoral officer of Madhya Pradesh (CEO-MP) Anupam Rajan told The New Indian Express on Wednesday.

    The Asian Games medallists will join a league of other celebrity icons who have already been working with the ECI in the same role in MP.

    Athletes from MP with podium finishes in Hangzhou include ace rifle shooter Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar from Khargone district who won four medals, including two golds and two world records, with the Indian men’s team. Other stars include rifle shooter from Bhopal Ashi Chouksey (who won a team silver and individual bronze), Bhopal’s trap shooter Manisha Keer who won the team silver, Neha Thakur from Dewas district who won silver in sailing, Indore’s Sudipti Hajela who was part of Indian women equestrian team which won gold after 41 years and gold medallist women’s cricket team’s strike bowler Pooja Vastrakar who hails from Shahdol district.

    They would join a whole range of existing state icons of the ECI in MP, including actors Rajiv Verma, Divyanka Tripathi and Kartik Aryan, Sanjana Singh (the first trans person to get government job in MP), paracanoe athlete Prachi Yadav and Olympics bronze medallist men’s hockey team midfielder Vivek Sagar Prasad (who is a member of the hockey team in Hangzhou also).

    “Once all the athletes are back from China, we’ll meet them and request them to spare time through video messages as state icons to boost polling in the coming assembly polls,” the CEO-MP added.

    BHOPAL: Athletes from Madhya Pradesh, who made India proud at the ongoing Asian Games in China, have a new role to don once they are back home in the assembly poll-bound state.

    The Election Commission of India (ECI) has decided to rope in MP’s star athletes, who won medals for the country at the Hangzhou Games, as state icons for the assembly polls. They will motivate the state’s electorate to exercise their franchise in greater numbers in the coming assembly polls.

    “We’ll have them as our state icons in MP to motivate the voters in the state to go and vote in the coming assembly polls enthusiastically. Since their practice for further excellence in the world sporting arena is more important, we’ll use their videos and messages, particularly on social media, to boost voters,” chief electoral officer of Madhya Pradesh (CEO-MP) Anupam Rajan told The New Indian Express on Wednesday.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    The Asian Games medallists will join a league of other celebrity icons who have already been working with the ECI in the same role in MP.

    Athletes from MP with podium finishes in Hangzhou include ace rifle shooter Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar from Khargone district who won four medals, including two golds and two world records, with the Indian men’s team. Other stars include rifle shooter from Bhopal Ashi Chouksey (who won a team silver and individual bronze), Bhopal’s trap shooter Manisha Keer who won the team silver, Neha Thakur from Dewas district who won silver in sailing, Indore’s Sudipti Hajela who was part of Indian women equestrian team which won gold after 41 years and gold medallist women’s cricket team’s strike bowler Pooja Vastrakar who hails from Shahdol district.

    They would join a whole range of existing state icons of the ECI in MP, including actors Rajiv Verma, Divyanka Tripathi and Kartik Aryan, Sanjana Singh (the first trans person to get government job in MP), paracanoe athlete Prachi Yadav and Olympics bronze medallist men’s hockey team midfielder Vivek Sagar Prasad (who is a member of the hockey team in Hangzhou also).

    “Once all the athletes are back from China, we’ll meet them and request them to spare time through video messages as state icons to boost polling in the coming assembly polls,” the CEO-MP added.

  • Asian Games medallists from Madhya Pradesh to be roped in by EC to motivate voters in poll-bound state

    By Express News Service

    BHOPAL: Athletes from Madhya Pradesh, who made India proud at the ongoing Asian Games in China, have a new role to don once they are back home in the assembly poll-bound state.

    The Election Commission of India (ECI) has decided to rope in MP’s star athletes, who won medals for the country at the Hangzhou Games, as state icons for the assembly polls. They will motivate the state’s electorate to exercise their franchise in greater numbers in the coming assembly polls.

    “We’ll have them as our state icons in MP to motivate the voters in the state to go and vote in the coming assembly polls enthusiastically. Since their practice for further excellence in the world sporting arena is more important, we’ll use their videos and messages, particularly on social media, to boost voters,” chief electoral officer of Madhya Pradesh (CEO-MP) Anupam Rajan told The New Indian Express on Wednesday.

    The Asian Games medallists will join a league of other celebrity icons who have already been working with the ECI in the same role in MP.

    Athletes from MP with podium finishes in Hangzhou include ace rifle shooter Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar from Khargone district who won four medals, including two golds and two world records, with the Indian men’s team. Other stars include rifle shooter from Bhopal Ashi Chouksey (who won a team silver and individual bronze), Bhopal’s trap shooter Manisha Keer who won the team silver, Neha Thakur from Dewas district who won silver in sailing, Indore’s Sudipti Hajela who was part of Indian women equestrian team which won gold after 41 years and gold medallist women’s cricket team’s strike bowler Pooja Vastrakar who hails from Shahdol district.

    They would join a whole range of existing state icons of the ECI in MP, including actors Rajiv Verma, Divyanka Tripathi and Kartik Aryan, Sanjana Singh (the first trans person to get government job in MP), paracanoe athlete Prachi Yadav and Olympics bronze medallist men’s hockey team midfielder Vivek Sagar Prasad (who is a member of the hockey team in Hangzhou also).

    “Once all the athletes are back from China, we’ll meet them and request them to spare time through video messages as state icons to boost polling in the coming assembly polls,” the CEO-MP added.

    BHOPAL: Athletes from Madhya Pradesh, who made India proud at the ongoing Asian Games in China, have a new role to don once they are back home in the assembly poll-bound state.

    The Election Commission of India (ECI) has decided to rope in MP’s star athletes, who won medals for the country at the Hangzhou Games, as state icons for the assembly polls. They will motivate the state’s electorate to exercise their franchise in greater numbers in the coming assembly polls.

    “We’ll have them as our state icons in MP to motivate the voters in the state to go and vote in the coming assembly polls enthusiastically. Since their practice for further excellence in the world sporting arena is more important, we’ll use their videos and messages, particularly on social media, to boost voters,” chief electoral officer of Madhya Pradesh (CEO-MP) Anupam Rajan told The New Indian Express on Wednesday.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    The Asian Games medallists will join a league of other celebrity icons who have already been working with the ECI in the same role in MP.

    Athletes from MP with podium finishes in Hangzhou include ace rifle shooter Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar from Khargone district who won four medals, including two golds and two world records, with the Indian men’s team. Other stars include rifle shooter from Bhopal Ashi Chouksey (who won a team silver and individual bronze), Bhopal’s trap shooter Manisha Keer who won the team silver, Neha Thakur from Dewas district who won silver in sailing, Indore’s Sudipti Hajela who was part of Indian women equestrian team which won gold after 41 years and gold medallist women’s cricket team’s strike bowler Pooja Vastrakar who hails from Shahdol district.

    They would join a whole range of existing state icons of the ECI in MP, including actors Rajiv Verma, Divyanka Tripathi and Kartik Aryan, Sanjana Singh (the first trans person to get government job in MP), paracanoe athlete Prachi Yadav and Olympics bronze medallist men’s hockey team midfielder Vivek Sagar Prasad (who is a member of the hockey team in Hangzhou also).

    “Once all the athletes are back from China, we’ll meet them and request them to spare time through video messages as state icons to boost polling in the coming assembly polls,” the CEO-MP added.

  • Kiran Baliyan: Traffic policeman’s daughter who became shot putter by accident

    By PTI

    HANGZHOU: The daughter of a traffic police head constable in Meerut, Kiran Baliyan was an accidental shot putter as her name was entered in a junior tournament by mistake nine years ago.

    On Friday, Baliyan became the first Indian woman to win an Asian Games medal in shot put in 72 years.

    The 24-year-old Baliyan hurled the iron ball to a distance of 17.36m in her third attempt to open India’s medal account on the opening day of the athletics competition at the Hangzhou showpiece.

    Baliyan thus became only the second Indian to win a medal in women’s shot put in the Asian Games after Barbara Webster, an Anglo-Indian from then Bombay, won a bronze in the inaugural edition in New Delhi in 1951.

    “I am from Meerut. My father is a traffic police head constable there and my mother is just a homemaker. I have a brother and a small dog also and I love it very much,” she said after winning the bronze. When I was young, I was not into any specific sport but I played many sports just like that. I even did javelin throw. But something funny — and momentous — happened in 2014 when Baliyan was forced to take part in a shot put event in her hometown. In 2014, at a North Zone competition at DPS School in Meerut, my name was entered by mistake instead of another girl and I took part. There were just three girls and I finished third. I started my career from there,” she said with a hearty laugh.

    Her childhood coach was Robin Singh from Meerut, and she is currently training at NIS Patiala under Prabir Singh.

    “It was not that I was interested in shot put from the beginning. I played many games and used to go to the stadium. That was in 2014,” said Baliyan, whose initial training venue was Kailash Prakash Stadium in Meerut.

    On Friday, she knew that her second-round throw of 16.84m would be enough for her to win a bronze. In fact, the fourth-place finisher Jian Chen-Xin of China had a best throw of 16.61m for the day.

    Baliyan’s compatriot Manpreet Kaur, who holds the national record of 18.06m, was fifth with a throw of 16.25m.

    ALSO READ | Shot putter Kiran Baliyan wins India’s first athletics medal in Asian Games

    Baliyan said she knew she would win a medal after her second attempt.

    “My medal was confirmed in the second throw. I am competing in front of a big crowd and it is the Asian Games, and so naturally, I was a bit nervous but there was no pressure regarding my performance,” she said.

    Baliyan’s first national competition was in 2015 at the National U18 Championships in Ranchi where she finished sixth with a throw of 12.49m. She then won the national U-20 Championships in 2018 with a throw of 15.23m.

    The same year, she won the South Asian U-20 Championships in Colombo. She won gold in the Khelo India University Games in 2020. Her first senior national title was in the Federation Cup in Patiala in 2021 where she threw 16.45m.

    Baliyan first crossed 17m as she won gold in the 2022 National Games in Gujarat with a throw of 17.14m. She took the gold again in the National Inter-State Championships in June this year, with 17.17m before coming with her season’s and personal best of 17.92m at the Indian Grand Prix 5 in Chandigarh on September 10.

    HANGZHOU: The daughter of a traffic police head constable in Meerut, Kiran Baliyan was an accidental shot putter as her name was entered in a junior tournament by mistake nine years ago.

    On Friday, Baliyan became the first Indian woman to win an Asian Games medal in shot put in 72 years.

    The 24-year-old Baliyan hurled the iron ball to a distance of 17.36m in her third attempt to open India’s medal account on the opening day of the athletics competition at the Hangzhou showpiece.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    Baliyan thus became only the second Indian to win a medal in women’s shot put in the Asian Games after Barbara Webster, an Anglo-Indian from then Bombay, won a bronze in the inaugural edition in New Delhi in 1951.

    “I am from Meerut. My father is a traffic police head constable there and my mother is just a homemaker. I have a brother and a small dog also and I love it very much,” she said after winning the bronze. When I was young, I was not into any specific sport but I played many sports just like that. I even did javelin throw. But something funny — and momentous — happened in 2014 when Baliyan was forced to take part in a shot put event in her hometown. In 2014, at a North Zone competition at DPS School in Meerut, my name was entered by mistake instead of another girl and I took part. There were just three girls and I finished third. I started my career from there,” she said with a hearty laugh.

    Her childhood coach was Robin Singh from Meerut, and she is currently training at NIS Patiala under Prabir Singh.

    “It was not that I was interested in shot put from the beginning. I played many games and used to go to the stadium. That was in 2014,” said Baliyan, whose initial training venue was Kailash Prakash Stadium in Meerut.

    On Friday, she knew that her second-round throw of 16.84m would be enough for her to win a bronze. In fact, the fourth-place finisher Jian Chen-Xin of China had a best throw of 16.61m for the day.

    Baliyan’s compatriot Manpreet Kaur, who holds the national record of 18.06m, was fifth with a throw of 16.25m.

    ALSO READ | Shot putter Kiran Baliyan wins India’s first athletics medal in Asian Games

    Baliyan said she knew she would win a medal after her second attempt.

    “My medal was confirmed in the second throw. I am competing in front of a big crowd and it is the Asian Games, and so naturally, I was a bit nervous but there was no pressure regarding my performance,” she said.

    Baliyan’s first national competition was in 2015 at the National U18 Championships in Ranchi where she finished sixth with a throw of 12.49m. She then won the national U-20 Championships in 2018 with a throw of 15.23m.

    The same year, she won the South Asian U-20 Championships in Colombo. She won gold in the Khelo India University Games in 2020. Her first senior national title was in the Federation Cup in Patiala in 2021 where she threw 16.45m.

    Baliyan first crossed 17m as she won gold in the 2022 National Games in Gujarat with a throw of 17.14m. She took the gold again in the National Inter-State Championships in June this year, with 17.17m before coming with her season’s and personal best of 17.92m at the Indian Grand Prix 5 in Chandigarh on September 10.

  • Asian Games: Hockey India, Malaysia defeated in semi-finals

    Asian Games current champion defeated Malaysia 6-7 in penalty shootout from the semi-finals of India. Earlier, both the teams were equal to 2-2 in the full-time. India’s performance in the whole Asian Games was fantastic. India scored a total of 76 goals in the Asian Games 2018 and was at top of Group A.

    Before this, India has lost in the Azlan Shah Cup in addition to the 2017 World Cup from Malaysia. There was not a single goal from both the sides till half time. At the time of the first quarter, Malaysia had taken the lead on India, but India took video referrals and the Malaysian goal was dismissed. After this, the Indian hockey team showed great game and at the moment has taken 2-1 lead in the match. Varun had scored the second goal for India through penalty corner.

    The Indian hockey team’s performance in the Asian Games was so spectacular India defeated Hong Kong 26-0, Indonesia 17-0, Japan 8-0 and Sri Lanka 20-0. At the same time, India had beaten Korea 5-3 in the quarterfinals.

    India-Malaysia have so far played 102 matches, in which 70 matches have been won by the Indian team, while Malaysia has won 14 times. On the other hand, there are 18 remaining draws.