News Analysis India

Tag: boxing

  • Tokyo Olympics: ‘Go for gold’, dad tells Lovlina as she storms into semis

    Express News Service
    GUWAHATI: When Lovlina was sweating it out at the boxing arena of Tokyo Olympics on Friday morning, her parents back home in Assam were also sweating.

    Tiken Borgohain and Mamoni Borgohain were so nervous about their daughter’s quarterfinal match against former world champion Nien-Chin Chen of Chinese Taipei that they did not even want to watch it live and switched the TV set off.

    “Usually, boxing matches entail a lot of excitement, so we chose to stay away from watching it live,” Borgohain told The New Indian Express.

    As tension piled up, the couple loitered around at home at the nondescript Baro Mukhia village in Upper Assam’s Golaghat district when Lovlina was creating history.

    At 5:30 am, Borgohain woke up to a call on his mobile phone. It was his darling daughter on the other side.

    “Normally, I wake up at 6 am. She called me at 5:30 am. She said she was going for the match. We blessed her. We said ‘play well’. She was in a hurry and we could speak for barely two minutes,” Lovlina’s father says.

    He says a well-wisher had called him up to break the news of Lovlina’s glory. Soon, neighbours started swarming to his house even as his phone kept ringing.

    ALSO READ |  Didn’t have any strategy, just wanted to fight fearlessly: Lovlina Borgohain on historic Olympic win

    “He (well-wisher) said she stormed into the semifinal by playing very well and congratulated me. I cannot tell you how happy we are. She has got the reward of years of hard work and determination,” Borgohain, a small-time businessman, says.

    He adds: “She had always dreamt of taking part at the Olympics and winning a medal. Her dream has come true. It is a moment that she and we will remember for the rest of our lives.”

    Borgohain and Baro Mukhia locals are confident the lanky Lovlina will return with a gold medal.

    “We were certain about the victory because she had the love and blessings of the people of Assam. They prayed at home and namghars (Vaishnavite prayer centres) for her success,” says Horen Gohain, a family friend.

    The region has no sports infrastructure. She started her sporting journey by riding a bicycle for 3-4 km every day, Gogoi says.

    “We are all happy. We want her to return with the gold medal,” he adds.

    Lovlina’s first coach Padum Chandra Bodo of Sports Authority of India (SAI) in Guwahati was ecstatic.

    “We built her at the SAI complex. She grew up in front of us and today, she is an Olympic medalist. I am very happy,” Bodo says.

    He believes if Lovlina can continue to play the way she played today, she will win the gold. Back in 2012 during a talent hunt programme, Bodo could see the talent in her.

    “She had a good height. After some tests, I could realise she will make a good boxer,” the coach adds.

    Congratulating her, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma tweeted: “This is a BIG punch Red heart. You continue to make us proud #LovlinaBorgohain and keep India’s flag high & shining at #TokyoOlympics2020. Well done.”

  • Waiting for Rohit’s return to Rahane, Ravi Shastri said he will talk first

    Indian captain Ajinkya Rahane said after winning the Boxing Day Test by eight wickets against Australia on Tuesday that he is now waiting for the return of star opener Rohit Sharma in the third Test, while coach Ravi Shastri said that he would take Rohit in the third Test. Will talk to them before. Rahane said about Rohit’s return after the match, “We are very excited about Rohit’s return.” I spoke to him yesterday and he is waiting to join the team. “On the other hand coach Shastri said,” We should wait now. Currently Rohit is in Quarantine in Sydney.

    He is ready to join the team and can return to the playing eleven directly, but before deciding this, we will have to talk to Rohit about how physically ready he is to make the third Test. The problem of opening in the first two tests of the series remains. Prithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwal landed in the opening Test in Adelaide but both flopped. Prithvi was forced out of Melbourne due to zero and four runs.

    Mayank has also flopped in four innings so far and has scored 17, 9, 0, 5. Shubman Gill, who was fielded in Melbourne, took advantage of the opportunity and batted without pressure, scoring 45 and 35 not out to secure his place. Gill has received praise from both captain Rahane and coach Shastri. If Rohit joins the team for the third Test in Sydney from January 7, then Mayank will have to sit out of the XI.

  • Ajinkya Rahane equals Mahendra Singh Dhoni

    Ajinkya Rahane has matched former captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni by winning the first three Tests continuously under his captaincy. After Virat Kohli returned home due to the birth of his first child in January, Rahane has captained India for the remaining three Tests of the series against Australia and won India by eight wickets in the second Boxing Day Test in Melbourne. . With this victory, India have equalized 1–1 in the four-Test series.

    Rahane thus became the second Indian captain to win the first three Tests under his captaincy. Earlier, this achievement was achieved by Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Rahane had earlier defeated Australia in Dharamsala by eight wickets in 2016-17 and Afghanistan by an innings and 262 runs in Bengaluru. The Indian captain scored a century in the first innings in this match, for which he became the man of the match. This was Rahane’s 12th Test century. The interesting fact is that India have not lost a match in Rahane’s 12 centuries. In these 12 centuries in Rahane, India have won nine matches and played three draws. Rahane has also won India in the three centuries he has scored in ODIs.

  • Chelsea boss Lampard hits out at fixture list as Blues face two matches in 48 hours

    Chelsea boss Frank Lampard has hit out at his side’s schedule, saying that having games against Arsenal and Aston Villa within a span of 48 hours hands an advantage to his side’s title rivals. 

    The Blues will be unable to play their strongest XI for both matches – against Arsenal on Boxing Day and Villa on Monday – which take place in a season that already features a condensed schedule due to the coronavirus pandemic.

    Meanwhile, Man Utd have three days in between their two fixtures and both Liverpool and Tottenham have four days. 

    Lampard lays the blame with both the Premier League and the broadcasters for not finding a solution that offers a fairer playing field to teams at the top of the table.

    “It’s two games in two days, 48 hours,” Lampard said. “I’m not trying to be clever, it’s an important point for us because there are other teams that are challenging at the top of the league that play two games in three days.

    “Manchester United, Tottenham, Liverpool play two games in three or four days. It’s counterproductive for the quality of the Premier League, it’s a risk for players if they are going to play both games at top-end elite sport, everybody knows that

  • After pep talk, expectant father Virat Kohli leaves Australian shores for India

     Indian captain Virat Kohli left Australian shores on Tuesday after a pep talk with his beleaguered teammates, handing over the mantle of leading the side to Ajinkya Rahane in the remaining three Tests.
    Kohli is coming back to India for the birth of his first child in January.
    Before boarding his flight back home, the star batsman met his teammates and encouraged them to give their all in the remainder of the series, which the visitors trail 0-1 after the heavy defeat in the opening Test.

    Long before setting foot on Australia, Rahane had been entrusted with the responsibility of leading in the team in Kohli’s absence after the star had approached the BCCI for paternity leave.
    The idea behind organising the pep talk was to boost the confidence of the players and keep them in a positive frame of mind heading into the crucial Boxing Day Test in Melbourne.
    India lost the lung-opener here inside three days after crumbling to their lowest Test score of 36.