FUTURE OF ARCHERY IN INDIA

                                        FUTURE OF ARCHERY IN INDIA

Delhi Commonwealth Games have been most successful for India, with the country’s athletes putting up their best ever performance. One of the vital contributors has been Rahul Banerjee, ace archer from West Bengal, who won the gold medal in men’s recurve archery event.

Despite losing the men’s team recurve event, Rahul feels that the Indian archery team will perform even better in the next month’s Asian Games. In an exclusive chat with Zeenews.com’s Sudeshna Guha Roy, Rahul said that the future of archery in India was very bright, as more and more youngsters were taking up the game as a career option. For the first time after 1982, India is hosting an event of this magnitude. How was it participating in this event?It is a great feeling, of course. Though we have played in such big events, like the Archery World Cup before playing in the Commonwealth Games, playing here is something special altogether as we are the hosts as well.Also, archery had been included in CWG after the 1982 Games. So we all had a target of winning medals in all the archery events, be it individual or team ones. We had to prove that archery can win lots of gold for India, and we are happy that we could win medals in every event. All in all, I am happy that archery has put up a great show in the Games.There was a lot of negative publicity surrounding the Games before it started. Do you think that the psyche of foreign athletes got affected?Foreign athletes had an absolutely different mindset when they came here and it was not very positive. But all of them were taken aback when they entered the Games village, and now they are talking of it as a great experience. Even the Beijing Olympics did not have such a big Games Village and did not provide such big rooms to the players.There might have been some issues earlier. The monsoons might have hindered some preparations and caused damages. And, probably, it was because of this negative publicity that the faults were rectified soon and new arrangements were made so quickly. The ground facilities and village facilities that are being provided now are really good This has of course been the best performance ever by India in Commonwealth Games and it is good that we could host this event. A lot of money has gone into making this event a grand success. All I hope is that the government spends some more amount of money on the players also, for their training and practice. If this happens, then I am sure many more athletes will come out in the open and we will have a better performance in the forthcoming London Olympics as well.

INDIA NEED ANOTHER FIVE YEARS TO PRODUCE WRESTLING

 WRESTLING IN INDIA : NEED ANOTHER  5 YEARS FOR                                            PRODUCE

Wrestling Dronacharya award winner and former national chief coach Yashvir Singh believes India is not ready to produce someone who can step into the shoes of two-time Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar.Honestly, I don’t see someone of Sushil’s caliber in the national squad at the moment. It might take long to fill the gap. he told HT. Singh beileves India might have to wait another five to 10 years to churn out another grappler of Sushil’s ability in 70kg or 74kg category.The Olympic Task Force, set up by the sports ministry to prepare action plan for the next three Games, has observed that wrestling is a discipline which has the potential for a podium finish at the 2020 Tokyo Game .However, with just three years to go for the Tokyo Games, India’s star wrestlers including Rio Olympic Games bronze medallist Sakshi Malik have failed to make an impression in the just-concluded World Wrestling Championships at Paris. Going by that, it appears a tall ask to hope for a medal in Tokyo from the current crop, feels Yashvir.His observations are based on the overall performance of Amit Dhankar (70kg), who failed to clear the first round in Paris and Praveen Rana (74kg), who lost in the pre-quarterfinals.Yashvir has been associated with freestyle wrestling for over three decades and he was instrumental in guiding Sushil to podium finishes in back-to-back Olympic Games (2008, 2012) as well as the world title in 2010.Yashvir said, if top grapplers aren’t able to give a good account of themselves in the global event, it’s a big concern.India fielded a strong 24-member team, but majority of them lost in the first round in their respective weight groups. Even those who got a chance in the repechage, failed to take advantage and win bronze in the play-offs.Yashvir also believes that newly crowned Asian champion Baijrang Punia (65kg), considered to have the potential to surpass Olympic medallist Yogeshwar Dutt, needs to be more consistent.The Dronacharya said: “He (Punia) lost his play-off bout tamely giving an impression that he wasn’t at his best. If grapplers aren’t able to peak at the right time, there is something wrong in the coaching system.”Another former chief coach and international wrestler Gian Singh, who has been associated with the Greco Roman style said: “In India, only those wrestlers who fail in the freestyle make it to the Greco Roman. It is major concern. Greco Roman is easier to learn compared to freestyle, but a good blend of strength and technique is a must,” he said.In Greco Roman, India had fielded grapplers in eight categories but only Gyanender Dahiya reached the play-off in the 59kg.Gian Singh, who was national coach from 2003 to 2005, said: “Freestyle is in our blood as we start from a young age in several akharas across the country. We also have weekly ‘dangals’. It contributes to the development of freestyle wrestling. But that kind of resources are missing in Greco Roman. With this current set up it will always be that an odd wrestler will earn Olympic qualification but a podium finish will be beyond our reach,” he said.

                            PROKABADDI LEAGUE

he Pro Kabaddi League (currently known as Vivo Pro Kabaddi) is a professional-level Kabaddi league in India. It was launched in 2014 and it is broadcast on Star Sports.^[1] This League is the Second most watched Sports League in india After Indian Premier League. Pro Kabaddi league is the biggest Kabaddi League in the world and the richest as well. It is one of the most attended sports League in the world.ro Kabaddi League was conceptualized & founded by Mashal Sports promoted by Anand Mahindra, Charu Sharma and Rajiv Luthra. The leagues inception was influenced by the popularity of the Kabaddi tournament at the 2006 Asian Games. The format of the competition was influenced by Indian Premier League. The Pro Kabaddi League uses a franchise-based model and its first season was held in 2014 with eight teams each of which having paid fees of up to US$250,000 to join.

There were doubts over whether the PKL would be successful, noting that there were many leagues attempting to emulate the IPL's business model and success, and that unlike cricket, there were relatively fewer well-known players in Kabaddi. However, it was also noted that kabaddi was widely played in grassroots community settings, and could thus attract a wide variety of rural and metropolitan viewers for advertisers to target if the league gained significant traction.

The inaugural season was seen by a total of 435 million viewers, placing it just behind the total-season viewership of the 2014 Indian Premier League season, while the inaugural championship was seen by 86.4 million viewers.^[4][5] Star Sports, the PKL's broadcaster,^[6] subsequently announced in 2015 that it would acquire a 74% stake in the league's parent company Mashal Sports.

For the 2017 season, the PKL added four new teams, and changed its format to split the teams into two divisions known as "zone.Mashal Sports Pvt. Ltd announced that the sixth season of the VIVO Pro Kabaddi will begin on 19th October, 2018. The league promises to be the biggest kabaddi spectacle of the year, and is planned to go on for a duration of 13 weeks, consistent with the format of Season V of the league. Simultaneously, Mashal Sports Pvt. Ltd has also announced that VIVO Pro Kabaddi Season VII will commence on Friday, 19th July 2019, and will maintain the 13-week format.

In Season V, the league scaled unprecedented heights having expanded from 8 teams to 12 teams and conducting 138 matches over a duration of 13 weeks. Withstanding intense competition, Patna Pirates led by Pardeep Narwal beat Gujarat Fortunegiants to clinch the championship title for the third consecutive time. Season V touched new highs in terms of viewership records. It was viewed by a staggering 313 million viewerswith a watch time of 100 billion minutes, with the finals becoming the most viewed non-cricket sporting event on Indian television.

WOMEN'S WORLD CUP 2018

                                        WOMEN'S WORLD CUP 2018

The 2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20 will be hosted in the West Indies from 2 to 25 November 2018,^[1] during the 2018–19 international cricket season.^[2] It will be the sixth edition of the ICC Women's World Twenty20, and the second hosted by the West Indies (after the 2010 edition). The tournament was awarded to the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) at the 2013 annual conference of the International Cricket Council (ICC). The tournament's dates were confirmed at an ICC board meeting in January 2015.^[4] The qualifier tournament for the competition is scheduled to be held in July 2018 in the NetherlandsIn February 2017, the ICC confirmed that this would be the first T20 tournament that uses the Umpire Decision Review System, with one review per side.The 2018 edition of the Women’s World T20 will be hosted by Antigua and Barbuda, Guyana and St Lucia from November 9-24, the ICC has announced.Hosts Windies will defend the title they won with an eight-wicket victory over Australia in Kolkata in 2016.Stafanie Taylor, who was named as captain of the ICC Women’s T20I Team of the Year 2017, won the player of the series award in India and is expected to once again lead the Windies in front of a passionate home crowd.The three venues were selected by Cricket West Indies through a bidding process and have been ratified by the ICC.The preliminary round matches will be held at the Guyana National Stadium and Darren Sammy Stadium in St Lucia, while Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua and Barbuda will stage the two semi-finals and the final.ICC Chief Executive David Richardson said: “Windies women are the reigning champions and I’ve no doubt they’ll be looking to defend their title on home 

ISSF WORLD CUP

                                                     ISSF WORLD CUP 

The ISSF World Cup was introduced by the International Shooting Sport Federation in 1986 to provide a homogeneous system for qualification to the Olympic shooting competitions. It still is carried out in the Olympic shooting events, with four competitions per year in each event. For the best shooters there is since 1988 a World Cup Final.The 2018 ISSF World Cup is the annual edition of the ISSF World Cup in the Olympic shooting events, governed by the International Shooting Sport Federation.

Considering 2020 Olympic Games, the ISSF has made lots of changes in the categories and competition. For the first time, Mixed team medal events in 10m Air Pistol, 10m Air Rifle and Trap categories have been introduced officially while 50m Rifle Prone Men, 50m Pistol Men and Double Trap Men, which were earlier part of World Cup Series and Olympic Games has been discontinued from this World Cup series. Which makes the total number of medals in both Men's and Women's section will be same.The ranges are bursting at the seams with young talent and it augurs well for the future of Indian shooting.With big-ticket events like the Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and World Championship lined up, the established shooters and the emerging ones eye glory.The sport, though, received a jolt towards the end as organisers of the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham looked to remove it from the roster due to logistical issues.Back home, the exploits of Elavenil Valarivan, Meghana Sajjanar, Mehuli Ghosh, Anish Bhanwala, Shapath Bharadwaj and the likes left the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) president Raninder Singh pleased.The outstanding levels of skill, commitment, motivation and courage displayed by them and others such as Saurabh Chaudhary, Akhil Sheoran, Yashaswini Singh Deswal and Angad Vir Singh Bajwa mean shooting is in safe hands.The breakthroughs on a regular basis by these stars of tomorrow augur well for a sport that has given the country four Olympic medals – unprecedented in India – since 2004.The formation of the Abhinav Bindra-led task force to probe the Rio Olympics failure, followed by the implementation of the panel’s recommendations, seems to have paid dividends.In the senior category, double trap exponent Ankur Mittal has been one of the biggest success stories, winning a silver and gold medal in successive ISSF World Cups.The International Olympic Committee (IOC) went on an overdrive this year in its quest to achieve gender equality in terms of Olympic medals on offer from the 2020 Tokyo Games, and like all sports bodies globally, the International Shooting Sport Federation, too had to rearrange its events.Popular events such as double trap, prone, 50m pistol are no longer part of the Olympic programme, and the likes of Mittal, Jitu Rai and Gagan Narang are ready to cross the bridge.After a lull, the women’s 10m air rifle is teeming with talent with Sajjanar, Pooja Ghatkar, Apurvi Chandela and Anjum Moudgil all fighting for places in the team. The emergence of 16-year-old Mehuli Ghosh, trained by Olympian Joydeep Karmakar, only add to the discipline’s strength.In men’s 10m air rifle, improvement shown by Ravi Kumar and Deepak Kumar bode well for India as the duo sought to fill the huge void left by the retirement of Bindra.Back to his pet event, the seasoned Narang showed he can still be a force to reckon with, and though the London Games bronze-medallist is also into mentoring.Narang capped the year with a silver at the Nationals, while the likes of Sanjeev Rajput and Satyendra Singh won a silver and a gold each at the Commonwealth Championship in Brisbane.

MONIKA BATRA : HISTORIC PERFORMANCE TO LEAD COMMONWEALTH TABLE TENNIS GOLD

                 MONIKA BATRA : HISTORIC PERFORMANCE 

Manika Batra inspired India to a historic gold medal with her stunning singles victories, fashioning an unthinkable 3-1 victory over four-time gold medallists Singapore in the final of the women’s team event at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast.

World No. 58 Batra first scored the biggest of her career by humbling world number four and multiple Olympic medallist Feng Tianwei 3-2 before brushing aside 100th-ranked Yihan Zhou 3-0 to engineer a sensational win over the mighty Singapore side.It was mother of all upsets as prior to this final, the Singapore women’s team had never lost in the Commonwealth Games since the sport was inducted in the program way back in 2002.The victory tasted even sweeter as the women had returned empty handed from the Glasgow edition four years ago. It was only the second table tennis team gold for India at the Games with the men achieving the feat in the 2006 Melbourne edition.

Earlier in the day, India had blanked England 3-0 to reach the women’s team final for the second time.While Batra was the architect of India’s historic win, the experienced pairing of Madhurika Patkar and Mouma Das played the supporting role to perfection by winning the crucial doubles tie 3-1 (11-7 11-6 8-11 11-7) against Zhou and Mengyu Yu for a 2-1 lead in the final.

After Batra shocked Feng 3-2 (11-8 8-11 7-11 11-9 11-7) in the opening singles, Mengyu had equalized for Singapore with a straight game win over Patkar. Batra then proved to be too good for Yihan, who failed to read her deceptive strokes. The Singaporean put a back hand long as the Indian completed a 3-0 (11-7 11-4 11-7), leading to wild celebrations

women football structure

                 WOMEN FOOTBALL TEAM NEED A BETTER STRUCTURE IN INDIA

After the high of reaching 101st spot on the FIFA rankings, there’s a need to spare a thought for the Indian National Women's team campaign at the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers, which ended with a 2-0 win over Hong Kong. Having been crushed by North Korea, South Korea and Uzbekistan, the Blue Tigresses managed a consolation win in their last game.

While the scope of improvement regarding Women's Football is massive in India, we lack a plan. Though it’s impressive that the current coaching set up is well qualified and capable, the need for a robust competitive structure, in order to create opportunities for girls and women, is still there. Importantly, these efforts need to be long-sighted to ensure the growth, and not just participation, of the players.I had the opportunity to witness the first ever Women’s League organized by the federation and it was heartening to see six teams participating in the tourney.However, everyone concerned did agree that there is still a lot that needs to be done.

Firstly, there has to be an increase in the number of participating teams and secondly, Indian clubs need to buy into it. Out of all the ISL and I-League teams, only one fielded their team in the league.

There was a lot of widespread interest when the Women’s League workshop was held in the first half of 2016. However, the enthusiasm was not sustained by the time league commenced. There is a need to understand that there is a huge gap between men’s and women’s football in the country. A structure, that actually works for the existing clubs, needs to be in place and that would be a good start. However, other than the clubs and academies, private firms and companies need to take an initiative to ensure there is a competitive structure.

Moreover, there is still a dearth of women coaches and this definitely restricts the participation of girls. Most importantly, the parents should be encouraged to help their daughters accept the sport whole-heartedly. Back to the roots and the regions, there is a need for the states to develop women’s football. Events like Subroto Cup U17 Girls tournament could play an important role in shaping up the players and coaches alike.The daughters of our nation deserve to be included in the football revolution and who knows the women’s national team can go on and better their male counterpart.

shreyas ayer : Records Tumble as Shreyas Iyer Slams 93* on Captaincy Debut

                                          shreyas iyer  

  Shreyas Santosh Iyer (born 6 December 1994) is an Indian cricketer who plays for the Mumbai cricket team and plays One Day International and Twenty20 Internationals for the India national cricket team. He is a right-handed batsman and right-arm leg breakbowler. He played for the India Under-19 cricket team at the 2014 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup.^[1] He is the captain of Delhi Daredevils in the Indian Premier League.Iyer, at the age of 12, was spotted by coach Pravin Amre at the Shivaji Park Gymkhana. Amre trained him in his early cricketing days. Iyer's teammates at the age group levels used to compare him to Virender Sehwag. He pursued his graduation from Podar College in Mumbai, where he helped his college team lift some trophies.

His junior and age-group cricket journey has been documented in the short-film title 'Shreyas Iyer Documentary – A Father's Dream' directed by cricket writer Aayush Puthran Shreyas Iyer has become the talk of the town after the youngster guided Delhi Daredevils to only their second win of the season against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium on Friday.

During the course of his innings, Iyer took the numero uno spot in the list of highest runs scored on captaincy debut in the Indian Premier League. Iyer surpassed the likes of Aaron Finch, Murali Vijay and Adam Gilchrist to take the top spot in this illustrious list.Iyer's blitz against KKR helped DD register only their second win of the season and it was a very big one in terms of the margin. The 55-run defeat for KKR is their biggest in terms of runs against Delhi while it is their third biggest defeat overall.

                                    BADMINTON  :   A NEW SPORTS CHOICE

Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players per side). Badminton is often played as a casual outdoor activity in a yard or on a beach; formal games are played on a rectangular indoor court. Points are scored by striking the shuttlecock with the racquet and landing it within the opposing side's half of the court.

Each side may only strike the shuttlecock once before it passes over the net. Play ends once the shuttlecock has struck the floor or if a fault has been called by the umpire, service judge, or (in their absence) the opposing side.

The shuttlecock is a feathered or (in informal matches) plastic projectile which flies differently from the balls used in many other sports. In particular, the feathers create much higher drag, causing the shuttlecock to decelerate more rapidly. Shuttlecocks also have a high top speed compared to the balls in other racquet sports. The flight of the shuttlecock gives the sport its distinctive nature.

The game developed in British India from the earlier game of battledore and shuttlecock. European play came to be dominated by Denmark but the game has become very popular in Asia, with recent competitions dominated by China. Since 1992, badminton has been a Summer Olympic sport with four events: men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, and women's doubles,^[2] with mixed doubles added four years later. At high levels of play, the sport demands excellent fitness: players require aerobic stamina, agility, strength, speed, and precision. It is also a technical sport, requiring good motor coordination and the development of sophisticated .A badminton-like game was known in ancient Greece and Egypt - a game called battledore and shuttlecock - in which two players hit a feathered shuttlecock back and forth with tiny rackets.The game was played in India during the 18th Century, at which time it was called "Poona" . In the 1860s it was adopted by British Army officers stationed in India. The officers took the game back to England, where it became a success at a party given by the Duke of Beaufort in 1873 at his estate called "Badminton" in Gloucestershire.

A variation of Badminton which has been developed only recently, Speed Badminton or Speedminton, is played without a net, and is gaining popularity, especially in Germany.