Month: August 2021

The Indian women’s hockey team might have lost the bronze medal match in the ongoing Tokyo Olympics but head coach Sjoerd Marijne feels that the Girls in Blue has inspired lots of women in India to take up sports.

The Indian women’s team played their hearts out in the Bronze medal match against Great Britain on Friday, however, they couldn’t achieve a podium finish after coming tantalizingly close.
The Rio Olympics Gold Medallists Great Britain registered a 4-3 victory over the Indians.

Post the heart-breaking loss, chief coach Sjoerd Marijne during a virtual media conference said, “We always had the belief that we can win a medal and we were really close. The girls believing in themselves makes me really proud.”

“I think that was one of the biggest steps we made. Every girl in the team has her own story and every story is amazing. Let’s hope that a lot of women in India have seen this Indian team’s performance and are inspired by the team to start playing hockey or any other sport,” he added.

Marijne also said the Indian team has won something more than a medal, “We showed a fighting spirit in the Bronze Medal match against Great Britain, but it wasn’t enough.”

“We gave away too many PCs and in these kinds of matches, you have to convert all your PCs into goals and I must say Gurjit (Kaur) did really well. I told the team that we didn’t win a medal, but we achieved something bigger than a medal and that’s inspiring an entire nation,” the coach added.

Asked about the turning point for the Indian team in the Olympics, Marijne said, “After the Pool match against Great Britain, I was extremely angry with the team. I told the team that if you go down then show that you really tried and then go down.”

“I told the team that they will have to do better and I think the team’s mindset transformed after that match. I and Janneke had a lot of individual meetings with the girls and they found the key for the next matches themselves. I think that was an important part of the tournament for us,” he pointed out.

Marijne stressed the fact that staying in the moment was very important for the Indian team in the Olympics, “We finished among the top four in this competition and every team is now taking us seriously. I think that is a big step.

“We have always looked to stay in the moment and be busy with our task. We have tried to develop this mindset for a long time. We wanted to avoid thinking about winning or losing because that makes you nervous and we wanted to stay away from that,” said Marijne.

During the media conference, the Indian women’s hockey team’s analytical coach Janneke Schopman said that she has been impressed with the team’s desire to always get better.

“What I have seen in this Indian team is their desire to learn. They ask a lot of questions and are willing to try a lot of things, which is quite impressive. The girls want to learn and want to improve.

“As a Coach, you want your team to have success, but for me, it was great to see how the team fought and how they played as a team. It’s been incredibly rewarding to be part of this team because of their mindset, wanting to learn, to get better, to fall, but to get back up. It’s truly been amazing,” said Schopman. (ANI)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday announced that the Khel Ratna award will now be called the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award was earlier named after former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

Taking to Twitter, PM Modi said, “I have been getting many requests from citizens across India to name the Khel Ratna Award after Major Dhyan Chand. I thank them for their views.”
“Respecting their sentiment, the Khel Ratna Award will hereby be called the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award! Jai Hind!,” he added.

He further said, “Major Dhyan Chand was among India’s foremost sportspersons who brought honour and pride for India. It is fitting that our nation’s highest sporting honour will be named after him.”

This comes a day after the Indian men’s hockey team won the Bronze medal after 41 years at the Olympic Games.

Dhyan Chand was a legendary hockey player known for his magical hockey skills. He was part of the Indian hockey team which struck gold in the Olympics of 1928, 1932, and 1936.

On August 29, India celebrates National Sports Day to commemorate the birth anniversary of hockey wizard Dhyan Chand. (ANI)

The first Deputy National Security Adviser level meeting was held virtually between India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives on Wednesday.

The meet aims to forge closer cooperation on maritime and security matters among the three Indian Ocean countries.
The meeting was held under the chairmanship of Sri Lanka’s Army head General LHSC Silva. India’s deputy NSA Pankaj Saran and Maldieves’ Secretary of NSA’s office Aishath Nooshin Waheed participated in the meet. Bangladesh, Mauritius and Seychelles also participated as observers in the meeting.

The meet identified four pillars of cooperation under the Colombo Security Conclave. These included marine safety and security, terrorism and radicalization, trafficking and organised crime and cybersecurity.

During the meet, India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives stressed the vital role of cooperation and coordination in dealing with contemporary security challenges in the region.

All the three countries also discussed specific proposals for cooperation and decided to hold regular interaction, joint exercises, capacity building and training activities. (ANI)

Bollywood actor Rani Mukerji has left India to start shooting for her much-awaited film ‘Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway’.

Billed as an untold story about a journey of a mother’s battle against an entire country, the movie will be directed by Ashima Chibber of ‘Mere Dad Ki Maruti’ fame.

Speaking about the upcoming project, a source said, “Rani is set to start shooting the film in the next couple of days. She has done intensive preparation for the film which will be revealed in due course of time and one can expect a sublime Rani Mukerji performance as Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway is a complete author-backed role for her.”

“Rani will be out of the country for over a month for this shoot. She has been waiting to start this project which is extremely close to her heart,” the source added.

During the film’s announcement, Rani had said, “Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway is a story of true human resilience and it is a film that is dedicated to all the mothers out there. It is truly one of the most amazing scripts that I have read in a long time and I immediately decided to do this special film.”

The project is being produced by Nikkhil Advani of Emmay Entertainment and Zee Studios.

Apart from ‘Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway’, Rani will also be seen in ‘Bunty Aur Babli 2’, co-starring Saif Ali Khan and Siddhant Chaturvedi. The release date of the film has been postponed due to COVID-19 cases.

‘Bunty Aur Babli 2’, produced by Yash Raj Films, was earlier set to release on April 23. The cast of the film also includes debutante Sharvari.

‘Bunty Aur Babli 2’ is a sequel to the 2005 hit film ‘Bunty Aur Babli’, which starred Rani alongside Abhishek Bachchan and Amitabh Bachchan. (ANI)

India reported 44,643 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Friday.

With these new cases, the active tally has climbed to 4,14,159 and constitutes 1.30 per cent of total cases.
With 41,096 recoveries in the last 24 hours, the overall recoveries in the country have reached 3,10,15,844. The recovery rate now stands at 97.36 per cent.

A total of 4,26,754 deaths have been reported so far out of which 464 deaths were recorded in the last 24 hours.
Also, the weekly positivity rate, which is currently at 2.41 per cent, remained below 5 per cent.
The daily positivity rate, currently at 2.72 per cent, has been less than 3 per cent for the last 11 days.

The testing capacity has substantially ramped up as the country has conducted 47.65 crore tests so far.

Meanwhile, India’s COVID-19 vaccination coverage crossed the landmark of 49 crore yesterday. As per government data, cumulatively, 49,53,27,595 vaccine doses have been administered through 57,64,712 sessions, as per the provisional report till 7 am today. 57,97,808 vaccine doses were administered in the last 24 hours, stated the ministry.

The new phase of universalization of COVID-19 vaccination has commenced from 21st June 2021.

The Union Government is committed to accelerating the pace and expanding the scope of COVID-19 vaccination throughout the country, added the ministry. (ANI)

Wrestling star Bajrang Punia’s father Balwan Singh is confident his son will definitely bring a medal for India from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.”I spoke to Bajrang, he was very happy. I asked him to bring gold. He will do his best. I am sure he will bring the medal and country’s wishes are with Bajrang. He will prove his caliber,” Balwan Singh told ANI on Friday.

Bajrang’s father further said his son will give his 110 per cent and will get the gold for the nation. “Bajrang will fulfill the promise. For prayers akhand jyot is kept by his mother in the residence. I am not under tension, I know my child,” he added.
Bajrang’s mother Om Pyari conducted pooja ahead of the match for her son and said: “I spoke to him, he will raise the name of the country in the world. I told Bajrang to just bring the medal.”

The Indian men’s freestyle wrestling star, Bajrang Punia, will face Kyrgyzstan’s Ernazar Akmataliev in his first men’s 65kg bout. (ANI)

Indian women’s hockey team went down fighting against Great Britain 3-4 in the bronze medal match here at Oi Hockey Stadium — North Pitch on Friday. With this loss, the Indian women’s team finished fourth at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, meanwhile, team Great Britain captured their third consecutive Olympic medal.

Great Britain started the match with a storming pace giving no chance whatsoever to the Indian forwards and in sequence creating very good opportunities for their forward line. But Indian goalkeeper Savita Punia rose to the occasion with some brilliant saves and made sure to lead the team goalless into the second quarter.
The GB team soon made their dominance count as in second quarter after a brilliant run from the right flank by ES Rayer, they forced an own goal from Indian defender Deep Grace Ekka. Soon, the GB team doubled their lead via a beautiful pacy field goal by Sarah Robertson after Nisha got the green card.

Indian team then dramatically shifted their gears and scored two goals in quick succession — both via penalty corners through Gurjit Kaur — to level the match against Britain. Drag flicker Gurjit struck both PC to the left of Maddy Hinch and defence, giving them no chance whatsoever to even react. Vandana Katariya in the dying minutes of the first half gave the Indian team a very crucial lead with an absolute poacher of a finish after she latched on to a loose ball inside the D. India led Great Britain 3-2 going into the second half.

The second half saw more resolve from GB forwards. As they again stormed into the right flank and Pearne-Webb utilised a brilliant move as she came with a captain’s magic to equalise for the European team. A rough tackle in the D by Udita saw India going down to 10 players for 5 mins after she received the yellow card, early in quarter 4. Soon, the pressure and one-player advantage paid for Britain as Baldson gave the team lead through PC.

Indian forwards flocked GB’s D in the dying moments of the match but the Rio 2016 gold medalists made sure to hold their nerves and see the team through to win the bronze. (ANI)

Lieutenant Governor Jammu and Kashmir Manoj Sinha on Friday said that the government will establish 40 Khelo-India Centers in all districts of UT to give further impetus to sporting culture.

Jammu and Kashmir LG said that 22 coaches have already been appointed to train and mentor the next-generation of sportspersons.

“Government to establish 40 Khelo-India centers in all districts to give further impetus to sporting culture in the UT. 22 Coaches already appointed to train and mentor the next-gen of sportspersons. Further, under PMDP, 44 Coaches and 22 Instructors will be recruited in different disciplines,” Sinha said in a tweet.

He further said that under Prime Minister’s Development Package (PMDP) 44 coaches and 22 instructors will be recruited in different disciplines. (ANI)