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Against all odds, a labourer’s daughter dreams of winning an Olympic medal

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2 years ago

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Coming from a small village in Uttar Pradesh and setting a record in long jump for Delhi, the story of Shivani Soam has drama, emotion and the determination to overcome all odds, including the barriers erected by the male chauvinistic society.

Hailing from a village in Moradabad district, choosing sports was not easy for Shivani. From getting flak for wearing shorts to practicing with boys, life wasn’t easy for Shivani in her village.

But her dedication and determination to do something in sports saw Shivani go ahead despite the taunts. The society, which used to berate her and her family, is today lauding her achievements. The mind-set of the people has changed after Shivani won silver in the 30th North Zone Junior Athletics championship, organised by the Haryana Athletics Association at Rohtak in October 2018.

“All this was not easy for me. My parents used to work in Delhi as daily-wage labourers. At the time of the first Covid-19 wave, the financial situation went from bad to worse for us. We had to return to our village from Delhi. There, when I used to go for practice in the morning, I was the target of taunts. Still, I continued my training,” Shivani told IANS.

Taunts were not the only problem Shivani faced. During the lockdown, when her parents had no work, a situation arose when she even though of leaving the sport. However, she continued her passion against all odds.

Shivani concedes that the pandemic period in 2020 was like an ‘earthquake’ situation in her life.

“The lockdown affected us badly. We had to return to our village… we faced a different problem here. There are many problems for girls, but I did not give up and continued my practice. After a few months, when things became normal, we came back to Delhi, where Deepika ma’am (a sports management company head) contacted me. Since then I have not faced any problem. Now I am focusing on my game,” said the 20-year-old, who wants to breach the Asian Games qualifying mark.

Shivani won gold in the Delhi State Athletic Championship in August, 2019, with a record jump of 5.31 metre. The record is still in Shivani’s name. She says that she is putting in a lot of effort to breach the Asian Games qualifying mark of 6.45 metre.

“I made this record (Delhi State) in 2019. Since then, my performance has improved a lot, now I can easily cross 6.50 in training. It is not difficult for me to qualify for the Asian Games.”

Shivani has a dream of winning an Olympic medal. While the athlete is aware that the task is not easy, she is confident that one day she will be good to compete at the international level.

“For a player, the biggest dream is an Olympic medal. I have a dream of winning a medal at the Olympics. But before that, there will be an attempt to win a medal at the Asian Games. My jump is good now, and with a little improvement, I will qualify for the Asian Games. After that I will plan for the future,” Shivani told IANS.

Shivani thanked the sports management company ENGN and its head Deepika Das Pereira, and said that they have helped her a lot by paying for training.

“Shivani is a very talented girl. ENGN focuses exclusively on female athletes and helps them realise their potential and reach their goals. In its endeavour to encourage all women to make health and fitness a part of their life, it has also launched a product line of high quality performance wear at affordable prices. Part of the revenue is cycled back towards supporting the needs of their talent,” Pereira, head of talent and sports, ENGN, said.

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National

Suryakumar Yadav Watches India Beat Afghanistan In 3rd T20I From Hospital Bed After Groin Surgery In Germany

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8 months ago

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January 18, 2024

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India batter Suryakumar Yadav may not be a part of the recent T20I series winning squad against Afghanistan but he made sure to catch up on all the matches even from his hospital bed in Germany.

Surya underwent a successful groin surgery on Wednesday after which he watched India win the 3rd T20I in Bengaluru.

The No.1-ranked T20I batter went under the knife for a sports hernia, a condition for which KL Rahul was also operated upon, co-incidentally in Germany last year.”Surgery done. I want to thank everyone for their concerns and well wishes for my health, and I am happy to tell you all that I will be back very soon,” Surya said in a post on his social media accounts after the surgery.The 33-year-old batsman has been inactive since suffering a left ankle injury while fielding in the third T20I against South Africa at Johannesburg last month, shortly after achieving a century in 56 balls.

Subsequently, he was seen walking with a moonboot, indicating the severity of the injury. Numerous reports have also suggested that Suryakumar underwent surgery on the injured ankle.

Following this, he underwent rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru before traveling to Germany for a groin operation.

It remains uncertain whether Suryakumar will recover in time for the start of IPL 2024, scheduled to commence possibly from the third week of March.In the IPL, Suryakumar has been a key player for the five-time champions Mumbai Indians. His availability will be crucial for the Indian team as they prepare for the 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup, scheduled from June 1 to 29 in the USA and the West Indies.

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National

IPL 2024 Auction: Mitchell Starc Becomes Most Expensive Player In History, Bought By KKR For ₹24.75 Crore

Published

9 months ago

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December 19, 2023

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Australia fast bowler Mitchell Starc broke the all-time record for the most expensive player in the history of the Indian Premier League after he was bought for a whopping ₹24.75 Crore by Kolkata Knight Riders at the auction in Dubai.

Starc broke the record for the highest bid in IPL auction history just minutes after his Australia captain Pat Cummins was sold for ₹20.50 crore to Sunrisers Hyderabad.

The left-arm pacer drew the maximum eyeballs when his name came up in the auction. The 33-year-old has not played in the IPL since 2015 after making his debut for Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2014.

KKR justify Starc’s price tag

“The entire salary cap for franchises when IPL started in 2008 was ₹20 crore. Things have changed.

“But our view is, when the auction is over all the 10 teams are going to walk out of the auction having spent ₹100 crores. And each team decides to slice it differently.”So what you have paid to somebody, up or down, is a matter of perspective. Ultimately we are all spending the same amount of money,” KKR CEO Venky Mysore justified the amount paid for Starc.

Notable Acquisitions in the IPL 2024 Auction

In addition to the significant acquisition of Pat Cummins, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) secured the services of Travis Head, the hero of the World Cup final, for a substantial sum of Rs 6.80 crore.

Harshal Patel, previously with Royal Challengers Bangalore, emerged as a sought-after player, fetching a lucrative deal from Punjab Kings, who invested Rs 11.75 crore in the out-of-favor Indian pacer.

Daryl Mitchell, following his impressive performance in the ODI World Cup, enjoyed a substantial payday as Chennai Super Kings splurged Rs 14 crore to secure the services of the New Zealand batter.

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National

IPL 2024 Auction: CSK Eyeing Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav & Jasprit Bumrah; Ready To Trade 2 Pacers To MI

Published

9 months ago

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December 19, 2023

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Renowned performance analyst Prasanna Agoram has dropped a massive hint ahead of the IPL 2024 auction set to take place on December 19th (Tuesday) in Dubai.

With Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin hosting Prasanna on his YouTube channel, the latter has hinted that two pacers from the Chennai Super Kings could be traded for a star batter or pacer from the Mumbai Indians.

According to reports, the star batters from the Mumbai Indians could either be Suryakumar Yadav or Rohit Sharma and the pacer might be Jasprit Bumrah. E

Either of their trades would be a massive coup, given their influential roles in Mumbai Indians’ dominance in tournament history since the 2013 edition.

CSK eyeing top MI stars ahead of IPL 2024

Since Rohit took charge of the Mumbai Indians’ captaincy from Ricky Ponting in 2013, he has turned the tables completely, leading them to five titles, the last of which came in 2020.

Suryakumar Yadav has amassed over 400 runs in the last 4 out of 6 seasons, while Bumrah started his career with the Mumbai Indians, picking up 145 wickets in 120 matches at 23.31 apiece.

Surya has also led the Indian T20I team in the absence of Rohit Sharma on the last two international assignments against Australia and South Africa therefore, he could also be looked at as a future leader of the CSK franchise after Dhoni retires from the league.Bumrah meanwhile, has been the backbone of the MI squad and the leader of its pace attack over the last few years. CSK are on the lookout for a top Indian bowler who could head their pace unit in IPL 2024.

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