Tag: Tokyo Olympics

World Singles Qualifiers: Manika, Sutirtha win, Sharath, Sathiyan bow out | More sports News – Times of India

[ad_1]

Read More/Less


DOHA: Manika Batra and Sutirtha Mukherjee began their quest for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics berth on winning note as the duo registered comfortable straight-set victories in their respective women’s singles knockout stage-I opening round matches at the World Singles Qualification Tournament on Sunday.
Manika dominated proceedings against Bulgaria’s Maria Yovkova during her 11-5 11-7 11-4 11-0 win.
While Mukherjee faced some resistance from her opponent Lisa Lung in the fourth game but won the contest 11-3 11-5 11-7 12-10.
Meanwhile, Achanta Sharath Kamal and G Sathiyan suffered defeats against Italian opponents in their respective men’s singles opening matches.
While Sathiyan lost to Mihai Bobocica 11-7 11-6 11-8 11-5, seasoned campaigner Sharath also couldn’t manage to edge past Niagol Stoyanov as he went down fighting 11-9 6-11 8-11 4-11 11-8 10-12. Both the Indians had received bye in the opening round.
Four Indians are participating in the ongoing qualification event, where a total of nine (four men and five women) places are up for grabs and scheduled from March 14-17.
In the men’s category, players are split into three knockout rounds with the winner of each knockout round earning himself a place in the singles event at the Tokyo Olympics.
While the losing finalist and semi-finalists from each of the three knockouts, will be drawn into another knockout stage and the winner will secure the remaining one spot.
For the women’s category, entries are split into four knockouts with the winner of each knockout round securing a spot in singles at the Tokyo Olympics.
However, losing finalist from each of the four knockouts will fight for the remaining single berth as they will participate in the second stage where they will be drawn into a final knockout and the winner will make it to the Olympics.

[ad_2]

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE

Leave a comment , , , ,

Top Indian paddlers eye Tokyo Olympics tickets | More sports News – Times of India

[ad_1]

Read More/Less


KOLKATA: India’s top four paddlers will give their best shot to claim qualifications for the Tokyo Olympics at the World Singles Qualification Tournament that gets underway at the Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena in Doha, Qatar, on Sunday. Four spots for men and five for women will be up for grabs in this tournament.
India will be represented by world No. 63 Manika Batra and world No. 96 Sutirtha Mukherjee in the women’s competition while world No. 32 Achanta Sharath Kamal and world No. 38 Sathiyan Gnanasekaran will lock horns in the men’s competition.
Although most of the top players in the world have already booked their berths for the Tokyo Games, the Doha event could still prove to be tricky for the Indians, who will try to put the disappointment of recently-held World Table Tennis Star Contender series behind, with 73 and 60 entries in men’s and women’s categories.
In the men’s singles qualification, the winners of three knockout rounds will qualify in stage one. The losing finalist and semifinalist from each of the three knockouts will then be drawn into one final knockout round where the winner will qualify for the singles event at the Tokyo Olympics.
In the women’s category, winners of four knockouts will book tickets to Tokyo while the losing finalist from each of the four knockouts will fight out for one the remaining spot at stake.
In January 2020, the India’s men’s and women’s teams crashed out of the qualification tournament and hence will look for individual Olympic berths now.
However, if the players fail at Doha, they will get another chance in the Asian Olympic qualification tournament from March 18-20.

[ad_2]

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE

Leave a comment , , , ,

No decision yet on foreign spectators, says Tokyo 2020 president Hashimoto | Tokyo Olympics News – Times of India

[ad_1]

Read More/Less


TOKYO: Japan has not decided whether to allow spectators from abroad at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, Organising Committee President Seiko Hashimoto said on Thursday, denying media reports that a decision had been reached.
“We are still continuing discussions and have not yet reached a conclusion,” she said.
Sources told Reuters that Japan has decided to stage the Games without spectators from abroad due to concerns over the spread of COVID-19.
Hashimoto added that she hopes to make the decision before the start of the Olympic Torch relay set to begin on March 25th.
“We are continuing the necessary preparations as best as we can to hopefully make the announcement before then,” she said.
The Tokyo 2020 Olympics were postponed last year due to concerns about the spread of the novel coronavirus. The Games were rescheduled for July 23 to August 8.
Organisers have repeatedly spoken of their resolve to hold the Olympics this year at all costs, despite low public support.
A Yomiuri newspaper poll conducted last week showed that 77% of respondents were against having spectators from abroad come to Japan to watch the Games, while 18% were in favour.
Although the number of coronavirus cases in Japan is relatively low compared to other countries such as the United States, some areas including Tokyo are still under a state of emergency, with the country currently experiencing a third wave of the pandemic.

[ad_2]

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE

Leave a comment , , , ,

IOC President Thomas Bach wins unopposed second term to 2025 | More sports News – Times of India

[ad_1]

Read More/Less


GENEVA: International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach on Wednesday won an unopposed second term that will keep him in the post until 2025, following a vote on the first day of a virtual IOC session.
Bach received 93 of the 94 eligible votes cast in an online process.
“Thank you very much from the bottom of my heart for this overwhelming vote of confidence and trust,” he told members.
“I want to continue to achieve ambitious goals with you in the post-coronavirus world.”
Bach took over in 2013 as the organisation’s ninth president since the body’s founding in 1894, succeeding outgoing president Jacques Rogge and beating five other candidates.
Presidents can serve two terms – a first term of eight years and a second of four if re-elected.
A German lawyer who won a gold medal in fencing at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, Bach has been an IOC member since 1991.
After becoming IOC President in 2013 he introduced a string of reforms a year later designed to reduce the cost and size of the Olympics, as potential host cities were scared away by the financial implications linked to the Games.
“In my second term I will follow the same style of consultation,” Bach told a news conference.
“I want to be a president for all the IOC members and all the stakeholders. Listening, consulting, taking into consideration and then coming to decisions that we think are the best for the future of the Olympic movement.”
“The overall challenge will be to make the Olympic movement fit for the post-coronavirus world,” he said.
Bach also had to navigate through the fallout of the 2014 Sochi Olympics doping scandal that led to consecutive Olympic bans on Russia, and a troubled 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games marred by financial and political problems – and several corruption investigations.
The 67-year-old has also faced the postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics for a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic – the first Games to be delayed in peacetime.
Bach has ruled the IOC virtually unopposed, with the vast majority of decisions in his eight years receiving unanimous support from its members, who currently number just over 100.
More than half of them were appointed during Bach’s first term.

[ad_2]

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE

Leave a comment , , , , ,

Japan to stage Tokyo Olympics without foreign spectators: Report | Tokyo Olympics News – Times of India

[ad_1]

Read More/Less


TOKYO: Japan‘s government has decided to stage this summer’s Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics without overseas spectators due to concern among the Japanese public about COVID-19, Kyodo news agency said on Tuesday, citing officials with knowledge of the matter.
Kyodo said the government had concluded that welcoming fans from abroad would not be possible given public concern about the coronavirus and the detection of more contagious variants in many countries, Kyodo citied the officials as saying.

[ad_2]

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE

Leave a comment , , , ,

olympics torch relay: Fans likely to be barred from Olympic torch relay start: Report | Tokyo Olympics News – Times of India

[ad_1]

Read More/Less


TOKYO: The starting ceremony for this month’s Olympic torch relay will likely be held without spectators, a Japanese newspaper reported Tuesday, but fans will still be able to line the route.
The Yomiuri Shimbun daily reported that organisers fear crowding at the March 25 event in Fukushima, and will probably bar the 3,000 spectators initially planned.
Tokyo 2020 organisers did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report, which cited an unnamed source.
The organisers have already laid out strict rules for the virus-delayed, nationwide relay, which was called off in 2020 after the historic decision to postpone the Games by a year.
Cheering along the relay route will be strictly banned, and people are asked to only attend sections near their homes and avoid crowding.
Mask-wearing will be mandatory, and spectators are asked to offer “support with applause and by using distributed goods rather than shouting or cheering”.
Portions of the relay could also be suspended if there is overcrowding.
Organisers are battling persistent doubts about whether the Games can be held safely this summer and have unveiled a rulebook with various virus countermeasures.
They are set to decide this month on whether foreign fans will be able to attend, with limits on overall spectator numbers to be set next month.

[ad_2]

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE

Leave a comment , , , , , ,

Japan to extend Tokyo area state of emergency to March 21 | Tokyo Olympics News – Times of India

[ad_1]

Read More/Less


TOKYO: The Japanese government plans to extend a state of emergency to combat COVID-19 for Tokyo and three neighbouring prefectures until March 21, two weeks longer than originally scheduled, Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said on Friday.
Under the state of emergency, the government has requested restaurants and bars close by 8 p.m. and stop serving alcohol an hour earlier. People are also asked to stay home after 8 p.m. unless they have essential reasons to go out.
Tokyo, Chiba, Kanagawa and Saitama prefectures, which make up 30% of the country’s population, sought the extension past the originally scheduled end date of March 7 as new coronavirus cases had not fallen enough to meet targets.
The government had an early-morning meeting with advisers and they approved the extension, Nishimura, who is in charge of the government’s coronavirus response, told reporters.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is scheduled to hold a news conference at 9:00 p.m. local time (1200 GMT) after the government officially decides the extension, according to his office.
Fuji TV, citing an unnamed government official, reported on Friday that another extension until the end of March could not be ruled out.
The government is keen to tame the spread of the virus as preparations ramp up for the Tokyo Olympics with just 4-1/2 months until they kick off.
Foreign athletes have been barred from entering Japan to train ahead of the Games during the state of emergency. It was not immediately clear if the ban would remain in place during the extension for the Tokyo region while the order has already been lifted for the rest of the country.
The current curbs are narrower in scope than those imposed under an emergency in spring of last year when schools and non-essential businesses were mostly shuttered.
Still, new case numbers are at a fraction of their peak in early January, when the state of emergency took effect. Tokyo reported 279 cases on Thursday, compared with a record high 2,520 on Jan. 7
Nationwide, Japan has recorded some 433,000 cases and 8,050 deaths from COVID-19 as of Wednesday.

[ad_2]

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE

Leave a comment , , , ,

Sania Mirza says Tokyo Olympics medal dream motivated her return | Tennis News – Times of India

[ad_1]

Read More/Less


India’s Sania Mirza said the elusive dream of winning a medal at her fourth Olympics in Tokyo this year motivated her to return to the WTA circuit after a year-long gap.
Mirza, paired with Slovenian Andreja Klepac, reached the semi-finals in the women’s doubles at the Qatar Open on Wednesday, her first tournament since Feb. 2020 when she played at the same Doha event.
The 34-year-old, who recovered from COVID-19 in January, said she wanted to avenge the defeat she suffered in the Olympic bronze medal play-off match in 2016 when she lost 6-1, 7-5 in mixed doubles with partner Rohan Bopanna.
“The Tokyo Olympics was definitely one of the reasons (for my comeback),” six-time Grand Slam doubles champion Mirza said.
“We came really, really close to winning that medal last time (when) we lost the bronze medal match.
“I feel when I sort of close this chapter of my life… an Olympic medal is something that I would have loved to win. So I want to give myself another shot at it.
“Whether I can be or will I be able to? Time will tell, but that is something important to me and it was one of the motivations for me to come back.”
Mirza, who became a mother in Oct. 2018, also said she is motivated to inspire women to chase their dreams.
“Women sort of think that once they have a baby, life is over, but it’s not,” she said.
“You don’t have to crush your dreams because you have a child. You can still go after them.”

[ad_2]

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE

Leave a comment , , , , , , ,

Indian Team Excited to Play Germany: Men’s Hockey Captain PR Sreejesh

[ad_1]

Read More/Less


The Indian men’s hockey team, ranked No.4 in the world, is ready to face world No.6 Germany in the first of the four-match tour of Europe beginning on Sunday, said an upbeat captain PR Sreejesh.

“The entire team is very excited and eager to get on with the first match. It’s been more than a year since we played a competitive match, and we are prepared for the challenge,” said Sreejesh, also the team’s goalkeeper.

“It’s been about five days since we arrived in Krefeld and the weather too has not been too cold. It was about 16-18 degrees when we practiced yesterday [Friday], and we are quite comfortable playing in this weather,” he said.

Sreejesh pointed out that the team was getting to play a competitive match after one year due to Covid-19.

India last played in the FIH Hockey Pro League held in January and February last year where the team took on the Netherlands, Belgium and Australia on home ground in Bhubaneswar.

“Not playing competitive matches in over a year has been very difficult, mostly mentally than physically. But the coaching staff ensured the sessions during the national camp were planned in such a way that it would excite us players and they tried to create an environment of competition in the group. Though we played a lot of matches internally over the past few months in SAI [Sports Authority of India], the next few weeks in Europe will show exactly where we are at in terms of performance,” Sreejesh said.

The captain emphasised that this tour would help the team set the parameters for preparation for this year’s Olympic Games in Tokyo.

“These matches against Germany and Great Britain are super important for our preparations. It is an opportunity to test ourselves tactically, physically and mentally. We are very lucky to be able to play against quality teams, despite the ongoing pandemic. This outing will help us set the parameter and enable us to plan our months leading up to the Olympics,” he said.

In the context of playing Germany, Sreejesh said: “We have watched this team closely, analyzed their game and replicated how we must play against them during the past few weeks in camp. They play man-to-man and our style of play will be slightly tweaked in order to succeed against them. The whole idea is to implement what we have been doing in camp these past few months and the focus will be on ourselves.”

Sreejesh also spoke about the supposed challenges of playing in a bio-bubble.

“There are no challenges in this regard. We are very used to being in a bio-bubble and also understand very well that the pandemic is still not over, and that we need to be responsible. We have received very strict SOP for this tour, and we are following it to the T,” he said.



[ad_2]

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE

Leave a comment , , , , , , ,

Working Hard to be Part of Hockey Team for Olympics, Says Dilpreet Singh

[ad_1]

Read More/Less


Indian hockey forward Dilpreet Singh, who has been training at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) centre here as part of the men’s senior core probable group, is eyeing to make the cut in the final 16 who will represent the country at the Tokyo Olympics, slated to begin in July.

The 21-year-old striker has said that due to lack of major competitions in the Covid-19 pandemic-affected 2020, he’s taking each training session as an opportunity to make a strong case for a spot in the Olympics squad.

“We don’t want to be worrying about factors that are not in our control. I don’t want to wait until I get an opportunity to play a match for India to make a strong case for myself but make the most of the opportunity I am getting here at the camp to showcase my skills and prove my worth. We are giving 100 per cent in each and every training session,” said Dilpreet.

ALSO READ | Hockey: India Has a Good Chance to Go a Long Way in Tokyo, says Jarmanpreet

“I have been working on my technical game. I have improved on my finishing. Watching senior players play and spending time with them, helps younger players gain confidence and of course, improve our game. We ask senior players for tips and guidance, and they have been helpful to us throughout,” he added.

Dilpreet, who was a part of the silver medal winning and bronze medal winning teams at the Champions Trophy 2018 and the Asian Games 2018 respectively, returned to the junior core group after the 2018 World Cup.

Speaking about the omission, the Amritsar lad said, “I was quite upset with myself because I have been a part of almost all the major tournaments, and I was eager to feature in the Olympics as well. But, omission from the senior core group hit me hard and made me realise I had thrown away the golden opportunity and had to work harder.”

However a year later after performing well in the junior core probables, Dilpreet was called back for the Pro League tie against World Champions Belgium.

ALSO READ | Indian Hockey Team Doesn’t ‘Choke Under Tension’ Anymore, Says Lalit Upadhyay

“I started from scratch. I trained really hard in the junior camp to at least make a place in the senior team. I used to shadow each, and every drill done by the senior team. I was in constant touch with senior players for that, I asked them for guidance, and finally in 2020, I was back in the core group for the FIH Hockey Pro League,” he said.

“Postponement of the Olympics gave players like myself an opportunity to improve and make the most out of the situation. Team selection is not in my hands, I am focused on giving my 100 per cent on the field and improve day-by-day,” he added.

[ad_2]

READ FULL ARTICLE HERE

Leave a comment , , ,
1 2 3