NEW DELHI: Eight-time national champion Bhavani Devi is aiming to go where no other Indian fencer has gone so far, daring to dream of something in the Tokyo Olympics that everybody else is scared of even thinking.

“Somebody asked me the other day how do I plan to make it to the quarterfinals, now that I have qualified for the Games. I said why just the quarterfinals, why not the finals,” she said.

Addressing a virtual press conference from Italy on Wednesday, Bhavani Devi declared: “I want to give my absolute best at the Tokyo Olympics and am not going to restrict myself in thinking about what I can or cannot achieve in the global event. The possibilities are limitless.”

President of the Fencing Association of India and General Secretary of the IOA, Mr. Rajeev Mehta, beamed with pride while speaking to the press, revealing that he had always had faith in Bhavani’s talent.

“I had said two years back that she was going to qualify for the Olympics and many laughed at me. Now I am going to say that she is going to achieve something special in Tokyo,” Rajeev Mehta said.

The president believes that Bhavani’s qualification is going to change the face of fencing in the country. “Along with the Sports Minister, we have already put together a strategy for the sport. We are looking to build 50 Centres of Excellence across the country, by March 31st, with each of the training about 30 talented kids,” he revealed.

Bhavani’s emergence and success is a story of grit, hard work, and sacrifices. She didn’t want to dwell on the negatives, about their financial struggles, but did reveal that she had taken up fencing by accident as an 11-year-old.

“When I enrolled to take up the sport, we were all divided into groups and were given the option to choose from five different sports. By the time my turn came, there were slots only in fencing,” she laughed.

But once she got into it, she fell in love with fencing and even lied about her father’s income so that she could remain in it. “It was a very expensive sport and I was scared that I would not be allowed if they got to know that I came from a poor family.

“Even then, as the equipment was so costly and difficult to acquire, we used to practice with bamboo sticks and use proper swords only during competitions.”

All-rounder Wihan Lubbe and pacer Lizaad Williams, on Thursday received their maiden call-ups to the Proteas men’s squad.

Lubbe has been included in the T20 squad while Williams has been named in both the ODI and T20 squads for the upcoming limited-overs series against Pakistan at the end of this month. The likes of Kagiso Rabada, David Miller, Faf du Plessis, Anrich Nortje, Imran Tahir and Chris Morris have been rested for the T20I series against Pakistan, beginning April 10 and as a result, all these players would be able to participate in the Indian Premier League from the start. The ODI series against Pakistan is set to get over on April 7, and depending on the quarantine protocols, the Proteas players won’t be missing much of the IPL.

Cricket South Africa (CSA) on Thursday named the squads to be captained by Temba Bavuma that will consist of 22 players for the ODI series and 17 for the T20I series. The extended squads are necessary in terms of CSA’s Covid-19 protocols. The tour runs from April 2-16 and consists of three ODIs and four T20 International matches.

Sisanda Magala has also received the nod for both squads, while Migael Pretorius has been included in the T20 squad, both having previously been selected for various Proteas squads without being capped in a match.

Kyle Verreynne, who has represented the Proteas in the ODI format returns to that squad and is also called up to the T20 team for the first time.

Kiren Rijiju, the Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports, in a written reply, informed Lok Sabha on Thursday that the mission of the Fit India movement is to move towards a more physically active lifestyle.

“Fit India Movement was launched on August 29, 2019, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a view to make fitness an integral part of our daily lives. The mission of the Fit India Movement is to bring about behavioural changes and move towards a more physically active lifestyle,” said Rijiju in his written reply in the lower house. Towards achieving this mission, this Ministry has been taking various initiatives and conducted events to achieve some objectives. Among these objectives, one is to promote fitness as easy fun, and free. The other objective is to spread awareness on fitness and various physical activities that promote fitness through focused campaigns.

To achieve the vision of the Prime Minister, the objective has been laid out to encourage indigenous sports. Rijiju also informed that the ministry has been actively spreading awareness about fitness through various activities and campaigns in association with various stakeholders.

In addition to the support of various Central and State Government agencies, many private organisations like Transtadia, FICCI, CII, SPEFL, GOQii, etc. are also supporting the Fit India Movement in reaching out to the masses.

In his written reply, Rijiju also informed that the promotion of specific sports discipline is the responsibility of the concerned National Sports Federation (NSF).

“For promotion and development of the sport of football at the national level, the government has recognised All India Football Federation (AIFF) as the NSF. As per AIFF, it is a common practice globally where foreign players are drafted in teams. However, recently there has been a huge reduction in appearances in the Indian National Football League (I-League) and Indian Super League (ISL) as per the tournament regulations in hiring foreign players by the clubs and there are more Indian players in the teams than foreigners,” Rijiju said in his reply.

A blistering half-century from Suryakumar Yadav, followed by a brilliant performance from the bowlers, helped India win the fourth T20I of the ongoing five-match series against England here at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Thursday evening.

With the eight-run win over England, India have levelled the series 2-2 with the series decider to be played on Saturday at the same venue. Chasing 186, Jason Roy and Jos Buttler opened the innings for the side. Bhuvneshwar Kumar started with a maiden over just the way India wanted. From the other end, skipper Virat Kohli brought Hardik Pandya into the attack. Pandya also did not concede many runs in his over.

Buttler was not able to soak the pressure and got out against Bhuvneshwar in the third over after scoring nine runs off six balls.

Dawid Malan, who came in to bat at number three, along with Roy kept the scoreboard moving and made full use of the powerplay overs. The duo added 45 runs for the second wicket stand before Rahul Chahar removed Malan (14) in the eighth over.

In the next over, Pandya sent Roy back to the pavilion. The right-handed batsman played a fiery knock of 40 runs off 27 balls. After Roy’s dismissal, England’s score read 66/3 in 8.5 overs.

However, Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes continued scoring runs at a brisk pace and kept England in the hunt. The duo smashed the ball to all parts of the ground and added 65 off just 36 balls for the fourth wicket.

In the 15th over, much to India’s respite, Washington Sundar removed Bairstow (25). Skipper Eoin Morgan joined Stokes in the middle.

Pacer Shardul Thakur brought the hosts back in the game as he scalped two crucial wickets of Stokes and Morgan on successive balls in the 16th over. Thakur picked Stokes (46) on the first ball and on the next delivery, he removed Morgan (4) to leave the visitors reeling at 140/6.

Stokes’ knock came off 23 balls, studded with three sixes and four fours.

Sam Curran (3) and Chris Jordan came to rescue the side but the former failed to get going and was dismissed by Pandya in the 18th over.

In the last over, England needed 23 runs and the visitors accumulated 11 of the first three balls but Thakur came back strong and gave three runs off the next three balls, including Jordan’s (12) wicket. Jofra Archer remained unbeaten on 18 off eight balls as England reached 177/8 in their allotted 20 overs.

For the hosts, Thakur bagged three wickets while Pandya and Chahar claimed two scalps each.

Earlier, batting for the first time in international cricket, Suryakumar hit a classy 31-ball 57 to ensure India posted a competitive 185/8.

Put into bat, Rohit Sharma made his intentions clear from ball number one as he smashed the first ball of the match bowled by Adil Rashid for a six over the long-off boundary. The first over saw 12 runs being scored and the other batter KL Rahul also opened his mark after registering two ducks in this series.

In the final four overs, Iyer continued to march on, but he did not find much support at the other end, and Archer showed his class and in the end, the hosts were restricted to under the 190-run mark.

Brief scores: India 185/8 (Suryakumar Yadav 57, Shreyas Iyer 37; Jofra Archer 4-33); England 177/8 (Ben Stokes 46, Jason Roy 40; Shardul Thakur 3-42, Hardik Pandya 2-16).