Sakshi Malik won a medal in the 58kg category at the Rio Olympic Games and now Anshu Malik will take up the challenge in Tokyo in the same weight (57kg). Anshu has returned after touring Poland and Estonia along with her support staff including Chief Coach Kuldeep Malik. She shared her experiences with The Daily Guardian.

Anshu said that of course she won a lot of medals in World Cadet and Asian Cadet, but now she had an idea that medals could come only with very good training in the senior category at the world level. We were kids when I won medals in cadet and junior categories and didn’t know much but now in camp we have worked a lot on our mistakes. One or two techniques alone cannot win medals at the Olympic level. It is important to change the strategy according to the opposition. We have had a lot of opportunities to improve on this tour, especially in ground wrestling. Anshu hopes that the experience of this tour will be of great use to her.

When asked about the reason for not participating in the Poland Open, she said that the day before the competition, she had a slight fever and was also a bit overweight. In such a situation there would have been further loss by reducing the weight. The coach and the physio decided to keep her out of the tournament even though she knew it was the last ranking tournament before the Tokyo Olympics. Anshu inherited the hobby of wrestling. Her father could not go much ahead in wrestling. Her uncle was Haryana Kesari. Her brother is also a wrestler. Doesn’t she get bored while discussing wrestling day and night, does she play any other sports? In response Anshu says that I follow other sports but I am associated with wrestling and sticking to it only.

Anshu feels that the presence of World Championship medalist Pooja Dhanda and Asian champion Sarita Mor Mann has benefited her at the national level. It has been very good for me to increase the competition by practicing with them. Kuldeep Malik, chief coach of the Indian women’s wrestling team, said that he is satisfied with the preparations of Vinesh and Anshu in this tour. Both are in good shape and fit perfectly. Even other two wrestlers Seema and Sonam are doing well in India.

This time four Indian women wrestlers have qualified. Seema and Sonam were recovering from injuries while Vinesh and Anshu practiced in Poland and Estonia. Vinesh has been in Hungary for a long time and from there she will reach Tokyo. Kuldeep said that his heartfelt desire is to carry the tricolor along with his four daughters on his shoulders.

Two members of the Indian cricket team touring England—wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant and training assistant Dayanand Garani—have tested positive for the Covid-19 virus. While Pant has been under quarantine for over a week at a relative’s house, Garani has been isolated at a London hotel where the entire squad had checked in earlier this week.

Team India were on a three-week break after the conclusion of the ICC World Test Championship final held in Southampton against New Zealand. “Pant, who had not stayed in the team hotel during the break period, tested positive on July 8. He is asymptomatic and currently undergoing self-isolation at the place where he reported positive. He is being closely monitored by the BCCI Medical Team and is on his way to recovery. He will be able to join the squad in Durham after returning two negative RT-PCR tests,” stated an official BCCI release.The BCCI Medical Team have identified B. Arun, Bowling Coach, Wriddhiman Saha and Abhimanyu Easwaran as close contacts of Garani, who was in the team hotel when he tested positive following RT-PCR tests on July 14. The four personnel will undergo 10-day isolation and will remain in their respective rooms in the team hotel in London.

The entire Indian contingent including travelling family members and caretakers were administered the second dose of the Covid vaccine earlier this month in London. To mitigate any further risks, the Indian contingent is taking the Lateral Flow Test on a daily basis. Team India will begin their preparations for the upcoming five-match Test series against England with a three-day warm-up game at Emirates Riverside against County XI starting on Tuesday.

Skipper Andy Balbirnie’s 102-run knock and spirited bowling performance helped Ireland stun South Africa in the second ODI of the three-match series on Tuesday.With this win, Ireland has gained a 1-0 lead in the three-match series after the first game was called off due to rain. Chasing 291, South Africa batsman Janneman Malan scored 84 while Rassie van der Dussen played a knock of 49, but no other batter apart from him managed to stay at the crease for a long haul.As a result, South Africa was bundled out for 247 inside 49 runs, giving hosts Ireland a victory by 43 runs.

Earlier, Andy Balbirnie and Harry Tector played knocks of 102 and 79 as Ireland posted a score of 290/5 in the allotted fifty overs. Dockrell also scored 45 off just 23 balls to propel Ireland’s score past the 290-run mark.

For South Africa, Andile Phehlukwayo took two wickets while Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, and Tabraiz Shamsi returned with one wicket each.The series decider will now be played on Friday.

Brief Scores: Ireland 290/5 (Andrew Balbirnie 102, Harry Tector, 79, Andile Phehlukwayo 2-73); South Africa 247 all out (Janneman Malan 84, Rassie van der Dussen 49, Andy McBrine 2-34).

England won the three-match ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League ODI series against Pakistan 3-0 by recording a three-wicket win in the third and final match which turned out to be a high scoring thriller at Edgbaston, Birmingham on Tuesday.Sent out to bat, Pakistan finished with what looked like a competitive total of 331/9 thanks to Babar Azam’s career-best 158 and fifties from Imam-ul-Haq (56) and Mohammad Rizwan (74). Unfortunately for the visitors, it did not prove enough as England chased down the target with two overs and three wickets to spare, courtesy of a maiden ODI ton from James Vince and 77 from Lewis Gregory.

Pakistan’s innings got off to a less than ideal start when Saqib Mahmood (3/60) had Fakhar Zaman (6) caught in the cordon for six. Babar then added 179 runs for the third-wicket with Mohammad Rizwan who contributed 74 off 58 balls. The two upped Pakistan’s run rate after a cautious start by finding boundary at regular intervals as England bowlers toiled hard on a good batting surface.

Babar had earlier added 92 runs for the second-wicket with Imam-ul-Haq who scored 56 off 73 balls. Pacer Brydon Carse who took five wickets in the death overs finished with figures of 10-0-61-5 for England while opening bowler Saqib Mahmood took three wickets for 60 runs.

Chasing 332-runs for a third straight win in the series, England were well served by the pair of James Vince and Lewis Gregory who added 129 runs for the sixth wicket to rescue their side from a precarious position of 165 for five.The right-handed Vince posted the maiden ODI century of his career, he scored 102 off 95 balls (11 fours) to spearhead the big chase – sixth-best by England in ODIs. All-rounder Gregory provided great support from the other end as he posted his career-best 77 (69 balls, six fours, three sixes). Vince and Gregory went in quick succession but the pair of Craig Overton and Carse added 29 runs for the unbeaten eight-wicket partnership to take their side to the target with 12 balls spare.Haris Rauf took four wickets for Pakistan while Shadab Khan took two for 61.

Ace India shuttler PV Sindhu has said while there will be a lot of expectations on her going into the Tokyo Olympics, she is keen on staying focused on the basics and give it her best shot in the showpiece event.

The Rio 2016 Olympics silver medallist will be carrying the hopes of the country as she bids to bring home a medal from Tokyo 2020, slated to get underway from July 23. “There is a lot of expectations and responsibility this time. Back then (2016) I was one of the athletes but now expectations are a lot more. It is important to stay focused and just play your game and give your best. Obviously, you shouldn’t think about what others say because that would add extra pressure.“I take it in a very positive way because am sure people want to show their love and support. They want that medal back in the country but I make sure to be focused all the time,” she told ANI.

Talking about the Olympics and preparation around it, Sindhu said: “I am really excited and looking forward. Yeah, it is just nine days away and we have waited a long time now. We will be leaving on Saturday. I am prepared and all set. It’s just I have to play my best and play the game there.”

The 2019 World Champion Sindhu will lock horns against Hong Kong’s Cheung Ngan Yi and Israel’s Ksenia Polikarpova in the league stage. Sharing her thoughts about the draw, she said, “I would like to take it step by step. One match at a time. Even though Carolina [Marin] is not there, it’s not going to be easy because you know there are almost seven to eight players when it comes to Tai Tzu Ying, Ratchanok, Chen Yu Fei, Akane Yamaguchi, Nozomi Okuhara, and different girls. So every match is important.

“In the group stage I will play against the Hong Kong girl [Cheung Ngan Yi] and she is not easy, I have played with her before and she plays well. So, am just thinking about one match at a time and the rest depends on that particular day.”Sindhu under the guidance of her new coach, Park Tae-sang, will be hoping to clinch that elusive gold. Sindhu had been training under South Korean coach Kim Ji-Hyun, who was part of the Indian badminton coaching staff, since March 2019. It was also under the coach’s supervision that Sindhu became the World Champion that year. However, Hyun resigned shortly after that in September 2019 and Park Tae-sang was assigned the role to coach Sindhu and a few other female shuttlers on the Indian badminton circuit.

Ahead of the Olympics, some Indian athletes want to use their influence to take their personal coaches to Tokyo. It is unfortunate that some of these athletes are also succeeding in their plans.

The most unfortunate thing is that athletes whose medal hopes are very slim, have been allowed to take their personal coach. Manika Batra may be a star table tennis player of the Commonwealth Games but winning a round or two at the Olympic level will be no less than a big achievement but her demand to have a personal coach along with her has been accepted.

The demand of a boxer Amit Panghal to take his personal coach along with him was turned down. Amit is a strong contender for a medal this time, who is the top-ranked player in the world apart from winning silver in the World Championship and gold in the World Cup. They have been discouraged by these officers even before they can perform. Bhavani Devi, who qualified for the Olympics in fencing, had to bow down to the insistence of the authorities to take her mother along. She is now being taken to Tokyo as the manager of fencing team.

This time the names of many capable coaches have been cut. Once Pullela Gopichand in badminton and Jaspal Rana used to have big flair in the shooting first as a player and then as a coach. This time their students will also be in Tokyo but their names have been removed from the list going to Tokyo. The name of the Korean coach who is coaching PV Sindhu has been cleared. Sai Praneeth’s Indonesian coach has also got the green signal.

Two physios will also go along. Similarly, once Sania Mirza also had a lot of running in the IOA and the Sports Ministry, but today the situation is that there is no coach with her. This time she will compete in women doubles along with Ankita Raina. Zeeshan Ali’s name not being in the list is shocking news.

It is true that weightlifter Mirabai Chanu is a medal prospect but the names of three coaches and two physios have been cleared along with her. O.P. Baishya, President of the Weightlifting Federation of India, is an influential person and a very close to IOA. He used his influence to send more support staff along with Mirabai.

Indian Handball Association President Anandeshwar Pandey was making a lot of hue and cry that if no Taekwondo player is going to Tokyo, why is its president Namdev being sent. He had even said that he would not release his checks as treasurer of the IOA. Eventually the IOA came under pressure and Namdev’s name was dropped and Anandeshwar Pandey’s name was inserted. Since then Anandeshwar Pandey is calm or to say that he is very happy. Perhaps he has also forgotten that on the basis of the logic on which he has got Namdev’s name cut, he himself is on the same boat. Now the matter of sending Madhukant Pathak as a manager with the athletic team has become hot. Madhukar was the treasurer of the organizing committee of the National Games which were held in Ranchi and there have been many serious allegations against him. Until he is cleared of the charges, there is no justification for him to be made manager of an athletics team that is expected to win two to three medals this time at the Olympics.

The issue of players placing arbitrary conditions is not new in Indian sports. Nine years ago, at London Olympics, Sania Mirza was successful in making her mother Naseema the manager of the tennis team. Three years ago in the CWG, Saina Nehwal had even warned the officials to keep her father in the sports village otherwise she would withdraw from the team. Here they should understand very well that they are the ambassadors of their country during these games. Their behavior in a foreign country can tarnish the image of the country.