All our wrestlers were training with Chief Coach Jagminder ji, Rajeev Tomar and myself since a long time. I am glad that what was expected, it happened. We expected Ravi’s great performance from the very beginning. He was consistently performing well. He won gold medal in Asian Championship for two consecutive years. Even in the last few days, he showed his good form by winning the silver medal at the Poland Open.

Ravi had lost the lead against Kazakhstan’s Nurislam Sanayev in the semi-finals, but Ravi got the better in a Do or Die match. He adopted a good strategy and exploited Nurislam’s weaknesses. Now we are not giving him much instructions because he is a very intelligent wrestler. He understands it very quickly as it is explained to him.

If God wishes, we will give the good news on Thursday. We told Ravi that every wrestling match has to be played like a final. Not to make any mistake and to force the opponent to make mistakes. We also explained to him that Olympics is held once in four years. One small mistake brings regret for four years. The effort should be to perform one hundred percent here and live up to the expectations of the countrymen.

Deepak had won the World Junior Championship gold a few years back. He made his intentions known by reaching the final of the World Championship in senior. After defeating the Nigerian wrestler in a one-sided bout, he defeated the Chinese wrestler with his bravery. We have been training for the last three months. In the time of first Covid wave, we continued training in Bhalgarh while following social distancing. Then the wrestlers landed in the ranking tournament in Poland. Then there was a coaching camp. From there we went to Russia.

(The author is the coach of the Indian team and has also been an international wrestler of his time)

I am very happy that I have lived up to the expectations of the countrymen. All our coaches played a big role in building the strategy against my opponents. Their experience came very handy.

At this point of time, my eyes are on the gold medal only and I will leave no stone unturned from my side. There is an appeal to the countrymen to pray for the gold medal. Blessings of elders, best wishes of my friends and prayers of countrymen matter a lot.

In the first round I had a wrestle with Oscar Eduardo of Colombia.  In the first round I did not take any risk so at the end of this round I had a lead of only one point but in the second round I went on to collect points with ease and with technical skill I finished the match early. In the second match, I had Georgi Valentinov of Bulgaria in front of me.

Here also I did not have to work hard to win and I won with a score of 14-4.

In the semi-finals, I had Nurislam Sanayev of Kazakhstan, whom I had defeated in the semi-finals of the Asian Championship last year. I have won the bronze medal in World Championship in Nur-Sultan in 2019 along with Nurislam. He had got a good grip during the bout in second round, which gave him a good lead but I was sure that I would definitely come back in this bout.  My bet was right and I nailed it.

Now my next rival is Ugaev Zavur of Russia who is a world champion in 2019 and he defeated me in the semi-finals in Nur Sultan. Although that bout was very close in which I too scored four points against him. Now the gold medal is at stake. I assure you of my best performance. Just pray for me.

(The author has won a semi final bout in the Tokyo Olympics & assured a medal)

India grappler Ravi Kumar Dahiya stormed into the finals of the men’s freestyle 57kg category at the Tokyo Olympics after defeating Kazakhstan’s Nurislam Sanayev in the semi-finals here at Makuhari Messe Hall A, Mat B on Wednesday. The Indian wrestler won by fall.

Dahiya will now contest the finals on Thursday and he is the first to enter the final since Sushil in 2012. In the first period, Ravi Dahiya managed to take a 2-1 lead and in the second period, the pressure was entirely on Sanayev. Sanayev bounced back strongly in the second period and he quickly eradicated the lead of Dahiya. Early on, in the second period, the entire pressure was put on the Indian grappler. In the end, Dahiya staged a comeback and as a result, India has been assured of a silver medal.

Earlier on Wednesday, Ravi Kumar Dahiya had stormed into the semi-finals of the men’s freestyle 57kg category. Fourth-seeded Ravi defeated Bulgaria’s Georgi Valentinov Vangelov by pure brute strength and agility at Mat A by 14-4.

England’s Men’s planned tour of Bangladesh, which was due to take place in September and October, will now take place in March 2023, it has been confirmed. The England and Wales Cricket Board and the Bangladesh Cricket Board have mutually decided to reschedule the tour, which includes three One Day Internationals and three T20 internationals.

The tour is planned to take place in the first two weeks of March 2023, with three ODIs and three T20Is due to take place at the SBNCS, Dhaka, and the ZACS, in Chattogram, the ECB said in a release.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has confirmed that the English players will now be available for the resumption of the 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the UAE from September 19.

The postponement of the England-Bangladesh series has opened the doors for the English players to use the IPL as preparatory ground for the T20 World Cup which gets underway just after the IPL.

Speaking to ANI, sources in the know of developments said the BCCI has received the green signal from the England and Wales Cricket Board on the participation of the English players and is the perfect example of the brilliant working relation BCCI Secretary Jay Shah has with the English and Bangladesh cricket board.

“The English players will be available for the resumption of the IPL in the UAE. The BCCI has the green signal. This shows the brilliant working relationship that the secretary has with not just the ECB, but also the BCB,” the source said.

Last month, the BCCI announced the schedule for the remainder of the IPL 2021 which will be held in the UAE. A total of 31 matches will be played in the duration of 27 days.

The 14th season, which was postponed in May this year in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, will resume on September 19 in Dubai with a blockbuster clash between Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians.

India skipper Virat Kohli on Tuesday said the team will cope up with injuries to Shubman Gill and Mayank Agarwal as the squad has enough depth heading into the Test series against England.

India and England will be locking horns in five Tests, with the first starting on Wednesday. This series marks the start of the second World Test Championship (WTC) cycle. Shubman Gill is ruled out of the series due to an injury and on Monday, Mayank Agarwal was ruled out of the first Test due to a concussion. “We will announce the XI tomorrow before we go for the toss, so you can know who is opening with Rohit. We are absolutely fine and happy with where we are placed,” said Kohli while replying to an ANI query during a virtual press conference.

Talking about how India can overcome those bad 2-2.5 hours which have ended up costing them the games, Kohli said: “Of course, as a team, we look to improve the things we have not done well. And that is one aspect of the game we need to get better at, and that is understanding how to control the damage when things are not going well. That’s what Test cricket is all about, you cannot have all sessions go your way. We know exactly what we need to do and it all boils down to execution.”

When asked whether Shardul Thakur can be groomed as a proper all-rounder in the longest format, Kohli said: “He already is a multi-dimensional cricketer and it is all about him getting more and more confidence. Someone like him brings balance to the side, Hardik Pandya has done for us in the past, right now he is getting on track to bowling regularly. These kinds of cricketers help the team in a massive way. Shardul is a huge prospect for us, he will be important to us not just in this series, but going ahead as well.”

India is in the UK since June as they played against New Zealand in the WTC finals from June 18-22. The Indian skipper believes that his side would be prepared well for the upcoming series against England having spent time in the country for almost two months.

India had last won a Test series in England in 2007 under the leadership of Rahul Dravid and after that, the Men in Blue have struggled to get past the Three Lions on their own backyard.

Javelin throwers Neeraj Chopra and Shivpal Singh will be in action on day twelve while boxer Lovlina Borgohain will compete in the semifinals in the Olympics on Wednesday.

Lovlina (69kg) has assured India a bronze after storming into the semifinals. Meanwhile, Neeraj said he is happy that he is finally getting to represent the country at the Olympics.

“I am looking forward to what will be my first experience at the Olympics. I have had a fair share of highs and lows over the past few years, and I’m happy that I am finally going to be able to represent my nation at the biggest sporting stage of them all,” said Neeraj in an official release in July.

“I feel the junior athletes having access to the institute are extremely lucky and thank brands like Bridgestone for supporting IIS in this effort,” he added.

The Indian women’s hockey team put up a fantastic display of skill and tenacity during their 1-0 victory over Australia in the quarterfinal match of the Tokyo Olympics on Monday.

High on confidence and self-belief after the momentous victory, the Indian women’s hockey team has now firmly set its sights on the all-important semifinal encounter against Argentina on Wednesday.

Golfers Aditi Ashok and Diksha Dagar will compete in women’s round 1 and Anshu Malik, Ravi Dahiya, and Deepak Punia will headline wrestling action for India.

If the trio qualifies for the next round, Anshu Malik, Ravi Dahiya, and Deepak Punia would play the semifinal matches on the same day.

In the afternoon, the Indian women’s Hockey team; led by Rani, will count on their recent experience of playing against the Argentinians during their extensive tour of Argentina in January 2021.

Much like the Indian team, Argentina has also gone from strength to strength in the competition, securing the semifinal berth after a convincing 3-0 victory against Germany in the quarterfinal on Monday.

Meanwhile, India’s hopes to play in an Olympic Final was dashed on day eleven of the ongoing Tokyo Games as a formidable Belgium squad came back from a 1-2 deficit to beat the Manpreet Singh-led side 5-2 on Tuesday.

It was a hat-trick by Alexander Hendrickx (19’, 49’, 53’), and goals by Loick Luyaert (2’) and John-John Dohmen (60’) that helped Belgium book a place in the final. For India, Harmanpreet Singh (7’) and Mandeep Singh (9’) scored the two goals. India’s hunt for a medal, however, will continue when they play the Bronze medal play-off match on Thursday.

The day started with Javelin thrower Annu Rani failing to qualify for the women’s final after an underwhelming show.

In her first attempt, Rani registered a throw of 50.35m. After the first attempt, Rani was placed at the ninth spot.

In the second attempt, the 28-year-old registered a throw of 53.19m and by the time everyone was done with their second attempt, Rani slipped to the 14th spot.

Annu registered a throw of 54.04m in her third and final throw and she was placed at the 14th spot when the Qualification Group A ended.

Grappler Sonam Malik also bowed out of the ongoing Tokyo Olympics after losing to Mongolia’s Bolortuya Khurelkhuu in the women’s freestyle 62kg event.

In the afternoon, shot putter Tajinderpal Singh Toor finished 13th at the end of his three attempts in the qualifications of the men’s Shot Put (Group A) of the Tokyo Olympics.

Tajinder started with a throw of 19.99m but had two disqualifications in the next two attempts to see his hopes of qualifying for the finals dashed as India ended the day without a win on Tuesday.