SPORTS

For the first time, six athletes from Gujarat will represent India in the forthcoming 2020 Olympics and Paralympic Games in Tokyo. Interestingly, all the six participants are female, which has proved that women’s participation in sports is on the rise in the state.

Gujarat's Chief Minister Shri Vijaybhai Rupani recently announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for these athletes for qualifying for these mega sporting events, and also has promised jobs in Category I-II for para athletes who will win medals at the Paralympics, Commonwealth and the Asian Games.

The three para athletes who have qualified for Tokyo 2020 Paralympics are Sonal Patel and Bhavina Patel in para table tennis and Parul Parmar in para badminton. Ankita Raina has qualified in tennis, Elavenil Valarivan in shooting and Mana Patel has made the cut in swimming for the Olympics.

Lionel Messi scored four goals and registered five assists in six matches as he led Argentina to the pinnacle of success in the recently concluded Copa America.

The continental tournament became a Messi show through and through as the 34-year-old played to his best potential helping Argentina beat Brazil 1-0 in the final. As a result, the La Albiceleste ended their 28-year drought of major trophies. Simultaneously, Messi also broke the team's record for international appearances with 151 matches.

Before the Copa final victory over Brazil, Messi's silverware with Argentina was the U-20 World Cup (2005) and a gold medal at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

The Tokyo Olympics is all set to get underway from July 23 amid the Covid-19 pandemic and there are going to be quite a few firsts at the Games. While spectators have been banned from watching the action from the stands in Tokyo, the pandemic has forced a twist to medal ceremonies.

In a first, Olympic medalists will not be presented with medals by dignitaries as they stand on the podiums during medal ceremonies.

Instead, the 3 medals will be presented on a tray to the athletes on the podium and they then have to hang them around their own neck in front of the empty stands. There will also be no handshakes or hugs.

Former India cricketer Yashpal Sharma died of cardiac arrest on Tuesday morning, leaving the cricket fraternity in India in shock and disappointment.

Yashpal’s is another celebrity death in recent times, after Bollywood star Dilip Kumar passed away last Wednesday aged 98. There is an interesting connect between the two late personalities, which Yashpal had revealed in a recent interview to Deccan Chronicle.

Paying condolences after the death of Dilip, Yashpal had revealed he had played a crucial part in his career.

Former Manchester United star Roy Keane on Sunday night slammed senior England players like Jack Grealish and Raheem Sterling for not leading from the front during their penalty shootout against Italy in the UEFA European Championship 2020 final. On Sunday, Italy was crowned the European champion following their win over England in penalty count (3-2) after the match ended in a stalemate in full time.

The Three Lions lost the summit clash after the 19-year-old Bukayo Saka's crucial penalty was saved by Gianluigi Donnraumma. Before Saka, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho have also failed in netting their penalty.However, despite missing the penalty, the Arsenal star had the sympathies of Keane, who believed that the senior England players should have stepped up on the occasion and take the pressure of the young winger.