Versailles (France), July 31 (IANS) India’s lone rider, Anush Agarwalla, astride Sir Caramello Old, finished ninth in Group E in the Dressage Grand Prix Individual Qualifier round of the 2024 Olympics Equestrian competitions here on Wednesday. The ninth-place finish in his group meant, Agarwalla, the 24-year-old from Kolkata who has been training in Germany since he was 17, was eliminated from the competition in the first stage.

But it was still a good enough achievement for Indian equestrian as Agarwalla became the first Indian to compete in dressage at the Summer Olympic Games after achieving the Minimum Eligibility Requirement (MER) four times to obtain a quota for the country.

Anush Agarwalla and his horse, Sir Caramello Old were awarded a total of 66.444 penalty points by the judges, which saw them finish ninth in their group. Only two competitors from each group progressed to the final of the event.

Denmark’s Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour topped Group E with a score of 80.792 while Germany’s Isabell Wirth finished second.

Dressage is the most advanced form of horse training, where horse and rider perform a series of artistic movements to music. Judges evaluate the ease and fluidity with which they move around the course.

The Chateau de Versailles (also known as the Palace of Versailles) is considered an iconic symbol in France and was home to the court of Louis XIV in 1682. It is regarded as a major tourist destination and the setup for the Olympics will be dismantled once the events taking place at the venue conclude.

By participating in the Equestrian event in Paris, Agarwalla joined an illustrious list of Indian horsemen who represented the country in the Olympics.

Fouaad Mirza represented India in Eventing at the 2020 Tokyo Games. Before him, Imtiaz Anees competed in the 2000 Sydney Games while Indrajit Lamba took the field in the 1996 Atlanta Games. Jitendrajit Singh Ahluwalia, Hussain Singh, Mohammed Khan and Darya Singh had all competed at the 1980 Moscow Games. All the previous six riders represented the country in Eventing while Agarwalla qualified for Dressage.

Agarwalla’s achievement comes close on the heels of India’s success in the Asian Games in Hangzhou where the Indian squad of Agarwalla, Divakirti Singh, Hriday Chheda and Sudipti Hajela made history by winning gold in Team Dressage.

–IANS

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New Delhi, July 31 (IANS) Former England captain Michael Atherton believes Andy Flower will be ‘the outstanding candidate’ to become head coach of the men’s white-ball team post Matthew Mott’s departure from the role.

Flower had worked as England’s head coach from 2009 to 2014, where the side had three Ashes series wins and their first Men’s T20 World Cup triumph in 2010. Since then, Flower has made a himself as a coach who’s won various T20 franchise leagues, and even coached Royal Challengers Bengaluru to IPL 2024 playoffs.

Atherton mentioned Flower’s name while talking about who are the possible contenders to be England’s next white-ball coach. “Kumar Sangakkara is near the top of the list. He has worked with Jos (Buttler) of course at the Rajasthan Royals (in the IPL). There’s Eoin Morgan, and although he seemed to rule himself out the other day on commentary, I’ve got no doubt his name will be floated around.”

“There’s the two Australians held in high regard: Michael Hussey, who worked with England when they won the T20 World Cup in Australia a couple of years ago, and Simon Katich, who is coaching the Manchester Originals in The Hundred.”

“There’s Jonathan Trott, who has had a fantastic run in charge of Afghanistan. People speak very highly of James Foster, your old colleague and team-mate at Essex and, for me, the outstanding candidate would be Andy Flower,” said Atherton in latest episode of Sky Sports Cricket Podcast.

Further talking about if England will bring back Flower to the coaching set-up, Atherton remarked, “It’s an interesting one. The broad brush rule of life is not to retrace your steps but it’s a very different time to when Andy was previously in charge of both Test and white-ball teams.”

“He has since gone on to have terrific success in franchise cricket… the role now is almost like leading a franchise, because players come in for a short period and then disappear. One of the problems for Mott was that there were long periods where the team was not in operation.”

Nasser Hussain, the former England captain, added, “If you’re asking me if Andy Flower was available and wanted to do it, he would be my personal favourite. But is that a backwards step?”

Andrew Flintoff’s name has also been taken by many as a contender for the job, but Hussain didn’t see much merit in it. “It may come slightly early for Andrew. You may argue what is on his CV to get the job? That said, I’m not sure the present regime worry too much about CVs.”

“They just do what they feel is the best for the future. He obviously has close links with Rob Key and he knows the dressing room, and has been around England Lions camps.”

He further talked about how Mott, who coached England to victory in the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia, got out of the role just two years into the set-up. “My first reaction is it’s a bit of a shame, but not unexpected. Ultimately you’re judged by results.”

“Results started very well, on the back of continuing the Eoin Morgan/Trevor Bayliss era… they had that immediate success, winning the T20 World Cup in 2022. But since then, it’s gone completely in the other direction. The 50-over World Cup (in 2023) was a poor, poor performance, it really was. They were so far off the mark, in terms of results and decision-making.”

Atherton too agreed with Hussain’s views. “I concur with that. The last two World Cups haven’t been good. But he goes away as one of only three head coaches to have won a World Cup with England. It’s not a completely disappointing two years but the last two World Cups you got the sense that things weren’t quite working.”

–IANS

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New Delhi, July 31 (IANS) MotoGP has signed a new contract with Invest UP, the Government of Uttar Pradesh’s agency that facilitates international investment into the state. The agreement confirms the Indian Grand Prix will be on the calendar from 2025 to 2027 inclusive. The event will continue to be held at Buddh International Circuit, which made its debut on the MotoGP calendar in 2023.

“A new agreement, signed directly with the Government of Indian region Uttar Pradesh, confirms MotoGP will return to the Buddh International Circuit for the next three seasons. With a population of over 1.4 billion people and more than 200 million motorcycles on its roads, India is a key global market for MotoGP, our manufacturers and many of the sport’s partners.

Two-wheeled transportation counts for nearly 75% of the total number of vehicles used daily,” read the statement posted on MotoGP’s website.

India also has a healthy established audience for MotoGP, with further scope to grow in coming seasons. The inaugural Grand Prix at Buddh saw more than 100,000 fans come to see history made as the world’s most exciting sport raced in the country for the first time.

This new agreement, signed directly between MotoGP rights holder Dorna Sports and the government of Uttar Pradesh provides the perfect backdrop to further the success of both the sport and motorcycle industry across the country

–IANS

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New Delhi, July 31 (IANS) Swapnil Kusale handled with admirable composure the trials and tribulations of a gruelling Olympic qualification round in the Men’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions (3P), making it to the final and giving India the fifth shot at a medal in the shooting competitions in 33rd Olympic Games here on Wednesday.

Shooting a top-drawer 590 over 20 shots each in the Kneeling, Prone and Standing positions, Kusale took the seventh place in the elite 44-man field and maintained his hopes of winning a medal in his maiden outing in the Olympics.

Manu Bhaker has helped convert two of the previous four shots earned by India into bronze medals, first in the women’s 10m Air Pistol and thereafter, partnering Sarabjot Singh in the Air Pistol Mixed Team event. These are India’s only two medals at the Paris Games so far.

While Swapnil, a seasoned 3P shooter, made his first final in his debut Olympics, two-time Olympian Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar missed out narrowly. His score of 589 put him in the 11th spot in the pecking order, as Czechia’s Jiri Privratsky took the eighth and final qualifying spot at 590. China’s Liu Yukun topped the field with 594.

This is also the first time that an Indian male shooter has reached the final of the Rifle Three-Position event at the Olympics.

In the qualification round on Wednesday, Swapnil came up with an impressive performance, starting with two scores of 99 in the kneeling position before scoring 98 and 99 in prone. The 29-year-old from Pune shot scores of 98 and 97 in the standing position for a total of 590, which was enough to bag him a place in the top eight and the final.

In the other shooting event of the day, Rajeshwari Kumari and Shreyasi Singh shot identical scores of 113 in the Women’s Trap to garner 22nd and 23rd spots respectively.

On the sixth day of competitions on Thursday, the men’s 3P final precedes the women’s 3P qualification round featuring Anjum Moudgil and Sift Kaur Samra in action for India.

–IANS

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Paris, July 31 (IANS) Ace archer Deepika Kumari advances to the Round of 16 after beating Netherlands Quinty Roeffen 6-2 in the women’s individual event, here at the Invalides arena on Wednesday.

After dropping the first set, a four-time Olympian Deepika won by 6-2 (29-28, 27-29, 25-27, 28-23) and went on to join compatriot Bhajan Kaur in the Round of 16.

Deepika, playing her first Olympics since becoming a mother, began the match impressively, scoring 29 points in her first set and narrowly defeating Roeffen by one point to secure opening set. Roeffen responded strongly in the second set, shooting two 10s to level the match at 2-2.

The momentum shifted back to Deepika in the third set as Roeffen missed the target entirely, allowing the Indian to win the set comfortably at 28-17.

Roeffen, however, found it difficult to regain her form in the subsequent set. Deepika capitalised on it, winning the set 29-23 and ultimately securing the match with a 6-2 victory to seal the spot in the round of 16.

Earlier, Deepika defeated Estonian Reena Parnat 6-5 to advance into the Round of 32. The two archers could not be separated after five sets, where Deepika fought back with three consecutive 10s to send the match into a shoot-off.

While the two-time Estonian notched an eight in the shoot-off, Deepika scored nine to take the contest.

Deepika’s opponent in the pre-quarterfinals will be Michelle Kroppen of Germany, the reigning Olympic medalist and World Champion (in the Team event).

–IANS

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