Panipat, July 6 (IANS) Olympic gold medallist javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra’s mother Saroj Devi said she will send a special ‘churma’ (a popular delicacy from Haryana and Rajasthan) for Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the latter requested for it during a recent interaction with the athlete.

“We wish that Neeraj wins the gold medal again and get the opportunity to meet PM Modi again. Yes, this time I’ll send special churma made with ‘desi ghee’, ‘shakkar’ and ‘khand’,” Saroj Devi told IANS.

On Thursday, PM Modi hosted Paris Olympic-bound athletes at his residence to have a conversation with them. During such a chat with Neeraj, PM asked the javelin thrower to bring homemade ‘churma’ for him prepared by his mother.

Neeraj casually greeted the PM, saying, “Namaskar sir, kaise hain?” (Hello sir, how are you?) To which PM Modi replied with a chuckle, “Mai vaisa hi hu” (I am just the same).

PM Modi then joked, “Mera choorma abhi tak aaya nahi” (I haven’t received my churma yet), sparking laughter all around.

With a shy smile, Neeraj replied, “Is baar Haryana wala choorma khilayenge sir, pichli baar Delhi ka cheeni wala khaya tha” (This time I will treat you with churma from Haryana; last time we had the sugary one from Delhi).

The PM eagerly expressed his craving for homemade churma, saying, “Mujhe tumhari maa ke haath ka choorma khana hai” (I want to savour churma made by your mother).

After their humorous banter, PM Modi wished Neeraj all the best for the Paris Olympics, urging him to stay fit and injury-free.

Neeraj’s father Satish Kumar said his son detailed his training and preparations for the Olympics to PM Modi.

“Neeraj told PM that his training is going well and he’ll give his all to clinch the second gold medal for the country,” he said.

“He has missed some of the events in the past due to groin injury but now he has recovered and wants to focus on the Olympics. He wants to better his previous record and win a medal. He is currently training for 6-8 hours daily under the guidance of his coach and physio,” Satish added.

–IANS

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Dusseldorf, July 6 (IANS) Switzerland have perhaps been the best team in the 2024 European Championship after Spain and Germany. The team has proved that they are up for a challenge as they defeated defending champions Italy in the Round of 16.

Ahead of their matchup with England, head coach Murat Yakin has promised that side ‘will cause England problems.’

“England have a lot of quality. We don’t know what they plan to do but we have shown already that we can mix it against big teams – against the defending champions [Italy] and the hosts [Germany]. We will cause England problems,” said Yakin to reporters in the post game press conference.

Switzerland were in Group A and their impressive outing saw them finish with seven points and finish second on goal difference. The side then went on to dominate Italy in their first knockout game with a 2-0 victory.

“I assume that England has enough quality to play well in a quarter-final but we are in good shape and have shown that we are ready to upset big teams. Why not give big England a problem and play our game and see what happens?,” added the Swiss head coach.

Switzerland will be playing their fifth ever major tournament quarter-final. They have been eliminated at this stage in all four of their previous attempts, this is the most any European nation has featured in quarter-finals of major tournaments without ever participating in a semi-final.

The winner of the tie will be facing the winner of the Netherlands vs Turkey quarter-final.

“Everyone is working towards a common goal. We’re happy to be here, living the moment. The mood in the camp is very good. We are developing together,” concluded the 49-year old.

–IANS

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Silvis (Illinois), July 6 (IANS) England’s Aaron Rai and CT Pan of Chinese Taipei gave the scoreboard at the John Deere Classic a strong Asian flavour as they shared the lead at the midway stage of the PGA TOUR event.

Rai, whose parents have an Indian origin going back to his grandparents, shot another bogey-free round of 8-under 63 to share the lead with Pan going into the weekend at the John Deere Classic. Rai was 65-63 for two rounds and Pan was the same and the duo was 14-under.

The pair lead by two strokes from England’s Harry Hall (66), while Korean star Sungjae Im also powered into contention following a superb 64 to be tied for fourth with five others, including overnight leader Hayden Springer on 130.

A week ago Rai shared the 54-hole lead in Detroit and wound up one shot begin winner, Cam Davis. Rai, who was bogey free in his first round 65 went two shots better and was still without a bogey on his scorecard. He is looking for his maiden PGA Tour win after a lot of close calls.

Rai’s grandparents from both his mother and father’s side have Indian origins. His mother grew up in Kenya, before they migrated to UK, where Aaron was born in Wolverhampton.

The impressive performance at TPC Deere Run will certainly boost Pan’s confidence ahead of the Olympics where he won the bronze medal in Tokyo, beating the likes of Rory McIlroy, Collin Morikawa and Hideki Matsuyama in a seven-way playoff for the podium finish.

Pan holed out from 32 yards for an eagle en route to a flawless 8-under 63. The 32-year-old Pan, who won the 2019 RBC Heritage for his sole PGA TOUR victory, pitched in for a two on the par-4 14th hole at TPC Deere Run to post his best score of the season, complemented by six earlier birdies.

Pan’s Paris 2024 Olympic Games-bound compatriot Kevin Yu also delivered an impressive 63, improving 57 places for joint 10th. Yu chalked up 10 birdies, seven of which came on the back nine, offset by two bogeys.

Japan’s Ryo Hisatsune carded a second successive 67 to comfortably progress to the weekend rounds in T32 at 134. He is followed by S.H. Kim of Korea, who shot a 69 to sit one shot further back in T39.

Two-time John Deere winner Jordan Spieth made the weekend with 69-67.

–IANS

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New Delhi, July 6 (IANS) The Copa America and the European Championships are nearing the business end of the tournament. Saturday’s fixtures will see the top four sides in both tournaments be confirmed.

All eyes will be on the battle of the heavyweights with Brazil and Uruguay set to clash at the Allegiant Stadium in Nevada. Brazil have had a topsy-turvy start to their tournament with the side finishing second in their group behind Colombia.

Uruguay on the other hand are tied with Argentina as the record winners of the tournament (15 times) with the side being in top form heading into the game having scored nine goals in their three Group stage games.

Colombia have been on a 25-game unbeaten streak and will be hoping to beat Panama in what is expected to be a one-sided encounter.

With Argentina and Canada already set up for the first semi-final of the tournament, the winners of Colombia vs Panama and Brazil vs Uruguay will face each other in the next round.

England will be facing a tough test in their quarter-final matchup against in-form Switzerland. The Three Lions have been struggling to score and just managed to scrape past Slovakia in their Round of 16 game with a 2-1 win after extra-time.

Reports suggest that Southgate may be looking to switch the formation to a back three to take on the swift counter-attacking side.

Netherlands will be full of confidence heading into their game against Turkey having breezed past Romania with a 3-0 win in the Round of 16. The Dutch have not reached the semi-finals of the Euros since 2004. Turkey on the other hand will hope to continue their dream run and make their first semi-final appearance since 2008.

Euro Cup schedule:

Saturday: England vs Switzerland 9:30 PM IST

Sunday: Netherlands vs Turkey 12:30 AM IST

Copa America schedule:

Sunday: Colombia vs Panama 3:30 AM IST

Sunday: Brazil vs Uruguay 6:30 AM IST

–IANS

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Berlin, July 6 (IANS) Netherlands have managed to carve their way through to the quarter-finals of the 2024 European Championship where they will face Turkey at the Olympiastadion.

The Dutch finished third behind Austria and France in their group and qualified as one of the four best placed third teams in the tournament. They went on to face Roumania in the Round of 16, a game which finished 3-0 and a confidence building victory.

Ahead of their match against Turkey, head coach Ronald Koeman talks about every game at this stage of the tournament being difficult and has stated that the team will have to ‘fight for it.’

“The last match was at a really good level football-wise, if we keep that level then it can be a really good tournament for us. Every match is difficult, all the big teams have struggled in different matches to win them. England scored in the last seconds, Portugal won on penalties. You have to fight for it,” said Koeman in the pre-match press confrence.

The Netherlands have progressed from five of their last seven major tournament quarter-finals, with the most recent being a penalty shootout loss to Argentina at the 2022 World Cup.

Koeman also went on to suggest that the Turkish fans are great and it will be imperative to make them quiet as the game progresses.

“I’ve got some experience against Turkish teams, the atmosphere is always great. We just need to keep the ball and they will become quiet. You need to be cool, business-like and play your game,” added the former Barca head coach.

–IANS

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