Korean teenage swimmer wins MVP award

Dateline DOHA
Although it was a big disappoint for Jaspal Rana as he missed out on Samsung's MVP award here at the Doha Asian Games, but he is a happy man. After the announcement of the award, the shooter said, "Although there was some confusion before regarding my nomination as the MVP of the Doha Asian Games, but I feel my MVP nomination itself is a big achievement."
Earlier, there was a lot of confusion relating to the Indian shooter's nomination, as some in the shooting federation thought that he has won the award. "I was told by shooting federation officials that I have won the award. There was some communication gap between Doha and India. Anyways, I take it in good stride," he said after the South Korean teenage swimmer Park Tae-Hwan was named as the Asian Games most valuable player.
Commenting on the Korean winner, Rana said, "It takes a lot to equal the world record. But the verdict of the jury is final. I wish there were more media people from India in Doha to vote for me."
The MVP was decided after a media poll in Doha and the South Korean schoolboy polled more than 200 votes from accredited journalists here. Rana secured 96 votes and was in third position.
“But it’s a big honour for me to be here and even to be named among the five finalists here. I had never dreamed of this and not even thought about me being nominated here. Whatever I have got is a bonus for me and so I have no regrets. Although I was told that I deserved to win here, but the criteria was such that the Korean got more votes,” he added.
The 17-year-old schoolboy from South Korea won three golds here in the 1,500m freestyle, the 200m and 400m freestyle. He also collected a silver medal in the 100m freestyle and three relay bronze apart from creating two Asian Games record.

India's golden double at Khalifa Tennis Complex

Men doubles victory ceremony. We are standing next to the flag behind. Rohit is wearing white jacket and me brown.

India's dream run in tennis was reduced from trble to double when India's dream gal Sania Mirza was beaten left, right and centre by Chinese Doubles world No.1 Zheng Jie. Although Sania sent her packing in the second set 6-1, before losing the first one to her 4-6, but it was the Chinese babe who taught some lessons on court to the hotty Indian miss.

Well she taught her to miss the gold, which could have been easily her's. With the massive crowd support, everybody thought her to win, but Sania let off everything astray and lost control. Maddening it was at the Khalifa Tennis Complex's Centre Court. According to a local scribe, "Roger Federer, Maria Sharapova and most of the tennis greats have been here, but never has the stadium witnessed a crowd like this. It's amazing for Doha, what Sania has done to tennis and the Asian Games."

If Tuesday was Sania's day (all semifinals happened on this day), Wednesday was the day of "Lee-Hesh".

The Indian pair were down and out in straight sets in the men's doubles finals, but battled seven matchpoints to come back into the game and beat 24-year-old Thai twins Sanchai and Sonchat Ratiwatana 5-7, 7-6, 6-3 in a rain-hit final that lasted close to three hours.

However, after their win, which lifted million hearts came the plunge. Well, it was expected. Day before the finals, Mahesh Bhupathi had told some media guys about the inevitable. "Wait for me after the finals. I am suffering for the past 11 days, and take it out only after the finals. I have had enough. Meet me after the finals. I will open my heart out." Indian scribes knew about it, but still were praying that the Indian pair would make up.

However, Bhupathi lashed out against his partner Leander. The same partner, with whom, for the first time in the tournament, he had done their trademark - chest thumping - a few hours back. In fact, for the first time in the Asian Games, the pair jumped and pumped their hearts during the finals.

The crowd roared, journalists soared and the Indian flag fluttered high. The packed crowd at the stadium had it all - the rowdiness of English football fans, slogans of Indian political rallies, and atmosphere of a cricket stadium. An experience of a lifetime! (To be continued...)

Meanwhile, the party continues in Doha...

Jitu, Vikas and Rohit in front of the Main Media Centre

On our way back home early December 13th morning.

This one's a picture post

Me and Rohit enjoying the afternoon Sun and Sania!

Beauty Queen!

Amazing crowd!

Sania playing here singles semis against top seed Li Na at the Khalifa Tennis Complex. Sania beat the World No. 21 in straight sets 6-2, 6-2. What a match! It looks like the stadium is in India. Full of Indian crowd and even the stadium guys play hindi music... bhangra prominently. It's maddening here. Love to be here.

At the Al Rayyan hockey stadium witnessing the historic India vs South Korea match in which India, for the first time in the history of Asian Games were kicked out of medal contention.

Day 7: Finally gold comes in shooting

Indian shooters at Doha's city centre

Dateline DOHA

Indian shooters finally heaved a sigh of relief when India’s best bet and veteran shooter Jaspal Rana shot a gold in the men’s 25m Standard Pistol event at the Lusail Shooting Complex, yesterday.
Indian shooting coach must be a happy man now as the Indian national anthem was sung for the first time at the venue. Indian shooters have a rich haul of one gold, five silver and six bronze medals at the penultimate day of the Asian Games shooting as compared to two silver medals in Busan Asian Games.
But yesterday was the day of Jaspal Rana. He proved that class remains permanent. A down to earth shooter, Rana added another gold to his collection of Hiroshima Asian Games gold medal, which he won breaking the 15-year-old record of now Indian Olympic Association Secretary General Randhir Singh of India. This is India’s first shooting gold since 1994.
Rana scored 574 points to fetch the gold, comfortably. With this, he become the first Indian to win the two Asiad golds in shooting. “I was not well, but I tried my best to shoot well and concentrate on my technique. So my team should not lose a medal,” said an elated Rana after the victory.
Day before the D-day, Rana was indisposed with fever his body temperature shooting up to 103-degree Fahrenheit. Despite this he decided to shoot for the bull’s eye with élan. In the team event, Rana along with Samaresh Jung and Ronak Pandit smashed the silver and in the men’s 3 position rifle event Gagan Narang strike bronze.
However, when questioned about his return to form, Rana lashed out saying, “It’s not a come back of sorts for me. I was always in form. The problem is of providing quality ammunition and adequate training facilities for the shooters.”
About future plans, he said “I haven’t planned yet. I will go back to India and will devote time to the shooters in my academy, so that in future they seldom face problems that we faced.”
Meanwhile, Gagan Narang became the fifth Indian individual medalist in men’s shooting at Doha 2006. Gagan’s bronze also marked the first medal for an Indian shooter in the Men’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions event.
“This is my first individual medal at the event, so I feel good,” he said. Talking about his performance in the final, Gagan said, “I didn’t have any strategy. I just concentrated on my game.”
Gagan, who is known for shooting under pressure, was lying in fifth position after the qualification. “I was in a difficult position after the the qualification, especially as I was not good with kneeling. It was regrettable that I was not getting top scores in qualification.
“I noticed that I was about three points behind Igor Pirekeev after qualification, It was a big difference. I didn’t think of him and just concentrated on my shot during the final period. I was thinking only about myself. I didn’t give up until the end.”

DAY 7: The melee

Well, this one's a good picture!

Me at Doha's City Center. Bad job done by Pemba! Not a good shooter at all ;-)

Pemba Tamang at Doha's City Center

Asian Games Main Media Centre

Me and Jitender Negi at the Main Media Center

Day 6: Vijay brings glory to Himachal

Dateline DOHA

The new Asian Games rules became a boon for young Indian pistol shooter Vijay Kumar when he was awarded the bronze medal despite finishing at the fourth position after the top three positions were filled up by the Chinese shooters in the men’s 25m rapid fire event at the Lusail Shooting Complex yesterday.

The 21-year-old shooter hailing from the tiny north Indian state of Himachal Pradesh finished behind the Chinese trio of Zhongsheng Liu, Penghui Zhang and Guohui Liu, but the Indian was awarded the bronze medal because of the new Games rule that no country can sweep all the medals in a single event. The two other Indians in the fray in the event - Pemba Tamang (574) and Rahul Panwar (563) - finished ninth and 20th respectively.

The Indian team finished fourth. “Had Rahul Panwar shot a better score, we could have even won a silver as the difference between silver and bronze in the team event was just a point,” said the Indian coach Sunny Thomas.

For Vijay, who becomes only the second Asian medalist ever from the tiny state to win a medal, this joy is special. “I was lucky to win the bronze. However, I had the best score in the final round. Had I shot better in the qualifying rounds, I could have done better. But I am happy to win a medal here. This victory is special to me,” said the Indian Army shooter, who took up the sport after joining the Indian army.

A hugely popular figure and an icon of sorts in his native state, Vijay shot to the fame when he won two gold medals at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne earlier this year. The Indian army acknowledged his contribution by promoting him.

Vijay is now focusing on the 25 metres centre fire pistol event to be held tomorrow. “I am aiming to win a medal there and I will try my hard to win a medal there,” he said. The Indian coach is still looking for that elusive gold medal in shooting.

“Tomorrow is an important day for India and our top shooters Gagan Narang, Jaspal Rana and Samaresh Jung are in the field. Although the field is very strong, but I am still hopeful of winning a gold,” the coach added.

Talking about Vijay’s medal, Sunny Thomas said, “This is the first individual medal that India have won in pistol. Now we should give importance to the rapid fire too. It is good for us that our shooters are making a mark here. In few years we will be the best team.”

DAY 6: A day off in Doha

Doha Skyline

Joe of Qatar Tribune, me and Rohit

It was all about beer, food and sailing in Doha. Three hours on the sea... it was a heavenly bliss!

Doha Skyline at the back


Inside the boat that costs US one million dollars.

Westward Ho!

Rohit Wadhwaney

Heavenly Bliss!

Day 5: Pankaj Advani pots gold

Pankaj Advani (left) with Ashok Shandilya after the medal ceremony

Dateline DOHA
There is steely resolve beneath those boyish charms. At 20, Pankaj Advani defeated his much older compatriot Ashok Shandilya in the final of the English Billiard Singles to win the India’s second Asiad gold at the Al Sadd Sports Club here, yesterday. Peter Gilchrist of Singapore won the bronze medal beating Aung San Oo of Myanmar.
Already a winner of world amateur snooker and world amateur billiards titles, this Bangalore boy is right on top of the world. “I have kept my 100 per cent record intact,” he said after his victory against Shandilya. “He (Shandilya) was my toughest opponent here and an excellent player. Thankfully I kept my nerves and won.”
Although he is a master of both snooker and billiards, but the Indian federation rules only let him participate in one game. “I chose billiards and have done the job for the country. Now I can say that I have also contributed to the medals tally here. I dedicate my victory to my mother (Kajal), coach Arvind Savur and my brother Shree,” he added.
On being asked about his next target, the coy student of Commerce said, “My next target is now to win the national championships.” Don’t get surprised by his answer, as the boy has been-there-and-done-that in cue sports. “There is no cue sport in the Olympics. So this is the maximum I could achieve after the world titles.”
Talking about his final match against Shandilya, Pankaj said, “I played on the top of the table. In both the games today (final and semifinal match), I had to absolutely come back from behind. I played under tremendous pressure but I handled the pressure well and went on to win.”.
Although he is a world champion, but he hasn’t lost his boyish charm. “I want to continue winning as I have a long road ahead,” he said, adding, “Today I will treat all my colleagues and will then go and watch the latest James Bond flick Casino Royale.”
An aggressive player, Pankaj said, “Aggression doesn't mean showing your emotions or throwing tantrums when you're in the arena. It means that you're a more attacking player. You go for your shots, try and finish off the game as quickly as possible.”
On his mentor and coach, Arvind Savur, Pankaj said, “He is the best coach in India and to be trained by him is an honour in itself. Without him I wouldn't have reached such a high level in the game."
And his talent was well recognized by the country when the Indian government awarded him the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award for 2005, India's highest national recognition for sportpersons. He pipped Indian cricket captain Rahul Dravid for the award. A big achievement in itself considering the mass popularity and hysteria attached to the game in the country.
When he won the 2005 International Billiards and Snooker Federation World Billiards Championships, he became only the second person, and first Asian, to have won both the billiards and snooker amateur world titles, adding the win to his victory in the 2003 IBSF World Snooker Championships. Only Malta's Paul Mifsud had achieved the distinction previously.

Pankaj Advani and Ashok Shandilya at the Al Sadd complex in Doha

Day Three: Gold medal is yet to come

DATELINE DOHA
India has achieved the set target of five medals in the shooting arena in the first two days itself, but its shooting coach Sunny Thomas is not overjoyed yet with the team’s performance here at the Lusail shooting complex.
The Indian shooting contingent has won three silver medals and two bronze, but the Gold rush is yet to come. Shooters won bronze in the Men’s and Women’s 10m Air Rifle team event on the first day, while yesterday they won three silver medals.
“Gold has to come. I am satisfied to some extent but not overjoyed with the performance,” said the chief coach.
Talking about the country’s hunt for the precious metal, Thomas said, “It can happen anytime. All the shooters are capable of winning gold.” Talking about Melbourne Commonwealth Games’ best athlete award winner Samaresh Jung, Thomas said, “It was not his day. It happens but he has still three events left. Let’s see what he does.”
The Indian coach also spoke about how Air Rifle shooter Abhinav Bindra’s absence in the team has affected the medal prospects. “Yesterday the Men’s 10m Air Rifle team lost the silver by just one point. Had he (Abhinav Bindra) been there, we would have won the silver too. Similarly, the women’s team too lost the silver by couple of points.”
Bindra had pulled out of Asian Games due to back injury.
India missed out on another bronze medal yesterday when shooter Harven Srao shot a total of 484.5 missing out on a bronze by just 0.1 point to Korea’s Byung Hee Kim. “Harven shot 101.5 in the final, which is a very good score. It’s sad she missed out on a bronze,” said the Indian coach.
However, Joseph kept mum on chances of India’s Athens Olympic silver medalist Lt Col Rajavardhan Singh Rathore in the men’s double trap event. In the absence of UAE’s Ahmed Al Maktoum, Rathore has a strong chance of winning the gold. “We are good in double trap. Let’s see we hope to pick up more medals,” he added.
India has already lost out on a gold yesterday, when reigning world champion Manavjit Singh Sandhu lost to Kuwait’s Naser Meqlad.
However, shooting at Lusail was a kind of different experience for shooters. “Normally, shooting ranges in Japan have kind of wall in front of you, it cab be forest or wall but, her in Lusail Shooting Complex, the desert stretched as far as the eye could see. And then you only see the horizon and sky. We are not used to this kind of range,” said Japan’s lone male trap shooter, Hiroshi Susuki.
Sandhu too complained about the strong windy conditions due to which his vision was hampered by a contact lens problem in his left eye. He only scored 22 and 21 out of possible 25 in the last two qualification rounds.
Rising Kuwaiti 24-year-old shooting star Naser Meqlad’s gold is the third gold medal that Kuwait has won in shooting at the Asian Games. Kuwait now dominate the men’s trap shooting event in the Asian Games, having won gold in three of the last four Asian Games. Only China’s win at Busan 2002 has interrupted the sequence. Kuwait finished fourth in Busan. Meanwhile, India has now a distinction of finishing as runner-ups in this event for the maximum number of four times.

DAY 2: Gagan shoots for bronze and fans

DATELINE DOHA
It was China all the way round at the Lusail Shooting Complex on the opening day of the shooting competition in Doha on December 2. The Chinese won the team and individual events in all the three categories contested in the day - the men's and women's 10m Air Rifle and the women's Trap - without facing any resistence.
Liu and Zhu made it a 1-2 in the 10m Air Rifle and South Korean Yu Jae-Chul won bronze.
World champion Li Du showed why she is unmatched in the women's 10m Air Rifle event by taking the gold ahead of team-mate and world number three Zhao Yinghui.
Wu Liuxi finished third, but the bronze medal was awarded to fourth-placed Olga Dovgun of Kazakhstan.
China’s World number one Li Chen won the women's Trap individual event. The biggest
Upset for India was when Gagan Narang failed to bag an individual medal in his favourite Men’s 10m Air Rifle Competition. “I was under extreme pressure. Pressure took the toll on me,” he said after the finals.
Talking about changing his technique, the shooter said, “Well, I shoot fast. That’s my style, but I need to change it.” In his comparison, the Chinese took their own time and shot calmly and hardly showed any nervousness. In fact World Number one and Olympic champion Zhu Qinan was struggling initially, but he came from behind and shot the silver medal.
Indian spectators present at the venue including shooters like Anjali Bhagwat, Pemba Tamang, Vijay Kumar, among others, talked about this issue of Gagan shooting very fast (as soon as the signal to fire is given) among themselves when the contest was on.
The Indian girls too won bronze in the women’s team event of the 10m Air Rifle event.
Among the Indian dignitaries present, were Jagdish Tytler and Digvijay Singh.
Although, it was a bad day for the Indian television channels.
While, Chinese journalists had a hectic day on the range, sending updates and doing phone-in interviews as the red flag was flying on the top, Indian TV channel journalists were taken by surprise, when they got calls from their respective offices in New Delhi that India won gold in the Men's trap event. This happened after Aaj Tak - a leading Hindi channel flashed this news on the television (SABSE TEZ). It also went ahead and called up its correspondent here in Doha and even did a phone-in interview announcing that India won its first gold in shooting.
This created confusion among the rival channels and some of their correspondents here were pulled up for being late in informing them that India took the gold. However, the confusion was cleared a little later and thus AAJ TAK made a fool out of themselves.
Meanwhile, Chinese shooting head coach Wang Yifu said, "Overall we performed very well today, but our shooters were a bit nervous and under pressure today. It's not easy to win a gold medal in the rifle event because Indian and Korean shooters are very strong competitors, but I'm confident enough our shooters perfrom the best under pressure."
Although the Indian shooters were complaining about the rudeness of the officials here a few days ago, they are impressed with the world class shooting range here. According to some Indian shooters, the Lusail Shooting Complex is the best they have seen till now.
Indian fans too thronged on the first day as the Indian star Gagan Narang was competing. However, Narang could add only a bronze medal in the Men's 10M Air Rifle team event and lost out on an individual medal. "I was under extreme pressure. It just wasn't my day," he said after the event.
But spectators and even some foreign journalists, were taken by surprise to see Narang's shooting spree continue after his event was over, only this time, it was with his camera.
Gagan is a keen photographer and also has a coffee-table book on Melbourne Commonwealth Games under his belt. He was busy shooting pictures of the medal ceremony and even of the Indian delegates present for the event. Gagan had shot around 3,000 pictures in Melbourne and with a week's break for him here in Doha, it seems he is all game for double the number of pictures of the Asian Games.
Hosts Qatar had little to cheer about in the shooting range yesterday. Qatar's Abdulaziz Al Jabri participated in the Men's 10M Air Rifle and finished 42nd. Regarding his performance, the shooter said, "Today's performance was okay, but I want to perform better in 50M rifle event."
On his future preparations, he added, “My preparartion for the future is going well and I want to perform better in the upcoming events.”
In the women's Trap Team event, Qatar team comprising of Zaineb Al Suwaidi, Zulaikha Al Kubaisi and Noora Al Ali, finished at the bottom with a total score of 133 points. Whereas, in the Men's 10M Air Rifle Team event, Qatar took the penultimate spot with 1,715 points. Members of the home team were Abdulla Al Ahmad, Abdulaziz Al Jabri and and Abdulla Al Madeed.
In the Women's 10M Air Rifle Team event, Qatar finished 12th out of 15 teams participating. Qatar's team comprising of Mahububeh Akhlagi, Shaikha Al Mohammed and Huda Al Muntasr scored a total of 1,153 points.

DOHA: Gagan all set to bag India's first medal

DATELINE DOHA
Commonwealth Champions India start their shooting campaign today with India’s best bet Gagan Narang hoping to add the Doha Asian Games gold to his kitty, which is already full with World Cup and Commonwealth gold medals in the men’s 10m Air Rifle shooting. However, going would not be easy for India here like it was in the Melbourne Commonwealth Games where they topped the table with 16 gold, 7 silver and 4 bronze.
Speaking to The Peninsula, India’s shooting coach Sunny Thomas said: “The biggest threat is from China here and it’s very difficult to beat them. Yesterday, during the practice, even Japanese shooters shot good scores, so we cannot take it easy.”
Talking about India’s medal hope Gagan Narang, Thomas added, “Gagan is in good form and is shooting consistently. There’s a possibility that we can see him standing atop the podium tomorrow.”
Gagan, who has a knack of performing well under pressure situations, said: “The biggest competition tomorrow will be from self. Yes, China is the Olympic champion and their shooters are the best, so the competition is from them as well. But in shooting, it all depends on the day. If Chinese shooters falter on a particular day, we have a high chance of winning medals then. In shooting, everybody has the saem standard, what matters is who comes out the best on that particular day.”
According to Gagan, who hails from the same city as Sania Mirza – Hyderabad, the biggest threat is from Zhu Qinan of China. Qinan won gold at Athens Olympics breaking the World record in Men’s 10m Air Rifle.
“But I expect India will win at least a medal in the 10m air rifle event,” Gagan added.
For India apart from Gagan, Raghunath Padinchare Thermad and Navanath Bhanud Faratade will participate in the event.
Medals will also be decided in the women’s 10m Air Rifle event. India will be represented by Tejaswini Sawant, Avneet Sidhu and Suma Shirur today. All are good shooters in their own right, it all depends on whose day it is. After today, Gagan’s next event will be on December 8 and the shooter said, “India is expected to win anywhere between 6-12 medals in shooting.”
Coach Thomas played it safe. “I am expecting a minimum of five medals and anything above that. Even shotgun shooters are practicing well and I expect medals from them as well.”
India has fielded a 33-member contingent for the Games including Lt Col Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Samaresh Jung, Manavjit Singh Sandhu and Tesjaswini Sawant among others.
In the Busan Asian Games, the Indians had managed just two silver medals (men's trap team and the women's 10 m air rifle team) but expectations are high this year and shooting can be the only saving grace for India - the nation of one billion people.

India: Billion hopes but little expectations

DATELINE: DOHA
Finally after lot of uncertainties, the Indian flag was hoisted at the Athletes’ Village yesterday. The Indian tri-colour was unfurled in the presence of Chef de Mission Ram Lal Thakur, Indian Olympic Association President Suresh Kalmadi and other officials of the Indian contingent.
Adding glamour to the Indian contingent were the two tennis glamour girls, Sania Mirza and US-based Shikha Uberoi. India’s star footballer and captain Bhaichung Bhutia was also present at the event . The boxing contingent was lead by Vijender Singh. Vijender, who beat South Korean Athens Olympics bronze medalist few months back in Delhi in an exhibition match, said, “There are 50-50 per cent chances of me bagging the gold. I have kept my fingers crossed. Let the gloves do the talking on the ring.” Leading the charge for India in boxing would be this year’s Arjuna Awardee winner, the second highest sporting honour in India, and Commonwealth Games gold medalist Akhil Kumar. However, Akhil was absent from the event.
Speaking to The Peninsula, India’s Chef de Mission, Ram Lal Thakur, who himself was a keen sportsman during his heydays, said, “Leading a strong Indian contingent is an entirely different experience altogether for me. First I would like to congratulate for the excellent arrangements made by Dagoc here in Doha.”
Born in 1951, the same year when New Delhi hosted the first Asian Games, Thakur who is also a Sports minister of the northern India state of Himachal Pradesh, said, “What started as a small event in India in 1951, has now turned into the World’s second largest Games after the summer Olympics and obviously it makes me proud and I feel honoured to lead India, a country of more than one billion, here in Doha. Playing the National anthem and see the Indian tri-colour (flag) fluttering here in the Athletes Village is really thrilling.”
However, President of Indian Olympic Association, Suresh Kalmadi said, “We haven’t set any medal target for us. We are not here with great expectations. We are happy with whatever medals come in our kitty. Main thing here is giving international exposure to the athletes as Delhi will host the next Commonwealth games in 2010. We will also give presentation to the General Assembly and our target is to bid for the Asian Games 2014 with Delhi as the venue.”
Talking about football in which India’s participation fell into jeopardy with the Indian government not giving the green signal for their participation, Kalmadi said, “Football is a global game and we want to give exposure to our players. They should have experience of playing at this level.”
Earlier in the day, Indian tennis glam-girls, Shikha Uberoi and Sania Mirza, landed at the Doha Airport. Although it will be Sania’s second appearance in Doha, Shikha is dying to don the Indian colours at the court. Cousin sister of Bollywood star Viveik Oberoi, Shikha came wearing the Indian jacket and told reporters, “I am thrilled to play for the country and I cannot wait to get started. I am already wearing the Indian outfit and would try hard to make India proud.” Regarding partnering Mahesh Bhupathi, Shikha said, “It would be a nice experience and am looking forward to play for with him.”

(picture) From top: Shooter Gagan Narang, cueist Pankaj Advani and boxer Akhil Kumar


Meanwhile, mediapersons and shutterbugs went crazy chasing Sania at the airport. She created a flutter as local and Indian journalists chased her for quotes and that perfect picture. Looking slimmer than before, on her chances at Doha, Sania said, “Let’s hope for the best. It feels great to come here again and I am really excited to be here. I am coming back here after three years and Doha feels like second India to me.”
Sania, who has represented India in the 2002 Busan Asian Games, said, “I have improved from the previous Asian Games and will give everything I have to make my country proud.”
India’s another medla hope in cue sports, World Amateur snooker and billiards champion, Pankaj Advani will be landing in Doha on December 2. Advani is the second person in the world to don the hat of world billiards as well as snooker champion and is a definite medal hope for the country.
India would also be looking to reap it rich at the Lusail shooting range. Lt Col. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Gagan Narang, Samaresh ‘Goldfinger’ Jung, Manavjit Singh Sandhu, Pemba Tamang, Vijay Kumar and Tejaswini Sawant are the India's medal contenders in shooting. India had a rich haul of 16 gold, 7 silver and 4 bronze medals at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games earlier this year. However, giving them tough fight in the arena would be shooters from the Central Asian countries.