Team India secures 588 medals at World Police and Fire Games, placed third
Team India ranked third in the overall charts, behind the USA (1,354 medals, including 569 gold, 433 silver, and 352 bronze medals) and Brazil (743 medals, including 266 gold, 246 silver, and 231 bronze medals), as per the competition's website.
India will be hosting the 2029 edition of the tournament in Ahmedabad. Recently in June, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel announced that Gujarat had secured the hosting bid for the prestigious international event.
CM Patel called the development a 'big step' toward making Ahmedabad 'the sporting capital of India.'
'Proud moment for Gujarat! India has won the bid to host the 2029 World Police & Fire Games (WPFG) in Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar & Ekta Nagar, following a comprehensive bid presentation to the WPFG Federation in Birmingham, USA. This global victory reflects the visionary leadership of Hon'ble PM Shri @narendramodi and Hon'ble Union Home Minister Shri @AmitShah, and is a big step towards making Ahmedabad the sporting capital of India!' the Gujarat CM had posted on X.
According to the official WPFG website, it is an Olympic-style competition for athletes representing law enforcement, firefighters, and officers from corrections, probation, border protection, immigration, and customs offices worldwide. Held biennially, the programme features over 60 sports as official games.
The game is governed by the California Police Athletic Federation (CPAF), the Host City, & the WPFG Board of Directors.
The first-ever edition of the competition was held back in 1985 in San Jose, California. (ANI)
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Indian Express
2 hours ago
- Indian Express
Lift it Like Mirabai: Olympics medallist, her coach have one goal now — finding the next her for 2036 Games
Five months ago, two 'strangers' came to Lomason Khundrakpam's hometown in Manipur's Imphal West. They measured his weight and height, shoulder width and thigh circumference, and asked the 10-year-old to jump onto a stack of 25 metal plates. The pile came up to his neck. Unfazed, the 4-foot-tall Lomason took a short run-up, sprinted towards the metal pile, drew all the energy he could from his lithe frame and managed a gravity-defying leap — landing right on top of the plates. The auditioners were stupefied. Days later, Lomason was on his way to Modi Nagar in Ghaziabad, UP, to start a new life — as a weightlifter. Back then, the young boy did not know that the duo testing him was the legendary athlete-coach combo of Mirabai Chanu and Vijay Sharma. For a decade, with the sport itself mired in troubles, from doping scandals to paucity of talent, the athlete and her coach ensured they kept the flag flying for Indian weightlifting — Mirabai's World Championship title eight years ago, the Olympic silver in 2021 (49-kg category) and the world record, when she lifted 119 kg at the 2021 Asian Championships in clean and jerk category. But the 'who-after-Mirabai' question always loomed. So, after the Paris Olympics, the duo decided to do the heavy-lifting once again — this time, to identify the baton bearer for the future generation or, as coach Sharma says, 'hunt for the next Mirabai'. Since September last year, they have been on a country-wide search, going to some of the remotest villages with rich weightlifting traditions — from Kurundwad, a tiny town on the banks of the Panchganga river in Maharashtra, to the ancient Assamese city of Sivasagar, famous for its palaces and temples. The sports-mad Imphal, also Mirabai's home, was their final stop. 'It was nostalgic to return there,' Mirabai gushes. 'More than 200 children turned up! I would have never imagined.' One of them was Lomason, who became part of a hand-picked group of 43 — all aged between 8 and 14, 38 of them girls — that calls itself 'Weightlifting Warriors'. Fifteen of the 43 are from Manipur, 12 from Assam, six from Uttar Pradesh, five from Maharashtra, two from Tamil Nadu and one each from Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha and Haryana. Sharma says the decision to recruit more girls than boys was a conscious one. 'Girls are more driven,' Sharma says. 'And serious… and disciplined.' He knows. After all, he has raised one – Mirabai — and the two now hope to nurture many more. At the Modi Nagar academy, Lomason glances at a life-size photo of Mirabai and Sharma flashing the Tokyo Olympics silver medal, and says softly: 'I want to be like Mira didi.' The seeds of this ambitious project were sown at an unlikely location: a surgeon's office. In late 2023, Mirabai aggravated an injury during the Hangzhou Asian Games, where she heroically came close to a medal despite writhing in pain. From Hangzhou, Sharma and Mirabai headed straight to Mumbai to get her condition assessed by sports medicine expert Dr Dinshaw Pardiwala. As Dr Pardiwala examined one of his many famous patients, Sharma went into a mental spiral. 'I was talking with Viren bhai (Viren Rasquinha, CEO of the Olympic Gold Quest, a foundation that supports athletes in their quest for Olympic medals) about the dire situation we were facing,' he says. 'For close to a decade, we have had only one athlete who has competed consistently at the world and Olympic stages and that's Mira. After her, we don't have anyone who can be competitive beyond the Commonwealth.' It's a frightening reality that Indian weightlifting has routinely confronted. India has had a sentimental relation with weightlifting. In 2000, Karnam Malleswari became the first woman from the country to win an Olympic medal when she won a bronze medal at the Sydney Games. Before her, Kunjarani Devi won seven silver medals at the World Championships from 1989 to 1998, missing just once in 1993 due to an injury. Mirabai Chanu continued the tradition and remained a strong medal contender at the last three Olympics, going on to win a silver in Tokyo. There has been a bagful of Commonwealth medals too. Despite these heartwarming performances, Indians have rarely held their own in the presence of the bigger players — mainly from China, followed by those from the US and Europe. Then, there's the long shadow of doping. According to the Sports Ministry's annual report for 2023-24, weightlifting had the second-highest dope cheats in the country — 33 — after athletics, a trend that goes back to more than a decade. The drying talent pipeline has been another major concern. Mirabai has been India's sole representative at the last two Olympics. The situation is unlikely to change at the Los Angeles Games in three years. That is, if Mirabai's aching body holds up until then — next year's Asian Games will be her first big test. Sharma opens up about the 'international embarrassment' when he travels for competitions. 'Coaches from other countries ask me, 'How come you are happy with just two (Olympic) medals?'' Sharma says. 'They are right. But before we think of winning more medals, we first have to ensure our athletes qualify in every weight category. Without quantity, it's hard to get good quality.' The focus on weightlifting is a strategic decision. The sport offers 10 gold medals at the Olympics, making it one of the high-medal events. By focussing on increasing participation numbers, which have so far been dismal, India can at least hope to be in contention for these medals. That's how 'Weightlifting Warriors' came into being. 'I have spent my whole life until now working with elite athletes,' Sharma says. 'I'll spend my remaining time nurturing young talents, teaching them the correct techniques and creating a steady stream of lifters.' Sharma, whose family left Akhnoor, the scenic town in the foothills of the Himalayas, and settled in the plains of Modi Nagar, Ghaziabad, turned a family-owned building into a full-fledged academy equipped with a gym, dining area, an office and residential rooms. He got help from the Indian Weightlifting Federation when he went around scouting for talent. Mirabai left Patiala — her home for more than a decade, ever since she moved from Imphal East and started living at the National Institute of Sport where the national team is based — and relocated to Ghaziabad. She trains here by herself, lives with the young trainees and coaches them. 'Coaching comes naturally to me, I like to think,' she says. 'That's my plan when I stop competing. It is very tough, but it is something I must do to ensure my sport grows.' Mirabai's long-time backers, OGQ, bought into the project and took care of everyday operations. 'It's a very big project but also very exciting,' says Rasquinha, the hockey Olympian. 'Our goal is to create the next Mirabai Chanu in eight years.' It's a punt to take untested youngsters and try to convert them into champion lifters of the future. But Sharma and his team remain optimistic. Clang. Stomp. Grunt. Repeat. It's half-past-seven in the morning and the brightly lit gymnasium in the basement of an austere building is a hub of activity. Some trainees lift the barbells above their heads in one snappy motion. A few others, not ready yet for higher loads, work on their core. Sharma's hawkish eyes don't miss a thing: A 12-year-old's right knee bends fractionally outwards and he makes a mental note; it'll be rectified before the next session. He notices another trainee's thighs shaking when she lifts the barbell above her head; more strength training will be advised. For years, Sharma has grudgingly admired China's gigantic sports machine, of which weightlifting is just a small cog, but one that's delivered them a staggering 43 gold medals at the Olympics — including half of the titles at Paris, just like in Tokyo. A strategy that sets the Chinese grapplers apart from the rest of the world is the disciplined training that young weightlifters are put through, and the single-minded focus on perfecting their technique. In contrast, the Indian elite lifters are loaded with technical flaws because they would 'start late and not be taught the correct techniques, something that stays with them', says Sharma. 'At the national camp, it is not possible to start from scratch and make athletes change what they have been doing for many years.' Even Mirabai, the most successful Indian weightlifter of this century, has 'some technical imperfections', he says. Mirabai, too, is conscious of this. As she walks onto the floor of the gym, drawing glances from the trainees who are still in awe of her, she smiles: 'There are times when I feel this bunch is lucky.' Mirabai's first brush with weightlifting wasn't in a gym like this. It was a rudimentary facility back in Imphal and instead of barbells, she began by lifting bamboo canes before gradually proceeding to use equipment. There was 'no support', except from her family and the three coaches at the facility. And no one to make timely interventions and correct her technical flaws. 'I could have been so much better,' she sighs. Mirabai, of course, is talking about the finest of margins that often makes the difference between a gold and silver at the Olympics. One that separated her from the best Chinese lifters. This tiny gap, she says, can be traced to the formative years and the different approaches of the two countries. 'In other sports, athletes in India start when they are 8 or 9 years old. But not in weightlifting. I don't know why. Maybe because of the nature of the sport. No academy teaches weightlifting to 7-or-8-year-olds,' she says. 'Look at China, in contrast. They might not make the 8-year-olds lift heavy weights at that age. But they condition their bodies and minds in such a way that by 14, they are ready,' she says. International sport, at this level, is a game of patience. There is no magic wand and the results of this intervention, as Rasquinha said, are unlikely to be visible until eight years or so, that too if everything goes as planned. Like Sharma stayed by her side for a decade, and continues doing so, Mirabai says she's in this for the long haul and is already looking forward to transitioning into a coaching role once she stops actively competing. 'Sir (Sharma) and I have been talking about this for years. Long plan karte hai (we'll plan long-term), we told each other. This is for 2036 (Olympics). But for that, we have to prepare them from this moment onwards. It'll require a lot of patience,' she says. Until they reach the age of 13 — the starting point of the sub-junior age category for competitions — the recruits will only be taught the correct technique, Sharma says. 'We don't just want to produce weightlifters, we want the most complete lifters technically,' Sharma says. 'This is the age to shape them, and drill the right concepts in their minds.' Nine-year-old Varnika Sherawat takes a deep breath when asked about her dream. 'Mera dream?' Varnika, who is from Sadarpur in Ghaziabad, repeats. 'Weightlifting karna hai, Mira didi jaisa banna hai (To lift weights like Mirabai).' Next to her, Priyanka Patil nods approvingly. A year ago, the 11-year-old saw Mirabai competing at the Paris Olympics. Months later, the weightlifter was at her village in Maharashtra's Sangli district, hunting for talent. 'I was hooked from the moment I saw didi on TV. It is a dream to live and train with her,' says Priyanka, whose parents are farmers. Mirabai grew up hearing the names of Karnam Malleswari and Kunjarani Devi — she idolised them and wanted nothing more than to be able to lift weights like they did. Now, she is surrounded by girls and boys who want to be like her. On the lifting platform, Mirabai dips into years of knowledge and passes it on to the next generation. At the dining hall, she stands behind a food counter, flipping omelettes for the young athletes and serving piping hot tea to the staff. During recreation hours, she collaborates with the academy staff and organises movie nights on off days or simply chats with the children 'to make sure they don't feel homesick'. On June 23, Olympic Day, she got drawing books and colours for all the children and asked them to draw on the theme of weightlifting, and the Olympics. One had podiums and a silhouette of Mirabai on top, a few made sketches of the barbells with the five rings around it. Sharma and Mirabai know that sometimes, it's all they need to do — hand out a blank canvas and watch the children dream.
India Gazette
5 hours ago
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Shubman Gill topples yet another Virat Kohli record despite underwhelming show at Lord's
London [UK], July 12 (ANI): Shubman Gill, who has developed an appetite for breaking milestones, continued with the trend and added another feather to his cap by shattering batting mainstay Virat Kohli's record for most runs by an Indian captain in a Test series in England. On the second day of the third Test at the 'Home of Cricket', Lord's, the Indian Test skipper, Gill, failed to replicate his century-scoring success but managed enough to breeze past Virat's tally. The former captain pummelled 593 runs in India's tour of England in 2016 in five matches at 59.30, laced with two centuries and three fifties. Gill, who took over Virat's number four spot, needed just five innings in the ongoing tour to dethrone Virat from the top. He mustered up 16 runs from 44 deliveries with the bat, which soared his tally to 601 runs at a stellar average of 120.20. Former skipper Mohammad Azharuddin slipped to the third spot with 426 runs at 85.20 during India's tour of England in 1990. England's most experienced pacer, Chris Woakes, got the better of India's youngest Test skipper in the final session of an enticing day. Wicketkeeper Jamie Smith stood close to the stumps, a ploy England has tried out in the previous Tests as well. With a wobbly seam, Woakes dispatched the delivery in the channel just outside off. Gill lunged forward to block the ball but gave away a feather of an outside edge, which flew into Smith's gloves. After the Indian skipper returned to the dressing room, his deputy Rishabh Pant and opener KL Rahul stitched an unbeaten 38-run stand to propel India to 145/3. Despite a mundane outing, Gill has relished the purple patch by dazzling on the crease with a refined batting technique. Following his ground-breaking exploits at Edgbaston, he gained 15 places to move to a career-best rating of sixth spot. He hammered 269 and 161 to cap off a superb individual match, notching his first victory as Test captain and India's maiden at Edgbaston. During India's series-levelling victory in Birmingham, he toppled Virat (243 and 50) to boast the highest aggregate by an Indian captain in a Test match. Virat's effort came against Sri Lanka at his home stadium, Arun Jaitley Stadium, back in December 2017. (ANI)
India Gazette
5 hours ago
- India Gazette
"It was a good score in 1st innings...": Root following day two of play at Lord's
London [UK], July 12 (ANI): Following a gripping day of play at Lord's during the third Test, England batter Joe Root expressed happiness with team's first innings score and also spoke on how the pitch could behave in the coming days. A fighting half-century from KL Rahul and the return of wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant as a batter following a finger injury were key positives as India ended day two with two more wickets lost during the third Test against Lord's on Friday. At the end of the day's play, India was 145/3, with Pant (19*) and Rahul (53*) unbeaten. They trail by 242 runs in response to England's first innings 387, made thanks to a century stand between Root (104) and Ollie Pope (44) and a counter-attacking 82-run stand between Brydon Carse and Jamie Smith, who both struck fifties down the order. Speaking at the post-day presser, 'I think it's a good score. I think we will have a better indication when they finish their innings.' 'But I do feel generally here the pitch plays best day two, and it is going to be very hot, very dry. It is already very slow.' 'It generally goes up and down and offers something later on in the game. So the fact we have got those runs on the board I think is crucial. There were two brilliant partnerships today,' he continued. Root hailed the lower-order stand between Carse and Smith, especially the latter's current form and overall skillset. Root also said with the ground having a slope, there is something for bowlers even though pitch feels placid and ball gets soft. 'And if the ball does go out of shape and we get a new one a bit harder and a fresher one then we exploit that as well. But I think it's another good day for us,' he continued. Root was happy with the return of express pacer Jofra Archer, saying that it was just nice seeing him play Test cricket again and enjoy his game. He also called the bowler an 'X-Factor' player. 'He has shown that when he's played white ball cricket for England, when it is in the IPL, big games he turns up and he does things that other players can't. And you saw that in a short burst today.' 'So I do think he is going to play a big part with the rest of the group. And I think one thing that you will say about it is he compliments nicely the rest of the attack. And at different points throughout the game, they are all going to have to work together and play their part in taking these 20 wickets if we are going to win this game,' he added. On the pitch's behavior in days to come, Root said that he doesn't see it getting better and there might be a 'little bit of turn' as the game proceeds, for spin bowlers. 'I think it's going to be quite turgid. I think it's going to be quite slow scoring, unless you get someone like Rishabh who comes out and plays a very aggressive style of batting where it takes quite a lot of unorthodox methods. You could see it as a slightly more old-school kind of test match,' he added. Root feels the match is nicely poised and termed skipper Shubman Gill's wicket as a 'big one'. 'Clearly a player in great form, good player anyway, but in serious form. Really important wicket for us. I think just good thinking, good skill to be able to execute it as well. A great catch, unbelievable catch (by Jamie),' he added. Resuming the final session at 44/1, Nair (18) and Rahul (13) continued to play positively, with Nair finding a couple of boundaries. The duo reached their 50-run stand in 95 balls. However, once again, the Karnataka batter, who made his return to Test side after eight years, failed to capitalise on his start, falling to skipper Ben Stokes with a catch from Joe Root at slips. Nair was gone for 40 in 62 balls, with four boundaries. India was 74/2, with a 61-run stand being undone by the skipper. Skipper Shubman Gill joined KL at the crease, and the duo took India to the 100-run mark in 29.1 overs, with minimal risks. However, their 33-run partnership was ended by Chris Woakes, as Gill produced a faint edge that reached keeper Jamie Smith's hands. The skipper was gone for 16. India was at 107/3. To the relief of Indian players and fans alike, Rishabh Pant was next up on the crease and punished Shoaib Bashir with three boundaries within no time, unaffected by his finger injury. KL continued his fine run in the series, bringing up his second fifty of the series in 97 balls, with five fours. KL and Rishabh made sure that the team ended the day without any further loss of wickets. Brief Scores: England: 387 (Joe Root 104, Brydon Carse 56; Jasprit Bumrah 5/74) vs India: 145/3 (KL Rahul 53*, Karun Nair 40; Jofra Archer 1/22). (ANI)
