New Delhi, May 21 (IANS) Olympian Manu Bhaker after emerging a most successful shooter in the Olympic selection trials, is aiming to pocket a gold at the Paris Olympics.

Manu won the women’s 10m Air Pistol OST T4 match on the concluding day of the trials on Sunday, marking her fourth win in the trials across two events, with the other being the women’s 25m sports pistol.

After the conclusion of the Olympic selection trials, the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) will make a final decision on the Paris squad after a selection committee meeting, which is expected to take place soon.

After an impressive show at the selection trials, Manu has set herself for the second successive Olympic appearance. The 22-year-old pistol shooter said that she is “working really hard to strive for gold”.

She further praised the central government’s sports policy, saying the players have got huge support, while adding that Haryana does not have a good shooting range.

“The facilities provided to shooting players by the Haryana Government are not sufficient and the state government needs to provide more facilities to the players,” she added.

–IANS

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Paris, May 21 (IANS) French president Emmanuel Macron is reportedly hosting Real Madrid chief Florentino Perez for lunch on Tuesday afternoon (CET) for the 120th anniversary of FIFA at the Elysee.

According to the leading French sports daily L’equipe, Macron will try to persuade Real Madrid president, Florentino Perez, to let Kylian Mbappe play in the 2024 Paris Olympics

This news comes a day after Mbappe threw his farewell party at Parisian restaurant, Gigi. Mbappe’s mother was seen exiting the party and was surrounded by reporters with one asking her about her son’s next destination to which she reportedly replied “I think you all know already.”

The Paris Olympics will mark the first time the games will be returning to the ‘City of Love’ after a century with their last time being in 1924. Macron has repeatedly emphasized on the importance of these games and is likely wanting to showcase Mbappe, who is one of the most influential athletes of the country.

It will be interesting to see Perez’s decision regarding Mbappe as the Olympics will be held at the end of July, which is when the 25-year old is expected to be in pre-season with the Los Blancos getting ready for his first season with the white and black.

Macron has been in constant contact with Kylian Mbappe ever since the French president reportedly played a huge part in convincing the 25-year old of staying at PSG in 2022 and was reportedly present at Mbappe’s farewell party, a rumor that is not yet confirmed.

Mbappe announced his intentions to leave Paris Saint Germain earlier this month through an emotional video in which he thanked the fans, the club and all those who helped him in his journey to becoming the French side’s leading top scorer.

“I have no particular comment to make other than the fact that I am counting upon Real Madrid to free up Kylian for the Olympic Games so he can play with the French team,” Macron said in a video posted on his X account after Kylian’s farewell message

–IANS

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Narainpur, May 21 (IANS) The Swami Vivekananda U-20 Men’s National Football Championship 2024 is at its business end as Delhi and Karnataka take the field in the final at the Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama Ground on Wednesday.

After 54 matches that spanned over a month the two finalists are undefeated so far despite both Karnataka and Delhi have employed two different approaches in the competition.

Karnataka have the most miserly defense in the tournament so far. They have conceded just a solitary goal from their five matches, having netted 20 goals.

The only goal they have conceded in this tournament was in their first match against Jharkhand (3-1), while their biggest victory so far was against Ladakh (11-0).

While their goalkeeper Sam George has managed to keep four clean sheets from five appearances, Saikhom Borish Singh has been carrying them through at the other end of the pitch, with six goals to his name. The Karnataka forward is just one behind Mizoram’s Lalthankima in the top scorer’s charts.

At the other end of the spectrum are the side from the capital, who have shown the intent to play an expansive game, looking to score multiple goals against their opponents. They have netted 22 goals from five matches thus far, their biggest victory coming against Pondicherry (7-0) in the group stage.

Delhi have, however, shown a lot of grit and determination to get the required results; having netted six times in the second half of their last three matches. Ramesh Chhetri and Akshay Raj Singh (four each), and Rituraj Mohan (three) have been the primary goal scorers for them.

The Swami Vivekananda U-20 Men’s NFC final between Karnataka and Delhi will kick off at 3.30 pm IST, and will be streamed live on the Indian Football YouTube channel.

–IANS

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New Delhi, May 21 (IANS) The seven-member selection committee has decided not to hold any trials for the Paris Olympics, Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Sanjay Singh told IANS.

Earlier, a couple of women wrestlers who have qualified for Olympics, had requested the WFI not to subject them to selection trials, saying that every single step they take and every little thing they do from now on will have a bearing on India’s medal chances at the Olympics.

“The seven-member selection committee has decided not to hold any trials in wrestling for Paris Olympics, all the six quota holders will represent India in 2024 Games,” said Sanjay Singh.

However, sources told IANS that one senior Indian wrestler is not happy with the decision and is considering a legal recourse to challenge the ruling made by the WFI.

“One Indian wrestler is planning to go Court to challenge this announcement by WFI, he said he was told earlier that trials will take place, now what happened? This is not good for the sport,” the source added.

Meanwhile, Paris Olympics quota winner, Antim Panghal’s family welcomed the WFI decision and said that they will be able to focus on Olympics.

“Now they can focus on the Olympics without any tension, thank you so much WFI,” a family member told IANS. Antim is currently training at SAI Hissar centre.

At 2024 Games, India will have six wrestlers in its contingent with five quotas coming through women. Aman Sehrawat and Nisha Dahiya took India’s number of quotas to six at the World Olympic Wrestling Qualifiers in Istanbul, Turkey.

Vinesh Phogat in the 50kg category. Antim Panghal in 53kg, Anshu Malik in 57kg and Reetika Hooda in 76kg category had already qualified for Paris Games at different qualifying events.

–IANS

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Antwerp, May 21 (IANS) The Indian hockey men and women teams are currently in Europe to see out the final stretch of their FIH Hockey Pro League 2023/24 campaign. Both teams will take on Argentina and Belgium in the mini-tournament in Antwerp from May 22 to 26 before moving to London to compete against Germany and Great Britain in the mini-tournament from June 1 to 9.

The Indian women’s hockey team is placed sixth in the table after earning eight points from eight matches. So far, they have registered victories against the United States and Australia while also earning a shootout victory against the United States. Led by newly appointed captain Salima Tete, the team will now look to earn maximum points from their remaining matches.

Commenting on the outlook of the team ahead of the match, Salima said, “We had an intense training block in SAI while also playing practice matches against South Africa to prepare for these FIH Hockey Pro League matches. The point difference between us and second-placed China is just seven points. We aim to close this gap in the remaining matches against Argentina, Belgium, Germany, and Great Britain in a bid to finish as high as we can.”

The men’s team is placed third in the table after amassing 15 points from 8 matches. They registered three victories across Rourkela and Bhubaneswar legs; once against Spain and twice over Ireland. They also earned two bonus points after shootout victories against Spain and the Netherlands. Led by captain Harmanpreet Singh, the team will look to use the platform to prepare for the prestigious Paris 2024 Olympics set to begin on July 27.

“We are grateful to have this opportunity to test ourselves against tough opponents like Argentina, Belgium, Germany, and Great Britain ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympics. Undoubtedly, we are focused on the Olympics but we also need to give our best to finish as Champions and secure direct qualification for the 2026 Hockey World Cup as well. To achieve both these targets we will strive to give our all on the pitch and win all our matches,” said captain Harmanpreet Singh ahead of the match against Argentina.

Both teams will begin their European leg on May 22 against Argentina, followed by back-to-back matches against Belgium on May 23 and 25. They will take on Argentina again on May 26 before moving on to the final leg in London where they play Germany on June 1 and 8 and take on hosts Great Britain on June 2 and 9.

–IANS

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