Discus

Krishna Poonia to take part in Doha leg of Diamond League

New Delhi: Ace Indian discus thrower Krishna Poonia will be participating in the opening leg of the prestigious Diamond League Meetings series in Doha on May 10, which will give her a launchpad for her preparations for the Asian and World Championships later this year.

Poonia is expected to compete in a star-studded field, which will also include reigning Olympic champion Sandra Perkovic of Croatia. The Indian had finished seventh in London Olympics with a throw of 63.62m while Perkovic had won gold in 69.11 m.

Poonia, though, is expected to move a place up to sixth after London silver medallist Darya Pishchalnikova was banned for 10 years yesterday by Russian Athletics Federation as she returned positive for anabolic steroid after her sample taken in May last year was re-tested.

"I am taking part in the Doha leg of the Diamond League as my entry has been accepted. I will first take part in the first and second leg of Asian Grand Prix in Bangkok (May 4) and Chonburi (May 8) respectively before the Doha Diamond League," Poonia told PTI from Patiala where she is training....more    

Olympic review: India draw a blank in athletics

Unlike other disciplines, there were no expectations of medals from the Indian athletes at the London Olympics in track and field events. And barring a few creditable display " Krishna Poonia and Vikas Gowda in women's and men's discus throw events respectively " there was no performance of note by any other athlete. Here's a look at how the Indian athletes fared in the different disciplines they participated in. Men's...  

Gowda finishes a lowly 8th in discus throw

London: India's Vikas Gowda finished eighth in the men's discus throw event in London Olympics with a below-par effort here Tuesday night. United States-based Gowda hurled the 2kg disc to a distance of 64.79m in his first attempt, well below his personal best of 66.28m which he recorded in the run-up to the Games. A personal best would not have been enough for the 29-year-old Indian to have climbed the...  

Mary Kom assures a medal, Gowda shines

London: MC Mary Kom assured herself at least of a bronze medal when she beat Tunisia's Maroua Rahali to reach the women's flyweight (51kg) semi-finals here on Monday. The five-time world champion thrashed her opponent 15-6 to ensure India its fourth medal in the London Olympics 2012. The 29-year-old won her bout having dominated from the start. She exhibited a great show in the ring, winning all four rounds to...  

Discus thrower Gowda qualifies for the final

London: Vikas Gowda of India has qualified for the men's discus throw final at the London Olympics here on Monday. The US based Indian threw 65.20 metres in his second attempt to make the cut. The automatic qualification standard for the discus final was set at 65m. Ehsan Hadadi of Iran was just behind Gowda with a throw of 65.19m. Gowda became the first Indian to win a medal at...  

I will do better in next Olympics: Poonia

London: Ace discus thrower Krishna Poonia is satisfied with her seventh place finish at the London Games and said she will now aim to do better in the next Olympics in Brazil. Poonia hurled the discus to a distance of 63.62m, which is more than a metre below her personal as well season's best of 64.76m, but she said she was not disappointed with her performance. "It was a disaster...  

Krishna Poonia finishes 7th in discus throw

London: Indian discus thrower Krishna Poonia finished a creditable seventh in the women's discus throw while the gold medal was won by Sandra Perkovic of Croatia in the 2012 London Games at the Olympic Stadium here on Saturday. Sandra took the gold with throw of 69.11 metres, a national record, while the silver medal was taken by Darya Pishchalnikova of Russia with 67.56 m and Li Yanfeng of China settled...  

Poonia qualifies for discus final, Seema out

London: India's medal hope Krishna Poonia on Friday qualified for the womens discus throw final round in London Olympics after finishing eighth in the qualification round while her compatriot Seema Antil missed out by a whisker on the first day of track and field events in London. Poonia began with a foul throw but regained her composure to hurl the one-kg discus to 63.54m to finish fifth in Group A...  

Krishna, Sudha land at Olympic Games Village

London: Star discus thrower Krishna Poonia and Asian Games champion steeplechase runner Sudha Singh were among the first batch of Indian track and field athletes to check into the Olympic Games Village here. Krishna, along with her husband and coach Virender Poonia, and Sudha arrived at the Athletes Village in Stratford on Wednesday. After going through security checks, Krishna and Sudha were taken to their apartment by a bus. Later...  

Gowda confident despite fund crisis

New Delh: Ace discuss thrower Vikas Gowda says he is neither "distracted" by the scarcity of funds nor intimidated by the higher rankings of his rivals as recent good results at the international stage have given him the confidence of delivering at the London Olympics. Gowda became the first Indian to win a medal at the prestigious Diamond League Series last month during the New York leg when he picked...  

Poonia braces herself up for stiff challenge

Discus-thrower Krishna Poonia made a name for herself by winning a gold in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi. She followed it up with a bronze at the Asian Games in Guangzhou later that year. The entire country went into frenzy when she became the first Indian woman to win a CWC gold. To boot, she also became the second Indian athlete to win gold in track and field...  

T'puram: meet on Putin's return as Russian president

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Vladimir Putins return to presidency in Russia will be the subject of a discussion here on Monday. The second-time president taking oath of office will be viewed live on the TV channel Russia Today at the discussion. Putin will assume office at 12 noon Moscow time (1.30 pm, Indian time). The discussion will be held simultaneously here, said Ratheesh C Nair, Russias Honorary Consul. The panel of political observers...  

Discus thrower Poonia gets silver in US event

Maui Island: Indian discus thrower Krishna Poonia came up with her season's best effort of 63.67 meters to notch up a silver medal at the Altius Track Crew Throwdown Meet on Friday. Competing in her first meet of the season, Krishna went beyond the 62.72-meters mark that decided the gold medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. It was also a marked improvement on her 2011 best of 62.25 meters, which...  

Gowda wins silver at Asian Championship

Kobe: Rattled by dope scandals, Indian athletics finally has something to cheer about after discus thrower Vikas Gowda won a silver medal despite a below-par on the opening day of the 19th Asian Championships here on Thursday. National record holder Gowda finished second with an effort of 61.58m, much below his season's best of 64.91, behind Iranian Asian record holder Ehsan Hadadi who also had a below par 62.27m. The...  

Krishna Poonia wins women's discus bronze

Guangzhou: India's Krishna Poonia bettered her gold winning throw at the Commonwealth Games but it could only win her a bronze in the women's discus throw event at the Asian Games here on Tuesday. Krishna, who came on top in Delhi with a throw of 61.51 metres, produced 61.94m but had to settle for the third place. She also won a bronze at the Doha edition of the Asiad four...  

Prahlad Kakkar takes an open shot at Abhishek Bachchan

Mumbai: Mumbai Film Festival continues to throw up lively debates. Taking a jibe at the way Bollywood works, perennially smiling adman Prahlad Kakkar had the audience in splits when he said the industry is a mom and pop shop. "Why use a good actor when you can have a nephew? And if you have to create stars anyway, why not from the family? It is hence very difficult for men...  

Vidya Balan goes to Wharton

The actress was invited to the business school in Pennsylvania for a discussion on Indian films. ...  

MBA is beyond CAT, includes drilling GD sessions

Leadership skills, presence of mind, and content are crucial factors. ...  

IIMs may do away with Group Discussions

Former England player and well-known television commentator Robin Jackman has been diagnosed with cancer and will undergo seven weeks of treatment through radiotherapy. "It's not the prettiest, but I got it early and I'm confident I'll be fine," Jackman was quoted as saying. "I won't be in Australia [for South Africa's upcoming Test series], but I sure will be rooting for the Proteas." According to a report in Supersport, Jackman...  

Disillusioned discus thrower to move to Australia

Brisbane: Australia on Tuesday used the leg-spin bowling of a Pakistani asylum seeker in their first net practice session ahead of this week's first Test against South Africa in Brisbane. Fawad Ahmed, who is awaiting a decision from the Australian government about his refugee protection claim, bowled against Australia's top batsmen as a preparation for South African spinner Imran Tahir ahead of Friday's Gabba Test opener. Ahmed, who plays Melbourne...