Justice for Monika

Monika hopes for punishment to guilty:

Guwahati, Sep 3: Weightlifter Monika Devi on Wednesday said her soul would get peace if her compatriot Sailaja and the Sports Authority of India (SAI) top officials were punished by the inquiry committee.
Speaking here on the occasion of annual Abhiruchi Sports Day, Monika said, "I am innocent. I have been framed by the senior SAI bosses, who did not want me to go to Beijing Olympics. I have cleared, at least, 30 dope tests before. How come just hours before I was scheduled to leave for Beijing, news flashed on TV that I have tested positive?"
According to Monika, SAI Executive Director R K Naidu and Sailja ganged up to cook up the dope theory and successfully prevented her from taking flight to Beijing.
"They (SAI officials) are all thieves. Just because I got into the cleansing act and decided to do away with corrupt SAI coaches, they are now after me. SAI’s executive director (teams) RK Naidu and (SAI coach) Hansa Sharma are among others have all ganged up against me and implicated me," she added.
She rued that India missed a bronze, adding as the eventual bronze medalist of Beijing Olympic, lifted the same weight she used to lift generally.
"In the pre-Olympic trial, a fierce competition was organised by some army judges who have no knowledge of modern day women weightlifting and there Sailaja was made eventual winner. In fact, she had taken dope to enhance her performance. So far, she had failed five times in the WADA dope test and according to WADA rules, she should have been banned for life,'' she further informed.
Her home state Manipur was in turmoil over her denial and forced the Prime Minister to intervene. Currently, an inquiry was going on under the former Chief Election Commissioner Krishnamurthy.
The day is celebrated statewide at over 100 places 3 every year to celebrate the birthday of the first Asian Games gold medalist as well as the state’s first Arjuna award winner Bhogeswar Barua.

Source: United News of India

Subroto Cup

Nagaland beat Tripura 4-0:

Dimapur, Sep 3: State under 17 (juniors) started their campaign on high note with a victory over Tripura in the ongoing Subroto Cup played at Delhi on Wednesday.

Team manager, Nyuvitho Nyuthe DSO Kiphire said that the state team defeated Tripura 4-0 in their opening match. Hukavi scored two goals while Rokozhaz and Benri contributed one goal each for the team. Two goals were scored in the first half and while the other two were scored in the second half.

The state team representing Modern School New Market, Kohima is placed in pool-D along with Air Force team, Assam, Tripura, Uttarakhand and Sri Lanka. Altogether 32 teams including teams from aboard are taking part in the tournament which is organized by Air Force India and held every year in New Delhi.

It may be mentioned that the state under -17 team was the runners-up in 2004. Earlier, the state team was scheduled to play their opening match against Sri Lanka on September 2, but the match was postponed as the Lankan team could not reach the venue on the scheduled day. The match will be played on September 7. On September 4 (Thursday) state team will take on Uttarakhand.
A sixteen member state under 14 (sub juniors) led by team manager, Yanthan, DSO Wokha and team coach, Mughato will be leaving for Delhi on September 5 to take part in the Subroto Cup at Delhi. Last year runners-up, state under-14 team is representing Green Wood School, Dimapur.

Seeded directly in pre-quarter finals the state team will play their opening match against the winners of group B on September 10.

State u-14 squad: Vekuto, Pusu, Vishio, Akok, Imti Wapang, Taliakum, Tsiebu, Veluto, Lunminlan, Nyhunhelo, Tiatoshi, Lusinei, Moakumzuk, Tingnyek, Wasadplung and Akalu.

Source: Nagaland Post

Meanwhile, making an impressive start to the tournament, OM Roy Memorial Secondary School from Meghalaya won its first league match in Under-14 Subroto Mukherjee Cup by defeating host school from Delhi 2-0 on Wednesday. OM Roy opened the scoring in the 18th minute through a goal scored by Walamsuk Nongkhlaw, while Tyng-shain Umdor scored the second goal in the 46th minute to ensure OM Roy win the match by 2-0 goals. OM Roy will play its second match with a school from Chattisgarh on Thursday.

Source: Shillong Times

Buchi Babu Cricket

Rajasthan rout Assam:

Guwahati, Sep 3: Assam suffered a humiliating 235-run defeat at the hand of Rajasthan in their opening group league match of the Buchi Babu Naidu Cricket Tournament in Chennai on Wednesday.

In reply to Rajasthan’s massive 377 for six in the allotted 90 overs Assam were bundled out for a paltry total of 102.

Brief score: Rajasthan 377 for six in 90 overs (Subhanshu Vijay 86, Nihkil Doru 54, Y Venugopal Rao 69, Robin Bisht 101, Rohit Jalani not out 45, Amit Singha 2/63).
Assam 102 all out (Deepak Sharma not out 43, Pankaj Singh 2 for 25, Sumit Mathur 2 for 20, Shilendra Gehlot 2 for 13, Gajendra Singh 4 for 34.

Remembering Assam's First Arjuna Awardee

Monika flags off run:

Guwahati, Sep. 3: Manipur weightlifter L. Monika Devi on Wednesday urged people to be alert against any move to deprive players from the region of representing the nation at the international level.
Flagging off the annual Abhiruchi Sports Day mass jogging from Chandmari flyover here to Nehru Stadium, a tearful Monika said she fell “victim to some nasty politics.”
Monika Devi was deprived of a berth in the Indian contingent to the Beijing Olympics last month after allegedly testing positive in a dope test. Though she was subsequently cleared of the allegation, it was too late for her to join the contingent.
Later, an apparently disturbed Monika said she was still undecided about participating in any national meet in the near future.
Manipur’s sports organisations will be boycotting all national events till former Chief Election Commissioner T.S. Krishnamurthy, who is conducting a probe into the issue, submits the report to sports minister M.S. Gill and justice is meted out.
The weightlifter also took part in a felicitation ceremony where 56 heads of educational institutions were honoured for their contribution towards organising this particular sports day for the past 25 years.
The day marks the birthday of Arjuna awardee Bhogeswar Barua.
The mass jogging today was dampened by a morning drizzle, which reduced the turnout to a little over 3,000, including contingents from about 35 schools in the city.
Bhaskar Vidyapith emerged winners in the mass jogging and were trailed by teams from LOG English School and Disneyland High School.
Among the sports establishments, Manchuria Kung-fu Academy finished first, followed by Guwahati Kho-kho Coaching Centre, Lutuma, and Sarusajai Sports Coaching Centre.
Disneyland High School, represented by about 250 students, were awarded the O.P. Nayar Trophy for having the highest number of participants.
The jogging was followed by a dance competition among schoolchildren where St Stephen’s High School team emerged champions while Disneyland High School and Maharishi Vidya Mandir, Kalipur, finished as first and second runners-up respectively. In the aerobics competition, teams from Maharishi Vidya Mandir, Rajgarh, Maharishi Vidya Mandir, Sixth Mile, and T.C. Girls’ H.S. & M.P. School were declared the top three.
Although the day is marked by felicitation of noted sports personalities, this being the silver jubilee year, the main function will be held in December. The felicitation ceremony is likely to be attended by Australian cricketer Steve Waugh or Brett Lee, along with another Asian Olympian.

Source: The Telegraph

Subroto Mukherjee Cup Football Tournament

Results of matches on Sept. 3:
Sub-juniors (U-14):
Haryana drew Sikkim 1-1
Haryana: Sikander (25th); Sikkim: Karan Singh (53rd)
Meghalaya beat Delhi 2-0
Wanlalmsuk Nongkhlaw (25th); Tyngshain (60th)
Uttarakhand beat The Air Force School 2-0
Assam drew West Bengal 1-1
Assam: PP Deka (5th); Bengal: Biki Mallick (28th)
Army Boys drew Jharkhand 1-1

Juniors (U-17):
Orissa beat The Air Force School 2-0
AFBBS beat Uttarakhand 1-0
Nagaland beat Tripura 4–0
Hukavi (29th, 68th); Benri Thung (54th); Rokozhakho (61st)
Kerala beat Haryana 1-0
Chandigarh beat Sainik School 5-0
Mizoram beat Maharashtra 1-0
Lalfakzuala (51st)
Jharkhand beat Bihar 3-0
IPSC beat Bangladesh 1–0

Justice for Monika

NE sportspersons neglected: Monika

Guwahati, Sep 3: Weightlifter Monika Devi, who finds herself in a doping controversy, on Wednesday alleged that the Central Government was neglecting budding sportsmen of the northeastern region.

"The Centre had always failed to cater to the sporting needs of the region, that is why northeast was lagging behind," alleged Monika, who missed Beijing Olympics on dope charges.

She was later cleared by a review panel appointed by the Indian Weightlifting Federation. The Sports Ministry also instituted a one-man committee of former Chief Election Commissioner of TS Krishnamurthy to probe into the doping controversy.

The Manipuri lifter was speaking after flagging off the Abhiruchi Sports Day Run in honour of Arjuna awardee from Assam, Bhogeswar Baruah, here.

"It is a conspiracy and it is really unfortunate," she said on her missing the Olympics as she broke down in front of a mammoth crowd of school children who participated in the run.

Monika said she was yet to decide whether or not to participate in national championships. She had last month stated that she would not take part in any national or international event until the officials who "wrongly" accused her of failing the dope test were punished.

Thousands of school children braving intermittent rain participated in the run from Chandmari area of the city to the Nehru stadium.

Source: Press Trust of India

Subroto Cup Football Tournament

Results of Preliminary round matches on Sept. 2:
Sub-Juniors (U-14)
Assam beat Maharashtra 5-2
Scorers: Assam: Manuranjan (8th min); B. Chettia (13th, 28th, 45th); PP Deka (25th)Maharashtra: Elvin (47th); Vineet (50th)
Gujarat beat IPSC 5-1; West Bengal beat Sainik School 4-1; Goa Vs Uttarakhand 4-2; Army Boys beat Chhattisgarh 15-0; Jharkhand beat Delhi 5-0
Juniors (U-17)
Assam drew Uttarakhand 0-0; Chandigarh beat Jharkhand 2-0; NCC (WB&S) beat Bihar 8-0; Orissa beat IPSC 2-1; Tripura drew Air Force Bal Bharti School 0-0; Maharashtra drew TAFS 1-1; Chhattisgarh drew Haryana 1-1.

Champion Boxer Back in Ring

Mary Kom ready for world championship:

Imphal, Sept 2: The world champion MC Mary Kom, the pugilist from Manipur comes back to the boxing ring after a two-year break to add a fourth world title to her bag. The defending 46 kg champion is now ready for her fifth world championship in Ningbo in China in November this year.
Mary, mother of two said it was difficult to sit for more than a year and a half and do nothing. She gave birth to twins a while back and had to keep the boxing gloves away. She said that her secret of success was to maintain her body weight.
“I had to take complete rest, doctors had advised me not to box for some time. Then I had to take care of my sons. It was a difficult period but my husband was very cooperative. At the moment, I am focusing on regaining my fitness and form,” she said.
She was vigorously going through weight training and sparring sessions with her team mates at the Hissar camp for the past month.
Mary Kom hopes that she will be able to enter the ring with full confidence in the Asian Championship, beginning in Guwahati from September 23. The championship will see boxers from 16 Asian nations, including China, South and North Korea, Mongolia and Japan.
Indian boxers will participate in all 13 weight categories. “This will be a test event for me before the world championship in China.” She declared.
Talking about the good performance of Indian boxers in the Beijing Olympics, she said, “We hope in the London Games women’s boxing will be included and we can win a few more medals.”
The boxing champion Mary Kom entered the Limca Books of Records last year. This 22-year-old world-boxing champion from Manipur became India’s first woman pugilist to get the Arjuna Award in 2004. She won the Silver medal in the World Championship in USA in 2001, her first international exposure that spurred her on to greater heights. Mary Kom won gold in the world championship in Turkey in 2002, in Russia in 2005 and in India in 2006.
She once said, “I was initially an all-round athlete, and 400 m race and javelin were my pet events. When Dingko Singh returned from Bangkok Asian games with a gold, I thought I should give it a try”.
After winning her first title and best boxer at the first State Level Invitation Women’s Boxing championship in Manipur in 2000, Mary Kom went to win the gold in the 7th East India Women’s Boxing Championship held in West Bengal and subsequently to win five Indian National Championship from 2000 to 2005.

Source: Assam Tribune

Arjuna Awardee Manipuri

Judoka Tombi Devi does Manipur proud:

Imphal, Sept. 2: Manipur judoka Kh. Tombi Devi has done the state proud once again. She was one of the two sportspersons from the Northeast to take part in the Beijing Olympics. Now she has been conferred the Arjuna Award for the year 2007.
Tombi has added another feather to Mayai Lambi Sports Academy’s cap after being named among the 11 sportspersons selected for the prestigious award.
The 26-year-old soft-spoken judoka was ousted in the first round of the Olympics at Beijing, but she made history by becoming one of the nine Olympians the state has so far seen being honoured with the Arjuna Award. The only other sportsperson from the region to take part in the Beijing Olympics is archer L. Bombayla Devi of Manipur, who had an early exit.
The announcement has come as a matter of pride for the Mayai Lambi Sports Academy here, of which Tombi is a product. The academy specialises in judo coaching, and has groomed several talented judokas.
In fact, Tombi is among the two judokas from the academy, after A. Anita Chanu in 2004, to be honoured with the Arjuna Award.
Mayai Lambi Sports Academy president Th. Bijoy Singh described it a “very joyous and happy moment” for the academy. “It is a great achievement for Tombi as well as for the academy,” he said.
In a short span of 10 years, the academy has witnessed two Arjuna awardees and several more are in the making, he added.
Singh said six judokas, including two boys and four girls, of the academy were now being trained in Patiala for the next South Asian Games.
Manipur Olympic Association president E. Binoykumar Singh said, “The gentle and positive Tombi Devi deserved the Arjuna award and we feel proud of her”.
Devi bagged a gold in the 48-kg category of the Commonwealth Judo Championship in January this year and won another gold in the 21st Bosfors Judo Championship in Turkey last year. She also garnered a silver in the India Cup International Judo Championship held in 2006 in Orissa. Last year she won a bronze medal in the Asian Judo Championship in Kuwait.

Source: The Telegraph

Kh. Tombi links:

Tombi K Devi loses to H Ana in Judo

Tombi Devi out of Olympics in two and half minutes

National sports awards given away

Great feeling to be conferred Arjuna Award

Show of Solidarity

Monika Devi to Lead Abhiruchi Run:

Guwahati, Sept. 1: Manipur weightlifter L. Monika Devi will lead Abhiruchi Sports Day’s silver jubilee run in Guwahati on Wednesday. The organisers of the run invited her to take part as a mark of solidarity with neighbouring Manipur's fight against vested interests that allegedly dashed the ace sportsperson’s Olympics dream last month.
“Today it is Monika Devi from our neighbouring Manipur, tomorrow it could be somebody from Assam. Hence, it is time we joined Manipur’s fightback against vested interests from mainland India which have conspired against the weightlifting prodigy from the Northeast. She is reaching Guwahati on Tuesday to lead the run. We will accord her a warm welcome,” the chairman of the organising committee of the run, Balendra Mohan Chakravarty, said on Monday.
The day is celebrated statewide at over 100 places on September 3 every year to celebrate the birthday of the first Asian Games gold medallist as well as the state’s first Arjuna award winner Bhogeswar Barua.
Monika Devi will lead the run from Chandmari flyover here.
On the day’s programme, Chakravarty said unlike the earlier editions, outstanding sports personalities would not be felicitated on Wednesday but during the main silver jubilee function in December.
This time, the run that will culminate in Nehru Stadium will be followed by a dance and aerobics competition among children from nearly 50 schools in the city.
Besides, the heads of about 70 educational institutions in the city will be felicitated to express gratitude for their service to make the event a success every year.
On the silver jubilee function in December, Chakravarty said an Australian cricketer and an Olympian from any Asian country would be invited as special guests. He hinted that Steve Waugh or Brett Lee would be contacted for their availability.
The main function here will also comprise a two-day seminar on the importance of physical education as a subject in school curriculum and a daylong indigenous sports festival.
Source: The Telegraph

Monika Devi Links (in chronological order):
Monika fails dope test
Monika tests positive, withdrawn from Games
I am innocent, I have been framed: Monika
I am innocent, says Monika
IOA relieved Monica tested positive in India: deputy chef-de-mission
Coach stands by Monika Devi
Kalmadi praises SAI
Monika questions SAI's dope test norms
SAI dope test on Monika illegal: IWF
L Monika case shocks Manipur
CM, MP assure interventions
Conspiracy, cries Manipur
What did Monika test positive for?
Weighlifting Federation boss insists Monika clean
'Monika case attempt to defame Northeast'
Protests in Manipur over Monika Devi's dope report
Ex-weightlifting champ blames IWF for dope taint
Monika to seek ‘B’ sample test
Manipur erupts over Monika exit
24-hr general strike called today to protest Monika exclusion
Northeast footballers appeal for Monika
Boycott threat over Monika
MOA decides to boycott natl championships and Natl Games over Monika issue
Monika cleared, but won't be able to compete in Games
No entry for Monika in Olympics: IOA
SAI clears, but Monika won’t go to Beijing
International weightlifting body says 'no' to Monika
IOA, SAI ruined Monika's career: Ibobi
Monika Devi issue: Manipur CM seeks CBI probe
Monika’s village mourns death of sport
State parties demand resignation of IOA president and Union sports minister
MSF announces boycott of national leaders as protests continue in state
Monika accuses fellow lifters, demands probe
Manipur sends request for CBI probe into Monika episode
Manipur sets apology deadline
Public meeting seeks apology from GOI on Monika issue
Protests over Monika
Big conspiracy to end my career: Monika
Sports minister orders probe in Monika Devi doping case
Advani wants probe into Monika's doping episode
Manipur opts out: Athletics team returns as a mark of protest for Monika
Rousing welcome for Monika, bandh on Aug 19 to stay
Monika puts foot down on competitions
PA Sangma to take up matter with PM
General strike cripples life in state; schools, colleges spared
Battle headed for court- Panel for Monika consults legal experts
Krishna Murthy to submit Monika dope report
NESO demands CBI probe into Monika case
Panel urges PM to book conspirators- Monika places statement
IOA deliberately didn’t allow me to go to Beijing: Monika