Sports: WADA collects lifters’ samples

Indian Weightlifting Federation vice-president Sahdev Yadav told PTI that the WADA team took samples from 21 weightlifters, including a few junior campers.

“A WADA team came at the NIS two days back and took samples from all the campers there, including a few junior lifters. Except for the five trainees who were on leave at that day, all the lifters gave samples,” he said.

Asked if the IWLF had any prior information of a WADA team coming, Yadav said,”It’s the not the first time WADA people have come to India for surprise dope testing. They can come anytime without telling us.

“So, it was an unannounced visit and nobody from the IWLF was there.”
The surprise visit by the WADA assumes significance as the Commonwealth and Asian Games are coming up this year.

GT Academy to scout for talent in India: Chandhok

Indian racing ace Karun Chandhok says the Nissan GT Academy, which was launched today in the country, would lead to a spurt in racing talent and open gates for many in the world of motortsport.

Six racing enthusiasts will get an opportunity to represent India at the International Race Camp in UK through qualifying rounds of Nissan PlayStation GT Academy.

GT Academy is a virtual to reality programme that will test the racing skills of enthusiasts through a time-trial competition on PlayStation GT6 racing simulators.

“It (GT Academy) will change the overall scenario of motorsports in the country. It doesn’t involve any cost of cars, logistics, etc, which will make every racing enthusiasts go for it. It will lead to massive participation and interest amongst Indians,” Chandhok told reporters at the launch of the academy here.

“It’s a wonderful way to make professional drivers and make the sport more popular,” he said.

The qualifying rounds will take place in five metro cities namely Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai to shortlist 14 contestants for the National Final where they will be trained for the stiffer challenge.

Six of them would be eligible for the International Race Camp at Silverstone in the United Kingdom.

“There is an element to be kept in mind when switching from virtual to real track. They would be expecting certain amount of maturity from the drivers in this competition,” said the 30-year-old.

Chandhok said such initiatives also promotes sports car race amongst youth in the country.

“It will show us that there is a world beyond F1 where talented racers can think of being paid professionals,” said the racer who competes in FIA GT Series.

SAI recruits 174 assistant coaches

After almost two decades, Sports Authority of India (SAI) has recruited 174 new assistant coaches in 16 disciplines with an aim to make the country a sporting powerhouse by the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

SAI organised a two-day orientation programme for the newly-recruited coaches in weightlifting hall, Jawaharlal Nehru stadium, which was inaugurated by Sports Minister Jitendra Singh and attended by SAI Director General Jiji Thomson.

The minister informed that similar recruitment drives in the coming future would be carried out in a phased manner.

On the occasion, Singh also launched the SAI’s bilingual newsletter “UTKARSH”, which will be published quarterly from the SAI headquarter.

The newsletter will focus on major achievements of SAI and its future plans for sports development across the country.