Ahead of the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games in China, Chief Minister of Odisha, Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday announced a financial support for the state's athletes who are set to participate in the upcoming Asian Games.

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Each Asian Games-bound athlete will receive Rs 10 lakh each, to support their training, preparation, and participation in the prestigious sporting event.

The Asian Games, known for bringing together elite athletes from across the continent, offer a platform to showcase the dedication and talent of athletes.

For the upcoming Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games in China, to held from 23 September to 8 October, this year, 13 athletes from Odisha have qualified, that include Kishore Jena in Athletics; Anshika Bharati, Ritu Kaudi and Sonali swain in Rowing; Anupama Swain in Ju-Jitsu; Neha Devi Leichondam in Kayaking & Canoeing; Pyari Xaxa in Football; Deep Grace Ekka and Amit Rohidas in Hockey and Dumuni Marndi, Tarulata Naik, Mama Naik and Hupi Majhi in Rugby.

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Wishing them the best, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik expressed hope that the athletes will showcase their talent at the Games and this incentive will empower them to focus solely on their training and performance.

Indian Olympic Association President PT Usha on Monday said that the Executive Board (EB) of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) has agreed to include yoga in the Asian Games and the OCA General Assembly If approved, it will get a place in the games.

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Usha proposed to include yoga in the Asian Games

PT Usha has written a letter to Randhir Singh, acting president of the Asian Olympic Council, on June 26, proposing to include yoga as a sport in the Asian Games. On Monday Usha confirmed that OCA acting president informed her about the EB's decision.

“I am delighted that the OCA Executive Board spontaneously agreed to India’s request to give yoga the recognition it deserves. The proposal shall now move through the Sports Committee to the General Assembly for confirmation,” PT Usha thanked Randhir Singh in an IOA release.

IOA is hopeful yoga will eventually become a medal sport.

An IOA source said that the first step has been taken towards including Yoga in the Asian Games as a medal sport. The final determination of whether yoga will be a medal sport or a demonstration sport will be made by the OCA General Assembly. Since yoga is widely practiced, the IOA is hopeful it will eventually become a medal sport.

“Whether it will be medal sport or demonstration sport, that will be decided by the OCA General Assembly. It’s the first step. But since Yoga is prevalent worldwide, the IOA is hoping for it to be a medal sport in due course of time,” the source said.

PT Usha indicated that it was a natural progression for the competitive sports community to adopt yoga, especially since it has gained global recognition. Yoga is an ancient Indian sport, which maintains physical and mental health.

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Yogasana Bharat has already received recognition from the Sports Ministry for the development of yogasana as a competitive sport in India. Additionally, Yogasana has been added as a competitive discipline in the Khelo India Youth Games and Khelo India University Games since 2020.

Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist boxer Lovlina Borgohain won a silver medal in the women's 75kg category at the Czech Grand Prix 2024 in Usti nad Labem, Czech Republic.

In the round-robin tournament, Lovlina Borgohain won against Chantelle Reid of England but lost to Cindy Ngamba and Li Qian. Borgohain lost her final match against the reigning Asian Games champion late on Saturday night by a margin of 2-3.

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Qian is a two-time Olympic medalist and has three World Championship medals, including one gold to her name.

Four boxers were included in the women's 75 kg category in this tournament organized under the aegis of World Boxing. Borgohain, Refugee Boxing Team's Cindy Ngamba, Li Qian, and England's Chantelle Reid - and it is being held in a round-robin format.

Borgohain managed only one win in the tournament

Lovlina Borgohain managed only one win in the tournament, losing two of her three matches. This boxer from Assam had won her first match against England's Chantelle Reid by a split decision in a tough match, but later she had to face defeat from Cindy Ngamba and Li Qian. 

Lovlina gunning for her second Olympic medal

The 26-year-old boxer, who is the only Indian to participate in the tournament, is gunning for her second Olympic medal as she is one of the six Indian boxers to qualify for the Paris Olympics 2024.

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Indian boxing team for Paris Games

The Indian boxing team for Paris 2024 is a mix of experienced Olympians and rising stars. In the women's category, Borgohain is joined by two-time world champion Nikhat Zareen (50 kg), Preeti Pawar (54 kg), and Jasmine Lamboria (57 kg). The men's team includes Amit Panghal (51 kg), and Nishant Dev (71 kg).

Asian Games silver medalist Jyothi Yarraji equaled her national record to win the women's 100m hurdles event at the Motonet GP Athletics Meet, but missed qualifying for the Paris Olympics 2024 by just 0.01 seconds. 

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Competing in her third outdoor event of the season, Jyothi Yarraji clocked 12.78 seconds while the Paris Olympics qualification mark is 12.77 seconds. Jamaica’s Crystal Morrisson with 12.87 seconds and Finland’s Lotta Harala with 12.95 seconds settled for the second and third positions, respectively.

Interestingly, the 24-year-old athlete had missed the Olympic entry mark by the same margin at the World University Games in Chengdu, China last year. 

Most recently in April 2024, despite winning the gold medal, Jyothi Yarraji missed the qualifying mark by 0.1 seconds at the Harry Schulting Games at Vught in the Netherlands.

Tejas Shirse also missed Olympic mark

Meanwhile, Tejas Shirse won the men's 110m hurdles with a timing of 13.41 seconds. He broke the previous national record (13.48) set by Siddhanth Thingalaya at the 2017 Altice Invitational meet in the US. But his effort fell short of the Paris Olympics qualification mark of 13.27 seconds by a small margin.

Mohammed Afsal secured the top spot in the men’s 800m event

Mohammed Afsal won the men's 800m with a timing of 1:48.91. In the men's 100m race, 20-year-old Animesh Kujur finished second with a personal best timing of 10.39 seconds, while in the men's 200m national record holder Amlan Borgohain finished fourth in the 100m race with a personal best timing of 10.54 seconds.

The qualification period for the Paris Olympics ends on June 30. 

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Shaili Singh finished second at Trond Mohn Games

Elsewhere, at the Trond Mohn Games, which is also a World Athletics Continental Tour (silver) event in Bergen, Norway, Indian long jumper Shaili Singh finished second at 6.12m.

The star Indian badminton pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty achieved the top position in men's doubles of BWF World Rankings with 99,670 points. The Indian pair achieved this top position by winning the men's double event title of Thailand Open Super 500 badminton. They defeated China's Chen Bo Yang and Liu Yi in the final.

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Satwik-Chirag toppled Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang of China to regain their position in the BWF World Rankings. Earlier, the Indian duo was in the third position before the start of the Thailand Open.

Satwik-Chirag has achieved the No. 1 position in the BWF World Rankings for the second time. Earlier, the duo had clinched the top position for the first time after winning the gold medal in the Asian Games. They also became the first Indian pair to achieve this milestone.

The excellent performance of this Indian pair before the Paris Olympics 2024 starting in July is a good sign for the country. 

Earlier, the pair had to face defeat in the pre-quarterfinals of the All England Champions and then Satwik-Chirag's performance in the Thomas Cup was also not good. However, this star pair has once again brought glory to the country by winning the Thailand Open title.

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This was the Asian Games champion pair's second title of the season and ninth BWF World Tour title of their career. Before this, they had won the French Open Super 750 title in March. Apart from this, both were runner-ups in Malaysia Super 1000 and India Super 750.

Indian athlete Jyothi Yarraji won the women's 100m hurdles event at the Harry Schulting Games 2024 athletics meet in the Netherlands on Thursday. However, she was unlucky to miss the qualification mark for the Paris Olympics 2024 by one-tenth of a second. 

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Jyothi finished ahead of Mira Groot 

In her first event of the outdoor season in Europe, Asian Games silver medalist Jyothi Yarraji won the gold medal by clocking 12.87 seconds, ahead of Dutch hurdler Mira Groot, who finished second in 13.67 seconds, while another Dutch Runner Hanna van Baast finished in 13.84 seconds. 

Jyothi Yarraji finished first and clocked 12.87, missing the Olympic entry standard, set at 12.77, by 0.10 seconds. 

Earlier in the day, Jyothi had qualified for the 100m hurdles final with a timing of 13.04 seconds.

This is the second time Jyothi fell short of the qualifying mark

This is the second time that Jyoti, who trains at the Reliance Foundation High-Performance Center in Bhubaneswar, fell short of the qualifying mark by one hundredth of a second after she clocked a national record of 12.78 to clinch a bronze medal at the worlds.

Jyothi Yarraji, who had performed well at the Asian Indoor Season earlier in the year at the University Games in Chengdu, China, will compete in five more events during the Olympic qualifying period, which ends on June 30 this year.

Tejas Shirse won the 110m hurdles 

Meanwhile, Indian men's hurdler Tejas Shirse won the 110m hurdles in the same meet with a personal best timing of 13.56 seconds, ahead of local Dutch athletes Joas van Hellemondt (13.80 seconds) and Jamie Sesay (13.92 seconds). 

In the heats, Shirse came second overall with a timing of 13.78s. The qualifying mark in the men's 110m hurdles for the Paris Olympics is 13.27s. Meanwhile, India's national record in the event stands at 13.48s clocked by Siddhanth Thingalaya in 2017.

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Men's 200m national record holder Amlan Borgohain was also scheduled to compete in Vught on Thursday, but he did not attend the event.