Kerala policewoman wins two gold medals in World Arm Wrestling Competition
Kozhikode (Kerala), (PTI): When ASI Mini Raju won a 2018 district-level arm wrestling competition organised here by Kerala Police Association after entering it at the last moment, little did she know that four years down the line she would make India proud by winning a double gold in the World Arm Wrestling Competition held at Turkey recently.
Another feather in her cap is that she was also the captain of the 43-member Indian team that participated in the world sporting event and bagged 13 medals -- three gold, five silver and five bronze -- a haul which was a first for the country at the competition, according to Raju.
Of the 13 medals, eight were won by arm wrestlers from Kerala, she added.
"Every year, India used to send a 40-45 member contingent to the competition and used to come back with one or two medals. This is the first time we won so many medals. Also after 1979, I am the first one to win double gold for the country at the event," Raju told PTI.
Raju, prior to entering the world of arm wrestling, was a state-level athlete who participated in the 100 and 200 metre heats and long-jump events and won medals.
She joined the police force in 2001 and continued to participate in athletic events, Raju said. However, an accident in 2008 which damaged the ligament in her leg ended her athletic career.
In 2018, when she went to see an arm wrestling competition organised by the Kerala Police Association's Kozhikode district unit, she decided to participate in the event and "probably due to my background in sports I had the strength required to win there".
"Thereafter, I participated in an open district-level arm wrestling competition where I defeated several seasoned opponents and emerged as champion and strong woman in the district," she said.
From then, there was no looking back and she went on to win gold, in the right and left arm categories, at the state-level competitions and then bronze at the national level, she said.
In just a short span of four years after entering the sport, she went on to lead the Indian team at the World Arm Wrestling Competition, held at Turkey from October 14-23, where the country won 13 medals.
"All this was possible due to the support of my family, especially my husband. He is the driving force behind me. He takes me to the Evolution Gym at 5 AM and then again in the evening after our duty ends for the day. He also practices with me," Raju said.
Her husband, also an ASI, however, does not participate in the sporting event.
Raju's coach is Roshith, who runs the gym where she practices and is also a national-level referee of the sport, she said.
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Passenger plane lands safely in New Zealand after fire shuts down engine
Wellington (AP): A passenger plane landed safely at a New Zealand airport on Monday after a fire shut down one of its engines, the nation’s fire service said.
The Virgin Australia Boeing 737-800 jet bound for Melbourne, Australia, with 67 passengers and six crew members on board landed in the New Zealand city of Invercargill after the fire forced a diversion. The incident may have resulted from “a possible bird strike,” the airline’s chief operations officer, Stuart Aggs, said in an emailed statement.
Flames were seen shortly after the plane took off from Queenstown Airport. No further information about what happened at the time of the incident was known, said Catherine Nind, an airport spokesperson.
“At this time, we are not aware of any physical injuries to guests or crew,” Aggs said. Passengers will be accommodated in Invercargill overnight and new flights would be arranged, he said.
Queenstown, with a population of 53,000, is popular tourist destination on New Zealand’s South Island, famous for skiing, adventure tourism and alpine vistas.
The rate of birds striking planes at New Zealand’s airports is about four in every 10,000 aircraft movements, the country’s aviation regulator says on its website. The consequences vary in severity depending on where the aircraft is hit, the size of the birds and the pilot’s reaction, the Civil Aviation Authority says.
