Boxing: Pooja Rani, Vikas Krishan book Olympic berth, enter semis of Asian qualifiers
Amman (Jordan): Asian champion Pooja Rani (75kg) and the seasoned Vikas Krishan (69kg) on Sunday became the first set of Indian boxers to qualify for this year's Tokyo Olympics by advancing to the semifinals of the continental qualifiers here.
While fourth-seeded Rani notched up a facile 5-0 win over Thailand's Pornnipa Chutee, Krishan endured a tough one against third-seeded Japanese Sewonrets Okazawa before also prevailing in a unanimous verdict against the Asian silver-medallist.
While Rani secured her maiden Olympic spot, Krishan will be making his third successive appearance at the quadrennial showpiece, scheduled in July-August.
"I had never fought against this girl before today and honestly, I was a bit scared. I had told my coaches about it before the bout. They instilled confidence in me and I could pull off a one-sided result. I am happy," said the 29-year-old Rani, who fought career-threatening shoulder and hand injuries before her gold at last year's Asian Championships.
Rani will next face the reigning world and Asian champion Li Qian of China, who has the top billing in this category. Qian had no trouble beating Mongolia's Myagmarjargal Munkhbat 5-0 in the opening bout of the day.
Taking full advantage of her longer reach, Rani outpunched the inexperienced but determined Chutee. The Indian is a three-time Asian medallist, besides being a former bronze-winner at the 2014 Asian Games.
Krishan, however, had to slog hard against a brilliant boxer, whose performance was eye-catching despite the loss. Okazawa, a gold-winner at the Olympic Test Event last year, kept Krishan on his toes with his right jabs being particularly effective.
What worked for the Indian was the consistent straight punches to the body, which fetched him the bulk of the points.
Later in the day, Sachin Kumar (81kg) will face China's Chen Daxaing in another quarterfinal bout.
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Instagram removes BJP’s post claiming Cong ‘will snatch wealth of non-muslims’ following backlash
New Delhi: An animated video post shared on BJP’s official Instagram handle, asserting that the Congress party would snatch wealth from non-Muslims to ‘distribute it to its favorite community of invaders,’ has sparked significant backlash. Following the uproar, the photo sharing platform has taken down the post, reports Newslaundry.com.
Meanwhile, it is uncertain whether the post was removed by the BJP or by Instagram following mass reporting by several users as “misinformation” and “hate speech”. The video depicted Rahul Gandhi holding the Congress manifesto which transforms into the logo of the Muslim league. Furthermore, it sought support for PM Modi from every ‘Bharatiya,’ who is also shown wearing a saffron turban.
According to the report, it also contained a clip of PM Modi alleging that the former PM Manmohan Singh had said, “Muslims have the first claim on our resources,” insinuating that if the Congress were to assume power, it would confiscate the money and assets of non-Muslims, redistributing them to Muslims, whom it favored. Labeling Muslims as ‘infiltrators’, the video depicted historical invaders as looters who plundered India's resources and suggested that the Congress party continues to empower individuals from the same community.
The video then communicated that the Congress party’s manifesto is “nothing but Muslim league’s ideology in disguise. If you are a non-Muslim, Congress will snatch your wealth and distribute it to Muslims.” It also slinged the BJP’s official slogan ‘abki baar, 400 paar,’ and called that it was the need of the hour, since Modi only has the “strength to stop the Congress party’s evil plans.”
Similar claims have also been made by several BJP leaders. Recently, Union Minister Anurag Thakur stated that the Congress intends to “Give your children's property to Muslims.”
