But, M.R. Poovamma doesn’t feel any threat. The Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games are lined up between July and October in Korea and Scotland next year and Poovamma feels that three of the berths in the six-member 4×400 women’s relay team, which includes two reserves, are almost confirmed though there are many more girls now in the fray.

“There should be some changes because the banned athletes have come back. But, I think Anu Mariam, Tintu Luka and I will be there in the relay team,” said the Asian championship 400m silver medallist on the sidelines of the All-India Public Sector Meet here on Friday. “The fight will be for the other berths.”

Poovamma, Tintu and Anu, along with Nirmala, won the Asian championship relay gold in Pune in July and they also ran in the world championship in Moscow in August.

Exudes confidence
The country’s fastest one-lap runner now, Poovamma is confident that India will get gold in the mile relay in the Asian Games in Incheon. But, she has a bigger goal.

“We have been getting the relay gold almost every time, we are sure of it but my main aim will be in getting the individual 400m medal,” said the 23-year-old, who hails from Mangalore. “Commonwealth, I can expect one of the three (medals) and Asian Games, I can try for a gold.”

She clocked her personal best, 52.75s in the recent Federation Cup in Patiala and hopes to bring it down to 51.50 year.

“During training, I am much better than what I was last year so I think I can run much faster, probably my best,” she said. “I’ll try my best to break the national record (Manjeet Kaur’s 51.05 which came in 2004) but my target next year is 51.50 and I think it’s achievable.”

There is talk in the circuit that Tintu could be running the 400m along with the 800m next year and Poovamma feels that the Kerala star’s presence will boost the one-lapper in a big way.

“If Tintu takes up 400m seriously, it will push me to much faster timings. She’s a good athlete, she has been giving us good competition…when something like that happens it will help the sport in a big way.”

More testing
With athletics coming under close scrutiny, Poovamma says that there is a lot more testing these days. “Now, I am in the Patiala national camp and the NADA usually comes once in two months,” she said.

“They are more strict than before. We don’t know when they’d come. After the Asian championship, I have been tested twice or thrice in Patiala in the last six months.”

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Sport> Other Sports / by Stan Ryan / Kochi – December 20th, 2013

Tennis – Sania says she has not played with him due to fallout of the Olympics controversy.

Tennis – Indian tennis stars Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza say that they will play mixed doubles again together soon, although for now they are committed to playing with different partners at the Australian Open.

In an interview to the India Today magazine, Sania says that the two have not played recently due to the London Olympics controversy.The two had played at the Hopman Cup a few years ago, representing India and nearly made the finals.

“One of the main reasons has been the Olympics. It has messed up a lot of things, especially in terms of partnerships. After that Wimbledon performance, I decided to play with Mahesh because we were targeting to play together in London Olympics. That is where friendship helps; we understood each other’s decisions and found different partners. It was just wrong timing that we didn’t play together again. But we’ll certainly play again. There was never any conflict between us. In the beginning of the row, I didn’t say anything because it was between the boys. Rohan never mentioned me. But when my name was dragged into the debate, I had to speak up. It affected my relationship with Mahesh for a brief period but we soon got back to normal.”

When asked about playing together again, Sania says, “As of now, we are committed to playing with other partners at the Australian Open. If we win with others, we might not get the chance. But we could well play the French Open or Wimbledon together. It’s all about what the situation would be then.”

source: http://www.tennisworldusa.org / Tennis World / Home> Tennis Stories / by Prakash / December 21st, 2013