Swimmers back stricken champ Ikee

Tokyo:japanese swimmers have vowed to step up their efforts in support of Rikako Ikee, the poster girl for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics who has announced she is suffering from leukaemia.

The 18-year-old swim queen tweeted a few days ago that she had cut short a training camp in Australia after feeling unwell and had been diagnosed with the illness on return to Japan.

The news sent shockwaves around the sport and wellwishes have flooded in for Ikee, a genuine title contender at the 2020 Olympics in her home city.

“I was shocked,” two-time world champion Daiya Seto said at the Konami Open here on Saturday.

“With the Tokyo Olympics on the horizon, people will no doubt be urging her to get well and compete.

“But obviously life is more important,” added the Rio Olympic bronze medallist. “I just pray she gets better soon and we can see her cute smile again — all we can really do is pray.”

Ippei Watanabe promised to break his own world record in the men’s 200m breaststroke at the Japanese championships in April to help encourage Ikee in her battle to recover. NEWDELHI: With his five-day trial stint with Norwegian club Viking FK coming to an end, Delhi Dynamos winger Lallianzuala Chhangte is back in the national capital ahead of the Indian Super League (ISL) clash against tabletoppers Bengaluru FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on Sunday.

Having reached Viking’s base in Stavanger last Friday, Chhangte found out that training sessions are scheduled only during weekdays, leaving him with even fewer days to train with the team.

However, the youngster from Mizoram said his brief trip to Norway was a positive one. “It was a good experience even though it was really short. If they call me again, it will be a good idea to go back there and have a proper stint with them,” said Chhangte on the eve of the Bengaluru game.