India wrestlers get ‘sponsor’ boost ahead of Asian Games

Iraq withdraw from soccer event

MUMBAI, Aug 1, (Agencies): India’s wrestlers received a welcome boost ahead of this month’s Asian Games after the federation got automaker Tata Motors as their principal sponsor on Wednesday.

Wrestling has been the most productive sport in recent times at the Olympics for the country, bringing in five medals — one silver and four bronze — in the last three Games.

While some wrestlers have received sponsorship in individual capacities, the Wrestling Federation of India had been looking for corporate support for its athletes’ international training and exposure trips.

Tata Motors, owner of British luxury brands Jaguar and Land Rover, will sponsor wrestling for three years, beginning with the upcoming Asian Games in Jakarta and will continue till 2021.

“I am happy with the adulation the sport has received ever since 2008 Beijing Olympics as we have been successfully winning medals in three consecutive Olympics,” Sakshi Malik, who won a bronze at the Rio Olympics, told reporters.

“We have been giving the best performances Association had initially denied reports the team would be removed from the competition and that the squad’s preparations were being finalised following the completion of a training camp in the northern city of Erbil.

Indonesian security forces jumped out of helicopters and abseiled down the side of a high-rise in a counterterrorism drill in Jakarta on Wednesday, as preparations for this month’s Asian Games gathered momentum.

Southeast Asia’s biggest nation is readying to host more than 100,000 athletes and spectators at the event, which is set to run from Aug 18 to Sept 2, guarded by tens of thousands of police and military personnel.

Special forces simulated a militant attack and a hostage situation at the main stadium complex after the Muslim-majority country suffered its deadliest militant attacks in more than a decade in May.

Since a spate of suicide bombings in the second biggest city of Surabaya killed about 30 people, including several attackers, counter-terrorism police looking to defuse homegrown radicalism have detained nearly 250 suspected militants and killed 21.

“These arrests are part of the process of our hosting and preparing for the Asian Games,” said national police spokesman Setyo Wasisto, adding that police were also cracking down on petty crime and traffic violations.

Son Heung-min will miss South Korea’s first two matches at the Asian Cup in January under a compromise agreed with Tottenham Hotspur to release him for this month’s Asian Games, the Korea Football Association (KFA) said Wednesday.

Indonesian military personnel perform a forced entry during a rappel as they conduct a security drill in Jakarta on Aug 1, as part of their effort to secure the 2018 Asian

Games. (AFP)