National Sports Awards postponed to September 25
Savitasays
side,” she asserted.
But the Indians will have to lift their game by a few notches for that to happen. Against England, they failed to earn a single penalty corner, leaving dragflicker Gurjit Kaur frustrated.
However, goalkeeper Savita was brilliant under the bar to deny England on numerous occasion and was the key in helping India escape with a draw as England were relentless in attack.
The Indians did create more chances from open play and that counted as a positive for chief coach Marijne going into tomorrow’s game.
A win tomorrow will take India to the top of the pool and brighten its knock-out chances ahead of its last fixture against USA on July 29. In the other match of the day, Spain will take on South Africa in Pool C.
The Sports Ministry is open to the idea of considering outstanding performers of next month’s Asian Games for this year’s National Sports Awards, which will be held on September 25 instead of the conventional August 29 to ensure that athletes don’t miss out due to their participation in the continental showpiece. Every year, the National Sports Awards ceremony is held on August 29 at the Rashtrapati Bhawan to commemorate the birth anniversary of hockey legend Major Dhyan Chand as the National Sports Day.
But in a departure from tradition, the awards ceremony will be held on September 25 to avoid a clash of dates with the Asian Games to be held in the Indonesian twin cities of Jakarta and Palembang from August 18 to September 2. Sports secretary Rahul Bhatnagar said the decision was taken to ensure maximum participation from sportspersons and the ministry has already received the green signal from the Rashtrapati Bhawan on the change of dates.
“The ministry has decided to shift the date as it coincides with the Asian Games. We want maximum participation from athletes, coaches and officials at the awards ceremony so we wrote to Rashtrapati Bhawan, requesting for the change of date,” Bhatnagar said. The official also confirmed that performances at the Asian Games will be considered for the sports awards.
We lost to Ireland last year after conceding two penalty corners. But we have done well against Ireland in practice matches. We have a strong defence and play an attacking brand of hockey it is a potent combination and makes us strong as a side. NEWDELHI: NEW DELHI