<keyword id="2449644" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Vinesh-Phogat">Vinesh Phogat</keyword> suffered a massive upset defeat at the Olympic Games after being pinned by Belarus' <keyword id="126599" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Vanesa">Vanesa</keyword> Kaladzinskaya in the 53kg quarterfinals to not only go out of the gold medal race but also face the risk of getting eliminated, here on Thursday. <keyword id="1300872" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Vinesh">Vinesh</keyword> had no answer to the supreme defence of Vanesa, who got her revenge from the Indian at the biggest stage after suffering a similar embarrassing defeat 'by fall' earlier this year in Ukraine. Vanesa, the reigning European champion, executed her strategy perfectly as Vinesh could not find a way to wriggle out of Vanesa's headlocks. That crippled and rattled the top seed Vinesh, who is one of the strongest wrestlers in her category. Even when Vinesh got behind <keyword id="11794695" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="vansea">Vansea</keyword>, she could not push her down on the knees from a favourable position with the Belarusian showing immense strength to keep her legs straight. Vinesh used all her might but Vanesa's defence would not crumble. Even the famous double-leg attack that Vinesh has used to get herself into position to pin her rivals, did not result in points. Now if the Belarusian does not make the final, Vinesh's Olympic campaign will end in another heart-breaking exit. She had suffered a quarterfinal defeat against China's Sun in Rio Games, where she also endured a leg injury and was stretchered out of the mat. Before this bout, Vinesh had knocked out Rio Olympics bronze-winner and six-time world medallist Sofia Mattsson with a commanding 7-1 win. Vinesh had beaten the Swede at the 2019 World Championship as well. Every time Mattsson initiated a right-leg attack, Vinesh produced a splendid counter to score points. Showing her immense power, Vinesh turned the Swede from a difficult position on the edge of the mat when she could have conceded a point. The Indian maintained the intensity throughout and even got herself into a position for a pin but the Swede escaped the embarrassment. Young <keyword id="5957211" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="anshu-malik">Anshu Malik</keyword> bowed out of the 57kg competition after losing her repechage round 1-5 to Russia's Valeria Koblova, the Rio Olympics silver medallist. Anshu never looked intimidated by a stronger opponent and was leading the bout at one stage on criteria but towards the end, the Russian pulled off a two-pointer to nose ahead. The 19-year-old Indian had lost her opener to European champion Irina Kurachikina but after the Belarusian progressed to the final, she bounced back to be in contention. Ravi Dahiya (57kg) and Deepak Punia (86kg) will fight for gold and bronze medal respectively, in the evening session. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/google-is-now-using-chrome-as-another-security-layer-for-account-sign-ins/articleshow/84975356.cms">Google is now using Chrome as an added security layer for account sign-ins</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/how-to-check-allotment-status-of-glenmark-life-sciences-ipo/articleshow/84978486.cms">Glenmark Life Sciences IPO: How to check allotment status, listing date and more</a>

Tokyo Olympics: Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat loses in quarterfinals, Anshu Malik ousted in repechage round

<ul><li> Star cricketer <keyword id="13937" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rohit-Sharma">Rohit Sharma</keyword> and decorated woman wrestler <keyword id="2449644" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Vinesh-Phogat">Vinesh Phogat</keyword> were among the four athletes recommended on Tuesday for this year's <keyword id="28214" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rajiv-Gandhi-Khel-Ratna">Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna</keyword> award -- the country's highest sporting honour. </li><li>This is only the second time that four athletes have been recommended for the top sporting accolade.</li><li>In 2016, star shuttler P V Sindhu, gymnast Dipa Karmakar, shooter Jitu Rai, and wrestler Sakshi Malik were collectively given this award. </li></ul>Star cricketer Rohit Sharma and decorated woman wrestler Vinesh Phogat were among the four athletes recommended on Tuesday for this year's Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award -- the country's highest sporting honour. Woman paddler Manika Batra and Rio Paralympic gold-winning high jumper Mariappan Thangavelu were the other two sportspersons recommended for the prestigious award by a 12-member selection committee of the Sports Ministry. This is only the second time that four athletes have been recommended for the top sporting accolade. In 2016, star shuttler P V Sindhu, gymnast Dipa Karmakar, shooter Jitu Rai, and wrestler Sakshi Malik were collectively given this award. The 33-year-old Rohit will only be the fourth cricketer after Sachin Tendulkar, just-retired <keyword id="10138" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mahendra-Singh-Dhoni">Mahendra Singh Dhoni</keyword> and current skipper Virat Kohli to be conferred with the Khel Ratna. Tendulkar was the first Indian cricketer to get the Khel Ratna in 1998, followed by Dhoni in 2007 and Kohli in 2018, who won it jointly with weightlifter <keyword id="1512866" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mirabai-Chanu">Mirabai Chanu</keyword>. The committee, comprising the likes of Virender Sehwag and former hockey captain Sardar Singh, met at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) headquarters here. While Rohit has been recognised for his ever-rising accomplishments with the bat, Vinesh has been rewarded for her gold medals in the 2018 Commonwealth and Asian Games besides a bronze in the 2019 Asian Wrestling Championships. Thangavelu got the recognition for his gold medal in the 2016 Rio Paralympics in the T42 high jump category. T42 applies to athletes with single above the knee amputations or a disability that is comparable. Star paddler Manika was recommended for her remarkable performance in 2018, a year during which she won the Commonwealth Games gold medal and Asian Games bronze in women's singles. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/careers/latest-job-openings-at-google-microsoft-jp-morgan-goldman-sachs-ericsson-amazon-adobe-zomato-for-software-engineers/slidelist/77585263.cms">Google, Microsoft, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Ericsson and other companies hiring software engineers in India right now</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/politics/world/news/barack-obama-has-privately-voiced-concerns-that-joe-biden-could-f-things-up-according-to-a-report/articleshow/77574349.cms">Barack Obama has privately voiced concerns that Joe Biden could 'f--- things up,' according to a report</a>

Rohit Sharma, Vinesh Phogat among four recommended for Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/54959124.cms" style="width: 800px; height: 600px;" /> 
 
After a six-year-long wait since winning India’s first gold medal in women’s wrestling in the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=commonwealth+games&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Commonwealth Games</a>, the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=haryana+cabinet&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Haryana cabinet</a> finally approved the appointment of wrestler <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=geeta+phogat&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Geeta Phogat</a> as a Deputy Superintendent of Police in the state police this Tuesday. 
 
The Cabinet, which met under the chairmanship of Chief Minister <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Manohar+Lal+Khattar+&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Manohar Lal Khattar </a>in <keyword id="41646" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Haryana">Haryana</keyword>, approved a Home Department proposal in this regard. 
 
"She is a graduate and a sportsperson of international repute. She is also a gold medallist in wrestling at the 19th Commonwealth Games-2010 held in Delhi," a state government spokesperson said. 
 
Phogat, who was also the first Indian woman wrestler to have qualified for <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=london+olympics&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">London Olympics</a> in 2012, was selected for appointment as Inspector in Haryana Police under sports quota that year. In March, this year, she moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court for promotion to a post on par with her achievements. The High Court then directed the Haryana government to decide on her representation within two months. 
 
But the wait for the reward made the star wrestler frustrated over the years. "Humein aadat ho gayi thi wait karne ki. Sab khush hain par jitni khushi honi chahiye thi, utni nahin hai (We got used to waiting. Everyone is happy but we are not as happy as we should have been)," Geeta had told the Indian Express. 
 
"While other players were appointed (as DSP) on winning gold in the same event, we were denied this for six long years." Geeta is the daughter of <keyword id="1940360" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Mahavir-Singh-Phogat">Mahavir Singh Phogat</keyword> and her sisters include <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=rio+olympics&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Rio 2016 Olympics</a> participants <keyword id="2449644" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Vinesh-Phogat">Vinesh Phogat</keyword> and Babita Kumari.

Geeta Phogat, India's first female Olympic wrestler finally appointed DSP in Haryana Police

<ul><li>India’s home minister <keyword id="6355521" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="amit-shah" source="Orion">Amit Shah</keyword> is known to have met the <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/brij-bhushan-sharan-singh-sexual-assault-charges-bajrang-punia-wrestlers-demanding-probe-against-brij-bhushan-meet-amit-shah-4094411">wrestlers on late Saturday</a>. </li><li>India’s top wrestling athletes have been protesting in New Delhi for the last few months, demanding action against <keyword id="603569" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="brij-bhushan-sharan-singh" source="Orion">Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh</keyword> over sexual misconduct. </li><li>Singh is the president of Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) and a BJP MP. </li></ul>Three days after speaking to Amit Shah, wrestler <keyword id="6356003" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="sakshi-malik" source="Orion">Sakshi Malik</keyword> has rejoined her posting in Northern Railway on Monday. However, Malik<a href="https://twitter.com/SakshiMalik"> said in a tweet that</a> she has not withdrawn from the ongoing wrestlers’ protest in New Delhi, refuting media reports. "No this is all rumours we did not call off the protest. I came to the office to finish some pending work for a day or two and we are making our strategy on what to do next, how to continue the protest in a non-violent way," Malik told ANI. Malik is an Olympics Bronze medalist, and is one of the 30 wrestlers protesting since January this year, demanding action against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the president of Wrestling Federation of India (WFI). Along with Malik, top wrestlers like Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat had been on protest since the beginning of this year in order to press for the removal and arrest of the WFI chief. Complainants have accused Singh, who is also a BJP MP, of sexual harassment and intimidation. India’s home minister Amit Shah is known to have met the <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/brij-bhushan-sharan-singh-sexual-assault-charges-bajrang-punia-wrestlers-demanding-probe-against-brij-bhushan-meet-amit-shah-4094411">wrestlers on late Saturday</a>. The Delhi police registered 10 complaints and two FIRs against WFI chief Singh. One of them was on the basis of a complaint from the father of a minor wrestler invoking the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act that entails a prison term of up to seven years on conviction. Singh has however said that he will "hang himself" if even one accusation against him is true. "I will hang myself even if one allegation against me turns out to be true. I stand by my statement," Bhushan told the media in Gonda. (With ANI inputs)

Sakshi Malik refutes reports she has withdrawn from wrestlers’ protest

World champion woman boxer and <keyword id="11932" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="olympic" source="Orion">Olympic</keyword> bronze medallist MC Mary Kom will head the government-appointed five-member <keyword id="199113" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="oversight-committee" source="Orion">Oversight Committee</keyword> for the Wrestling Federation of India (<keyword id="6437897" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="wfi" source="Orion">WFI</keyword>) which will have Olympic bronze medallist grappler <keyword id="157783" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="yogeshwar-dutt" source="Orion">Yogeshwar Dutt</keyword> and former India badminton star Trupti Murgunde as key members. Union Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs, Anurag Thakur on Monday announced the composition of the Oversight Committee which will also include the former CEO of Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) Capt Rajagopalan and former SAI Executive Director (Teams) Radhika Sreeman. Murgunde is a member of the government's Mission Olympic Cell member. "As I had earlier announced, the Oversight Committee will not only handle the day-to-day functioning of the WFI but also inquire into the serious allegations made by the wrestlers and submit a report," Sports Minister Anurag Thakur told the media on Monday. Thakur had on Saturday announced the formation of the Oversight Committee to handle the day-to-day activities of the WFI after a group of wrestlers led by Olympians Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat, Ravi Dhaiya and Deepak Punia sat on a protest at the Jantar Mantar here alleging many irregularities by WFI including mismanagement of governance and sexual harassment of women grapplers by coaches and the WFI president. At the same time, the government also suspended WFI assistant secretary <keyword id="2210825" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="vinod-tomar" source="Orion">Vinod Tomar</keyword>. On Monday, Thakur informed that Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh has been asked to cease functioning as WFI president till the inquiry by the Oversight Committee is completed and has been told not to interfere in the day-to-day functioning of the WFI. The Indian wrestlers had called off their protest late on Friday evening after a second meeting at Thakur's residence in the national capital. The meeting lasted beyond midnight, following which wrestler Bajrang Punia announced to the media that the other wrestlers are calling off the protest after assurance of action from Thakur against the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI). The wrestlers have been staging a protest since Wednesday, accusing WFI President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh of sexual harassment of women wrestlers, sponsorship fund embezzlement, and athletes' mismanagement. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/full-dress-rehearsal-of-republic-day-parade-held/articleshow/97251791.cms">Full dress rehearsal of Republic Day Parade held</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/tricolour-was-hoisted-first-in-andaman-says-pm-modi-as-he-names-21-islands-after-param-vir-chakra-awardees/articleshow/97252114.cms">Tricolour was hoisted first in Andaman says PM Modi as he names 21 islands after Param Vir Chakra awardees</a>

Mary Kom to head Oversight Committee for wrestling federation; Yogeshwar, Murgunde named members

<ul><li>All the nine athletes recommended for <keyword id="15575" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Padma-Vibhushan">Padma Vibhushan</keyword>, <keyword id="100507" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Padma-Bhushan">Padma Bhushan</keyword> and <keyword id="25105" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Padma-Shri">Padma Shri</keyword> are women, reported the Times of India. </li><li>Boxing champion, <keyword id="56244" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="MC-Mary-Kom">MC Mary Kom</keyword> is nominated for Padma Vibhushan. </li><li>P V Sindhu, the first Indian to win gold at BWF World Championships is nominated for Padma Bhushan. </li></ul>The sports ministry has recommended nine people for Padma awards--India’s highest civilian honour — and all of them are women,<a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/more-sports/others/sports-ministry-sends-9-names-for-padmas-all-women/articleshow/71088910.cms"> reported the Times of India.</a> Boxing champion, MC Mary Kom is nominated for Padma Vibhushan. The government had earlier awarded her with Padma Shri 2006 and Padma Bhushan in 2013. Further, P V Sindhu, the first Indian to win gold at BWF World Championships is nominated for Padma Bhushan. She earlier got a Padma Shri in 2015. The other seven athletes in the list are: Wrestler Vinesh Phogat, table tennis star Manika Batra, T20I skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, hockey captain Rani Rampal, former shooter Suma Shirur and mountaineer twin sisters, Tashi and Nungshi Malik, <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/more-sports/others/sports-ministry-sends-9-names-for-padmas-all-women/articleshow/71088910.cms">said the report.</a> The Indian government awarded three sportspeople with Padma Vibhushan -- Chess champion Viswanathan Anand in 2007, Sachin Tendulkar in 2008 and Sir Edmund Hillary in 2008. Sports Ministry has sent the list to Home Ministry. The government will announce the award on the upcoming Republic Day. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/a-look-back-at-pv-sindhu-journey-to-be-indias-first-badminton-world-champion/articleshow/70841055.cms">A look back at PV Sindhu journey to be India's first badminton world champion</a>

An all-women list for the highest civilian honours from India's Sports Ministry

<ul><li>Sony Sports has played a key role in bringing non-cricket sports to India.</li><li>This year, Sony Sports is the official broadcaster of the once-in-a-four-year global sports event, Tokyo Olympics.</li><li>Rajesh Kaul, Chief Revenue Officer, Distribution and Head – Sports Business, Sony Pictures Networks India tells us how the broadcaster is trying to popularize other sports in India, its plans to immerse consumers with innovative marketing and more.</li></ul>With the lockdown being enforced, subsequent stoppage of play on the field and IPL getting postponed, advertisers have been starved of a good sporting tournament. After the pandemic, many sports properties have either been cancelled or postponed, directly affecting India’s ad revenue and sponsorship pie. While India’s most worshipped sport, cricket, still dominates viewership and sponsorship, <keyword id="3132005" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sony-Pictures-Network">Sony Pictures Network</keyword> (SNP) has given its fans more choices between sporting events and SonyLiv has given them options in terms of what, when and how much to watch, leading to a rise in demand for subscription viewing in live sports. After a long, dry spell, millions of Indians are expected to tune into Tokyo Olympics this year. Sponsors and brands have also started seeing the Olympics as the one occasion to capitalise on the media and consumer attention. As a result, Sony Sports has seen an uptick in demand from sponsors and advertisers across categories for the summer games. To help its advertisers get the best bang for their buck, SPN launched an ‘innovative’ advertising format ‘Split-screen ads,’ which has <a href="https://twitter.com/Archit_0106/status/1418542834395729923">gained </a><a href="https://twitter.com/PrashantMUFC/status/1420988968238161920">mixed </a><a href="https://twitter.com/LifeIsAnElation/status/1418552243893116935">reviews </a>on social media. We caught up with Rajesh Kaul, Chief Revenue Officer, Distribution and Head – Sports Business, Sony Pictures Networks India to further understand what kind of response the broadcaster and streaming player has seen from advertisers and sponsors, how it is trying to increase non-sporting events’ viewership in india <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Q. This year, brands across categories have started to roll out campaigns celebrating the inspirational journey of athletes. This wasn't the case a few years ago. More and more advertisers are exploring international sports that represent India. Are advertisers open to exploring sports beyond cricket now?" text="Q. This year, brands across categories have started to roll out campaigns celebrating the inspirational journey of athletes. This wasn't the case a few years ago. More and more advertisers are exploring international sports that represent India. Are advertisers open to exploring sports beyond cricket now?">Q. This year, brands across categories have started to roll out campaigns celebrating the inspirational journey of athletes. This wasn't the case a few years ago. More and more advertisers are exploring international sports that represent India. Are advertisers open to exploring sports beyond cricket now?</cmsannotation> Indians have always been extremely supportive of the Indian athletes when they compete at a global stage. Their performances are celebrated as it is a huge thing to even get to participate, let alone winning a medal at Olympics. More and more business houses/organizations/brands have started promoting various athletes and or Indian contingent. Sports in India is growing dramatically as an entertainment option beyond just cricket. This year. Sony Sports has embarked on a mission to popularize the athletes participating in the <keyword id="7932992" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="olympic-games-tokyo-2020">Olympic Games Tokyo 2020</keyword> and to make them household names. Sony Sports launched the grandest ever campaign in the history of Indian Olympics, Hum Honge Kamyab to galvanize the whole nation to cheer for the India contingent. From the honorable Prime minister of India himself to the sports minister as well as industrialists, sports personalities, philanthropists, Bollywood Superstars, Youtube influencers joined us in our endeavor. Sony Sports has collaborated with the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports as well as eminent personalities and joining the brigade are Union Minister for I&amp;B and Youth Affairs &amp; Sports, Shri Anurag Thakur, General Bipin Rawat, Chief of Defence Staff and Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee and Mr. N.P. Singh, MD &amp; CEO, Sony Pictures Networks India, along with Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Anupam Kher, Sajjan Jindal, Sudha Murty, Nita Ambani, Gautam Adani, Rana Daggubati, Yuvraj Singh, Anjali Bhagwat, Parth Jindal, Boman Irani, Farhan Akhtar, Sonakshi Sinha, Johnny Lever, Ali Fazal, Adille Sumariwala, Arshad Warsi, Pullela Gopichand, Vijender Singh, Anjali Bhagwat, Harsha Bhogle, Shankar Mahadevan, Anurag Basu, and many more to catalyze the Olympic momentum in the nation for the landmark event. This was unprecedented and Sony Sports’ efforts have pumped up the volume of Olympics in India and the #Olympicsjosh decibels have gone up to another level. <div type="Youtube" id="-bnwo0ezgQE" title="Watch PV Sindhu, Manu Bhaker, Mary Kom, Deepak Kumar, Hockey (M) &amp; others LIVE, TOM, July 25 on Sony" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/-bnwo0ezgQE/mqdefault.jpg"></div> <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Q. Can you tell us what kind of interest you have seen from advertisers and brands?" text="Q. Can you tell us what kind of interest you have seen from advertisers and brands?">Q. Can you tell us what kind of interest you have seen from advertisers and brands?</cmsannotation> We have received a phenomenal response from advertisers and we have got sponsors on board across categories like beverages, FMCG, education, automobiles, banking, finance, gaming, sports foundations amongst others. The sponsors are Coca-Cola India Pvt. Ltd., LIC, JSW, MPL, Hero MotoCorp, Amul, Reserve Bank of India, AMFI and other advertisers include Visa, Byju’s, Adani Group, Herbalife Nutrition &amp; Lenovo and more. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Q. This once-in-a-four-year sports event attracts eyeballs from across the world hosting sports such as shooting, wrestling, long jump, and hockey. Which sport do you think will perform the best in India in terms of viewership?" text="Q. This once-in-a-four-year sports event attracts eyeballs from across the world hosting sports such as shooting, wrestling, long jump, and hockey. Which sport do you think will perform the best in India in terms of viewership?">Q. This once-in-a-four-year sports event attracts eyeballs from across the world hosting sports such as shooting, wrestling, long jump, and hockey. Which sport do you think will perform the best in India in terms of viewership?</cmsannotation> We expect great Sports like Wrestling, Shooting, Archery and Hockey, which have also done extremely well on TV in the past, due to the medal winning performances by Indian Athletes. Additionally, there has been high interest to watch Athletics and Gymnastics, owing to the visually engaging nature of the sports. During the 2016 Rio Olympics, Badminton had the highest viewership owing to PV Sindhu winning a silver medal. The final match between PV Sindhu and Carolina Marin was watched by 42 million viewers across the country. This year, we have our largest contingent ever of 127 athletes travelling to Tokyo and the whole nation will want to support and watch our athletes in the various sports disciplines they are competing in like boxing, wrestling, tennis, athletics, badminton, hockey, shooting, archery, weightlifting, Equestrian, Table tennis and more. Some of the athletes that the audiences are already looking out for are Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudhary in shooting, Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia in wrestling, Amit Panghal and Mary Kom in boxing, Deepika Kumari and Atanu Das, PV Sindu in badminton and more. Also, for the first time, we will see participation in fencing with Bhavani Devi and Fouaad Mirza making it to the equestrian event which will also attract audiences. Additionally, to reach out to a wider audience and engage viewers across India, Sony Sports will have a Live wraparound studio show called SPORTS EXTRAAA with a distinguished panel that comprising former Olympians and legendary Indian athletes like Vijender Singh, Gagan Narang, Karnam Malleswari, Anjali Bhagwat, Anju Bobby George, Sakshi Malik, Viren Rasquinha, Somdev Devvarman, Trupti Murgunde, Rahul Banerjee, Kripa Shankar and Satish Shivalingam. We will also have the world-renowned Sprinter and four-time Olympic medalist, Yohan Blake, considered to be the second fastest man after Usain Bolt as a marquee expert on the show. The comprehensive coverage for the global event will be broadcast LIVE in four languages: SONY TEN 2 and SONY SIX channels in English, SONY TEN 3 channels in Hindi and in Tamil &amp; Telugu on the newly launched SONY TEN 4 channels. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Q. How do brands get to benefit from advertising on Olympics through Sony this year? What is your advice to brands who are advertising? How can they get the best bang for their buck?" text="Q. How do brands get to benefit from advertising on Olympics through Sony this year? What is your advice to brands who are advertising? How can they get the best bang for their buck?">Q. How do brands get to benefit from advertising on Olympics through Sony this year? What is your advice to brands who are advertising? How can they get the best bang for their buck?</cmsannotation> The Olympic Games is an extremely premium global sporting event, the greatest show on earth with 200+ countries, 11000+ athletes across 339 events in 33 different sports, encompassing a total of 50 disciplines. As I mentioned earlier, this year, we have rolled out the grandest campaign for this showcase event involving 30+ luminaries across the country. The sheer association to the Olympics for any brand will create and drive great brand perception and awareness value. We have offered value-based propositions to our clients and have ensured that we amplify their associations with athletes in the Indian contingent which they might be sponsoring. The brands have also been given the opportunity to ride on the back of the amazing build- up programming which we have locally produced adding to the brands association and visibility. Series like “Torch bearers” are resonating well with our audiences. We are also excited to offer a new breakthrough innovation “Split Screen” advertisement opportunity during the live broadcast. This will help the brands break away from the clutter and amplifies the brand’s visibility manifold without intruding into the viewing experiences of our audiences. This new technology is a game changer and will surely get the best ROI for our key sponsors. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Q. How do you think sports marketing has changed in India in the last few years? Any interesting trends that you are expecting to see as we move forward?" text="Q. How do you think sports marketing has changed in India in the last few years? Any interesting trends that you are expecting to see as we move forward?">Q. How do you think sports marketing has changed in India in the last few years? Any interesting trends that you are expecting to see as we move forward?</cmsannotation> While Indian Cricket will dominate viewership and revenues, Sony Sports has been consistently making efforts to massify and popularize other sports. Sony Sports is a global multi-sporting arena and sports marketing here, is not only talks to the purists but also focuses on attracting fence-sitters and newer audiences to join the Sony Sports community. This has paid off and every year our viewership for sports like WWE, UFC, football properties like UEFA Champions League and non-India cricket is steadily growing. Even the recently concluded UEFA EURO 2020 on our sports channels has seen massive growth compared to the last edition in 2016 by almost 70% Sports as an entertainment quotient is only going to grow.

Sony Sports has embarked on a mission to popularize the athletes participating in the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 and to make them household names: Rajesh Kaul of SPN

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/39354053.cms" /> It is never too late to rise and shine. As if to salvage India’s image that was lost when the country hosted the <keyword id="6354367" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Commonwealth-Games">Commonwealth Games</keyword> in 2010 in New Delhi, Indian sportspersons continue to shine in the medal race at the C’wealth Games being held in <keyword id="69738" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Glasgow">Glasgow</keyword> this year. 
 Some of the media favourites like <keyword id="28211" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Abhinav-Bindra">Abhinav Bindra</keyword>, <keyword id="10633" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sushil-Kumar">Sushil Kumar</keyword> and <keyword id="20664" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="gagan-narang">Gagan Narang</keyword> have had a great showing. But Indians are a tad disappointed as shuttler Saina Nehwal, the country’s biggest medal hope, pulled out of the Games owing to fitness issues. 
 
The 215-strong Indian contingent participating in the Commonwealth Games 2014 has staged some excellent performances this year. Incidentally, controversies marred the last edition of the Games hosted by India four years ago and clearly took some shine off the excellent showing of Indian sports stars at that time. 
 
But this time around, hopes were as strong as the performances put up by Indians. Among the 6,500 sports persons representing 71 nations across 17 sports, India is sitting snug at the sixth spot. Although this is a ‘fall’ of sorts from the earlier ranking, India may very well finish with third or fourth highest medal tally. 
 
Some of the finest stories of non-celebrities evolving into heroes, based on their dedication, focus, hard work and commitment (laced with the smallest share of luck), are being written here. For instance, there is weightlifter Satish Kumar Sivalingam whom we hardly know. He hails from a poor family in Tamil Nadu, but has now secured his place in the hearts of millions by making his country proud. Sivalingam, a humble Railways employee, won the gold in men’s weightlifting 77kg category. 
 
However, India’s ace sharpshooters mostly called the shots in the medal hunt. Apart from Bindra winning the gold in men’s 10m air rifle and Narang settling for the silver medal in 50m rifle prone event, Jitu Rai bagged the gold medal in men’s 50m while Gurpal Singh followed him with the silver. 
 
Shooters and wrestlers came up with a stunning show at the Games, winning majority of the gold medals in India’s medal haul. Having won 41 medals in all, India has so far got 10 gold medals, 19 silvers and 12 bronzes. 
 
Wrestler Sushil Kumar, who carried the weight of India’s aspirations, will also return home to a hero’s welcome. He led the charge of Indian wrestlers who won three of the five gold medals up for grabs at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, the venue for wrestling competitions. 
 
Interestingly, the ongoing Commonwealth Games is his first major international event after his favourite 66kg category was removed and he had to pile up 9kg to qualify for the new weight category. In the Glasgow Games, four sports categories have been removed, reducing the mega event to only 17 categories. 
 
Prior to Sushil Kumar, Amit Kumar and Vinesh Phogat made India proud with excellent performance in their respective categories. Amit won gold in men’s freestyle 57kg by beating Nigerian Ebikweminomo Welson, teenager Vinesh held the country’s flag high by clinching an 11-8 victory against England’s Yana Rattigan in the women’s freestyle 48kg wrestling. 
 
The medal haul continued with marksmen Sanjeev Rajput and Narang winning medals (silver and bronze, respectively, in men’s 50m rifle 3 position) for the country. Lajja Goswami also won the bronze in women’s 50m rifle 3 position category. 
 
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