to move up and down
Durga Midya, right, a blind athlete of B-1 category, runs during the 18th National Sports Meet for the Blind in New Delhi, India. The four day event ends Friday. (Photo: Saurabh Das/The Associated Press)
Don’t try this at home: A girl practices a Mallakhamb pose while suspended from a rope at the Shree Samartha Vyayam Mandir in Mumbai.
Mallakhamb is an ancient Indian sport which originated as a complementary exercise for wrestling, but is now practiced as a sport in itself. The name is a combination of the words “malla”, which means athlete or strong man, and “khamba”, which means pole. Athletes perform a variety of yogic and gymnastic poses while suspended from a rope or on a pole. Practitioners say that the sport not only develops a healthy and strong body, but also strengthens willpower and helps compose the mind. (Photo: REUTERS/Vivek Prakash)
INVISIBLE SWORD! Afghanistan’s Izatullah Dawlatzai, a substitute fielder, drops a catch from the bat of India’s Suresh Raina during their ICC World 20 group A cricket match in Colombo.
Who is this woman on the left? We don’t know — and neither does India’s Olympic team. And they are pretty angry.
“She had no business to walk in with the Indian contingent and we are taking up the issue with the organisers. We don’t know who she is and why she was allowed to walk in. It is a shame that she was with the athletes in the march past,” the country’s chef de mission told PTI in London.
Could yoga be an Olympic sport?
The judges will be watching – were the competitor’s knees locked? Were the wrists straight? Did the forehead and the knee connect? If not, points are going to be lost.
Seeking the perfect pose will be the order of the day at the National Yoga Asana Championship, being put on March 2-4 by an organization that wants to see yoga asana, or posture, competition become an Olympic sport.
Wait, competitive yoga? Isn’t that counterintuitive to something that’s usually presented as a spiritual, meditative discipline? Not according to Rajashree Choudhury, who founded USA Yoga, which is holding the competition.
Wrestlers practise in the mud at a traditional Indian wrestling centre called ‘Akhaara’ in Kolhapur. Kushti (mud wrestling) is a traditional sport in India but more and more young athletes are now taking up mat wrestling to gain access to the top international competitions like the Commonwealth Games or the upcoming Olympic Games. (REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui)
Another title for Milos
Canada’s Milos Raonic powered his way to a second world tennis title Sunday taking the Aricel Chennai Open in Chennai, India in a third-set tiebreak.
The 21-year-old bested the top-seeded Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia, winning the last two sets in dramatic fashion and taking the tournament with a final-round score of 6-7, 7-6, 7-6.
Photo: Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP/Getty Images
CRICKET: Boys play on the Marina beach during sunset in the southern Indian city of Chennai. Photo: REUTERS/Babu
WELCOME TO INDIA: Ferrari Formula One driver Fernando Alonso of Spain toasts during a party in Greater Noida on the outskirts of New Delhi. India will host its maiden F1 race from October 28-30. Photo: REUTERS/Parivartan Sharma
An India fan reacts during the third one-day international cricket match between India and England in Mohali on Thursday. Photo: REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
