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Tag: Sushil Kumar

  • discovery+ launches investigative docuseries ‘Dangals of Crime’

    discovery+ launches investigative docuseries ‘Dangals of Crime’

    Mumbai: Streaming app discovery+ has launched an investigative docuseries “Dangals of Crime – The Untold Truth About Indian Wrestling,” which traces the meteoric rise of the Olympic sport of Wrestling in India while exploring in-depth the dark underbelly of crime often associated with it.

    Former wrestlers and coaches, eminent sports journalists, and law enforcement officials weigh in with their experiences, insights and memories, in the two-part series produced by Vice Studios Production and directed by award-winning director Niyantha Shekar.

    Notable former coaches and wrestlers whose views are reflected in the documentary include names such as Satbir Singh, Virender Kumar, Anil Mann and Ramphal Mann.

    Wrestling is by far India’s most successful individual sport (seven medals) in terms of medals won at the Summer Olympics. Its popularity reached a crescendo after iconic wrestlers Sushil Kumar and Yogeshwar Dutt won three medals collectively across two successive Games (Beijing 2008 and London 2012). “Dangals of Crime” showcases this journey towards success and highlights the deep-rooted akhada culture, strict discipline and the unparalleled devotion that makes a champion wrestler.

    The series explores how the sport, which has been instrumental in bringing sporting laurels for India, has also been witness to some dark moments which overshadow its glorious journey and malign wrestling and its athletes.

    “Dangals of Crime delves deep into the realms of wrestling, a sport that has churned out some of India’s greatest homegrown champions. Reflecting on the sport in the most informative way, the discovery+ Original dissects every aspect of the making of a Pehelwan, coupled with its current realities and the crime related to it. It will surely leave our viewers thinking,” said Discovery Inc MD – South Asia Megha Tata.

  • Sony Pictures Networks India acquires media rights in the Indian-subcontinent for World Wrestling Championship 2019

    Sony Pictures Networks India acquires media rights in the Indian-subcontinent for World Wrestling Championship 2019

    Sony Pictures Networks India Private Limited (SPN) has acquired media rights comprising of exclusive television broadcast rights and non-exclusive digital transmission rights for the World Wrestling Championship 2019, to be held from September 14 to 22, 2019 in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan. The agreement with Sporty Solutionz, UWW’s Media Rights exclusive partners for the territory, covers television and digital rights in the Indian sub-continent.

    Organized by the United World Wrestling, the 2019 World Championships will be the first qualification event in select categories for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. The preliminary rounds will be livestreamed only on SonyLIV. The semi-finals and finals across all the three events – Men’s Freestyle, Greco Roman and Women’s Wrestling – and weight-categories will be telecast daily on SONY TEN 3 SD & HD and SONY ESPN SD & HD channels as well as live streamed on SonyLIV starting from September 14, 2019, until September 22, 2019. All the matches will be aired live in India between 4:00 PM and 8:00 PM IST allowing audiences to watch this prestigious tournament at prime time.

    The UWW World Championships are the amateur wrestling world championships organized by the United World Wrestling. The event features competitions in Men’s Freestyle, Men’s Greco-Roman and Women’s Freestyle tournaments across different weight categories. From India, top wrestlers like Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik, Sushil Kumar, Vinesh Phogat and many more will aim to rise to the occasion. 

  • OLX India appoints Sapna Arora as chief marketing officer

    OLX India appoints Sapna Arora as chief marketing officer

    MUMBAI: OLX India has appointed Sapna Arora as its new chief marketing officer. In her new role, she will be responsible for leading the brand marketing initiatives of the company. Prior to joining OLX, Arora was a partner at Matrix Atlantic Capital, where she worked closely with entrepreneurs to unlock growth opportunities.

    An alumnus of St. Stephens College, Delhi University, Arora holds an MBA Degree from IIM Bangalore. She has extensive experience in leading major brands through a creative turnaround and in inspiring engagement with consumers in new ways and previously has served in various leadership roles at Procter and Gamble, Reckitt Benckiser, Nestle and Bennett Coleman and has extensive experience of nurturing billion dollar brands such as Pantene, Whisper, Tampax, Tide, Stouffer's, and Mortein, among others.

    OLX India general manager Sushil Kumar said, “As the brand takes the next big leap in its positioning in India, Sapna will spearhead the brand’s marketing journey with her accomplished vision and experience. She has worked on some of the most iconic brands in India and we look forward to her contribution in our next phase of growth.”

    “I admire OLX's strong brand recognition, high consumer awareness, and rich brand heritage. It's a product that can help consumers upgrade their lives within their means, builds upon the cultural shift of shorter ownership cycles while extending the product's life; thereby contributing in reducing the carbon footprint," Arora said.

  • Tata Motors launches elite wrestlers development program

    Tata Motors launches elite wrestlers development program

    MUMBAI: After announcing itself as the principal sponsor of the Wrestling Foundation of India (WFI) in August, Tata Motors Commercial Vehicles Business Unit  (CVBU) has further extended its support to the sport in an exemplary way by setting up the ‘Tata Motors Elite Wrestlers Development Program’. The official announcement for the same was made, in presence of the topmost players including Olympic medal winners Sushil Kumar and Sakshi Malik, in Mumbai.

    The aim of the Elite program is to promote, encourage, and develop rising Indian wrestlers and prepare them for the Olympic Gold medals. Through this, Tata Motors Commercial Vehicle Business will help nurture an international standard eco system for athlete support to help India create a new success stories at Tokyo 2020 & Paris 2024 Olympic Games. It will support the players with best possible training and coaching facilities, enabled by renowned foreign coaches, support staff, and international exposure.

    The program will appoint top class foreign coaches for both men and women squads, best possible support staff who will work both on the physical and mental development of the athletes and organise premium exposure trips for the elite Indian wrestlers so that they train and hone themselves according to the global training standards. The support staff will include experienced physiotherapists, biomechanics, mental trainers, and nutritionists. In addition, Tata Motors will also provide insurance cover to Indian wrestlers.

    As revealed at the event, this is for the first time in the history of Indian sports, Tata Motors, along with WFI has announced central contracts to a sport other than cricket, assuring guaranteed benefits to Indian wrestlers. The central contracts are annual retainers that will be spread across 150 players as per grades and assure basic annual earnings for the players, through the sport.

    Speaking on the occasion, Tata Motors president, CVBU Girish Wagh mentioned that sports is an important bridge to connect brands with the customers. He said, “Tata Motors, in line with its group’s heritage has constantly looked at encouraging sports and promoting sporting talent across India and overseas. Wrestling as a homegrown sport has definitely grown in popularity and needs further support in enhancing talent. We are strengthening our association with WFI by directing our efforts to promote, train and develop wrestling talent with advance coaching and international sporting experience.”

    He further added, “We hope these initiatives help the Indian team to perform better. Our best wishes to the team for the forthcoming Tokyo 2020 & Paris 2024 Olympic games."

    Commenting on the partnership, Wrestling Federation of India president Brijbhushan Sharan Singh said, " Tata Motors coming on board as Indian wrestling’s development partner will go a long way in creating a strong sporting ecosystem and strengthening our elite program. These facilities will help wrestlers focus fully on themselves and prepare for the toughest tests before winning medals for the country. WFI is grateful for the trust shown in the federation by Tata Motors and strongly believes that this binding and cooperation will eventually help make a strong beginning for wrestling in India.”

    The event further observed the handing over of central contract to five Grade A wrestlers including Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat, Pooja Dhanda, Sushil Kumar, and Sakshi Malik.

  • Sony Pictures Sports Network to telecast the third season of Pro Wrestling League

    Sony Pictures Sports Network to telecast the third season of Pro Wrestling League

    MUMBAI: The Pro Wrestling League (PWL), the world’s biggest wrestling league, returns to Sony Pictures Sports Network in its third season. The event will take place at Siri Fort Sports Complex in New Delhi and will be broadcast exclusively on SONY ESPN, SONY ESPN HD & SONY WAH from 9th to 26th January 2018.

    PWL was instituted in 2015 and has successfully completed two editions. In its third season, Pro Wrestling league will feature a squad of 6 teams – NCR Punjab Royals (defending champions), Haryana Hammers, Mumbai Maharathi, Delhi Sultans, UP Dangal and Veer Maratha – with 54 players. PWL will create history as they present one of the largest contingent of Olympic wrestlers competing in a league. Keeping in mind the popularity of the tournament, PWL will present Olympic style Greco Roman Wrestling to give fans a chance to witness their wrestling heroes contending against the world’s elite in an international format in India. For the first time in Pro Wrestling League, wrestlers from China, France, Hungary, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia and Egypt will be competing in the coveted league.

    The third season of Pro Wrestling League will feature two-time Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar, reigning Asian Champion Bajrang Punia and 2016 Rio Olympics bronze medallist Sakshi Malik among the other Indian stars. World Champions like Haji Aliyev, Helen Maroulis and Petroshivli Geno will be participating along with 10 medal winners from Rio Olympics and four continental champions.

  • Star Sports may bid for T20 Global telecast rights, four Indians among team-owners, player draft on 19 Aug

    MUMBAI: Cricket South Africa (CSA), on 20 June, announced the eight successful team owners, who have earned the right to be part of South Africa’s new T20 Global League. Sources in the television industry said that Star Sports was preparing to bid for the telecast rights.

    With four Indian owners, namely, Shah Rukh Khan (from KKR) owning Cape Town team, GMR Group (Delhi Daredevils) owning Johannesburg,

    UAE-based Channel 2 Group chairman Ajay Sethi bought Port Elizabeth and Sushil Kumar is a Hong Kong businessman who has bought a franchise in Bloemfontein although he never visited the city.

    Shah Rukh owns 55 per cent shares of his Cape Town team. The announcement took place in The Bvlgari, London. The event set the tone for a new standard in T20 cricket.

    Player draft is scheduled for 19 August, with almost 400 players from 10 countries confirming their interest. T20 Global League matches to be played over a period of six weeks in November and December.

    EY (previously known as Ernst & Young) ran the team owner selection process to ensure integrity, compliance and due diligence was followed throughout the process by both CSA and potential owners.

    “Competition was stiff, with more than 150 expressions of interest (EOI) received from around the world and a shortlist of heavy hitters to consider, but after rigorous discussions and engagement with each of the potential owners, we are certain that our final eight owners have the perfect combination of strategic insight and passion needed to make the first T20 Global League a complete success,” said CSA President Chris Nenzani.

    “The announcement of the team owners is a key milestone to successfully launch our T20 Global League,” commented CSA chief executive Haroon Lorgat. “We are thrilled by the international mix of owners and the passion and excitement that was clearly demonstrated during the bidding process by them and the marquee players. It sets up our #T20GL as a fans favourite in the cricketing calendar.”

  • Sushil Kumar bats for Ralco Tyres

    MUMBAI: Bicycle and automobile tyre manufacturer Ralco Tyres has roped in Olympic silver medallist wrestler Sushil Kumar to endorse its brands Ralson and Ralco.

    The wrestler helmed the campaign conceptualised by Triton Communications that reintroduced the brands in the market.

    Ralson India Limited DGM – advertising and PR Yogeshwar Sharma said, “The brands Ralco and Ralson and Sushil Kumar complement each other quite perfectly; with strength, endurance and grip as attributes that qualify both the champions.”

    Kumar added, “Indian roads are no less than the wrestling ring. I am the champion of the wrestling ring while Ralco, the champion of the Indian roads.”

    “There couldn’t have been a better way for brand Ralco to flex its muscles and it complemented our strategy of ‘hard work as against leisure,” said branch director Triton Delhi Rohit Madhusudan.

  • Saina Nehwal to sport ‘Sahara’ logo

    MUMBAI: Sahara India has announced its association with Saina Nehwal, as a part of which the Badminton player will don Sahara logo while playing at tournaments worldwide.

    Sahara Adventure Sports director and Sahara India head – corporate communications Abhijit Sarkar said, “Ms Saina Nehwal has always brought laurels to our beloved nation and we are proud to take our association with her a step forward. We wish her to win fresh laurels for the country in the international sporting arena and be a beacon of hope and a fountain of inspiration.”

    Nehwal said, “It‘s a great honour to be associated with Sahara India Pariwar which apart from being a huge business conglomerate has also done tremendously for the cause of promotion of sports in India. This has certainty boosted my confidence and I am sure that I will be able to bring pride to the nation”.

    In the past, Sahara India has supported, felicitated and adopted many sports and sportspersons in various capacities. The sportsmen include Gagan Narang, Abhinav Bindra, Tejaswini Sawant, Vijender Singh, Sushil Kumar, Mary Kom and Yogeshwar Dutt.

  • Percept Talent Management to tap into CommonWealth Games winners

    Percept Talent Management to tap into CommonWealth Games winners

    MUMBAI: Percept Talent Management (PTM), the celebrity management division of Percept, is looking to cash in on the increase in brand value of athletes who have won medals at the recently concluded Commonwealth Games (CWG).

    PTM CEO Rajnish Sahay says that he is talking to 16 medal winners in the CWG across different disciplines to represent them for among other things endorsements. One of them is Saina Nehwal who is said to command Rs 10 million an endorsement. “We already represent Sushil Kumar, Vijender Singh, Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponappa. We will sign up deals for Kumar for a variety of products.”

    Kumar recently did a deal with the National Egg Co-ordination Committee.

    Deals between PTM and the athletes will be for three to five years. “Health, sports, fitness and lifestyle brands will be the ones most interested in associating with these athletes. Our job is to manage PR, appearances, events that sportspeople that we represent feature in. We will also look after their digital rights,” says Sahay.

    In terms of working with Indian sports federations to create more visibility for sports, Sahay says that they are talking to the Indian wrestling federation. The aim will be to have a grassroots programme as well as entertainment sports events featuring Indian and international stars. Percept will look at badminton and shooting.

    The challenge for any of the medal winners of the Commonwealth Games will be to maintain visibility across the year. “It cannot be that after the Asian Games the athlete disappears from the scene. They have to perform at an international level. They have to be visible in the media regularly. If it is just a one off then the sponsor who has done a one year deal might not get the desired value,” an analyst says.

    According to Sahay, the coverage of non cricket has grown especially if an Indian participant does well. “Things are changing in this respect. The push that Percept will give to different sports will also help give the athletes visibility. There are also international events that take place regularly,” Sahay says.