Sports
Rio scraps Olympic water polo venue
Rio de Janeiro: A venue scheduled to host water polo at the Rio 2016 Olympics has been dropped from the Games programme.
Located next to the Maracana Stadium here, the Julio Delamare aquatic park had been earmarked for first-phase matches of Olympics. But the government on Wednesday said it could not justify spending $20 million needed to bring the venue up to Olympic standard, as per reports.
“It would be very costly. A refurbishment to serve the local community, which has always been its purpose, should cost half that amount,” state government chief of staff Leonardo Espindola said.
The government is yet to decide on a replacement venue. Under consideration are the Olympic park, which will also host diving and swimming, and the Deodoro centre.
Meanwhile, the government moved to allay concerns about pollution at Guanabara bay, the venue for sailing events. An International Sailing Federation official last month warned the bay could be taken off the Games schedule if action wasn’t taken to clean its waters.
Espindola said garbage-collection boats would conclude a cleanup of the bay by July, adding that barriers were being built to filter sewage and trash. “There is no chance to change the field of play. Sailing will take place in Guanabara bay.”
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Sunil Gavaskar gives his opinion of GT allrounder Rahul Tewatia
The left-handed batsman from Haryana is garnering praise from all quarters for the way he’s finishing games regularly in the most exciting IPL season.
Gavaskar reckons Tewatia’s whirlwind knock in Sharjah (in IPL 2020) where he smashed West Indies pacer Sheldon Cottrell for five sixes in an over, gave him the confidence that he belongs to the big stage.
Speaking on Cricket Live on Star Sports, Gavaskar said, “That assault on Sheldon Cottrell in Sharjah gave him the belief to do the impossible and the confidence that he belongs here. We saw the impossible (he did with the bat) the other day as well. There’s no twitching or touching the pads (which shows a batter’s nervousness) when he bats in the death overs. He just waits for the ball to be delivered and plays his shots. He’s got all the shots in the book, but most importantly his temperament to stay cool in a crisis is brilliant.”
Gavaskar has also nicknamed the 28-year-old cricketer the ‘ice-man’ and lauded Tewatia’s ability to remain unruffled during the tense moments.