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Wrestler Rana alleges discrimination in national selection, WFI denies (Lead)

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New Delhi, June 9 (IANS) Double Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar was at the epicentre of yet another controversy on Saturday with upcoming wrestler Parveen Rana crying foul over the selection process of the Indian squad for the Asian Games.

Sushil (74 kilogram) and Bajrang Punia (61kg) were selected without a trial since the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) felt that the duo were too superior to other wrestlers in their respective categories.

Rana however, alleged that the WFI is biased in Sushil’s favour.

“First the WFI said that there will be a trial for the 74kg division. Then they said that there will no trial and Sushil has been selected. The WFI said that Sushil has been selected on the basis of his performance at the Commonwealth Games,” Rana told IANS.

“If this continues, then me and other junior wrestlers will not be able to represent the country. It will ruin our careers,” he lamented.

Rana also criticised the WFI’s selection process for the World Championships to be held from October 20-28.

“There will be trials for the World Championships around 10-15 days later. Then those wrestlers in the 74kg category who have not participated in the Asian Games will compete against each other and the winner will then challenge Sushil,” the 25-year-old said.

“So in that case we will have to give extra effort at the trials while Sushil will only have to compete in one bout,” he added.

WFI assistant secretary Vinod Tomar however, argued that the selection process is clean and above board.

“Our target is to win medals. Sushil and Bajrang are the best in the categories. If they have to compete at the trials, then they will feel mentally disturbed. So we decided to give them a direct berth to enable them to carry on with their preparations and avoid the hassle of preparing for the trials,” Tomar said.

“Rana has been given a chance at the international level in the recent past and his performance was not up to the mark. He cwas eliminated in the first round at the Asian Championships. The Asian Games are tougher than the Asian Championships,” he added.

“Sushil is a double Olympic medallist and the best wrestler in India. Rana has not been able to beat him even once. He lost to Sushil at the nationals and the Commonwealth Championships.”

In other freestyle categories, Mausam Khatri beat Satyawrat Kadiyan to book his spot in the 97kg division. Pawan Kumar (86kg) and Sumit (125kg) also made the cut.

However, the trials in the 57kg category are yet to be completed as Sandeep Tomar, Utkarsh Kale and Ravi garnered equal number of points and will have to compete again.

In the Greco-Roman categories, Gyanendra (60kg), Manish (67 kg), Gurpreet Singh (77kg), Harpreet Singh (87 kg), Hardeep (97kg) and Naveen (125 kg) will represent India at the Asian Games.

–IANS
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Casino Days Reveal Internal Data on Most Popular Smartphones

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CasinoDays India

International online casino Casino Days has published a report sharing their internal data on what types and brands of devices are used to play on the platform by users from the South Asian region.

Such aggregate data analyses allow the operator to optimise their website for the brands and models of devices people are actually using.

The insights gained through the research also help Casino Days tailor their services based on the better understanding of their clients and their needs.

Desktops and Tablets Lose the Battle vs Mobile

The primary data samples analysed by Casino Days reveal that mobile connections dominate the market in South Asia and are responsible for a whopping 96.6% of gaming sessions, while computers and tablets have negligible shares of 2.9% and 0.5% respectively.

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The authors of the study point out that historically, playing online casino was exclusively done on computers, and attribute thе major shift to mobile that has unfolded over time to the wide spread of cheaper smartphones and mobile data plans in South Asia.

“Some of the reasons behind this massive difference in device type are affordability, technical advantages, as well as cheaper and more obtainable internet plans for mobiles than those for computers,” the researchers comment.

Xiaomi and Vivo Outperform Samsung, Apple Way Down in Rankings

Chinese brands Xiaomi and Vivo were used by 21.9% and 20.79% of Casino Days players from South Asia respectively, and together with the positioned in third place with a 18.1% share South Korean brand Samsung dominate the market among real money gamers in the region.

 

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Cupertino, California-based Apple is way down in seventh with a user share of just 2.29%, overshadowed by Chinese brands Realme (11.43%), OPPO (11.23%), and OnePlus (4.07%).

Huawei is at the very bottom of the chart with a tiny share just below the single percent mark, trailing behind mobile devices by Motorola, Google, and Infinix.

The data on actual phone usage provided by Casino Days, even though limited to the gaming parts of the population of South Asia, paints a different picture from global statistics on smartphone shipments by vendors.

Apple and Samsung have been sharing the worldwide lead for over a decade, while current regional leader Xiaomi secured their third position globally just a couple of years ago.

Striking Android Dominance among South Asian Real Money Gaming Communities

The shifted market share patterns of the world’s top smartphone brands in South Asia observed by the Casino Days research paper reveal a striking dominance of Android devices at the expense of iOS-powered phones.

On the global level, Android enjoys a comfortable lead with a sizable 68.79% share which grows to nearly 79% when we look at the whole continent of Asia. The data on South Asian real money gaming communities suggests that Android’s dominance grows even higher and is north of the 90% mark.

Among the major factors behind these figures, the authors of the study point to the relative affordability of and greater availability of Android devices in the region, especially when manufactured locally in countries like India and Vietnam.

“And, with influencers and tech reviews putting emphasis on Android devices, the choice of mobile phone brand and OS becomes easy; Android has a much wider range of products and caters to the Asian online casino market in ways that Apple can’t due to technical limitations,” the researchers add.

The far better integration achieved by Google Pay compared to its counterpart Apple Pay has also played a crucial role in shaping the existing smartphone market trends.

 

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