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Shivani Kataria was hopeful of being named in the Indian swimming squad for her maiden Olympics, but while waiting for her flight back home to India after competing in the final Asian qualification event in Hong Kong in the first week of July, she could have been forgiven for not having been in the best of moods.The 18-year-old had boldly made a bid for the 50m, 100m and 200m freestyle. Though she was competitive in each category, she missed the Olympic qualifying time by significant margins; her timing of 2:10.42 to complete the 200m freestyle was almost 12 seconds off the qualification mark.Yet, the fact that she was the only Indian woman who competed at the 2015 World Championship in Kazan, Russia eventually made it a formality for her name to be approved under the Universality rule alongside Sajan Prakash in the mens division. The call was made to Prakash, who relayed the information to Shivani.I just couldnt believe it, remembers Shivani. I couldnt sleep on the flight back home. I just kept thinking about it.Shivani, who is looking forward to meeting one of her idols Michael Phelps in Rio, would do well to heed the advice of Nisha Millet, the last Indian woman to have competed in the 200m freestyle at the Olympics 16 years ago.The Olympics can be quite overwhelming, especially when you are a teenager, says Millet, who like Shivani, was just 18 when she headed to Sydney for her maiden Olympics, little knowing that a persistent back problem would make it her last. Guys like Abhinav (Bindra) and Leander (Paes) are used to it in their fifth and seventh outing, but the media attention can be quite a lot to deal with. I won my heat with ease, but couldnt make the semi-finals. I attended the opening ceremony, but I skipped the marchpast since the swimming event was one of the first to be held. Yet, I think I allowed the pressure to get to me.Haryana-born Shivani, who, at the age of six, began swimming at the Baba Gang Nath swimming centre in Delhi during a summer camp, is quite self-assured and driven about her immediate goals.I have to record my best time there, says Shivani of Rio. No Indian has ever made the semis. I want to try and be the first.National coach Pradeep Kumar is a bit more cautiously optimistic, while giving a positive appraisal of Shivanis abilities. Shes got a good technique, and her physical fitness levels are good. She gets her body into a good position and shes blessed with a good kick. She can go faster because she can get stronger still, says Kumar, who has been working with Shivani over the past year, which has included her stint in Phuket along with Prakash. Our swimmers naturally have a slightly inferior technique, compared with the rest of the globe. Secondly, our swimmers and coaches need to have greater scientific assessment of the support that they need.Millet jokes that shes always been a bit scared of Shivani, as she is the first woman swimmer who has challenged and overtaken her 14-year-old national record, but adds a valuable advice that she has passed on to someone she says is carrying the torch forward for womens swimming alongside Damini Gowda of Karnataka.Indian swimmers are habituated to training in the evenings, because thats when finals normally take place, says Millet. But in reality, you cannot afford to let your timings drop even by a second, because that can make the difference between qualifying for a semis and not making it. I have advised her to train at half-past four or five in the mornings as well.On her part, Shivani is aware of the?importance of serving as a role model for younger swimmers, especially following an unpleasant personal experience.My state of Haryana hasnt been very supportive of girls in sport, especially swimming. Once somebody important came up to me and said that swimming costumes dont look good on girls. She further said that I shouldnt be swimming for too many years. I didnt like the fact that their thinking is like that, says Shivani. After me, now theyll tell their children to take up the sport. Our state doesnt have a 50m swimming pool, which I want to help build.Rio should be just the beginning, as Kumar and Millet both agree, for someone who will have at least six or eight years ahead of herself at the highest level. Kumar wants university sport in India to emulate the American model, and thinks that India must try and get both Prakash and Shivani to enroll in universities abroad on swimming scholarships.Shivani, who has been working with a psychologist over the past few months, echoes her coachs thoughts about the importance of mental toughness. I think mental fitness is even more important than physical fitness, says Shivani. For most people, it might be a 50-50 ratio, but for me it is more 60-40. If you win the mental battle, then physically you will do what your brain says.It is this mental strength that Shivani Kataria will bank upon to realise not just her goals, but those for a very exclusive club of Indians to have made it to the Olympics, beginning with Arati Saha and Dolly Nazar in 1952, through to Sangeeta Puri, Nisha Millet and Shikha Tandon in the last twenty years.As coach Pradeep Kumar says, If the mind works, everything just falls in place. 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On a day filled mostly with qualifying matches, fifth-seeded Marcel Granollers of Spain also entered the second with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 win over Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia, while Guido Pella of Argentina defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 7-6 (6), 6-4 to advance. Former Bellator middleweight champion Alexander Shlemenko (53-9, 1 NC) makes his return to the promotion after 20 months away when he takes on Kendall Grove (23-15, 1 NC) in Fridays main event of Bellator 162 (Spike TV/ESPN Deportes, 9 p.m. ET).After Shlemenkos most recent win with the promotion in February 2015, a highlight-reel KO of Melvin Manhoef that was later changed to a no contest, the California State Athletic Commission suspended the 32-year-old Russian for three years and fined him by $10,000 for testing positive for anabolic steroids.He filed a lawsuit against the CSAC last fall, and the suspension was eventually lifted and fine cut in half in July via a California Superior Court decision. ESPN.com spoke with Storm about the ruling, the return bout with Grove, his student-teacher relationship with Bellator welterweight champion Andrey Koreshkov and whom hed prefer to fight between Chael Sonnen and Rory MacDonald.In the statement you issued after your suspension was lifted, you maintained your innocence regarding the drug test after the Manhoef fight. Do you plan to continue battling the no-contest, or are you just moving on with your career?I think it is hopeless. It is hopeless to fight the commission, so no. I decided this situation is behind me. And I have much better things to do. I think and I know that my win against Manhoef was 100 percent clear and honest victory.During the suspension, you were able to fight twice in your home country of Russia. What was that experience like for you?I am very glad the commission and Bellator gave me this opportunity, gave me permission to fight in Russia. During this period of time, when I couldnt compete in the U.S., I was able to stay active. It was a good test for me, because both times I fought Vyacheslav Vasilevsky, whos a very tough fighter, a good fighter, and the fact that I beat him, it brings joy to me.Its been a while since the American market has seen you in action. Do you feel you need to make a statement against Grove? Yes. Definitely I need to make a statement. Specially that during that period of time that I wasnt able to fight in the States, I put up a great amount of work in the gym. I changed all the things in my preparation, in my fighting style. I want to test it myself and want to show it to the public. I want to show it to the fans.Grove will have a sizable height and reach advantage in this bout. Without giving away your game plan, do you feel comfortable that youll be able to find your range to strike with him?To be frank with you, Ive never fought anybody who is as tall as Kendall, but I have a feeling that everything will work out really well for me.When you aand your team scout him on tape, what strengths and weaknesses do you see that you can plan to exploit?It is really difficult to speak about his weak side because his strong side is obvious, his ground game and his boxing.dddddddddddd Hes a really well rounded guy, but I think that I will be able to find his weaknesses.Since your last fight with Bellator, a new middleweight champion has been crowned in Rafael Carvalho. What are your thoughts on the division, is it tougher than it was when you first went away?Its difficult to evaluate the division right now. What I can say, I think that Carvalho lost that fight to Manhoef and I think that Melvin is supposed to be the champion right now.In your last fight in America, you delivered that highlight-reel knockout to Manhoef. With a victory over Grove, do you feel you should be in line for a title shot?I dont know, its up to Bellator actually. I can just tell you one thing, I want to fight often. I am ready to fight once every two months. It doesnt matter for me if its going to be a title fight or not because I know that I am going to beat them all.Bellator has made splashes in free agency by signing MacDonald and Sonnen. Would fights with either of them interest you in the future?I would rather fight Rory MacDonald rather than Chael because with Chael we trained together and I know him personally. Thats why I dont really want to fight him. Of course if Bellator put us against each other I would fight him, but its not something that I want to. But with Rory I would really want to fight against him.How long ago did you train with Sonnen?It was two or three years ago at Reign [Training Center] in California. It was just a few practices but we bonded.Your protégé Koreshkov has a title fight a few weeks after your bout. How much time have you spent with him to prepare for your own fight?We always train together because hes my student so I prepare myself for the fight and I also prepare him for this fight. He came with me as one of my corners so he continues his preparations here so I can watch him training and I can make sure I coach him.Do you get more out of winning a fight yourself or seeing your student do well inside the cage?Its way easier to prepare and fight yourself rather than prepare, coach, and see your student fight. In this connection, the joy is actually much higher when your student wins. I am more than just a coach to him, more than just a friend. I actually feel, I am like a father to him. Also when he fights, his wins bring me more pleasure than my own. ' ' '