Kolkata, Apr 2 (UNI) As the world is combatting the COVID-19 pandemic, all the major sporting events in India and across the world are being postponed.
While there is no live on-field action happening, India’s top athletes are taking to Twitter to engage with their fans.
From Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) to Sania Mirza (@MirzaSania), prominent sports personalities have been connecting with their fans on Twitter to spread the message around staying safe during the current crisis, as well as to share how they’re spending their time while locked-down in their homes.
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted many global sporting events, including the Olympics and European Championships, which have both been postponed until 2021.
Despite most sports coming to a halt, in a display of true sportsmanship, athletes and fans have not let these developments dampen their spirits. They are rethinking sports engagement and taking to Twitter to come together in times of social distancing through Twitter fan battles, Tweet Chats, the Safehands challenge, videos on tips and tricks to keep fit and stay active.
IPL teams, Delhi Capitals (@DelhiCapitals) and Kings XI Punjab (@lionsdenkxip), instilled a sense of sports community through a Twitter #FanBattle. With this exclusive Twitter only activation, they hit it out of the park. How? Well, move over stadiums, fans could participate in the #FanBattle by Tweeting their answers to quiz questions, puzzles and Twitter polls. Correct responses won scores for the fans’ chosen teams, letting them lead their teams to victory.
In the first #FanBattle, held this week, @lionsdenkxip won the battle as their fans scored 615 against @DelhiCapitals, who scored 396.
While sports fans are hooked to Twitter to stay connected with their favorite teams and players, sportspersons are also making an effort to bridge the gap during these uncertain times. Footballer Sunil Chhetri (@chetrisunil11), cricketers Shreyas Iyer (@ShreyasIyer15), Harmanpreet Kaur (@ImHarmanpreet), Poonam Yadav (@poonam_yadav24), and many others, batted questions from fans in Q&A sessions. Driving the conversations with hashtags like #AskShreyas, #AskPY, etc, they brought together fans from across the country to engage with them.
@BCCI too is encouraging cricket enthusiasts to unleash their creativity and share poems, paintings, caricatures, etc. on cricket as well as their favorite players. Since then, Twitter has become a pool of creativity, with fans constantly contributing to it.
In partnership with the World Health Organisation (@WHO), Twitter launched a #handwashing emoji to create awareness around the importance of clean hands in the current time and emphasize the importance of 'washing hands frequently' to curb spreading of COVID-19. . People can unlock the emoji by using any of the following hashtags #handwashing, #SafeHands, #HandWashChallenge, #WashYourHands. Many Indian athletes joined this movement and took the #SafeHandsChallenge.
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