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Australian Open: Serena needs to play good tennis to beat me, says Kerber

January 28, 2016

Melbourne, Jan 28: Angelique Kerber said Thursday she feels a responsibility to protect her fellow German Steffi Graf's Grand Slam record from Serena Williams, but admits the job in front of her is formidable.

KerberThe 28-year-old powered into her first Grand Slam final by beating Briton Johanna Konta 7-5, 6-2 at the Australian Open, and revealed she received a text from her veteran compatriot after the match.

Seventh seed Kerber this week credited 22-time major winner Graf with giving her the self-belief to put together her career-best season after hitting with the former great early last year.

Asked by a courtside interviewer if she would be seeking Graf's advice ahead of her showdown with the American world number one, she laughed: "Steffi, write me please!"

Graf must have been watching as Kerber revealed a text landed for her soon after, without revealing what it said.

"I think she wrote me, but I was not able to check it right now. I just saw that," Kerber said in her post-match press conference.

"I think she sent me a text message, but I don't know what she wrote me yet. I think she heard what I said on the centre court."

Kerber is going to need all the help and advice she can get against the imposing Williams who is in her 26th Grand Slam final after sweeping aside fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska with ease.

The win set her up for a tilt at Graf's Open-era record of 22 Grand Slam titles, with the American on 21 after winning the Australian and French Opens and Wimbledon last year.

Asked if she felt any duty to protect Graf's record as a fellow German, Kerber said, while smiling: "I think so. I think so. The Germans must be together."

Despite the huge task facing her, Kerber is taking a crumb of comfort from having beaten Williams once before, at Cincinnati in 2012. The American has won all five other encounters between the pair.

"I think she is going out there to try to win again another Grand Slam, making history. This is her goal," she said.

"My goal is to maybe win my first Grand Slam. You know, I think she will have respect. I think she will go out there and she knows that she must play also good tennis to beat me.

"I'm feeling good. I'm healthy. I'm fit. I will try to win against her. That's for sure. I know it will be not easy."

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Agencies
January 26,2020

Mumbai, Jan 26: Boxing great Mary Kom has been selected for the Padma Vibhushan, the country's second highest civilian award. Olympic silver medallist and reigning badminton World Champion PV Sindhu has been named for Padma Bhushan as the names of Padma awardees were disclosed on Saturday on the eve of the 71st Republic Day.

Rated as one of the most successful amateur boxers of all time, Mary Kom won bronze at the 2012 London Olympics and has won gold at the boxing World Championships for a record six times. She has won a total of eight medals at the World Championships, the most recent of which came in October 2019 in Ulan Ude, Russia. The 36-year-old is now looking to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Sindhu became the only Indian woman to win an Olympic silver when she reached the final of the women's singles event at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazi. In August last year, the 24-year-old became the first Indian to win gold at the badminton World Championships.

She has also won two silver and two bronze medals at the World's in the past, thus making her only the second woman after Chinese two-time Olympic gold medallist Zhang Ning to win five medals in the competition.

Indian women's hockey captain Rani Rampal, who has been the face of women's hockey in the country and played a pivotal role in the team qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, is among those who have been nominated for the Padma Shri award.

Women's football stalwart Oinam Bembem Devi, former cricketer Zaheer Khan, shooter Jitu Rai, former hockey captain and coach M.P. Ganesh and archer Tarundeep Rai are the other sportspersons to be selected for the Padma Shri award.

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Agencies
May 25,2020

Chandigarh, May 25: Legendary former hockey player Balbir Singh Senior died in a private hospital on Monday, his family said.

He was 96 years old. His condition was critical for nearly a fortnight.

He was undergoing treatment at Fortis Mohali and was in a "semi-comatose condition".

He was hospitalised on May 8 with high fever and breathing trouble. His COVID-19 test came negative.

Balbir was part of the Indian teams that won gold at the 1948 London Olympics, Helsinki 1952 and Melbourne 1956. His record for most individual goals scored in an Olympic men's hockey final remains unbeaten.

Balbir had set this record when he scored five goals in India's 6-1 win over Netherlands in the gold medal match of the 1952 Games.

He was the head coach of the Indian team for the 1975 men's World Cup, which India won and the 1971 men's World Cup, where India earned a bronze medal. He was also conferred with the prestigious Padma Shri in 1957.

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coastaldigest.com web desk
August 3,2020

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will not end its partnership with Chinese companies. Vivo, the Chinese smartphone maker, is the main sponsor of the new IPL season as well. Apart from Vivo, PayTM and Dream 11 will also be at the helm of the 13th edition of the IPL. The IPL governing council meeting on Sunday decided to retain the old sponsors.

As soon as the IPL GC announced the decision of retaining the sponsors, a huge number of fans took to Twitter to slam the board for the same. #BoycottIPL started trending as the users urged others to boycott the tournament for the Chinese connection.

Earlier, the demand for exclusion of Chinese companies from the IPL was strong in the wake of the India-China border dispute. But the BCCI cannot abruptly end its collaboration with them. Because of the signed contract itself. And in this age of declining economy, it is difficult to find new sponsors quickly.

The current BCCI contract with Vivo is for five years. Vivo has invested Rs 2,199 crore to become the main sponsor of the IPL. The contract was signed in 2017. However, the BCCI’s move is paving the way for new discussions as calls are mounting across the country to boycott Chinese companies.

The BCCI announced other important decisions besides retaining sponsors. The IPL will be held from September 19 to November 10. The Indian government has given permission to the BCCI to hold the IPL in the UAE. With this, all obstacles in the way of organizing the tournament were removed.

The IPL matches will be played at 7.30 pm Indian time (6 pm UAE time). Most matches are about one match a day. There are a total of ten ‘double headers’ (two matches a day) in the tournament. Franchisees are allowed to appoint as many replacements as they want in the new season in view of the new health situation. At the same time, the maximum number of players a franchise can accommodate is 24. The BCCI is also planning to host a women’s IPL tournament.

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