Heartbreak again as Saina settles for silver at World C'ships

August 16, 2015

Jakarta, Aug 16: Saina Nehwal's quest to become the first Indian world champion in badminton ended in heartbreak as she lost in straight games to title holder Carolina Marin in the summit showdown of the mega-event here today.

saina16The world number two Indian went down 16-21 19-21 to her numero uno nemesis from Spain in a match which lasted 59 minutes. It was the second successive loss in a major final for Saina even though the silver medal she settled for is the best performance by an Indian in the showpiece.

Saina had incidentally lost to the same opponent in the All England Championships final earlier this year.

This was India's fifth medal at the World Championship after P V Sindhu clinched the bronze twice in 2013 and 2014 and Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa notched up a bronze in women's doubles at the 2011 edition.

Legendary shuttler Prakash Padukone was the first Indian to win a bronze at the 1983 edition.

With a 3-1 head-to-head record over the Spaniard going into the match, Saina had the edge on paper.

But the gritty Spaniard, who got the better of Saina in the All England finals in their most recent encounter, seemed more pumped up when the proceedings started.

Clenching her fists and letting out a scream at almost every point won by her, Carolina caught the chair umpire's attention more than once for her antics and was even cautioned for abusing her racquet.

However, the world number one made sure that the scorecard ticked in her favour after breaking away from 7-7 when Saina sunk an easy return into the net.

Placed comfortably at 11-8 when the lemon break was taken, Carolina made it 15-9 in no time courtesy errors by Saina and some precisely-placed shots from the baseline.

The beleaguered Indian found it tough to deal with her rival's energy and floundered when challenged on pace.

In fact, the fierce smashes, which are a hallmark of Saina's game, came from Carolina's racquet, the most impressive being the one with which she earned her first game point.

Down 13-20, Saina held on for a few points before Carolina closed out the first game when the Indian hit one wide after 24 minutes. In the second game, however, the Indian came back strongly to start with, inducing regular errors from the aggressive Spaniard. The Indian led 11-6 at the break, riding on a much improved performance in baseline rallies.

But refusing to be bogged down, Carolina, who was far more adventurous than the Indian when it came to approaching the net, recovered with six back-to-points to make it 12-12. Moving around the court with lightening pace, the Spaniard quite literally tired the Indian with her unrelenting returns, targetting Saina's body with stunning precision.

But it was no stroll in the park for Carolina as Saina held on for some engrossing rallies in a battle of attrition.

Locked at 17-17, while Carolina looked consistently fired up, Saina's body language did not seem very positive as her rival took a 20-18 lead to inch towards her second successive world title.

The inevitable was delayed when Carolina squandered the first Championship point before clinching the second and collapsing on to the floor in sheer joy and relief. On the other hand, a disappointed Saina walked off the court quietly having missed yet another golden opportunity.

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News Network
January 14,2020

Sydney, Jan 14: Retired South African big-hitter AB de Villiers on Tuesday said efforts are on to ensure his comeback in the national team for the T20 World Cup in Australia, a plan in which his IPL form will play a crucial role.

Speaking to Cricket Australia's official website 'cricket.com.au', the 35-year-old swashbuckler said he would love to be back two years after calling it quits internationally. He is currently in Australia to play in the Big Bash League.

"I would love to. I've been talking to 'Bouch' (new South Africa coach Mark Boucher), (new director of cricket) Graeme Smith and (captain) Faf (du Plessis) back home, we're all keen to make it happen," he said.

"It's a long way away still, and plenty can happen – there's the IPL coming up, I've still got to be in form at that time. So I'm thinking of throwing my name in the hat and hoping that everything will work out," he added.

De Villiers, nonetheless, is keeping a check on his expectations.

"It's not a guarantee, once again. I don't want to disappoint myself or other people, so for now I'm just going to try and keep a low profile, try and play the best possible cricket that I can and then see what happens towards the end of the year," he said.

"There are a lot of players (involved with CSA) who I used to play with. Guys who understand the game, leaders of the team for many years" he said of the present dispensation.

"So it's much easier to communicate than what it used to be in the past. They understand what players go through – especially players that have played for 15 years internationally.

"It doesn't mean that everything is going to be sunshine and roses, but it's definitely a lot easier and it feels comfortable, the language that's being used and just the feel that everyone has at the moment in South Africa about the cricket," he added.

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News Network
January 28,2020

Gibraltar, Jan 28: Young Indian Grand Master R Praggnanandhaa pulled off a huge upset, beating former world champion Veselin Topalov in the sixth round of the 18th Gibraltar chess festival to record his fifth straight win here.

The 14-year-old Chennai lad needed just 33 moves to put it across the Bulgarian. He had started with a loss against compatriot P V Nandhidhaa but since then he has been on a winning spree.

Praggnanandhaa, who recently won the world under-18 title, said: "It was very tough to prepare against him."

He is in second spot on five points with six other players and will take on Chinese GM Wang Hao in the seventh round.

Seventeen-year-old Russian GM Andrey Esipenko jumped to sole lead with 5.5 points with a win over Georgia's Ivan Cheparinov

The Russian player would be unpaired in the seventh round as he decided to take a bye.

A bunch of players including Indians — B Adhiban, K Sasikiran, Shardul Gagare, Karthikeyan Murali, SL Narayanan — are in joint third place with 4.5 points.

Adhiban beat Gabriel Flom, while D Gukesh, the world's second youngest Grand Master ever, defeated Martin Percivaldi to move to four points.

Also winning were Karthikeyan Murali against Qi B Chen and Gagare over France's Maxime Lagarde.

Top-seed Shakhriyar Mamedyarov's moderate run continued as he was held to a draw by GM Aryan Chopra.

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Agencies
January 19,2020

Bengaluru, Jan 19: Opening batsman Rohit Sharma on Sunday became the third-fastest batsman to register 9,000 runs in the 50-over format.

He achieved the feat in the ongoing third ODI against Australia here at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Only Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers have achieved the feat faster than Rohit.

Sharma brought up the milestone in the first over of the Indian innings as he clipped Mitchell Starc away for a single.

With this, the right-handed batsman has become just the sixth Indian to achieve the milestone.

Apart from Sharma, Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, and Sachin Tendulkar have more than 9,000 runs in the 50-over format.

Overall, 20 batsmen have more than 9,000 ODI runs to their name.

In the match between India and Australia, the former won the toss and elected to bat first.

Steve Smith played a knock of 131 runs to propel Australia to 286/9 in the allotted fifty overs.

 

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