Kabaddi World Cup 2016: Rampant India batter England to book semi-final spot

October 19, 2016

Ahmedabad, Oct 19: India produced a scintillating performance to thrash England 69-18 in their last Group B encounter and seal their berth for the Kabaddi World Cup semi-finals at the TransStadia in Ahmedabad.

Kabaddi

Star raider Pardeep Narwal scored 13 points while Ajay Thakur scored 11 points as India made full use of their squad depth to notch a comfortable win and end their group campaign on a high.

The crowd at the TransStadia arena was in for a treat as the home team put on a spectacular show.

After suffering a shocking defeat in their opening match against South Korea, India bounced back in style and finished the group matches with a whopping score difference of 174.

England, on the other hand, can take a lot of heart from their performances as they finished fourth in Group B with 10 points.

On Tuesday, England made a bright start as captain Someshwar Kalia scored two points in the first minute to lead 2-1. Sandeep Narwal scored with a super raid in the third minute as India overtook the visitors 5-2.

Thakur scored with a two-point raid in the fifth minute as India extended the lead to 8-3 and reduced England to just two men.

India inflicted the first all out of the match in the sixth minute to lead 12-3. Narwal scored his first points in the seventh minute to give India 14-3 lead.

Keshav Gupta scored with a two-point read in the 10th minute as England trailed 5-17.

Sandeep Narwal was in great raiding form as he scored six points to help India inflict the second all out in the 13th minute and get a lead of 24-5.

England's defence let them down as they failed to score a single point in the first 15 minutes.

India inflicted another all out in the 16th minute to take a commanding 33-5 lead. Such was India's dominance that they went on a 20-0 run in eight minutes to lead 37-5 after 18 minutes.

Pardeep attained a super 10 in the first half whereas Surjeet got a high five as India inflicted the fourth all out in the 20th minute to lead 45-6 at the end of the first half.

Coming back, India brought on five substitutes in the second half, including Rahul Chaudhari, to make use of their squad.

Nitin Tomar scored two points in the 23rd minute as India led 49-7. England were still looking for their first tackle point and their star raider Tope Adewalure struggled to get raid points.

India went on to inflict another all out in the 28th minute to take their lead to 57-8 before England's Adewalure scored two raid points consecutively to become the first man to score 50 points in the ongoing World Cup.

With less than five minutes to go, and India leading 64-14, Rahul scored his third point of the match.

India cruised in the last few minutes as Thakur attained a super 10 in the 39th minute to give India a handsome 69-18 win.

Kenya record big win against USA to stay alive

Kenya kept their hopes alive of a semi-final berth after registering a thumping 74-19 win over the US in their last league tie of the Kabaddi World Cup. Desperately in need of a win, Kenya finally pressed the acceleration button to push Thailand out and occupy the second spot in Group B.

Top-placed Iran are already in the semi-finals while Kenya will have to wait for the Japan (fourth) vs Thailand (third) match on Wednesday to know their fate.

On Tuesday, Kenya exhibited great determination to outplay minnows US as they went into the break with a 38-8 lead. Three Kenyan defenders achieved a high five whereas captain David Mosambayi top-scored with 12 points.

On the other hand, the US defence could manage only five points as the newbies committed too many errors, to end their campaign without a win.

The US started with a 2-1 lead, scoring a raid and tackle point whereas David Mosambayi got a tackle point for Kenya in the first two minutes. But their joy was shortlived as Kenya's David Obilo scored two tackle points while Mosambayi added two raid points to take the lead to 5-4 after five minutes.

Kenya, immediately inflicted the first all out of the match in the seventh minute to lead 10-4. Kenya scored five more points in three minutes to lead 15-4 after 10 minutes. Mosambayi scored with a two-point raid as Kenya inflicted the second all out to lead 20-4 in the 12th minute.

In the next minute, Ben Marcelus helped the US add two more points as they trailed 6-21. Phelix Ospina then scored with a super raid in the 15th minute as Kenya took their lead to 26-6.

In response, the US suffered the third all out in the next minute as Kenya's lead soared to 31-7. Kenya went into the break with a 30-point lead after David Mosambayi attained a super 10 and contributed 10 points whereas Ospina scored seven.

Coming from the break, Kenya began with a bang and inflicted the fourth all out in the 22nd minute to take their lead to 42-8 before further taking it to 48-10 by the 25th minute. A minute later the US suffered another all out as Kenya took full advantage of the US' defensive errors.

Kenya continued on their dominant form to take the lead to 56-12 after 30 minutes. In the 33rd minute, Dillyon Banks came up with a super raid to take three points for Kenya. Kenya then forced two super tackles in quick succession to lead 64-18 after 35 minutes before forcing another all out in the last minute to take it to 74-19.

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Agencies
August 4,2020

New Delhi, Aug 4: Former India women's team captain Anjum Chopra firmly believes that the BCCI has a plan for women's cricket but she wants the Board to communicate its ideas more specifically.

Speaking to news agency, Chopra, who is now a successful broadcaster, said the BCCI is thinking in earnest about the progress of women's cricket.

"It's not that the BCCI is not thinking about women's cricket. I only think they need to be more specific in communication about women's cricket," Chopra said.

"I firmly believe that they must be thinking about women's cricket but the communication all this while has been very specific to men's cricket."

The latest trigger for criticism of BCCI was India's withdrawal from a tour of England in September owing to logistical issues arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chopra concedes it was "not nice" but Indian players' participation in the women's IPL, in November, will still be useful preparation for next year's ODI World Cup.

"It is heartening to see women's cricket making headlines. They should have been a part of that England tour and it did not feel nice initially but the women's IPL, irrespective of the format, will be helpful for World Cup preparations. Any form of cricket is good preparation," Chopra said.

"Missing out on a tournament is not nice, but logistically there may have been issues. And you can't send an under-prepared team."

"If you see in isolation we may have missed out on an opportunity to play in England. The more the girls play the better it is, before playing a tournament of the stature of World Cup. The assurance from the president is a very good thing."

Chopra welcomed the Sourav Ganguly-led BCCI's decision to hold the women's event in the UAE alongside the IPL, which will run from September 19 to November 10. The women's IPL will coincide with the business end of the men's league.

"I am definitely happy, it's always nice to be part of any cricket anywhere across the world.

"They should have been nearing the final stages of the preparation for the World Cup by now, but because of the pandemic things did not go as planned," she added.

Chopra had a successful international career spanning over 17 years, during which she represented India in a record six World Cups and became the first woman cricketer to appear in 100 One-day Internationals.

She also felt that the pandemic would not have much impact on the women's game that has gained momentum in recent times.

"...Cricket was on pause button...Once cricket resumes and players are back on the park, everything is going to get picked up. It might take some time to get started as everything starts from zero...

"The awareness the women's game has created, I hope it stays. They will just restart, not start after the pandemic."

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News Network
January 8,2020

Indore, Jan 8:  India skipper Virat Kohli has added yet another feather to his cap by becoming the fastest player to score 1,000 runs in T20I cricket as a captain. Kohli played an unbeaten knock of 30 during India''s seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the second T20I of the ongoing three-match series on Tuesday evening.

Kohli achieved the milestone of scoring 1,000 runs as captain in his 30th T20I inning. He is the second Indian and sixth overall after MS Dhoni to have achieved the feat. Dhoni had scored 1112 runs in 62 T20I games as captain.

Faf du Plessis (1273 runs from 40 games), Kane Williamson (1083 runs in 39 games), Eoin Morgan (1013 runs in 43 games) and Ireland''s William Porterfield (1002 runs in 56 games) are other captains on the list.

During India''s emphatic victory at the Holkar Stadium, Kohli also surpassed team-mate Rohit Sharma, who has been rested for the series, as the top run-getter in the T20Is. Kohli now has 2663 runs from 71 innings.

Both had finished 2019 as joint top-scorers in T20Is, with 2633 runs each.

India, already with an unassailable lead of 1-0 in the series, will now face Sri Lanka in the final T20I on Friday in Pune. The first match between the two teams was called off without a ball being bowled due to wet patches on the pitch in Guwahati last Sunday.

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News Network
January 17,2020

Jan 17: Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza cruised into the women's doubles final of the Hobart International with her Ukrainian partner Nadiia Kichenok here on Friday.

Sania and Kichenok sailed past the Slovenian-Czech pair of Tamara Zidansek and Marie Bouzkova 7-6 (3) 6-2 in the semifinal contest that lasted one hour and 24 minutes.

The fifth-seeded Indo-Ukrainian combination will lock horns with second seeds Shuai Peng and Shuai Zhang of China. The Chinese pair got a walkover after Belgium's Kirsten Flipkens and Alison Van Uytvanck conceded the other semifinal match because of injury.

While Sania and Kichenok had to fight hard in the opening set, the second set was a cakewalk for the combination.

The first set was a tough contest between the two pairs, bringing the tie-breaker into the equation after it was level at 6-6.

In the tie-breaker, Sania and Kichenok upped their game by a few notches to outsmart their opponents and take the lead.

The second set was a no-contest as Saina and Kichenok broke their opponents thrice -- in the second, sixth and eighth game -- to easily pocket the set and a place in the summit clash.

Saina and Kichenok got 11 break chances out of which they converted four, while their opponents utilised two out of the five break chances that came their way.

The 33-year-old Sania is returning to the WTA circuit after two years. During her time away from the game, she battled injury breakdowns before taking a formal break in April 2018 to give birth to her son Izhaan. She is married to Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik.

Before the ongoing event, Sania last played at China Open in October 2017.

A trailblazer in Indian tennis, Sania is a former world No.1 in doubles and has six Grand Slam titles to her credit.

She retired from the singles competition in 2013 after becoming the most successful Indian woman tennis player.

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