Kidambi Srikanth knocked out of All England badminton, PV Sindhu in last eight

Agencies
March 16, 2018

Birmingham, Mar 16: PV Sindhu survived a late fightback from her Thai opponent Nitchaon Jindapol to reach the quarter-finals of the All England Open badminton tournament in Birmingham on Thursday.

The world No 3 Indian recovered from a mid-way slump to overcome the Thai shuttler 21-13 13-21 21-18 in a match which lasted an hour and seven minutes.

However, Kidambi Srikanth, the highest seeded Indian men’s player at No. 3, lost to China’s Huang Yuxiang 21-11, 15-21, 22-20. Another Indian men’s player HS Prannoy defeated Indonesia’s Tommy Sugiarto 21-10, 21-19.

Sindhu’s win

With 2013 champion Ratchanok Inthanon crashing out in the opening round, the onus was on Jindapol to go deep in the tournament and she did produce some superb strokes but Sindhu was always a step ahead.

Coming into the contest, Sindhu had a 2-1 head-to-head record against Jindapol, who is enjoying a career-best rank of 11.

The Indian kept the shuttle in play, pushing Jindapol to the corners and returning the shuttles with immaculate ease early on.

“I definitely need to improve. I am happy to pull off a tough match. I hope I would go back, recover and come back stronger tomorrow. I am not thinking too much about the tournament” Sindhu said after the match. “She is not an easy player. She gave away easy points initially and after winning the first game, it was not easy as there were long rallies. She has got good strokes.

“Till the last point, I fought and finally won 21-18. I was just thinking about the next point as I was trailing and I had to remain focussed on each point. I could have played more patiently in the decider when I was 12-16. I made too many unforced errors there,” Sindhu added at the post-match interview.

In the first game, the duo split the initial six points before Sindhu jumped to a 7-3 lead after winning a long rally. Sindhu played a brilliant backhand return to move to 8-3 and eventually entered the interval with another precise stroke at the back of the court.

After the breather, Sindhu moved to a 15-7 lead and kept piling on the misery on the Thai who kept hitting the net and wide to bleed points.

A body smash took Jindapol to double figures but she couldn’t go far as Sindhu grabbed a massive game point advantage with a deceptive return at 20-13. Jindapol then hit long to hand the game to the Indian.

In the second game, Jindapol anticipated better and seemed more attacking in her approach and quickly opened up a 7-3 lead with a straight smash.

Sindhu hit wide and also miscued a backhand return. Jindapol used a reverse slice and dominated the rally next to zoom to a 11-3 advantage at the break.

Jindapol played an exceptional wristy deceptive return at the net and was all pumped up as she added more power in her strokes. Sindhu too looked to step up the pace of the rallies and narrowed the gap to 10-14.

Jindapol enjoyed a lucky net chord and Sindhu sent one long as the Thai shuttler lead 17-10 with another superb return.

Sindhu closed the gap to 13-17 with three straight points with some precise returns. A bad judgement and two successive wide shots from Sindhu gave Jindapol seven game points and she sealed it with a smash to roar back into the contest.

Sindhu looked more focused in the decider as she pumped herself with each point, moving to a 3-0 lead.

Jindapol exploited Sindhu’s weak backhand but made a few unforced errors as Sindhu moved to 8-5. Jindapol kept the pressure on and narrowed down the lead to 7-8.

With an animated Indian coach P Gopichand constantly passing on advices from the sidelines, Sindhu produced a precise return to get another point but Jindapol clawed back at 9-9 after wrong footing the Indian. Sindhu held a slender 11-9 lead at the interval after Jindapol hit wide on both side of the flank.

Jindapol erased the deficit quickly after enjoying another lucky net chord and grabbed the lead when Sindhu couldn’t put away a return.

Jindapol moved to a 15-12 lead after Sindhu erred in her cross court return. The Thai unleashed a precise return to gain another point but she found the tape next.

Sindhu produced an onrushing return at the back and then unleashed a couple of roaring smashes to make it 16-16.

Both missed the line next as it was 18-18. Sindhu then pounced on a chance at the net to grab lead and then gained the match point when the Thai went to net. Jindapol netted again as Sindhu sighed a relief.

Last night, H S Prannoy dished out a gritty performance to outwit eighth seeded Chou Tien Chen 9-21 21-18 21-18 to enter the men’s singles second round. The world no. 16 Prannoy will face Indonesia’s Tommy Sugiarto next.

Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy defeated German combo of Marvin Emil Seidel and Linda Efler 21-19 21-13 in the opening round to set up a clash with second seeded Chinese pair of Wang Yilyu and Huang Dongping.

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Agencies
January 11,2020

London, Jan 11: Former cricketer Sachin Tendulkar's famous lap around the Wankhede Stadium after the World Cup 2011 win has been nominated in Laureas's list for the most inspiring sporting event in the last twenty years.

The moment featuring Tendulkar has been described as "Carried on the shoulders by a nation".

On his sixth attempt at the World Cup and with India not having won the competition since 1983, Tendulkar finally became a part of the team that lifted the coveted trophy. Carried on the shoulders of the Indian team, he made a lap of honour, shedding tears of joy after the victory was sealed in his home city.

The 2011 World Cup was also the first time, in which a host nation ended up winning the trophy.

Apart from Tendulkar, England's Andrew Flintoff is the only other cricketer to feature in the list. In 2005, England managed to defeat Australia in an Ashes Test, but Flintoff chose to first shake hands with Brett Lee rather than celebrate with his side.

Matthias Steiner (weightlifting), Natalie du Toit (swimming), Sky Brown (skateboarding), Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee (triathlon), Xia Boyu (mountaineering) have been nominated in the list.

Female tennis stars also feature in the list for coming up with an equal play, equal pay campaign. After pressure from Venus Williams and others, Wimbledon announced that female tennis players would receive prize money equal to the men's.

German international footballer Miroslav Klose was playing for Lazio in Italy's Serie A in 2012 against Napoli when he rose for a ball in the early moments of the game.

The ball came spiraling off his hand and skirted into the back of the net and a goal was awarded. While most players would carry on as if nothing had happened, Klose was honest with the referee and admitted that he handled the ball.

As a result, he also finds a place on the list.

The Laureus Sporting Moment Award celebrates the moments where the sport has unified people in the most extraordinary way.

This campaign has shortlisted 20 sporting stories from the last 20 years that have left their mark on the world.

The winner will be decided on the basis of public voting. It has already started, and the final date to cast the vote is February 16.

Finally, the result will be declared on February 17.
With three knock-out rounds, the top-20 moments will be whittled down to ten then five, with the top-five moments going head-to-head.

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News Network
April 27,2020

Lahore, Apr 27: Pakistan batsman Umar Akmal has been banned from all forms of cricket for three years for failing to report spot-fixing offers, the Pakistan Cricket Board announced Monday.

Umar, who turns 30 next month, pleaded guilty to not reporting the fixing offers which led to his provisional suspension on February 20 this year.

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News Network
January 31,2020

Wellington, Jan 31: A nervous New Zealand threw it away yet again as a perseverant India prevailed in the Super Over for the second successive time to take a 4-0 lead in the T20 International series on Friday.

Needing just 11 runs off the last two overs with seven wickets in hand, New Zealand dug a hole for themselves yet again, taking the game to a Super Over two nights after doing the same in Hamilton.

New Zealand managed 13 runs in six balls and India got there effortlessly.

KL Rahul smashed 10 runs off the first two balls before he was caught. Then, a fired-up Virat Kohli and Sanju Samson finished the game in style.

Earlier, Manish Pandey proved his value to the team with an unbeaten 50 off 35 balls, taking India to 165 for eight from 88 for six in the 12th over.

India's total wasn't enough considering the batting-friendly conditions but the hosts made life a lot tougher for themselves from a commanding position before succumbing to pressure.

The entertaining knocks from Colin Munro (64 off 47) and Time Seifert went in vain (57 off 39).

Mohammed Shami, who was rested on Friday, had bowled a brilliant 20th over on Wednesday and man of the match Shardul Thakur was up to the task this time, conceding just six runs when the opposition needed seven for victory.

With the series already in the bag, India gave opportunity to Sanju Samson, Washington Sundar and Navdeep Saini for the first time in the five-match series, resting Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja and Shami. However, none of them was able to make an impact in the game.

Chasing 165, New Zealand lost Martin Guptill early. But Munro and Seifert put on 74 runs for the second wicket to put themselves on track.

Munro scored a half-century of 38 deliveries, inclusive of six fours and three sixes. He was out against the run of play as Kohli's direct hit surprisingly found the target after a relay throw from the deep.

It was the turning point as New Zealand lost regular wickets. Yuzvendra Chahal bowled Tom Bruce (0), but Seifert found a partner in Ross Taylor as they pushed the score past 150 in the 18th over.

Seifert scored a half-century off 32 balls, including four fours and three sixes. But the great choke was yet to come again. Needing 18 off 18, the Black Caps lost four wickets in the last over bowled by Thakur.

Taylor holed out of the first ball, while Seifert was run out two balls later. Daryl Mitchell (4) was caught next and Mitchell Santner (2) couldn't steal two runs off the last ball as the sides engaged in a tie-breaker for the second game running.

This was after New Zealand won a fourth consecutive toss and opted to field. Kane Williamson didn't take part in the match owing to a shoulder niggle.

Tim Southee was the stand-in skipper, with the Black Caps making two changes.

Put in to bat, the visitors were struggling at 88-6 at one stage before Pandey's lonesome rescue act took them to a respectable total. KL Rahul contributed 39 runs off 26 balls, inclusive of three sixes and two fours.

Leg spinner Ish Sodhi got into the act and ran through India's batting order. First to go was Shreyas Iyer (1) and then Shivam Dube (12) was caught at mid-wicket.

Sodhi finished with 3-26 while Santner dismissed Sundar for nought as the New Zealand spinners rounded up a good outing with 4-54 in eight overs.

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