Sania-Bethanie hold nerve to wear Dubai crown

February 24, 2013

Sania-Bethanie_hold

Dubai, Feb 24: India’s Sania Mirza clinched her second doubles title of the season after she combined with partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands to defeat Nadia Petrova and Katarina Srebotnik in the title clash of the Dubai Championships here on Saturday.

The unseeded Indo-American duo prevailed over the Russian-Slovenia combo 6-4, 2-6, 10-7 in a tightly-contested final of the $ 2,000,000 hard court event.

After winning the first set rather comfortably, the eventual winners were made to struggle as Petrova and Srebotnik fought back strongly to take the second set.

Sania and Bethanie, however, sealed the issue in their favour by winning the crucial third set.

The two players had won the Brisbane International last month to make a superb start to the 2013 season.

This was Sania’s 16th championships wins in doubles, and she also has one singles title win.

Tsonga wins thriller

World No 8 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga saved five match points in a breathtaking third set tie-break to edge out Australian Bernard Tomic on Friday and qualify for the Marseille Open semifinals.

The third-seeded Frenchman, who lost the first set, eventually grabbed the tie-break 12-10 to seal a 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 victory after two hours five minutes.

Tsonga will face Gilles Simon in the semifinal after his compatriot upset title holder Juan Martin Del Potro 6-4, 6-3. Top seed Tomas Berdych had to work harder to move past seventh-seeded Jerzy Janowicz, who made a name for himself when he reached the Paris Masters final in November after entering the main draw from the qualifiers.

Berdych will meet 119th-ranked Russian Dmitry Tursunov, who defeated Gilles Muller of Luxembourg 7-6, 1-6, 7-5.

Cilic crashes out

Top seed Croatian Marin Cilic was swept out of the Memphis International tennis tournament, falling 6-4, 6-2 to Japan's Kei Nishikori on Friday.

Repeat finalist Marina Erakovic of New Zealand will face Germany's Sabine Lisicki for the women's title.

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News Network
April 15,2020

New Delhi, Apr 15: Indian cricket team head coach Ravi Shastri on Wednesday urged people to beat coronavirus by staying at home and by maintaining social distancing. He termed the virus 'mother of all World Cups' and asked people to combat this disease together and win the World Cup of humanity.

Taking to Twitter, Shastri shared a video post where he cited cricket examples to aware people about the seriousness of the COVID-19 pandemic. "As I would know, sports teaches you life lessons that can be applied to just about anything you want to pursue in rest of your life.

Today the COVID-19 has put us in a situation where we got our backs to the wall. To combat this coronavirus is like chasing a World Cup where you give your everything in trying to win it. What's staring you at the face is no ordinary World Cup. This is the mother of all World Cups where not just eleven are playing but 1.4 billion are in the playing arena and competing. Guys we can win this. For that, we have to observe the basics. You have got your Prime Minister leading from the front ahead of the curve like other countries have farmed out," Shastri said.

"You have to obey the orders that come from the top: be it centre, state or the frontline workers who are risking their lives. Two orders that stand out: staying home and maintaining social distancing. It is not easy but to win the game you got to go through the pain to break the chain and see the gain. Come on, guys! let's do it together. Let us get out there in a bruit force of 1.4 billion and beat this corona and get your hands on the World Cup of humanity. Let's do it," he added.

With 1,076 new COVID-19 cases reported in the last 24 hours, India's tally of coronavirus cases has risen to 11,439, said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Wednesday.

Out of the total tally, 9,756 cases are active while 1,306 patients have been cured/discharged and migrated. With 38 new deaths reported in the last 24 hours, the death toll rises to 377.

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News Network
April 4,2020

New Delhi, April 4: India skipper Virat Kohli has said that the 2014 Test series against England was the lowest point of his career.

He made the revelation during a candid Instagram Live session with former England batsman Kevin Pietersen.

To date, the 2014 Test series in England remains one of the worst Test series for Kohli as he averaged just 13.40 from 10 ten innings with his highest score being 39.

"I felt like as a batsman, you know you are going to get out in the morning as soon as you wake up. That was the time I felt like that there is no chance I am getting runs. And still to get out of bed and just get dressed for the game and to go out there and go through that, knowing that you will fail, was something that ate me up," Kohli told Pietersen.

However, just four years later, Kohli made a triumphant return to England as he scored a century in the opening Test of the 2018 series and finished as the highest run-getter in the series.

Kohli told Pietersen that the performance in 2014 came because he was just thinking about his own batting.

"2014 series happened, for all the younger guys listening, because I was too focused on doing well from a personal point of view. I wanted to get runs. I could never think of what does the team want me to do in this situation," Kohli said.

"I just got too engulfed with England tour - if I perform here, Test cricket, in my mind I am going to feel established and all that crap on the outside, which is not important at all," he added.
During the chat, Kohli talked about his favourite format in cricket and he also revealed the main reason for turning into a vegan.

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Agencies
January 23,2020

Aurangabad, Jan 23: An FIR has been registered against three people including former cricketer Mohammed Azharuddin for allegedly duping a travel agent, Mohammad Shadab, of more than Rs 20 lakh.

However, Mohammad Azharuddin has refuted allegations and said: "I strongly rubbish the false FIR filed against me in Aurangabad. I am consulting my legal team and would be taking action as necessary."

Azharuddin's personal assistant Mujeeb lives in Augurangabad and has good relations with the travel agency of Shadab.

The travel agent alleged that Mujeeb asked him to book some flight tickets but did not pay the amount.

The police have booked the three under Section 406, 420 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code.

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