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Confident Vidya hopes to go the distance at 6-red Worlds

September 28, 2013

VidyaBangalore, Sep 28: Having completed a rare double when she annexed the National 6-red snooker championship two days ago at Lucknow, the seasoned Vidya Pillai exuded confidence on her chances at the World 6-red Snooker Championship, due to kick off in Carlow, Ireland, on September 29.

Vidya, who took a sabbatical from the circuit to embrace motherhood before returning in stunning fashion this January in Gwalior when she lifted her seventh national 15-red snooker title with very little practice. She showed hunger for more glory, while beating Neena Praveen for the 6-red title as well in Lucknow on Wednesday.

Now, the 36-year-old, struggling to manage time between her love for the green baize and son Surya, leaves to Carlow where the women’s 6-red worlds is being staged for the first time with greater determination.

“Just like the 15-red event, I went to the 6-red with very little practice,” said Vidya. “Every title I win now is a bonus because I don’t practice as hard as I would’ve in my prime. Such victories give you a lot of confidence.

“The worlds is going to be a unique experience. This is the first time women will be involved in the 6-red format and I guess the shortness of it makes for some interesting games. I’m feeling very confident and I hope to go the distance.”

Apart from competing for individual honours, Vidya will also be teaming up young Arantxa Sanchis in the team event. Bangalore’s Chitra Magimairaj and Varsha Sanjeev will form the second team and will also be taking part in the individual championship.

“I honestly think we have a good chance. Chitra and I are there for experience while Varsha and Arantxa are extremely talented. Hope we are able to maintain the intensity.”

Besides Vidya, Chitra will be one of the cueists to watch out for after having won a 6-red snooker bronze medal early this year at the Asian Indoor Games in Incheon, Korea. “I am extremely disappointed with my Nationals show and I’m determined to make amends,” said Chitra who lost in the quarterfinals of the Nationals.

“I’m generally good at international events and I’m looking forward to it. I’ve been practicing hard in the last few months and I hope to make the country proud yet again,” added Chitra.

The Indian contingent, including the men, left for Ireland in the wee hours of Saturday.

The squad: Men: Individual championship: Shivam Arora, Laxman?Rawat, Brijesh Damani, Manan Chandra, Shahbaaz Adil Khan.

Team: Manan Chandra/ Brijesh Damani; Shanbaaz Adil Khan/ Shivam Arora.

Women: Individual championship: Chitra Magimairaj, Vidya Pillai, Arantxa Sanchis, Varsha Sanjeev.

Team: Arantxa Sanchis/?Vidya Pillai; Chitra Magimairaj/ Varsha Sanjeev.

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Agencies
July 28,2020

New Delhi, Jul 28: 'Your character stood out for me than the number of runs you scored," said India skipper Virat Kohli while explaining his decision to give opening Mayank Agarwal a Test debut in the 2018-19 Australia series.

Mayank Agarwal had made his Test debut against Australia in the third Test of the four-match series.

Playing the third Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Agarwal managed to register a half-century in his very first innings in the longest format.

"I had seen you play for RCB, even then you played international bowlers with conviction and you would take them on. You were performing in first-class matches in a dominating way. That is something always stood out with you, I would say your character stood out for me than the number of runs. I knew you would be fearless without having any baggage," Kohli told Mayank Agarwal in a video posted on the official website of BCCI.

In the longest format of the game, Agarwal has managed to score 974 runs from 11 matches at an average of 57.29 with three centuries as an opening batsman.

The Indian skipper also explained as to what makes him notice in a player and added that it is important that guys in the team look to face new challenges and emerge triumphantly.

"For me, the biggest marker is how a person approaches the game, so for example when you opened and we made Vihari open with you. The first opportunity we presented Vihari to open the batting, he said yes to it and that matters me to the most," Kohli said.

"I opened in my first series for India, I said yes to this opportunity and things worked out fine for me. So, a guy who wants to get into tough situations will come out either holding his head high or learning from his mistakes," he added.

Kohli and Mayank would soon be seen in action for Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kings XI Punjab respectively in the Indian Premier League (IPL) starting from September 19 in the UAE.

The comparisons between Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar keep on growing and many have picked the current Indian skipper to break the records set by Tendulkar.

Tendulkar called time on his career after registering 100 international centuries, while Kohli currently has 70 centuries across all formats.

At present, Kohli is ranked at the top spot in the ICC ODI rankings while he is in the second place in Tests rankings. Kohli has so far played 86 Tests, scoring 7,240 runs with 27 centuries at an average of 53.62.

His knock of 254 against South Africa at Pune in 2019 remains his highest Test score to date. When it comes to ODIs, the current Indian skipper has played 248 matches and has 43 centuries.

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News Network
May 30,2020

New York, May 30: Cricket superstar Virat Kohli remains the only Indian in the Forbes' list of world's highest-paid athletes with total earnings of USD 26 million, jumping to the 66th spot from 100 in the 2020 standings.

Kohli's earnings from endorsement stand at USD 24 million and USD 2 million from salary/winnings. The 31-year-old is also the only cricketer in the top-100 list.

With earnings of USD 25 million, Kohli was ranked 100th in 2019 and 83rd in 2018 with USD 24 million.

Tennis legend Roger Federer has toped the list for the first time with earnings of USD 106.3 million, rising from fifth place last year.

Football icons Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are second and third respectively with earnings of USD 105 and USD 104 million.

The others in the top-10 are Neymar (football), LeBron James (basketball), Stephen Curry (basketball), Kevin Durrant (basketball), Tigers Woods (golf), Kirk Cousins (American football) and Carson Wentz (American football).

The athletes' earnings have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic which led to suspension of sporting activities all around the world.

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Ismail
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Sunday, 31 May 2020

Saina Nehwal is the only Indian to feature in the world’s 20 most charitable athletes, as per a list compiled by the US based website in Athletes Gone Good. 

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News Network
February 14,2020

Los Angeles, Feb 14: Tributes to the late Kobe Bryant, the Los Angeles Lakers legend who died last month in a helicopter crash, will play a major role in Sunday's 69th NBA All-Star Game.

This year's annual showcase of league talent will be played in Chicago and feature numerous nods to Bryant, a five-time NBA champion who also matched a league record with four NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player awards.

Bryant, an 18-time NBA All-Star, died at age 41 on January 26 in a crash near Los Angeles that also took the life of his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others.

All-Star teams guided by LeBron James of the Lakers and Greek star Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks will compete to win each of the first three quarters, which will all start 0-0 and last 12 minutes.

At the start of the fourth quarter, the clock will be turned off and a final target score will be established by taking the leading club's cumulative score through the first three quarters and adding 24 points -- the number representing the jersey number worn by Bryant for the final 10 seasons of his NBA career.

The first team to reach the cumulative target score will win the NBA All-Star Game.

All-Star Game jerseys will also honor Bryant and his daughter.

Team Giannis players will wear jersey number 24 in tribute to Kobe while Team LeBron players will wear jersey number two, the number his daughter wore when playing youth basketball.

Both teams will wear jersey patches displaying nine stars, representing the nine people who were killed in the crash.

Academy Award-winning actress and Grammy Award-winning singer Jennifer Hudson, a Chicago native, will perform a special tribute to Bryant, his daughter and the others who were killed in the crash. Her performance will begin the night ahead of the player introductions.

James and Antetokounmpo each chose their squads from available starters and reserves voted and selected to the All-Star contest.

Team LeBron starters will include James, his Lakers teammate Anthony Davis, NBA scoring leader James Harden of Houston, Kawhi Leonard of the Los Angeles Clippers and Slovenian guard Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks.

Team Giannis starters include the Greek big man, Cameroon stars Joel Embiid of Philadelphia and Pascal Siakam of Toronto and guards Kemba Walker of Boston and Trae Young of Atlanta.

A record eight All-Star Game players from outside the United States also include Frenchman Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz on Team Giannis and Team LeBron reserves Ben Simmons of Australia and the Philadelphia 76ers, Lithuanian Domantas Sabonis of Indiana and Serbian Nikola Jokic of Denver.

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