P V Sindhu enters World Badminton Championships semis, assured of bronze

August 30, 2014

Copenhagen, Aug 30: Indian teen sensation P V Sindhu assured herself of a second consecutive bronze medal at the World Championship but it was curtains for star shuttler Saina Nehwal after she suffered a straight-game loss in the women's singles quarterfinals on Friday.

P V SindhuThe 19-year-old Sindhu, who clinched the bronze at the 2013 World Championship in China, produced another gritty performance to see off All-England champion Shixian Wang of China 19-21, 21-19, 21-15 at Ballerup Super Arena.

Earlier this month, Sindhu had won a bronze at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.

Earlier, Olympic bronze-medallist Saina, seeded seventh, struggled against World No. 1 Li Xuerui and the Chinese took just 45 minutes to send the Indian packing with an identical 21-15 21-15 scoreline.

However, Sindhu, seeded 11th, showed once again why she is considered one of India's finest shuttlers as she held her nerves in crucial moments during the energy-sapping battle to record her fourth win against Wang. Sindhu will now face the winner of the match between Chinese Taipei's Tzu Ying Tai and and Spaniard Carolina Marin.

In the quarterfinal contest that lasted for one hour and 25 minutes, Sindhu and Wang were locked in a battle of attrition and rode on each other's mistakes to gather points.

Sindhu dominated the net early on and used her height and reach well to lead 11-5 initially. However, Wang soon caught up at 15-15 before getting past the Indian to pocket the first game.

Frustrated by the first game loss, Sindhu stepped up her performance in the second and once again opened up a healthy 5-1 lead but Wang made her way back into contention at 6-6 with some precise net shots to lead 11-9 at the break.

A couple of unforced errors helped Sindhu to narrow the gap but the Indian faltered at the forecourt to help Wang keep the lead. The Indian kept fighting and used her smashes and better judgment of the shuttle to draw parity at 16-16.

Wang, however, faltered at the nets to allow Sindhu a 19-16 lead and then hit another miscued shot to give the Indian four-game points.

The Chinese saved three game points with a couple of brilliant shots from the back of the court but Sindhu finally managed to send one away from the outstretched right hand of Wang to bounce back into the contest.

The decider started with a long rally which Sindhu grabbed after Wang hit wide. The Chinese kept hitting wide and long and found the net allowing the Indian to lead 5-2. But Wang once again caught up at 5-5.

Both Sindhu and Wang committed too many unforced errors as the Indian managed to hang on to a fragile one-point lead at the breather with a smash which kissed the nets and fell over.

Back to her winning side, Sindhu grabbed the first point with a sharp smash but she found the net and misjudged the shuttle to allow Wang to draw level at 12-12.

While the Chinese used her deceptive drops and cross court net dribbles to gain points, Sindhu targeted Wang's weak back hand to lead 17-15.

Sindhu grabbed the next four points in a jiffy to not only slam the door on Wang but also assure herself of a consecutive bronze medal.

However, a medal at the prestigious tournament continued to elude Saina once again as she succumbed to her eighth defeat against Olympic champion and top seed Li in another quarterfinal contest that lasted for 45 minutes.

2010 Commonwealth Games gold medallist Saina, who had to fight her way back from a game down to register a 14-21, 21-18, 21-12 win over Sayaka Takahashi of Japan in the previous round, looked rusty from the start and was trailing Li in the entire first game.

Li took advantage of Saina's erratic play and raced to a 9-4 lead before the Indian brought the gap down to 10-8. But just when it seemed Saina was getting her act together, the Chinese recomposed herself and increased her lead to 18-11 before closing down the first game.

The second game was competitive till the first five points before the Indian pocketed four consecutive points to lead 9-5.

Saina maintained her four point lead till 12-8 before the Chinese shuttler earned four straight points to draw level at 12-12. However, Saina ran out of steam thereafter as she struggled to match her opponent, who raised her game considerably.

From 13-13, Li again won four consecutive points to take the lead for the first time in the game and then sealed the match in her favour without much ado. Li will play 16th seed Minatsu Mitani of Japan in the semifinals.

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Agencies
January 14,2020

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News Network
June 10,2020

New Delhi, Jun 10: Former India skipper Rahul Dravid has praised the batting of MS Dhoni during the backend of a match, saying that the wicket-keeper often played during the period as if the result did not really matter to him.

Dravid also said that in pressure-cooker situations, not worrying about consequences can help players bring out the best in themselves.

"You watch MS Dhoni play during the backend of a match when he was at his best, you always felt like that he is doing something really important to him but he is playing it like the result does not really matter to him," Dravid told Sanjay Manjrekar during a videocast hosted by ESPNCricinfo.

"I think you need to have that or you need to train for it. It is a skill that I never had. The consequences of any decision mattered to me. It would be interesting to ask MS Dhoni that is this something that has come naturally to him or did he work on this during his career," he added.

Dhoni made his ODI debut against Bangladesh in 2004, but he truly arrived in the series against Pakistan in 2005 when he scored 148 runs in the second ODI of the six-match series at Vishakapatnam.

He is the only captain to win all major ICC trophies (50-over World Cup, T20 World Cup, and Champions Trophy). Under his leadership, India also managed to attain the number one ranking in Test cricket.

He first led an inexperienced Indian side to the T20 World Cup triumph in 2007. He then took over ODI captaincy, but he had to wait for leading the Test side as Anil Kumble was doing the duties in the longest format.

Over his career, Dhoni has been reowned for his finishing skills and he is often viewed as the best finisher that the game has ever seen.

In December 2014, Dhoni announced his retirement from the longest format of the game.

Then in 2017, Dhoni handed over the captaincy reins to Virat Kohli in the 50-over format.

Dhoni was slated to return to the cricket field on March 29 in the IPL's opening match between CSK and Mumbai Indians. However, the tournament has been suspended indefinitely as a precautionary measure against coronavirus.

Thirty-eight-year-old Dhoni has been currently enjoying some time away from the game. He last played competitive cricket during the 2019 World Cup.

Dhoni recently had to face criticism for his slow batting approach during India's matches.

Earlier this year, Dhoni did not find a place in the list of BCCI's centrally contracted players from October 2019 to September 2020.

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Agencies
February 4,2020

Potchefstroom, Feb 4: Yashasvi Jaiswal and Divyaansh Saxena guided India to a comfortable ten wickets win over Pakistan in the ICC U19 World Cup semifinal at Senwes Park on Tuesday and progressed to the final of the tournament.

Chasing 173, Indian openers Jaiswal and Saxena played cautiously and stitched an unbeaten partnership of 176 runs.

The duo built the highest opening partnership of the tournament's history. Jaiswal, the left-handed batsman, scored his maiden century of the tournament as he amassed unbeaten 105 runs studded with eight fours and four sixes.

Saxena scored 59* off 99 balls including six fours. India chased down the total in 35.2 overs. This is the first time in the history of the U19 World Cup that a team won a knockout match by ten wickets.

Earlier, Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat.

Opener Haider Ali and skipper Rohail Nazir's half-centuries guided the side to a respectable total of 172. Ali played a knock of 56 runs while Nazir accumulated 62 runs including six boundaries.

Pakistan did not have a good start as they lost Mohammad Hurair (4) in the second over. Fahad Munir, came to bat at number three, failed to score a single run and was departed by Ravi Bishnoi on a duck in ninth over.

Apart from Ali and Nazir, Mohammad Haris was the only batsman to score runs in double digits. He played an innings of 21 runs off 15 balls. Indian bowlers showed a spirited performance as they bowled out arch-rival in 43.1 overs.

Pacers Karthik Tyagi and Sushant Mishra bagged two and three wickets respectively. Spinner Ravi Bishnoi clinched two scalps and conceded 46 runs in his ten overs.

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