PBL: Saina Nehwal stars in Awadhe Warriors comfortable win over Delhi Aces

January 5, 2016

Lucknow, Jan 5: World No 2 Saina Nehwal notched up a comfortable straight-game victory in their Trump match over P C Thulashi in women's singles to guide Awadhe Warriors to a convincing victory over Delhi Aces in their Premier Badminton League (PBL) match in Lucknow on Monday.

sainaOlympic bronze medallist Saina, B Sai Praneeth and doubles pair of Bodin Issara and Cai Yun won their respective matches to take an unassailable 4-1 lead over Delhi in their second tie, after they had gone down fighting against Mumbai Rockets 2-3 in their last outing.

Star of Awadhe Warriors' last match S Tanongsak started the proceedings as he played the opening men's singles against Delhi Aces' Tommy Sugiarto but the Thai shuttler could not repeat a winning performance as the former World No 3 Indonesian registered a 15-13, 15-11 win to draw the first blood in the five-match tie.

"He was very good. While I won the match in two games but he gave me a tough fight. I had to keep a complete check on his shots as he mixed it very well. I am happy I won and opened the account for my team," Sugiarto said.

Saina, who had skipped the inaugural match on Saturday due to a foot injury, enthralled the audience with a dominating game to take her team to a 2-1 lead after beating P C Thulasi 15-9 15-10 in the women's singles match, which Awadhe Warriors had selected as the 'Trump match'.

Thulasi opened up a slender 2-0 lead early on but Saina clearly wasn't exerting herself too much because of the injury. Lagging 3-5, Saina dominated a long rally and then drew level when Thulasi hit wide.

Thulasi didn't have answers to Saina low returns as the Warriors captain went into the break at 8-5 with Thulashi struggling to keep the shuttle on court. In the end, Saina wrapped the first game 15-9.

Cheered on by PBL Brand Ambassador Akshay Kumar and Nimrat Kaur at the stands, Saina produced some spectacular shots which Thulashi failed to negotiate. Saina lead 6-2 and then hit the net twice but she never lost the tempo and continued to lead 8-5.

Saina used power and placement to bamboozle Thulashi and lead 13-9, before wrapping the match with a return that left her rival clueless once again as the Warriors bagged two points from the match.

Commenting on the win, Saina said: "She started off well and she is good with her net play and I enjoyed playing those shots with her.

"It is great to win in front of your home crowd. It was my first match of the League and it produced a productive result as it was a Trump match for our side. We hope to win the tie from here".

Lucknow's Bodin Issara and Cai Yun then took the court against Malaysian combo of Koo Keat Kien and Tan Boon Heong in the third match of the day.

In an edge of the seat doubles match, the Thai-Chinese pair produced a superb game to eventually eke out a 15-12 15-14 win. It was Cai Yun who played a steller role, grabbing the last two points with a spectacular smash and a brilliant serve which left Kien and Heong clueless.After the third game, Awahde Warriors lead 3-1.

After the victory, the pair said “The score card only shows that how tough this game was for us and we are pretty happy that we prevailed finally.

"They were too good and we enjoyed every long rally that we shared with them. Definitely Saina's win in the last game boosted our confidence which eventually helped us win this games".

Taking the court in the second men's singles, B Sai Praneeth then sealed the tie in Awadhe Warriors' favour after notching up a 15-12, 15-9 win over Rajiv Ouseph of England.

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Agencies
February 12,2020

Mumbai, Feb 12: Former Indian greats Kapil Dev and Mohammad Azharuddin have been left disappointed by the behaviour of the Under-19 team after the World Cup final where they were involved in an altercation with their Bangladeshi counterparts.

After Bangladesh won the final beating India by three wickets (via DLS) at the Senwes Park on Sunday, the players of the two teams were seen engaging in an exchange of words and even some pushing and shoving on the field.

"I would like to see the board (BCCI) take some strict action against the players to set an example. Cricket is not about abusing the opponent. I am sure there is enough reason for these youngsters to be dealt with firmly by BCCI," Kapil was quoted as saying by The Hindu.

"I welcome aggression, nothing wrong in it. But it has to be controlled aggression. You can't cross the line of decency in the name of being competitive. I would say it was unacceptable that youngsters put up such an obnoxious display on the cricket field," he added.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has sanctioned five players, including three from Bangladesh -- Towhid Hridoy, Shamim Hossain and Rakibul Hasan --and two from India --Akash Singh and Ravi Bishnoi for the scuffle.

Azharuddin also reiterated what Kapil said, insisting that players need to be disciplined.

"I would take action against the errant Under 19 players, but I also want to know what role has the support staff played in educating these youngsters. Act now before it is too late. The players have to be disciplined," Azharuddin said.

Earlier, Bishan Singh Bedi has lashed out at the Priyam Garg-led team, saying their behaviour was disgusting and disgraceful.

"You bat, bowl and field badly�happens, but there's no excuse for behaving badly. The behaviour was disgusting and most disgraceful. The innocence of that age was not visible at all," Bedi told Mid Day.

Bedi, who represented India in 67 Tests and 10 ODIs, said the behaviour of the Bangladesh cricketers is not our problem.

"Look, what Bangladesh do is their problem, what our boys do is our problem. You could see that there was abusive language used," he said.

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News Network
April 2,2020

New Delhi, Apr 2: It was on April 2, 2011, when the Men in Blue went on to win their second 50-over World Cup title.

India won its first World Cup in 1983 and then had to wait for 28 years to again lift the title.
Going into the 2011 tournament, India went in as the clear favourites as the competition was to be played in the sub-continent.

Under MS Dhoni's leadership, India lost just one match in the competition against South Africa.
India had defeated arch-rivals Pakistan in the semi-final to set up a summit clash with Sri Lanka.

In the finals, Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to bat first. Mahela Jayawardene top-scored for Sri Lanka as he struck a century to take the team's score to 274/6.

India in their chase got off to a bad start as the side lost Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag with just 31 runs on the board.

But Gautam Gambhir and MS Dhoni stepped up and stitched a match-winning 109-run partnership.

Gambhir perished after playing a knock of 97 runs, but in the end, Dhoni and Yuvraj took the team over the line by six wickets.

The winning six struck by Dhoni is still viewed as one of the most exciting moments in India's sporting history. 

As the winning six was hit, Ravi Shastri was doing commentary then, and he famously remarked, "Dhoni, finishes it off in style, India lifts the World Cup after 28 years".
As soon as the match-winning shot was hit, Tendulkar erupted with joy and had tears to see his dream finally being fulfilled.

Earlier this year, former Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar's famous lap around the Wankhede Stadium after the 2011 World Cup win, titled 'Carried On the Shoulders Of A Nation', was voted the greatest Laureus Sporting Moment of the last twenty years.

The lap after the World Cup is still edged into everyone's hearts.

Playing in his last mega 50-over tournament, it was the last chance for Tendulkar to lift the coveted trophy.

Before the 2011 World Cup, Tendulkar had played five tournaments (1992,1996,1999,2003 and 2007), and he fell short every time.

The closest he came to winning the trophy was in 2003 as India made the finals under the leadership of Sourav Ganguly.

But the Men in Blue fell short in the finals against Australia.

Then in 2007, the biggest setback was in store for the legend has India bowed out of the tournament in the group stages.

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News Network
May 3,2020

New Delhi, May 3: In a startling revelation, India speedster Mohammed Shami has claimed that he thought of committing suicide thrice while battling personal issues a few years ago, forcing his family to keep a watch over him at all times.

He said his family members feared he "might jump" from their 24th floor apartment.

Shami, one of India's leading bowlers in recent years, opened up on his personal and professional life during an Instagram chat with teammate and limited overs squads' vice-captain Rohit Sharma.

"I think if my family had not supported me back then I would have lost my cricket. I thought of committing suicide three times during that period due to severe stress and personal problems," Shami revealed during the session on Saturday.

Now one of the mainstays of Indian bowling attack across formats, the 29-year-old was struggling to focus on his cricket, then.

"I was not thinking about cricket at all. We were living on the 24th floor. They (family) were scared I might jump from the balcony. My brother supported me a lot.

"My 2-3 friends used to stay with me for 24 hours. My parents asked me to focus on cricket to recover from that phase and not think about anything else. I started training then and sweated it out a lot at an academy in Dehradun," Shami said.

In March 2018, Shami's wife Hasin Jahan had accused him of domestic violence and lodged a complaint with the police, following which the India player and his brother were booked under relevant sections.

The upheaval in his personal life forced his employer BCCI to withheld the player's central contracts for a while.

"Rehab was stressful as the same exercises are repeated every day. Then family problems started and I also suffered an accident. The accident happened 10-12 days ahead of the IPL and my personal problems were running high in the media," Shami told Rohit.

Shami said his family stood like a rock with him and the support helped him get back on his feet.

"Then my family explained that every problem has a solution no matter how big the problem. My brother supported me a lot."

Speaking about another painful period in his life after his injury in the 2015 World Cup, Shami said it took him almost 18 months to get back on the field.

"When I got injured in the 2015 World Cup, after that it took me 18 months to fully recover, that was the most painful moment in my life, it was a very stressful period.

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