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PV Sindhu enters maiden world championships final

Agencies
August 27, 2017

Glasgow, Aug 27: India had a mixed day at the World Badminton Championships, with 2016 Olympic silver medallist P.V. Sindhu entering the final, while Saina Nehwal lost in the women`s singles semi-finals here on Saturday.

Fourth seed Sindhu crushed Chinese ninth seed Chen Yufei of China 21-13, 21-10 in 48 minutes in a superlative display to set-up a title clash against Japanese seventh seed Nozomi Okuhara, who defeated Indian 12th seed Saina 12-21, 21-17, 21-10 earlier in the day.

Sindhu, a two-time World Championships bronze medallist, dominated her younger opponent from the beginning, not allowing the reigning world junior champion to settle in.

Playing aggressively, Sindhu rattled 19-year-old Yufei with her barrage of attacking strokes.

In the other semi-final, 2012 Olympic bronze medallist Saina lost against Okuhara as she settled for a bronze medal.

After winning the first game 21-12, Saina, who is yet to regain full fitness after her knee surgery in August 2016, and looked tired.A Okuhara`s strategy of playing long rallies tested Saina`s fitness to the core.

World Championships 2015 runner-up Saina, who had a 6-1 head-to-head record against Okuhara coming into this game, started strongly, winning the first game 21-12 as the Japanese struggled to get into her rhythm.

The 22-year-old Japanese struggled with her net play and a few erratic line judgements to trail 6-11 which became 6-15 before losing 12-21.

Okuhara got off to a flying start in the second game, taking a 4-0 lead but the 27-year-old Saina fought back and equalised at the nine-point mark.

Saina kept pace with her younger and sharper opponent but she got tired towards the end. At 17-all, Saina wasted a great chance to take the lead as she fired a smash wide right.

Then, Okuhara claimed three consecutive points as she showed more energy and agility as a tired Saina failed to stop her from dictating the rallies.

In the third game, Okuhara completely dominated and her fast-paced game didn`t allow Saina to get back into it. Saina struggled with her movements and failed to reach for Okuhara`s delectable drop shots.

Okuhara, the 2012 world junior champion, raced away to an 11-4 lead and afterwards it was just a matter of time before the Japanese sealed the game at 21-10 and with this a place in the final.

"It was disappointing to have lost the despite being a game up. But overall I am happy that I made it to the semis after recently coming out of an injury. I gave it my best and I am pleased with that," Saina said after the match.

Talking about how she lost the momentum during the match, Saina said, "She started to win long rallies after the first game and that was the main reason for her to make a comeback into the match.a

Okuhara became the first Japanese to reach the World Championships women`s singles final.

Sindhu, 22, and Okuhara, 22, have won three games apiece from six outings between them and in the Japanese, the Hyderabadi faces an opponent that likes to play fast-paced shuttle.

Meanwhile, men`s singles defending champion Chen Long of China was ousted by Viktor Axelsen of Denmark. The Danish third seed crushed the 2016 Olympic champion 21-9, 21-10 in 39 minutes.

In the final, Axelsen will face Chinese veteran and five-time world champion Lin Dan, who got past South Korean top seed Son Wan Ho with a 21-17, 21-14 victory in 58 minutes.

Axelsen, who won the bronze in the 2014 worlds and 2016 Rio Olympics, was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency: "I am still a little out of words, I never expected to win that comfortably, I am very happy. I made little mistakes today and made very few errors.

"It was nice to get revenge from the Olympic semi-finals, I am very proud of myself.

"My coach and I always look back at past championships to get better and improve on my game. Denmark is a small country but I am very proud that we can compete with the bigger countries. It`s a dream come true, ever since I was a little boy I dreamed of a World Championships final."

Chen, 28, said he was under too much pressure. "I got the first points, then lost a lot of the next, and that really affected my game. In the second I managed to go ahead and that put a lot of pressure on me, but Victor played very well.

"Congratulations to Victor to getting to the final, he played the perfect game," he added.

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Agencies
August 5,2020

New Delhi, Aug 5: "Want to know what makes him tick," said Australian pacer Kane Richardson will talking about playing alongside Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) skipper Virat Kohli in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020.

The IPL 2020 will be played in the UAE from September 19-November 10 and the tournament will run for 53 days.

In the players' auction which was conducted in December 2019, RCB managed to bag key players like Richardson, Chris Morris, Aaron Finch, Dale Steyn, Joshua Philippe, and Isuru Udana.

In an interaction with news agency, Richardson talked about playing alongside Kohli and the learning curve which is in store for him by being in the same squad as Proteas great Dale Steyn.
"Huge. These guys (Virat, AB de Villiers) are the absolute legends of the game. Anything I can learn from them will be a bonus, that's for sure.

I am really looking forward to playing with Virat, there are few more competitive players in the world. I am really looking forward to seeing what makes him tick," Richardson said.

The 29-year-old pacer also said that he would want to learn from Steyn as to how to be consistent in all formats of the game over a long period of time.

"There are loads I can learn from Dale. He has been amongst the best at the highest level for so long. His control and ability to swing the ball without losing his pace is really impressive. 

I look forward to getting in his ear about how he performs so consistently over a long period, in all forms," said Richardson who has 39 ODI wickets to his credit.

Richardson has so far played 14 games in his IPL career so far and has picked up 18 wickets. The bowler played for Pune Warriors India in 2013, Rajasthan Royals in 2014, and RCB in 2016.

For this year's IPL, RCB has also bagged Australia's limited-overs skipper Aaron Finch, and Richardson thinks having a familiar face in the camp would help him to settle better in the franchise.

"Finchey is an awesome player and a fantastic leader. I am sure it will help to have two Aussies in the side along with Josh who is playing his first tournament after a massive summer in the BBL. We are all professionals, I'm sure it won't take long for us to gel as a side," Richardson said.

However, before the IPL starts, Australia is expected to tour England for a limited-overs series, comprising of three ODIs and as many T20Is.

The side was last seen in action in March this year as they played one ODI against New Zealand in Sydney. After the first match, the remaining two ODIs were postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Talking about the series against England, Kane replied: "We will be fresh, that's one thing, while the England players have been in a bubble for some time now. As long as we get enough practice in before and possibly some centre wicket it should not be an issue."

"They are World Cup holders and the number one ranked side for a very good reason. It will be a tough series also given they will have played a fair bit of cricket together by then. We know we need to work hard on our one-day game which will be a priority over the next period," he added.

The pacer also talked about how the lockdown was like for him, and Richardson feels that everyone would come back strong as a result of this break.

"The break from playing has been refreshing, to be honest. We have come back strong and are well into pre-season training with our states. As a bowler, our loads are not at their peak but we are working towards getting ready for a tour of the UK in a few weeks," Richardson said.

The Australian quick has so far played 25 ODIs and 18 T20Is, managing to take 39 and 19 wickets respectively.

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News Network
January 8,2020

Indore, Jan 8: Former opener Gautam Gambhir is mighty impressed with the way K.L. Rahul batted during India's comfortable seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the second T20I and said it amazes him why the right-handed batsman can't play the same way in Tests. On Tuesday, Rahul top-scored with a 32-ball 45 as India chased down the meagre target of 143 with utmost ease at the Holkar Stadium.

"Rahul is in unbelievable form. It amazes me every time I see Rahul bat that why didn't he play the same way in Test cricket," Gambhir told the host broadcasters. "It's not about only white-ball cricket; it is about Test cricket too. He just got into a shell too much. With the kind of quality he posses, he is someone who can get you a 50-ball 100 in Test cricket as well. The kind of shots he has is superb," he added.

Shikhar Dhawan, who is making a return to the team after an injury lay-off, also contributed with a "rusty" 30-ball 32. Both Dhawan and Rahul are virtually playing for the second opener's slot for the World T20, with Rohit Sharma set to be one.

And Gambhir feels going by the current form, Rahul should be opening the batting alongside Rohit in Australia. "You can't compare IPL to international cricket. When you're playing for Delhi Capitals, you know there's no one waiting for the opportunity, but when you're playing for the country and you know there's someone who's actually can replace you, there'll always be pressure. And today it was shown who's in better form," Gambhir said.

The cricketer-turned-politician, however, exuded confidence that Dhawan will bounce back strongly in the next game. "Shikhar Dhawan looked rusty but it's a good thing that he got some runs under his belt. It will help him when he walks out to bat in the next game. Had he got out early, the pressure would have been more," he said.

India will play Sri Lanka in the final T20I in Pune on Friday before taking on Australia in a three-match ODI series beginning January 14 in Mumbai.

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News Network
January 8,2020

Indore, Jan 8:  India skipper Virat Kohli has added yet another feather to his cap by becoming the fastest player to score 1,000 runs in T20I cricket as a captain. Kohli played an unbeaten knock of 30 during India''s seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the second T20I of the ongoing three-match series on Tuesday evening.

Kohli achieved the milestone of scoring 1,000 runs as captain in his 30th T20I inning. He is the second Indian and sixth overall after MS Dhoni to have achieved the feat. Dhoni had scored 1112 runs in 62 T20I games as captain.

Faf du Plessis (1273 runs from 40 games), Kane Williamson (1083 runs in 39 games), Eoin Morgan (1013 runs in 43 games) and Ireland''s William Porterfield (1002 runs in 56 games) are other captains on the list.

During India''s emphatic victory at the Holkar Stadium, Kohli also surpassed team-mate Rohit Sharma, who has been rested for the series, as the top run-getter in the T20Is. Kohli now has 2663 runs from 71 innings.

Both had finished 2019 as joint top-scorers in T20Is, with 2633 runs each.

India, already with an unassailable lead of 1-0 in the series, will now face Sri Lanka in the final T20I on Friday in Pune. The first match between the two teams was called off without a ball being bowled due to wet patches on the pitch in Guwahati last Sunday.

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