Saina enters round two; Sindhu bows out of Australian Open

June 8, 2016

Sydney, Jun 8: Star Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal entered the second round of women's singles with a comfortable victory but P V Sindhu suffered an upset defeat in the opening round to crash out of the USD 750,000 Australian Open Super Series badminton tournament here today.

saina1In men's singles, India's Kidambi Srikanth and Sameer Verma made the second round with contrasting victories, but it was curtains for qualifier R M V Gurusaidutt as he failed to cross the first round hurdle.

Saina, who had won the Australian Open title in 2014, hardly broke a sweat in her opening round game as she outplayed Joy Lai of Australia with a dominating 21-10 21-14 win in just 29 minutes.

The seventh seeded Indian will clash with Malaysia's Jin Wei Goh in the second round.

However, World No. 10 Sindhu was stunned by South Korea's Kim Hyo Min, ranked 40th in the world, 15-21 19-21 after a 55-minute battle.

But youngster Tanvi Lad registered a come-from-behind win 18-21 21-14 21-11 over qualifier Tiffany Ho of Australia in 52 minutes to enter round two of the tournament.

She will next take on fourth-seeded Wang Yihan.

Srikanth, ranked 12th, posted an easy 21-16 21-12 win over World No.11 NG Ka Long Angus of Hong Kong in a match that lasted 32 minutes, while Sameer had to sweat it out before prevailing over Indonesia's Ihsan Maulana Mustofa 22-20 15-21 21-15 in a 53-minute contest.

Gurusaidutt, who qualified to the main draw after winning both his qualifying matches yesterday, fought hard before going down 19-21 21-12 15-21 to world no. 14 Hu Yun of Hong Kong.

Srikanth will next face Indonesia's Sony Dwi Kuncoro, while Sameer will take on the winner of match between Anthony Sinisuka Ginting and Chou Tien-chen.

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News Network
April 2,2020

New Delhi, Apr 2: BJP MP and former cricketer Gautam Gambhir on Thursday said that he will donate his two year's salary to PM-CARES Fund to support the battle against coronavirus pandemic in the country.

"People ask what can their country do for them. The real question is what can you do for your country? I am donating my 2 year's salary to #PMCaresFund. You should come forward too! @narendramodi @JPNadda @BJP4Delhi #IndiaFightsCorona," Gambhir tweeted.

The total number of coronavirus cases in India climbed to 1965 on Thursday after 131 people confirmed positive in the past 12 hours, said the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

At present, there are 1764 COVID-19 active cases in the country and 50 people have died due to the lethal infection.

Interestingly, on this day in 2011, India lifted its second World Cup title after a drought of 28 years. Gambhir played a crucial role in the final and anchored the run-chase.

India won its first World Cup in 1983 under the leadership of former all-rounder Kapil Dev. 

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Agencies
January 9,2020

Jeddah, Jan 9: Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde criticised the new Supercopa format and said that "football has become a business and as a business it looks for income".

"The bottom line is football has become a business and as a business it looks for income. That's the reason we are all here," Goal.com quoted Valverde as saying ahead of Barca's semi-final against Atletico.

"It's a completely different format to what we're used to. It was always the first title and the opener of the season and to me, that seemed fine," he added.

The Supercopa was traditionally a two-legged affair played between the winners of La Liga and the Copa del Rey at the beginning of the season, but following last term's one-off meeting between Barca and Sevilla in Tangier, Morocco, the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) went ahead with a full revamp.

Instead of just two teams being involved, the Supercopa has been expanded to also include the runners-up from La Liga and the Copa - meaning Barca and Valencia are joined by Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid. It is also set to be hosted in Saudi Arabia for the next three editions.

"It's been changed and let's see, it will be judged once it has happened. It's interesting, with four good teams, but from a sporting point of view, I'm not sure," Valverde said.

"We must bear in mind that the football we are involved in is an industry, sources of income are sought and in the same way that there are special connotations in this country, there are also in Morocco, where we played last year," he added.

Barcelona will face Atletico Madrid in the semifinal of the Supercopa at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah on January 10.

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News Network
July 16,2020

Kolkata, Jul 16: BCCI president Sourav Ganguly on Wednesday went into home quarantine after his elder brother and Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) joint secretary Snehasish Ganguly tested positive for Covid-19.

Snehasish, a former Bengal first-class player, has been admitted to the Belle Vue hospital in Kolkata after his COVID report came positive.

"He was suffering from fever for the last few days and his test report came positive today. He's been admitted to Belle Vue Hospital," a CAB official said.

"The reports arrived late in the evening. As per health protocols, even Sourav will have to be in home quarantine for a stipulated period," a source close to the BCCI President added.

Snehasish had shifted to their ancestral house, where Sourav is based, in Behala after his wife and in-laws at his Mominpur residence tested positive for the dreaded virus.

The former India captain was, however, unavailable for a comment on the development.

Recently, during an interview to India Today, Sourav had spoken about how life around him has changed, making people more vulnerable.

"My brother visits our factories everyday and he is more at risk," the former batting star had said

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