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Sania Mirza-Martina Hingis will continue to win Grand Slams for next few years: Mahesh Bhupathi

November 11, 2015

Mumbai, Nov 11: India tennis great Mahesh Bhupathi on Tuesday heaped praise on current women's doubles World No.1 Sania Mirza and her partner Swiss veteran Martina Hingis and for their tremendous season this year which saw them clinch nine doubles titles, including two Grand Slams.

BhupathiBhupathi said the Indo-Swiss pair will continue to win Grand Slams for the next few years with the form they are currently in.

The unstoppable duo of Mirza and Swiss veteran Hingis came up with another stupendous performance recently to win the women's doubles title at the prestigious $7 million WTA Finals in Singapore.

It was the pair's ninth title together this season, having also won in Beijing, Wuhan, Guangzhou, US Open (New York), Wimbledon (London), Charleston, Miami and Indian Wells.

Sania also won the Sydney International in January with American Bethanie Mattek-Sands to take her doubles trophy count to 10 this year.

"Sania has been an inspiration. She has really worked hard over the last three years. It is not about just this year she has performed consistently. She is putting herself in a position to win matches," Bhupathi said at a press conference here.

"She has also found someone who can complement each other very well that is Martina Hingis. They are going to continue winning Grand Slams for the next few years," he added.

Bhupathi also opined that alongside mixed doubles, the men's doubles duo of Rohan Bopanna and Leander Paes may win medals for India in the 2016 Olympics to be held in Rio de Janerio, Brazil.

"Alongside mixed doubles, men's doubles have a great chance to clinch medals in the Rio Olympics. Both Rohan-Leander are world class players and they also have a great chance to win," the 41-year-old said.

The 15-time Grand Slam winner also praised current World No.89 Yuki Bhambri for breaking into the top 100 of the men's singles in the ATP rankings, adding that will help him play in the main draw of the singles in the Grand Slams next year.

"It has been a very successful year for Indian tennis in the year. Five Grand Slams for the country. Yuki is now 89 in the world and is going to play in the main draw of the singles in the Grand Slam next year. Sumit Nagal and Karman Kaur Thandi are surely the future of Indian tennis in men’s and women’s. Things are moving well," he said.

Bhupathi, who owns Indian Aces a franchise from International Premier Tennis League (IPTL), said he was thrilled to have Rafael Nadal in the team for the next two seasons (2015-2016) after signing Roger Federer in the inaugural season.

"It is great to have Nadal on board. We know how big and effective player he has been and is in the court. After the New Delhi crowd witnessed Federer and Novak Djokovic in the inaugural season, this year they will get to see Nadal face-off against Federer," he said.

When asked about the inclusion of young Indian players in the IPTL, Bhupathi said keeping in mind the world wide broadcast and the top class players in the teams, it will be difficult to fit in budding young players.

"Somdev Devverman has been kept as an alternate player for the Indian Aces. The quality of tennis has to be maintained as it is broadcasted all over the world. Fitting in young and budding Indian players will be difficult here," he said.

Indian Aces co-owner Gulshan Jhurani -- who was also present on the occassion -- said that to make the league popular throughout the country, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai are the venues which have taken into consideration for hosting the IPTL in the future.

"We have got great response from Delhi in inaugural season, But to make IPTL popular in the country we would like to shift it till as many cities as possible. After Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai are the chosen venues," he said.

Nadal, Agnieszka Radwanska, Gael Monfils, Sania, Ivan Dodig, Bopanna, Fabrice Santoro are the seven players in the India Aces squad that will take on the other four franchises -- Philippine Mavericks, UAE Royals, Singapore Slammers and the newly-joined Japan Warriors.

The league will be held from December 2-20 in Kobe, Manila, New Delhi, Dubai and Singapore.

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Agencies
July 31,2020

Northamptonshire, Jul 31: Mexican Formula One driver Sergio Perez has tested positive for coronavirus, and as a result, he will miss the British Grand Prix.

The Racing Point driver was absent from the circuit on Thursday after self-isolating following what his team called an "inconclusive" test. Perez then re-tested later in the day and it returned positive.

Formula 1 is following a strict testing regime as part of the safety protocols put in place when racing resumed earlier this month, and this is the first time a driver has tested positive.

"Perez has entered self-quarantine in accordance with the instructions of the relevant public health authorities, and will continue to follow the procedure mandated by those authorities," Formula 1 and the FIA said in a statement.

"With the assistance of the local organiser of the British Grand Prix, local health authorities and the FIA COVID-19 delegate, a full track and trace initiative has been undertaken and all close contacts have been quarantined," the statement added.

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News Network
April 19,2020

Zurich, Apr 19: Former Indian captain Bhaichung Bhutia was among the 50 footballers to take part in the FIFA's initiative to pay tribute to 'humanity's heroes' amid the coronavirus pandemic.

FIFA, in its statement, expressed gratitude towards all the healthcare workers and other professionals who are giving their all to ensure society continues to function in the face of the coronavirus.

"To all of these heroic people: football thanks you, football remembers you and football supports you," FIFA said in a statement.

FIFA shared a video on their official Twitter handle where footballers from present and past came been seen applauding the frontline workers.

The 50 fotballer were Bhutia, Holger Badstuber, David Beckham, Lucy Bronze, Gianluigi Buffon, Cafu, Fabio Cannavaro, Iker Casillas, Deyna Castellanos, Giorgio Chiellini, Charlyn Corral, El Hadji Diouf, Youri Djorkaeff, Han Duan, Magdalena Eriksson, Samuel Eto'o, Pernille Harder, Javier Hernandez, Luis Hernandez, Kaka, Harry Kane, Carli Lloyd, Harry Maguire, Diego Maradona, Marta, Vivianne Miedema, Ajara Nchout, Michael Owen, Mesut Ozil, Norma Palafox, Pavel Pardo, Park Jisung, Pele, Gerard Pique, Alexia Putellas, Sergio Ramos, Nicole Reigner, Wendie Renard, Roberto Carlos, James Rodriguez, Ronaldo, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Virginia Torrecilla, Yaya Toure, Marco van Basten, Danielle van de Donk, Ivan Vicelich, Arturo Vidal, Javier Zanetti and Zinedine Zidane.
"As footballers, we are used to receiving applause, but this time, we have the opportunity to show our appreciation for the many people who are risking their lives to protect ours," FIFA.com quoted Beckham as saying.

"You are humanity's heroes and we want to show that all of football supports you and everything that you do to defend all of us," he added.

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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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