Sindhu seizes Macau Open title for third time

November 29, 2015

Macau, Nov 29: Two-time defending champion P V Sindhu completed a hat-trict of women's singles title at the USD 120,000 Macau Open Grand Prix Gold after defeating Japan's Minatsu Mitani in the finals here today.

pv sinSindhu produced a dominating game to notch up a 21-9 21-23 21-14 win against sixth seed Mitani in a women's singles match that lasted an hour and six minutes here.

World No. 12 Indian dished out some superb strokes and acute angled returns to bamboozle the Japanese, besides making some sound judgements at the baseline to get across Mitani, who struggled to keep the shuttle inside the court.

Sindhu dominated the proceedings right from the start as she rode on the errors of Mitani to reach 11-5 at the break. Mitani came up with an aggressive rally and sealed it with a down the line smash but she failed to curb her errors and most of her returns went wide and long to allow Sindhu lead 17-6 in a jiffy.

Sindhu, on the other hand, was mostly accurate with her smashes and drops as she lead 19-9. The Indian came up with some acute angled returns to trouble Mitani and reached the game point with a smash. The Japanese then went wide to hand over the first game to Sindhu.

After the change of sides, Sindhu once again started on a confident note but she also began missing the lines and Mitani lead 4-2. The Indian checked her unforced errors and came up with stunning smashes to wrest the lead and move to 7-4.

Sindhu made a few wrong judgements at the baseline and also found the net to allow Mitani to surge ahead. At 10-9, Mitani produced her first winner -- a cross court smash -- which left a stretched Sindhu stranded to go into the break with two-point lead.

Mitani started off with a service fault but the Japanese came up with accurate placements which caught Sindhu off guard. But the Indian kept breathing down her neck and clawed back at 16-16.

The duo moved neck-and-neck till 19-19 when Sindhu made an important line judgement to move to match point. But she sent the shuttle long next. A delicate net point once again gave Sindhu a 21-20 match point but Mitani saved again.

Sindhu next hit long to give the game point to Mitani, who grabbed the opportunity after the Indian netted following a long engrossing rally.

Back on her winning side, Sindhu once again marched ahead to a 5-3 lead. Mitani continued to struggle with her line judgements and returns to allow Sindhu establish a big lead at 9-4. The duo engaged in some long rallies with cross court strokes and back and forth returns. At one point, an on rushing Mitani came up with an aggressive net play to grab a point but Sindhu ensured she has a healthy 11-7 lead at the break.

After the interval, Sindhu grabbed six of the next eight points before Mitani pocketed a point with a superb net play. Sindhu lost a point when the linesmen judged a shuttle in but she grabbed the next with a timely stroke that grounded Mitani.

Mitani then made a wrong line call while Sindhu got one right to move into the match point at 20-11. The Japanese saved three match points but a composed Sindhu didn't panic and waited for Mitani's error and she soon send the shuttle wide again to help Sindhu complete her hat trick of titles.

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News Network
April 25,2020

New Delhi, Apr 25: The love and loyalty of the fans will never let him leave Royal Challengers Bangalore till the time he is playing IPL, skipper Virat Kohli said on Friday.

RCB have reached the IPL final thrice but have not gone on to win the trophy.

During a live session on Instagram with former South African captain and RCB teammate AB de Villiers, Kohli said winning the tournament remains the goal but he would not leave the team irrespective of the results.

"It has been such an amazing journey. It is always going to be our dream, winning the IPL together. There is no scenario where I could think of leaving the team ever.

"You can feel emotional about the season not going well but till the time I am playing IPL, I am never leaving this team. The fans, their loyalty has been amazing," said the India skipper.

Responding to Kohli's feelings towards RCB, De Villiers too acknowledged the support of fans over the past nine years. Kohli, on the other hand, has been with RCB since 2008.

"Same for me. I never want to leave RCB but to do that I got to keep scoring runs. I am not the captain you see," said the South African in jest.

Both recalled their early days in international cricket and their growth as cricketers and friends.

Kohli said at times, the youngsters coming in have too much regard for the "system" and he wants to see them break the norm.

"I want to see youngsters coming in scoring 500-600 runs. I want people to break the norm. Sometimes I feel people have too much regard for the system in sport. When you break the shackles, you do something special."

Kohli also acknowledged contribution of Mark Boucher, Gary Kirsten and Duncan Fletcher early on in his international career.

"Gary always gave me positive feedback. Boucher told me in 2008 to improve my game against the short ball. He had the vision. Then Fletcher, he had a keen eye for the game. So many people who have contributed (to my growth)," said Kohli.

De Villiers picked the 119 at Wankhede in the 2015 series decider as his best knock against India. Kohli picked the 119 he scored in Johannesburg Test in 2013.

"I was always really motivated to win the series after 2-2 . I was incredibly motivated to do something special," de Villiers said.

They also picked their combined South Africa and India ODI team. It included Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ab de Villiers, Jacques Kallis, M S Dhoni (captain), Yuvraj Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Dale Steyn, Jasprit Bumrah and Kagiso Rabada.

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News Network
July 16,2020

Bhubaneswar: Jul 16: The Department of Sports and Youth Services, Government of Odisha on Thursday revealed that ace sprinter Dutee Chand has been given Rs 4.09 crore since 2015 and also appointed as Group-A officer in the Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) currently drawing a gross salary of Rs 84,604 per month.

On Wednesday, Dutee clarified that she wants to sell her luxury car because she is unable to bear its maintenance cost and it will also aid her training for Tokyo Olympics.

The 24-year-old believes after selling her car she can use that money for training amid the shortage of money due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

"Rs 3 crore as financial incentive for medals won at Asian Games 2018. Rs 30 Lakhs for training and financial support during 2015-19. Rs 50 Lakhs for training support for Tokyo Olympics (Released In two instalments on 02/08/2019 and 27/12/2019," the statement read.

"The State government appointed Dutee Chand as Group-A level officer in Odisha Mining Corporation (A Gold Category PSU). She is currently drawing Gross salary of Rs 84,604 (June 2020 Salary) per month. She is not required to come to office so that she is able to concentrate full-time on training. Accordingly, since her appointment in OMC, no official work has been allotted to Chand," it added.

The state government further provided details of the financial support provided by the OMC for her training.

"OMC provided Rs 29 Lakhs to Dutee Chand for Training and financial incentives. The total financial support provided to Dutee Chand from State government/OMC is 4.09 crores(after 2015)," the statement read.

"The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) and Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS), Government of India may also be providing adequate support for the athlete based on performance," it added.

Earlier, Dutee said she is facing a shortage of funds due to the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics to the next year and is planning to sell her car to meet the expense of her training.

"Training is going quite good so far, I have been training here in Bhuvneshwar. Earlier, there was no problem related to funds for training as Tokyo Olympics were coming up and our state government conferred me, but because of coronavirus the Olympics were postponed and I had spent the money which was given to me by the sponsors. Now, I need money for training, I need new sponsors but because of coronavirus I am finding it difficult to find them. Now I have decided to sell my car to arrange funds," Dutee had said.

Dutee, who has been recently nominated for the Arjuna Award 2020, said COVID-19 had impacted heavily on sports and sponsors are not willing to support her at this time.

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News Network
April 5,2020

New Delhi, April 5: England batsman James Vince lashed out at people for not taking proper measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic and said people are going out as if "everything is normal".

"Just seen the pictures of people out and about today as if everything is normal. What selfish people, surely by now they've realised this is serious. Well done to everyone who's doing their bit and staying in," Vince tweeted.

On March 13, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said that Europe was now the 'epicentre' of the disease.

The death toll due to the novel coronavirus in the UK has exceeded 4,313 with at least 708 new deaths in the last 24 hours, the largest one-day rise since the start of the outbreak as confirmed by the Department of Health and Social Care.

The total number of cases in the UK as on Saturday is 41,903, a rise of 3,735 cases in the last 24 hours.

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