Sindhu, Srikanth lead challenge at German Open

February 29, 2016

Mulheim an der Ruhr (Germany), Feb 29: With Saina Nehwal missing another event due to fitness issues, P V Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth will spearhead the Indian challenge at the $120,000 German Grand Prix Gold starting with the qualifiers in Mulheim an der Ruhr on Tuesday.

sindhuWorld No 2 Saina, who had injured her ankle last year, is yet to play an international tournament this year as she is trying to achieve full fitness ahead of the prestigious All England championship.

In her absence, onus will be on Sindhu to lead India’s campaign in women’s singles.

Sindhu, who clinched the Malaysia Masters early in the year, has been going through a rough patch lately as she lost to young compatriot Ruthvika Shivani Gadde in the South Asian Games, before suffering losses to Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara and Korea’s Ji Hyun Sung in the Badminton Asia Championship.

The 20-year-old from Hyderabad, who had also bowed out in the second round of Syed Modi GPG after losing to Nitchaon Jindapol, will look to turn around things when she faces USA’s Rong Schafer in the opening round of the German Open.

On the other hand, Srikanth, who clinched the Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold in Lucknow last month, has been in good form and guided the men’s team to a historic bronze medal in the Badminton Asia Championship.

The sixth seed Indian will have a tricky customer in Japan’s Takuma Ueda in the first round.

Among other Indians, young Sameer Verma will meet Ukraine Dmytro Zavadsky, 11th seed Parupalli Kashyap, making a comeback after recovering from multiple injuries, will face Ukraine’s Artem Pochtarev in his campaign-opener.

Ajay Jayaram, B Sai Praneeth and H S Prannoy have, however, withdrawn from the event.

In men’s doubles, Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy will look to have a good outing as the World No. 20 pair is racing against time to qualify for the Rio Olympics. They will take on the English combo of Marcus Ellis and Chris Langridge in the first round.

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July 21,2020

Jul 21: The tickets sold for the now-postponed ICC T20 World Cup will remain valid if Australia hosts the edition in 2021 instead of India.

In case the event is shifted to 2022, all ticket-holders will be entitled to a full refund, the ICC stated on its website on Monday night after postponing the mega-event this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The tournament was to be held in October-November but will now be conducted later because of the pandemic.

The ICC has not yet announced which country will host which edition as there are operational issues that both the Indian and Australian cricket Boards need to sort out.

The world body had opened ticket booking through its ticketing partners and a significant number was already sold.

"Ticket holders are welcome to retain their tickets, noting, if Australia hosts in 2021, tickets will remain valid for fans who have already bought and will be automatically updated to reflect the new dates.

"If Australia hosts in 2022, for tickets already bought a full refund will be processed automatically," ICC stated in a series of FAQs.

Fans can retain their tickets until a date is confirmed for the event.

Refund requests can be made until December 15 and they will be processed within 30 days after an online submission.

The hospitality package will also remain valid for the 2021 fixtures.

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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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April 28,2020

New Delhi, Apr 28: IPL franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore's Director of Cricket Operations Mike Hesson returned to New Zealand on Tuesday after being stranded in India for over a month amid the nationwide lockdown to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

The ex-New Zealand player and coach had arrived in India on March 5 for the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League but was stuck in the country after the lockdown was imposed and all flights were suspended.

"What a wonderful sight after spending over a day on a bus to get to Mumbai airport. The staff on @FlyAirNZ were simply outstanding on our return to New Zealand," Hesson tweeted.

He also thanked Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the New Zealand Embassy in India, New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

"Special thanks to Down pointing backhand index @NZinIndia @MFATNZ @narendramodi @jacindaardern #repatriationflight #india #NZ" he added.

To stem the spread of the coronavirus outbreak, India and New Zealand had announced lockdowns in their respective countries last month, alongside travel restrictions, forcing the 45-year-old to stay in Bengaluru.

While India remains in lockdown till May 3, New Zealand eased its stringent measures on Tuesday.

The IPL, which was originally scheduled to get underway on March 29, has been suspended until further notice due to the pandemic.

The cornavirus outbreak, that originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan, has infected over 30 lakh people across the world while killing more than two lakh.

All sporting events, including the Tokyo Olympics, have either been cancelled or postponed.

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