Sizzling Saina surprises Sindhu; Prannoy shocks Srikanth for maiden crown

News Network
November 9, 2017

Nagpur, Nov 9: Saina Nehwal dug deep into her reserves of experience to upstage fancied P V Sindhu in straight games and clinch the women's singles title in the Senior National Badminton Championship in Nagpur on Wednesday.

The 27-year-old Saina, a former world number one, got the better of the Olympic and World Championship silver medallist, 21-17, 27-25 in a pulsating summit clash that lasted 54 minutes.

"I am surprised with the way I played today. I moved well and picked Sindhu's difficult shots," an elated Saina said after the win.

Second seed H S Prannoy, who achieved a career-best World No. 11 ranking last week, saw off top seed World No 2 Kidambi Srikanth 21-15, 16-21, 21-7 in a 49-minute battle to win the men's singles title in the 82nd edition of the tournament.

It was double delight for Ashwini Ponnappa, who claimed two titles -- clinching the mixed doubles with Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and women's doubles with N Sikki Reddy.

Second seeds Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy bounced back from a game and three-match points down in the second game to beat top seeds Satwik and Chirag Shetty 15-21, 22-20, 25-23 and win the men's doubles title.

The excitement reached a crescendo when Saina and Sindhu made it to the finals here. The whole stadium reverberated with cheers of 'Saina-Sindhu 'India' as both the players engaged in some exciting rallies at the Divisional Sports Complex.

The duo split the initial 10 points before Saina started putting the shuttle in difficult positions. She pushed it at the back court, came up with some bodyline returns to lead 10 -7. A powerful smash then helped her grab a 11-9 lead in the first game.

Saina moved to a 17-12 lead after the interval before Sindhu reeled off four points to keep breathing down her opponents neck. However, unforced errors came back to haunt Sindhu as she hit out thrice and also found the net once to allow Saina pocket the opening game.

The second game went down to the wire with both the shuttlers battling it out till the last point.

It was Sindhu, who raced away to a 5-2 lead, but Saina slowly constructed her points by making Sindhu crammed for space. She clawed back at 6-6, but Sindhu ensured she had the advantage at the break as she led 11-8.

The 22-year-old lanky shuttler extended her lead to 14-10 and maintained that till 18-14. Sindhu, however, committed series of unforced errors to allow the London Games bronze medallist draw parity at 18-18.

With Sindhu's smash going out, Saina held a slender lead. Sindhu again went wide with a backhand lift to hand over one match point to Saina.

However, Sindhu saved a match point and some excruciating long rallies ensued, which had the packed crowd on their toes.

With the lead changing hands too frequently, it was Saina who eventually broke the deadlock when Sindhu failed to retrieve a return.

The final between Srikanth and Prannoy also turned out to be an exhilarating one as the duo displayed their repertoire of strokes and athleticism during their fast-paced rallies.

Srikanth and Prannoy had played four times in their international career but it was the former who had the last laugh in the last three occasions. The only time Prannoy had beaten Srikanth was way back at the 2011 Tata Open.

Srikanth has been in the form of his life as he clinched four titles after reaching five finals this season but the statistics didn't matter on this day as Prannoy snapped his opponent's 13-match winning streak.

"It means a lot. It came at the right time for me. I have been playing this event. It is great that I could beat Srikanth in the final. I have been playing well before this tournament and hope to do well in future," Prannoy told PTI.

Ashwini and Satwik, who decided to pair up just six months back, showed their prowess by beating top seed and World No 16 Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy 21-9, 20-22, 21-17 to clinch the mixed doubles crown.

Later, Ashwini combined with Sikki to dump Sanyogita Ghorpade and Prajakta Sawant 21-14 21-14 to notch up the women's doubles title.

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News Network
March 4,2020

Mar 4: The BCCI has decided to implement strict cost cutting measures with the notable decision being IPL 2020 champions' prize money will be halved as compared to 2019. In a circular sent to all IPL franchises, the BCCI has notified that instead of a whopping Rs 20 crore, the IPL champion team will now receive Rs 10 crore only. "The financial rewards have been reworked as a part of the cost cutting measures. The champions will get Rs 10 crore instead of Rs 20 crore. The runners-up will get Rs 6.25 crore from earlier Rs 12.5 crore," a BCCI notification, in possession of news agency, read.

The two losing qualifiers will now get Rs 4.375 crore each.

"The franchises are all in good health. They also have multiple ways like sponsorships to bolster their income. Hence the decision on prize money taken," a senior BCCI source said.

However, a state association hosting IPL games will get Rs 1 crore each with franchises and BCCI contributing Rs 50 lakh each.

It has also been learnt that mid-level BCCI employees won't be allowed to avail business class flights like earlier times for flying to the Asian countries (Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, UAE) where the flying time is less than eight hours.

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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
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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