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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Agencies
April 12,2020

London, Apr 12: Former Formula 1 legendary driver Stirling Moss died at the age of 90 on Sunday.

"All at F1 send our heartfelt condolences to Lady Susie and Sir Stirling's family and friends," Formula 1 said in a statement.

Often referred to as the greatest driver never to win the world championship, Moss contested 66 Grands Prix from 1951 to 1961, driving for the likes of Vanwall, Maserati and Mercedes, where he famously formed a contented and ruthlessly effective partnership with lead driver Juan Manuel Fangio.

In his 10-year-long stint at the tracks, Moss took 16 wins, some of which rank among the truly iconic drives in the sport's history - his 1961 victories in Monaco and Germany in particular often held up as all-time classics.

Moss won the 1955 Mille Miglia on public roads for Mercedes at an average speed of close to 100mph, while he also competed in rallies and land-speed attempts.

Following an enforced retirement from racing (barring a brief comeback in saloon cars in the 1980s) after a major crash at Goodwood in 1962, Moss maintained a presence in Formula 1 as both a sports correspondent and an interested observer, before retiring from public life in January of 2018.

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News Network
January 27,2020

Hamilton, Jan 27: In awe of Jasprit Bumrah, New Zealand wicketkeeper Tim Seifert says the Indian speedster's subtle variations have been difficult to pick in the ongoing T20 series and his side needs to a learn a thing or two about adapting from the visitors.

India beat New Zealand by seven wickets in the second T20 International in Auckland on Sunday to grab a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.

Bumrah returned with figures of 1-21 from his four overs as Indian skipper Virat Kohli changed his bowling plans from the first game.

"Even in the first game, Bumrah bowled slower balls that were going wider. Normally, death bowlers get into straighter lines, plus yorkers and mix it with chest height. He kind of changes things a lot and is tougher to play," Seifert said.

"...the ball was holding a lot more which made it tougher. So sometimes as a batsman you have to move away from the stumps and see if they bowl straight. I was backing myself to do something different instead of just standing there at the wicket," said the stumper, who remained unbeaten on 33 off 26 balls.

"It was tricky and the ball was holding a little bit. When Kane (Williamson) got out in the over against Yuzvendra Chahal, we knew it was the over to push because they had Bumrah coming back," he added.

He said New Zealand batsmen need to take a cue from their Indian counterparts on how to adapt to different conditions quickly.

"...Indian batsmen showed how to get under the ball and time it. They showed it a couple of times that and on the slower wickets you just have to keep it like that. Once you lose your shape, you are not in position," he said.

"Try to get them (bowlers) off line or off balance, try to get into that position to hit good balls. That's T20 cricket as well. Sometimes it's going 100 per cent but some times you have to take a breath and re-assess. Indian batters did that well."

Seifert believes New Zealand bowlers did reasonably well in the two games but they have been outplayed by the Indian batsmen.

"To be honest, in the first game they were 110-1 and they had wickets in hand. We didn't bowl too badly in that first game. In the second game, we only got 130 and it is tough to bowl at Eden Park (with that total)," he said.

"170 was the target in mind but once you get 130 on the board, that was going to be very hard at Eden Park against a team that is very strong and playing really well. But our spinners were outstanding. Good balls have gone to boundary.

He said coming into the T20 series on the back of a lost Test rubber in Australia also didn't help New Zealand's cause in the first two games.

"Boys are coming off a Test series (in Australia) and a lot of them haven't played T20 cricket for a while," he said.

"But for some like me, I have had the Super Smash for the last two months, so I have played a lot of T20 cricket. They have two games under their belt now so hopefully they will have a better understanding."

Asked if New Zealand would want to play on India's strength of chasing, Seifert replied, "Even in ODI cricket, India have chased down big totals but I think on that wicket it was going to get slower and slower.

"But with that small target on Eden Park, something special has to happen with top six (for a collapse). One batsman got fifty and the other was batting very well. We needed top five-six in the first 10 overs," he said.

The Black Caps are still confident of bouncing back in the series.

The third T20 will be played here on Wednesday before back-to-back matches in Wellington and Mt Maunganui. Seifert said they would like to replicate the 2019 tour of India, where New Zealand came out 2-1 victorious in the three-match series.

"We have lost the first two games but we haven't played badly. We definitely haven't played our best though while India has played very well. If we lose the series on Wednesday, it is not the end of the world. But if we can turn things around, and win, we will take things from there," he said.

"We won the series 2-1 last time, so we have to treat it like a three match series again. But we have to treat it like the first two are must-win games."

"We are not playing our best at the moment. There are 20-odd games before the World Cup, and that tournament is the pinnacle, so we will get there (in preparation),” he signed off.

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News Network
January 8,2020

Indore, Jan 8:  India skipper Virat Kohli has added yet another feather to his cap by becoming the fastest player to score 1,000 runs in T20I cricket as a captain. Kohli played an unbeaten knock of 30 during India''s seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the second T20I of the ongoing three-match series on Tuesday evening.

Kohli achieved the milestone of scoring 1,000 runs as captain in his 30th T20I inning. He is the second Indian and sixth overall after MS Dhoni to have achieved the feat. Dhoni had scored 1112 runs in 62 T20I games as captain.

Faf du Plessis (1273 runs from 40 games), Kane Williamson (1083 runs in 39 games), Eoin Morgan (1013 runs in 43 games) and Ireland''s William Porterfield (1002 runs in 56 games) are other captains on the list.

During India''s emphatic victory at the Holkar Stadium, Kohli also surpassed team-mate Rohit Sharma, who has been rested for the series, as the top run-getter in the T20Is. Kohli now has 2663 runs from 71 innings.

Both had finished 2019 as joint top-scorers in T20Is, with 2633 runs each.

India, already with an unassailable lead of 1-0 in the series, will now face Sri Lanka in the final T20I on Friday in Pune. The first match between the two teams was called off without a ball being bowled due to wet patches on the pitch in Guwahati last Sunday.

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