What ban? Chinese in thrall to tennis 'goddess' Sharapova

Agencies
October 5, 2017

Beijing, Oct 5: One fellow player labelled her "a cheater" and she is said to be unpopular in the locker room, but Maria Sharapova remains a crowd favorite in China despite her doping ban.

"Welcome back goddess," said one banner at the China Open in Beijing this week, while a Russian flag had the words: "I got your back Maria."

The 30-year-old Russian was in the Chinese capital this week for the first time since coming back to tennis in April from a 15-month suspension for taking the banned substance meldonium.

The former No. 1 is now 104 in the world and needed a wildcard to make it to the China Open because of her lowly ranking.

Sharapova's return to the tennis circuit divided opinion, with the Canadian Eugenie Bouchard among her biggest critics, calling the 5-time Grand Slam champion "a cheater" who should never have been allowed to play again.

But try telling that to Sharapova's fans in Beijing, where along with Rafael Nadal she was the biggest draw at the China Open and there were tears among her supporters when she was dumped out on Wednesday.

Sharapova was emphatically beaten by world No. 2 Simona Halep, 6-2, 6-2.

Suky, 26, flew from Xiamen in eastern China to see her hero in the flesh for the first time this week.

Chinese flags flutter all over the country at this time of year to mark the founding of communist China, but the only flag on Suky's right cheek was a smudged Russian tricolor.

On her left arm and chest she had written her version of Sharapova's signature in black biro.

"I love Maria Sharapova," she said, speaking prior to Sharapova's defeat. "She's fair and beautiful, and so powerful and determined, she never gives up."

But what about that doping ban?

"I think that's an American secret," she replied, lowering her voice slightly.

Pushed to expand on her conspiracy theory, she pulled out her smartphone and tapped Chinese into a translation app.

"Political intrigue" popped up on the screen in English. She declined to go into further detail.

- 'Beautiful and so tall' -

Vivian and Lucia, both 20 and volunteers at China's biggest annual tennis event, are also diehard Sharapova fans.

"She fights to win every game, even when it's difficult and hard," said Vivian, a student who only volunteered so she could catch a glimpse of the Russian.

"She's also beautiful and so tall. We walked past her and I was like, 'Gosh!'"

So that makes up for the ban?

"So what? It doesn't matter," Lucia chipped in. "It's in the past. So you never made a mistake?"

Sharapova, who according to reports is not popular with some players because of her supposedly lofty attitude, had an initial two-year ban reduced to 15 months after the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled she was not "an intentional doper".

On her first appearance back, in Stuttgart in April, the crowd gave her a polite reception and then in her Grand Slam return -- at the US Open -- the crowd was largely supportive.

If her Chinese fans are keen to look forward, the Russian is too and in one press conference in Beijing she alluded to being "away from the game for a long time", without saying any more.

But in what was the sixth tournament of her stop-start comeback, she was more forthcoming when asked about the unwavering support she gets in China, where she won the Beijing title in 2014.

"It's always really nice to have that welcome and it's really special to see fans that take the time and effort to make signs, to come up with wording," she said on Tuesday.

"For them to put in that effort is very special. For them to cheer and welcome me back to Beijing is really nice."

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Agencies
May 22,2020

India's cricket board will not push for the Twenty20 World Cup in Australia to be postponed but would consider staging the Indian Premier League (IPL) in the October/November slot if it becomes available, a senior BCCI official has told Reuters.

This year's IPL, which is worth almost $530 million to the BCCI, has been indefinitely postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic while the World Cup, which is scheduled to begin on Oct. 18, is also in jeopardy.

Reports in Australian media have suggested India's influential board may look to push for the World Cup to be postponed to open up a window for the IPL.

World Cup contingency plans are on the agenda at next week's International Cricket Council (ICC) board meeting but BCCI treasurer Arun Singh Dhumal said India would not be recommending it be pushed back.

"Why should the BCCI suggest postponing the Twenty20 World Cup?" Dhumal told Reuters by telephone.

"We'll discuss it in the meeting and whatever is appropriate, (the ICC) will take a call.

"If the Australia government announces that the tournament will happen and Cricket Australia is confident they can handle it, it will be their call. BCCI would not suggest anything."

While Australia has seen new infections of the novel coronavirus slow to a trickle and is gradually easing travel curbs and social distancing restrictions, hosting a 16-team World Cup would be a Herculean task for Cricket Australia.

Dhumal questioned whether the tournament should go ahead if it had to be played without spectators and said the Australian government would play a key role in any decision.

"It all depends on what the Australian government says on this - whether they'd allow so may teams to come and play the tournament," he added.

"Will it make sense to play games without spectators? Will it make sense for CA to stage such a tournament like that? It's their call."

Cricket Australia chief executive Kevin Roberts was guarded about the prospects of staging the tournament as scheduled on Friday.

"We don't have clarity on that one, yet. But as the situation continues to improve, you never know what might be possible," he said.

"It's ultimately a decision for the ICC."

The ICC has said it was unlikely to make a final call on the fate of the World Cup until August but some boards are in the process of making contingency plans in the event of a postponement.

While the BCCI recognised an open October-November window would suit the IPL, Dhumal said there was no point in making plans until there was some certainty about the World Cup.

"If we have the window available, and depending on what all can be organised, we'll decide accordingly," he added. "We can't presume that it's not happening and go on planning."

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News Network
January 8,2020

Indore, Jan 8: Skipper Virat Kohli struck an unbeaten 30 as India beat Sri Lanka by seven wickets in the second Twenty20 international in Indore on Tuesday.

The hosts rode a 71-run opening stand between KL Rahul, who hit 45, and Shikhar Dhawan, who made 32, to chase down their target of 143 in 17.3 overs and take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series after the first match was rained off.

Leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga took the wickets of the Indian openers but Shreyas Iyer, who scored 34 before falling to paceman Lahiru Kumara, and Kohli, who hit the winning six, got the team home.

The third match is on Friday in Pune.

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Agencies
February 25,2020

Bengaluru, Feb 25: India opening batsman KL Rahul will be available for Karnataka's Ranji Trophy semi-final clash against Bengal at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on February 29.

Rahul had asked to be rested from Karnataka's quarter-final match but is now available for the climactic stages of the Ranji Trophy. 

Karnataka had already been strengthened by the addition of Manish Pandey for the quarter-finals, with both Pandey and Rahul having returned from New Zealand after India completed the limited-overs leg of their tour, ESPNcricinfo reported.

Last year's finalists Saurashtra will take on Gujarat in the other semi-final at Rajkot. The other prominent players who will be part of the last four include Parthiv Patel (Gujarat), Jaydev Unadkat (Saurashtra) and Manoj Tiwary (Bengal).

Gujarat, Bengal, Karnataka, and Saurashtra had finished on top of the combined Groups A and B table, and all four progressed to the semi-finals after dominating their respective quarter-final matches.

Rahul has been phenomenal with the bat in the limited-overs series against Australia and New Zealand. He scored one century and four fifty-plus scores in his last ten innings in ODIs and T20Is combined

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