Asian Games: Sindhu gets silver, loses third major final of the year

Agencies
August 28, 2018

Jakarta, Aug 28: Olympic medallist PV Sindhu yet again finished second-best in a major final but grabbed a historic individual silver medal at the Asian Games after losing the women's singles title clash to world number one Tai Tzu-Ying on Monday.

No Indian had ever reached the final of a singles event at the Asian Games before the 23-year-old from Hyderabad, who lost 13-21, 16-21 to Chinese Taipei's Tai in just 34 minutes.

It is the first time that India has won two individual medals at the Asian Games with Saina Nehwal clinching a bronze earlier. Saina was also conquered by Tai in the semifinals.

It was Sindhu's third defeat in a big final this year, having lost the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games title clash to Saina Nehwal and the World Championship summit clash to Spain's Carolina Marin.

The Rio Olympic silver medallist had also lost the finals at India Open (to Beiwen Zhang) and Thailand Open (to Nozomi Okuhara) this year.

Having lost previous five encounters to Tai, world number three Sindhu needed to punch above her weight to tackle the Chinese Taipei ace.

Tai was in complete control from the beginning, taking the first five points of the match, with her trademark sharp returns.

Sindhu had no option but to attack. She returned harder to reduce the deficit to 4-6 but Tai consistently outsmarted Sindhu, using the deft drop shots very effectively.

The Taipei player was deceptive in her strokes and pulled away with a 17-10 lead.

She would change the angle and direction of the stroke very easily, making it difficult for Sindhu to anticipate and find appropriate returns. The first game was over in just 16 minutes.

To negate Tai's strong net game, Sindhu tried to push her back to the baseline in the second game. It got her points but she lost too many points due to unforced errors as some of the shots sailed over the lines.

The strategy could have been more effective if she had not missed drop shots after pinning Tai to baseline.

Initially, Sindhu was tied with Tai at 4-4 but as the game wore on, the Taipei shuttler continued to tighten her grip over the contest. An un-returnable smash put her ahead 15-10.

It was over soon with Tai earning a match point with Sindhu netting a shuttle at 15-19.

Sindhu saved the first match point with a smash winner on Tai's backhand. The Taipei ace sealed it with a drop shot winner.

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News Network
June 2,2020

New Delhi, Jun 2: Manchester United's Paul Pogba on Monday paid tribute to George Floyd, stressing that violent acts of racism can no longer be tolerated and they have to stop.

Pogba took to Instagram to write: "During the past few days I have thought a lot about how to express my feelings about what happened in Minneapolis. I felt anger, pity, hatred, indignation, pain, sadness."

"Sadness for George and for all black people who suffer from racism Every day! Whether in football, at work, at school, Anywhere! This has to stop, once and for all! Not tomorrow or the next day, it has to end today! Violent acts of racism can no longer be tolerated," he added.

Protests erupted in Minneapolis and other US cities on Tuesday after Floyd, an African-American man, died following his arrest by the four officers.

A viral video showed a police officer, Derek Chauvin, pinning 46-year-old Floyd to the ground with his knee on his neck for nearly eight minutes. Floyd died at a local hospital shortly thereafter.

The four police officers were fired. Chauvin was also charged with murder and manslaughter, according to Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman.

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zaki ahmed
 - 
Wednesday, 3 Jun 2020

This photograph in the above mentioned article is of Floyd Mayweather Jr , the world welterweight & super heavy weight champion & wrongly menitoned as Pogba .

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News Network
May 18,2020

Karachi, May 18: Former Pakistan captain Younis Khan believes it is at least five years too early to compare Virat Kohli and Babar Azam as the Indian skipper has proven himself in "every kind of situation" and the latter has not.

"Virat Kohli is far more experienced than Babar. He has at least five years more experience of top cricket and he is at the peak of his career," said Younis, Pakistan's leading run-getter in Tests.

"Kohli has far more exposure than Babar and he has been in every kind of situation and proven himself. No one gets 70 international centuries like that and this are proof of his class and abilities. He has scored runs in every situation and all opposition."

Younis said said Babar still has a long way to go.

"Babar has been in top cricket for just around five years. He has got a very impressive batting average across all three formats and he is getting better by the day.

"You see him batting and you can see he has got the same qualities that Kohli had at the start of his career."

Besides amassing 70 international hundreds, 31-year-old Kohli averages more than 50 in all three formats. The India skipper has scored more than 20,000 runs while 25-year-old Babar has 6680 runs across formats though the Pakistan limited overs skipper has played significantly lesser number of games.

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News Network
February 13,2020

Feb 13: Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna were buried in a private funeral service in Southern California last week, multiple outlets reported late Tuesday.

Citing Kobe Bryant's death certificate, Los Angeles Fox affiliate KTTV reported the remains of the former Lakers star and his daughter were transferred to Pacific View Memorial Park and Mortuary in Corona del Mar. Kobe and Brianna were laid to rest in a private ceremony there last Friday.

According to KTTV, the death certificate cited Kobe's cause of death as "blunt trauma" sustained in a "commercial helicopter crash." It also said his death was "rapid."

Corona del Mar is a community within Newport Beach, where the Bryant family lives.

Kobe, 41, and Gianna, 13, were among nine people killed when the helicopter they were in crashed on a hillside in Calabasas, Calif., northwest of Los Angeles, on Jan. 26. Orange Coast College baseball coach John Altobelli, 56; his wife, Keri; and their daughter Alyssa, 14 -- who played on the same club basketball team as Gianna Bryant -- also were killed. Christina Mauser, a 38-year-old who was the top assistant coach of the Mamba girls basketball team, was also killed in the accident, as were Sarah Chester, 45; her daughter Payton Chester, 13; and pilot Ara Zobayan, 50.

A public memorial service for the Bryants will be held Feb. 24 at Staples Center, beginning at 10 a.m. PT.

While the date -- 2/24 -- conveniently falls between two Lakers' home games, it still could have been chosen symbolically. Gianna -- one Kobe and Vanessa' four daughters -- wore No. 2 on her basketball jersey while Kobe was No. 24 for part of his 20-year-tenure with the Lakers, and his retired jerseys -- he also wore No. 8 -- hang at Staples Center.

The Los Angeles Times reported that "entry is expected to be severely restricted" at the venue despite Staples Center's capacity of about 20,000.

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