Australia's Handscomb in, Stoinis fit for semi-final

Agencies
July 10, 2019

Jul 10: Australia's new squad member Peter Handscomb will be thrust into the cauldron of Thursday's World Cup semi-final against England as a replacement for Usman Khawaja, coach Justin Langer has said.

Langer also confirmed that all-rounder Marcus Stoinis had passed a fitness test and was ready for Edgbaston while refusing to guarantee the mercurial Glenn Maxwell a place in the team.

With Matthew Wade in reserve after showing good form for Australia A, Maxwell could be dislodged by the former first-choice wicketkeeper.

"He's played a lot of international cricket before, he's a real seasoned pro, he's had an unbelievable 12 months or so in domestic cricket," Langer said of Wade.

"He's had unbelievable few (games) for Australia A. He's confident, he's a had a little baby so he's pretty happy with life at the moment.

"With his experience, if he plays, then we're confident he'll do a really good job."

Handscomb missed out on a place in the original squad, having to make way as Steve Smith and David Warner were reinstated after their ball-tampering bans expired.

"He deserves it, he was really stiff not to be on this tour," Langer said. "He was so unlucky not to be in the initial squad after what he'd done to help us get to that point.

"He's in good form, he played well for Australia A, he gives us nice balance through that middle order, he's got great temperament, he plays the spin well and he's on top of his game. So he'll definitely play."

Stoinis, who has battled two side strains, bowled and batted in the nets during training on Tuesday to be given the all-clear but Langer stopped short of saying whether he and fellow all-rounder Maxwell would make the 11 on Thursday.

Maxwell has struggled with the short ball at the tournament and was peppered with bouncers during a net session earlier in the week, getting hit on the forearm by a rising Mitchell Starc delivery that left him screaming in pain.

Australian media reported on Tuesday that Langer took the Melbourne man aside for a long chat during training.

The champions, bidding for a sixth World Cup title, suffered a surprise 10-run loss to South Africa in their last round-robin game, a defeat that left them facing a resurgent England rather than out-of-form New Zealand in Manchester.

Rain washed out play in the other semi-final on Tuesday, with India's bowlers restricting 2015 finalists New Zealand to 211 for five in 46.1 overs.

The match is to continue from where it left off later on Wednesday.

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Agencies
May 9,2020

Tokyo, May 9: As the world continues to grapple with coronavirus pandemic, the organisers of Tokyo Game Show have cancelled 2020 showpiece event.

TGS 2020 was slated to be played from September 24 to September 27 at the Makuhari Messe convention center. However, there now talks going on for holding an online event instead.

According to the Verge, this is the first time that TGS has ever been cancelled since it started in 1996.

TGS 2020 gained more attention because of its status as the last major trade show before the launch of the upcoming next-gen consoles, the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5.

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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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News Network
January 19,2020

Rome, Jan 19: India's star wrestlers Bajrang Punia and Ravi Kumar Dahiya kicked off the Olympic year in style, winning a gold medal each in their respective weight categories at the Rome Ranking Series here.

The 25-year-old Bajrang staged a remarkable comeback to secure a 4-3 win against USA's Jordan Michael Oliver in the summit showdown of the 65kg freestyle category.

Ravi, who competed in the 61kg category instead of his regular 57kg, also bagged gold after getting the better of Kazakhstan's Nurbolat Abdualiyev 12-2 in his final bout late on Saturday night.

The 23-year-old from Sonepat had made the final round after securing impressive wins over Moldova's Alexaandru Chirtoaca and Kazakhstan's Nurislam Sanayev.

Up against one of India's biggest medal prospects in the Tokyo Olympics, Oliver conceded that it was not his night against Bajrang.

The American lauded the competitive spirit of Bajrang.

"Wasn't my night… but I got a lot of work to do to be where I want to be! Hats off to @BajrangPunia dude is heck of a competitor! Until next time my friend," the American tweeted.

Bajrang had to sweat it out in the first round against Zain Allen Retherford of the USA before prevailing 5-4.

In the quarterfinal, the ace Indian wrestler went past another American Joseph Christopher Mc Kenna 4-2, before getting the better of Vasyl Shuptar of Ukraine 6-4 in the semi-finals.

However, it was curtains for Jitender in the 74kg and world championship silver medallist Deepak Punia in the 86kg category.

Jitender won his first bout against Denys Pavlov of Ukraine 10-1 before going down in the quarterfinals against Turkey's Soner Demirtas 4-0.

Jitender got a chance to fight in the repechage after Demirtas entered the final, but the Indian wasted the opportunity, losing 2-9 to Daniyar Kaisanov of Kazakhstan.

In the 86kg category, Deepak crashed out in the opening round, losing 1-11 to Ethan Adrian Ramos of Puerto Rico.

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