Li Na stands tall in Melbourne

January 26, 2014

Li_NaMelbourne, Jan 26: Chinese overpowers Cibulkova to become the oldest winner of Daphne Akhurst Cup

China’s Li Na banished the ghosts of two Australian Open final defeats by overpowering Dominika Cibulkova on Saturday to win her second major title and give the Grand Slam of the Asia-Pacific its first Asian singles champion.

The 31-year-old needed a tie-break to clinch an error-strewn first set but romped away with the second for a 7-6 (7-3), 6-0 victory to become the oldest woman to lift the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup.

Li was the first Asian player to win a Grand Slam singles title at the French Open in 2011 and ended her 31-month membership of the “one-slam wonder” club when her Slovakian opponent sent a forehand long after 97 minutes.

Losing the final to Kim Clijsters in 2011 and Victoria Azarenka last year, both times after winning the first set, had only added to Li's reputation as a formidable player with a major flaw in her temperament.

“At last I made it. Not like the last two times, always feeling one more step. But this time I did it so I'm really so proud of myself,” the fourth seed rejoiced.

Cibulkova, one of the shortest women in the game at just 5ft-3in (1.6 metres) tall, had beaten four top 20 players, including third seed Maria Sharapova, on her fairytale run to her first Grand Slam final.

The 24-year-old dynamo was still smiling at the end of the final and described the tournament as the “most fantastic two weeks of my life”.

If 20th seed Cibulkova was hoping to ride the momentum of her ruthless semifinal demolition of Agnieszka Radwanska she got a quick reality check when Li broke her first service game on a double fault.

Even at that early stage, it looked like Li only had to tighten up her first serve and cut out the errors in her forehand as her power, when her range was accurate, was overwhelming Cibulkova.

The Slovakian’s run to the final was built not only on her aggression and energy but also on mental strength, however, and she broke back for 3-3 when Li double-faulted on two successive points.

Li upped her level to break again for 6-5 and had a set point on her own serve only for Cibulkova to send the match to a tie-break when Li netted a backhand.

The Chinese charged to a 5-1 lead in the tie-break and, with 25 unforced errors to her name, took a one set lead after 70 minutes when Cibulkova also netted a backhand.Cilbulkova's celebratory fist pumps were now becoming fewer and fewer -- she hit just 11 winners in the match and four in the second set -- as Li got better and better.

Li was now finding the lines with her rasping backhands and the less dependable but equally forceful forehands and she broke the Slovakian's serve for the fifth time on her second championship point to clinch the title.

There were two first time Grand Slam champions after the men's doubles finals closed the penultimate day of the tournament when Lukasz Kubot and Robert Lindstedt beat Eric Butorac and Raven Klaasen 6-3, 6-3.

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News Network
April 2,2020

New Delhi, Apr 2: It was on April 2, 2011, when the Men in Blue went on to win their second 50-over World Cup title.

India won its first World Cup in 1983 and then had to wait for 28 years to again lift the title.
Going into the 2011 tournament, India went in as the clear favourites as the competition was to be played in the sub-continent.

Under MS Dhoni's leadership, India lost just one match in the competition against South Africa.
India had defeated arch-rivals Pakistan in the semi-final to set up a summit clash with Sri Lanka.

In the finals, Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to bat first. Mahela Jayawardene top-scored for Sri Lanka as he struck a century to take the team's score to 274/6.

India in their chase got off to a bad start as the side lost Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag with just 31 runs on the board.

But Gautam Gambhir and MS Dhoni stepped up and stitched a match-winning 109-run partnership.

Gambhir perished after playing a knock of 97 runs, but in the end, Dhoni and Yuvraj took the team over the line by six wickets.

The winning six struck by Dhoni is still viewed as one of the most exciting moments in India's sporting history. 

As the winning six was hit, Ravi Shastri was doing commentary then, and he famously remarked, "Dhoni, finishes it off in style, India lifts the World Cup after 28 years".
As soon as the match-winning shot was hit, Tendulkar erupted with joy and had tears to see his dream finally being fulfilled.

Earlier this year, former Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar's famous lap around the Wankhede Stadium after the 2011 World Cup win, titled 'Carried On the Shoulders Of A Nation', was voted the greatest Laureus Sporting Moment of the last twenty years.

The lap after the World Cup is still edged into everyone's hearts.

Playing in his last mega 50-over tournament, it was the last chance for Tendulkar to lift the coveted trophy.

Before the 2011 World Cup, Tendulkar had played five tournaments (1992,1996,1999,2003 and 2007), and he fell short every time.

The closest he came to winning the trophy was in 2003 as India made the finals under the leadership of Sourav Ganguly.

But the Men in Blue fell short in the finals against Australia.

Then in 2007, the biggest setback was in store for the legend has India bowed out of the tournament in the group stages.

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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
July 16,2020

Bhubaneswar: Jul 16: The Department of Sports and Youth Services, Government of Odisha on Thursday revealed that ace sprinter Dutee Chand has been given Rs 4.09 crore since 2015 and also appointed as Group-A officer in the Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) currently drawing a gross salary of Rs 84,604 per month.

On Wednesday, Dutee clarified that she wants to sell her luxury car because she is unable to bear its maintenance cost and it will also aid her training for Tokyo Olympics.

The 24-year-old believes after selling her car she can use that money for training amid the shortage of money due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

"Rs 3 crore as financial incentive for medals won at Asian Games 2018. Rs 30 Lakhs for training and financial support during 2015-19. Rs 50 Lakhs for training support for Tokyo Olympics (Released In two instalments on 02/08/2019 and 27/12/2019," the statement read.

"The State government appointed Dutee Chand as Group-A level officer in Odisha Mining Corporation (A Gold Category PSU). She is currently drawing Gross salary of Rs 84,604 (June 2020 Salary) per month. She is not required to come to office so that she is able to concentrate full-time on training. Accordingly, since her appointment in OMC, no official work has been allotted to Chand," it added.

The state government further provided details of the financial support provided by the OMC for her training.

"OMC provided Rs 29 Lakhs to Dutee Chand for Training and financial incentives. The total financial support provided to Dutee Chand from State government/OMC is 4.09 crores(after 2015)," the statement read.

"The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) and Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS), Government of India may also be providing adequate support for the athlete based on performance," it added.

Earlier, Dutee said she is facing a shortage of funds due to the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics to the next year and is planning to sell her car to meet the expense of her training.

"Training is going quite good so far, I have been training here in Bhuvneshwar. Earlier, there was no problem related to funds for training as Tokyo Olympics were coming up and our state government conferred me, but because of coronavirus the Olympics were postponed and I had spent the money which was given to me by the sponsors. Now, I need money for training, I need new sponsors but because of coronavirus I am finding it difficult to find them. Now I have decided to sell my car to arrange funds," Dutee had said.

Dutee, who has been recently nominated for the Arjuna Award 2020, said COVID-19 had impacted heavily on sports and sponsors are not willing to support her at this time.

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