With Mulyo on board, Saina returns to Gopichand Academy

Agencies
September 5, 2017

New Delhi, Sept 5: Three years after parting ways, Saina Nehwal has once again resumed her partnership with long-time mentor and former coach Pullela Gopichand and would be starting her training at his academy in Hyderabad after recovering from a thigh strain.

The London Olympics bronze medallist, who had suffered a slight thigh strain en route to winning a bronze at the recently-concluded World Championship, had discussed about her intention with chief national coach Gopichand and her current coach Vimal Kumar.

"For a while I've been thinking about moving my training base back to the Gopichand academy and I had a discussion about this with Gopi sir and I am really thankful to him for agreeing to help me again," Saina, who is now in Hyderabad recovering from the strain, wrote on her twitter handle.

"At this stage in my career I think he can help me achieve my goals. I m very happy to b back home and train in Hyderabad," added the Indian, who had hurt herself after falling down during pre-quarterfinals clash against Scotland's Kristy Gilmour.

Saina returning to Hyderabad has more to do with Mulyo Handoyo, best known for coaching Indonesian legend Taufik Hidayat, who was appointed as a singles coach early this year by the Badminton Association of India (BAI).

Under Mulyo, India has achieved unprecedented success with P V Sindhu returning with a World Championship silver besides winning the India Super Series. Kidambi Srikanth also clinched back-to-back titles at Indonesia and Australia, while B Sai Praneeth won his maiden Super Series at Singapore.

"Saina on her return from the World Championships, asked my opinion on her working with the Indonesian coach, Mr Mulyo, brought in by Sports Authority of India, for looking after the singles players in National camps," Vimal said.

"He is attached with Gopichand Academy in Hyderabad. I had indicated to her that there is no harm at all in her giving it a try," he added.

Vimal said Saina will start training at Gopichand academy after recovering from the injury and it is important to provide every opportunity to the Indian to improve and achieve more laurels for the country.

"Players have a short span at the top and will always be looking at ways to get better. Saina and Sindhu are special girls and if they are able to get even better, we should provide them those opportunities," Vimal said.

"Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy and Gopichand Badminton Academy are recognised training centers of SAI and we at PPBA supported Saina when she needed."

Saina, 27, had split with Gopichand ahead of the 2014 Asian Games at Incheon, deciding to hone her skills under Vimal in Bangalore.

"I'm also very thankful to Vimal sir for helping me for the last three years. He helped reach world no.1 in the rankings and also helped me win two world championships medal silver in 2015 and bronze in 2017 along with many super series title," Saina tweeted.

Saina had maintained a distance from Gopichand after parting ways with him following a quarterfinal exit at the 2014 World Badminton Championships in Denmark. Butthat was not the first time that the duo had split.

In 2011, Saina started training with Baskar Babu but within three months returned to Gopichand, regretting her decision.

In 2012, she bagged the bronze medal at the London Games under Gopichand's guidance.

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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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Agencies
June 2,2020

New Delhi, Jun 2: Expressing solidarity with the 'Black Lives Matter' campaign, star West Indies batsman Chris Gayle has alleged that he faced racist remarks during his career and cricket is not free of the menace.

Gayle did not elaborate when he faced racial remarks but hinted it might have been during his stints at global T20 leagues.

"I have travelled the globe and experienced racial remarks towards me because I am black, believe me, the list goes on," he posted on instagram on Monday night.

"Racism is not only in football, it's in cricket too. Even within teams as a black man, I get the end of the stick. Black and powerful. Black and proud," he said.

The big-hitting batsman's comments came in the backdrop of African-American George Floyd's death in the USA after a white police officer, Derek Chauvin, pressed his knee on the handcuffed man's neck as he gasped for breath.

The incident has sparked violent protests across the USA.

"Black lives matter just like any other life. Black people matter, p***k all racist people, stop taking black people for fools, even our own black people wise the p***k up and stop bringing down your own!," Gayle wrote.

Racism in cricket was drew attention most recently last year when England pacer Jofra Archer was abused by a spectator in New Zealand.

New Zealand's top players and the cricket board had offered apologies for the incident to the Englishman.

Also on Monday night, the England cricket team's official twitter handle posted a message denouncing racism.

"We stand for diversity, We stand against racism," the message read.

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News Network
May 6,2020

May 6: They have similar impact on their teams but Virat Kohli is driven by sheer passion to subdue the rivals while Steve Smith just enjoys batting, says Australia opener David Warner.

India skipper Kohli and top Australian batsman Smith are arguably the top two cricketers of the current era. They achieve new milestones consistently, invoking debates, who is better between them.

"Virat's passion and drive to score runs is different to what Steve's would be," Warner said while speaking to Harsha Bhogle on 'Cricbuzz in Conversation'.

"Steve is going out there for a hit in the middle, that's how he sees things. He's hitting them out in the middle, he's having fun, he's enjoying himself, just does not want to get out."

Warner feels, while Kohli is batting he is aware that if he sticks around the middle his team will be on top of the proceedings.

"Virat obviously doesn't want to get out but he knows if he spends a certain amount of time out there, he's going to score plenty of runs at a rapid rate. He's going to get on top of you. That allows the guys coming in, especially in the Indian team you've got a lot of players who can be flamboyant as well."

The Australian opener added that both men are mentally strong and a good knock by them boosts the morale of the entire team.

"When it comes to cricket, they both have got the mental strength, the mental capacity to score runs. They both love spending time in the middle.

"They stabilise, they boost morale - if they score runs, everyone else's moral is up. If they are out cheaply you almost sense that on the field that everyone is (down on morale and thinking) 'now we all have to step up'. It's a very bizarre situation," he added.

Asked about the similarities between himself and Kohli, who are both live wires on the field, Warner said the passion to do better than the opponent keeps him going.

"I can't speak for Virat, obviously, but it's almost like we got this thing in us when we go (out to the middle) we need to prove people wrong, prove someone wrong."

"If you're in that contest, and if I'm going at him for example, you're thinking, 'Alright, I'm going to score more runs than him, I'm going to take a quick single on him'. You are trying to better that person in that game. That's where the passion comes from."

Warner also explained how he breaks down a match into smaller competitions.

"Obviously you want to win the game but you almost break it down to: If I can score more runs than Virat, or if Pujara scores more runs than Steve Smith, you have these little contests and that's how you try to narrow the game in the sense that if we do these little things, we can be ahead of the game or we can be behind the game.

"The passion is driven by...I know my sense - one, the will to win and two, wanting to do better than that person in the opposition," said Warner.

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