Saina raises Olympic medal hopes, lifts Indonesia Open trophy

June 18, 2012

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Jakarta, June 18: Raising hopes for a medal in next month's London Olympics, Indian badminton ace Saina Nehwal today won the Indonesia Open Super Series title after beating world number three Xuerui Li of China in a hard-fought summit clash here.

The fifth-seeded Indian, who had won the Thailand Open last week, defeated Li 13-21 22-20 21-19 in an hour and four minutes to lift her third title of the year -- the first being the Swiss Open.

Today's title triumph -- her third of the same tournament -- also served a warning to the formidable Chinese shuttlers ahead of the Olympics as Saina is expected to face stiff challenge from them in her quest for a medal in the London Games.

Saina, 22, is expected to take a break to recharge herself for the gruelling contest ahead of the July 27 to August 12 mega sporting event. "It was a really, really tough and I love the crowd here. It's really nice here. Whenever I enter the court, I feel like a champion here," said Saina, who had earlier clinched this title in 2009 and 2010 and was a runner-up last year.

It was a battle of attrition for Saina against an opponent to whom she had lost four times and won just once -- that too way back in 2010 -- previously.

"It is a very good victory for Saina. It was a tricky situation because we had a very tough schedule. There were many tight matches and it has been a very tough week and what was good is that she kept pushing," national coach Pullela Gopichand told PTI from Jakarta.

"The mental tenacity that she showed all through the last two weeks is commendable because even when she lost a game, she was mentally stubborn," he said. The start was ominous for Saina as she conceded four successive points. The two players seemed engaged in a battle of smashes and were at par with each other when it came to baseline rallies.

But it was the netplay in which Li enjoyed the upperhand with her delicate winners that Saina found hard to counter in the opening game. Li took an 11-6 lead with her seventh smash winner of the game leaving Saina with a lot of catching up to do. The Chinese girl's strategy was to engage Saina in aggressive baseline rallies before forcing her to commit errors from close range.

The exhaustion of a couple of hard-fought matches in the previous rounds also showed on Saina's on-court movement and her returns seemed sluggish. The Indian could not breach the lead that Li had taken at the very start and although the Chinese floundered a bit in the middle of the game, Saina failed to capitalise and lost the opener in 15 minutes. In all, Li sent down 13 smash winners against Saina's eight.

Li's superior netplay clinched seven points for her while Saina settled for just four in the opening game. In the second game, Saina staged a recovery and finally got into the lead at 7-4 after a couple of miscued shots by the fourth seeded Li at the far court.

Fortunes fluctuated sharply in the exhausting second game. An erratic Saina, who led 11-7 and 18-14 at one stage, lost her way for a while before saving a championship point at 18-20 and going on to win the game and stay afloat in the match.

Saina played to her strength, smashing 16 winners as Li's baseline game became erratic even though she kept breathing down the Indian's neck all through. Statistically, there was hardly anything to separate the two players, but a few errors in judgement by Li proved decisive.

Pumped up after equalising, Saina started off dominantly in the decisive third game and took a 5-2 lead. But after that it became a see-saw battle with Saina trailing 10-11 at break.

But the Indian managed to nose ahead, grabbing a 19-16 lead. However, Saina let slip a championship point before clinching the game, match and the trophy when Li smashed a backhand stroke into the net.

"She played on Sunday last week and reached here on Monday night. From Wednesday onwards, to put up the same intensity and physical effort match by match each day and go through so many up and downs with all the adrenaline, it was good to see her managing all that well," Gopichand said.

The national coach said there are a few aspects of Saina's game that need to be worked upon as she continues her build-up to the Olympics next month. "We need to go and then assess her performance and work on the weaknesses. It would be very important for her to maintain her fitness and ensure that she peaks at the right time before the Olympics. These two wins will give her confidence a big boost," he said.

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News Network
June 22,2020

Zadar (Croatia), Jun 22: Grigor Dimitrov took to Instagram to announce that he has tested positive for coronavirus. The tennis star was one of the players who took part in the Adria Tour with the likes Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev and Dominic Thiem among others.

Taking to Instagram, the player wrote: "Hi Everyone-I want to reach out and let my fans and friends know that I tested positive back in Monaco for Covid-19. I want to make sure anyone who has been in contact with me during these past days gets tested and takes the necessary precautions. I am so sorry for any harm I might have caused. I am back home now and recovering. Thanks for your support and please stay safe and healthy."

He also urged those who had come in contact with him over the last few days in Monaco should also get tested for the deadly virus.

Meanwhile, World no.1 Djokovic reached the final of his exhibition tournament in Zadar, Croatia, after easing through the round-robin group stage on the first day. This is the second stage of the Adria Tour with Austrian Dominic Thiem winning the first leg in Belgrade, Serbia.

Djokovic started by saving three set points in his 4-3, 4-1 win over fellow Serb Pedja Krstin. He then beat home favourite Borna Coric 4-1, 4-3 in front of several thousand fans at the Visnjik tennis complex.

The tournament in Zadar is being played on red clay over two days. In the other group, Russian Andrey Rublev is in pole position to advance into the final after wins over 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic and Serb Danilo Petrovic. He faces German star Alexander Zverev in the final round robin match on Sunday who stayed in contention after beating Cilic 4-3, 0-4, 4-3.

Djokovic''s own inconsequential final group match is against Croatian Dino Serdarusic who replaced Grigor Dimitrov after the Bulgarian pulled out of the tournament with sickness following his opening 4-1, 4-1 loss to Coric.

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News Network
January 14,2020

Sydney, Jan 14: Retired South African big-hitter AB de Villiers on Tuesday said efforts are on to ensure his comeback in the national team for the T20 World Cup in Australia, a plan in which his IPL form will play a crucial role.

Speaking to Cricket Australia's official website 'cricket.com.au', the 35-year-old swashbuckler said he would love to be back two years after calling it quits internationally. He is currently in Australia to play in the Big Bash League.

"I would love to. I've been talking to 'Bouch' (new South Africa coach Mark Boucher), (new director of cricket) Graeme Smith and (captain) Faf (du Plessis) back home, we're all keen to make it happen," he said.

"It's a long way away still, and plenty can happen – there's the IPL coming up, I've still got to be in form at that time. So I'm thinking of throwing my name in the hat and hoping that everything will work out," he added.

De Villiers, nonetheless, is keeping a check on his expectations.

"It's not a guarantee, once again. I don't want to disappoint myself or other people, so for now I'm just going to try and keep a low profile, try and play the best possible cricket that I can and then see what happens towards the end of the year," he said.

"There are a lot of players (involved with CSA) who I used to play with. Guys who understand the game, leaders of the team for many years" he said of the present dispensation.

"So it's much easier to communicate than what it used to be in the past. They understand what players go through – especially players that have played for 15 years internationally.

"It doesn't mean that everything is going to be sunshine and roses, but it's definitely a lot easier and it feels comfortable, the language that's being used and just the feel that everyone has at the moment in South Africa about the cricket," he added.

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Agencies
January 26,2020

Chennai, Jan 26: Former India cricketer Kapil Dev on Saturday said that it will be a big loss for the Indian side when MS Dhoni decides to hang up his boots.

"I think he has served the country so well and nobody has done it like him. Everyone has to retire sooner or later. He is not playing matches currently. So I don't know when he will come out one day and say -- I have had enough. I think it will be our loss because he is such a fabulous cricketer," Dev told reporters here.

In the recently released BCCI contracts list, Dhoni did not find a place for himself. The former World Cup winning captain Dev said that it is unfortunate that Dhoni was not included in the contract list.

"I feel sorry that they have not included him. 

Tendulkar, Gavaskar had to witness the same. It's not my job and I am not there to give the contract to anyone. It is the job of the cricket board. So, I don't know. You can ask this question to the cricket board. They will be able to answer this question," Dev said.

The 38-year-old Dhoni is currently enjoying some time away from the game. He last played competitive cricket during the 2019 World Cup.

Dhoni had to face criticism for his slow batting approach during India's matches in the tournament. 

Especially in the games against England and New Zealand (semi-final), he had to bear the brunt of netizens, who deemed him as the reason for the Men in Blue's loss.

BCCI released the list of central contract list of players for the period from October 2019 to September 2020.

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