Radwanska progresses

February 21, 2013

RadwanskaDubai, Feb 21: World number four Agnieszka Radwanska overcame a misfiring serve to beat Kazakh teenager Yulia Putintseva 7-5, 6-3 in the second round of the Dubai women's tennis championships on Wednesday.

The Pole, who received a first-round bye, lost three of her first four service games on an overcast centre court and she will need to improve if she is retain her Dubai title, with Petra Kvitova or Ana Ivanovic awaiting her in the next round.

Serving at 3-3, Radwanska saved four break points after falling 0-40 behind, but Putintseva was undeterred and she earned another break point with a forehand winner down the line that fizzed past the advancing Pole. Rattled, the 2012 Wimbledon finalist double-faulted to fall 4-3 behind.

Radwanska, 23, responded by coming to the net more frequently to force Putintseva, ranked 101 in the world, to play on the back foot.

The Kazakh, seeking her third victory over a top-50 player, was found wanting and Radwanska broke for 4-4, with six out of eight games going against serve.

The Pole was too out of sorts to fully exploit her opponent's shortcomings but as the overcast sky gave way to a muggy desert sun she also upped the playing temperature on court, earning two set points with a flat forehand winner down the line. She needed only one as Putintseva smashed an attempted winner long.

Former world number one Caroline Wozniacki routed Chinese qualifier Jie Zheng 6-0, 6-1, while Russian veteran Nadia Petrova had a similar romp against Spain's Carla Suarez Navarro, winning 6-1, 6-0.

Azarenka pulls out

Grand slam winners Samantha Stosur and Petra Kvitova strolled into the second round with straight sets wins on Tuesday after Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka withdrew due to a foot injury.

Australian seventh seed Stosur beat Russia's Ekaterina Makarova 6-3, 6-1 while Czech Kvitova thumped Daniela Hantuchova 6-2, 6-1.

Somdev bows out

Somdev Devvarman bowed out of the ATP Open 13 tournament after suffering a 3-6, 5-7 defeat to Australia’s Berand Tomic in Marseille.

Rohan Bopanna and his British partner Colin Fleming reached the quarterfinals with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Robin Haase and Dick Norman in their opening round.

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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 15,2020

New Delhi, May 15: Former England skipper David Gower feels Sourav Ganguly has the right "political skills" to lead the ICC one day and he has already displayed that as BCCI president, which is a "far tougher job".

The elegant left-hander is very impressed with Ganguly's leadership abilities and believes that he has what it takes to head the global body in the future.

"One thing I have learnt over the years is that if you are going to run BCCI, you need to be many, many things. Having a reputation like he (Ganguly) has is a very good start, but you need to be a very deft politician.

"You need to have control of a million different things," Gower said ahead of "Q20", a unique chat show for the fans presented by 'GloFans'.

Gower reckons being president of the BCCI is the toughest job imaginable in world cricket.

"And of course, you need to be responsible for a game that is followed by, I mean, should we say a billion people here in India," he said.

"We all know about the immense following for cricket in India. So it is indeed a wonderful thing to behold. Sourav has the toughest task imaginable in charge of BCCI, but so far I would say the signs are very good.

"He has listened, given his own opinion and has pulled strings gently," he said.

Political skills are a must in administration and that's where Gower finds his fellow left-hander ticking all the boxes.

"He is a very, very good man and has those political skills. He has the right attitude and can keep things together and will do good job. And if you do a good job as BCCI chief in the future, who knows?

"But I would actually say the more important job, to be honest, is running BCCI. Being head of ICC is an honour, there is a lot that can be done by ICC, but actually look at the rankings, look at where the power is heading up. BCCI is definitely the bigger job," he said.

On the cricketing front, Gower believes World Test Championship has given the format much-needed context.

"The idea of this World Test Championship has come about for one very simple reason that people are worried about the survival of Tests. Back in the seventies, eighties, I don't think we needed context to be fair.

"Test cricket was very much more obviously the most important format and if there was anything to be judged by, it was the performances in Test matches both as an individual and as a team.

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News Network
January 6,2020

Jan 6: Former India opener Kris Srikkanth on Sunday said he would prefer K L Rahul over Shikhar Dhawan in the T20 World Cup later this year.

Former India opener Kris Srikkanth on Sunday said he would prefer K L Rahul over Shikhar Dhawan in the T20 World Cup later this year.

Dhawan is returning to international cricket after a long gap. During the senior left-handed batsman's absence, Rahul has emerged as one of the top contenders for the opener's slot in limited-overs cricket.

"Runs against SL (Sri Lanka) don't count. If I was chairman of selectors, I won't pick Dhawan in the T20 WC squad. There is no competition between him and Rahul. Only one winner," Srikkanth said on Star Sports.

Before the series, the 34-year-old Dhawan said that he is looking forward to a "new start" in a new year and wants to win the World Cup for India.

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