Really happy to win a silver, gave my heart out: Sindhu

August 20, 2016

Rio de Janeiro, Aug 20: P V Sindhu today said she is happy to win a silver in the women's singles badminton event after her gallant attempt to win a coveted gold for India ended in heart-break at the Rio Olympics here today.

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"I ended up with silver medal but am really happy," said Sindhu moments after losing her final clash 21-19 12-21 15-21 against two-time World Championship Marin here. "I'm really proud about it. I'm really happy. I could not win the gold. But I really worked hard. It was anybody's game.

"I really fought very hard and gave my heart out. When I came to final, I told myself just one match to go and you could win a gold medal. Give it your best, and I tried very hard. I feel it was her day," she added.

Sindhu also lauded Sakshi Malik, who opened the India's medals tally with a bronze at the Rio Games and became the first Indian woman wrestler to win a medal in Olympics. "A day before a girl has got a bronze, it's me now. We have all played well. There will be ups and downs in sport like in life. Losing one or two points. I would like to congratulate everyone. It's been a great week for me.

"I never thought I would make it to the final, but when I finally made it I thought I've to... I really worked hard. I missed the gold." Praising Marin on her Olympic gold, Sindhu said: "I also congratulate Carolina. It's been a wonderful week for me. It's anybody's aim to win a medal at the Olympics."

Talking about the final match, Sindhu said: "In today's match both players were attacking and playing aggressive on court. One has to win and one has to lose. It was her day on centre court today. I'm very happy for her. She's doing a great job.

"Overall, it's not that I didn't play well or get points. It was a good match, I can tell you. After the second game, we both were 10-all in the third. She took a lead of four points, and that lead went on. There were simple errors from my side," she explained.

The 21-year-old from Hyderabad said bright days are ahead for Indian badminton. "Future is good definitely. There are many players coming up, and many more will succeed. Badminton is doing really well in India. In men's singles Srikanth lost very closely," she said.

Despite finishing a notch higher with a silver medal at the Olympics as compared to her senior colleague Saina Nehwal, who had bagged a bronze at the 2012 London Games, Sindhu stayed grounded and said, "It's a different comparison. She has also achieved a lot, and is senior to me.

"Today I feel finally I've achieved something in life. It's my dream, anybody's dream to win an Olympic medal. I've done it. Everybody in top 20/30 are kind of equal and don't know what will happen as things may change anytime."

On whether she would turn this silver into a gold at 2020 Tokyo Games, Sindhu said: "Hopefully yes. I will really work hard for it." With a new found confidence and ranking, which is set to improve, Sindhu's next target is to win a Super Series.

"I feel it would change a lot from now onwards. With more confidence I would go further and maybe I would win a Super Series." Giving credit of her success to coach Pullela Gopichand, Sindhu said: "I've really worked hard before coming. I've been training hard and made so many sacrifices. Gopi sir has also sacrificed a lot. He's been in court all throughout. Parents have also made so many sacrifices."

Going into the match, Sindhu said she never thought about Marin's world number one status and wanted to play her natural game. "I had belief that I can do it in the second game but she played extremely well. I made simple errors and she won the match. I did not feel she's world number one. I thought it's anybody's game and whoever does well would win it. Both of us played aggressively but she was better on the day."

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News Network
July 5,2020

Colombo, Jul 5: Sri Lanka batsman Kusal Mendis was on Sunday arrested for knocking down a pedestrian while driving, police said.

Mendis hit a 74-year-old man, killing him in the wee hours, in the Colombo suburb of Panadura.

He is to be produced before a magistrate later today, police said.

The 25-year-old wicket-keeper batsman has represented Sri Lanka in 44 Tests and 76 ODIs. Mendis was part of the national squad which had resumed training after the Covid-19 lockdown.

Sri Lanka's international assignments, including a tour by India, have been cancelled due to the pandemic.

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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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News Network
February 19,2020

New Delhi, Feb 19: An Indian wrestler whose family story was immortalised by Bollywood is hoping to create a blockbuster of her own by becoming her country's first world champion in the high-octane sport of mixed martial arts.

Ritu Phogat, who initially followed her father and two elder sisters into wrestling, is now charting a new path after making an explosive MMA debut in November.

Phogat's father Mahavir, and her sisters Geeta and Babita were the subject of 2016 movie "Dangal", telling the story of the wrestling coach who raised his daughters to become Commonwealth champions.

But Ritu, 25, is forging a different career. After winning her first MMA fight in less than three minutes, she will face China's Wu Chiao Chen at this month's ONE Championship fight night in Singapore, which will be held behind closed doors because of the coronavirus.

The youngest Phogat daughter is trading an attempt at an Olympic medal to tackle MMA, but she said she was attracted by the lure of making history in her new sport.

"I got a chance to train with the best in Singapore and there was no looking back," she told AFP during a promotional event in New Delhi.

"There was the 2020 Olympic Games but I thought that I would do well in mixed martial arts. I have come with an aim of becoming the first girl from India to become a world champion in mixed martial art."

The nimble but strongly built Phogat said wrestlers were a good fit for the fast-growing contact sport, which is yet to take off in India.

"Top seven champions in mixed martial arts are wrestlers, so I believe that wrestlers have an edge in this sport with their ability to take down the opponent," she said.

"It is all a matter of skill. You just have to practise hard. I think MMA is not much different from wrestling in terms of preparation.

"One has to take risks to do something new and as an athlete I am ready to embrace every challenge."

She added: "Without the support of my father and sisters I would not have been where I am. My father always taught me to be far-sighted, hard-working and with strong resolve. Three traits will take you a long way."

Phogat won 48kg gold at the 2016 Commonwealth Wrestling Championship and followed it up with a silver in the under-23 world championships the next year.

"She used to watch a lot MMA and one day told me that I will win a gold in this game. So we all backed her and the result is there for everyone to see," he said.

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