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
February 10,2020

Potchefstroom, Feb 10: India's under-19 cricket team manager Anil Patel says the ICC has taken a serious view of the aggressive celebrations by Bangladesh players after their World Cup triumph and will be reviewing the footage of the final game's "last few minutes".

Some Bangladeshi players got carried away while celebrating their historic three-wicket win over India in the final on Sunday. While their captain Akbar Ali apologised for the "unfortunate incident", his Indian counterpart Priyam Garg said their reaction was "dirty".

"We don't know what actually happened," Patel told 'ESPNCricinfo' on Sunday.

"Everybody was in a shock, absolutely, but we don't know what happened exactly. The ICC officials are going to watch the footage of the last few minutes and they are going to let us know," he said.

Even when the match was on, the Bangladesh players were overly aggressive while fielding and their lead pacer Shoriful Islam sledged the Indian batsmen after every delivery.

As soon as the match ended, it became tense with Bangladeshi players rushing to the ground and displaying aggressive body language. The two teams nearly came to blows before the situation was defused by the coaching staff and on-field officials.

Patel claimed that match referee Graeme Labrooy met him and expressed regret at what transpired on the field.

"The referee came to me. He was sorry about the incident. He clarified the ICC is going to take very seriously what has happened during the match and the last session. They are going to witness the footage and they will tell us in the morning (Monday)."

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Agencies
January 16,2020

New Delhi, Jan 16: Veteran cricketer Mithali Raj was on Thursday demoted to Grade B from A in the BCCI central contracts while Radha Yadav and Taniya Bhatia were elevated to the middle bracket.

Mithali not being kept in the Rs 50 lakh category was expected as the 37-year-old retired from T20s in September last year. However, she remains the ODI captain and plans to carry on till the 2021 World Cup.

T20 skipper Harmanpreet Kaur retained his A category contract alongside Smriti Mandhana and Poonam Yadav.

Radha and Taniya, who both had a Grade C contract worth Rs 10 lakh last year, have now entered Grade B (Rs 30 lakh).

Players getting a central contract for the first time are 15-year-old opener Shafali Verma and Harleen Deol, who like the teenager is an attacking batter.

Shafali has attracted a lot of attention ever since making her India debut last year. She recently made 124 against Australia A in Brisbane. The opener will be expected to deliver in the upcoming T20 World Cup Down Under.

Dropped from the list is Mona Meshram, who was in Grade C last year and hasn't played a single game in recent times.

The latest contracts run from October 2019 to September 2020.

Grade A (Rs 50 lakh): Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Poonam Yadav.

Grade B (Rs 30 lakh): Mithali Raj, Jhulan Goswami, Ekta Bisht, Radha Yadav, Taniya Bhatia, Shikha Pandey, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma.

Grade C (Rs 10 lakh): Veda Krishnamurthy, Punam Raut, Anuja Patil, Mansi Joshi, D Hemlatha, Arundhati Reddy, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Pooja Vastrakar, Harleen Deol, Priya Punia, Shafali Verma.

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News Network
January 9,2020

Mumbai, Jan 9: Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan feels that the Men in Blue have the edge over Australia in terms of talent and confidence ahead of the two teams' three-match ODI series starting January 14 in Mumbai.

"In the past that wasn't the case because they were doing really well. We were trying to match that level. I feel that Indian cricket is a notch ahead in terms of talent, in terms of cricket and in terms of confidence," Star Sports expert Irfan Pathan said. "The only thing that will make it equal is the kind of pitches we are going to play in Australia because we do not have experience playing on those hard and bouncy pitches," said Pathan, who recently called time on his international career.

Recounting his favourite memory of playing against Australia, Irfan said, "It all started in Australia for me. The most memorable moment was getting my first wicket and helping India win a Test match in Australia after 21 years. Winning the Test in Perth and being named the Man of the Match is also a favourite memory for me."

Australia have already announced their team for the three-match ODI series with India. The team will be led by Aaron Finch. The other members of the team are Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Marnus Labuschagne, Kane Richardson, D'Arcy Short, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Ashton Turner, David Warner, and Adam Zampa.

India are yet to announce their team but in all probability, it will be led by Virat Kohli who has been in phenomenal form over the last few years. All three ODIs are day and night affair. While the first match of the series is on January 14 in Mumbai, the second will be played at Rajkot on January 17 followed by the January 19 clash in Bengaluru.

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