Saina Nehwal, Parupalli Kashyap enter 2nd round of French Open

October 21, 2015

Paris, Oct 21: Top Indian badminton players Saina Nehwal and Parupalli Kashyap crossed the opening hurdle to enter the second round of the $275,000 French Open Super Series at Stade Pierre de Coubertin in Paris on Wednesday.

Saina Nehwal

Top seed Nehwal tamed World No. 14 Michelle Li of Canada 21-18, 21-13 in a 42-minute match, while eighth seed Kashyap saw off local player Thomas Rouxel 21-11, 22-20 in a men’s singles contest.

Olympic bronze-medallist Nehwal will next take on the winner of the match between Germany’s Karin Schnaase and Japan’s Minatsu Mitani. Interestingly, Mitani had ended Nehwal’s run at the Denmark Open last week. Commonwealth Games champion Kashyap will fight it out against the winner of the match between Thailand’s Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk and England’s Rajiv Ouseph.

However, it was curtains for World No. 5 Kidambi Srikanth as he went down fighting to Tian Houwei 15-21, 21-13, 11-21 in a 63-minute match. This is Srikanth’s fourth loss to the World No 10 Chinese this season.

In the women’s singles match, Commonwealth Games champion Li made a robust start to her campaign, leading 7-3 early on but Nehwal soon reeled off six straight points to grab the lead. The duo then battled for each point, moving neck and neck till 16-16 when Nehwal surged ahead to grab the opening game.

In the second game, Nehwal was ruthless as she opened up a massive 12-5 lead and didn’t allow Li to come anywhere near her to seal the match comfortably.

In the men’s singles match, Kashyap fought back from 1-3 down early on to turn the tables at 6-6. The Indian didn’t look back after that as he marched ahead to pocket the first game.

Kashyap led 8-4 in the second game initially and even though Rouxel clawed back at 8-8, the Indian moved ahead to 18-13. Rouxel made one more surge and drew parity at 20-20 but he failed to go the distance as Kashyap shut the door with two points.

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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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News Network
May 12,2020

New Delhi, May 12: Chennai Super Kings have rejected the idea of an IPL with only Indian players in the near future, differing with Rajasthan Royals, the franchise which is keen on the option given the circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The IPL, which is indefinitely postponed, can be held in the September-October window if the scheduled T20 World Cup in Australia doesn't take place.

"CSK is not keen to do an IPL with only Indian players. That way it would be playing another Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (domestic T20 competition). The franchise has not been in touch with the BCCI of late as the situation is worsening," a CSK source said on conditions of anonymity.

"Let's hope we can have the IPL later this year," he added.

CSK are three-time IPL champions, making them the second most successful team in the event's history after Mumbai Indians, who have won the tournament four times.

The BCCI is also very keen to stage the IPL and if it doesn't happen, the world's richest board would be in financial trouble like Cricket Australia.

"The board will take a revenue hit of Rs 4000 crore if it doesn't happen. The board will be in a big problem," BCCI treasurer Arun Dhumal said earlier this week.

With COVID-19 cases continuing to rise in India, the board and IPL team officials see little point in discussing when the event can be held.

"There has been no discussion with the BCCI ever since it postponed the IPL. There is no point in discussing also as things are unlikely to be okay anytime soon," the CSK source said.

"We expect the BCCI to take the best possible decision when the time comes," he added.

For the IPL to happen with foreign players, travel restrictions, which are currently in place, will have to be eased.

There is an option of conducting the IPL outside India and Sri Lanka Cricket has even offered to host the biggest T20 league in the world.

M S Dhoni was expected to make a much-awaited comeback with the IPL but that too has been postponed indefinitely.

Teammates like Suresh Raina and Piyush Chawla have already spoken about how eager Dhoni was to return.

According to them, Dhoni had the determination of a youngster before the league was suspended due to the lockdown imposed to contain the pandemic.

"Dhoni is his own man but I see him playing the IPL for at least two three years. When it comes to playing for India, only he knows best," the source added.

Last month, Rajasthan Royals executive chairman Ranjit Barthakur had said the franchise was open to a shortened IPL with only Indian players.

"Earlier we could not think of an Indians-only IPL but now there is enough quality to choose from. It is better to have an Indians-only IPL than not have it at all," he had told news agency.

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News Network
March 27,2020

New Delhi, Mar 27: Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar on Friday donated Rs 50 lakh to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, which has so far claimed 17 Indian lives and wreaked havoc globally.

Tendulkar's donation is so far the biggest contribution among India's leading sportspersons, some of whom have pledged their salaries while a few others have donated medical equipment to fight the dreaded outbreak, which has caused more than 24,000 deaths globally.

"Sachin Tendulkar decided to contribute Rs 25 lakh each to Prime Minister's Relief Fund and Chief Minister's Relief Fund in his bid to join the fight against COVID-19. It was his decision that he wanted to contribute to both funds," a source privy to the development, told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

Tendulkar has been associated with a lot of charity work and there has been umpteen times, he has taken up social causes, helped people, which has never been brought to public notice.

Among other prominent cricketers, the Pathan brothers -- Irfan and Yusuf -- donated 4000 face masks to Baroda police and health department while Mahendra Singh Dhoni, through a Pune based NGO, made a contribution of Rs 1 lakh.

Among athletes from other disciplines, wrestler Bajrang Punia and sprinter Hima Das are some of the prominent names to have donated their salaries in the battle against the dreaded virus which has led to a 21-day national lockdown.

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