Saina, Srikanth win at World Championship

Agencies
July 31, 2018

Nanjing, Jul 31: Top Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth notched up comfortable victories over their respective opponents to make an impressive start at the BWF World Championship here today.

Saina, who won a silver and bronze in the earlier editions of the championship, defeated Turkey's Aliye Demirbag 21-17 21-8 in the second round to set up a pre-quarterfinal clash with 2013 champion Ratchanok Inthanon of Thailand. The Olympic medallist Indian had received a bye in the first round.

Fifth seed Srikanth dispatched Ireland's Nhat Nguyen 21-15 21-16 in his campaign opener to join compatriots HS Prannoy, Sameer Verma and B Sai Praneeth, who received a walkover after his opponent, Korea's Son Wan Ho, pulled out in the second round.

Srikanth, who won four titles last season, will face Spain's Pablo Abian next, while Praneeth will meet another spaniard, Lus Enrique Penalver.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa staved off a challenge from 15th seeded German pair of Mark Lamsfuss and Isabel Herttrich, registering a 10-21 21-17 21-18 win to enter the pre-quarterfinals.

Satwik and Ashwini will face seventh seeded Malaysian pair of Goh Soon Huat and Shevon Jemie Lai.

However, Russian Open silver medallists Rohan Kapoor and Kuhoo Garg went down 12-21 12-21 against the sixth seeded husband-wife English combination of Chris Adcock and Gabrielle Adcock in another mixed doubles second-round match.

The promising men's doubles pair of Arjun MR and Ramchandran Shlok also couldn't cross the opening hurdle, losing 14-21 15-21 to the Malaysian pair of Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi.

The top mixed doubles pair of Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy also gave a poor account of themselves as they lost 16-21 4-21 to 12th seeded Indonesian pair of Hafiz Faizal and Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja.

Tarun Kona and Saurabh Sharma also fell in the men's doubles first round, losing 20-22 21-18 17-21 to Hong Kong's Or Chin Chung and Tang Chun Man in a hard-fought battle.

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News Network
June 13,2020

New Delhi, Jun 13: West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo has said that wicket-keeper batsman MS Dhoni is the biggest superstar in cricket and is one of the easiest guys to interact with.

Bravo was doing an Instagram live chat with former Zimbabwe pacer Pommie Mbangwa and it was then that the all-rounder was asked to talk about his stint with Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

"I think a lot of credit for CSK's success has to be given to Dhoni and Fleming, obviously the owners, they trust both Fleming and Dhoni, so there is no outside interference when it comes to decision making, both are very big students of the game, players love MS and it's an environment and franchise that allows you to be you," Bravo told Mbangwa during the chat.

"MS Dhoni is the biggest superstar in cricket and in our team. He was one of the easiest people to interact with, outside of the cricket field, he is like playing video games, his door is open at all times, whenever you talk about the biggest superstar and then you think a person like Dhoni is the most humble of them all. CSK is a special team and we have the most loyal fans," he added.

Bravo has been with the CSK since 2011. He has played a total of 104 matches for the franchise, picking up 121 wickets.

The all-rounder has also managed to win the Purple Cap (most wickets in IPL) two times (2013 and 2015).

CSK has won the IPL thrice (2010, 2011 and 2018) and all the titles have come under the leadership of MS Dhoni.

Thirty-eight-year-old Dhoni has been 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 high-profile game.

This year, Dhoni did not find a place for himself in the BCCI's centrally contracted players list.

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

Dhoni is the only captain to win all major ICC trophies (50-over World Cup, T20 World Cup, and Champions Trophy).

Under his leadership, India also managed to attain the number one ranking in Test cricket.

He would have been leading the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) if the Indian Premier League (IPL) had commenced from March 29.

However, the tournament has been postponed indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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News Network
February 4,2020

Feb 4: India captain Virat Kohli on Tuesday said the death of NBA legend Kobe Bryant in a helicopter crash has impacted his outlook towards life, which he feels, is sometimes taken for granted in pursuit of control over the future.

Bryant, a two-time Olympic gold-medallist and one of the most decorated basketball players of all time, died in a helicopter crash last month along with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, who was also a budding hoopster.

"Firstly, it was a shock to everyone. I grew up watching those NBA games in the morning and watching what he did on court. But when someone that you have looked up to in some ways, passes away like that, it does put things in perspective," Kohli said on the eve of the first ODI against New Zealand here.

"...at the end of the day, life can be so fickle. It's so unpredictable. I think a lot of the times we get too caught up in the pressures of what we have to do tomorrow...we really forget living life and enjoying life and just appreciating and being grateful for the life we have," he added.

Kohli said a tragedy like this makes one realise that nothing can be more important than enjoying every moment of existence.

"...it did put things in perspective for me massively. It just makes you feel like not wanting to have control of things in front of you all the time, and just embracing life and appreciating it.

"You start looking at things from a different point of view suddenly and you want to enjoy every moment you're going through. You realise that what you're doing at the end of the day is not the most important thing. The most important thing is life itself," Kohli signed off.

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News Network
June 23,2020

Karachi, Jun 23: Pakistan cricketers Shadab Khan, Haris Rauf and rookie Haider Ali on Monday tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

"The Pakistan Cricket Board has confirmed three players - Haider Ali, Haris Rauf and Shadab Khan - have tested positive for Covid-19," said the PCB in a statement.

"The players had shown no symptoms until they were tested in Rawalpindi on Sunday ahead of the Pakistan men's national cricket team's tour to England."

The infected players will go into self-isolation.

"The PCB medical panel is in contact with the three who have been advised to immediately go into self-isolation," the statement said.

Earlier this month, former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi was tested positive for the deadly virus.

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