Sania, Leander, Sumit: India's three musketeers shine at Wimbledon

July 13, 2015

London, Jul 13: Leander Paes, Sania Mirza and Sumit Nagal brought a lot of cheer to the country's tennis fans as India took home three titles at Wimbledon this year.

india shine

A vintage Leander Paes clinched his 16th Grand Slam trophy, winning the mixed doubles of the Wimbledon Championship with the legendary Martina Hingis through a dominating victory over Alexander Peya and Timea Babos in London on Sunday.

The seventh seed Indo-Swiss pair drubbed the fifth seed Austrian-Hungarian team 6-1 6-1 in the lop-sided summit clash which was over in just 40 minutes. It was Paes' eighth mixed doubles title and the second with Hingis.

"Coming out and playing like that on one of the most prestigious courts that we've grown up with and winning a title like that, again for the second time in a Grand Slam without losing a set, that is really special," Paes said after the Wimbledon crown.

Indian junior tennis player Sumit Nagal and Vietnam's Nam Hoang Ly beat Reilly Opelka of the US and Akira Santillan of Japan 7-6(4), 6-4 to win the Wimbledon boys doubles title on Sunday.

The 17-year-old Nagal and Ly, seeded eighth, defeated the American-Japanese fourth seeds in an hour and three minutes on No 1 Court of The All England Club.

The New Delhi-born, right-handed player had also entered the boys' singles competition. However, he was ousted from the category in only the opener when he lost to Argentinean Juan Pablo Ficovich in three sets.

The official Twitter account of the Rashtrapati Bhavan congratulated the winners. "Congratulations @Leander, Sumit Nagal on winning mixed and boys doubles titles in #Wimbledon2015, proud moment for India," it posted.

A day ago, India's tennis queen Sania Mirza created history by becoming the first woman player from the country to win a women's doubles Grand Slam trophy as she clinched the Wimbledon title with Swiss partner Martina Hingis in London.

Hingis, 34, and 28-year-old Mirza came from a set down and 2-5 behind in the final set to beat Russian duo Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina 5-7, 7-6 (7/4), 7-5. It was the top seeds' first Grand Slam title as a team having only decided to play together in March this year.

"Every kid that picks up a tennis racquet this is about winning Wimbledon or playing at Wimbledon one day.

"I hope it inspires a lot of girls and makes them believe they can be Grand Slam champions too," Mirza said.

With three Indians rising to the occasion, Indian tennis fans and the fraternity had a lot to rejoice about.

This was India's most significant triumph at the All England Lawn Tennis Club since Vijay Amritraj's two quarter final appearances in 1973, when he lost to eventual champion Jan Kodes, and in 1981 when he was beaten by his rival Jimmy Connors in a five-set thriller.

The former world no 16 made such an impact on the game that he is fondly remembered as part of the "ABC" of tennis, standing alongside legends Bjorn Borg and Jimmy Connors.

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News Network
June 3,2020

Colorado, Jun 3: Formula One boss Chase Carey has said that races will go ahead even if a driver tests positive for coronavirus.

His remarks come as organisers revealed a revised 2020 calendar and the schedule for the first eight races was put in the public domain.

"An individual having been found with a positive infection will not lead to a cancellation of a race. We encourage teams to have procedures in place so if an individual has to be put in quarantine, we have the ability to quarantine them at a hotel and to replace that individual," the official website of Formula One quoted Carey as saying.

"Some things we'd have to talk through and work through. The array of 'what ifs' are too wide to play out every one of them, but a team not being able to race would not cancel the race. I do not think I could sit here and lay out the consequences," he said.

Carey added the organisers will be having the necessary procedures in place so that the race does not get cancelled if a driver ends up testing positive for coronavirus.

"But we will have a procedure in place that finding infection will not lead to a cancellation. If a driver has an infection, teams have reserve drivers available," Carey said.

"We would not be going forward if we were not highly confident we have necessary procedures and expertise and capabilities to provide a safe environment and manage whatever issues arrive," he added.

The Formula One 2020 season will be beginning with the Austrian Grand Prix in July.

F1 currently expects the opening races to be closed events but hopes that fans will be able to attend again when it is safe to do so.

The season will kick off with the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring on July 5, followed a week later by a second race on the same track.

The Hungarian Grand Prix will follow a week after that, before a break. There will be then two back to back races at Silverstone, followed by the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona.

The Belgian Grand Prix will follow that, with the Italian Grand Prix at Monza a week later on September 6.

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Agencies
January 24,2020

Mumbai, Jan 24: Former Indian cricket captain and former MP Mohammad Azharuddin on Thursday denied allegations of cheating levelled by a travel agency in Maharashtra and threatened to file defamation suit of ₹100 crore.

"Those who filed the FIR have done it only to be in the limelight. There is no truth in it. The allegations are baseless," Azharuddin said in a video message on Twitter.

Azahruddin, who is now president of Hyderabad Cricket Association, said he would soon seek advice from his lawyer and will file Rs 100 crore defamation case against those who lodged the FIR.

A case was filed in Aurangabad on Wednesday against Azharuddin and two others for allegedly cheating a local travel agent of around ₹21 lakh.

The complaint was lodged by Shahab Y. Mohammed, 49, proprietor of Danish Tours & Travels here, a former executive with the defunct Jet Airways.

"We have lodged a first information report against Mujeeb Khan (Aurangabad), Sudheesh Avikkal (Kerala), Mohammed Azharuddin (Hyderabad). No arrests have been made and further investigations are underway," Investigating Officer A.D. Nagre, of the City Chowk police station, told IANS.

According to the complainant, between November 9 and 12, 2019, Avikkal booked several international airline tickets and Azharuddin's personal secretary Mujeeb Khan promised to pay the ticket charges. He said since no payment was made, he was compelled to lodge the police complaint.

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News Network
January 12,2020

New Delhi, Jan 12: Flamboyant India all-rounder Hardik Pandya was on Saturday pulled out of the India A team's tour of New Zealand after he failed mandatory fitness tests in Mumbai.

The selectors had picked him in the squad without testing him in the Ranji games.

Tamil Nadu captain Vijay Shankar has been drafted into the India A team and he has already boarded the flight to New Zealand where they will play two 50-over warm-up games, three List A games and two four-day 'Tests' against the home A team.

It has been learnt that Pandya failed a couple of mandatory fitness tests and his scores were well below the permissible range suggesting that he is far from being fit for international cricket. In this situation, pulling him out of the India A squad was expected.

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