Abu Dhabi: Nicholas Pooran's power-packed 26-ball 89 helped Northern Warriors outplay Bangla Tigers by 30 runs in the Abu Dhabi T10 event.
It was raining sixes at the Zayed Cricket Stadium with Pooran smashing 12 maximums and three fours to help his side post the second-highest score of 162 for 4 in the tournament.
The Bangla Tigers chased bravely through their skipper Andre Fletcher, who hit 53 runs off 28 balls with four boundaries and four sixes.
He was well backed by UAE's Chirag Suri, who remained unbeaten on 42, but they fell short of the target by 30 runs, managing 132 for 3 in the stipulated 10 overs.
Sent to bat, the Northern Warriors got off to a quick start picking 17 runs off the first over with opener Waseem Muhammad hitting two sixes off Mohammad Irfan.
In the second over, Mujeeb Ur Rehman had Waseem out for 12 getting him caught at long-on. Pooran walked in and began hitting right away.
Qais Ahmed, who bowled the fourth over, was hit for 23 runs. It included Pooran's three sixes and one boundary.
The sixth over saw Pooran in full flow, hitting Mohammad Irfan for three successive sixes. the West Indian raced to his half-century in the seventh over off 17 balls.
When Garton was re-introduced in the eighth over, Pooran hit him for four successive sixes and two boundaries to take 32 runs off that over.
Karim Janat removed Lendl Simmons by having him caught at long-off for 41. He also ended Pooran's knock by having him caught by Andre Fletcher at extra cover off the next ball.
Chasing the mammoth score of 162, Pakistan pacer Wahab Riaz struck a huge blow when he clean bowled Johnson Charles for a duck with the third ball.
Fletcher began to strike freely, hitting Riaz for two successive boundaries. In the fourth over, he smashed two successive sixes.
Fabian Allen had Hossain caught by Powell at deep mid-wicket. Suri joined Fletcher in the middle with the Bangla Tigers needing another 113 runs from the last 30 balls.
Wayne Parnell, who took a hat-trick in his last match, bowled the sixth over and gave away just seven runs.
Suri then lifted Allen for two consecutive sixes off the first and second deliveries of the eighth over. He also hit the fourth delivery for another six to take 31 runs off that over.
Emrit was introduced again to bowl the ninth over. Fletcher lifted Emrit over long-on and reached his half-century in 22 balls.
With 49 runs needed off the last six balls, Junaid Siddiqui trapped Fletcher leg before for 33 to end their chase. Suri remained unconquered with a quick 42.
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Melbourne: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova beat Japan's Misaki Doi 6-1, 6-4 in a first-round match at the Yarra River Classic, one of six tuneup tournaments being played this week at Melbourne Park ahead of the Australian Open.
The first major of the year was delayed by three weeks to allow for COVID-19 protocols which required all people arriving into Australia to spend 14 days in quarantine.
The 11th-seeded Pavlyuchenkova has been a quarterfinalist in three of the last four years at the Australian Open.
Serena Williams was scheduled to play local hope Daria Gavrilova later Monday in the Yarra River Classic.
Williams is aiming to win her 24th Grand Slam title with victory at the Australian Open, the most of any player in the professional era. Her 23rd major was in 2017 at Melbourne Park when she beat her sister, Venus, in the final.
In other first-round matches at the tournament, Nadia Podoroska beat Francesca Jones 6-1, 6-3, Camila Giorgi beat Clara Burel 6-4, 6-3, Alison Van Uytvanck swept Hsieh Su-wei 6-2, 6-0 and Vera Zvonareva beat Kristyna Pliskova 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-3.
No. 13 Danielle Collins of the United States beat Nina Stojanovic 6-2, 6-1 in a second-round match.
SIX EVENTS ON BOARD
All six tuneup tournaments are being played this week at Melbourne Park ahead of the 8 February start of the Australian Open.
The biggest men's tournament is the ATP Cup team event, which starts Tuesday. The other men's tournaments are the Great Ocean Road Open and the Murray River Open.
In addition to the Yarra Valley Classic, the WTA has the Gippsland Trophy and the Grampians Trophy. The Grampians event is a 28-draw tournament and open only to players who were forced into hard lockdown for 14 days without the benefit of practice because of positive COVID-19 cases on their charter flights to Australia.
CORNET ADVANCES
At the WTA's Gippsland Trophy, French veteran Alize Cornet beat local hope Ajla Tomljanovic 5-7, 6-1, 6-3. Cornet got an early break in the deciding set and fended off several comeback attempts by Tomljanovic, who is the No. 2-ranked Australian player behind world No. 1 Ash Barty.
In other Gippsland Trophy matches, Mayo Hibi beat Varvara Lepchenko 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-1 and Katie Boulter had a 6-1, 6-3 win over Anna Kalinskaya.
TIAFOE OUT IN 1ST ROUND
Corentin Moutet of France won a tough first-round match over Frances Tiafoe, beating the American 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 at the Murray River Open.
The 21-year-old Moutet had to overcome a sluggish start before he found his rhythm against 2019 Australian Open quarterfinalist Tiafoe. The Frenchman outlasted Tiafoe in the third set to fight off break points and take a 3-1 lead.
"It was so nice to play a match," Moutet told the ATP website. "It was a long time since I've played a match, especially in front of people. A tough match, but definitely a lot of pleasure."
AUSTRALIAN INTO 2ND ROUND
At the Great Ocean Road Open, local hope Aleksandar Vukic beat Lu Yen-hsun 6-4, 7-5 and Kamil Majchrzak upset 12th-seeded Laslo Djere 6-3, 6-4. No. 13-seeded Aljaz Bedene beat Yasutaka Uchiyama 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5).
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Anushka Sharma and Virat Kohli have shared the first image of their baby daughter and her name -- Vamika.
The couple shared the image on social media, alongside the caption, "We have lived together with love, presence and gratitude as a way of life but this little one, Vamika has taken it to a whole new level! Tears, laughter, worry, bliss - emotions that have been experienced in a span of minutes sometimes!"
The couple on 11 January, announced that they have become parents to a baby girl. Indian skipper Kohli took to Twitter to share that both Anushka and the baby are healthy and how they feel beyond blessed to start a new chapter of their lives.
The couple had earlier sent a note to the paparazzi, appealing them to refrain from taking images of their newly born daughter. The couple has written that as parents, they have a simple request to make, adding, "We want to protect the privacy of our child and we need your help and support."
Sharma and Kohli, both 32, first met on the sets of a commercial and dated for four years before getting married in a private ceremony in Italy on 11 December, 2017.
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Melbourne: Tennis players forced into 14 days of coronavirus quarantine ahead of the Australian Open made some bizarre requests to get through their ordeal, including asking for kittens and puppies in their rooms.
Tournament chief Craig Tiley spent months organising bringing more than 1,000 players and support staff safely into the country and revealed that some oddball requests had added to the complicated logistics, without naming the players who made them.
"The most bizarre request was for a kitten in the lockdown room, and that wasn't once, that was several times," Tiley told broadcaster ABC.
"But then we explained that actually there is a correlation between the coronavirus and kittens and that kind of request went away.
"Puppies. There had been some (requests) for dogs - and someone was joking about getting animals indigenous to Australia in there as well.
"There were a few times I wouldn't mind putting a boxing kangaroo in there," Tiley joked.
Players, coaches and officials arrived on 17 charter flights last month, with most allowed out for just five hours of daily supervised training.
But eight positive Covid-19 cases threw preparations into disarray with 72 players confined to their Melbourne hotel rooms 24 hours a day, sparking complaints about the tough conditions.
Tiley admitted that putting on the Grand Slam during a pandemic had put him under huge pressure, but said the positives outweighed the negatives.
"Some people have accused us of being dog-headed about it, but we would not do it if it was not safe, that's for sure," he said.
Tiley added that being able to showcase tennis, and Melbourne, to the world while welcoming fans back to watch was "too great an opportunity to pass up".
Daily crowds of between 25,000 and 30,000 will be permitted to watch the Australian Open, which begins on 8 February.
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Melbourne: World number three and US Open champion Dominic Thiem admitted Monday it will be tough to match his breakthrough year in 2020, but he plans to give it his best shot.
The Austrian finally cracked the big time when he produced a historic comeback to beat Alexander Zverev in a nervy five-setter and win at Flushing Meadow.
It followed three previous defeats in finals of tennis majors, including at the Australian Open last year when he lost a gripping clash with Novak Djokovic.
Back in Melbourne for the build-up to next week's opening Grand Slam of the year, he said he was feeling ready, but cautioned that nothing was guaranteed.
"Of course, I will try to repeat the success of 2020, and also 2019 (when he made the French Open final)," he said.
"There were amazing years. But there's never a guarantee for that.
"I mean, in a Grand Slam tournament or ATP Cup, all the big tournaments, the whole draw is super strong, so never a guarantee to go deep or to win a title.
"I'll try everything to do it. I had, again, quite a good preparation. So I'll try to have a good start at the ATP Cup, then also in the Australian Open."
The 27-year-old is in Australia without coach Nicolas Massu, who tested positive for coronavirus before they left, with his father Wolfgang taking over the duties.
Thiem senior is also captain of the Austria ATP Cup team, where his son opens his season with a tough match against Italian world number 10 Matteo Berrettini on Tuesday.
"Our head-to-head is tied 2-2. Towards the end of 2019 we had three amazing matches in deep stages of big tournaments, high quality," said Thiem of Berrettini.
"Looking forward to play him again. We have a very good relationship, always fun matches against each other.
"But he's a big, big player, so I'm also not too happy that he's the first guy I have to face in a new year after quite a while without an official match. It's going to be interesting."
After a year of playing in front of mostly empty stadiums due to Covid-19, he is also looking forward to some atmosphere, with up to 30,000 spectators allowed each day at the Australian Open.
"It will take probably some games or half an hour, hour, to get used to it again because it is different with all the sound," he said.
"Somehow maybe you're a little bit more nervous because you also play for the crowd. You want to entertain them."
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Los Angeles: Denver center Nikola Jokic matched his career-high with 47 points as the Nuggets cooled off the hottest team in the NBA on Sunday with a 128-117 victory over the Utah Jazz.
Jokic erupted for 33 points in the first half – 22 in the first quarter – and added 12 rebounds for his 20th double-double to start the season.
The Nuggets brought an emphatic end to Utah's 11-game winning streak, the longest in the league this season.
Their victory, coupled with the Los Angeles Clippers' 129-115 victory over the Knicks in New York, saw the Clippers move ahead of the Jazz atop the Western Conference with a league-leading record of 16-5.
"At this moment they are the best team in the NBA, they're playing amazing, they had 11 wins in a row, they are shooting the ball really well," Jokic said. "This was a really nice win for us."
The Nuggets led by as many as 28 points, using a first-half three-point barrage to bury the Jazz.
Denver were a perfect eight-for-eight from three-point range in the first quarter and made 15 of their total 18 from beyond the arc in the first half.
In the third quarter, though, the Jazz twice reduced the 28-point deficit to single figures.
Denver's JaMychal Green scored all of his nine points in the fourth quarter, and fellow reserve Facundo Campazzo added six of his 11 in the final frame as the Nuggets pulled away again.
Bojan Bogdanovic paced the Jazz with 29 points. Donovan Mitchell added 13, and Rudy Gobert, Royce O'Neale and Mike Conley added 12 apiece.
But seven players in double figures and 20 three-pointers weren't enough to keep the Jazz from losing for the first time since 6 January.
At Madison Square Garden, Kawhi Leonard scored 28 points to lead six Clippers in double figures against the Knicks.
The imposing New York defense, allowing the fewest points per game in the league, couldn't find an answer as the Clippers pulled away in the third quarter, stretching a one-point halftime lead to double digits.
Leonard and Reggie Jackson scored 10 points apiece in the third quarter, when the Clippers connected on 13 of 19 shots from the field.
The Knicks, led by Julius Randle's 27 points, cut the deficit to two points with 7:44 left to play but a 9-0 scoring run put the Clippers back in charge.
Wild Wizards win
Bradley Beal and Russell Westbrook keyed a late rally by the Washington Wizards in a nail-biting 149-146 victory over the Brooklyn Nets.
The contest featuring the league's top two scorers, Beal and Nets star Kevin Durant, promised fireworks – and the frantic finish didn't disappoint.
Beal's pull-up three-pointer with 8.1 seconds left pulled the Wizards within two at 146-144.
Teammate Garrison Matthews then came up with a steal and got the ball to Westbrook, whose three-pointer less than four seconds after Beal's put the Wizards up 147-146 – their first lead since the second quarter.
Washington got another stop, and Beal made two free throws to seal the win.
"Right now, all that matters is we get a win," Westbrook said of a Wizards team that had lost four straight since having six games postponed because Covid-19 measures left them with too few available players.
Westbrook finished with 41 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. Beal added 37 points with five rebounds and four assists.
Durant had 37 points and seven rebounds for a Nets team that was without James Harden – who was nursing a thigh contusion.
In Indianapolis, Tobias Harris scored 10 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter, and Philadelphia teammate Furkan Korkmaz drained a pull-up jump shot that put the 76ers ahead with 2:30 remaining on the way to a 119-110 come-from-behind win over the Indiana pacers.
Eastern Conference leaders Philadelphia trailed by 16 with less than 10 minutes remaining, but turned the tables to notch a sixth win in seven games despite the absence of star center Joel Embiid, who was sidelined with back trouble.
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On Sunday night's episode of Bigg Boss 14, Vikas Gupta was eliminated from the reality TV show. However, the contestant had the chance to use a special Joker Card, which was given to him by Bigg Boss for winning a secret task, to escape elimination.
Gupta decided to walk out of the show and said he wanted Devoleena Bhattacharjee, Eijaz Khan's proxy, to remain in the Bigg Boss house. After Gupta, Bhattacharjee received the least number of audience votes.
After bidding goodbye to his friends, Gupta left the house. Host Salman Khan praised him for the "selfless" decision, writes Hindustan Times. Khan also brought up how the eliminated contestant's personal issues often became the focal point in the house.
Gupta had spoken about his estrangement with his family after coming out as bisexual. He had also alleged that his parents wanted to take over his property. Khan said that the contestant should have not aired his dirty laundry on national television and work toward fixing his relationship with his parents. Khan also noted that the creators of Bigg Boss had attempted to feature Gupta's family, an offer they had turned down.
"I really love Bigg Boss. You have no idea what all I have gotten from the show. I got a lot of courage from the show. If I had publicly revealed so many things about my life is because I was there. This place has always given me immense love," said Gupta upon his exit, according to Mumbai Mirror. He added that this will be his last outing on the reality show.
Gupta was seen on Bigg Boss 11, followed by the 13th season where he served as Bhattacharjee's proxy. This season he joined the show as a Challenger alongside Rakhi Sawant, Rahul Mahajan, Arshi Khan, Kashmera Shah and Manu Punjabi.
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Girish Karnad's memoir, which was to be translated from Kannada into English by the actor-playwright himself but could only finish a part of it before his death in 2019, will now be out in May after final touches by award-winning translator Srinath Perur.
This Life at Play: A Memoir by Girish Karnad will be released on the director's 83rd birth anniversary on 19 May by Fourth Estate, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
Karnad, considered one of modern India's greatest cultural figures, first published his memoir in Kannada in 2011.
Covering the first half of his remarkable life, from growing up in Dharwad and engaging with local theatre, to his education in Mumbai and as a Rhodes Scholar in Oxford, his career as a publisher, his successes and travails in the film industry, and his personal and writerly life, Karnad's inimitable voice shines through it all.
The no-holds-barred account provides a glimpse into the life-shaping experiences of this towering figure on India's cultural scene, and a unique window into the India in which he lived and worked.
"Our father lived through every decade of independent India - his writing and thinking were a mirror of the life of the country, and especially its arts," said his children Radha and Raghu.
"As we told him all the time, in the later years, his career had to culminate in a memoir reflecting on that journey, and here are those reflections - brought into English in part by Appa himself, and in part by the exceptionally skilful writer and translator Srinath Perur, who was our father's own preference to complete the work," they say.
According to Perur, Karnad usually translated his own writing.
"He had started work on the English translation of his memoirs, but his health did not allow him to give it the time it required, and he called me to ask if I could help him with it. I had not read the Kannada book at the time, but I knew it had been well received by readers, and I knew it had generated some excitement in the media," he says.
"When I mentioned this to Girish, he said, 'Yes, that is because I say the things that others don't say.' That honesty and plain-spokenness, qualities he was known for in his public life, also run through his book," he says.
HarperCollins India Publisher (Literary) Udayan Mitra terms This Life at Play an extraordinary account of an extraordinary life - the life of a pioneer and luminary of the literary and cultural world who shaped many of our contemporary perspectives on theatre, film, literature and society, and whose impact will be felt for decades to come.
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Melbourne: Japanese spearhead Kei Nishikori admitted on Monday he was "very sore" as he resumes training after two weeks in hard lockdown, as their ATP Cup team frets on doubles specialist Ben McLachlan who is stuck in New Zealand.
Former top-five star Nishikori was among 72 players forced to stay in their rooms 24 hours a day after COVID-19 cases were detected on charter flights bringing them to Melbourne for the Australian Open.
Others were permitted five-hour daily blocks outside to train.
"It is obviously not easy. My body is reacting very tough," said Nishikori, who has slipped to 41 in the world after a series of injuries.
"Very sore everything. But I have still two more days, so I should be okay."
Japan open their ATP Cup campaign on Wednesday against Russia, with Nishikori facing world number four Daniil Medvedev and Yoshihito Nishioka up against eighth-ranked Andrey Rublev.
McLachlan, who has a New Zealand father and Japanese mother, is due to play doubles but is yet to arrive in Australia.
His plans were thrown into disarray when Australia halted their quarantine-free travel for New Zealanders last month after their first case of COVID-19 community transmission in more than two months.
The suspension has now been lifted and McLachlan is hoping to be on a flight on Tuesday.
"For a while, Ben was telling us he had few options, that they were going to reschedule his route, itinerary," Japan team captain Max Mirnyi said.
"Only yesterday he confirmed they put him on a flight coming in tomorrow during the day."
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Buenos Aires: The Indian women's hockey team put up a spirited performance to hold World No 2 Argentina to a 1-1 draw and end their tour of the country on a high.
Skipper Rani Rampal struck for India in the 35th minute while Emilia Forcherio scored for the home team through a penalty stroke on Sunday.
This was India's fourth scheduled match against the side after the third match to be played on Saturday was abandoned due to incessant rains.
Earlier in the tour, India had drawn 2-2, 1-1 against the Argentina junior team and lost 1-2, 2-3 to Argentina 'B' team.
Against the Argentina senior side, India lost 2-3 and 0-2 in the first and second matches respectively.
The Indians played with an intent to secure the elusive win against Argentina in their last match of the tour.
But the experienced home team continued to showcase a dominant performance, getting off the blocks in the first quarter with a well-structured attack.
FT: 🇮🇳 1 - 1 🇦🇷
It has been rumbling in Buenos Aires but our Eves managed to steal the thunder with their impressive game tonight! 💪
The early pressure on India's defence line worked for Argentina as they earned two penalty corners within three minutes of the first quarter.
But India goalkeeper Savita was upto the mark and made brilliant saves to deny the hosts.
India found a good opportunity to score in the 11th minute when they were awarded a penalty corner, but couldn't execute it.
Three minutes into the second quarter, Rani found yet another opportunity to score when experienced forward Vandana Katariya assisted her but a valiant Argentine defence held strong, covering every inch in the striking circle.
In the following minutes, Argentina won two penalty corners in the 23rd and 24th minutes but Savita stood like a rock in front of the goal.
Skipper Rani finally found the right opportunity to score when India made an aggressive start to the third quarter.
It was Vandana again who found Rani poised in front of the goal and fed her the ball from the right flank.
Rani made no mistake in receiving the pass and swiftly struck the ball past the Argentine goalkeeper to earn India a 1-0 lead in the 35th minute.
India had two good opportunities to extend the lead in the 39th and 50th minutes of the game, but wasted both the opportunities.
Argentina, on the other hand, pushed for goals and a body foul while defending the penalty corner in the 55th minute, saw India concede a penalty stroke.
From the resultant set piece, Forcherio was on target to draw level.
Under pressure, India conceded two more penalty corners in the 56th and 59th minutes but Argentina could not utilise the opportunities.
"After the 1-0 lead, we had to stay calm and continue to pursue our attack. We had to play more smartly but that's something we can work on," said India's chief coach Sjoerd Marijne after the match.
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Going into the title round of the BWF World Tour Finals, two rejuvenated, back-from-surgery players, Spain’s Carolina Marin and Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen, had managed to build an aura of invincibility around themselves over the course of three tournaments played at the Impact Arena, Bangkok, during the immediately preceding three weeks.
By the end of the two singles finals, both of which went the full distance, the lofty aspirations of both these former world champions lay in ruins. While an unusually timid Axelsen ended up beating himself, as it were, it required a very special player, and a total revamp of match strategy, to rein in the feisty left-handed Spaniard, and prevent her from winning her third title on as many Sundays in January.
Long-reigning World No.1, Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei, took the bull by the horns, matched Marin’s scorching pace, pinned her repeatedly on her slightly vulnerable backhand baseline, and exhibited enormous mental strength in coming back from a 17-19 deficit in the decider of their memorable 67-minute battle-royal, to pip the Spanish southpaw at the tape, by a 14-21, 21-8, 21-19 scoreline.
“Finally, I won,” said the 26 year old Taiwanese ace, relief clear on her face after winning her third 'season-ending' title. “This victory is significant because I had to really maintain focus. Marin forces a lot of pressure as she is fast. If I lose a bit of focus, the gap becomes big and very hard to chase down. I needed to take care of that because every point matters against her.”
Marin was gracious in defeat: “Tzu Ying could catch me on my backhand side, I knew about that; and I was ready for some of the shuttles, but not for others. She did that all the time today, she put more pressure on my backhand today than previously. And she played better than me at the end of the match. It was a really good three weeks for me. I’d have been happier if I had won, but two titles and a final is not bad!”
It was commendable that Marin, having undergone knee reconstruction following a ligament tear while playing the Indonesia Open final against India’s Saina Nehwal in the early weeks of 2019, had worked hard to build up the dazzling speed that had netted her three world Championship titles (in 2014, 2015 and 2018) and the 2016 Rio Olympics gold medal.
Tai’s fitness and ability to last the distance were never in doubt, and she played some absolutely breathtaking strokes to get out of trouble during testing rallies. She was faster on her feet and much more aggressive than she had been while being beaten in straight games by Marin in the two Thailand Open finals. She did not abandon her high-risk, high-returns style that make her the world’s most exciting shuttler, but she kept her concentration at a better level than she had in the two previous finals in Bangkok, and conceded fewer negative points than she had earlier.
There is reason to believe that these two wonderful players will continue to dominate the tournaments that precede the Tokyo Olympics, which are scheduled to take place in July. Tai leads their head-to-head by a narrow 10-8 margin, which is the tightest figure among the Taiwanese player’s career statistics with the entire current crop of women’s singles players – Nozomi Okuhara and Akane Yamaguchi of Japan, Chen Yufei and He Bingjiao of China, An Se Young of Korea and P V Sindhu of India, to name just half a dozen of the top female shuttlers in the world today.
There were four entities among the five events, at the start of Sunday’s World Tour finals, who were in with a chance of completing a hat-trick of titles. But only two of them managed to bag their third consecutive title in as many weeks – the men’s doubles pair of Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin of Chinese Taipei, and the mixed doubles combination of Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai of Thailand.
Whereas Marin was baulked at the tape by Tai in the women’s singles final, the 2017 world champion Viktor Axelsen was unexpectedly tamed at 21-16, 5-21, 21-17 in an hour-long encounter by compatriot Anders Antonsen, runner-up to Japan’s Kento Momota at the 2019 World Championships.
The defeat snapped Axelsen’s 29-match winning streak, stretching back to the All England Open in March, and prevented him from winning his fourth straight Super 1000 title. The two finalists had met on five previous occasions, and Axelsen was leading their head-to-head 3-2. However, Antonsen had been laid low by COVID-19 in the first week of December, and was far from at his physical best – which explains his transparent strategy of blatantly letting the second game go, in order to conserve his energies for the decider.
As one of the TV commentators quipped before the start of the match, “Axelsen can only be defeated today by Axelsen himself!” So dominant had the rangy 6’ 4” Dane been, in the two Thailand Open tournaments, and in the lead-up to the title match of the World Tour Finals, that he had dropped a solitary game in 14 previous matches in Bangkok – to the speedy Indonesian, Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, in the semi-final of the first Thailand Open. It was hard to believe that Axelsen had had surgery on his troublesome ankle as recently as September last year.
However, the 23 year old Antonsen, who practises regularly with his slightly taller and older rival during the national camps, was familiar with his rival’s speedy style, and played a tactically shrewd game. As Arthur Ashe had famously done to Jimmy Connors in the 1975 Wimbledon final, Antonsen simply denied his senior countryman the pace that Axelsen relishes.
There were half-smashes down the flanks, along with accurate body smashes; and the net remained firmly under the younger man’s control. He also wisely conserved his energies in the decider, taking frequent rests for towelling down, using the Hawk-eye challenges judiciously to get his breath back, and keeping the rallies short.
“I’m shocked and I’m so, so happy, of course,” an exhausted Antonsen said, after the match. “It’s overwhelming, I didn’t expect to go all the way. It’s amazing to get a title as big as this one. It’s hard to process, and I don’t even know what to say. I’ve had a tough month, things have not been working well for me and I’ve been struggling a lot, so to win here is unreal.”
The older man admitted to being a bundle of nerves in the closing reaches of the encounter. “I’m disappointed,” he said. “I wouldn’t say I’m as satisfied with my game as I have been the other days. There were way too many mistakes and bad decisions. I think mentally I’ve used up a lot of energy. Anders played really well and I want to congratulate him. It wasn’t for me today, but I can still look back at a great three weeks.”
The players now go on a month-long rest and recuperation period, occasioned mainly by the cancellation or postponement of several World Tour tournaments that were originally set for February. The break will also provide time for the countries in Europe, that will be hosting the next leg of the circuit, to get their act together on the Covid-control front.
The first tournament in Europe will be the Swiss Open, a Super 300 event, to be played in Basel from 2 to 7 March. Following closely behind will be another Super 300 competition, the German Open (9 to 14 March) at Muelheim an der Ruhr, and the next Super 1000 championships after the two recently concluded Thailand Opens – the All England Open (17 to 21 March) at Birmingham. A fourth World Tour event takes place in Malaysia in the closing days of the month.
It is expected that the Japanese and Chinese contingents – which stayed away from Bangkok for different reasons, though both related to COVID-19 – will return to the international circuit from the Basel tournament. The tournaments in March will provide the likes of Kidambi Srikanth and Saina Nehwal some late opportunities to collect points towards their fading qualification bids for the Tokyo Olympics.
Even though P V Sindhu and B Sai Praneeth have already qualified for the Olympics, they would be keen to test their combat-readiness for the stern battles in Tokyo by pitting their wits against the best in the world.
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Wolfsburg rose to third in the Bundesliga on Sunday with a 3-0 win over Freiburg, extending its unbeaten run to five games amid a close fight for the Champions League places.
Wolfsburg climbed above Bayer Leverkusen, Borussia Dortmund and Eintracht Frankfurt to move firmly into contention for Champions League qualification. Wolfsburg is 10 points off leader Bayern Munich and three behind Leipzig in second.
United States defender John Brooks lashed the ball in for the opening goal in the 21st minute after Freiburg failed to clear a corner. Wout Weghorst made it 2-0 with his 13th goal in 19 Bundesliga games just before halftime, beating defender Keven Schlotterbeck and straining to prod the ball past goalkeeper Florian Müller.
Freiburg midfielder Baptiste Santamaria had a hat trick of missed chances either side of halftime, sending one header over the bar, another header onto the bar, and hitting a long drive which skimmed the outside of the post.
Soon after, Weghorst could have tightened Wolfsburg's hold on the game but shot against the base of the post from close range. The third goal came eventually when midfielder Yannick Gerhardt knocked in a cross for his first league goal of the season. Freiburg stayed in ninth place.
Earlier, two goals from Marius Wolf lifted Cologne to a 3-1 win over Arminia Bielefeld in a game between two teams trying to avoid relegation. Cologne moved up two places to 14th with its second win of 2021, dropping Bielefeld into 16th and the relegation playoff spot.
Wolf gave Cologne the lead with a goal on the rebound in the 10th minute after Ellyes Shkiri's header was palmed away by the goalkeeper at a corner. He added the second 18 minutes later with a powerful low volley off a misplaced headed clearance.
Elvis Rexhbeçaj extended Cologne's lead in the 63rd, finishing off an incisive team move, before Sergio Córdova reduced the deficit for Bielefeld.
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Kapil Sharma, wife Ginni Chatrath have been blessed with their second child, a baby boy.
Sharma took to Twitter to share the news writing, "By the grace of God, baby n mother both r fine."
Check out the post here
Namaskaar we are blessed with a Baby boy this early morning, by the grace of God Baby n Mother both r fine, thank you so much for all the love, blessings n prayers love you all ❤️ginni n kapil #gratitude
Sharma recently confirmed that he will be taking a break from the showbiz and his long-running comedy show for a while. He has also announced that he wants to focus on his wife and family for the time being.
The couple married on 12 December, 2018 in Jalandhar. They had their child, daughter Anayra Sharma, on 10 December, 2019.
On the work front, Sharma will soon be making his digital debut with a Netflix original.
(With inputs from Press Trust of India)
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Melbourne: Tennis great Lleyton Hewitt has tipped showman Nick Kyrgios to make a deep run at this month's Australian Open, despite his fellow Australian not playing for a year.
The charismatic 25-year-old last performed in February at the Acapulco Open before a wrist injury and then the coronavirus pandemic brought his season to a halt.
He opted not to travel for the US or French Opens, but returns this week in the ATP Murray River Open at Melbourne Park ahead of the first Grand Slam of the year on 8 February.
Hewitt, Australia's captain at the ATP Cup this week, was courtside at Rod Laver Arena during a Kyrgios training session and said he looked sharp.
"Nick, I think as a whole him having a bit of a breakaway from the sport where he's positioned, for his body and mind I think is a good thing," Hewitt said of Kyrgios' time away from the sport.
"Because he hasn't played a match for so long, though, it's not going to be easy for him just to come out and switch it on either.
"I think it's perfect for him to hopefully get through a few rounds in one of the ATP tournaments that he's playing this week.
"But from a whole, he looks to be hitting the ball well, clean, he relies on his serve and is serving big at the moment. He's hitting the ball well enough to push deep in the Australian Open for sure."
Despite his immense talent, Kyrgios has yet to go beyond the quarter-finals at Grand Slams and has slipped to 47 in the world.
But he remains hugely popular and said over the weekend he was "mentally completely refreshed".
"I feel like I am playing well and am ready to go," he added.
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India is all set to host England in a four-match Test series, starting with the Chennai Test on 5th February. For Virat Kohli’s men, this will be their first home assignment after the long break due to COVID-19. The No 1 ranked Test side will be pumped up after successfully defending the Border Gavaskar Trophy, which ended with their historic Gabba triumph.
England, who suffered a 0-4 mauling at the hands of India in their last tour (2016/17), will once again start as underdogs.
While the Englishmen haven’t had much success on Indian soil, they have played some remarkable, career-defining knocks that will be cherished by their fans forever. Ahead of the Test series, we take a look at 10 such knocks by England batsman over the years:
1. Joe Root’s 124 (2016/17)
England were outplayed in their last India tour and suffered a 0-4 drubbing in the five-match series. The only Test which was fiercely fought was the first, which ended in a draw.
After opting to bat, England posted a mammoth first innings total of 537, courtesy centuries from Ben Stokes (128), Joe Root (124), Moeen Ali (117).
Moeen and Stokes are naturally attacking batsmen. However, in this Test, it was Root who scored at a much quicker pace than the two left-handers. And yet, the right-hander didn’t take risks as most of his shots were well controlled and played along the ground. Root, with a strike rate of 68.89, struck 11 fours and a maximum in his knock, the highlight being his cover drives against the spinners.
For India, centuries from Murali Vijay (126) and Cheteshwar Pujara (124) guided them to 488.
The visitors, led by Alastair Cook’s 130, declared their second innings at 260/3, which meant a target of 310 runs for the hosts. Eventually, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja, unbeaten on 49 and 32 respectively, held their ground as the hosts salvaged a draw.
2. Kevin Pietersen's 186 (2012/13)
England did not start the 2012/13 series in India the way they would have liked. However, after suffering a nine-wicket drubbing in the opening Test at Ahmedabad, they bounced back in emphatic fashion, claiming a 10-wicket win in the Mumbai Test.
India, on winning the toss in the second Test, opted to bat and set a first innings total of 327, thanks to Cheteshwar Pujara (135) and Ravichandran Ashwin (68). Spinners Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann were too hot to handle for the hosts and picked up five and four wickets respectively.
In reply, England lost two wickets in quick succession, but skipper and opening batsman Alastair Cook provided some resistance with his century (122).
But it was No 4 batsman Kevin Pietersen, who hogged the limelight with his 186-run knock, which came at a strike rate of 79.83, much quicker than Cook’s strike rate of 45.19. The flamboyant right-hander played shots all around the park, striking 20 boundaries and four sixes. With a valuable 86-run lead, the hosts wasted little time and dismissed India for 142. Monty and Swann were at it once again, claming six and four wickets respectively. A target of 58 wasn’t going to bother the visitors, and as expected, they sealed a memorable 10-wicket win.
3. Alastair Cook's 190 (2012/13)
Both sides headed into the third Test with the series level at 1-1. The hosts still had no answer to Monty, who claimed a four-for, as they were bundled out for 316 in the first innings.
Cook had already shown the temperament to bat through extended periods and struck a fine century in the second Test. He took it up a notch higher in this Test, almost claiming a double hundred, where no batsmen managed to reach the triple figures. The left-hander consumed as many as 377 deliveries for his 190, which included 23 fours and two maximums.
Led by Cook’s 190 alongside three fifties from Compton, Jonathan Trott and Pietersen, England took a massive 207-run lead. India were on the backfoot in the second innings and could only manage an excess of 41 runs, resulting in a seven-wicket win for England.
4. Paul Collingwood's 134 (2005/06)
In the opening Test in 2006, England lost almost half their batting line-up, at 136/4, but No 5 batsman Paul Collingwood battled it out and struck a brilliant unbeaten century (134*), which included 13 fours and four sixes. Cook (60) and Flintoff (43) played handy knocks but Collingwood, who consumed 252 deliveries, was the glue around whom the batting line up revolved. After being dismissed for 393 in their first innings, England, led by Matthew Hoggard (6/57), dismissed India for 323.
Even in the second essay, Cook (104*) and Collingwood (36*) took responsibility in their hands as the visitors set a competitive target of 368. Meanwhile, for India, Jaffer (100) and Dravid (71) played handy knocks. Post their departure, the hosts avoided any risks and were happy to settle for a draw. The series too, was drawn as India and England claimed one win apiece in the final two Tests.
5. Andrew Strauss' 128 (2005/06)
In 2006, India took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series with a nine-wicket win in the second Test. The hosts, led by skipper Rahul Dravid, were favourites to final Test. However, England, despite missing six fronline players, sealed a memorable series-levelling win by 212 runs.
After being asked to bat, England posted 400 runs on the board, with Andrew Strauss top-scoring with a fine century (128).
On a Mumbai pitch where most batsmen, barring Owais Shah (88) and Andrew Flintoff (50), struggled for runs, Strauss showed his class. The left-hander struck 17 fours and a maximum, the highlight being his backfoot play against spinners Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble.
In reply, James Anderson starred with a four-for as the visitors were bundled out for 279. Notably, he effected the run out of top-scorer MS Dhoni and picked up the prized scalp of Dravid (52).
India put on a better bowling performance in the second innings, dismissing England for 191. And requiring 313 for a win, the hosts were skittled out for 100 in the face of superb bowling by Shaun Udal (4/14) and Flintoff (3/14).
While Strauss was the lone centurion in the Test, Flintoff bagged the Player of the Match and Player of Series for his all-round effort.
6. Ian Botham's 114 (1979/80)
India were dismissed for 242 in the first innings after opting to bat. No batsman failed to reach the 50-run mark as Ian Botham, the pick of the English bowlers, finished with figures of 6/58.
The Test, indeed, belonged to Botham, who got in the act once again, slamming a superb century at a time when none of the batsmen from his side managed to score a fifty. Notably, Botham’s 114 also came at a quick pace. He had a strike rate of 79.17, a rare sight as far as batting in the 1980’s concerned. Botham’s knock, studded with 17 fours, helped the victors gain a 54-run lead.
The Botham show wasn’t over yet as he produced even better bowling figures (7/48) in the second essay as India were bundled out for a paltry 149. Barring Dilip Vengasarkar, the right-arm seamer accounted for the entire top and middle order. England eventually chased India’s meagre target of 96 with 10 wickets in hand.
7. Dennis Amiss 179 (1976/77)
England thrashed India by an innings and 25 runs in the first Test of their 1976/77 tour. The five-match series followed a similar pattern in the remaining Tests as England clinched the series 3-1.
Led by Dennis Amiss’ 179 along with handy contributions from Alan Knott (75) and John Lever (53), England posted 381 on the board. At a time when life wasn’t easy for most batsman at the crease, Amiss looked a class apart. Consuming as many as 397 balls, the centurion struck 22 fours and a maximum.
In reply, India were bundled out for a paltry 122, thanks to John Lever, who bowled a clinical spell of 7/46. The follow-on was enforced, and although India batted slightly better in the second essay where they scored 234, it wasn’t enough. England batters didn’t have to walk out to the crease in second innings, resulting in a humiliating defeat for the hosts.
8. Ken Barrington's 172 (1961/62)
England lost the five-match series in 1961/62 with a 2-0 scoreline. And the margin of the series loss could have been far worse had Ken Barrington not come to their rescue on multiple occasions.
With three centuries and a fifty, the right-hander amassed 594 runs in the series, the most by an any English batsman in India till date. His best, however, came in the second Test at Kanpur, where India, led by Polly Umrigar’s 147, declared at 467/8 in the first innings. The visitors were in a precarious position after being bundled out for 244, thanks to Subhash Gupte, who claimed a five-wicket haul.
Following on, with a 223-run lead ahead of them, England finished the Test at 497/5. Led by Barrington (172 off 406 balls), who struck 26 fours, and handy centuries from Geoff Pullar (119 off 313 balls) and Ted Dexter (126* off 256 balls), the visitors salvaged a famous draw.
9. Mike Gatting's 207(1984/85)
England’s tour of India in 1984/85 was evenly poised, with a win apiece in the first two Tests and a draw in the third. But the visitors took a lead in the fourth Test at Chennai with a nine-wicket win.
Half centuries from Mohinder Amarnath (78) and Kapil Dev (58) could only take India as far as 272. Neil Foster, the pick of the English bowlers, claimed a six-for.
In reply, opener Graeme Fowler tired the Indian bowlers, scoring a brilliant double ton (201 off 409 balls). Still, Fowler didn’t finish as the top-scorer as No 3 batsman Mike Gatting struck a much quicker double ton (207 off 309 balls). Eventually, the visitors posted a mammoth (652/7 declared), gaining a sizeable lead of 380.
India put on a much better show in the second innings but 412 is all they could manage, courtesy Mohammed Azharuddin’s 105 and Amarnath’s 95. Foster once again came to England’s rescue, claiming a five-for and setting up an easy chase of 33.
Leading England’s batting line-up, Gatting finished with a mind-boggling average of 95.83 in their 2-1 series win.
10. Colin Cowdrey's 151 (1963/64)
England’s Test tour of India in 1964 was a unique affair as all five matches ended in a draw. From the visitors’ perspective, it was a memorable tour for Colin Cowdrey, who did not feature in the first two Tests but struck two centuries in the remaining tour.
After opting to bat, India managed 344 in the first innings, largely thanks to Hanumant Singh’s 105. In reply, England’s Brian Bolus (58) and Peter Parfitt (67) looked good but the best was yet to come for England.
Coming into the fourth Test on the back of a ton, Cowdrey made the most of his fine form and stuck a brilliant 151, a knock studded with 23 fours and a maximum.
England’s first innings total of 451 meant a 107-run lead but Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi’s 203* and Chandu Borde’s 67* halted visitors’ victory march post a century by Budhi Kunderan, resulting in a draw.
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Paris: Paris Saint-Germain suffered their first defeat under Mauricio Pochettino as lowly Lorient fought back to claim a dramatic 3-2 victory on Sunday, allowing Lille to go top of Ligue 1.
Neymar scored two penalties but the visitors collapsed late on at the Stade du Moustoir, as Nigerian Terem Moffi netted an injury-time winner.
PSG drop to third, one point behind second-placed Lyon, with Lille a further two points ahead after their 1-0 win over Dijon.
"We have to keep the positive aspects and move forward," said former Tottenham manager Pochettino.
"Accidents happen in football. We have to keep working. It makes us realise that it can happen if we don't play at 100 percent."
It was the first defeat in six games as PSG coach for Pochettino since he took over from the sacked Thomas Tuchel.
The win takes struggling Lorient into the relegation play-off spot.
"(Moffi's goal) was magical. Against PSG, it's even crazier," said Lorient's Laurent Abergel, who scored the opening goal.
"For a Marseille fan like me, the first dream is perhaps to play for OM and the second to beat PSG."
Lorient started brightly and had the first real shot in anger in the 30th minute, as Adrian Grbic's long-range strike had to be pushed away by PSG goalkeeper Sergio Rico.
The hosts did take the lead six minutes later, though, as PSG failed several times to clear and Abergel picked out the top corner with the outside of his left boot.
Neymar levelled on the stroke of half-time from the penalty spot with his fifth league goal of the season.
PSG improved after the break and took the lead in the 57th minute as Houboulang Mendes, who also conceded the first penalty, brought down Mauro Icardi and Neymar again made no mistake.
It was the first time since Zlatan Ibrahimovic in 2015 that a PSG player had netted two spot-kicks in a Ligue 1 match.
The visitors pressed for a third, but Lorient goalkeeper Matthieu Dreyer made an excellent stop to keep out an Icardi header.
That proved to be crucial, as the stubborn home side equalised in the 80th minute.
Substitute Yoane Wissa scored an excellent individual goal, his sixth of his first full campaign as a top-flight player.
PSG went in search of a winner, but the closest they came saw full-back Layvin Kurzawa's drive fly narrowly wide.
They over-committed in the second minute of added time, leaving no defenders within 60 yards of their own goal as Moffi was sent racing clean through.
The 21-year-old, on as a sub, slotted the ball into the bottom corner to spark wild celebrations for the home team.
Lille march on
Christophe Galtier's Lille took full advantage of PSG's slip-up with their fourth straight league success.
Sven Botman missed an early chance for the home side against Dijon, but Lille took a 29th-minute lead through Yusuf Yazici.
It was the 24-year-old Turkish international's sixth league goal of the season, despite having only made seven starts in the Ligue 1 campaign.
Jonathan Bamba wasted an excellent opportunity to double the lead midway through the second half when he headed over from close range, but Lille comfortably saw out victory.
"Now, we are in the shoes of the hunted," said Lille coach Galtier. "You have to appreciate it and take it on. We'll see how we react."
Lille are bidding for their first major trophy since winning both Ligue 1 and the French Cup in 2011.
Monaco are also in the hunt after their fifth win on the bounce, 2-1 at Nantes, which puts Nico Kovac's side six points behind leaders Lille and just three behind PSG in the hunt for Champions League spots.
Guillermo Maripan headed home the opener in first half stoppage time, and Kevin Volland doubled their lead just before the hour mark.
Renaud Emond pulled one back for Nantes with eight minutes remaining despite Nicolas Pallois having been sent off for dissent 10 minutes before, but remain winless under new coach Raymond Domenech.
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San Diego: Patrick Reed was so unaffected by a rules controversy a day earlier that he won the Farmers Insurance Open by five shots, the biggest margin in his nine career PGA Tour victories.
Reed closed with a 4-under 68 at Torrey Pines, making an eagle on the par-5 sixth and finishing off his dominating Sunday with a birdie on the 18th.
The former Masters champions finished at 14 under after a consistent four days at the blufftop municipal courses overlooking the Pacific Ocean. He shared the first-round lead with Alex Noren, was in a group one shot off the lead in the second round and then shared the third-round lead with Carlos Ortiz.
Reed said staying mentally strong, as well as good play with his wedge and putter, were able to "keep me in the golf tournament and really allowed me to have a fun stroll up 18."
The controversy arose Saturday on the par-4 10th when Reed hit a 190-yard shot out of a bunker with a TV replay showing the ball bounced once before settling into the rough. Without waiting for an official, Reed picked up the ball to see if it was embedded.
Reed told the official that no one in his group, as well as a nearby volunteer, saw it bounce. He was awarded a free drop and saved par in a round of 70.
On Sunday, Reed jump-started his round with a 45-foot eagle putt on the No. 6 to get to 12 under and followed with a birdie on the par-4 seventh. His only bogey was on the par-3 eighth, and he rebounded with a birdie on the par-5 ninth. He played par the rest of the way until sinking an 8-foot birdie putt on No. 18.
"I was allowed to kind of put it behind me when the head rules official comes up and says you did everything you were supposed to do," Reed said. "When you do everything you're supposed to do, at the end of the day that's all you can control. Going into today, I felt good, I felt confident and really went to the golf course, plugged in my headphones and just kind of got in my world with my coach and got to that first tee."
Tony Finau, Xander Schauffele, Ryan Palmer, Henrik Norlander and Viktor Hovland tied for second.
Reed said he was resilient.
"I knew today was going to be a grind, especially with that leaderboard and seeing how many big names were right around there at the top. I knew you were going to have to go out and play on offence. You couldn't play defence. You had to go out there and shoot a number.
"It was kind of shaky there early on in the beginning, kind of a couple shots that seemed to kind of get a little bit away from me. But I was able to rely on the short game early and get in a groove there in the middle of the round."
Hovland had been the closest in pursuit with four birdies on the front nine, including on the ninth to get to 12 under. But the birdies dried up and he bogeyed Nos. 14, 15 and 17 — missing a 2-footer on 17 — in a round of 1-under 71.
"The front nine was awesome, made four birdies and was just really solid tee to green; made some putts there as well," Hovland said. "On the back I didn't really feel like I played bad at all, you know, it was just a couple of mistakes and it's so easy to just let things kind of slip away.
"But it's cool to kind of be up there having a chance to win. Didn't work out this time, but I feel like I learned a lot."
Ortiz stumbled badly with a round of 6-over 78. He hurt himself with three bogeys on the front nine that left him even at the turn.
He had even more trouble on the back nine, when he bogeyed No. 11 and then had trouble getting out of a greenside bunker on No. 12, taking a double-bogey 6. He bogeyed 15, 16 and 18.
Rory McIlroy closed with a 1-over 73 and finished eight shots behind, and still was a big part of Sunday. With so much attention on Reed taking relief from the embedded lie Saturday, McIlroy had something similar happen on the 18th hole in the third round.
When he finally found it, he determined it was embedded, informed the other two players in his group and dropped it into deep rough right of the fairway.
The PGA Tour issued a statement earlier Sunday that both players proceeded under the rules. Reed took one extra step by calling for a rules official to confirm, though he had already removed the ball from where it had been.
"You're trying to deal with the info that you have at that time, and the info that Patrick had at that time was the ball hadn't bounced and the info that I had at that time was the same," McIlroy said. "And I went down and on my life, that ball of mine was plugged, it was in its own pitch mark, so I took relief.
"In golf, you'd rather be on the wrong side of the rules than the right side of them, just because that's just what our game's about."
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Milan: Roma maintained third spot in Serie A on Sunday with a 3-1 win over Hellas Verona to keep the pressure on the Milan teams leading the title race.
Captain Edin Dzeko was again sidelined after a fall-out with coach Paulo Fonseca, but Roma shrugged off his absence to stay six points behind leaders AC Milan and four adrift of Inter.
"The team is showing that it does not depend on a single player," said Fonseca.
"Our first-half was perfect. It wasn't easy to score three goals against one of the best defences in the league."
The capital side were three goals up after half an hour at the Stadio Olimpico, despite losing English defender Chris Smalling to a muscular injury early in the first half.
Gianluca Mancini rose to head in a corner in the 20th minute to get Roma into their stride, and two minutes later Borja Mayoral teed up Henrikh Mkhitaryan for a second.
Mayoral added the third himself just before the half-hour, finishing off after Verona goalkeeper Marco Silvestri cleared a Lorenzo Pellegrini volley into the Spaniard's path.
Verona coach Ivan Juric made four substitutions 10 minutes after the break, with Ebrima Colley coming off the bench and nodding in just after the hour mark.
But it failed to spark a fightback for ninth-placed Verona, with Roma getting maximum points before next week's trip to Juventus, who are one point behind in fourth.
Napoli, in fifth, a further two points adrift, rebounded from last weekend's loss at Verona, with a 2-0 win against 19th-placed Parma.
Eljif Elmas broke through after half an hour in Naples, collecting the ball in midfield, beating four opponents and finishing off the solo effort from an angle.
Matteo Politano added a second eight minutes from time with a shot which took a deflection off Parma defender Yordan Osorio.
Coach Gennaro Gattuso hit out at the criticism he faces from "keyboard fans, in the era of lockdown" despite the team being in the running for a Champions League return.
"I get slaughtered every day and it's difficult," complained the former AC Milan coach.
"I'm taking slaps to the right and left every day, you'd think we are last in the standings."
Lazio rebound in Bergamo
Gattuso's side are equal on points with sixth-placed Lazio who rebounded after their midweek Italian Cup defeat to Atalanta with a 3-1 win on their return trip to Bergamo.
The Roman side gained revenge with a dominant display at the Gewiss Stadium for their fifth consecutive league win.
Lazio went ahead in just the third minute with Adam Marusic curling in from a distance. Joaquin Correa doubled the lead from a tight angle six minutes after the break.
Mario Pasalic pulled a goal back for Atalanta with 10 minutes to go, sending in a rebound after Luis Muriel hit the post.
Andreas Pereira and Vedat Muriqi both came off the bench after 80 minutes with the pair combining to create Lazio's third which Muriqi tapped in two minutes later.
"The goal at the beginning changed the game," said Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini after his team fell to their first league defeat in two months.
Atalanta drop to seventh, one point behind Lazio.
In Sardinia, Jeremie Boga scored deep into injury time to rescue a 1-1 draw for eighth-placed Sassuolo, who are six points off the Europa League places.
Cagliari remain in the relegation zone after stretching their winless league run to 13 games.
Elsewhere, Rodrigo De Paul scored the only goal from the penalty spot and was later sent off against Spezia to end Udinese's eight-match winless run in a game both teams finished with 10 players.
Udinese move up to 13th after their first win since December 12 with Spezia dropping to 16th, four points above the relegation zone.
Genoa got back-to-back wins for the first time this season, 3-0 at rock bottom Crotone, with in-form Mattia Destro scoring twice for the port side, who are in 14th place.
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Lionel Messi showed his worth yet again, scoring on a beautiful free kick to lead Barcelona to a 2-1 win over Athletic Bilbao in the Spanish league on Sunday.
The 650th goal in his Barcelona career came amid the noise prompted by Spanish newspaper El Mundo's report that his contract is worth 555 million euros ($673 million) over four seasons. The Catalan club, mired in debt and political turmoil, had to quickly deny their involvement in the leak.
Antoine Griezmann also scored for Barcelona, who won their fifth in a row in the league and moved into second place for the first time this season. They have the same 40 points as Real Madrid but are ahead on goal difference. Atlético earlier opened a 10-point lead after winning 4-2 at Cádiz with a pair of goals by Luis Suárez.
Messi, who had his request to leave Barcelona denied by the club last season, seemed unaffected by the leak Sunday of his contract details. He played well from the start and was decisive again at the Camp Nou Stadium. The Argentine great opened the scoring in the 20th minute with a free kick that curled over the wall and found the top corner for his 12th league goal.
"Messi has done a lot for this club and today he scored a great free kick goal," Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman said. "We have to respect him. It seems there is bad intention and a desire to hurt him. Without Messi you can't aspire too much."
Athletic equalised with an own-goal by Jordi Alba as the defender tried to clear a cross by Raúl García in the 49th, and Griezmann put Barcelona ahead again, completing a cross by Óscar Mingueza in the 75th.
It was the third meeting between Barcelona and Athletic this month, with the Catalan club winning a postponed league game and losing the Spanish Super Cup final.
Athletic were trying to win their sixth consecutive match in all competitions. The loss was only their second since coach Marcelino García Toral was signed in the beginning of the year — the first also was against Barcelona.
It was Barcelona's first home match in 2021. They had played eight consecutive games away from the Camp Nou, including in the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup.
RED-HOT SUÁREZ
Suárez continued his stellar form with Atlético, scoring twice in the win over Cádiz to help Diego Simeone's team open a huge lead at the top.
Suárez scored a goal in each half to reach 14 league goals this season, marking his best-ever league start in Spain and becoming the league's leading scorer. The Uruguay striker, who was let go by Barcelona at the end of last season, has scored nine goals in his last eight matches with Atlético.
"When a striker is on a roll, you have to take advantage of it," Suárez said. "You have to enjoy it because it's hard to stay at this level the whole year."
It was the eighth league win in a row for Atlético, who reach the halfway mark of the season with the 10-point gap to Barcelona and Real Madrid despite having a game in hand.
"Every match is an important step toward reaching our goal," Simeone said. "To continue like this we have to keep focused on match after match."
Simeone's team has 50 points from 19 matches, remaining on pace for a 100-point season for the first time.
"These are important numbers that put us at the top," Suárez said. "We have to stay on this path."
Suárez opened the scoring with a well-placed curling free kick in the 28th and added his second from the penalty spot in the 50th.
Saúl Ñíguez netted before halftime and Koke Resurrección got on the board near the end of the match to complete the scoring for Atlético, who are seeking their first league title since 2014.
Cádiz, winless in their last three league matches and sitting 13th in the standings, got goals from Álvaro Negredo in the 35th and 71st minutes.
OTHER RESULTS
Celta Vigo and Granada failed to move closer to the top of the standings after a scoreless draw in Granada. Celta, winless in their past six games in all competitions, stayed in 10th place. Granada are seventh.
Celta were held despite the return of striker Iago Aspas, who had been sidelined for nearly a month because of a muscle injury.
Earlier on Sunday, 12th-place Getafe were held to a 0-0 draw against Alavés, who had lost four in a row in all competitions and are just inside in the relegation zone.
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Bambolim: Virtually out of contention for a play-offs spot, bottom-placed Odisha FC will play for pride when they take on Jamshedpur FC in an Indian Super League match on Monday.
The Kalinga Warriors have won just one game while losing seven and are at the bottom of the 11-team league with eight points.
But they did record two draws in the last two encounters against better teams and head coach Stuart Baxter urged his side to step up and turn things around.
"At the moment, we need to start (turning) those good performances that ended in a draw to good performances that result in a win," he said.
"We are not talking about the play-offs till about two to three weeks. We're talking about getting to the next game. And, hopefully, we will get a victory — that's what we have been trying to do since the season started," he added.
The last time the two teams clashed, they split points in a four-goal thriller.
Baxter is anticipating another tough fixture on Monday.
"Owen's (Coyle) team is usually very competitive. I've seen them play games where they don''t give up and they''ve got some good players. So I don''t expect anything less than a difficult game," said Baxter.
Jamshedpur find themselves in an almost similar situation, though they still have a chance for the play-offs. While Odisha have dropped points in their last four games, it''s been five matches since JFC registered a win.
JFC have also failed to score in three out of their last four games. With the top four looking ever so distant, coach Coyle will be looking to turn his team''s goal-scoring form around.
"The way for us is to try and win those games which can make a difference, from one point to three points. We have six massive games ahead of us but we will take each game at a time starting with Odisha. We want to try and win that game," he said.
"Odisha have some very good players. When you look at the forward players, they are capable of scoring goals. It will be an exciting game as both teams would want to win," Coyle said.
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London: Mohamed Salah scored twice as Liverpool muscled their way back into the Premier League title race with a 3-1 win at West Ham on Sunday after Thomas Tuchel celebrated his first victory as Chelsea boss.
Jurgen Klopp's injury-hit champions appeared to have lost their way after a five-game winless spell but are back on track after beating Tottenham and West Ham in the space of 72 hours.
Earlier, defenders Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso showed Chelsea's misfiring strikers the way, producing stunning finishes in a 2-0 win against toothless Burnley.
Leicester, looking to close to within two points of leaders Manchester City, lost 3-1 to Leeds and Tottenham went down 1-0 to Brighton in the evening kick-off.
Defeat for Brendan Rodgers' Foxes meant Liverpool – with no fit senior centre-backs and missing forward Sadio Mane – had the chance to climb to third in the table.
Two goals from Egypt international Salah and a late Georginio Wijnaldum effort lifted them to 40 points after 21 games, a single point behind Manchester United and four behind leaders Manchester City.
Salah, who had not scored in six Premier League matches, put the visitors ahead in the 57th minute with a fine curling lob over Lukasz Fabianski and added the second after a lightning break following a West Ham corner.
Liverpool grabbed a third when substitutes Roberto Firmino and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain combined to set up Wijnaldum for a tap-in before a late consolation for West Ham's Craig Dawson.
Salah is the first player to score at least 20 goals in all competitions in four consecutive seasons for Liverpool since Ian Rush in the 1980s.
"It was a great game, a very professional game, very controlled against usually a flying side," Klopp told Sky Sports.
"We didn't create enough in the first half. We made little adjustments at half-time and it paid off. We scored three unbelievable goals."
"These boys are a really good group," he added. "They're not happy at not being successful, not winning, but they always have the right attitude."
Tuchel celebrates
Chelsea manager Tuchel celebrated his first victory as manager of the Stamford Bridge club.
The former Paris Saint-Germain boss was brought in to replace Frank Lampard last week with a brief to haul the stuttering side back into the race for Champions League spots.
He oversaw a frustrating goalless draw against Wolves in midweek but two moments of magic from Azpilicueta and forgotten man Alonso mean the German has four points from six.
Tuchel said the victory would infuse his side with confidence but admitted they needed to sharpen up their finishing after both goals came from defenders.
"It should be a signal to our guys up front that we needed defensive players to score," he told BT Sport.
"We lacked precision in the last pass and touch, but in the finishing we will work on this absolutely. We had a lot of touches, half-chances and deliveries in the box, but in the end I could not care less."
Leicester, unbeaten in seven Premier League games heading into their match against Leeds at the King Power Stadium, had a chance to put real pressure on Manchester City.
Harvey Barnes gave the home side the lead in the 13th minute but Leeds were level just 127 seconds later when Patrick Bamford set up Stuart Dallas, who beat Kasper Schmeichel with a low finish.
Bamford struck a superb shot into the top corner to put the visitors ahead in the 70th minute and teed up Jack Harrison for a tap-in.
"We have to go away and learn from that and then look to get back to winning ways on Wednesday," said Rodgers, who is missing leading scorer Jamie Vardy.
Jose Mourinho's Spurs, without the injured Harry Kane, slipped to their second successive defeat, courtesy of a first-half goal for Brighton's Leandro Trossard.
Tottenham, who topped the table last month, remain in sixth place, 11 points behind City and six behind fourth-placed Leicester, though they have a game in hand.
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Before COVID-19, pandemic movies mostly made for cautionary lessons and vicarious thrill rides. They were heightened realities we watched from the safety of a controlled environment behind layers of allegory. With thousands still dying every day, it has sadly become all too literal. Perhaps watching such movies, and still enjoying them is a masochism of sorts. But they also serve as a broad enough metaphor to encompass a variety of ailments currently afflicting the human condition.
Film festivals are no stranger to the virus metaphor. Buzz around films spreads like contagion, creating a ripple effect from within the festival bubble to the outside. Sundance 2021 arrives as a potent antidote to beat those self-isolation blues and fix that 2020 hangover once and for all. Mining our fluid reality into a pandemic potpourri, many films in this year's line-up capture the dissonance we've all felt under long stretches of self-isolation.
In the Same Breathnot only sounds like a pandemic horror movie, but plays out like one. And horror movies are scariest when they're inspired by real-life events. The story of Nanfu Wang's documentary began and ends at Sundance. "I'll never forget 23 January 2020 because it was the day when Wuhan was locked down and also the day Sundance Film Festival opened last year," she said in the film's introduction. "I had left my son with my mom in China and flown back to Utah to attend the festival. I watched the news in China every day and night in horror. And after getting my son back to the US, I felt compelled to make this film." Like in One Child Nation, Wang's voice-over establishes an intimate connection with the viewers, bringing us directly into a world we're all still trying to make sense of.
Most of what's chronicled in the film has already been reported: how China suppressed information about the outbreak, how citizen journalists tried to circumvent the "great firewall", and how Xi Jinping and co turned the crisis into another triumph for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Through the propaganda machine that is its state-run media, we see how China reclaimed the narrative by rewriting it altogether while shutting down any narrative that ran counter to it. Wang lets the men and women of Wuhan regain some narrative control, allowing them to relay their experiences before, during and after the 76-day lockdown. She assembles players from both sides — from the hospital staff to family members of the deceased — to uncover the truth beyond the propaganda.
As the epicenter shifts from Wuhan to New York, Wang draws parallels between the two countries' response: both intentionally downplayed the severity of the virus, even dismissing it as a seasonal flu; both used partisan networks as a propaganda arm to shape the pandemic narrative; both muzzled its frontline healthcare workers, even sacking those who spoke out. The US faced an added challenge because its citizens weren't just fighting Coronavirus but also the virus of misinformation. The country prides itself as a beacon of democracy, and one of its lynchpins has always been freedom of speech. Wang wonders: how do you defend that right when you have a president suggesting the consumption of bleach to fight a deadly virus, and his acolytes dismissing masks and vaccination with evangelical fury? It is harrowing to see ICU nurses break down as they recount the tragedy of patients dying on their watch while scrambling for supplies.
The success of Beijing's aggressive measures to curb COVID in contrast to Washington's poor response was used by the CCP to reinforce their Communist model, even promoting it as superior to Western democracies. With the epidemic not relenting, the story is far from over. ButIn the Same Breathserves an important wake up call for governments the world over, especially with new strains and waves on the horizon.
On the feature front,In the Earthis entirely a product of our pandemic reality. Shot in 15 days in August 2020, Ben Wheatley's new film resonates with this-is-happening-now detail, not just sci-fi’s this-could-happen. Minutes into the film, there's talk of quarantine, lockdown and third waves. The pandemic is just a springboard for a survival horror story on shrooms. A scientist (Joel Fry) teams up with a park ranger (Ellora Torchia) to investigate a research site deep in the woods, where his colleague went missing. The woods, according to local folklore, is home to a hostile spirit. The truth will lead them to a Möbius strip of mystery and madness. Man and nature, art and science, sci-fi and occult horror intersect in relationships, from conflict to co-existence. In their intersection are deeper, if not entirely tangible, ideas with a life-imitates-art-imitates-life urgency. After the disastrousRebeccaremake, Wheatley returns to form with another wholly original work of horror.
Zoe Lister-Jones's new filmHow It Endsis as weirdly uplifting as the end of the world can get. On humanity's very last day on Earth, Liza (Lister-Jones) realises her life has been a “series of regret after regret after regret.” So, with the support of her metaphysical teen sidekick (Cailee Spaeny), she sets out to put things right with her family and friends. On this "existential scavenger hunt for her soul" (as Colin Hanks calls it in the movie), she touches base with an absolutely loaded ensemble of recognisable names: Helen Hunt, Olivia Wilde, Fred Armisen, Nick Kroll and at least three members from theIt’s Always Sunny in Philadelphiateam drop by as Liza saunters through empty Los Angeles streets. The film's sunny nihilism manifests in conversations and declarations. Like this one: "I want anyone who will give me a modicum of attention, paired with the promise of rejection. A little seductive, a little sociopathic. Someone who could potentially love me but also prove to me that ultimately I'm unworthy of love." Don't we all? But if you're seeking a movie for the end of the world, this ain't it.
It is hard not to recontextualise some films through the lens of our ongoing nightmare. Consider Frida Kempff’sKnockingfor instance. The Swedish psychological thriller isolates Cecilia Milocco's Molly in a prison of her own trauma and psychosis, brought on by a recent tragedy. Molly has just been discharged from a psychiatric facility. When she moves into a new apartment, her isolation is disrupted by the sounds of constant knocking on the ceiling. Finding its source and the ensuing drama will make her question her own sanity. Having experienced some degree of cabin fever in the last 10 months or so, we can relate to the uncertainty she feels. Kempff constructs an ambience of lockdown terror by confining most of the action to the apartment. That's why there are moments which get under our skin. But when we question Molly's sanity, Kempff is also proving her point about the gendered phenomenon that is gaslighting, and the horror of not believing women.
IfIn the EarthandHow It Endswere shot during the pandemic,The Pink Cloudwas conceptualised (in 2017) and shot (in 2019) by Iuli Gerbase way before it. In this Brazilian love story, a sudden lockdown forces two strangers, who hooked up just the night before, to spend quarantine together indefinitely. Dating was a tricky beast in and of itself before the pandemic. For Giovana (Renata de Lélis) and Yago (Eduardo Mendonça), a one-night-stand is expedited to the moving-in-together phase the following morning. Throw in the added hurdle of dealing with lethal clouds hovering above. Going outside is near-instant death. Giovana and Yago must fast-track their relationship to the next level of commitment in order to survive. They break up and make up multiple times in the dire circumstances of a prolonged quarantine. Watching them come to terms with oppressive boredom and inertia relates to our own troubles over the past year.
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Kolkata: BCCI president Sourav Ganguly was discharged from hospital on Sunday morning, three days after he underwent a fresh round of angioplasty to clear clogged coronary arteries, officials said.
The 48-year-old cricket legend was hospitalised on Wednesday for the second time in a month due to his cardiac condition.
On Thursday, two more stents were implanted during the surgery conducted by a team of doctors, including noted cardiologist Dr Devi Shetty and Dr Ashwin Mehta.
"Ganguly is doing fine and his heart is as strong as a normal person. He had an uneventful recovery and we are hopeful that within the next couple of days, he will be able to return to normal life," a senior doctor of the private hospital, where he was admitted, said.
The former India captain is required to follow a strict routine and needs to be on medication for a few months, he added.
The batting great suffered a mild heart attack earlier this month and was diagnosed with Triple Vessel Disease. He had undergone an angioplasty procedure during which a stent was inserted into one of the blocked arteries.
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A look at what's happening in European football on Sunday:
ENGLAND
Liverpool are seven points behind Premier League leaders Manchester City heading into a tricky-looking away match against West Ham, with the Hammers one of the surprises of the season under David Moyes.
Liverpool got their title defence back on track with a 3-1 win at Tottenham on Thursday but the champions cannot afford a slip up if they are to keep in touch with City, who have won their last eight league games.
Liverpool start in fourth place and two points ahead of West Ham, who have won their last four games.
Tottenham are in sixth place and are set to be without striker Harry Kane, who was injured against Liverpool, for their away match against Brighton.
Thomas Tuchel takes charge of his second match as Chelsea manager when Burnley visit Stamford Bridge, and third-place Leicester host Leeds United.
SPAIN
Spanish leaders Atlético Madrid visit Cádiz aiming to take full advantage of Real Madrid's loss at home to Levante on Saturday. Coming off seven straight wins in the league, Diego Simeone's side have a seven-point advantage over second-place Madrid and two matches in hand before the trip to southern Spain.
Luis Suárez is the joint-leading scorer in the league with Sevilla's Youssef En-Nesyri with 12 goals. Suárez has scored three goals in Atlético's last two wins.
Barcelona need a victory at Camp Nou over a resurgent Athletic Bilbao to move level on points with Madrid. New coach Marcelino Garcia Toral has Athletic on a five-game winning streak in all competitions.
Also, Granada host Celta Vigo, while Alavés face Getafe needing a win to escape the relegation zone.
ITALY
Atalanta host Lazio for the second time in a week with the capital side looking for revenge following their Italian Cup defeat. Atalanta beat Lazio 3-2 on Wednesday in the quarterfinals.
They will be looking for a similar result in the league to move into the top four in Serie A. But seventh-place Lazio are only two points behind Atalanta.
Roma are fourth, a point above Atalanta, and host Hellas Verona. Verona won 3-0 by default earlier in the season after Roma fielded an ineligible player.
Sixth-place Napoli host Parma, who are in the relegation zone along with Cagliari and Crotone. Cagliari welcome Sassuolo while Crotone host Genoa. Also, Udinese visit Spezia.
GERMANY
Cologne hope to leave the Bundesliga's relegation zone with a win at home over Arminia Bielefeld. Bielefeld are just two points ahead of Cologne, who boosted their squad with former Schalke star Max Meyer. The club is hoping the now 25-year-old Meyer can live up to his potential after a disappointing spell at Crystal Palace.
Cologne are yet to win a league game at home this season, while Bielefeld has only won one of their eight away games.
Wolfsburg will aim to extend their four-game unbeaten run with a win over Freiburg in Sunday's late game.
FRANCE
Defending champion Paris Saint-Germain find themselves in the rare position of being involved in a three-way title challenge, with Lille and Lyon. PSG and Lille are both trailing Lyon by one point. PSG need a win away to 19th-place Lorient to guarantee reclaiming top spot since they have a better goal difference than Lille, who are expected to beat 18th-place Dijon at home.
PSG will be without midfielder Marco Verratti and central defender Abdou Diallo after both tested positive for the coronavirus this week.
Elsewhere, fourth-place Monaco look to make it seven games unbeaten when they travel to play former France coach Raymond Domenech's struggling Nantes side.
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