A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Monday
Home favourite Kei Nishikori defeated Frenchman Richard Gasquet 7-6(2), 6-1 in the semi-finals of the Japan Open on Saturday, setting up a final against Russian qualifier Daniil Medvedev.
Olympic bronze-medallist Saina Nehwal said the triumph at the China Open Super Series Premier was one of her "toughest" and it showed that the hard work was paying off.
Once labelled mild and fragile, P V Sindhu has undergone an astounding transformation at Pullela Gopichand Academy - a mix and match of different exercises, on-court training and yoga that make up Sindhu's days, most of which begin with her starting practice at 4:15 am -- that is helping her slay the world's best, writes Nikita Puri
Roger Federer is keeping a lid on expectations.
Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu clinched her maiden Super Series Premier title after edging out Sun Yu of China in the finals of the China Open badminton tournament in Fuzhou on Sunday. Sindhu, who became the toast of the country after becoming the first Indian women to win a silver at Rio Games, continued her rampaging run as she lifted the prestigious title after beating Sun 21-11 17-21 21-11 in the summit clash that lasted an hour and nine minutes.
World number one Serena Williams saved three set points on her way to edging Russian Maria Kirilenko 7-5, 7-5 on Thursday to advance to the quarter-finals of the China Open with her 70th win of the season.
Kidambi Srikanth continued his good run as he routed Kenta Nishimoto 21-14, 21-13 in the final to clinch the French Open Super Series title on Sunday.
The double Olympic gold medallist and three time Grand Slam champion described waking up to find the woman sitting on his bed and stroking his arm.
Saina Nehwal's comeback may have ended with a gruelling opening round loss at the China Super Series Premier in Fuzhou but the London Olympics bronze medallist said she was satisfied with the way she played.
World No 1 Rafael Nadal is hoping to become the first male tennis player to win six Masters trophies in the same season by winning at the Shanghai Masters this week.
Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu yet again struggled to go past China's He Bingjiao and bowed out of the China Open World Tour Super 750, in Fozhou, on Friday.
Rafael Nadal starts the final push to what he hopes will be a return to the top of the world rankings when he gets under way at the China Open on Tuesday.
Ace Indian shuttlers, Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth, had a disappointing start to their campaign at the BWF Super Series Finals as they suffered straight-game defeats on the opening day of the prestigious event in Dubai.
Saina Nehwal defeated China's Sun Yu 11-21, 21-14, 21-19 to clinch her second Australian Open Grand Prix Gold title.
China has not limited the 'battle' to the diplomatic field alone; the People's Liberation Army has become aggressive on the ground too. The recent 'fights' in Northern Sikkim and Ladakh are part of the pattern, asserts Claude Arpi.
Jeev Milkha Singh comfortably made the cut while Gaganjeet Bhullar had to dig deep with three birdies in last four holes to join him for the weekend rounds at the European Tour event Volvo China Open.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
Twelve-year-old Ye Wocheng became the youngest golfer to qualify for a European Tour event when the Chinese schoolboy survived a late wobble to grab a place at the Volvo China Open on Wednesday.
India's campaign at the China Open Super Series Table Tennis ended after Neha Aggarwal lost to Viktoria Pavlovich 0-4 in the women's singles in Changchun, on Friday.
Besides the duo, 2017 World Weightlifting Champion in the 48kg category, Saikhom Mirabai Chanu and former Asian Games gold medallist tennis player Somdev Devvarman were conferred with the Padma Shri award.
Back in action after recovering from a knee injury, star shuttler Saina Nehwal says she needs good match practice to be at her best in the prestigious All England Championship in March. "I am happy with my improvement. My movements are still sluggish. I still need good match practice," she told reporters here late last night after losing to top-ranked shuttler Carolina Marin in a Premier Badminton League (PBL) match. Saina had sustained an intra-articular injury (inside the joint) in her right knee and had lost in the group stage in the Rio Olympics. She later underwent a surgery and was on rehab.
The Tokyo 2020 Olympics torch lighting ceremony in ancient Olympia will be the first in more 35 years to be held without spectators after organisers introduced tighter measures to protect against the coronavirus. Here is a list of international sports events hit by the coronavirus outbreak.
It was a memorable day for Indian tennis as Rohan Bopanna won the Erste Open in Vienna, partnering Pablo Cuevas, while the team of Saketh Myneni and Vijay Sundar Prashanth clinched the Vietnam Open in Ho Chi Minh City.
Rafael Nadal will return to the top of the men's world rankings after Tomas Berdych retired with a back injury during their China Open semi-final.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday
Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza is back in the top 10 of the women's doubles ranking after rising two places to ninth.
Star shuttlers P V Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth notched straight-game victories to progress to the quarter-finals, but it was curtains for Saina Nehwal in the US $700,000 Malaysia Open World Tour Super 750 tournament, at the Axiata Arena in Bukit Jalil, a suburb in Kuala Lumpur, on Thursday.
Andy Murray is itching for a break after an exhausting few months, the world number two said, after defending champions Britain were knocked out by Argentina 3-2 in the Davis Cup semi-final.
P V Sindhu, K Srikanth, Ajay Jayaram, Subhankar Dey, B Sai Praneeth and Sameer Verma scored easy first round singles victories, while the pair of Jwala Gutta-Ashwini Ponnappa shocked a fancied Malaysian pair to enter the second round of the women's doubles.
Second seed Novak Djokovic served well and barely broke a sweat as he marched past Spaniard Feliciano Lopez 6-3, 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals of the Shanghai Masters tennis on Thursday.
Top seed Serb Novak Djokovic brushed aside German Florian Mayer on Saturday to set up a final clash with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the China Open.
"I feel like I'm more... I wouldn't say confident but I'm more, like, I have inner peace. I don't know. Like zen. I don't really want to use words I don't know.'
Belarusian ninth seed Aryna Sabalenka held off a spirited challenge from American Alison Riske to win 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 and successfully defend her Wuhan Open title on Saturday.
Sameer Verma stunned World No. 3 Jorgensen to enter the final, while Rio Olympic silver medallist PV Sindhu brushed aside local shuttler Cheung Ngan Yi's challenge to make the title round, her second final seven days.
World number one Victoria Azarenka won her first title in more than six months when she beat Russian Maria Sharapova 6-3, 6-1 in the final of the China Open on Sunday.
India's ace shuttler Kidambi Srikanth feels the Swiss Open win has put him on course for a first-ever Olympic qualification but says he needs maintain consistency to make the cut for the 2016 Rio Games and achieve World No. 1 ranking.
US Open champion Marin Cilic made a shock first-round exit from the Shanghai Masters on Monday after losing 7-5, 2-6, 7-6(2) to fellow Croatian Ivo Karlovic.
Garbine Muguruza made an imposing start to the WTA Finals by confidently swotting aside Czech Lucie Safarova 6-3, 7-6 (4) in their White Group opener on Monday.
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