'I spoke to Roger and Rafa a few days ago and we had a conversation about the near future of tennis. How we can contribute to help lower ranked guys who are obviously struggling the most.'
Minutes earlier, Sarkar had been in the media tribune, capturing the proudest moment of his coaching career on a modest mobile phone as Barman stood on the podium shrouded in India's tri-colour flag with the gold medal around her neck.
Athletes already qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics will need to be picked again by their respective National Olympic Committees to compete at the postponed Games in 2021, the International Olympic Committee said. Those athletes, the IOC said, would keep their qualification but would need to be re-selected for next year by their National Olympic Committee again as they represented a nation and not themselves.
'I believe we have already missed the opportunity to cancel ... We have been cornered into a situation where we cannot even stop now. We are damned if we do, and damned if we do not.'
Shooter Avani Lekhara scripted history on Monday as she became the first Indian woman to win a gold medal at the Paralympics, firing her way to the top of the podium in the R-2 women's 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 event in Tokyo.
Real will play Japanese champions Kashima Antlers in Sunday's final in Yokohama, looking to become world champions for the second time in three years and earn a record 21st international title.
All of the top news of the week gone by, in photos.
Exports of petroleum products, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, gems and jewellery, and engineering goods registered a positive growth.
'She wants to come back in 2018 and defend her title and she's in training now'
From Rafael Nadal's shock exit in the first round to Novak Djokovic's clinical run. We bring you the highs and lows as the Australian Open moves into its business end.
Second seed Novak Djokovic outclassed Roger Federer in straight sets to enter the final of Australian Open in Melbourne on Thursday. Seven-time champion Djokovic started off slowly before he took complete control to register an emphatic 7-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory in the first semi-final.
Last month, the Tokyo 2020 Games were postponed to July 2021 due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic.
The government should bring natural gas under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime to realise Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision for a gas-based economy and raising the share of the environment-friendly fuel in India's energy basket, an industry body that represents the likes of Reliance Industries as well as state-owned firms, has said. Natural gas is currently outside the ambit of GST, and existing legacy taxes -- central excise duty, state VAT, central sales tax -- continue to be applicable on the fuel. In its pre-Budget memorandum to the finance ministry, Federation of Indian Petroleum Industry (FIPI), which boasts of members from across the oil and gas spectrum, also demanded rationalisation of GST on transportation of natural gas through pipeline as well as on re-gasification of imported LNG to help bring down cost of the environment friendly fuel.
Plans that had been almost a decade in the making were shredded as the COVID-19 pandemic forced the IOC and Japanese government to take the unprecedented decision to postpone the Olympics for a year.
Sebastian Vettel blamed Red Bull's Max Verstappen on Sunday for a Japanese Grand Prix tangle that dealt a huge blow to the Ferrari driver's fading Formula One title hopes.
Ferrari, expecting rain, sent Vettel and team mate Kimi Raikkonen out on the intermediate tyres at the start of the final shootout phase of qualifying.
Calls from athletes and federations for a delay in the Games, which is scheduled to run from July 24 to Aug. 9, have intensified as the flu-like virus has brought sport to a grinding halt across the world.
Tickets have been snapped up in Japan, with over three million sold during the first domestic lottery last May. Hot demand for later sales also left many potential buyers disappointed. Organisers have repeatedly said the July 24 to Aug. 9 Games will go ahead as scheduled but with the rapid spread of the coronavirus bringing the sports world to a virtual standstill fears are growing the Olympics may be cancelled or postponed.
'The poetry of the earth is never dead,' John Keats once wrote. But when Keats wrote these lines, man had no way of reaching up to the hem of the sky and gaze down upon earth.
Brazil's Bruno Soares, fuelled by numerous cups of coffee, produced a doubles double on Sunday when he and Russian partner Elena Vesnina won the Australian Open mixed doubles title on Rod Laver Arena.
The Briton raised eyebrows on Tuesday when he started an Instagram story, which disappeared after 24 hours, with some cryptic comments.
Criticisms from all corners for FIFA's new video technology
'I surprised myself also today'
Princess Mako's love story will make you believe in the power of love.
Tokyo 2020 organisers received the Olympic flame in a scaled-down handover ceremony in the Greek capital on Thursday, amid the coronavirus spread that has cast doubt on the global, multi-billion dollar event. In a brief ceremony closed to spectators in Athens' Panathenaic stadium, site of the first modern Games in 1896, the torch was received by Tokyo Games representative Naoko Imoto.
'The newsroom in our profession is a relatively informal, free-spirited and hallowed space. It must be protected.' 'The Editors Guild extends its total support to all women journalists who suffered a disadvantage in their careers, physical or mental trauma, as a result of any sexual predation.'
Export trade during August 2018 recorded at $27.84 billion, a positive growth of 19.21 per cent, tweeted Prabhu.
5 exceptional players who surprised us at Melbourne.
World Athletics president Sebastian Coe says his sport can have a huge influence on helping the post-pandemic world address the global health crisis and is making plans to ensure that it is ready to take on that responsibility.
The next challenge for Tokyo organisers is developing measures to help prevent a COVID-19 outbreak during the Games and how much the delay will cost Japanese taxpayers.
In this pandemic, why can't we have multiple locations for various disciplines, all of it then merged into a virtual convergence called the Olympics instead of one massive event in one city, asks Shyam G Menon.
Scientists and medical experts are concerned about how things might look next summer, a year after the Tokyo Games were postponed.
'I felt like I was very focused today. Every match I've played this year, I've been pretty good. It's probably because of everything going on'
'I felt comfortable knowing that I just needed to change a few things, to adjust, to try and bring the match back in my favour'
Bach's two-day visit to Tokyo is likely to bolster Japan's efforts to stage the Olympics, but will do little to assuage the concerns of a public deeply worried about the spread of the virus.
Japan on Friday extended a state of emergency in Tokyo and other areas by about three weeks to June 20 as the COVID-19 pandemic shows no signs of easing less than two months before the Summer Olympics open.
Two women are in contention to become prime minister for the first time in Japan's history -- a potential turning point for a country that ranks below Saudi Arabia in terms of female political representation, points out Rajaram Panda.
During the ancient Olympic Games, athletes who emerged victorious were awarded 'Kotinos' or olive wreaths
The 17-times grand slam champion suffered the injury the day after his Australian Open run ended in the semi-finals last week
So it is over. Two weeks of intriguing tennis where the world's best competed for the year's first Grand Slam. While the match-fixing report cast a shadow over the start of the Australian Open, the tournament gained momentum as it progressed. Rediff.com encapsulates the best moments from the Rod Laver Arena.
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