'Honestly, I think he can overtake them, but I wouldn't like to say that for sure. The race is on'
India's top players, including P V Sindhu, may not be going through the best of times, but national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand is still hopeful of a best-ever Olympics outing in Tokyo. Gopichand has produced two Olympic medallists -- Saina Nehwal (bronze in 2012) and Sindhu (silver in 2016).
Sindhu has fallen in the early stages at all tournaments except the French Open since winning her maiden World Championship title in August.
Andy Murray and Serena Williams entered the third round of the mixed doubles at Wimbledon, defeating 14th seeds Fabrice Martin and Raquel Atawo 7-5, 6-3 on centre-court, on Tuesday.
Wimbledon organisers will announce the cancellation of the grasscourt Grand Slam this week due to the coronavirus pandemic, German Tennis Federation (DTB) vice-president Dirk Hordorff told Sky Sports. All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) officials earlier said the June 29-July 12 event would not be played behind closed doors and postponement was not without significant risk and difficulty.
World Athletics also said that as far as it was aware, there were no longer insurance policies available for the coronavirus.
The 39-year-old appeared at Italy's Sanremo festival in March, where he sang a duet with Bologna coach Sinisa Mihajlovic and said he would like to try acting.
Wimbledon was scrapped for the first time since World War Two on Wednesday due to the coronavirus pandemic, with the suspension of professional tennis extended to July 13. The 38-year-old Federer is well insulated from the shutdown's financial fallout it could well impact his hopes of adding to his record haul of 20 Grand Slam titles.
Rafael Nadal has cast doubt on his participation at Wimbledon, saying he needs to see how his body recovers after a long clay court campaign culminated in an 11th French Open title.
As the curtains fall on another year, Rediff.com brings you all the action from the sports field that defined 2019.
Images from Day 1 of the Wimbledon Championships.
'Head out!' 'It has been a long time that we have not met family and friends.'
And, run to the court.'
A quarterfinal loss at the All England Championship saw Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal slip three places down the rung to the sixth spot in the latest BWF world ranking on Thursday. Saina, who turned 26, went through injuries last year and missed out on a few tournaments this season, including the Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold and South Asian Games in January and February respectively. The Olympic bronze medallist, who had finished runners-up at the 2015 All England Championship, lost to Tai Tzu Ying in straight games in the quarterfinals. The Indian now has 73,222 points. Two-time bronze medallist at World Championship, P V Sindhu improved a place to reach the 11th spot.
Novak Djokovic clawed his way to a two sets to one lead over great rival Rafael Nadal before their scintillating Wimbledon semi-final was paused on a knife-edge on Friday.
The Badminton World Federation (BWF) shut down the world tour and other sanctioned tournaments following the completion of the All-England in March due to the global health crisis.
July is a month that will forever bind Romania's two most famous sportswomen because it was in July 1976 that Comaneci became the first gymnast to score a perfect 10 at the Olympics.
Take our quiz to find out just how much you know.
The Infosys Foundation will provide a fund of Rs 16 crore, which will be spent for the next five years.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Sunday, praised Saina Nehwal after the ace Indian female shuttler suffered a heartbreaking defeat in the final of the All England badminton championships.
After losing the first set, Konta faced three break points in an epic fifth game of the second when she came under enormous pressure.
Defending champion Novak Djokovic tops the draw while new world number one Ash Barty is top seed in the women's singles.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday.
Mike Bryan of the United States claimed his 17th Grand Slam men's doubles title when he and Jack Sock beat Raven Klaasen and Michael Venus 6-3, 6-7(7), 6-3, 5-7, 7-5 in a thrilling Wimbledon final on Saturday.
The 32-year-old, who was ousted in the fourth round at the All England Club last year, will play ATP NextGen Finals winner Chung Hyeon on Wednesday and Frenchman Lucas Pouille, a Wimbledon quarter-finalist in 2016, on Friday.
Indonesian coach Agus Dwi Santoso has been roped in to guide the singles players -- both men and women -- ahead of Tokyo Olympics. Badminton Association of India (BAI) secretary, Ajay Singhania said the visa process has started and Santoso is likely to join the Indian team in the mid of next month.
Facing criticism for packing 22 tournaments in five months in its revised calendar, the Badminton World Federation on Wednesday said the disrupted Olympic qualification process will restart only next year with players having the benefit of holding on to the ranking points they have already secured.
Bollywood's obsession with biopics is getting stronger with each year. The focus seems to be on Indian sportswomen.
'We actually have a big vacuum in terms of producing coaches of quality and it's not a training program. It's an ecosystem issue. So, we need to work harder to bridge that gap'
The London Fire Brigade were called to put out a blaze at Wimbledon on Friday, the All England Club said.
India's P V Sindhu squandered an 11-6 lead in the second game before going down 18-21, 21-18, 21-8 in 68 minutes to former world number one Akane Yamaguchi.
The 37-year-old knows that if she wants to hoist the Rosewater Dish for an eighth time, she needs to improve in all departments.
Speaking at his first news conference since his diagnosis in September, the Malaysian three-time Olympic silver medallist said he has no intention of retiring.
India's chief national badminton coach Pullela Gopichand on Friday admitted that it was tough for him to manage two of his illustrious wards Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu together, saying he could never pick a favourite between the two. Gopichand said he always saw the duo as his kids and felt bitter when Saina left his academy to join Prakash Padukone's academy.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
Gopichand also wondered to why the legendary Padukone, India's first badminton superstar 'never had anything positive to say about him'.
Kidambi Srikanth is against any drastic changes in the scoring system being contemplated by the world body.
Wimbledon finalists Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer are on a semi-final collision course at the US Open after they were placed in the same half of the draw.
Heavier balls to blame for slower game: Nadal
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