A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday.
Congratulate Saina Nehwal on her success at Singapore.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal clinched her second Super Series title, winning the Singapore Open with a straight-game triumph over qualifier Tzu Ying Tai in the final on Sunday. The top seed Indian ace needed just 33 minutes to beat Chinese Taipei's Tai 21-18, 21-15 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Who would have thought an American President would have a niece named Savita?
India's HS Prannoy continued his dream run and reached the men's singles final to be just one step away from clinching his maiden title in the $50,000 Vietnam Open Grand Prix at Ho Chi Minh City.
Jonatan Christie gifted Indonesia the Asian Games gold medal they most yearned for when he beat Taiwan's Chou Tienchen in an exciting men's singles badminton final in front of a vociferous home crowd on Tuesday.
Rising golfer Gaganjeet Bhullar began his new year with a bang, lifting the season-opening Asian Tour International with a sensational final round of eight-under 64 in Bangkok on Sunday.
The London Olympics bronze medallist beat world No. 73 Brazilian Vicente Lohaynny 21-17, 21-17 in 39 minutes, while Sindhu, a two-time World Championships bronze winner, had things her way against Laura Sarosi of Hungary, winning 21-8, 21-9 in 27 minutes.
For most part, Indian boxing had lots to celebrate and it started with the season-opening Strandja Memorial, one of Europe's oldest and most competitive tournaments.
Mahabharat fame Shaheer Sheikh makes a comeback with Kuch Rang Pyar Ke Aise Bhi.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday.
The 26-year-old boxer is aiming to become India's first boxer with three back-to-back Asian Games medals.
India's badminton sensation Saina Nehwal was Thursday declared the Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year for her stupendous show in 2009.
Driven from its self-styled caliphate in Iraq and Syria, Islamic State is down but not out. Where once they confronted armies, the extremist Islamist group's adherents have now staged hit-and-run raids and suicide attacks. In some cases, the group has claimed responsibility for atrocities, including the bombings of churches and hotels in Sri Lanka that killed at least 253 people. Its involvement is not always proven, but even if the link is ideological rather than operational, Islamic State still poses a security threat in many countries.
Boosted by a strong recovery in 2009, Meanwhile, other leading indices in the region which witnessed a cumulative gain in the six-year period include China's SSE Composite Index (116.9 per cent) Kospi index of South Korea (104.4 per cent), Hong Kong's Hang Seng index (74.2 per cent), Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (58.7 per cent) and TSEC weighted index of Taiwan (32.3 per cent).
Fresh from her Indonesian Open Super Series triumph, Saina Nehwal stormed into the pre-quarter-finals of Malaysian Open Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament with a straight games victory over Porntip Buranaprasertsuk of Thailand in Johor Bahru on Wednesday. Second seed Saina needed less than half an hour to send Buranaprasertsuk packing with a 21-18, 22-20 victory in her opening round match.
Saina Nehwal will spearhead the Indian challenge in the Malaysian Open Grand Prix Gold, beginning in Johar Bahru on Wednesday. The second seed faces world No 39 Porntip Buranaprasertsuk of Thailand in her opening match in the women's singles.
Saina Nehwal scripted history on Sunday, becoming the first Indian to win a Super Series tournament after clinching the Indonesian Open with a stunning victory over higher-ranked Chinese Lin Wang in Jakarta.
Anirban Lahiri was voted the 2014 'Players' Player of the Year' after a successful season on the Asian Tour, where he won two titles and finished second on the Order of Merit.
The 700-odd clerics of the Indonesian Council of Ulemas were in agreement that yoga exercises included Hindu religious rituals that were haram (forbidden in Islam). During the weekend talks in Padang Panjang, a village in West Sumatra province, the clerics and scholars felt that practising rituals will erode and weaken Islamic faith.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal survived an early scare from Indonesia's Dinar Dyah Ayustine to book her place in the quarter-finals of the Macau Open Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament here on Thursday. After going down in the first game, the London Olympics bronze medallist rebounded strongly to register a 17-21, 21-18, 21-12 win over her Indonesian opponent in the women's singles clash that lasted about an hour.
Saina Nehwal's preparation for the 2012 London Games received a shot in the arm on Saturday with the ace shuttler signing a contract with Olympic Gold Quest (OGQ).
Former champion Taufik Hidayat halted Danish youngster Jan O Jorgensen's giant-killing run 21-19, 21-19 to enter the semi-finals of the World Badminton Championships on Friday. In the women's draw, world number one Zhou Mi of Hong Kong was toppled 21-15, 21-18 by Chinese fifth seed Xie Xingfang.
Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal won her second match to keep her semi-final hopes alive while the mixed doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and V Diju also tasted victory to stay afloat in the World Super Series Masters Final in Johor Bahru, Malaysia on Thursday.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal advanced to the quarter-finals of the Indonesia Super Series Premier tournament with a comfortable straight-game win over local favourite Fitriani Fitriani in the women's singles event in Jakarta on Thursday.
Wu Ashun became the first Chinese golfer to win a European Tour title on home soil.
Three-time champion Saina Nehwal staved off a challenge from a lower-ranked Pai Yu Po of Chinese Taipei to make a positive start to her women's singles campaign at the $900,000 Indonesia Super Series Premier badminton tournament in Jakarta on Tuesday.
Talismanic Indonesian shuttler Taufik Hidayat kept the spectators hooked on to their seats as he dispatched compatriot Tommy Sugiarto in straight games to storm into the men's singles final of the Yonex Sunrise Indian Open in Hyderabad on Saturday.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday
For the first time in the history of badminton, two Indians will clash in a Super Series final with Kidambi Srikanth taking on B Sai Praneeth at the Singapore Open, in Singapore, on Sunday.
The Indian challenge ended at the $1,250,000 Indonesian Open after PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy suffered straight-game quarter-final defeats to crash out of the BWF World Super 1000 tournament in Jakarta.
At least nine people, majority of them foreigners, were killed and over 30 others wounded when powerful blasts rocked two luxury hotels in Jakarta on Friday morning.The police fear that the number of casualties might go up once the identification process begins after the clearing of the debris.The blasts took place at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel and J W Marriott Hotel. The exact number of blasts is yet to be ascertained.
Manchester United have cancelled the Jakarta leg of their Asia tour after the hotel where they were due to stay in the Indonesian capital was bombed on Friday.
Badminton ace Saina Nehwal, who recently won the Indonesian Open, on what it takes to be a champion.
The Indian challenge ended in the French Super Series badminton tournament after Saina Nehwal and the mixed doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and V Diju crashed out following defeats in the quarter-finals in Paris. Eighth seed Saina squandered a first game lead and went down to top seed Chinese Wang Lin 21-15, 11-21, 15-21 in a 49-minute battle in the women's singles on Friday.
The Indian ace fought back after losing the first game to beat Intanon Ratchanok of Thailand 18-21, 21-12, 21-18 at the Malaysian Open Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament.
Olympian Anup Sridhar pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the tournament, beating world No 2 Peter Gade of Denmark to enter the quarter-finals of the Singapore Open Super Series badminton tournament. Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal also reached the quarter-finals after staving off a scare from Indonesian Adrianti Firdasari in Singapore City.
Ace shuttler Saina Nehwal and Olympian Anup Sridhar advanced to the pre-quarterfinals of the Singapore Open Super Series even as three other Indians were shown the door on Wednesday.
The lawyers of Varsha Sabhnani and her husband Mahender Sabhnani, put their arguments before the three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeal in Manhattan, asking for their convictions to be overturned. Varsha's lawyer argued that the publicity prevented her from getting a fair trial and Mahender's attorney sought reversal of the conviction on the ground that he was not actively involved in the torture of the two women.
Indonesian Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan, Chair of the Ninth Ministerial Conference, and the three Vice Chairs, in a joint statement, urged 'all WTO members to come together over the next few days to make the necessary breakthroughs, working closely with WTO Director General Roberto Azevedo.'
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