Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
The professional tennis circuit, which requires players to jet around the world, was forced into shutdown in early March as countries went into lockdown and closed their borders to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.
It's worse than a nightmare but letting the youngsters in the team wallow in self-pity is the last thing skipper Faf du Plessis would want ahead of their crucial game against world No 2 India.
'Definitely Virat Kohli. He's No 1'
In India, it is not easy to fight it out with the large banks which are nimble-footed and technology-savvy and are continuously innovating on the retail turf with newer products for customer acquisition.
According to Hola magazine, Nadal and Xisca got secretly engaged in May last year and now planning an autumn wedding this year.
The National Basketball Association All-Star Game MVP Award has been permanently named for the late Kobe Bryant, league Commissioner Adam Silver said on Saturday.
Zverev's brother Mischa Zverev was also eliminated, going out 6-3, 6-1 to David Ferrer in the first round, while Kei Nishikori eased to a 7-5, 6-2 win over Taylor Fritz to secure a place in the third round.
US Open champion Prannoy, who had reached a career-best World No 11 ranking last week, improved a place further to grab the 10th spot. He has been rewarded for his consistent performance this season where he reached the semi-finals at the Indonesia Open and French Open.
Kohli (886 points) and Rohit (868 points) have gained two and three ratings points, respectively to occupy the top two positions in the batting rankings.
Five-time World champion Viswanathan Anand will lead India's charge at the online Nations Cup beginning on Tuesday, where some of the world's best players will face off amid the coronavirus pandemic which has thrown the sporting calendars out of gear. The six-team event, touted to the richest online team tournament, features all the big names in the game with World champion Magnus Carlsen being the only big gun missing from the line-up.
World number one Novak Djokovic turned the page on his contentious US Open exit and began his claycourt season with a convincing 6-3, 6-2 victory over wildcard Salvatore Caruso in the second round of the Italian Open.
On the men's side, the fields have already been divided into two ATP 250 tournaments.
The ties between India and Nepal came under strain after defence minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated a 80-km-long strategically crucial road connecting the Lipulekh pass with Dharchula in Uttarakhand on May 8.
Sameer Verma advanced to the semi-finals of the US $150,000 Swiss Open with an easy victory over former world No. 2 Kento Momota of Japan, in Basel, on Saturday.
Chairman of selectors MSK Prasad claimed R Sridhar is one of the best fielding coaches in the world.
The coronavirus pandemic has taken a toll on sports calendars across the globe, resulting in cancellation and postponement of events, but it has also provided sportspersons a rather unexpected break. Indian sportspersons including some chess players plan to use the time to train and also be with their families.
A Tihar jail official said that one hangman is enough to execute the hanging.
'He was No 2 to Laloo Prasad in the last government and he will be No 2 in the new one as well, not to Sushil Modi, but to the other Modi in Delhi.' 'In the process, Nitish Kumar will have to forget any role which he may have secretly entertained about playing a larger role on the national stage,' says Amulya Ganguli.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the USTA would take "extraordinary precautions" to protect players, including robust testing, additional cleaning, extra locker room space and dedicated accommodation.
The Right needs an apparently potent and dangerous foe to keep its own followers in line. If they lower their guard, the insidious enemy may creep in, argues Amulya Ganguli.
The petition, likely to come up for hearing on Tuesday, sought the court's direction to the Director General of Military Intelligence to withdraw its June 6 policy to the extent that it orders all the members of the Indian Army to delete their accounts from Facebook and Instagram and 87 other applications.
'People are just putting the mask below their nose.' 'They are only protecting the mouth, but not the nose.' 'People need to understand that it is the nose which has to be protected.'
World number two Rafael Nadal confirmed on Tuesday that he will not defend his US Open crown this year at Flushing Meadows as organisers released the singles entry list for the Grand Slam. Spain's Nadal had said in June that he had reservations about travelling to the U.S. amid the COVID-19 pandemic and he joins women's world number one Australian Ash Barty in skipping the tournament due to COVID-19 concerns.
Shakib Al Hasan jumped to the top of the latest MRF Tyres ICC ODI rankings for all-rounders, which doesn't feature a single Indian in the top-10 chart.
Vivek Ranadive, the Sacramento Kings's India-born owner, believes basketball can become India's No 2 sport.
22 of the 37 air quality monitoring stations across Delhi recorded the air quality in the severe category on Thursday morning.
A jam-packed United Center fell silent for eight seconds before Sunday's 69th NBA All-Star game as some 21,000 fans joined hands to pay their respects to the late Kobe Bryant, the global sports icon who dominated professional basketball for two decades. The silence was broken by a string of thunderous "Kobe, Kobe, Kobe," chants that rocked the stadium as they honored Bryant, who wore the No. 8 and No. 24 during his 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers that was highlighted by five National Basketball Association championships.
A contemnor can be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend up to six months or with a fine of up to Rs 2,000 or with both.
Gandhi said that the basic idea of these exercises is to ask all poor people whether they are Indian or not. He also said that PM's 15 friends will not have to show any document and the money generated will go into the pockets of those 15 people.
Serena Williams has withdrawn from the Wuhan and China Opens due to a persistent shoulder injury and is targeting a return to action in next month's WTA Finals in Singapore, the World No 2 said on Friday.
Sukanya Verma gives 10 ways our stars engaged in them.
Heena has been ignored for the Asian Games mixed team air pistol -- an event where she has excelled since its introduction last year.
Kim did not rule out diplomacy with the Biden administration despite that Pyongyang called Biden a 'rabid dog' after Biden labelled Kim a 'thug'.
'The Maharashtrian Congressmen's decision to break away from their reluctant leaders in Delhi to side with the Shiv Sena is seemingly the first sign that the 'high command' is not as powerful as is believed,' says Amulya Ganguli.
Jiaolong, China's manned submersible, has descended to a depth of 3,117 meters in the northwestern Indian Ocean and collected variety of precious metals.
If Saina manages to go past Okuhara, the Indian might run into fourth seed Carolina Marin, who is placed in her half of the draw.
Bora Gojo and Marin Cilic gave Croatia a 2-0 lead over India, winning the opening singles, in their Davis Cup qualifier in Zagreb on Friday. Gojo, ranked 277th, put the hosts ahead with a come-from-behind 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory over world No. 132 Prajnesh Gunneswaran while world No. 37 Cilic was taken to two tie-breakers before prevailing over 182-ranked Ramkumar Ramanathan 7-6(8), 7-6(8).
'After a longish time being on the defensive on the Muslim issue, Mamata found in the Centre's surgical strike just the kind of battle in which she specialises -- hand-to-hand combat.' 'Having routed the once formidable Marxists by her trademark, no-holds-barred belligerence, she is now ready to employ the same tactics against the BJP,' predicts Amulya Ganguli.
Rajput's father while opposing the plea of Chakraborty, said Mumbai Police has not filed any case after the death of his son and did not allow the Patna Police to investigate by quarantining their senior officers.
