Sports
Wimbledon 2024: Paolini outlasts Vekic in record-breaking semifinal (Ld)
London, July 11 (IANS) Italy’s Jasmine Paolini battled from a set down and twice a break down in the decider to outlast Donna Vekic in three sets in the longest semifinal-ever in women’s singles at Wimbledon here on Thursday. Paolini, the No.7 seed, defeated Vekic 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(8) in 2 hours and 51 minutes to become the first Italian woman to reach the final at Wimbledon in the Open Era.
The previous longest Wimbledon semifinal had been Serena Williams’s 6-7(4), 7-5, 8-6 defeat of Elena Dementieva in 2009, a contest which lasted 2 hours and 49 minutes.
Around 15 years on, Paolini held her first match point at 5-4 in the third set and her second at 6-5 before edging Vekic on her third in a gripping super-tiebreak. The result was her third win in four meetings with Vekic. The runner-up at Roland Garros a month ago to Iga Swiatek, Paolini has immediately backed up that run with her second major final. The 28-year-old is the first player since Serena in 2016 to reach both the French Open and Wimbledon finals in the same season.
Paolini is only the fifth player to accomplish that feat in the past 25 years following Steffi Graf (1999), Serena Williams (2002, 2015, 2016), Venus Williams (2002), and Justine Henin (2006).
The runner-up at Roland Garros a month ago to Iga Swiatek, Paolini has immediately backed up that run with her second major final. The 28-year-old is the first player since Serena in 2016 to reach both the French Open and Wimbledon finals in the same season.
Paolini is only the fifth player to accomplish that feat in the past 25 years following Steffi Graf (1999), Serena Williams (2002, 2015, 2016), Venus Williams (2002), and Justine Henin (2006).
In a nerve-wracking clash, Paolini came out on top of the final rally and the Centre Court rose as one to give both competitors a standing ovation at the end of nearly three hours of thrilling tennis.
The closing stages had been the most tense. Vekic had led 3-1 in the third set and broke again for 4-3, but Paolini had pegged her back both times. Vekic managed to find a service winner to stave off one match point down 5-4 but came out on the wrong end of a five-deuce tussle in the subsequent game as Paolini held for 6-5. On the final point of that game, Vekic used up her final Hawkeye challenge and looked devastated as it showed her forehand had gone wide by inches.
But Vekic battled valiantly to the end. She saved another match point down 6-5 by firing a forehand winner to end one of the best rallies of the day and stayed committed to aggression off that wing throughout a tiebreak in which neither player was ever more than two points in front of the other.
As the match went on, though, Paolini was able to find more and more ways to counter Vekic’s pace and was quick to sense an opportunity for herself. Time and again, she tracked down Vekic’s hardest shots, then turned defense into offense as soon as she could set up her forehand. In the end, it was the Vekic forehand that broke down on the two final points.
It was Vekic who set the tone of the first semifinal of the 2024 Wimbledon by winning the first set. Her dominance came on the back of a superb serve. The World No.37 dropped just three points in total on her serve and was remorseless in punishing Paolini’s second serve.
Though Paolini won 11 out of 15 first-serve points, that dropped to just five out of 17 on her second delivery. Unable to get on the front foot consistently, Paolini found only five winners to Vekic’s 12.
But the second set saw Paolini emerge with renewed intensity. She began to read Vekic’s sneak drop shot strategy and responded with pinpoint lobs and brilliant volleys. At 2-2, she fended off two break points with clutch serving.
The turning point came at 4-4. After a desperate defensive lob from Paolini (above), Vekic set up to slam the overhead winner home — only to send it wide of the tramlines. Amid gasps from the crowd, Paolini went on to hold and seized her opportunity in the next game by upping her aggression on return.
–IANS
bsk/
Paris, Aug 1 (IANS) China’s Pan Zhanle has set a new 100m freestyle world record of 46.40, the first swimming world record of the Olympic Games 2024.
Pan touched the wall a second ahead of Australia’s Kyle Chalmers, who took silver with a time of 47.48, followed by Romania’s David Popovici in bronze-medal position with a time of 47.49.
Pan’s time eclipsed his own previous record of 46.80 set in Doha in February. His gold-medal victory also represents a first-ever medal for China in the 100m freestyle.
Swimming’s most decorated Olympian, Michael Phelps, reacted to Pan’s world-record time on US broadcaster NBC, saying, “That is mind-blowing for me. I’ve never seen a win of that margin in that race in my career. And to go 46.4 – that’s unheard of! “To be that much closer to going 45 seconds in a 100 freestyle, I can’t understand that, I really can’t.”
On the other hand, this is the second medal in Paris for Chalmers, who also won silver in the 4x100m freestyle relay.
This also marks a second medal for Popovici following his gold-medal victory in the men’s 200m freestyle.
–IANS
bc/
Paris, Aug 1 (IANS) China continued to ride their good showing in the pool and shooting range and picked two silver medals in gymnastics as it climbed to the top of the medal tally, followed by host France in second place at the Paris Olympics on Thursday.
Going into the sixth day of competitions on Wednesday, China had 9 gold, 7 silver and 3 bronze for a total of 19 medals.
Host France moved up to the second, picking up medals in women’s Triathlon and Rugby sevens with those in swimming, Equestrian and Fencing for a total of 26, including eight golds.
Japan, however, slipped to third position with 15 medals, eight of them gold.
Australia are placed fourth with 7 gold, 6 silver and 3 bronze for a total of 16, while Great Britain are fifth with 17 medals, six of them gold.
With two medals — bronze that came via Manu Bhaker and Sarabjot Singh, India slipped to 38th position in the table.
MEDAL TALLY
Top 5 and India:
Nation G S B T
1) China 9 7 3 18
2) France 8 10 8 26
3) Japan 8 3 4 15
4) Australia 7 6 3 16
5) Great Britain 6 6 5 17
39) India 0 0 2 2
–IANS
bc/
Paris, Aug 1 (IANS) China’s Wang Chuqin, top-seeded in the men’s singles table tennis at the 2024 Olympic Games, failed to reach the Round of 16 following a surprising 2-4 defeat to Truls Moregard of Sweden on Wednesday.
Wang, a 24-year-old Olympic debutant who took gold in the mixed doubles on Tuesday with his partner Sun Yingsha, was denied the chance to advance further after just two matches in the men’s singles event, losing 10-12, 7-11, 11-5, 11-7, 9-11 and 6-11 to the 22-year-old Swede at the South Paris Arena 4.
“I definitely felt very down coming off the court. I had such a high yesterday from winning the mixed doubles gold. To go from that to this low, I guess this is what competitive sport is about,” said Wang after the match.
Wang’s bat was accidentally broken on Tuesday after the mixed doubles final match, so he had to play with his backup bat. However, he did not believe that using the backup bat was the main reason for his loss, reports Xinhua.
“It’s because I wasn’t good enough today. My opponent had some changes in his serves and I didn’t respond to them well enough. It’s got nothing to do with the bat. I’ll reflect on this loss, and come back strong for the team event,” said Wang.
Moregard, also an Olympic newcomer who won the silver medal in the men’s singles at the 2021 World Championships in Houston in the United States, felt “super happy” for his victory over the top seed.
“I stuck to my plan that I had, and I really believed in it. I continued even if I lost two sets in the middle. I played fantastic table tennis and it was really, really good,” he said.
Jorgen Persson, Sweden’s head coach, emphasized the importance of belief when playing against China. “Belief plays a big part when you see how much they’re winning. It’s important that you always believe it’s possible. That’s what I’m trying to convey to my players.”
“It’s possible to beat them, but you have to play at your 110 percent,” he added.
Moregard will next play 19-year-old Kao Cheng-Jui of Chinese Taipei later on Wednesday for a spot in the quarterfinals.
–IANS
bsk/
New Delhi, Aug 1 (IANS) Whether to have a mega auction for ahead of the upcoming season was the major point of contention in the meeting between the Board of Control for Cricket in India and the 10 franchises of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The meeting of the IPL teams’ owners with the BCCI at the latter’s headquarters in Mumbai on Wednesday night was inconclusive and with no consensus emerging on the matter.
A report in Cricbuzz claimed quite a few people are against holding mega auctions, including Kolkata Knight Riders’ owner, actor-producer Shah Rukh Khan, who was fiercely in favour of not holding one. This development was confirmed by Delhi Capitals co-owner Parth Jindal to reporters in Mumbai, who added that the house is also divided on the Impact Player rule.
“A consensus on the mega auction – whether to have it or not – will eventually determine the number of retentions. If the BCCI decides to do away with the mega auctions, there may not be a requirement for retentions at all,” the report further said.
The other point of discussion was the number of retentions and there was no consensus amongst ten owners on this issue also.
“At one stage, the KKR owner was also believed to be engaged in a heated argument with Ness Wadia, the co-owner of Punjab Kings, over a number of retentions; Shah Rukh was in favour of major retentions while Wadia is believed to be against too many of them,” added the report.
Asked about his opinion over the Impact Player rule, which received a lot of flak from players and coaches in IPL 2024, Jindal told reporters in Mumbai that though the ruling gives chances to a lot of new players, he is not in favour of it as it hinders the growth of genuine all-rounders in Indian cricket.
Other IPL owners who arrived in Mumbai for the meeting include Kiran Kumar Grandhi, co-owner of Delhi Capitals, Sanjiv Goenka (Lucknow Super Giants), Rupa Gurunath (Chennai Super Kings), Kavya Maran (Sunrisers Hyderabad).
Rajasthan Royals had co-owner Manoj Badale, CEO Jake Luck McCrum and Executive Chairman Ranjit Barthakur in attendance, so as Amit Soni (Gujarat Titans) and Prathmesh Mishra (Royal Challengers Bengaluru). A few owners attended the meeting via video conferencing, which included the Ambani family of Mumbai Indians.
–IANS
nr/bsk/
Sports
BCCI to take IPL owners’ suggestions to governing council before formulating player regulations
New Delhi, Aug 1 (IANS) The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has said it will take forward the recommendations of all ten IPL franchise owners to the tournament’s governing council before finalising player regulations ahead of the IPL 2025 season. The BCCI had called for a meeting with all ten franchise owners at its headquarters in Mumbai on Wednesday evening, where thoughts related to mega auctions, player retention and impact player rule among other issues were discussed.
“The Board of Control for Cricket in India on Wednesday organized a constructive dialogue with the owners of the 10 franchises on various subjects pertaining to the upcoming season of the TATA IPL.”
“The franchise owners tabled feedback on player regulations and other commercial aspects, including central merchandising, licensing, and gaming. The BCCI will now take these recommendations to the IPL Governing Council for further deliberation and evaluation before formulating the IPL player regulations,” said BCCI Secretary Jay Shah.
Delhi Capitals co-owner Parth Jindal told reporters in Mumbai that there was a big debate over whether a mega auction should be held, where the franchise is in favour of having one. He added that the house is also divided on continuing with the Impact Player rule, which the franchise is against it, citing it hindering the growth of genuine all-rounders in Indian cricket.
Jindal also said the BCCI will get back to all team owners’ by August over IPL 2025 rules around mega auction, retentions and everything related to it. Other IPL owners who arrived in Mumbai for the meeting include Kiran Kumar Grandhi, co-owner of Delhi Capitals, Sanjiv Goenka (Lucknow Super Giants), Rupa Gurunath (Chennai Super Kings), Kavya Maran (Sunrisers Hyderabad), Shah Rukh Khan (Kolkata Knight Riders) and Ness Wadia (Punjab Kings).
Rajasthan Royals had co-owner Manoj Badale, CEO Jake Luck McCrum and Executive Chairman Ranjit Barthakur in attendance, while Amit Soni (Gujarat Titans) and Prathmesh Mishra (Royal Challengers Bengaluru) also attended the meeting. A few owners attended the meeting via video conferencing, which included the Ambani family of Mumbai Indians.
–IANS
nr/bsk/
Venezuelan president appeals to Supreme Court to audit, certify election outcome- Stock market opens at all-time high, Nifty crosses 25,000 for first time
- Matt Damon often gets into 'creative arguments' with Affleck brothers
- Paris Olympics: China's Pan sets world record to win men's 100m freestyle swimming gold
- 36 missing after cloudburst in Shimla district
- Paris Olympics, Medal Tally: China climb to top, Japan slip to 3rd, India on 39th
- Hezbollah chief to address public today after Israel assassinated its military chief
- India becomes largest market for Meta AI usage: Mark Zuckerberg
- Wayanad landslide: Death toll reaches 264, rescue teams search for 200 missing
- Woman, child die after falling into waterlogged drain in Delhi
-
Video1 year agoPM Modi Attacks Congress in Karnataka with “Kerala Story”
-
Cricket1 year ago
CSK players rejoice 5th IPL title with their families (Pics)
-
Politics1 year ago
Siddaramaiah & DK Shivakumar sworn in as Chief Minister & Deputy CM respectively
-
Entertainment1 year ago
Karan Deol weds his longtime Girlfriend Drisha Acharya (Pics)
-
Entertainment1 year ago
Urvashi Rautela dazzles on Cannes 2023 red carpet (Pics)
-
Entertainment1 year ago
Sunny Leone gets ready for Kennedy premiere in Cannes (Pics)
-
Entertainment1 year ago
Alia Bhatt looks crazy beautiful in Prabal Gurung creation at MET GALA 2023 (Pics)
-
Sports6 years agoHistory Of Official FIFA WORLD CUP Match balls
