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Indian archer Bhajan Kaur notched twin victories to advance to the women's individual pre-quarterfinals but compatriot Dhiraj Bommadevara exited the men's event after losing in the shoot-off at the Paris Olymics here on Tuesday. Continuing her fine form, the 18-year-old Kaur, who had shot exceptionally well in the team event albeit in a losing cause, defeated Indonesia's Syifa Nurafifah Kamal and Wioleta Myszor of Poland in her opening two rounds. Fourth seed Dhiraj, on the other hand, ended up on the losing side after coming agonisingly close the pre-quarters as he lost his round of 32 match in shoot-off to Canadian Eric Peters. Ankita Bhakat also made an early exit after stumbling in the opening round. She went down 4-6 (26-27 29-26 28-27 27-29 27-28) to Myszor. Kaur took her opening round against the Indonesian 7-3 (27-27 27-29 29-27 27-25 28-25). While the first set was a tie with both archers sharing a point each, Kaur shot three 9s as compared to Kamal's one 9 and two 10s to
Two-time runner-up Dominic Thiem lost in the second round of qualifying on Wednesday in his final match at the French Open. Thiem was beaten 6-2 7-5 by Otto Virtanen on Court Suzanne Lenglen and won't make an 11th and final appearance in the main draw of the clay-court Grand Slam. Thiem, who reached the final at Roland Garros in 2018 and 2019, announced earlier this month that he will retire at the end of the year after struggling to return to top form following a wrist injury. After his loss, Thiem received a standing ovation during a farewell ceremony, amid chants of "Thank you Domi, Thank you Domi." Thiem, a former US Open winner, has dropped to the 131st spot in the rankings and did not receive a wild card at the French Open. He did not hold a grudge. "I slowly built up a great, great relationship with the tournament, relationship with all of you guys, with all fans," Thiem said. "I've really enjoyed every single year of it." The 30-year-old Austrian won his only Grand Slam
Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid stress on Thursday on developing sporting talent at the grassroots level and said the Centre has increased the sports ministry's budget by three times since 2014. He also highlighted the importance of promoting millets, popularly known as "mota aanaj", for the better health of youngsters. The prime minister was virtually addressing the "Saansad Khel Mahakumbh" event being held at Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and local MP Ravi Kishan were present at the venue of the event. Recalling the time when sports and games were part of village fairs where such activities were organised in the "akhadas", Modi lamented that these traditions are fading away. He referred to the physical education classes in schools that were relegated to "time-pass periods" and said this had led to the country losing three or four generations of sporting talent. Hailing events like "Saansad Khel Mahakumbh", Modi said, "Competitions at the regional
Novak Djokovic clearly is not done dominating his sport. He says so. His coach says so. And, most importantly, his performances throughout a draining run to a record-extending 10th Australian Open championship and record-tying 22nd Grand Slam title, plus his return Monday to No. 1 in the ATP rankings, say so. His message Sunday night, essentially, was: Look out. I still have lots of motivation. Let's see how far it takes me. I really don't want to stop here. I don't have intention to stop here, the 35-year-old Djokovic said after beating Stefanos Tsitsipas, a man more than a decade his junior, by a 6-3, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5) score in the final at Melbourne Park. I feel great about my tennis. I know that when I'm feeling good physically, (and) mentally present, I have a chance to win any Slam against anybody. Hard to argue. Not only has no man won more major trophies ( Rafael Nadal also has 22; Margaret Court, with 24, and Serena Williams, with 23, are the only players in history with
The Spanish city of Seville will host the 22nd Laureus World Sports Awards on May 6 in a virtual ceremony owing to the raging COVID-19 pandemic. Among the many big names who have had a year to remember and who will be in contention for the awards are Rafael Nadal, Lewis Hamilton, LeBron James, Robert Lewandowski (Sportsman), Naomi Osaka, Federica Brignone (Sportswoman). Fomer Portugal footballer and Laureus Academy Member Luis Figo said: "As a Laureus Academy Member who lives in Spain, I am really happy that the 2021 Awards will be hosted in the country again. "The last was in Barcelona in 2007, which is a long time. A big thank you to everyone in Seville who is making this possible at a difficult time," he added. Juan Espadas, the Mayor of Seville, said: "It is a great pleasure for us to join with Laureus for the 2021 World Sports Awards, especially at such a moment as this for the City of Seville, which is celebrating the 500th anniversary of the first circumnavigation of the Ea