In the second game, Rituparna was 7-3 up but she once again squandered the lead and allowed Chai Wan to move ahead after trailing 12-15 to seal the contest with nine straight points.

LUCKNOW: Former national champion Rituparna Das played her heart out before going down to Thailand’s Phittayaporn Chaiwan to bow out of the Syed Modi International badminton tournament here on Saturday.

The 23-year-old Indian, who had claimed the Polish Open title in 2016 and 2018, went down fighting 22-24 15-21 to Chaiwan in a 39-minute women’s singles semifinal match.

World No. 40 Rituparna, who had reached the finals of Dubai International this year, came into the tournament with a 0-1 head-to-head record against her Thai opponent, having lost their only meeting at the Vietnam Open last year.

Rituparna fell behind 1-6 early on but she made an impressive comeback to grab a 14-11 lead at one stage.

Chaiwan then opened up a slender 15-14 lead before moving neck and neck with the Indian.

The duo fought hard before the Thai player managed to seal the opening game at 24-22.

In the second game, Rituparna was 7-3 up but she once again squandered the lead and allowed Chai Wan to move ahead after trailing 12-15 to seal the contest with nine straight points.

After a cruise of a start to their Test Championship campaign, India takes a break from the longest format.

KOLKATA: Seven Test wins in a row, 12th successive home series win, runaway leaders in the World Test Championship table – there were reasons for Virat Kohli to sound boastful after the decimation of Bangladesh in the day-night Test. Captains are usually excused even if they go a bit over the top on such occasions. And the India captain is known to be a man of positive vibes anyway.

But hold on. When questions came flying about the team’s domination, Kohli seemed grounded while answering them. Possibly aware that the wins of the last few months came against teams that have been struggling, or that there is time to go before the Test Championship finalists are identified, he laughed it off when asked if he sees this team on a par with the all-conquering West Indies or Australia sides of the past.

“Seven wins? I’d think we are close to those teams if we keep winning like this for seven years. The West Indies teams you are referring to did it for 15-odd years. We have won just seven Tests. It’s a good feeling that we are leading the Championship table. As far-reaching the heights of those teams is concerned, we have a long way to go. As of now, the nice feeling is we can win anywhere. Beyond that, it’s better to focus on the next series,” Kohli said at Eden Gardens on Sunday.

He also had a suggestion regarding the format of the World Test Championship, saying that currently, the number of points garnered isn’t a true reflection of the strengths of a team.

India have 360 points for winning all the Tests in the three series they have played. Australia are second on 116. “It’s a subjective thing to say who’s dominating. To me, a fair of way judging it is playing home and away. At the moment, we have played more at home than away.”

At the same time, it is difficult to overlook the level of intensity of this team. True that the opposition didn’t put up much of a fight, Kohli’s players still had to get the job done. And instead of merely doing it, they have been doing it with a kind of ruthlessness. This is most evident in the performance of the bowlers. It appears from a distance as if they are competing among themselves when the other team is unable to put up resistance.

“That’s where the captain and team management come into the picture. We have to make sure that we keep the hunger going. There may have been a moment when things slackened a bit. Our job is to set that right and make that the mindset on a long-term basis. Look at our bowlers. They know that many are waiting outside, while only two or three can play. That keeps them going. They realise only after a Test how tired they are, not during the Test,” said the captain with 33 Test wins.

After a cruise of a start to their Test Championship campaign, the team takes a break from the longest format. A sterner test awaits them after that, in New Zealand in February-March.

Spain will make its second straight semifinal appearance after Nadal and Marcel Granollers defeated Máximo González and Leonardo Mayer 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in the decisive doubles match.

MADRID: Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal both played singles and doubles on Friday, but only the Spaniard was able to lead his team into the last four at the Davis Cup Finals.

Nadal guided Spain to a 2-1 comeback victory over Argentina, while Djokovic couldn’t prevent Serbia from being eliminated after a 2-1 loss to Russia.

Andy Murray didn’t play again on Friday, but Britain made the last four by beating Germany 2-0.

Spain will make its second straight semifinal appearance after Nadal and Marcel Granollers defeated Máximo González and Leonardo Mayer 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in the decisive doubles match in front of a lively and vocal crowd at the Caja Mágica center court.

Guido Pella had defeated Pablo Carreño Busta 6-7 (3), 7-6 (4), 6-1 in the first singles, but Nadal had kept Spain in contention with an easy 6-1, 6-2 win over Diego Schwartzman for his 27th straight Davis Cup singles victory.

“It was a must-win match, nothing else mattered,” the top-ranked Nadal said.

Argentina, backed by a boisterous group of fans that at times made more noise than the local Spanish crowd, was hoping to get some payback after it was beaten at home by Spain in the 2008 Davis Cup final, when it was heavily favored against a Spanish team that was without an injured Rafael Nadal. Spain also beat Argentina in the 2011 final played in Sevilla.

Argentina made the semifinals for the last time in 2016, when it won its only Davis Cup title.

Djokovic defeated Karen Khachanov 6-3, 6-3 to even the score at 1-1, then returned to the court about half an hour later to team with Viktor Troicki in the decisive doubles. They had three match points but lost to Khachanov and Andrey Rublev 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (8).

“It hurts really badly,” Djokovic said. “These kinds of matches happen once in maybe forever. That’s it. The season is done and we’re turning the next page.”

The Russians converted on their first match point to put the team back in the Davis Cup semifinals for the first time since 2008.

“Both teams had a lot of chances,” said Rublev, who won the opening singles against Filip Krajinovic 6-1, 6-2. “It was like a coin toss, and we won this coin toss.”

Russia will next face Canada, which eliminated Australia on Thursday.

Serbia, the 2010 Davis Cup champion, was trying to return to the semifinals for the first time since 2017, when the team lost to eventual champion France.

After his 15th straight Davis Cup singles victory, Djokovic struggled in the doubles, although it was Troicki who squandered most of the chances in the tight tiebreaker, including some during the match points.

“I probably feel the worst ever,” Troicki said. “I never experienced such a moment in my career, in my life. And I let my team down, and I apologize to them.”

Djokovic, who hadn’t played in the Davis Cup since 2017, couldn’t hide his frustration as Serbia trailed in the second set, complaining with the umpire and hitting a ball deep into the stands after losing a point. He also requested medical assistance on his right arm.

Serbia was trying to reach the last four for the fourth time since winning its only Davis Cup title in 2010. It was runner-up once since then, in 2013.

Britain advanced past Germany thanks to Kyle Edmund’s 6-3, 7-5 win over Philipp Kohlschreiber and Daniel Evans’ 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (2) victory over Jan-Lennard Struff.

For the second day in a row, captain Leon Smith did not play Murray who, after a comeback victory in the first tie of the group stage, said he was not in his best shape.

“Made the decision last night after talking to the guys,” Smith said. “He could play, but I wouldn’t say he’s in his best condition, as he said to you guys the other day. He says that’s how he’s feeling. So we have to keep talking about it.”

Britain last played in the semifinals in 2016, a year after winning its 10th title. 

Before the start of the match, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Sachin Tendulkar greeted India and Bangladesh players.

NEW DELHI: BCCI President Sourav Ganguly on Friday tweeted a selfie with euphoric spectators at the Eden Garden in the background, garnering 2.8K retweets and 32.1K likes.

He wrote on his Twitter handle @SGanguly99, “Tremendous atmosphere at Eden for the pink test”, tagging BCCI Secretary Jay Shah and the BCCI.

Fans posted effusive praise for the former India skipper, some posting pictures of their cricketing idol.

A fan gushed: “Glad to see BCCI president is working hard.”

“The King in his own backyard! What a sight!,” wrote another.

A fan remarked: “Only you can make Test cricket alive in our country… Respect for you, Sir…”

Another post read: “Unbelievable crowd. Bring back the memories of 2001 India vs Australia Kolkata Test. More than 1 lakh used to fill that time.”

A fan thanked the BCCI chief for the first pink ball day-night Test in the country between India and Bangladesh. “Thank you dada for making this 1st day-night Test match possible. We almost waited for 4 years for our 1st D/N Test match. Thank you once again.”

One fan posted a meme showing Ganguly in a foul mood. He wrote: Sourav Ganguly arranges first #PinkBallTest in India, hypes it like anything else, invite who’s who. Bangladesh: 38-5 in first session of Day 1.”

The meme was captioned: “Is it a joke?”

The 17-year-old Bhaker shot 244.7 to claim the top prize in the prestigious season-ending tournament of International Shooting Sport Federation. 

PUTIAN (China): India’s Manu Bhaker fired her way to the gold medal with a junior world record in the women’s 10m air pistol event of the World Cup Finals here on Thursday.

The 17-year-old Bhaker shot 244.7 to claim the top prize in the prestigious season-ending tournament of International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF).

Her compatriot, Yashaswini Singh Deswal finished sixth in the final of the event.

Serbia’s Zorana Arunovic won the silver with 241.9, while Qian Wang of China bagged the bronze with 221.8.

In the men’s 10m air pistol event, Abhishek Verma and Saurabh Chaudhary qualified for the final.

Verma topped the qualifications with 588 while Chaudhary was seventh with 581.

Mohsin Al Ghassani scored the all-important goal in the 33rd minute at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex Stadium as Oman beat India for the second time in the campaign

MUSCAT: The Indian football team was on Tuesday virtually knocked out of the 2022 World Cup qualifying round after losing 0-1 to Oman here.

Mohsin Al Ghassani scored the all-important goal in the 33rd minute at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex Stadium as Oman beat India for the second time in the campaign.

Oman had defeated India 2-1 in the first leg in September in Guwahati.

With just three points from five matches, India still remain at fourth spot in the Group E table, headed by Asian champions Qatar who have 13 points from five matches.

Oman are at second spot with 12 points.

With a nine point gap with the second-place team (Oman) in the group table, India are almost out of reckoning for a third round berth.

They have only three more matches — maximum nine points — left to play in this second round of the qualifiers.

Even the runners-up team is not guaranteed an automatic spot for the third round of the qualifiers.

The Indian team is, however, still in the hunt for a third round berth for the 2023 Asian Cup qualifiers.

This campaign is also a joint qualifying round for the 2023 Asian Cup and the third-placed teams and the best four fourth placed teams from the eight groups automatically get a spot in the third round of the qualifiers of the continental championships.

Earlier, head coach Igor Stimac made three changes to his side that drew Afghanistan 1-1 in Dushanbe on November 14 with Manvir Singh, Farukh Choudhary and Nishu Kumar coming in for Pritam Kotal, Mandar Rao Desai and Sahal Abdul Samad.

India were, however, lucky not to have conceded a goal in the seventh minute when Mohsin Al Ghassani shot over the bar from the penalty spot.

Ghassani himself earned the spot kick after a clumsy challenge inside the Indian box by Rahul Bheke who was beaten on pace by Omani striker.

Ghassani later made amends of his mistake as he fired home in the 33rd minute past Indian goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu after a beautiful defence-splitting through pass by Mohsin Johar Al Khaldi.

Oman had more of the ball possession in the first half but they had few clear chances.

Ahmed Al Kaabi got a free header in the 27th minute but sent the ball over the bar from a corner kick.

India had few raids at the opposition goal but could not pose any threat to the Omani goalkeeper Ali Al Habsi.

India made three substitutions in the first half with Vinit Rai coming in for Pranoy Halder who was booked in the 26th minute while an injury to central defender Adil Khan led to Anas Edathodika taking his place.

India played better in the second half with a lot of ball possession and attack at the opposition citadel but a clear chance eluded them.

Oman nearly doubled their lead in the 64th minute but Indian goalkeeper Gurpreet dived full length to his left to block an Al Khaldi free kick.

All of India’s last three matches will be played next year — against Qatar (at home on March 26), Bangladesh (away, June 4) and Afghanistan (at home, June 9).

Rafael Nadal is leaving the ATP Finals with a big trophy, even though he failed again to secure the title at the elite tournament.

LONDON: Rafael Nadal was unable to crown his season with a first ATP Finals title but he ends it as world number one and with a chance to lead Spain to Davis Cup glory.

The Spaniard, who came to London under an injury cloud, had a terrible start to his week at the O2 Arena, crushed in straight sets by defending champion Alexander Zverev in his first round-robin match.

But he produced a performance of astonishing grit to recover from 5-1 and match point down against Daniil Medvedev and saw off Stefanos Tsitsipas in three sets on Friday.

It was not quite enough to reach the semi-finals but Nadal leaves London after securing the year-end number one ranking for a fifth time, pulling level with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

Nadal was in the strange position after his win against 21-year-old Tsitsipas of not knowing whether he would be heading home or playing Federer in the knockouts.

Later, Zverev’s win against Medvedev confirmed his tournament was over.

The 33-year-old, who was presented with the trophy for securing the number spot on court, said it was difficult to compare the achievement with winning a Grand Slam.

Nadal is now on 19 majors, just one behind Federer after winning his 12th French Open this year and his fourth US Open crown.

“I know it is something so important because to achieve this you have to play well for 11 months,” he said.

“To win a Grand Slam you have to play well two weeks. But it’s difficult to compare. For me personally, when you win a Grand Slam, you win a Grand Slam winning the last point, and that feeling you, can’t have it here. That’s the big difference.”

But he said finishing on top of the world was a great achievement after his struggles with injuries earlier in the season.

And he was delighted to pull level on five year-end finishes with Djokovic and Federer — the other two members of the “Big Three”.

Nadal can look back on another staggering year in which he has shown remarkable consistency, winning four trophies including two Masters titles.

He reached the semi-finals at all four Grand Slams in a season for just the second time in his illustrious career.

But it did not start too promisingly for the veteran, who was plagued by injuries early in the season, including a thigh strain and right knee injury.

The injury jinx struck again late on, forcing him to miss October’s Shanghai Masters with a wrist injury and his participation at the ATP Finals was in doubt after he withdrew from the Paris Masters at the semi-final stage with an abdominal strain.

But now the dust has settled, Nadal can look back on another staggering season in which he overtook Djokovic in the final stretch to top the rankings.

“My decision or our decision is to try to do the things to play as long as possible, so that’s why I tried to do the conservative calendar in terms of saving the body and everything,” said Nadal.

“But the thing is when I have been playing, I have been playing very well. I achieved almost every single time the last rounds of every tournament.

“So that’s why I’m put in a position that I am where I am today, having this trophy with me.”

And it is not over yet for the Spaniard.

Nadal has the chance to lead Spain to glory in the new-look Davis Cup in Madrid next week and he is raring to go.

Changes to the tournament’s format mean 18 teams will be vying for the title over the course of a week. 

“Let’s see how the thing works,” he said. “I am sure that they did great and it is going to be something really special. And playing at home even more.

“So excited about it. I really hope that the team is working the right way during these previous days of the tournament, so I really expect to find a team very well-prepared when I arrive there.”

The 28-year-old also said that playing a full-fledged Test series against India will provide the visitors with a good opportunity to showcase their skills.

INDORE: As India and Bangladesh get ready to face each other in a two-match Test series, skipper Mominul Haque on Wednesday said that being the captain of the side will make him more responsible and will help him improve his cricketing knowledge.

“I do not think, being the captain will change my batting style. I will apply the same composure I did earlier and will bat in the same manner. Being a captain will help me become more responsible and it will further improve my cricketing knowledge. As a captain, it is a good opportunity for me to showcase my skills. It will be all about adjusting the mental aspect of the game,” Momin told reporters.

Before the tour of India, Bangladesh lost the services of two key players–Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal.

While Tamim opted out of the tour due to personal reasons, Shakib was handed a two-year ban, with one year being suspended for not reporting a match-fixing offer to International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU).

When asked, how it would be to play without both key players, the skipper replied: “It would be challenging to play without Shakib and Tamim, but the guys are up for the challenge”.

The two-match Test series also comprises of a day-night Test slated to be played at Eden Gardens in Kolkata from November 22-26. The Bangladesh skipper revealed that the side has not practised with the pink ball ever since coming to India.

“It will be a challenge and it will be an opportunity for everyone. We practised with the pink ball in Dhaka, but we haven’t practised with the pink ball ever since coming here. Between the first and second Test, we will get time to prepare for the pink-ball Test. I do not have any experience with the pink ball, so I do not know how much it swings and moves. I do not think it would be a problem. It will be an opportunity as we do not know when we will play with the pink next,” Mominul said.

The 28-year-old also said that playing a full-fledged Test series against India will provide the visitors with a good opportunity to showcase their skills.

He also said that the team management has not decided on what the team composition would be for the first Test at Indore.

“Playing a full-fledged Test series against India will provide us with a good opportunity. We all are excited for the challenge that awaits us. We will try to play good cricket. The team management has not decided yet, so I do not know what the composition of our side will be for the first Test. I think it would be a good wicket for batting,” Mominul said.

India and Bangladesh will take on each other in the first Test at Holkar Stadium in Indore from November 14-18.

The two-match Test series is going to be a part of the World Test Championship (WTC). Currently, India is at the top of the WTC standings with 240 points from five matches. 

Cricket lovers flocked to the airport to get a glimpse of their favourite stars, an official said.

Indore The India and Bangladesh cricket teams arrived in Indore in Madhya Pradesh on Monday for the first Test scheduled to start on November 14.

The two squads reached Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Airport by a special plane from Nagpur, where they played the third and final T20 International on Sunday, and then headed for their respective hotels here, an MP Cricket Association (MPCA) official said.

Cricket lovers flocked to the airport to get a glimpse of their favourite stars, an official said.

The Spaniard, who has never won the ATP Finals despite his trophy-laden career, dethroned Djokovic from the top of the rankings this week.

LONDON: Rafael Nadal is facing a race against time to be ready for the ATP Finals as he battles Novak Djokovic for the year-end number one ranking, admitting he is struggling with his serve.

The 33-year-old said he was happy to be in London after being forced to pull out of last week’s Paris Masters at the semi-final stage with an abdominal strain, but admitted he was not serving at full tilt ahead of his opening match against defending champion Alexander Zverev.

“I need to see how things evolve every single day,” he said. “I have good hopes to be 100 percent ready for Monday.”

Nadal is bidding to clinch the year-end number one spot in the ATP rankings for a fifth time — he is currently 640 points ahead of Djokovic ahead of the season-ending tournament in London, starting on Sunday.

The Spaniard, who has never won the ATP Finals despite his trophy-laden career, dethroned Djokovic from the top of the rankings this week.

He has often struggled with injuries towards the end of the season — missing the ATP Finals last year through injury and pulling out after just one match in 2017.

The top seed said he had only started practising his serving on Thursday and it had been “very slow”.

“I don’t want to lie to you,” he said. “I have confidence that it can go well but I also have the doubt that it can go badly because the time from what happened in Paris until today is very short.

“I’m not feeling uncomfortable because I haven’t really served. I’ve only served very slowly. With my training so far I don’t have any kind of problem, I feel perfect, I don’t have any kind of pain.”

Nadal, who won the French Open and US Open this year, said he had been happy with his form before his injury.

“I’m confident that I can be very competitive but of course it’s a tournament that you will face the top guys from the beginning so you need to be 100 percent ready,” he said.

“I really hope that I will be able to serve every single day better.”

Nadal’s opponents in the Andre Agassi group are Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Zverev.

The Bjorn Borg group features Djokovic, Roger Federer, Dominic Thiem and Matteo Berrettini.

Djokovic, who won the Australian Open and Wimbledon this season, must reach the final in London to have any chance of overtaking Nadal at the top of the rankings.

The Serbian, who can claim a record-equalling sixth year-end number one finish, said he was hungry to finish the year on top.

“One of the two biggest achievements that you can have as a professional competitive tennis player — winning a Grand Slam and being number one in the world at the end of the season,” he said.

“At this stage of my career in terms of goals and achievements obviously that’s right at the top. In order for me to be in the position to be year-end number one I understand I have to be healthy and schedule well.”

The ATP Finals, featuring the year’s best eight players, is contested in a round-robin format with the best four players and doubles teams reaching the knockout semi-finals stage.