Athletes to watch at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games:
Saina Nehwal eschews the 'natural talent' tag thrust upon her by Indian media and says only hard graft and good coaching have given her the chance to turn the Olympic badminton bronze she won four years ago in London into gold at the Rio Games.
For however much or little it counts, Belgium have history on their side in not having lost to the Irish for 50 years, which includes beating them by a single goal in the playoffs to win a place at the 1998 World Cup in France.
Leaking late goals has been something of an Achilles' heel for the Indian hockey team but captain Sardar Singh believes his team have addressed the issue as they head to Rio looking for the country's first Olympic medal in 36 years. Once-mighty India are the most decorated nation in the sport's Olympic history but the South Asians collected the last of their eight gold medals way back at the Moscow Games in 1980. Having failed to qualify for the Beijing Games in 2008, the team representing a nation of 1.3 billion people did recover to seal a spot at the London Games four years later only to finish last among the 12 countries taking part.
Jelena Ostapenko became only the sixth female Grand Slam champion to lose in the opening round of their title defence on Sunday when she lost to Kateryna Kozlova at the French Open.
England and Russia are the big beasts of Group B and, though each would love a winning start when they meet on Saturday, the fear of losing could well become all-pervading and lead to a cagey encounter. With games against Wales and Slovakia to come, and the potential for three teams to qualify with two guaranteed, a point at the Velodrome might look a very useful result in a couple of weeks. England, on the back of winning all 10 qualifiers, not to mention a rare victory in Germany in a friendly, start favourites and will expect to make the running in front of a 60,000 crowd that will be predominantly behind them.
Major focus will be on adequately funding existing schemes to ensure their timely completion before the next General Elections.
'For short-term gain, the BJP makes extraordinary promises, they take extraordinary decisions, but in the long term it is going to impact both them and the country.'
Australia's Sally Pearson completed one of the great sporting comebacks when she overcame two years of injury agony to win the world 100 metres hurdles title at the age of 30.
P V Sindhu cemented her position as a dominant force on the world stage with an Olympic silver medal while Saina Nehwal continued to battle with injuries in a year, which saw Indian badminton take giant strides at the global platform. It turned out to be a watershed year for Sindhu, who reached the upper echelons of world badminton with a silver medal at Rio Games -- an achievement also for her mentor and chief coach Pullela Gopichand, who became the only Indian coach to produce two Olympic medallists. On the other hand, for the first part of the year, it was Saina's battle with injuries which dominated the headlines even though she was considered to be the best bet for India at Rio. The Indian ace fought against time to recover from an Achilles tendons and went on to win the Australian Super Series.
One thing is certain: Demonetisation has broken the back of terror funding, says Colonel Anil A Athale.
Injured Arsenal midfielder Santi Cazorla has suffered an Achilles problem in training which will delay his return to first-team action, manager Arsene Wenger has said.
'If the nub of India's sensitivity over the Chinese presence in Doklam is the enhanced threat to the Siliguri Corridor, a vital link to the northeast, does it serve the national purpose to have the districts along it, and then much of the tribal northeast, in turmoil?' asks Shekhar Gupta.
Saina Nehwal is better equipped to win a medal in Rio in August than the Indian shuttler was when she claimed a bronze at the London Olympics four years ago, former All England champion Prakash Padukone said.
For Ireland to reach the knockout stages at Euro 2016 they must achieve something they haven't done in 28 years - win a game at the European Championship. Martin O'Neill's team face an Italian side already guaranteed victory in Group E and manager Antonio Conte is likely to field many of his reserves, but it remains to be seen if Ireland can end their long winless streak in this must-win game.
Double Olympic pole vault champion Yelena Isinbayeva's return to competition was frustrated by a leg injury on Saturday when she had to drop out of the Russian Grand Prix in her home city of Volgograd. Isinbayeva, Olympic champion in 2004 and 2008, had been due to return to competition for the first time since the birth of her daughter in June 2014. "I really hate to disappoint people but today when I was warming up I felt a sharp pain while making a jump and I understood that if I continued to jump I could tear a muscle," Isinbayeva, 33, told the All Sport news agency. "It's an old injury in my Achilles tendon in my lead-off leg," she added.
Still recovering from a foot injury and a recurring fever, defending champion Saina Nehwal has pulled out of the women's singles competition at the Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold badminton tournament in Lucknow.
'Its internal economic rot and corrupt political elite have made the resurgent supremacy of the military establishment more invincible,' says Sunil Sethi.
Multiple grand slam champion Maria Sharapova has declared herself fully fit and ready for next week's Australian Open after having her preparations hampered by a forearm injury.
World No 9 Lucie Safarova will miss this month's Australian Open as she has yet to regain full fitness following a bacterial infection last year, the Czech said on Friday.
Japan's Kei Nishikori and Victoria Azarenka of Belarus continued their Australian Open preparations by swiftly marching through to the quarter finals of the Brisbane International on Wednesday.
Multiple grand slam champion Maria Sharapova withdrew from the Brisbane International on Tuesday after suffering an arm injury in practise less than two weeks before the Australian Open.
South African captain Hashim Amla has singled out his horrible performance in the recently concluded Test series in India, especially the Delhi Test as one of lowest points of the year 2015.
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal feels that year 2015 is one of the best of her career but rued that a series of injuries affected her chances of winning more titles.
A 13.2-megapixel (MP) rear camera takes great pictures, even in low light.
Saina Nehwal underwent a scan to diagnose her Achilles tendon problems and has been prescribed rest for a couple of weeks.
Over 15 years, with seven per cent growth, the Indian economy will be three times bigger.
The mastermind of the 1985 hijacking of the Italian ship died while in American custody in Iraq.
'Saina and Sindhu are top contenders, but they will have to beat players who are playing solid badminton at this juncture.'
Serena faces hard-hitting Giorgi in first round while former World No Hewitt play his final grand slam
'Make no mistake, depriving water deliberately to a nation of 190 million people is a repugnant idea.' 'The world community won't forgive us.'
'If Liverpool bought me then they know how to use me. That's why I came here -- I'll show I can play with my feet too'
Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant lit up the National Basketball Association with a work ethic.
Together, they controlled nearly Rs 26 lakh crore of assets at the end of FY16.
The company brings its global campaign to India, looks for trust and a way to grow its business in the country
Take a look at what fit-again Saina needs to do before going into the Olympic Games in August this year.
Paula Radcliffe struggled to hold back the tears as she tore down the Mall in front of her adoring fans.
Bayern Munich's surprise 3-1 Champions League loss to Porto was the price the five-time European champions paid for a string of injuries and a tired squad.
China's Olympic gold medal-winning hurdler Liu Xiang announced his retirement on Tuesday.
New Zealand left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori confirmed what many expected in announcing his retirement.
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