It was day of delight and sorrow for Indian sporting fans yesterday. While, the Indian men’s cricket team, which was expected to do well, lost by 180 runs in the finals of Champions Trophy 2017 at the Kennington Oval in London against arch rivals Pakistan, the men’s hockey team were able compensate the same with a huge win 7-1 against Pakistan in the World Hockey League 2017 and India’s ace shuttler Kidambi Srikanth clinched the Indonesia Open Men’s singles trophy defeating Japanese qualifier Kazumasa Sakai yesterday.
Indian shuttler Kidambi Srikanth clinched his third Super Series title, lifting the Indonesia Open.
Men’s singles trophy with a straight-game victory over Japanese qualifier Kazumasa Sakai in the finals here on Sunday.
World No.22 Srikanth, who had reached the finals at Singapore Open in April, outclassed Sakai, ranked 47th, 21-11, 21-19 in just 37 minutes to take home a cheque of $75,000. Later, reacting to the win, the Badminton Association of India announced a cash award of Rs. 5 lakh.
In Hockey World League, India thrashed arch-rivals Pakistan 7-1 to earn their third straight win in the tournament yesterday. With the win, India maintain their top spot in Group B (nine points from three wins) while Pakistan remain sixth with no points. This win has ensured India a quarter-final berth in the tournament though they still have to play against Netherlands on Tuesday. Pakistan will play Scotland on Monday. Earlier, India had defeated Scotland 4-1 and Canada 3-0 and yesterday’s win ensured their unbeaten run in the tournament.
It was a complete performance by the Indians who dominated their arch-rivals throughout the match to post a facile win. Dragflicker Harmanpreet Singh (13th minute, 33rd), Talwinder Singh (21st, 24th), Akashdeep Singh (47th, 59th) and Pradeep Mor (49th) scored for India at the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre, while Pakistan’s consolation goal came from the stick of Muhammad Umar Bhutta (57th).
Meanwhile, India suffered a severe humiliation in the finals of Champions Trophy 2017 held at the Kennginton Oval in London yesterday. Put into bat first, Pakistan, who were playing in their first ever final of the tournament, scored a mammoth 338 for 4 in 50 overs and in reply India were bundled out for a meager 158 runs in just 30.3 overs. The only positive for India in the final was the knock of Hardik Pandya 76 in 46 balls. While, Shikar Dhawan received the ‘Golden Bat’ for scoring 338 runs in the tournament, Pakistan’s Hassan Ali was awarded with the ‘Golden Ball’ and also the ‘Man of Series’ award.
This post was published on June 19, 2017 6:33 pm