US Open 2016: Djokovic Beats Gael Monfils To Meet Wawrinka In Finals

#USOpen2016 #Tennis
#Mens #Singles

#Djokovic's 6-2 3-6 6-2 victory on a sweltering, humid day in NY that left gamers hunched over within the fourth set featured the world No. 1 taking part in a degree with a ripped shirt and showman Monfils getting booed -- perhaps a first in his career -- for his antics. Indeed, after a whole lot had been made about Monfils being greater focused on courtroom this year, his display within the first two units can be regarded a step backwards.

Djokovic will now take on Stan Wawrinka in the US Open remaining after Wawrinka received his semifinal healthy against Japan's Kei Nishikori 4-6 7-5 6-4 6-2.

"The guy is too good," Monfils said. "I simply (had) to change. I think I am gutsy to are trying that against the world No. 1. five love, I show you that I play in a (non) tutorial approach.

"I might not win a fit like that however i will win possibly quarter-hour, two more video games, one more game. i will be able to push him a little bit to also shelter myself ... and put him out of his steadiness. It changed into an outstanding approach, I feel."

"You can't play that well coming right into a semifinal and put in an effort like that for 2 sets," even with the stifling climate, former US Open finalist Greg Rusedski talked about on Eurosport.

Djokovic had developed into the first participant to reach a grand slam semifinal profiting from three retirements and/or walkovers, which he mentioned helped him as he tries to recover from arm, wrist and shoulder accidents. however it's clear he is nevertheless struggling physically.

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Pliskova Stuns Serena In US Open 2016 Semis

#USOpen2016 #Tennis
#FlushingMeadows #NewYork

Just a day ago, we were gushing about #Serena awesome feat of becoming the first player (both men and women included) to hold maximum match wins (308) in #GrandSlam tournaments. She was looking in ominous form and blazing past her opponents in style. 

As luck would have it, with all the limelight on her, she decided to show that she is only mortal. Playing #KarolinaPliskova in the #Semifinals of the women's singles draw should have been a cake walk on any other day to enter the finals of yet another grand slam and history in the making.

Not to be. It was #Pliskova who had other plans. And she went about it precisely, catching #Serena offguard in the first set and wrapping it up 6-2 easily.

Serena picked it up in the second set but Pliskova held on to push the game into a tie-breaker.
Serena tried and tried, but Pliskove held her firm. This was her day. She broke Serena and completed the most famous victory of her career.

She will face #Angelique #Kerber of Germany in the finals on Saturday, 10th Sep 2016.

As for Serena, she will take it as on off day and move on.
Greater heights and laurels await her in coming days ... she is the legend!

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Paralympics 2016 News: Jonnie Peacock Crowns Wonderful Britain Gold Rush

#Peacock gathering his gold

Jonnie Peacock is the Paralympic champion, winning in a time of 10.81 seconds. New Zealander Liam Malone finished 2d, whereas Germany's Felix Streng was third. Peacock's extremely good American rival Jarryd Wallace complete out of the medals, however Peacock has annihilated this container. He changed into the simplest competitor to run a sub-eleven 2d time.

They simply held the medal ceremony within the Olympic Stadium and Jonnie Peacock has been given his gold medal. After a brief conversation together with his fellow medalists they wrapped their fingers around every different. His beginning changed into relatively slow, but as soon as he hit his stride he pulled far from the leisure of the container to win at a canter and take his 2d Paralympic gold.

Shock Upset in Girls's 100m China's Wenjun Lu has beaten world checklist holder Tatyana McFadden in the girls's 100m T fifty four last.

Another Medal for Amazing Britain Swimmer Stephanie Slater has won the silver in one hundred m s8. Ukraine's Kateryna Istomina gained the gold and the united states's Jess long took the bronze. This has been quite a night for team GB.

#Ellie #Robinson picks up her gold medal
Ellie Robinson has won the ladies's 50m butterfly - S6 at the age of simply 15.
A new megastar changed into born in the Paralympic swimming pool tonight, when 15-12 months-historic Ellie Robinson won the 50m butterfly S6 for group GB. She's simply been presented together with her gold medal and is now standing for the British countrywide anthem. I'm completely satisfied a bit dissatisfied to file that she did not put on her scary anorak, which appears like whatever thing a go between Arsene Wenger and Emperor Darth Sidius could wear, on to the rostrum.

Tatyana McFadden wins silver for united states of america
Wheelchair racer Tatyana McFadden, a byword for versatility who began existence in a Soviet orphanage before being adopted through the American mums who adopted her, came into these video games focused on seven gold medals in pursuits from 100m to the marathon. She has no longer got off to the superb birth, completing 2d in her first experience, the 100m. She's removed from downbeat in her put up-race interview and says she's longing for a rare time without work the next day before tackling her subsequent six disciplines.

#Tatyana #McFadden has entire second within the first of seven distinct routine she'll be contesting at these games. photograph: Mauro Pimentel/AP

up-to-date at 6.24pm EDT

Extra on Clegg's gold She won her semi-ultimate, turned into disqualified, reinstated, and now she's triumphed in the last ... by the dermis of her teeth. Libby Clegg wins gold, beating China's Guonhua Zhou on the nod to win through two hundreths of a 2nd. It's her first Paralympic gold after successful silvers in Beijing and London. That's three gold medals for exquisite Britain on the tune to this point this evening.

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Novak Djokovic Starts His US Open 2016 Campaign In A Shaky Manner

#USOpenTennis2016

Defending Champion and World No.1 @NovakDjokovic started his #USOpen campaign on a shaky note struggling to get past his low ranked opponent in tough sets. Trying to shrug off his @Rio2016 #Olympics disappointment, he will have a point to prove in the year's final grand slam.

#RafaNadal started steadily and will look to build on the #Rio2016 experience to build form and strength for the upcoming 2017 season.

#RogerFederer and #AndyMurray will open their campaigns and hope to sail through the initial rounds.

In the women's draw, #Serena will look to extend her grand slam run to 23 slams and etch her legend further! Dont see too many troubling her unless she wilts under her own pressure.

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Iceland Plot Brexit From Euro2016

#EURO2016 #RoundOf16

#Iceland plotted an early #Brexit (ironically just days after England #referendum voted in favour of exiting the #EuropeanUnion) in a scintillating display of pluck and determination. England will have themselves to blame more than anything for this loss though because they treated Iceland as minnows and expected to walk-over them easily in this match.

It started on expected notes when #RyanSturridge was brought down in the penalty box in just the 4th minute of the game. The ensuing penalty kick was drilled in by captain #WayneRooney with ease.

1-0 England and it experts started discussing high scorelines at the end of the match but Iceland had other ideas. Barely had English players and fans subsided after the early goal celebrations, Ragnar Sigrudsson pulled off a a stunning volley off a long throw in to beat #JoeHart and equalize.

1-1. Game on even keel yet again. 2 goals under 7 minutes and tempo starts building up.
Surprisingly, it is Iceland who up it first throw their runs, passes and throws alongside neat coordination. England look ragged and jaded. Their passes are falling short, or mis-passed to Iceland, not finding fellow players on deep crosses and then another piece of magic from Kolbein Sigthorsson who drills one through three defenders towards English goal. Hart stretches and gets a firm hand to the ball but it slides under his arms to roll slowly into the net.

2-1 Iceland. Amazing scenes as fans and players celebrate taking lead in the 17th minute of the game. England shell-shocked (something they never recovered from for the remainder of the match) and then it went all downhill for them after this moment.

There was another penalty scare for Iceland immediately when #RaheemSterling claimed another one but the #referee was perfectly placed to see what had happened and judged against the claim.

At half time, the #BarmyArmy had begun to feel the jitters and needed inspiration to get out of this hole. England has done that against #Wales (they won 2-1 after being down by a goal in the first half) in the group stages so there was hope.

However, after the ends changed, their performance went further downhill probably under pressure to deliver in a knockout game. Iceland stood stoic and determined. In fact, they had two close chances to score further and shut the game on England but Hart prevented those well. Rooney was well below par and couldn't motivate his team to take their game to next level.

At full time, the scenes were unbelievable. Iceland broke into their popular dancing in front of their little crowd against the epic proportioned British fans. #RoyHodgson, England coach, looked all gloom and English players dug their heads on the ground weeping and inconsolable. They had missed out a great opportunity to progress in a major tournament against a seemingly easy opposition. They had tripped. They were white faced. #Brexit from Euro.

#Iceland will now play #France in Paris on 3rd July and who knows what this win will have done to their confidence? Am sure France will have watched this game carefully and will not be foolish to take them lightly anymore...

Full time score:
Eng 1 - 2 Iceland
Rooney - Sigrudsson, Sigthorsson

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IPL 2016 Warners Davids Ambush Virats Goliaths SRH Wins IPL Crown

#IPL2016 Final
#RCBvsSRH
M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru

With all Odds stacked against them, (underdogs tag, lesser firepower than their fancied opponents, etc) the Sunrisers Hyderbad #SRH ambushed Royal Challengers Bangalore #RCB in a thrilling IPL final at the latter's den (another remarkable feat) to lift the IPL 2016 Cup and honors.

It all began with a bold decision at the toss that took everyone (experts were baffled and there were mixed reactions about it) when David Warner won the toss and elected to bat first. Huge move. His explanation? he would play to his strength of bowling second and defending a score in a big final. Since RCB was trouncing every team along the way by chasing down targets easily, experts felt this decision could backfire but their conviction seemed in place.

Dhawan and Warner got off to a slowish start scoring 21 in 3 overs but then Warner began to open his arms and soon they were 60 in 6 overs, an ideal start to the final. The fall of Dhawan's wicket followed shortly by Henriques evened things up and RCB started garnering hopes of restricting the SRH total.

In walked Yuvraj and unleashed a barrage of hits. Warner on the other end was blitzing his way as well. The two added a quickfire half-century stand before Warner fell to Aravind, a sliced edge to short third man. Deepak Hooda never looked in and holed out to long on. Once Yuvraj holed out to long off as well, the SRH were in serious trouble of being restricted to under 175. 

This is when Ben Cutting took centrestage. He first steadied the innings and then unleashed his fury in the last over on Shane Watson. He smashed 3 sixes and 1 four in the over (one of the sixes being a massive 117 metre hit that went out of the stadium) to not only cross the 200 run mark but lending a very good buffer to their initial goal of around 175-180 as par score.

But, was 208 enough to defend against the firebrand RCB line up of Gayle, Kohli, AB, Watson, Rahul? Not enough surely, especially considering their batting form in the second leg of the tournament.

Gayle and Kohli started in same fashion as SRH, but exploded in the same fashion too. Gayle looked  to hit the groove first and smashed a couple of sixes off Sran to increase their momentum. Kohli was happy to play second fiddle. Gayle then thrashed Henriques, Cutting and Bipul to post his fifty off 28 deliveries. Kohli then joined the party and the 100 came up in 10 overs! Perfectly on course ...

It was Cutting again who turned it around for SRH but inducing a top-edge from Gayle down to third man. In walked whom? AB ... it was like the storm was gone but fire would break in soon. Sran then prized out the other opener, Kohli, for a superb 54 and the game began to veer. 

AB holed out to extra cover off Bipul, Rahul was castled by Cutting and Watson holed one again to covers off Mustafizur to tilt the game in SRH favour. Chris Jordan was runt soon after. Stuart Binny played some lusty blows but was run out owing to silly basic mistake of looking at the ball when running between wickets.

With Bhuvi and Mustafizur to ball the last 4 overs, with 47 needed and SachinBaby and Abdulla at the crease, the task was almost impossible. From 114 for no loss in 11 overs, they had slumped to 162 for 7 in 16 overs. The writing was on the wall and with all their efforts, they finally ended on 200 for 7 in 20 overs. SRH had won by 8 runs. History was made. SRH champions for the first time. RCB three final losses would be gut-wrenching for them (earlier losses in 2009 and 2011 will hurt too). 

A terrific tournament was capped by a terrific final.
Warner's Davids had conquered the Royal Goliaths.

Man of the Match: Ben Cutting for his all-round performance
Player of the Tournament: Virat Kohli

Orange Cap: Virat Kohli
Purple Cap: Bhivaneshwar Kumar

Fairplay Award: Sunrisers Hyderabad (it has been observed since beginning of the IPL that teams that conduct themselves well on the ground are ones that do well in the tournament. This year was no exception)

Emerging Player of Tournament: Mustafizur Rehman
All round Player: A B Devilliers

Almost all top honors shared by SRH and RCB players clearing showing they were the two best teams in the tournament.

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IPL2016 Final: And Then There Were Two ... RCB vs SRH

#IPL2016
#IPLFinal
#RCBvsSRH
Bengaluru, M. Chinnaswamy Stadium

After a two months of heavy action and hustle-bustle between 8 teams, the two best performing teams have reached the finals. I wont say they are the best teams of the tournament though.

#RCB had a horrible start and they were precariously placed until the #Virat-AB show saved them the blushes. Their biggest weaklink, their bowling came good at the right moment too and they are now the team to beat on current form.

#SRH on the other hand, started brilliantly. Their bowling, arguably the best bowling side of the tournament, pushed them top of table early in the tourney but reversals down the line meant they had to huff-puff their way to the qualifiers. Its only in the Eliminator and Qualifier2 that they seem to build an intensity to win the title.

So, WHO WILL WIN THE CUP??

Batting
RCB have a clear edge here. Virat, AB, Gayle, Watson, KL Rahul, Baby, Binny are better than their SRH counterparts head to head. Virat beats Dhawan, AB negates Warner, Gayle negates Yuvraj, Watson beats Henriques on experience, Rahul, Baby and Binny seem better off than Dwivedi, Ojha and Hooda. Mind you SRH batting can explode anytime. Yuvi is due and has shown he can take the bowlers to the cleaners. Bipul Sharma's cameos in both previous games tilted victory towards SRH from tricky situations. Look out for him and Dwivedi. Dhawan is over due.

RCB will expect the law of averages has hit Virat just in that Qualifier1 game. If he scores his first 10 runs with confidence today, he will close the game. So will AB or Gayle. Thats why they are a more formidable batting lineup than SRH.

Bowling
The scenario changes by 180 degrees here. SRH has been the bowling side of the tournament and that too without too many spinners! Bhuvaneshwar and Mustafizur have led that attack brilliantly. Henriques, Boult, Sran and Cutting have played their support role very well too.

RCB on the other hand, have some issues with their bowling. Although Watson with all his experience and Jordan with his wily death over bowling skills, can do damage they have shown propensity to go for a lot of runs too. An off day would be mean chasing 20-25 runs extra with added pressure. Chahal has been their trump of the season though.His leggies have baffled teams and in rush of scoring against him, they have perished to his guile. Aaron, Richardson haven't done much to instill confidence of their skipper. Abdulla is a good spinning option alongside Chahal.

Experience of IPL Finals?
#RCB have experienced IPL finals before in 2009 and 2011 but lost both of them while #SRH are straddling unknown territory. Who will feel better? Guess, SRH because they have nothing to lose, they will treat it as a new fresh game but RCB with those two losses in their bag will carry bad memories with them.

Home ground Advantage?
Yes, very much with RCB. They will have the home crowd rooting for them big time and put pressure on visiting SRH. Also, Eliminator and Qualifier1 were played in New Delhi. The conditions, pitch were dramatically different than Chinnaswamy.

X-Factors
For RCB, it would be undoubtedly Chahal's bowling alongside #Virat-AB batting combination.

For SRH, it would be their key bowlers - Bhuvi, Mustafizur (if fit) and #Warner's batting.

Weather?
Rain is forecast for match day and this will make things interesting especially at the toss. Monday is reserve day for the finals though.

Preparations?
RCB qualified for the final on Tuesday (4 days ago) and already camped in Bengaluru since. They will have rested their players well, tackled niggling injuries and adjusted to the conditions better. 
SRH on the other hand had to sweat it out in Eliminator on Wed, Qualifier1 on Friday and then fly down from NewDelhi to Begaluru late last evening (owing to a flight delay). This has given them very less, if at all, time to recuperate and prepare for this game at the venue.

All in all looks like a SRH Bowling vs RCB Batting contest this.
Can't wait for the game to get started.
Let the best team win!!!

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IPL2016 AB Devilliers Houdini Act Pushes RCB To Finals v GL

#IPL2016
#Qualifier1
#RCB vs #GL
Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru

What a game!!

Roller coaster fortunes - one side on top for a while, the other gets on top for a while, then the first one and so on.... The game twisted and turned dramatically to give us our first #Finalist at #IPL2016.

Playing at home and in serious form, #RCB were firm favorites in this match although #GLions were ahead of them in the points table. Their weakness, bowling, is coming full circle and delivering on the back of some extraordinary batting performances from their top order.

#ViratKohli won the toss and expectedly put the #Lions into bat. Knowing very well that #Finch and #Baz #McCullum were going to come strong at them, he employed a surprise move to counter them. #Abdulla, the left arm spinner was employed in 2nd over. 

Voila ... immediate results. Baz misread the flight and smashed one down #AB's throat and three balls later #Finch edged one to slips where Gayle's bucket hands sunk the ball in. In walked skipper #SureshRaina under a lot of pressure. Two overs later, Watson employed Raina's bete noire, the rising bouncer, and induced a miscued pull to #Fineleg where #Aravind took a good low catch.

9 for 3 in 4 overs.
Round 1 to RCB. 
Huge advantage with all biggies back in the hut.

However, experienced heads in #DineshKarthik and #DRSmith got together to start the repair act. Smith was aggressive while Karthik circumspect. Together they added 85 runs 10 overs to balance things out. Smith was really aggressive against Watson, Chahal and Abdulla.

94 for 3 in 13.4 overs
Round 2 to GL
Parity restored.

After the customary #StrategicTimeOut, #ChrisJordan struck for RCB castling Karthik. 
#Jadeja and #DRSmith didn't last long either both perishing to Watson's experience.

115 fo 6 in 16.3 overs
Round 3 to RCB
GL slumped from a good platform to survival yet again.

The final push depended on #Bravo. He was joined by #Dwivedi who played a refreshing quickfire knock to boost the GL score. He smashed two sixes off Watson before holing it out to long on. Bravo followed him rightaway but some swinging by #DhawalKulkarni ensured GL managed to garner 158 from their allotted 20 overs. Neither below nor above par. These totals make games interesting.

158 all out in 20 overs. DR Smith - lnychpin of that innings.
Advantage RCB with their long batting lineup.
Don't count the GL just yet though. They have topped the league stages and know how to handle these situations.

The sight of #Gayle and #Kohli coming out to bat can send jitters down opposition bowlers' spines.
With 159 to get, they were in no hurry to blast away. 
But, #DhawalKulkarni had different ideas.

He steamed in to induce a false shot from #KillerKohli back onto his stumps for naught! The unthinkable had happened. Virat's first duck in 51 innings and what a time to get it? Qualifier1 of the IPL? He had not added anything to his season total of 919.

In his very next over, #Dhawal inflicted more damage. First he castled Gayle with a beautiful yorker on off stump and the very next ball foxed #KLRahul to edge behind to slips. 25 fo 3. 

Raina smartly got #Jadeja against #Watson and was rewarded immediately. Watto smashed hit one down DR Smiths throat while in the next over, Dhawal account for #SachinBaby too. 

29 for 5 in 5.3 overs.
Round 4 to GLions
RCB in complete disarray and looking down the barrel.

#AB their only hope now was joined by #StuartBinny. Binnuy swung his bat a bit to add some quick runs to get the momentum going, but was out soon after when #Jadeja trapped him leg-before right after a #StrategicTimeOut. 

68 for 6 in 9.4 overs.
Round 5 to GL
All but over for RCB unless AB delivers a magical innings.

And he set out doing just that with help of #Abdulla.
With rain looming large, he choose to attack the bowling while Abdulla got his eye in.

Together they crossed, 75, 100, 125 and 150. 
AB the ravage boundary hitter while Abdulla the touch master.
Raina tried every trick in the book to outsmart #AB but Dhawal's spell was already over, Jakati was disappointing while Bravo and Kumar were also taken for runs. 

When Abdulla hit the winning runs, the RCB conttingent poured out on the field congratulating AB and Abdulla on their Houdini act. What looked like a dead and buried game 10 overs ago, beacame theirs. RCB had qualified for the IPL finals! 

Raina looked dejected but admitted they lost to better team while Kohli looked relieved considering the horrendous position they were in.

Man of the Match: A B Devilliers

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