Padukone
is a coastal village located approximately 17 kilometres (11 mi) north of the
taluk center. Part of the village is surrounded by the Souparnika River and one
has to cross this river in an old wooden boat from Maraswami. It is in Udupi district notable
for the Krishna Temple. We grew up idolizing
beyond Cricket stars – Gavaskar, Viswanath, Chandra, Venkat, Kapil Dev, Krish Srikkanth, - hockey stars and one
Badminton player - Prakash Padukone who was ranked World No. 1 in 1980; the same year
he became the first Indian to win the All England Open Badminton Championships.
He was awarded the Arjuna award in 1972 and the Padma Shri in 1982 by the
Government of India.
Nozomi Okuhara is a Japanese badminton player, a singles specialist, well known for her
speed, agility and endurance. She won a bronze medal in the 2016 Olympics. She
became the 2017 world champion in Glasgow, Scotland defeating India's P. V. Sindhu in the finals. The fast-growing rivalry between two of the
biggest Women’s Singles stars added
another installment with the fierce
title clash for championship at the HSBC BWF World Tour Finals in Guangzhou,
China.
Both players
advanced to the gold-medal showdown in straight games. Okuhara having the measure of her compatriot
and defending champion, Akane Yamaguchi, while Pusarla Sindhu withstood a spirited surge from Ratchanok
Intanon at the end of the second game. The Thai ace – who won the World title
at the same Tianhe Gymnasium in 2013 – failed to capitalise on three game
points as her big-hitting and long-reaching opponent prevailed 21-16 25-23 to
reach the Finals showpiece for the second successive year.
The
BWF World Tour Finals, officially HSBC BWF World Tour Finals, which succeeds
BWF Super Series Finals, is an annual badminton tournament being held at the end of the year where the players with
the most points from that calendar year's 37 events of the BWF World Tour
compete for total prize money of at least US$ 1,500,000. This year it was held from 12 to 16 December 2018 in Tianhe,
Guangzhou, China. The 25 tournaments on the HSBC BWF
World Tour offer substantial prize money and ranking points for the players.
Good
news for India and the fans are feeling happy .. PV Sindhu is the new Champion
.. .. .. Olympic
silver medallist PV Sindhu made history by becoming the first Indian to win the
season-ending BWF World Tour Finals. The Indian superstar beat a familiar foe
in Nozomi Okuhara of Japan 21-19, 21-17 in the
final to claim her first title of the year. Sindhu had a tough time this year,
unable to win even a single tournament this year but the Indian shuttler was in
top form in this tournament and ended
the tournament unbeaten. In both games, Sindhu made a fast start but Okuhara
managed to stay within touching distance. Sindhu, though, had just too much in
her locker and won points at crucial junctures to maintain her dominance in the
match. The 23-year-old had beaten Ratchanok 21-16, 25-23in a captivating
semi-final on Saturday.
Pusarla Venkata
Sindhu won the Olympic silver medal, and
one of the two Indian badminton players to ever win an Olympic medal – other
being Saina Nehwal. Sindhu won silver in Women's singles at Commonwealth Games
2018 . She was also a silver medalist at the 2017 BWF World Championships and
2018 BWF World Championships consecutively. She was also a silver medalist in
Asian Games 2018 which were held in Indonesia. Now she has become the first
Indian to have clinched the 2018 World Tour tittle defeating Japan's Nozomi
Okuhara.
For
those interested - Shi Yuqi a
Chinese badminton player won the Men’s title. An up-and-coming name in
badminton, Shi Yuqi won his first Super Series title at the French Open in 2016
after he beat Lee Hyun Il from Korea. Today World
No. 2 Shi Yuqi upset the top-ranked Kento Momota to win the men’s singles final
21-12, 21-11. Shi Yuqi had never beaten
Kento Momota in three previous meetings. In fact, he had been able to take only
one game in those matches, so the Japanese was the overwhelming favourite
coming into the BWF World Tour Finals final. The match had a surprising start
with the World No. 1 being unusually quiet in the initial few stages. The
intensity looked to be missing as Shi Yuqi looked to be the thorough aggressor.
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
16th Dec
2018.
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