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Indian shuttler SameerVerma dished out a clinicalperformance to outwitformer world no 2 Jan OJorgensen and clinch themen's singles title at theUSD 150,000 Swiss OpenSuper 300 tournament onSunday. The 23-year-oldfrom Madhya Pradeshshowed great anticipationand technique and addedpower in his smashes tobambazoole Jorgensen 21-15 21-13 in a lop-sidedcontest.Sameer, who had clinchedthe Syed Modi Grand PrixGold last year and reachedthe finals at 2016 HongKong Super Series, thus

lifted his first title of theseason and joined fellowIndians Kidambi Srikanthand HS Prannoy, who hadwon the title in 2015 and2016. "I am very happy towin the title. I wasconfident of doing well butI didn't expect an easy final.

I had beaten him narrowlyin Hong Kong, so I knew heis a difficult player to beatbut he is not 100 percent fityet as he is coming backfrom an injury. I had a wordwith him after the matchand he told me he is not100%,so it is a good resultfor him as well to reach thefinal," Sameer told PTIafter his victory.Up against Jorgensen, whomade a comeback thisseason after missing inaction for more than sevenmonths following a heelinjury, Sameer showed greattouch and control to emergevictories in the 36-minutecontest.

Badminton: Sameer VermaLifts Swiss Open Title

Panchkula: Minerva Punjab FCjumped to the top of the I-Leaguetable with a clinical 2-0 victory overreigning champions Aizawl FC in acrucial encounter at the Tau Devi LalStadium here on Monday.Second-half goals from AkashSangwan (51st minute) and substituteBazie Armand (90+6) secured all threepoints for the Punjab-based side whonow have a one-point lead oversecond-placed Neroca FC with a gamein hand. Minerva, after the win, are on32 points from 16 games. They playChennai City FC away on March 2followed by Churchill Brothers onMarch 8. Neroca (31 points from 17matches) have only one game in hand-- against East Bengal who are also incontention at third position having 29points from 16 outings.Coming into the match, Minerva had

suffered two consecutive losses. Butagainst Aizawl, the home sidedominated the first half in terms ofpossession as well as the number ofattempts on goal. The first chance forthem came in the seventh minutewhen Chencho Gyeltshen lofted theball for Gagandeep Bali who was onthe run at the edge of the penalty boxbut the pace in ball was just too muchto have a contact. Chencho tried hisluck in the 11th minute with a dummyrank near the box before unleashinghis shot which sailed over the

crossbar. William got another chancein the 27th minute when he foundhimself in an excellent position toscore from Kamalpreet`s pinpointedcross but his effort went inches wideof the goalpost. Aizawl, meanwhile,almost took the lead against the run ofplay when in-form strikerLalkhawpuimawia missed anopportunity to convert an immaculatecross from Ionescu in the 37th minute.Minutes later, Chencho missed aheader to leave the Aizawl dugoutrelieved. William missed arguably theeasiest one-on-one opportunity againstAvilash Paul but his horrible chipwent wayward before the referee blewthe half-time whistle. Minerva took alead early on in the second half whena brilliant combination play betweenWilliam, Chencho and Akash resultedin the first goal of the match.

I-League: Minerva jump to topspot with 2-0 win over Aizawl

New Delhi : Elated ather training partnerAruna Budda Reddycapturing a bronze medalat the Gymnastics WorldCup, Dipa Karmakar isoptimistic that theHyderabadi can bringhome a gold medal fromthe upcomingCommonwealth Gamesin April in GoldCoast.Aruna on Saturdaycreated history bybecoming the first Indianto win a medal at theGymnastics WorldCup.With the medalcoming prior to theCWG, expectations willbe higher from Aruna,who trained with Dipa,who finished fourth inthe 2016 RioOlympics."I am veryhappy with her medal. Itwas a very goodperformance. I trainedwith her since 2011 andwe were roommatesbetween 2014 to 2017,"Dipa reminisced onMonday."She was verydetermined to do welland always kept her faithin her hard work and wasvery hungry for medals.She had gone abroad fortraining before thisWorld Cup and it was a

right moment for her todeliver a medal-winningperformance at the WorldCup and she did," Dipa,who will not compete atthe CWG as she is yet tofully recover from a kneesurgery, added."I hopeshe can win gold at theCWG. There are others,also like Pranati Nayakwho can do well in GoldCoast."The 24-year-oldfrom Agartala hasrecently started trainingafter undergoing a rightknee surgery. Sheunderwent surgery inMumbai after injuringherself during a nationalcamp in thecapital.Therefore, afterthe high of Rio, Dipacould not competeanywhere due to anAnterior CrucialLigament (ACL) injuryin her right knee."I am abit sorry as I will not bethere at the CWG. I hadwon a bronze at theGlasgow Games (2014CWG). I have startedtraining. I am very happywith the way therecovery process tookplace. My target is to dowell at the Asian Games.I don't have any specifictargets," she said.

Dipa backs new gymnasticsstar Aruna for CWG gold

Kings XI Punjab on Monday named R Ashwin as their newskipper ahead of 11th edition of the Indian Premier League.With this, Ashwin has now become the tenth cricketer tolead the franchise. Glenn Maxwell (2017), Murali Vijay(2016), David Miller (2016), George Bailey (2014, 015),David Hussey (2012, 2013), Adam Gilchrist (2011, 2012),Mahela Jayawardene (2010), Kumar Sangakkara (2009) andYuvraj Singh (2008) have led the franchise in the past.Virender Sehwag, director of cricket operations, revealedthe name of the new skipper in a Facebook live session onKXIP's Facebook page. Beginning the conversation,Sehwag said that while 90% of the fans wanted Yuvraj to bethe team's new captain, he wanted a different captain for histeam. The Nawab of Najafgarh then said that the newcaptain was sitting besides him, and as the camera turnedtowards the left, the suspended unfolded. Ashwin, who hadbeen an intergal part of the Chennai Super Kings squad foreight years, finally bid adieu to the Yellow Brigade afterPunjab bought him for a whopping 7.6 crore after a biddingwar. Ashwin was a part of the Rising Pune Supergiant forthe last two years as CSK served a two-year suspension.At the IPL2018 auctions, KXIPwere involved in severalintense bidding wars as owners of all eight franchisessplurged money at the two-day event.

IPL: R.Ashwin namedKXIP captain

The Board of Control forCricket of India (BCCI) hasreleased a 15-man squad forthe T20 Tri-Nation serieswhich will be played againstneighbours Sri Lanka andBangladesh. Rohit Sharma,who led Team India in theT20I series against SriLanka in December, wonthe the three-match series 3-0 and recently took chargeof the Men in Blue to winthe decisive 3rd T20I andthe three-match series 2-1against South Africa hasbeen rewarded with the roleas captain to lead TeamIndia in the Nidahas Trophy

2018 in Sri Lanka.Team India opener ShikharDhawan will take the role asvice-captain whereasskipper Virat Kohli and MSDhoni have been rested forthe tournament.MSK Prasad, Chairman of

the All-India SeniorSelection Committee toldthe BCCI that the board hadtaken the players' form intoconsideration to avoid anysort of injury in acontinuous course as therehas been hardly any break

between tours for theplayers. “We’ve kept inmind the workload andupcoming schedule whilefinalizing the team forNidahas Trophy. The high-performance team hassuggested that adequate rest

should be given to our fastbowlers to help improveathletic performance,maximize rest and preventinjury.” “Mr MS Dhoni wasnot available for selection ashe had requested for rest,”he added. Suresh Raina,who has made an immediateimpact in the T20I seriesagainst South Africa, hasbeen selected for theNidahas Trophy 2018.Dinesh Karthik will replaceMS Dhoni as thewicketkeeper since theformer skipper requested tobe rested for thetournament.

Tri-series: Rohit Sharma to lead India inSri Lanka; Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni rested

Indian captain Virat Kohli refusedto bask in his team's success inSouth Africa as he received theInternational Cricket Council Testchampionship mace for thesecond year running. Somewhatincongruously, the mace waspresented to Kohli on Saturday atthe end of a triumphant limitedovers campaign. India won theODI series 5-1 and Twenty20series 2-1. Perhaps it was areminder to Kohli that second-ranked South Africa had won aTest series at the start of the tour."I'd say we are still 80 percent,"Kohli said of the Test team as helooked forward to majorchallenges in coming tours ofEngland and Australia later thisyear. "When we are able toachieve what we want to in the

two tours, we'll be more content.But our 80 percent is alsoexciting. To be a world-class side,you have to be 100 percent."Although the cut-off date for theICC rankings only comes in April,India cannot be overtaken. Apartfrom the mace and the glory Indiawill collect a million dollars inprize money.Kohli will left South Africayesterday having dazzled with hisbatting artistry and his no-holds-barred captaincy style. It isdoubtful whether any visitingcaptain in modern times has madea greater impact than Kohli, whostated on arrival that his Indiateam feared no opposition nor anyconditions: "We look at the pitchand adapt to conditions.Every game is a home game. It's

as simple as that." His early pressconference set the tone for thetour. Articulate, occasionallycombative with journalists whochallenged, for instance, hisselection policies, Kohli stayedtrue to his mantra of playingpositive cricket and not taking abackward step. He did notcomplain about the seam-friendlyTest pitches prepared for SA's fastbowlers, though ICC matchreferee Chris Broad rated thepitches for the first two Tests"average" and his successor AndyPycroft condemned the pitch usedfor the third Test at the Wanderersas "poor". Though India lost thefirst two Tests, they werecompetitive in both despite thetough conditions and won thethird. Then, they outclassed SouthAfrica in the white ball games.

Virat Kohli On Team India:We Are Still At 80 Percent

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TUESDAY : 27-02-2018SPORTSSILVASA MIRROR - Silvassawww.silvasamirror.com

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Despite Impressive Show In South Africa, Where India Won The One-Day AndT20I Series, Vibrant Skipper Virat Kohli Says His Test Team Need To Be At 100Per Cent For Truly World-Class Status

Union Minister

for youth

affairs and

sports

Rajyavardhan

Singh Rathore

(C) poses with

some of the

members of

the Indian

contingent for

the 2018 Gold

Coast

Commonwealt

h Games, at a

function in

New Delhi.

India Squad:

Rohit Sharma (Capt), ShikharDhawan (vc), KL Rahul, SureshRaina, Manish Pandey, Dinesh Karthik(wk), Deepak Hooda, WashingtonSundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, AxarPatel, Vijay Shankar, Shardul Thakur,Jaydev Unadkat, Mohammad Siraj,Rishabh Pant (wk).