Kidambi Srikanth beats Olympic champion Chen Long for fourth Super Series title
Kidambi Srikanth continued his impressive run of form by winning the Australian Open Super Series - his fourth Super Series title and second in two weeks while playing his third final in a row. He beat Chen Long 22-20, 21-16 in 45 minutes.
VKidambi Srikanth beat Chen Long in straight games to win Australian Open Super Series.
Kidambi Srikanth has been on a roll off late. He has beaten the World No 1 Son Wan Ho twice in as many weeks, he has beaten the Chinese top-ranked shuttler Shi Yuqi twice as well. To top that off, he had won the title in Indonesia on Sunday following up on a foray into the final of Singapore Open Super Series in his last competition. Move to Sydney for the Australian Open Super Series and he was once again in the final – third in a row for him – and vying for a fourth Super Series title. In his path stood Chen Long – reigning Olympic gold medallist and former World No 1. Long, someone who had beaten Srikanth in all five matches between them and dropped just one game in the process. But all that counted for nothing on Sunday as Srikanth bridged that head-to-head gap and won his fourth Super Series title with a comprehensive 22-20, 21-16 victory.
Srikanth started with a service error which hinted at nerves for the Indian shuttler but everything from then on went in his favour – not by luck but by sheer persistence. He played better from the back of the court and once again brought in his deft drop shots to perfect use and smashed beautifully – bringing back flashbacks of his form and run prior to the knee injury that kept him out for a lengthy period.
But as the match progressed and the finishing line drew closer, Srikanth held firm and didn’t succumb to the excitement of it all. He didn’t let his level and game drop despite Long getting some luck of the net on more than one occasion. It was almost a case of tables turned as Chen was under pressure late in the second game as he served long and the victory was complete when Chen Long sent the service by Srikanth long.
It was almost ominous that during the second game, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Srikanth for his Indonesia Open win. “Badminton player Kidambi Srikanth recently won the Indonesia Open. He has made the nation proud,” he said and the shuttler has given the nation more reasons to be proud and maybe another mention in the Prime Minister’s address to the nation. Further, Srikanth jumped to World No 11 in the recent rankings and will most definitely enter the top-10 on Thursday when the updated list is released.
Production on Downton Abbey movie to begin in 2018
Downton Abbey, which concluded in 2015, portrays the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family in England and their servants amid the backdrop of such historic events as the sinking of the Titanic and World War I. The cast of the series included, Michelle Dockery, Hugh Bonneville, Maggie Smith.
Downton Abbey, which concluded in 2015, portrays the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family in England
A popular 2010 drama series Downton Abbey will have its movie soon as NBC Universal’s executive has confirmed that the production on the film will begin next year. Michael Edelstein, president at NBC Universal International Studios, announced the news at a red-carpet event for Downton Abbey: The Exhibition, which features costumes, locations and never-before-seen footage from the TV show, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“We are working on getting the script right, and then we’ve got to figure out how to get the (cast) together. Because as you know, people go on and do other things. But we’re hopeful to make a movie sometime next year,” Edelstein said, Cast members at the exhibition, however, said they were unaware about the movie plans of the network.
“Oh, well, you’ve got confirmation before us. We have no idea if that’s happening,” said Sophie McShera, who played assistant cook Daisy Mason. “But we would all love to be part of the film if it was to happen, for sure.”
Downton Abbey, which concluded in 2015, portrays the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family in England and their servants amid the backdrop of such historic events as the sinking of the Titanic and World War I.
The cast of Downton Abbey television series include, Michelle Dockery, Hugh Bonneville, Maggie Smith, Elizabeth McGovern, Laura Carmichael, Joanne Froggatt, Allen Leech, Phyllis Logan, Jim Carter, Dan Stevens, Rob James-Collier, Brendan Coyle, Sophie McShera, Lesley Nicol, Kevin Doyle, Jessica Brown Findlay, Penelope Wilton, Lily James, Siobhan Finneran, Samantha Bond, Shirley MacLaine, Rose Leslie, David Robb, Raquel Cassidy, Thomas Howes, Matthew Goode, Iain Glen, Julian Ovenden, Tom Cullen.
Tubelight: Shah Rukh Khan’s magical act in Salman Khan film reminds us of Little Boy. Here is why
When the teaser of Kabir Khan directorial Tubelight was released, it was revealed that it is inspired by Hollywood 2015 film Little Boy. While Salman Khan plays a role which was performed by a child in the original, Shah Rukh Khan is a magician, Goga Pasha, which was enacted by actor Ben Chaplin.
Shah Rukh Khan who does a cameo in Tubelight, plays a magician, Goga Pasha in the Salman Khan starrer.
While Salman Khan starrer Tubelight is getting love from the movie goers, it is having a tough time impressing the movie critics. But what remains the high point of the movie is Salman Khan-Shah Rukh Khan reunion on the big screen after a long gap of fifteen years. It is being said that Shah Rukh’s character brings a major twist in the film. But the big question remains what role is SRK exactly essaying in the film?
When the teaser of this Kabir Khan directorial was released, we realised that the film is inspired by Hollywood movie Little Boy that came out in 2015. And Salman is actually playing a role which was performed by a child in the original movie. For Shah Rukh, he is playing a magician, Goga Pasha in the film which has Indo-China war as its backdrop. He is playing a role which was portrayed by Ben Chaplin in the original film. It is Shah Rukh who gives Laxman Singh Bisht aka Salman Khan all the powers to help him search his brother Bharat who is a soldier fighting in the 1962 Sino-India war. After getting the powers, Salman regains his belief and becomes confident about getting his brother back.
To keep the excitement in the film intact, the makers of the film already gave a glimpse of Shah Rukh in the teaser though his face was kept under the wraps. Talking about the much-awaited scene, director Kabir Khan said, “Both of them (referring to Salman and Shah Rukh) are powerhouses and to see them after 20 years, it’s going to be a treat. You may or may not like the movie but that scene everybody will enjoy because first, it is a very important scene, it is a very sweet scene and secondly, shooting it was a treat.”
The two superstars who were considered to be arch rivals are best of friends now. During the promotions of Tubelight, Salman also revealed that it took him just a phone call to convince Shah Rukh to do the cameo in his film. “When Kabir narrated the subject to me, he said for this role we should get Shah Rukh. So, I called up Shah Rukh and told him, ‘In Tubelight, there’s this small’, and he cut me, saying, ‘It’s done’. He didn’t even let me complete the sentence. He just said ‘it’s done’,” Salman told the reporters.
ISRO-made system to alert users at unmanned level crossings
Road users will be warned by hooters once a train approaches an unmanned level crossing as railways are installing ISRO-developed integrated circuit (IC) chips on locomotives of trains. There will be hooters at 20 unmanned level crossings on Rajdhani routes for Guwahati and Mumbai.
Safety at unmanned level crossings is a cause of serious concern for railways and the public transporter is exploring various ways to address the issue.
Satellite-based chip systems will now alert road users at unmanned level crossings about approaching trains and also help in tracking train movement on a real-time basis. On a pilot basis, the Mumbai and Guwahati Rajdhani trains will be equipped with this system. Road users will be warned by hooters once a train approaches an unmanned level crossing as railways are installing ISRO-developed integrated circuit (IC) chips on locomotives of trains. There will be hooters at 20 unmanned level crossings on Rajdhani routes for Guwahati and Mumbai, said a senior Railway Ministry official involved with the project.
More trains will be equipped with such technology in a phase-wise manner, according to the plan. About 500 metres before the level crossings, the hooter will be activated through the IC chip, warning road users as well as the train driver near the crossing.
The hooter will be louder as the level crossing nears, and finally it will be silent after the train passes by. Besides alerting road users, the satellite-based system will also be used for tracking trains for disseminating information about their movement on real time basis. This will be of great help to passengers as currently train movements are tracked manually.
Safety at unmanned level crossings is a cause of serious concern for railways and the public transporter is exploring various ways to address the issue. There are about 10,000 unmanned railway crossings in the country which account for around 40 per cent of accidents involving the railways.
While the Railways have eliminated 1,148 unmanned crossings in 2014-15 and 1,253 in 2015-16, it has scaled up its target and now plans to eliminate all such crossings in the next 2 to 3 years, the official said. The satellite-based system will also help railways in mapping the area and the technology will come in handy at the time of accidents when it can be used to ascertain the exact location of trains and topography.
Olympic champion Omar McLeod sets sizzling 110m hurdles pace
Omar McLeod's run to secure a third successive national title at the Jamaica championships was the fifth fastest of all time, level with American Dominique Arnold's 2006 mark and only a tenth of a second behind Aries Merritt's world record.
Reigning Olympic 110 metres hurdles champion Omar McLeod ran a sizzling 12.90 seconds in Kingston on Saturday to lay down a marker ahead of the world championships.
McLeod’s run to secure a third successive national title at the Jamaica championships was the fifth fastest of all time, level with American Dominique Arnold’s 2006 mark and only a tenth of a second behind Aries Merritt’s world record.
Apart from Merritt, only Cuban Dayron Robles (12.87), China’s Liu Xiang (12.88) and American David Oliver (12.89) have run faster. From lane four, McLeod was quickest to the first hurdle and never eased off the throttle to better Hansle Parchment’s previous Jamaican record of 12.94 seconds set in 2014.
McLeod told Reuters the world record was now firmly in his sights. “Oh yes!” the excited hurdler said. “My new coach (Edrick Floreal) told me that every time somebody asked me about the world record I shied away from it last year and I don’t know why.
“But he made me fall in love with the hurdles again. It was a humbling experience because he made me feel like I just started hurdling. There were a lot of things I had to work on technically and it’s now all coming together.
And he said when anyone asked if I’m going to break the world record, I should say ‘yes’. And I’m going to do it.” McLeod’s impressive time came despite clipping a couple of hurdles, he said. His coach had expected him to run 12.85.
“I was not supposed to hit a hurdle, but I think I hit two. I’m finally doing some speed work and finally learning how to control my speed, finally attacking the hurdles fearlessly and not worried about hitting a hurdle. “So, God is good.”
Ronald Levy was a distant runnerup in 13.13, with Parchment third in 13.19. Fedrick Dacres threw 66.52 metres to retain his discus title and improve on his world leading mark of 68.88 set in Kingston in February.
Dacres will try to better his seventh place finish at the Beijing world championships two years ago in London. “I’m not satisfied, but I’m thankful, it shows that there is progress being made, so we are just going to go back and get it right for the world championships,” he told Reuters.
Danniel Thomas-Dodd heaved 18.80 metres to win her fourth successive national shot put title, while Natoya Goule won her fifth national 800m title.
The world championships start in London from Aug. 4.