Sania Mirza-Ankita Raina pair knocked out of Tokyo Games
Tokyo, Jul 25: Sania Mirza and debutant Ankita Raina were knocked out of the Tokyo Olympics despite dominating a large part of their women's doubles opener against Ukrainian twin sisters Nadiia and Liudmyla Kichenok, here on Sunday.
Sania and Raina were running away with the contest after bageling their opponents but in a dramatic turnround, the Kichenok sisters came back from the dead to pull off a 0-6 7-6(0) 10-8 win at court 11 of Ariake Tennis Centre.
Sania was serving for the match at 5-3 in the second set but perhaps nerves got the better of her and ended up dropping her serve.
From there on, it was not the same match, in which the Ukrainians looked out of sort, struggling with their serves and returns.
The Indians became the prey and Ukrainians pounced on them.
Sania and Raina were down 1-8 in the Super Tie break but reeled off seven straight points to make it 8-8 but lost the next two points to make an exit from the Games.
The Indians broke the Ukrainians in the second game of the match to open up a lead. What followed was a sequence of holds for the Indians but drops for their rivals. In just 21 minutes, Mirza and Raina had claimed the first set.
The Kichenok sisters finally got on board when Raina's backhand return sailed over the baseline in the second game of the second set.
Raina went up 40-15 in the third game but buried a forehand return on the net and Mirza also fumbled at the net to get to deuce point. The young Indian held nerves to serve out the game with consecutive points.
Nadiia's two double faults put the Ukrainians in trouble but they came out unscathed with some solid net-play, making it 2-2.
Sania hit a crushing forehand winner to earn a break chance in the sixth game but Raina's backhand return was dispatched for a drop volley winner. Another chance came India's way but Raina netted her backhand from the baseline.
Sania's backhand service return winner earned the Indians another chance and they did not squander it this time to go up 4-2. Raina had an easy hold in the next and now they were one game away from the second round.
Serving for match, Sania went 15-30 but pulled off a well calculated lob to ward off the danger. However, she made two consecutive errors to hand the Ukrainians their first break, the second being a long backhand.
From there on, the match changed dramatically and the Ukrainians started calling the shots.
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Middle East crisis: Airlines monitor situation, Akasa Air cancels Gulf flights till Mar 3
New Delhi (PTI): Akasa Air extended the suspension of flights connecting Abu Dhabi, Doha, Jeddah, Kuwait and Riyadh till March 3 due to the Middle East crisis.
Airlines are closely monitoring the situation on operating flights to and through the Middle East as some of the airspaces in the region remain closed for commercial flights.
In the last two days, Indian carriers cancelled 760 international flights to various destinations, as per the civil aviation ministry.
"Due to the ongoing situation in the Middle East, all Akasa Air flights to and from Abu Dhabi, Doha, Jeddah, Kuwait and Riyadh have also been suspended for March 03, 2026," Akasa Air said in a post on X.
Airlines, including Akasa Air, have cancelled many of their international flights for Monday.
"Our teams will continue to closely monitor the safety and security environment and proactively adjust our operations as required," Akasa Air said.
According to Akasa Air, for all bookings made to/from these cities until March 7, passengers may opt for a full refund or reschedule their travel at no additional cost.
Other airlines are also offering waivers for cancellation and rescheduling of tickets for a certain period in the wake of the Middle East crisis.
On Monday, Delhi airport operator DIAL, in a post on X, said ongoing political developments in the Middle East are causing delays or schedule changes for some westbound international flights.
Meanwhile, Air India, on Sunday, said it would operate its flights to North America and Europe using alternative routings over available airspaces in the Middle East.
