Sania Mirza bids adieu to Australia Open with quarterfinal loss in mixed doubles
Melbourne (PTI): Trailblazing India tennis star Sania Mirza's swansong appearance at the Australian Open ended with a quarterfinal loss to local pair Jaimee Fourlis and Jason Kubler in the mixed doubled event here on Tuesday.
Mirza, partnering American Rajeev Ram, lost the match 4-6, 6-7 to wildcard entries Fourlis and Kubler in one hour 30 minutes.
The 35-year-old Mirza is India's most accomplished woman tennis player, having won six Grand Slam titles, including three mixed doubles trophies.
She was aiming to add a second Australian Open mixed doubles title to her kitty after making a first round exit in the women's doubles event last week.
The Melbourne Park has been a happy hunting ground for Mirza, who recently announced that she will retire at the end of this season. Two of her six Grand Slam titles have come at the Australian Open.
Apart from winning the mixed doubles title in 2009 with compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi, Mirza also collected to the women's doubles trophy alongside Swiss great Martina Hingis in 2016, which was also her last Grand Slam win.
With Mirza's defeat, the Indian challenge also came to an end in the fist Slam of the year.
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Instagram removes BJP’s post claiming Cong ‘will snatch wealth of non-muslims’ following backlash
New Delhi: An animated video post shared on BJP’s official Instagram handle, asserting that the Congress party would snatch wealth from non-Muslims to ‘distribute it to its favorite community of invaders,’ has sparked significant backlash. Following the uproar, the photo sharing platform has taken down the post, reports Newslaundry.com.
Meanwhile, it is uncertain whether the post was removed by the BJP or by Instagram following mass reporting by several users as “misinformation” and “hate speech”. The video depicted Rahul Gandhi holding the Congress manifesto which transforms into the logo of the Muslim league. Furthermore, it sought support for PM Modi from every ‘Bharatiya,’ who is also shown wearing a saffron turban.
According to the report, it also contained a clip of PM Modi alleging that the former PM Manmohan Singh had said, “Muslims have the first claim on our resources,” insinuating that if the Congress were to assume power, it would confiscate the money and assets of non-Muslims, redistributing them to Muslims, whom it favored. Labeling Muslims as ‘infiltrators’, the video depicted historical invaders as looters who plundered India's resources and suggested that the Congress party continues to empower individuals from the same community.
The video then communicated that the Congress party’s manifesto is “nothing but Muslim league’s ideology in disguise. If you are a non-Muslim, Congress will snatch your wealth and distribute it to Muslims.” It also slinged the BJP’s official slogan ‘abki baar, 400 paar,’ and called that it was the need of the hour, since Modi only has the “strength to stop the Congress party’s evil plans.”
Similar claims have also been made by several BJP leaders. Recently, Union Minister Anurag Thakur stated that the Congress intends to “Give your children's property to Muslims.”
