Satwik-Chirag, Lakshya finish runners-up at Hong Kong Open
Hong Kong, Sep 14 (PTI): India squandered a golden opportunity to return with two titles as both Lakshya Sen and the men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty signed off with runner-up finishes at the Hong Kong Open Super 500 here on Sunday.
Lakshya could not blunt the attack of world No. 4 Li Shi Feng and went down 15-21 12-21 in a rather sedate men's singles final.
"It's been a good week, especially coming back from World Championships where things didn't go as planned.(For) three to four weeks, we (have) put in a good work. (A) lot of positives to take from this tournament," Lakshya said after the defeat in the final.
"(I) just need to believe in myself more. I need to keep the same from day one what I was doing, the process," he added.
Satwik and Chirag, who bagged a second successive World Championships bronze last month, let go of a one-game advantage before losing 21-19 14-21 17-21 to China's Olympic silver medallists Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang in a tense 61-minute men's doubles summit clash.
"Yeah, obviously feels good. Been a good week, especially after the world championships a week later and here we are playing a final. Feels good," Chirag said.
"You would want to go and win that title but I think, credit to them, they played well. There's always a next time and overall happy with the performance."
For Lakshya, it was his first final since the Syed Modi Super 300 last November, but he could not match his familiar foe Li, against whom he was playing for the 14th time in a rivalry dating back to their junior days.
The Indian held a slender 7-6 edge in the head-to-head, but the Chinese has dominated this season with wins at both the All England and China Open.
The 2021 World Championship bronze medallist Lakshya made a brisk start in the opening game, surging to a 4-0 lead before Li found his rhythm with sharp body attacks and flat exchanges to close in at 6-7. The Chinese drew level at 8-8 with an athletic net kill and then reeled off five straight points with a mix of tight net play and steep smashes to take control at 14-10.
Lakshya tried to wrest back the front court but miscued at crucial moments as Li moved ahead 19-15. The Chinese then unleashed a jump cross-court smash to pocket the opener 21-15.
Playing with the drift in the second game, Lakshya again started brightly at 4-1, only for Li to claw back with measured rallies. Errors at the net and a wide smash saw the Indian trail 7-4, and despite producing some sharp defensive strokes to reduce the deficit to 9-12, he was unable to blunt Li's relentless attack.
The world No. 4 kept up the pressure, surged to 15-9, and eventually grabbed eight match points before sealing it with another deft cross-court net dribble.
For Satwik and Chirag, it was their first final appearance in 16 months since winning the Thailand Open, and the loss ended their perfect record in Super 500 finals, having won all four they had contested earlier.
The Indians, who have reached six semifinals this season, had a 3-6 head-to-head record against Liang and Wang coming into the match. They had beaten them at the World Championships in Paris.
However, Satwik and Chirag failed to sustain the momentum after pocketing the opener and, having conceded an inexplicable 2-11 deficit in the decider, were left chasing the game.
"I think the shuttles were a bit fast. They were quite good at the 3-4 strokes. Put us under a lot of pressure in the first 4-5 strokes because they were retrieving quite hard.
"So I think we could have better planned in the second set, especially the third set as well. In the first game we countered it quite well, kept it low, but we weren't able to do that in the second and third."
The opening game was a thriller, with Chirag unleashing booming smashes to erase an early deficit and give India a slender lead at the interval. The Chinese fought back to nose ahead, but Satwik’s thunderous smash and a precision serve from Chirag sealed the game 21-19.
Liang and Wang, however, wrested back control in the second, racing to an 8-2 lead and maintaining their dominance with sharp front-court play and powerful smashes. Despite a brief Indian recovery, errors at the net proved costly as the Chinese levelled the contest.
The decider saw Liang and Wang storm to a 5-0 start and extend it to 11-2 at the break, capitalising on Indian lapses in coordination. Satwik and Chirag saved three match points in a late fightback but eventually faltered with a wide return, allowing the Chinese to clinch the title.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
