Sindhu loses to Marin in ill-tempered Denmark Open semifinal
both shown yellow card for verbal exchanges
Odense (Denmark) (PTI): Struggling Indian shuttler PV Sindhu lost to her old nemesis Carolina Marin of Spain in three games in an ill-tempered semifinal of the Denmark Open Super 750 tournament, which saw both players receive yellow cards for verbal exchanges, here on Saturday.
Sindhu, who has been struggling the whole season, lost 18-21, 21-19, 7-21 in the match that lasted one hour and 13 minutes. This was Sindhu's fifth loss on the trot against Marin who had beaten the Indian in that memorable 2016 Rio Olympics final as well as the 2018 World Championships summit clash.
World number 12 Sindhu and Marin, currently ranked sixth, had earlier talked about good camaraderie between them but they showed none of it on the court on Saturday.
Both were warned verbally by the umpire multiple times before being shown yellow cards in the deciding game. The umpire initially called both the players to tone down their celebrations after winning points.
But Marin continued to scream and celebrate while Sindhu was warned twice for taking longer time in receiving serve.
Marin was warned twice for loud celebrations after taking the first game 21-18.
In the decider after Sindhu won the second game, the umpire warned the Indian to be ready to receive serve quickly. At that point, Sinhdu was heard saying 'you allowed her to shout, so you ask her and then I will be ready'.
Just after that, the shuttle fell on Sindhu's court and both reached to pick it, leading to another verbal altercation. The chair umpire called both the players and flashed yellow cards to them. Marin was also told not to pick shuttle from Sindhu's side.
Sindhu said her opponent "was wrong on her part" but added that rivalries are good for the sport.
"Whenever we play, there are some other things going on on court, so yeah... a lot of people talk about it. It feels good that the competition is always high and the rivalry should be there because that's how the sport grows," said Sindhu.
"But today, I think, it was a bit more rivalry in the court but I just thought she (Marin) was wrong on her part."
In the first game, the two were locked 3-3 and then 7-7. Moments of brilliance were followed by odd errors from both as the score read 18-18.
The Spaniard then unleashed a body smash and grabbed two games points when Sindhu's backhand hit the net and followed it with a powerful smash to earn the bragging rights.
Sindhu, who had famously hugged Marin after the Rio Olympics final defeat, had a solid start to the second game, leading 6-2. The Indian zoomed 10-3 ahead as she showed better control at the net, while Marin was too erratic.
After the interval, Marin took the initiative and soon the rallies got shorter and faster with the Spaniard producing the winners with solid net-play.
Sindhu ended a stretch of seven straight points after winning a fast exchange to maintain the 12-10 lead. Sindhu then had four game points at 20-16. Marin saved three before Sindhu sealed it with a smash to take the match to the decider.
It was Marin who took the initiative in the decider, moving to 3-0 and then 8-2.
Marin was 14-3 up and around that time both were shown yellow cards for engaging in a verbal duel. The incident seemed to rattle Sindhu as nothing went her way and it was one way traffic. Soon, Marin ended Sindhu's misery after having 13 match points.
Sindhu said that the last two tournaments she had played in Europe had given her a lot of confidence.
"It is a good start. I would say, the European circuit, the Arctic Open and the Denmark Open. I couldn't go to the finals but playing in the semifinals, I'm slowly improving myself. It is in itself a big boost for me and gives me a lot of confidence. A lot of positives to take from here," added Sindhu.
Sindhu had also reached the semifinals at the Arctic Open Super 500 last week in Finland.
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Los Angeles county wildfires could be costliest in US history, early estimates say
Los Angeles, Jan 11: The wildfires that erupted this week across Los Angeles County are still raging, but already are projected to be among the costliest natural disasters in US history.
The devastating blazes have killed at least 11 people and incinerated more than 12,000 structures since Tuesday, laying waste to entire neighbourhoods once home to multimillion-dollar properties.
While it's still too early for an accurate tally of the financial toll, the losses so far likely make the wildfires the costliest ever in the US, according to various estimates.
A preliminary estimate by AccuWeather put the damage and economic losses so far between USD 135 billion and USD 150 billion. By comparison, AccuWeather estimated the damage and economic losses caused by Hurricane Helene, which tore across six southeastern states last fall, at USD 225 billion to USD 250 billion.
“This will be the costliest wildfire in California modern history and also very likely the costliest wildfire in US modern history, because of the fires occurring in the densely populated areas around Los Angeles with some of the highest-valued real estate in the country,” said Jonathan Porter, the private firm's chief meteorologist.
AccuWeather factors in a multitude of variables in its estimates, including damage to homes, businesses, infrastructure and vehicles, as well as immediate and long-term health care costs, lost wages and supply chain interruptions.
The insurance broker Aon PLC also said Friday that the LA County wildfires will likely end up being the costliest in US history, although it did not issue an estimate. Aon ranks a wildfire known as the Camp Fire in Paradise, California, in 2018 as the costliest in US history up to now at USD 12.5 billion, adjusted for inflation. The Camp Fire killed 85 people and destroyed about 11,000 homes.
The LA County wildfires, which were fuelled by hurricane-force Santa Ana winds and an extreme drought, remained largely uncontained Saturday. That means the final tally of losses from the blazes is likely to increase, perhaps substantially.
“To put this into perspective, the total damage and economic loss from this wildfire disaster could reach nearly 4 per cent of the annual GDP of the state of California,” AccuWeather's Porter said.
In a report Friday, Moody's also concluded that the wildfires would prove to be the costliest in US history, specifically because they have ripped through densely populated areas with higher-end properties.
While the state is no stranger to major wildfires, they have generally been concentrated in inland areas that are not densely populated. That's led to less destruction per acre, and in damage to less expensive homes, Moody's noted.
That's far from the case this time, with one of the largest conflagrations destroying thousands of properties across the Pacific Palisades and Malibu, home to many Hollywood stars and executives with multimillion-dollar properties. Already, numerous celebrities have lost homes to the fires.
“The scale and intensity of the blazes, combined with their geographic footprint, suggest a staggering price tag, both in terms of the human cost and the economic toll,” Moody's analysts wrote. The report did not include a preliminary cost estimate of the wildfire damage.
It could be several months before a concrete tally of the financial losses from the wildfires will be possible.
“We're in the very early stages of this disaster,” Porter said.
