We must get used to playing in empty stadiums, that will happen: P V Sindhu
New Delhi: Playing in empty stadiums is going to be the norm in the immediate aftermath of COVID-19 pandemic and athletes must get used to it amid lingering fear among people, reckons PV Sindhu, one of India's greatest sportspersons.
The world of sports came to a screeching halt in March as the pandemic started to spread across the globe.
"People would be scared to come and watch matches and we should get use to playing without without spectators, empty stadiums. That will happen," champion shuttler Sindhu said during a webinar titled 'Let the Bird Fly! Moving On With Badminton', hosted by former India international Ameeta Sinh.
"It is safe for everyone in this situation and you have to be ready and prepared for anything and everything," the world champion and Olympic silver medallist added.
Also present in the webinar were former India internationals -- Ami Ghia Shah and Madhumita Bisht, an eight-time national singles champion and India's first woman to compete at the Olympics in badminton.
Ami Ghia Shah is a seven-time national singles champion, and like Bisht, has also performed well internationally.
During the interaction, Sindhu also spoke about how she fought her way back and qualified for the Rio Olympics after suffering a stress fracture in 2015, due to which she remained out of action for more than six months.
"When I had a stress fracture in 2015 I had pain but didn't tell anyone. I was bearing that pain and then told my dad that there was pain and we went and took an X-ray and a stress fracture was revealed. It was really bad.
"It took almost like eight months and I didn't play for six months. The 2016 Olympics qualification was there and I was almost depressed. I played almost 22 tournaments after the injury and got selected for Rio. It was not a small injury.
"Even though I was injured I was doing my upper body exercise. I believed that I can do it and I have done it."
Sindhu was "angry and sad" after being criticised for not finishing on top in the last two World Championship finals and the gold medal in the 2019 edition was her answer to all the critics who questioned her.
That triumph ended an agonising wait for an elusive gold for the ace.
"Maintaining the level is very difficult, tougher than reaching a level. I almost lost seven finals and people started asking if I have final phobia.
"I always wanted to win but there is always a next time I used to think it's a new match I need to give my best every time it's a different type of game.
"Every time it was a different strategy since there are 7-8 players in the circuit and we know each other's game."
Asked about handling pressure by Ameeta, who was also a minister in the Uttar Pradesh government, Sindhu said, "It has been very different before and after Rio. There are lots of expectations all the time. Last one year I have been doing meditation and it has helped me win matches which I was losing."
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
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.
