Sania Mirza bids farewell to tennis after first round defeat at Dubai Duty Free Championships
Darpan News Desk IANS, 21 Feb, 2023 01:17 PM
Dubai, Feb 21 (IANS) Indian tennis star Sania Mirza on Tuesday ended her magnificent 20-year-long career with a defeat in the first round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, here.
The 36-year-old India legend lost in straight sets along with American partner Madison Keys in women's doubles tie. The pair went 4-6 0-6 down to Russian pair of Veronika Kudermetova and Liudmila Samsonova in one hour long battle.
A mother to 4-year-old boy Izhaan, Mirza, who had turned pro back in 2003, ended her glorious career with six Grand Slam trophies.
Three of those came in women's doubles with Swiss great Martina Hingis. The other three were in mixed doubles, two of which were with compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi - 2009 Australian Open and 2012 French Open - while the other one was a US Open trophy with Bruno Soares.
Earlier last month, Sania was denied a fairytale ending to her Grand Slam career after she lost in the Australian Open mixed doubles final with Rohan Bopanna.
Veteran Sushil Kumar’s return to the World Championship after eight years lasted just six minutes as he lost his opening bout to Khadzhimurad Gadzhiyev of Azerbaijan here on Friday.
Former captain and batting legend Sunil Gavaskar believes that time has come for Indian cricket to "look beyond Mahendra Singh Dhoni" and invest in youth going into next year's World T20 in Australia.
September 19, 2007, a date which Indian cricket fans can never forget. It was on this very day back when former Indian all-rounder Yuvraj Singh set Kingsmead on fire hitting six sixes in an over bringing the world to its feet.
After becoming the first Indian wrestler to secure an Olympic quota for the 2020 Tokyo Games, Asian Games gold medallist Vinesh Phogat on Wednesday ended her medal drought at Wrestling World Championships by winning a bronze here.
Mukaida later reached the final to help Vinesh stay in the medal hunt as well as Tokyo Olympics qualification. Two victories will ensure her place in Tokyo Olympics.
