US Open: Prajnesh exits, loses against Medvedev

Agencies
August 27, 2019

New York, Aug 27: India's Prajnesh Gunneswaran got a taste of high-level tennis in his first-round exit from the US Open, losing to world number five Daniil Medvedev in straight sets here.

The gulf between Prajnesh and top-10 players were wide and apparent as he lost 4-6 1-6 2–6 to the Russian, who recently vanquished multiple Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic.

The Indian left-hander began aggressively but could not maintain intensity after losing the well-fought first set at Louis Armstrong Stadium on Monday.

The pressure-induced unending unforced errors from Prajnesh, who was trying too hard.

He had the heart to fight but lacked experience of playing at this level against the best in business.

Nevertheless, the 29-year-old from Chennai competed in all Grand Slams this season, though he is yet to win a round in the singles main draw.

Long rallies featured from the word go, though, Prajnesh took some time to find his range.

The Indian dropped his serve in the very first game of the match but broke back Medvedev in the fourth with a crushing inside-out forehand winner after serving at love.

The Russian broke back immediately when he placed a cross-court forehand from baseline in the open court.

It was a dogfight but Medvedev nosed ahead again with another break of serve and consolidated it with a hold.

Prajnesh mixed it up nicely by striking hard from the baseline with his free-flowing forehand and played some deft drop shots to set up points.

Prajnesh’s body language was aggressive while Medvedev largely remained calm as the Russian served big and his solid returns in long rallies helped him take those extra points.

Unforced errors from Prajnesh when Medvedev served for the opening set made easy the job of the Russian.

Prajnesh began the second set with double faults and a forehand error at 30-all put him down by a breakpoint, which Medvedev converted.

From here it became one-way traffic as unforced errors from Prajnesh continued to pile and soon he was down 0-3 with a double break.

He finally got on the board in the fifth game but was now trailing 1-4. The second set was over in no time with more and more errors coming off the Indian's racquet.

Medvedev took a medical timeout immediately after the second set to treat his left thigh but did not let Prajnesh take any advantage. He played smartly by making the points short.

Prajnesh only helped his rival's cause by not curtailing errors. He had lost steam and was going all out but the balls just flew over the lines.

Medvedev had no trouble in closing the match in his favour after one hour and 24 minutes.

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News Network
March 27,2024

IPLbettingsuicide.jpg

Bengaluru: Darshan Babu is an engineer who is fond of betting on cricket matches and has been placing major bets on Indian Premier League (IPL) games since 2021. He often borrows money after losing a bet, or to place one when he is short on funds. His 23-year-old wife, tired of the constant harassment by creditors, died by suicide.

Ranjitha was found hanging at her home in Karnataka's Chitradurga on March 18. According to the family, Darshan had racked up a debt of over Rs 1 crore.

He worked as an assistant engineer in the Minor Irrigation Department at Hosadurga and had been ensnared in the realm of IPL betting from 2021 to 2023. This took a major toll on the couple's finances. Allegedly, he had borrowed over Rs 1.5 crore to place bets after his luck ran out and he lost all his money. While he managed to return Rs 1 crore, cops say that he still has a pending loan of ₹ 84 lakh.

Ranjitha married Darshan in 2020. She realised the truth about Darshan's involvement in betting in 2021, claims her father Venkatesh.

In his complaint, Venkatesh said that his daughter was extremely distressed due to the constant harassment by moneylenders and this led to her suicide. He has also named 13 men who had allegedly lent the money.

He said that his son-in-law was lured into betting with a promise of quick money.

"He (Darshan) was not willing to get into betting, but the suspects forced him saying it was an easy way to get rich. They promised to finance his betting activities against some blank cheques as security," he said.

Cops during their investigation found a suicide note, where she detailed the harassment they faced. Darshan and Ranjitha have a two-year-old son.

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