PV Sindhu wins historic World Championships Gold

PV Sindhu produced a dominating performance to outclass third seeded Nozomi Okuhara from Japan 21-7, 21-7 to win a gold medal in the World Championships 2019. In the process, the fifth seeded PV Sindhu bettered her 2017, 2018 appearances in the World Championships final and became the first Indian to win the marquee tournament.

PV Sindhu, without breaking a sweat, closed the first game in 16 minutes. Nozomi Okuhara, on the other hand, continued to make unforced errors to allow PV Sindhu clinch the championship point and seal the final in 38 minutes.

With the historic victory, the Rio Olympics silver medallist Sindhu leads the head-to-head battle against Okuhara 8-7. The 2016 Olympics silver medallist had previously beaten the Japanese in the Indonesia Open 2019. Sindhu completely took control of the match from the opening game. She clinched eight consecutive points to make the final look like a walk in the park. Okuhara, on the contrary, looked out of touch and failed to produce any serious challenge for her Indian counterpart.

In the second game, Sindhu, who had defeated World No.1 Tai Tzu Ying in the quarterfinals, continued to display her brilliance from the outset, clinching seven consecutive points. She did not allow Okuhara settle down as the Japanese displayed her agony by screaming loudly with every point she lost.

British MotoGP 2019: Alex Rins wins

Alex Rins snatched a dramatic victory on the line on his Suzuki to win the British Grand Prix ahead of MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez. Marquez appeared to have held off the younger Spaniard, only for Rins to produce a spectacular piece of riding for his second win of the season. But Marquez still extended his lead in the Championship to 78 points after second-placed Andrea Dovizioso of Italy suffered a bad crash on the first lap.

Britain's Cal Crutchlow was sixth. Marquez led virtually all the way round and was on course for his seventh win of the season, but he could not shrug off Rins. It looked like the 23-year-old from Barcelona was going to finish agonisingly close until he zoomed past Marquez with the last manoeuvre of the race. Another Spaniard, Maverick Vinales, was third, with MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi a place further back.

It was another disappointment for Marquez, who had begun on pole position, as the same thing happened to him last time out in Austria. But the Honda rider is still 78 points clear of nearest challenger Dovizioso in the riders' standings with only seven races remaining and on course for his sixth world title. Rins climbs to third following his victory, while Crutchlow remains ninth overall after picking up 10 points for finishing sixth.

The Championship fight took a huge turn though when Albert Arenas wiped out Aron Canet, who is second in the standings, in the early stages, allowing Lorenzo Dalla Porta, who was third, to move 14 points clear with a seventh podium of the season.

Austria MotoGP 2019: Andrea Dovizioso wins

Dovizioso wins the Austrian MotoGP after a brilliant last-corner pass on Marquez. Italian Dovizioso is still 58 points behind five-time world champion Marquez despite pipping the Honda rider on the final lap to gain his first race win since the season opener in Qatar.

The pair swapped the lead repeatedly over the closing laps and Marquez looked set to finally break Ducati's Red Bull Ring dominance, only for the Italian to launch a perfect block-pass at the very final opportunity for arguably his greatest victory to date.

 

Rookie Quartararo took the early lead when Marquez and Dovizioso ran wide after a braking duel on the opening lap. The Petronas Yamaha rider then outshone the factory M1s of Rossi and Vinales fair-and-square to complete the podium. Miller fell from the lead group while Espargaro KTM appeared to cut out at the apex of Turn 3, Crutchlow falling in the chain reaction that followed.

Seven-time MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi was fourth, his best result since finishing second in the US in April, but he is a whopping 127 points behind Marquez ahead of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone on August 25. Joan Mir withdrew from the event to continue his recovery from Monday's post-race fall at the Brno test. Jorge Lorenzo was again absent after fractures to his vertebrae at Assen and replaced by HRC test and wild-card rider Bradl.