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The spectacle of the sports handshake
Tennis features a fiendish scoring system and at-times ambiguous rules. It feels designed to cause irritation and aggravation like few other sports. The handshake at the end of a match is its apex. Two elite athletes who have spent the previous few hours on a rectangular battlefield with tensions gradually ratcheting up are then provided with the perfect incubator for all of those simmering resentments, in the name of politely saying "well done." Wednesday at the U.S. Open, Jelena Ostapenko, the tennis player most synonymous with fractious handshakes, furiously confronted Taylor Townsend at the end of their second-round match. Ostapenko, who had just been beaten, 7-5, 6-1, told Townsend she should have apologized for a shot that clipped the top of the net but stayed in play, known as a net cord. Townsend said she did not have to apologize before Ostapenko appeared to repeat the phrase "you have no education" three times. Townsend walked away, shook hands with the chair umpire and asked the crowd to make some noise for her win. Ostapenko's behavior with Townsend went far beyond her usual handshake protocol, which had until Wednesday become a harmless meme in the tennis world. Eight years ago at this venue, Ostapenko -- at the time the French Open champion -- introduced herself to the U.S. Open crowd by pointedly looking away from Daria Kasatkina when they shook hands at the end of their second-round match. "Notice the frost on the fingers," broadcaster and former player Mary Carillo quipped on the Tennis Channel. Despite being an outlier, the handshake altercation Wednesday exposed the theater of politeness at the heart of one of tennis's fundamental traditions. After engaging in the sporting equivalent of hand-to-hand combat, players show respect to each other for their endeavors. They also put aside any emotions they are feeling in a moment of artificial grace broadcast to the world. An important moment of respect between competitors has morphed into a moment analyzed almost as much as any tennis match, with the coldness of the exchange monitored and any possibility for drama teased out. At the start of 2024, Ostapenko lost to two-time Grand Slam champion Victoria Azarenka of Belarus three times in seven weeks. The first two post-match handshakes were no-look, while on the third occasion, Ostapenko held out her racket rather than her hand, prompting an eye roll from her opponent. "I can't speak for how she feels and why she does it," Azarenka said at the time. "Some of her line callings, I mean, it can be a bit comical that's just how she is. I don't necessarily judge. I'm just there to play a match." At the time of the Azarenka triptych, Ostapenko's frostiness appeared partly geopolitical. Ostapenko has Ukrainian family and, at the time, had a Ukrainian doubles partner; Belarus is a supporter of Russia and its ongoing war in Ukraine. No sport pits Russian and Belarusian athletes against Ukrainians and their allies as regularly as tennis, and no other sport has a designated moment of coming together like tennis does. After the invasion in February 2022, players from the warring nations stopped shaking each other's hands. Fans booed players who refused to shake hands because of this gap, before they slowly became acquainted with what was going on. That policy continues to this day. "There is a reason behind it," Ostapenko said of her snubs of Azarenka in an interview last May, before demurring to elaborate on those reasons and evading a direct question about whether it related to Ukraine. The Russia-Ukraine situation underscores the quandary at the heart of the handshake. It is on one level a cursory gesture; on another, it is freighted with meaning beyond the scope of two tennis players saying "good match" to each other. While Ostapenko may be the face -- or palm -- of the handshake's cultural relevance in tennis, the idiosyncrasies go beyond one player. This year has had a steady stream of handshake controversies, most of them in the usual realm of disputes: gloriously petty. Yulia Putintseva, also known for her at-times tense nature on the court, was involved in a scrap with Maria Sakkari in June after losing to the Greek player at the Bad Homburg Open in Germany. Sakkari took exception to Putintseva's no-look handshake and said during their subsequent exchange, "Nobody likes you." On the men's side, Alexander Zverev could barely look at rising French star Arthur Fils after the Hamburg Open final. Zverev, who lost the match, said at the Australian Open: "I think Hamburg, against Arthur, the handshake wasn't great from my side. I didn't like some of the things that, yeah, happened in the match." A couple of months later, Fils and Stefanos Tsitsipas had a testy handshake after an incident in which Tsitsipas smashed a passing shot at Fils' body from close range -- a legal tactic, but frowned upon. A common denominator in these confrontations is the way in which a small incident can build up in players' minds over the course of a match before spilling over at the handshake, often inflated far beyond its actual significance. At the Madrid Open in April, there was the odd sight of Damir Dzhumur going to shake Mattia Belucci's hand, Belucci refusing it then going back in for the handshake, which was in turn refused by Dzhumur. "When he moved his hand, there is no way I would give you another hand because I'm not a fool," Dzhumur said in an interview afterward.Some players simply refuse to follow the forced niceties of handshake convention. Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen, who is missing the U.S. Open with an injury, has developed a reputation for unfriendly handshakes but is straightforward about why. "If I lost, I will give you just a basic respect and that's it," she said at a news conference in January. "That's why you will not see me lose one match with a happy face to the opponent." She added, with a laugh: "If you saw that on me, that is very strange, which means I don't care about that match on that day." This is another of the fundamentals of the handshake: It is an accord of respect that has been pushed beyond its basic requirement of acknowledging that a tennis match has taken place. Zheng even forgot to shake hands with Aryna Sabalenka at the WTA Tour Finals in November, something Tsitsipas also did after beating Jan-Lennard Struff at the Madrid Open in April. Daniil Medvedev, himself no stranger to controversy, including being given a $42,500 fine this week for his antics against Benjamin Bonzi on Sunday, said in January that he thinks tennis players should be "a bit more open" to cold handshakes. "I can understand some people when they lose, you're frustrated, you don't want to smile at your opponent that just beat you."For Townsend, the Ostapenko incident plays out along a binary of its own. It was disrespectful and unpleasant. But it was also something, she said, that she could put on her TikTok and leave in the past. The spectacle of the handshake, this piece of tennis stagecraft that distills hours of intense competition into two hands clasped together, is likely to endure far longer. This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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Satwik-Chirag pair secures Worlds medal
Paris: Star Indian shuttlers Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty assured India of a medal at the World Championships after defeating their nemesis, Malaysia's two-time Olympic medallists Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik, in the men's doubles quarterfinals here. A year after the heartbreak in Paris, where they lost to the same pair and missed out on an Olympic medal, the world No. 3 duo produced a commanding 21-12, 21-19 win in 43 minutes to avenge that loss and storm into the semifinals late on Friday night. "Feeling really good. It was a rematch of sorts from the Olympics. And I think we finally got some redemption. It was the same court, same arena. A year back exactly. Olympics and now World Championships," Chirag said after the match. "It's always a pleasure playing against them. We've always had some really tough battles. At the biggest of events. And really happy we could win today." It will be Satwik and Chirag's second medal at the prestigious event after their 2022 bronze, extending India's streak of podium finishes at every edition since Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa's breakthrough bronze in 2011. The Asian Games champions will next face 11th seeds Chen Bo Yang and Liu Yi of China. Asked if the Chinese will be underdogs, Satwik said: "Not at all. Playing semi-finals, no underdogs." Chirag added: "Just like any other match that we played in this tournament. Take it one match at a time. They are a good, formidable pair. We played against them before. Really looking forward to tomorrow." Only hours earlier, PV Sindhu's exit in the quarterfinals had denied India a medal in women's singles. By the time Satwik and Chirag walked onto the court, the weight of expectations was unmistakable against opponents who had repeatedly broken Indian hearts. Chia and Soh had beaten the Indians in Singapore and China this year after crushing their Olympic medal dream in Paris last year. On Friday night, however, the world No. 9 Indians turned the script on its head with a dominating show. Chirag opened with a drive-serve winner before a 59-shot rally, the longest of the match, and ended with his thundering mid-court smash to put India 4-2 ahead. Satwik's booming serves and the pair's seamless rotation saw them reel off six straight points to lead 9-3. The top seeds went into the mid-game interval 11-5 ahead after Satwik conjured a deft cross-lift. Chia and Soh managed to take another marathon 49-shot rally, but the Indians quickly wrested back the momentum. From 15-8, the Indians tightened the screws. Chirag's sharp net play and Satwik's clever serve helped India keep things in grip. Chirag then earned nine game points with a deceptive return and they sealed it with another aggressive return. After the change of ends, the Indians dished out blistering attack to carry their momentum from the opening game, racing to a 10-5 lead with Satwik's sharp serves and Chirag's booming backcourt smashes setting the tone. The Indians had a four-point advantage after Soh sprayed into the net. Satwik and Chirag's ability to create those angled returns and vary the attack made life difficult for their rivals. Soh also struggled under pressure, leaking errors as India built a comfortable 17-12 cushion. But the Malaysians, bronze-medallists in Tokyo, clawed back with a spectacular 41-shot exchange at 12-17. The Indians made it 18-14 with Chirag dazzling at the forecourt. Then another long rally ensued at 15-19 that showcased their defensive grit as Chirag recovered after slipping to keep it going. Aaron then controlled the pace and Soh finally found rhythm as a good return followed by Satwik's smash into the net helped the Malaysians narrow the deficit to 18-19, sending jitters through the Indian camp. The Malaysians soon drew parity on Aaron's serve as Satwik miscued a return. They had won 8 of the last 10 points to make a comeback. In the crunch, Chirag took charge at the net, killing a crucial exchange to grab a match point. A quick drive serve from Satwik, and then it was over to Chirag at the backcourt, who sent down a couple of well-hit smashes. The second one sailed wide from Aaron's blade as India celebrated. "In the second game, even when we were leading, I knew it wouldn't be that easy. We have played them many times before and every time we have won in straight games, it has gone neck and neck," Satwik said. "I just kept telling myself, 'don't hurry for the point. Take it one point at a time'. I still believed we were in control and there was no need to panic. We had only given away a few points and I could sense they were under pressure. "We just wanted to play our A game and see where it takes us. From the first match of the tournament, we have been focusing only on ourselves and not on the opponents. I'm really happy with the way we played today."
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Israeli strike kills Houthi PM in Sanaa
The Iranian-backed Houthis said Saturday an Israeli airstrike killed the prime minister of the rebel-controlled government in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa. Ahmed al-Rahawi was killed in a Thursday strike in Sanaa along with a number of ministers, the rebels said in a statement. The Israeli military said Thursday that it "precisely struck a Houthi terrorist regime military target in the area of Sanaa in Yemen". Al-Rahawi, who served as prime minister to the Houthi-led government since August 2024, was targeted along with other members of his Houthi-controlled government during a routine workshop held by the government to evaluate its activities and performance over the past year, the rebels' statement said. The Houthis have repeatedly launched missiles against Israel throughout Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza. The group says the attacks are in solidarity with the Palestinians. Though most of the missiles launched by Yemen are intercepted by Israel, or fragment mid-air, this has done little to deter the attacks. Earlier in the week, Israeli strikes hit multiple areas across Sanaa, killing at least 10 people and wounding 102 others, according to the Houthi-run health ministry and government officials. The Houthis have launched missiles and drones toward Israel and targeted ships in the Red Sea throughout Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza. The rebels say their attacks are in solidarity with the Palestinians. In response to the Houthi attacks, Israel and a US-led coalition pounded the rebel-held areas in Yemen, including Sanaa and the strategic coastal city of Hodeida. Israeli strikes knocked the Sanaa airport out of service in May. The Trump administration announced a deal with the Houthis to end the airstrikes in return for an end to attacks on shipping in May. The rebels, however, said the agreement did not include halting attacks on targets it believed were aligned with Israel.
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On track to achieve fiscal deficit of 4.4%
Dispelling fears that the government may miss its ambitious fiscal deficit target of 4.4 per cent for the current financial year, Economic Affairs Secretary Anuradha Thakur on Saturday said the government is on track to meet the goal set in the Budget despite temporary mismatches which may have been exhibited in the latest monthly numbers.The statement from the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) Secretary assumes significance in the light of Centre's fiscal deficit rising to 29.9 per cent of the full-year target at the end of July as against just 17.2 per cent of the Budget Estimates (BE) in the same period of the last financial year."So this question (of achieving the target) has been coming up because of the latest numbers. I would like to say that quarter-by-quarter or month-by-month assessments of fiscal deficit numbers may not give a correct picture because of temporal mismatches, which may come in on the receipt and expenditure side."On the overall fiscal deficit numbers, our assessment so far is that we will be able to achieve the target," she told PTI in an interview.The Centre estimates the fiscal deficit during 2025-26 at 4.4 per cent of the GDP, or Rs 15.69 lakh crore.Thakur emphasised that the fundamentals of the economy remain strong even private consumption numbers which came out yesterday are showing positive movement.The gross capital formation numbers also showed that both public and private capex are strong and there is an anticipation these should be steadfast in the coming quarters as well."Government capex has been a big factor in holding up our numbers so far and not only on the fiscal deficit side but the growth numbers also remains robust as of now," she said.Commenting on the Q1 FY26 GDP growth of 7.8 per cent, Thakur said it reflects the broad-based nature of the economic expansion."Q1 numbers reflect the basic resilience of our economy. It reflects strengthening of the momentum in the economy and it is anchored in strong macroeconomic fundamentals," she said.Going forward, Thakur said, "We feel that the basic features or factors which have held us in good stead in Q1 are good performance of manufacturing, construction and service sectors and strong growth on the agriculture side, as well as the domestic demand factors which have bolstered the growth numbers.She exuded confidence that the momentum would continue in the coming quarters as well.India's economy grew by a stronger-than-expected 7.8 per cent in April-June, its fastest pace in five quarters. The gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the first quarter of the ongoing fiscal year was mainly driven by good showing by the farm sector, and also helped by services like trade, hotel, financial and real estate, according to the latest government data released on Friday. The previous highest pace of growth in the country's GDP was recorded at 8.4 per cent during January-March 2024, as per the data. India remains the fastest-growing major economy, as China's GDP growth in the April-June period was 5.2 per cent.
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Pagination

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