Feature
Saina loses, settles for World badminton silver
Jakarta: It was heartbreak for Saina Nehwal and her fans as the Indian badminton ace lost the women’s singles final to Spanish top seed and title holder Carolina Marin to settle for the silver at the World Championships here on Sunday.
Carolina took just a minute less than an hour to beat the Indian second seed 21-16, 21-19 at the 9,000-seater Istora Senayan. This was the World No.1 Spaniard’s second consecutive win over Saina in five career meetings.
Though Carolina won the first point of the match, constant errors made sure World No.2 Saina had the lead in the earlier stages of the first game.
The Spaniard drew level at 7-all. But from there, it was just a one way show as the 22-year-old Carolina kept earning points via several winners, something that Saina was unable to halt.
Both shuttlers displayed brilliant athleticism but when it came to winning the long rallies and points at the net, the top seed proved far better than the Indian.
By the end of the first game, Saina’s body language did not look positive. On the other side of the court, Carolina grew more and more confident and proved why she is the World Champion by going on to easily win the game.
Saina started the second game on a more positive note. She started hitting some exquisite smashes, beyond the reach of the Spaniard.
With a brilliant display of on-court skills, the 25-year-old Saina took a 12-6 lead in the second game and looked well on course to level the match.
But the defending champion wouldn’t give up. With the help of some fantastic cross court drops from the back of the court, Carolina made a brilliant comeback to notch the next seven points and go 13-12 up.
Carolina almost played a faultless game. She picked up every smash, every drop that came her way and was at ease while picking Saina’s body smashes which did not help the Indian’s morale.
Ironically, the Olympic bronze medallist was not being able to pick Carolina’s body smashes.
The Hyderabadi somehow closed the gap at 18-all but two brilliant winners from Carolina saw her earn two championship points. Saina saved one but a wide drop handed the Spaniard her second World title.
This was the fourth final encounter between the two. They had also clashed during a quarterfinal at the 2013 Indonesia Open which Saina won.
This is the fifth time an Indian has won a medal at the World meet.
Prakash Padukone became the first Indian to win a bronze in 1983 in men’s singles. India waited for another 28 years when Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa clinched the women’s doubles bronze in 2011.
P.V. Sindhu won two back-to-back women’s singles bronzes in 2013 and 2014 and now Saina, for the first time, has won a medal other than the bronze.
The State Scores Extra High on Gaming-Friendly Industry Index
Meghalaya scored 92.85 out of 100 possible points in a Gaming Industry Index and proved to be India’s most gaming-friendly state following its recent profound legislation changes over the field allowing land-based and online gaming, including games of chance, under a licensing regime.
The index by the UK India Business Council (UKIBC) uses a scale of 0 to 100 to measure the level of legalisation on gambling and betting achieved by a state based on the scores over a set of seven different games – lottery, horse racing, betting on sports, poker, rummy, casino and fantasy sports
Starting from February last year, Meghalaya became the third state in India’s northeast to legalise gambling and betting after Sikkim and Nagaland. After consultations with the UKIBC, the state proceeded with the adoption of the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act, 2021 and the nullification of the Meghalaya Prevention of Gambling Act, 1970. Subsequently in December, the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021 were notified and came into force.
All for the Tourists
The move to legalise and license various forms of offline and online betting and gambling in Meghalaya is aimed at boosting tourism and creating jobs, and altogether raising taxation revenues for the northeastern state. At the same time, the opportunities to bet and gamble legally will be reserved only for tourists and visitors.
“We came out with a Gaming Act and subsequently framed the Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021. The government will accordingly issue licenses to operate games of skill and chance, both online and offline,” said James P. K. Sangma, Meghalaya State Law and Taxation Minister speaking in the capital city of Shillong. “But the legalized gambling and gaming will only be for tourists and not residents of Meghalaya,” he continued.
To be allowed to play, tourists and people visiting the state for work or business purposes will have to prove their non-resident status by presenting appropriate documents, in a process similar to a bank KYC (Know Your Customer) procedure.
Meghalaya Reaches Out to a Vast Market
With 140 millions of people in India estimated to bet regularly on sports, and a total of 370 million desi bettors around prominent sporting events, as per data from one of the latest reports by Esse N Videri, Meghalaya is set to reach out and take a piece of a vast market.
Estimates on the financial value of India’s sports betting market, combined across all types of offline channels and online sports and cricket predictions and betting platforms, speak about amounts between $130 and $150 billion (roughly between ₹9.7 and ₹11.5 lakh crore).
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Delhi are shown to deliver the highest number of bettors and Meghalaya can count on substantial tourists flow from their betting circles. The sports betting communities of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are also not to be underestimated.
Among the sports, cricket is most popular, registering 68 percent of the total bet count analyzed by Esse N Videri. Football takes second position with 11 percent of the bets, followed by betting on FIFA at 7 percent and on eCricket at 5 percent. The last position in the Top 5 of popular sports for betting in India is taken by tennis with 3 percent of the bet count.
Local Citizens will Still have Their Teer Betting
Meghalaya residents will still be permitted to participate in teer betting over arrow-shooting results. Teer is a traditional method of gambling, somewhat similar to a lottery draw, and held under the rules of the Meghalaya Regulation of the Game of Arrow Shooting and the Sale of Teer Tickets Act, 2018.
Teer includes bettors wagering on the number of arrows that reach the target which is placed about 50 meters away from a team of 20 archers positioned in a semicircle.
The archers shoot volleys of arrows at the target for ten minutes, and players place their bets choosing a number between 0 and 99 trying to guess the last two digits of the number of arrows that successfully pierce the target.
If, for example, the number of hits is 256, anyone who has bet on 56 wins an amount eight times bigger than their wager.
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