Feature
Sindhu defeats Rio Games winner Carolina to win India Open
New Delhi: India’s Olympic 2016 silver medalist P.V. Sindhu overcame her Rio Games conqueror Carolina Marin of Spain in straight games to win her maiden India Open Superseries badminton title at a packed Siri Fort Sports Complex on Sunday.
The match-up between Sindhu and Marin was a repeat of the 2016 Rio Olympic final which saw the Spaniard taking away the gold medal in a hard-fought encounter.
But in front of her home fans here, third seed Sindhu posted a 21-19, 21-16 triumph in 46 minutes to give another display of her fast-rising career.
Since the Rio final, it was the second contest between the two shuttlers and the 21-year-old Hyderabadi has won both. With this win, Sindhu also equalised 5-5 in career meetings against the two-time reigning world champion.
The Spanish top seed struggled with her net game which proved to be the difference between the two. But Sindhu also had to be credited for showing her ever-improving game, especially in the cross-court net-game and defence.
Backed by a partisan crowd, Sindhu got off to a flying start, opening up a 6-1 lead but Marin got her act together to reduce the deficit to one at 6-7, thanks to her delectable half smashes.
Sindhu then upped the ante and then pushed Marin into all corners. Hitting to the right of left-hander Marin, Sindhu gained the ascendancy even though the fighting Marin kept coming back at her.
Sindhu felt the pressure as Marin equalised at the 16-point mark and for the first took the lead at the next point. The see-saw game continued till the 19-point mark. Then, a powerful stroke from Sindhu to which Marin put it wide made it 20-19 for the Indian. Sindhu then sealed the first game when Marin was slow to defend a half smash.
The second game also saw Sindhu getting in the lead early, forcing Marin to play the catch-up game.
Marin seemed to be struggling with her movement due to a right foot niggle. But the warrior that she is, the Spaniard fought back to come within a point of equalising at the seven-point mark.
But Sindhu pushed on, holding an 11-7 lead at the mid-game break. Marin fired two angling smashes to make it 9-11 before the Indian snatched three consecutive points to have a five-point advantage.
Then onwards, double World Championship bronze medallist Sindhu never looked back and sealed the match with a 21-16 victory.
This was also her second title of the season after her win at the Syed Modi Grand Prix in Lucknow early this year.
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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