Kidambi Srikanth left gallantly. Saina Nehwal hobbled off hurting. The doubles teams of Jwala Gutta & Ashwini Ponappa and Manu Attri & Sumeeth Reddy exited without creating as much as a ripple.Pusarla V Sindhu is the last among them standing. Seven badminton players arrived in Rio, Indias largest ever contingent and only one among them can now return with a medal. On Thursday, Sindhu fronts up against Japans Nozomi Okuhara for a place in the gold medal match in the womens singles. Okuhara sits four places above Sindhu in the world rankings at number six and will present a huge stumbling block to Sindhus aspirations of securing a medal.The Japanese player has been one of the standout performers on the circuit in recent months. She won the season ending World Super series finals in Dubai last December without losing a single game in five matches. This year she has a win-loss record of 21-8, also capturing the All-England open in March, one of the most prestigious tournaments on the circuit. Though she hasnt won a tournament since, at Rio, Okuhara has rediscovered her spark. She won her first three matches comfortably in straight games before being stretched to three by compatriot Yamaguchi Akane in the quarterfinals.Okuhara also holds a 3-1 edge over Sindhu in their head-to-head encounters, although interestingly each of their four matches have been three-game affairs. Sindhu won the first match in 2012 at the Badminton Youth Asia under-19 championships but Okuhara has clinched the last three, including one earlier this year in Sindhus hometown Hyderabad at the Badminton Asia Team championships.For Sindhus coach Pullela Gopichand though, those numbers will have little bearing on the outcome of this contest, with Sindhu playing some of the best badminton of her life over the past week.Sindhu needs to be aggressive and attacking, just the way she has been in the last two matches, says Gopichand. I dont think we need to go by past results, this is a new competition and she is in a positive frame of mind. The Japanese girl likes to engage in long rallies, so we will have to be prepared for that.One of the key factors in the match could be the significant difference in height between the players. Okuhara is a lot shorter at barely 51 whereas Sindhu, at 510 is among the tallest players on the circuit.In the course of this tournament, Sindhu has used her wingspan to great advantage, combining her assured movements with the ability to retrieve shuttles using her reach. However, Sindhu believes that while being taller than her opponents can be an advantage, it can also be an area where she can be targeted.Height is an advantage and a disadvantage, she told ESPN before leaving for the Olympics. It helps you catch up with the shuttle quicker. On the other hand, players have read my game so they dont give me much to attack, since my reach is very good. So they make me play more downward strokes.Over her short career, Sindhu has been dogged by inconsistency, evidenced by her failure to have won a single Super series title yet. However, she does appear to have a penchant for putting together strong runs at big tournaments.She won bronze medals at two consecutive World championships and remains the only Indian to have done so. After a patchy year on the circuit, she has produced a captivating run in Rio, with victories over two higher ranked players in world number two Wang Yihan of China and world number eight?Tai Tzu Ying of Taiwan.She has performed well in big events, and shes performed well when shes had time to prepare well, explains Gopichand. She has been inconsistent a few times and squandered leads but I think thats a part of being so young. She has time and age on her side but she is a great fighter and has a great work ethic.Sindhu described the victory against Yihan as?one of the best moments?of her career adding that she hopes there are many more to come. 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The 27-year-old Scrivens will be joining his third NHL club since signing with the Toronto Maple Leafs as a free agent in 2010. The move also reunites with him with head coach Dallas Eakins from their time together with the American Hockey Leagues Toronto Marlies. RIO DE JANEIRO -- Britains defending Olympic taekwondo champion Jade Jones has hung onto her title after defeating Spains Eva Calvo Gomez in the final of the womens 57-kilogram division at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Thursday.In an action-packed fight, the top-ranked Jones used an almost continual stream of aggressive attacks that Gomez was unable to counter. Jones won 16-7. Jones scored two head kicks within seconds of each other during the first round for an early lead that she never relinquished.In the mens 68-kilogram division, Jordan won its first Olympic medal ever -- thanks to Ahmad Abughaush.The top-ranked Jones, 23, took the gold medal at the London Games and also won the European championships in May. On Thursday, Jones dominated all of her opponents, often scoring first off her lightning-quick front leg, before hopping toward her opponent while throwing repeated head kicks. Her British teammates have nicknamed her the headhunter for her trademark move.After her victory, Jones brought her coach onto the mat to celebrate before the two posed for pictures with the flags of Britain and Wales.Gomez, seeded second, won a silver at last years world championships. She and Jones are longtimee rivals and have often split major taekwondo competition victories between them.ddddddddddddhe womens bronze medals were won by Egypts Hedaya Wahba and Irans Kimia Zenoorin Alizadeh.Abughaush, 20, wrapped up a surprising day of upsets at the Rio de Janeiro Games by taking the gold medal after defeating Russias Alexey Denisenko in a nail-biting final on Thursday night during which Abughaush landed several jumping head shots that elicited gasps from the audience. Abughaush beat Denisenko by a score of 10 to 6.Earlier in the day, the 10th-ranked Abughaush knocked out second-seeded Dae-Hoon Lee of South Korea before eliminating Olympic champion Joel Bonilla Gonzalez of Spain, who won the 58-kilogram division at the London Games. Lee applauded Abughaushs performance after being beaten by him, raising Abughaushs arm in victory when he was announced the winner.Denisenko knocked out Turkeys defending Olympic champion Servet Tazegul before defeating top-ranked Jaouad Achab of Belgium.The mens bronze medals were won by Spains Joel Bonilla Gonzalez and South Koreas Dae-Hoon Lee. Cheap NFL Hoodies Stitched NFL Jerseys China NFL Hoodies Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Wholesale Cheap NFL Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping ' ' '