r to some punishing Gloucester momentum.Humphreys changed

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. If she becomes the first Indian badminton player to enter a gold medal round at an Olympics later today, one of those many more she is counting on will have been secured. MLB Jerseys Wholesale . Oaklands loss to Seattle clinched the ALs best record for the Red Sox with one day to spare in the regular season. "I think everybody was kind of watching," catcher David Ross said. "Demp (Ryan Dempster) came out before he went to the bullpen and was just yelling that they lost. Stitched Jerseys . Jim Rutherford, President and General Manager of the Carolina Hurricanes, announced Wednesday that the team would assign Swedish forward Elias Lindholm to his nations team for the upcoming tournament. http://www.chinamlbjerseys.com/ . -- Anaheim Ducks defenceman Luca Sbisa will be out at least six weeks with a torn tendon in his right hand. Cheap Authentic Jerseys . - Connor McDavid scored 53 seconds into overtime as the Erie Otters came from behind to defeat the visiting Guelph Storm 4-3 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League action. Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping . The FA rejected Wilsheres appeal that the length of his punishment was "clearly excessive" and said Thursday his suspension begins with immediate effect. He will miss league matches against Chelsea on Monday and West Ham on Dec. Gloucester secured a crucial try-bonus point victory to leap up the Aviva Premiership as they defeated dogged Bristol 26-18 at Kingsholm.The Cherry and Whites fired blanks in the opening half as Bristol went in 6-0 ahead thanks to two penalties from full-back Jason Woodward.However, an improved second period saw centre Matt Scott, scrum-half and captain Willi Heinz and wing Henry Purdy all go over for tries, with a penalty try also awarded. Fullback James Hook also kicked three out of four conversions.Wing Jack Wallace and Luke Arscott got late Bristol consolation tries, one of which Arscott coverted.Gloucester began the match in determined fashion, with Bristol stuck inside their own half as the Cherry and Whites pounded their defence.Former England number eight Ben Morgan was on the rampage and made several holes in the visitors defence. Once they started to motor, the Premierships basement side took the game to Gloucester, and they went ahead when Woodward slotted a simple shot from 23 metres to put Bristol three points ahead.The visitors had Gloucester on the rack soon after as they reached Gloucesters tryline, with skipper Jordan Crane at number eight leading the charge - but could not breach a solid defence. Woodward, though, added a second penalty after 18 minutes and were giving the Cherry and Whites headaches.Skipper Heinz came the closest to grabbing a Gloucester try during a decidedly average first period when he was stopped two metres short of the line - and the home crowd vented their frustration when Hook, who has signed for Welsh region Ospreys for next sseason, missed a straightforward penalty.dddddddddddd.Gloucesters handling was poor before the break and all the endeavour was coming from the visitors - but it was a different story after the turnaround as the home side pressed forward.By the 50-minute mark, they had stormed into a 14-6 lead, with Bristol having no answer to some punishing Gloucester momentum.Humphreys changed centre Mark Atkinson for former England centre Billy Twelvetrees at the break and it had an immediate effect as Twelvetrees gave a scoring pass inside the 22 to Scott. Hooks conversion put Gloucester ahead. Gloucesters scrum overpowered the visitors inside Bristols 22 and, when the ball popped out at the side, Heinz snatched it to dive in from five metres alongside the posts.The home side had gone up a few gears and, when they drove a maul over the Bristol line, replacement prop Jamal Ford-Robinson was yellow carded for pulling it down. Ref Matthew Carley also awarded a penalty try, which Hook converted.Bristol almost got a try when replacement fly-half Billy Searle set a lovely ball inside to lock James Phillips but, on review, the pass was adjudged forward.It was tough luck on Bristol but they suffered even worse fortune when Purdy waltzed past two attempted tackles from 10 metres out to stroll over on the left for Gloucesters bonus point try. With seconds left, Wallace got Bristols consolation try in the right corner and Arscott got another virtually straight away. ' ' '