Kowloon, Hong Kong: Star Indian women shuttlers witnessed mixed fortunes with Saina Nehwal bowing out and P.V. Sindhu advancing to the semi-finals of the Hong Kong Open in Hong Kongh on Friday.Saina lost her quarter-final match to local girl Ngan Yi Cheung while Sindhu defeated Xiaoyu Liang of Singapore.In the men's singles category, Sameer Verma advanced into the semi-final after defeating Wei Feng Chong 21-17, 23-21 in a match which lasted around an hour.Both games saw a gruelling battle between the two but in the end the Indian shuttler proved superior to clinch the match.In the other match, his compatriot Ajay Jayaram crashed out of the tournament after losing to local lad Ka Long Angus Ng 15-21, 14-21.In a lop-sided 30-minute match, Jayaram never looked in contention as the Hong Kong shuttler outplayed him in every department of the game.In the women's singles category, Saina lost 8-21, 21-18, 19-21 in a match which lasted over one hour.The 26-year-old Indian surrendered the first game easily but gave a tough fight in the second and third.
In the first game, the Indian shuttler started off on a poor note. She at one point gave away eight consecutive points to surrender the initiative.In second game, Saina regained her calm and matched the pace at which her opponent was playing. As a result, after trailing initially, she bounced back in style to turn the flow of the proceedings.The third game saw the Hyderabadi shuttler commit some errors but despite those, Saina, who was trailing by seven points (11-18), played some good shots to pull a level at 18-18.But Cheung proved superior during the crunch period of the contest and clinched the match 21-19.She will now take on P.V. Sindhu in the semi-final, who defeated Xiaoyu Liang of Singapore in quarters. Had Saina won the match, she would have faced her compatriot Sindhu in the last four stage.The Olympic silver medallist faced a tough challenge at the Hong Kong Coliseum before scripting a 21-17, 21-23, 21-18 win in one hour and 19 minutes.Sindhu was off to a difficult start with Liang taking the lead in the early stages of the opening game.
She trailed by three points at one stage but pulled level at 8-8.A run of four consecutive points saw her take a 14-10 lead and the Indian never looked back from there, going on to take the first game.The second game was a bitterly fought affair. Liang again enjoyed a better start, taking a 3-0 lead but Sindhu soon restored parity.The lead changed hands several times with the Indian taking a 16-12 lead at one stage following a four-point streak.Liang equalised at 18-18 which set up a tense finish. With both shuttlers locked at 21-21, the Singaporean took a couple of back-to-back points to take the second game and level the scores.Sindhu was in trouble in the third set as well with her opponent leading 14-7 at one stage. But Sindhu staged a superb fightback to win six back to back points and draw level at 15-15.With the momentum firmly behind her, Sindhu continued her resurgence to clinch the game and the match.KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Is "50 Shades Darker" duller? How about "John Wick 2" and "Lego Batman?"
FOX 4's Russ Simmons and Shawn Edwards weigh in on this week's Popcorn Bag movie reviews! “Fifty Shades Darker” is the second title in the erotic romantic drama series based upon the bestsellers by E. L. James. The story of a kinky S&M relationship isn’t bad enough to be campy fun and is about as erotic as a cold shower. Actually "Fifty Shades Darker" is a huge improvement over "Fifty Shades of Grey." But let's be clear the bar was really low. Dakota Johnson’s beguiling performance as the naive Anastasia Steele is the only thing this movie has going for it. Jamie Dornan as the handsome but twisted billionaire Christian Grey, is as drab as his name, however. “Fifty Shades Darker” could have been called “Fifty Shades Duller.”It's actually more focused. And a lot sexier, steamier and edgier. Keanu Reeves is back for more R-rated bloody mayhem in “John Wick: Chapter 2,” about a super assassin reluctantly drawn back into the business. The ultra-violent action thriller exists for one reason, and that’s to allow some of the best stunt people in the world to expertly ply their trade.
And Keanu Reeves was one of those stunt people. He actually did a lot of his own stunt work. The results are incredible. The movie is violently poetic and endlessly entertaining. Inspired by Hong Kong action cinema, this zippy flick gets 5 popcorn bags as a stunt reel, but the vengeance plot gets a little tiresome. Still, the skillfully choreographed action makes it a decadent guilty pleasure. Every bit as good as the first film which was a surprise hit. Nothing surprising about "John Wick: Chapter 2." Who would have thought that an animated movie about toy building blocks would have been blockbuster? But 2014’s “The Lego Movie” was just that, a cheeky, brash and entertaining surprise. The sequel, "The Lego Batman Movie" isn't quite as good, but is goofy and colorful romp that's sure a lot more fun than Ben Affleck’s version of the Caped Crusader. A lot more fun. The tone is perfect. Basically it's an animated satire. No not as good as the Lego Movie but every bit as zany.
WELLINGTON: Lego products are becoming increasingly violent as toymakers engage in an "arms race" to retain children's attention in the digital age, New Zealand researchers said Monday (May 23).The University of Canterbury team said child's play was becoming more brutal, with a higher proportion of weapons appearing among Lego's building blocks and war-like scenarios featuring in its themed kit sets."The Lego company's products are not as innocent as they used to be," lead researcher Christoph Bartneck said."The violence in Lego products seems to have gone beyond just enriching game play."In a peer-reviewed study published by the online journal PLOS ONE, the researchers concluded that Lego "showed significant exponential increases of violence over time".While Denmark-based Lego has been making plastic building blocks since 1949, the study found its first weapons were issued in 1978 when a castle kit included swords, axes and lances.An analysis found that weapons had steadily become more commonplace and were now included in 30 percent of Lego kits.
Bartneck said the percentage was probably higher as the data included only small, single-brick weapons, not items such the best-selling Star Wars' Death Star, which in itself is a giant planet-destroying ray blaster.In addition, the research examined Lego catalogues from 1973 to 2015 and found the scenarios depicted in the company's kits had become more violent."Currently, around 40 percent of all pages contain some type of violence -- in particular, scenarios involving shooting and threatening behaviour have increased over the years," it found."The atmosphere of the violent acts is predominantly perceived as exciting."The study said Lego was simply reflecting a broader trend in children's entertainment."To catch the attention of their customers, toy manufacturers are similarly locked in a metaphorical arms race for exciting new products," it said.Bartneck also conducted separate research released in 2013 which found the number of angry expressions on Lego figures was rising as the number of happy faces declined.
Lego has radically reinvented itself since it almost went bankrupt in 2003-4 as electronic games threatened its future.The privately-held company embarked on a bold strategy to embrace popular culture while shedding "non-core" activities such as clothing lines and the Legoland theme parks.Instead it began selling themed kits linked to popular movie franchises such as Star Wars, Batman and Harry Potter.It also created light-hearted computer games and animation along the same lines, paying off when "The Lego Movie" was a surprise hit in 2014.The result has been 11 straight years of growth, with the company announcing earlier this year that net profit in 2015 soared 31 percent to 9.2 billion Danish kroner (1.2 billion euros; Lego said it was a record-breaking year for the brand, with an estimated 100 million children in 140 countries playing with Lego bricks and other toys.Lego spokesman Troy Taylor said the company's products promoted a range of play activities such as construction, fantasy and conflict."