DD goof-up: Ticker says Sania Mirza won ‘badminton’ title

DD Sahayadri carried the ticker between 2.30 pm and 3 pm. Express

SPORTS LOVERS, especially the fans of Sania Mirza, were left shocked on Sunday when Doordarshan News announced that the ace tennis player had won the ‘badminton’ doubles title in Brisbane. Some fans, who called up this newspaper, said for nearly half-an-hour, between 2.30 pm and 3 pm, DD Sahayadri carried the ticker, announcing that Sania had won the ‘badminton’ doubles title in Brisbane. “I was shocked to see the ticker being flashed for half-an-hour. Even the news reader announced the same… It was clearly a mistake and big one…but it was amazing that nobody in the news room could correct it,” said Basant Morwal, a resident a Sus.

Another sports fan, Rutuja Marale, a college student in Pune, said, “I am a die-hard Sania fan… I was wondering when did Sania start playing badminton,” she said. Sudarshan Pantode Director (News), DD, said, he was not aware of the error but would immediately get it corrected. Meanwhile, tennis ace Sania Mirza picked up her first title of the season on Sunday, combining with American Bethanie Mattek-Sands to lift the Brisbane International women’s doubles title, but ended up losing the World No 1 rank to Sands. The top-seeded Indo-American duo triumphed 6-2, 6-3 against the second-seeded Russian team of Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina in the final here.