It is not at all the case that India alone is becoming a victim of frauds like cyber attack or digital arrest, rather such frauds are at their peak in foreign countries too. Now see, an entire tennis team was digitally arrested and threats, cheating, everything happened. This is the biggest scandal in the sports world which is being discussed widely. This led to the cancellation of an international tennis tournament as players became victims of ‘virtual’ kidnapping.
The Junior 30 event was to be organized by the Mexican Tennis Federation in Guanajuato. But after this shocking fraud the entire tournament had to be cancelled. According to the information, ten young stars and one coach were defrauded of money in this shocking scheme.
An adult, six girls and four boys, all members of a tennis team, were found held captive in a hotel in Irapuato, the secretary of security and peace for Guanajuato state said. It is understood that the victims were ordered to go to a specific location and switch off their mobile phones. All the players and coaches involved in this incident were from the neighboring state of Querétaro and they have now all returned to their homes. The motive behind the extortion attempt targeting tennis stars is still unclear. Virtual kidnapping i.e. digital arrest is one in which criminals deceive the victims by making them believe that a member of their family has been kidnapped or by telling them some similar dangerous plan. They then threaten violence or even death unless the ransom money is paid. This is when there has been no actual kidnapping or nothing has happened but they dupe their intended victim. Some virtual kidnappers operate from inside jail. The Junior 30 events are the lowest ranked events in the ITF Youth Volleyball. The kidnapping comes just weeks after a tennis venue in Mexico was damaged by Hurricane John in September. The tennis complex only opened in 2022, but was devastated by flooding from Hurricane Otis 12 months earlier.
How will Team India reach the WTC final now?
After losing all three test matches of the series badly against New Zealand, Team India’s chances of reaching the final of the World Championship are almost over. Although Team India has lost its top position in the World Test Championship (WTC) table and despite being in second place, it has become difficult for them to play the final. Rohit Sena will now have to win at least 4 matches of the 5 match series in Australia. In the third Test played in Mumbai, New Zealand defeated India by 25 runs and won 3-0. This is the first time the Indian team has faced a white wash in Tests since 1999-2000. The team was then defeated by South Africa 2–0. This is the first time that India has lost all the matches of at least a 3-match series. This is India’s fifth defeat in the current cycle of WTC, leading to a big drop in its points percentage (PCT). The team’s scoring percentage slipped from 62.82 to 58.33. India thus slipped to second place behind defending champions Australia, which has taken the top spot with a PCT of 62.50. India now has to leave for Australia to play the five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy. The importance of this series has increased now as both the teams will be competing for the top two spots. To book a place in the final, India will need to register a 4-0 win over Australia as that will take their PCT to 65.79. Even if they lose 2-3, there will be little chance of reaching second place and for this New Zealand will have to draw their series against England and South Africa. Defending champions Australia will have to register a 3-2 win over India to qualify for the second consecutive time. This will keep them on top in the race, even if their performance against Sri Lanka is poor later. However, they will need to win 5 of their remaining 7 matches to avoid being dependent on outside results. New Zealand’s historic series win in India has also strengthened their WTC final aspirations. New Zealand has moved up to fourth place with a PCT of 54.55, while Sri Lanka is at third place with a PCT of 55.56. There are 3 home Test matches left against England, due to which New Zealand can keep their hopes alive by winning all three matches, taking their percentage to 64.29.
Encouraged by their recent performance, Sri Lanka, which is in third place, is also in contention. There are 4 important Test matches left against South Africa and Australia and he can make it to the finals with 4 wins, which will take his percentage to 69.23.
South Africa is ranked 5th with a PCT of 54.17. They are also in the race to finish in the top two and make it to the WTC final at Lord’s next year. South Africa has 4 test matches left against Sri Lanka and Pakistan. He wants to win all four Tests and achieve a score of 69.44 per cent and this can only be surpassed if Australia achieves its best score of 76.32 per cent.
