Drop Shots galore greet Dominic Thiem courtesy Hugo Gaston, Swiatek ousts Halep

French Open 2020 4th round

Just turned twenty French tennis player Hugo Gaston pummeled US Open Champion Dominic Thiem with a barrage of drop shots - 55 in all, 40 reaped points directly or indirectly.

While Thiem breezed through the first two sets, it was not to be all hunky dory for him in the in the next two sets, where he looked confounded by this unusual strategy of his opponent.

In the 5th set, Thiem gathered his offensive, to unleash his lethal long shots to manage to wade out of being out of the quarter finals

Read more about the match :

https://www.tennisnet.com/en/news/french-open-2020-dominic-thiem-with-big-problems-in-the-quarter-finals

An even younger player 19 year old Pole Iga Swiatek ousted the number one seed Simona Halep 6-1, 6-2, in a thrilling match, packed with winners

More details:

https://www.indiatvnews.com/sports/tennis/french-open-2020-iga-swiatek-ousts-top-seeded-simona-halep-to-reach-her-first-grand-slam-quarterfinal-654266

Love this Lord Ganesh sculpture in ivory, but..

Love this Lord Ganesh sculpture in ivory for its ethereal aura, aesthetic quality and craftsmanship, but....

"Seated Ganesha"

from Orissa, India. 14th-15th century. Ivory

H. 7 1/4 in. (18.4 cm), W. 4 3/4 in. (12.1 cm)

Collection Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

What was done in the past is in the past.

Today, any and every usage of ivory must be totally stopped, to work towards ensuring a complete stop to poaching and killing of elephants whether in India or Africa or elsewhere

Whatever wrongs we humans did in the past, must not be allowed to continue.

Ivory trading was banned worldwide in 1989, yet ivory booty collectors continue in their bloody path, as the article below cites:

https://www.wti.org.in/news/20-years-since-ivory-trade-ban-elephants-still-threatened-by-poaching-stockpile-sales-2/

This may seem to affect the work and livelihood of craftspeople working in ivory, but they can easily shift to using other materials, and may in fact find newer and more profitable avenues, as every material throws up new possibilities.

The article below gives info on craftspeople changing over to using sandalwood:

https://gaatha.com/wood-carving-bahadurgarh/

However there are various restrictions on sandalwood, imposed by Indian government, and rightfully so.

I would recommend experimenting with waste material e.g. E-waste