Badminton Worlds: Saina, Sindhu, Ashwini-Satwik, Praneeth in quarters
Nanjing (China), Aug 2 : India's Saina Nehwal, P.V. Sindhu, B. Sai Praneeth and the mixed doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa advanced to the quarter-finals, while Kidambi Srikanth suffered an upset in the pre-quarterfinals of the Badminton World Championships here on Thursday.
Saina defeated Thai fourth seeded Ratchanok Intanon 21-16, 21-19 in 47 minutes to enter the women's singles quarter-finals for a championship record eighth consecutive time.
Saina took her time to settle down and Intanon gave her a tough time in the early stages of the opening game. Intanon was leading 8-5 at one point, but Saina took six consecutive points to take the lead.
The Indian, a two-time World Championships medallist, continued to dominate after the break to take the first game by a comfortable margin.
The second game was a tighter affair with both players fighting neck and neck till the very end. But with the scores tied at 19-19, Saina took two back to back points to clinch the issue.
"Everywhere she was playing all those difficult shots that I have seen Ratchanok playing. I would say after 19 all, those two points I think Gopi Sir really played a big role there," she said.
"With those two points the strategy really mattered, the way he told me what to do and I just followed that I think the game really turned into my favour, but i would say the last two points were all about strategy."
Third seeded Sindhu followed Saina's path to the last eight round after moving past South Korean ninth seed Sung ji Hyun 21-10, 21-18 in 42 minutes.
Sindhu caught a brilliant start, going 9-1 up in no time. Even though Sung improved her game after the mid-game interval, Sindhu held an 18-8 lead before pocketing the game 21-10.
In the second game, Sung looked determined, opening up a 9-2 lead. But Sindhu slowly picked momentum and equalised at the 13-point mark before leading 18-15. Sung continued to slide as she lost the second game 18-21.
"Overall it was a good match and there were lot of rallies so I had to be consistent and very patient," the Indian, three-time medallist at the World Championships, said.
In the quarter-finals on Friday, Saina and Sindhu will meet Spanish seventh seed Carolina Marin and defending champion Nozomi Okuhara respectively. While two-time world champion Carolina defeated 15th seed Sayaka Sato of Japan 21-7, 21-13 in the third round, Okhuhara got past Goh Jin Wei 21-18, 22-20.
Chinese Taipei top seed Tai Tzu Ying will meet Chinese sixth seed He Bingjiao for a place in the semi-finals.
In the men's singles, world No.39 Daren Liew of Malaysian upset fifth seeded Srikanth 18-21, 18-21 in 41 minutes. Liew upped the ante just after the mid-game interval in the first game, taking a 17-11 lead which proved vital as he won 21-18.
The second game witnessed a see-saw battle but Liew orchestrated a superb finish by winning three consecutive game when they were tied 18-18.
However, world No.26 B. Sai Praneeth brought cheers to the Indian camp by defeating No.23 Hans-Kristian Vittinghus of Denmark 21-13, 21-11 in 39 minutes.
In the quarter-finals on Friday, Praneeth will take on Japanese rising star Kento Momota, who defeated Denmark's 16th seed Anders Antonsen 13-21, 21-17, 21-8.
Chinese legend Lin Dan suffered a 15-21, 9-21 defeat to compatriot third seed Shi Yuqi, who will meet Chinese Taipei's Chou Tien Chen on Friday.
Defending champion and top seed Viktor Axelsen of Denmark, two-time champion Chen Long will face-off in the Round-of-eight.
In the mixed doubles, unseeded mixed doubles pair of Satwik and Ashwini upset Malaysian seventh seeds Goh Soon Huat and Shevon Jemie Lai 20-22, 21-14, 21-6 in 59 minutes.
In the quarter-finals, Satwik-Ashwini will run into Chinese top seeds Zheng Siwei and
Huang Yaqiong, who overcame Indonesian 12th seeds Hafiz Faizal and Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja 21-15, 21-13.
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Dy CM Shivakumar confident of Congress win in Karnataka bypolls
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Saturday expressed confidence that the ruling Congress will secure a decisive victory in the Assembly bypolls scheduled for April 9 in the Bagalkote and Davanagere South constituencies, citing a favourable ground response to the party’s guarantee schemes.
These are ‘Shakti’, ‘Gruha Lakshmi’, ‘Gruha Jyoti’, ‘Yuva Nidhi’ and ‘Anna Bhagya’.
The bypolls were necessitated by the demise of sitting Congress MLAs Shamanur Shivashankarappa and H Y Meti, who represented Davanagere South and Bagalkote constituencies, respectively.
The Congress has fielded Shivashankarappa’s grandson, Samarth Shamanur, in Davanagere South and Umesh Meti in Bagalkote. They are locked in direct contests with BJP candidates T Dasakariyappa and Veerabhadrayya Charantimath.
“Both Bagalkote and Davanagere are very positive. Congress workers are doing an excellent job, going door to door and convincing people about the guarantee schemes,” Shivakumar told reporters here.
He said even voters who had earlier supported the BJP were now inclined towards the Congress.
“Even those who voted for the BJP earlier are saying they will vote for Congress. People want the guarantees to continue and are expressing difficulties due to rising prices,” he said.
Expressing confidence of an improved electoral performance, he added, “There is a strong sense that we will win with a bigger margin than before.”
Shivakumar also said he would travel to Kerala for two days and resume campaigning thereafter. “I am going to Kerala for two days. After returning, we will continue the campaign from Davanagere,” he said.
Referring to the shortage of LPG, including auto LPG, in the state, Shivakumar blamed the BJP-led government and called for immediate intervention by the Centre.
“The LPG shortage is due to the BJP. Auto drivers and those in the transport sector are facing difficulties,” he claimed.
“This is something the central government has to address. It must formulate proper policies and take precautionary measures,” he said, adding that the BJP should apologise to the public.
“They should come forward and apologise to the people for the inconvenience caused and resolve the issues they have created,” he said.
