French Open: P V Sindhu enters quarterfinals, Satwik-Chirag too win
Paris(PTI): India's double Olympic medallist P V Sindhu cruised into the quarterfinals of the French Open badminton tournament with a straight-game win over Line Christophersen of Denmark in the women's singles second round here.
Sindhu, seeded third, prevailed 21-19 21-9 over Christophersen, ranked 24th in the world, in 37 minutes late Thursday night.
The reigning world champion will face eighth seed Busanan Ongbamrungphan of Thailand in the quarterfinals on Friday. Sindhu had beaten Busanan at Denmark Open last week.
Men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, seeded fifth, also beat MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila 15-21 21-10 21-19 in an all-Indian clash to reach the quarterfinals.
The duo will meet fourth seeded Malaysian pair of Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik next.
Men's singles player Sourabh Verma, however, bowed out of the competition after losing 12-21 9-21 to Japan's Kenta Nishimoto in the second round.
On Thursday, young Lakshya Sen had sailed into third round of the Super 750 event with a comfortable win over Singapore's Loh Kean Yew.
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India & Israel elevate ties to special strategic partnership, vow to soon conclude free trade deal
Jerusalem (PTI): India and Israel on Thursday elevated their "time-tested" relationship to a special strategic partnership and agreed to soon firm up a "mutually beneficial" free trade deal even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly backed the Gaza peace initiative, asserting that humanity must never become a victim of conflict.
Following talks between Modi and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu, the two sides inked a plethora of agreements to expand cooperation in areas of trade, agriculture, energy, cyberspace and digital payment.
India and Israel also vowed to expand their already close defence partnership by working towards joint development and joint production of military hardware under the framework of the transfer of technologies.
In his media statement, Modi said India's security interest is linked to peace and stability in the Middle East, adding that New Delhi fully supports the Gaza Peace Initiative.
"India's stance is clear: humanity must never become a victim of conflict. A path to peace has been created through the Gaza Peace Plan. India has fully supported these efforts," he said.
"In the future as well, we will continue dialogue and cooperation with all countries," he said.
PM Modi landed in Israel on Wednesday on a two-day visit. It is his second visit to Israel in nine years.
In his remarks, the prime minister said India and Israel have a united view that there is no place for terrorism in the world and both sides stand shoulder-to-shoulder in countering terrorism and its supporters.
"Our relationship is founded on the strong bedrock of deep trust, shared democratic values, and human sensitivities. Our bond has stood the test of every trial of time," he said.
"Today, we have taken the historic decision to elevate our time-tested partnership to the status of a 'Special Strategic Partnership'," he said.
The prime minister also announced the establishment of an India-Israel critical and emerging technologies partnership to impart a new momentum for cooperation in areas of artificial intelligence, quantum, and critical minerals. "I am pleased that an agreement has been reached for the use of UPI in Israel," he said.
The prime minister, referring to the threat of terrorism, said India and Israel will continue to confront the menace unitedly.
"India and Israel are completely clear that there is no place for terrorism in the world. In any form, in any expression, terrorism cannot be accepted," he said.
"We have stood shoulder-to-shoulder in opposing terrorism and its supporters, and we will continue to do so," he added.
India and Israel also discussed the implementation of the India-Middle East Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) and cooperation under the framework of I2U2 (India-Israel-UAE-USA).
