Indonesia Open: Indian challenge ends after Sindhu, Prannoy lose in quarters
Jakarta, July 6: India's challenge at the $1,250,000 Indonesia Open came to a disappointing end after both P.V.Sindhu and H.S.Prannoy lost their respective quarter-final matches in straight games here on Friday.
Rio Olympics silver medallist and third-seeded Sindhu went down to eighth seed He Bing Jiao of China 14-21, 15-21 in the women's singles quarter-final after Prannoy lost to another Chinese Shi Yuqi 17-21, 18-21 in the men's singles tie.
World No.3 Sindhu went on the backfoot straightway in the opening game before gaining lost ground as the Indian went in to the breather trailing 10-11.
But from then, it was one-way traffic from the Chinese world no.7 shuttler, who took a massive 19-11 lead before comfortably clinching it 21-14.
Sindhu, however came back well taking a 5-1 lead in the second before Bing Jiao bounced back to overhaul the lead and go 11-9 midway into the game.
The story was similar in the second half as the Chinese stretched her lead to 18-12 before Sindhu managed to gather a couple of points but that wasn't enough for her.
Earlier in the day, world no.14 Prannoy too suffered a straight games defeat at the hands of world no.3 Shi Yuqi to bow out of the tournament.
In the opening game, Prannoy fought hard to trail 8-11 at the break but the Chinese kept his domination throughout to pocket it comfortably 21-17.
The second game went on similar lines with the Indian trailing 8-11 midway, before eventually sinking to 18-21 and crash out of the tournament.
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Ready to face no-confidence motion, says Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah
Hassan (Karnataka) (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday said that the Congress government led by him was ready to face the no-confidence motion if moved by the opposition during the legislature session from December 8.
With Deputy CM D K Shivakumar by his side, he reiterated that they would both abide by the high command's decision on the leadership issue.
"Let them (opposition) bring in a no-confidence motion or adjournment motion or any other motion. We are ready to face it. Ours is an open book, transparent government. We are ready to face anything," Siddaramaiah said in response to a question.
However, BJP state President B Y Vijayendra and Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly R Ashoka, clarified that the party, along with the JD(S) has not discussed or decided anything so far regarding moving a no-confidence motion against the government.
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The winter session of the Karnataka legislature will begin in Belagavi, bordering Maharashtra, on December 8 and will go on till 19th of this month.
Not wanting to react to a question on the leadership issue, the CM said the Congress high command is very strong.
"D K Shivakumar and I will be committed to whatever the high command decides," he said.
Earlier in the day in Bengaluru, Shivakumar accompanied AICC Mallikarjun Kharge till airport from Vidhana Soudha, after paying tributes to B R Ambedkar on his 69th death anniversary, which had led to some speculation about possible discussion between the two on the leadership issue.
The power tussle within the ruling party had intensified amid speculation about a change in chief minister in the state, after the Congress government reached the halfway mark of its five-year term on November 20.
However, both the CM and Deputy CM had recently held breakfast meetings at each others residences, on the instructions of the high command, which is seen as a move to pause the leadership tussle between the two and to signal Siddaramaiah's continuation as the CM for the time being, especially ahead of the Belagavi legislature session.
