P V Sindhu enters quarterfinals at Tokyo Olympics
Tokyo, Jul 29: Reigning world champion P V Sindhu sailed into the women's singles quarterfinals with a straight-game triumph over Denmark's Mia Blichfeldt in the Olympics badminton competition here on Thursday.
The 26-year-old Indian, who won a silver in the 2016 Rio Olympics, notched up a 21-15, 21-13 win over 13th seed Blichfeldt in a 41-minute match.
Sindhu will next face the winner of the match between Akane Yamaguchi of Japan and Korea's Kim Gaeun.
"I started off well in the first game but around 15-16 I gave a couple of points because I was rushing in my defence. My coach was telling me that I was playing the wrong way and I realised that and I immediately changed my tactics and completed the first game," Sindhu told media after the match.
"Second game I was fine, I was maintaining the lead and finished it off."
Sindhu mixed her strokes well, putting her attacking clears and drops to good use besides smashing her way to finish points whenever there was a chance.
She anticipated the shuttle better and showed good court coverage during the 41-minute clash.
Blichfeldt did have her moments but she was too erratic to sustain the pressure on the Indian, who was always a step ahead of her rival during the contest.
Blichfeldt had a 2-0 lead early on but Sindhu soon took back control at 6-4 and kept her nose ahead before unleashing a cross court smash to enter the interval with a healthy 11-6 lead.
The Danish shuttler scripted a mini comeback, winning six of the next seven points, riding on a few smashes and Sindhu's unforced errors.
An unlucky net chord broke the run of points but Blichfeldt sent down two straight smashes to again narrow it to 14-16 before succumbing to a series of unforced errors.
The Indian revved up the pace in the second game to zoom to 5-0 but a wrong line judgement from her ended the run of points.
Blichfeldt tried to find an opening but Sindhu was always a step ahead as she again held a five-point advantage at the break.
After the interval, Sindhu lost a few points due to the occasional brilliance shown by her rival and sometimes, her own unforced error, but she was always in control and soon wrapped it up with a delicate shot near the net.
On Wednesday, Sindhu had defeated world No. 34 Hong Kong's NY Cheung 21-9 21-16 to top Group J.
Sindhu is the lone Indian badminton hope left in fray after B Sai Praneeth's maiden Olympic campaign ended in agony in the men's competition.
He went down in straight games to Mark Caljouw of Netherlands for his second defeat in Group D.
On Tuesday, the men's doubles team of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy suffered a heartbreak after failing to make the quarterfinals despite winning two matches in their group.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
NABARD projects priority sector credit potential of Rs 4.99 lakh cr for K'taka in FY 2026-27
Bengaluru (PTI): NABARD on Thursday projected a priority sector credit potential of Rs 4.99 lakh crore for Karnataka for the financial year 2026-27, registering a 12 per cent increase over the projections made for the previous fiscal.
Releasing its "State Focus Paper for FY 2026-27" at the State Credit Seminar in Bengaluru, the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development assessed the exploitable credit potential under priority sectors in the State at Rs 4,99,530.93 crore for the coming financial year.
The projections are aimed at guiding banks and financial institutions in formulating their Annual Credit Plans.
According to NABARD, agriculture and allied sectors account for 45 per cent of the total projected credit potential. Farm credit alone includes Rs 1,90,397.40 crore towards crop loans for agriculture and allied activities and Rs 47,166.71 crore towards term loans. Credit potential for ancillary activities has been estimated at Rs 28,876.81 crore.
The MSME sector has been assigned a credit potential of Rs 2,14,501 crore, constituting 42 per cent of the overall projection. Other priority sector segments include housing at Rs 28,119.01 crore, education at Rs 5,650.12 crore, export credit at Rs 5,983 crore, social infrastructure at Rs 1,936.91 crore and renewable energy at Rs 1,802.14 crore.
Agri infrastructure has been projected at Rs 81,485 crore.
NABARD stated that the enhanced projection reflects the growing credit absorption capacity across sectors and the need to strengthen rural infrastructure, agriculture resilience and enterprise development in the State.
The bank noted that the State Focus Paper is prepared through a consultative process involving banks, government departments and other stakeholders, and serves as a base document for district-level credit planning.
It added that the projections are aligned with sectoral priorities, infrastructure requirements and policy support needed to sustain inclusive and balanced growth across Karnataka.
