P V Sindhu settles for silver in BWF World Tour Finals, loses to An Seyoung
Bali(PTI): Indian badminton ace P V Sindhu settled for a silver medal at the BWF World Tour Finals after going down meekly against Korean teen sensation An Seyoung in the summit clash, here on Sunday.
Sindhu, the reigning world champion and two-time Olympic medallist, could neither match the pace nor breach the defence of the world number six Korean, losing 16-21 12-21 in the 40-minute lop-sided clash.
It was Sindhu's third successive loss -- all straight games -- to the Korean in as many meetings. With this victory, An Seyoung became the first ever South Korean woman to win the season-ending title.
It was also her third straight title in Bali, following wins at the Indonesia Masters and Indonesia Open in the last two weeks.
Making her third final appearance in the year-end tournament, world number seven Sindhu looked a pale shadow of the player who had claimed the title in 2018 to become the only Indian to achieve the feat.
"It was a good game. An Seyoung is a good player so I don't think it was going to be easy. I was prepared for a good match," Sindhu said after the title clash.
"From the beginning I should not have given her lead because in the end I came back covering few points. It is a bit sad but lot to learn.
"It has been a good three weeks in Bali. So lot of positives to take from here and it's time to go back, recover and get prepared for the world championships," added the 26-year-old.
Up against the 19-year-old Korean, Sindhu once again looked short of ideas. She couldn't mount her attacking game or make use of the full court.
An Seyoung looked more polished at the nets and rode on her good quality of strokes. She produced some sensational full stretch diving saves with her swift movement to blunt Sindhu's game plan.
The Indian had a forgettable start and was left to fight a tough battle after lagging 0-4.
Sindhu played a good rally to log her first points with a cross court return. She tried to narrow the gap by engaging her rival in rallies but An Seyoung was quick on her feet and showed better anticipation to always keep her nose ahead.
The Korean doubled the lead to 16-8 after resumption. Sindhu tried to make up the deficit with a few good points but the Korean managed to collect eight game points.
Sindhu saved four game points by putting pressure on her opponent's backhand, while the Korean also sent one long. An Seyoung, however, sealed the opening game with a body return.
"During the rally, the shot which I wanted to attack, I was making mistakes. It was going side outs and points which I had to take were going to net. It is part of the game and it happens at times," said Sindhu.
The second game started on an even keel with Sindhu managing to take a 5-4 lead for the first time but the agile Korean was quick to wrest back the lead after the Indian went long twice.
The teen shuttler soon extended her lead to 10-6 as she was relentless in the rallies, sending everything back to Sindhu. A razor sharp return on her opponent's forehand gave her a 11-8 advantage at the break.
After the interval, An Seyoung continued to control the proceedings, galloping to a 15-8 lead with another exceptional full dive return.
In a jiffy, An Seyoung grabbed a massive 10 match points. Sindhu saved two before sending one to the net as the Korean celebrated.
Sindhu will strive to defend her title at the World Championships in Huelva, Spain starting December 12.
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Congress leader Harish Rawat files FIR against BJP over 'misinformation' campaign against him
Dehradun (PTI) Senior Congress leader and former Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat on Tuesday filed a police complaint here against the alleged misinformation campaign being carried out against him by BJP on social media.
Rawat, who reached the Nehru Colony police station with his supporters, handed over a written complaint along with a pen drive and other evidence to the police.
Based on this, an FIR was registered under relevant sections of the Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008 and relevant sections of law.
After filing the FIR, Rawat alleged that the police took four hours to register his complaint. He added that if it takes so long for a former CM to file an FIR, one can easily imagine the plight of a common man.
"Finally, after four hours, the police registered the FIR with trembling hands. Their hands were trembling because we have accused the BJP president and his associates, with factual evidence, of misusing AI to tarnish our and our party's image and trying to disrupt social harmony by targeting a particular community," Rawat said.
He expressed hope that after the registration of the FIR, the police would bring the culprits to justice.
Rawat also said, "Just imagine, if the police take so much time to register an FIR of a former CM, what will be the condition of a common man in this state?"
Later, he also handed over a copy of the FIR to the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) of Dehradun and the SSP of the Special Task Force. Rawat also said that he would meet the District Magistrate of Dehradun and the State Election Officer with his complaint on Wednesday.
Recently, an AI-generated reel was uploaded on the official social media page of the BJP, which portrayed Rawat as a supporter of appeasement.
In the reel, a Congress leader is heard saying, "I take refuge in Muslims, I take refuge in dargahs (shrines), I take refuge in love jihad." The subsequent images show the construction of a dargah and some people smiling and talking about turning Devbhoomi (the land of gods) into a land of dargahs.
At the end of the reel, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami is seen walking with police forces and bulldozers.
Rawat also claimed that another AI-generated video was uploaded from a 'fake' BJP platform, depicting him as a 'traitorous Pakistani agent' engaged in espionage. However, the BJP has denied any connection to this video.
