P V Sindhu withdraws from Uber Cup due to 'personal reasons', doubtful for Denmark Open
New Delhi: World champion P V Sindhu has pulled out of next month's Thomas and Uber Cup Finals due to "personal reasons" and could also miss the subsequent Super 750 tournaments in Denmark.
The Thomas and Uber Cup Finals, scheduled to be held from October 3 to 11 in Aarhus, Denmark is the first tournament in the revised calender, which was launched by the sport's governing body BWF last week.
"Sindhu will not be able to participate in the Thomas and Uber Cup Finals due to some personal reasons," the Olympic silver-medallist's father P V Ramana told PTI.
"She has some personal work, so unfortunately she will have to skip the event. We have informed the Badminton Association of India about her decision," he added.
The Thomas and Uber Cup Finals will be followed by the Denmark Open I (October 13-18) and Denmark Masters (October 20-25).
An Olympic hopeful, Sindhu, who has been training at the national badminton camp in Hyderabad, had been planning to participate in the prestigious tournament.
Asked if she would be participating in the two 750 events in Denmark, Ramana said: "Actually that is also (in doubt) ... I mean the entries have been sent for both the events, but it depends on her personal work if she would be able to play both or not.
"She may have to skip one tournament in Denmark. If she can complete her personal work then she will play one."
Sindhu had resumed training last month under the supervision of Korean coach Park Tae-Sang after the Sports Authority of India (SAI) allowed the national camp for eight Olympic hopefuls following approval from the Telangana government on August 1.
Besides Sindhu, world championship bronze medallist B Sai Praneeth, former world no. 1 Kidambi Srikanth and women's doubles player N Sikki Reddy are the only ones currently training at the SAI-Pullela Gopichand Academy.
Satwiksairaj Ranki Reddy, who recently tested positive for COVID-19, is at his home in Amalapuram in Andhra Pradesh, while his men's doubles partner Chirag Shetty is lodged in Mumbai.
Ashwini Ponnappa has preferred to stay in Bangalore and train at the Padukone-Dravid Centre of Sports Excellence.
London Olympics bronze medallist and former world no. 1 Saina Nehwal has still not joined the national camp and is training at a separate facility with husband Parupalli Kashyap and a few others, who are not part of the camp.
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Iran says Ayatollah Khamenei “steadfast, actively commanding field"
Tehran: A senior member of the office of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is being quoted by Iranian media amid conflicting reports about his status in the ongoing conflict with Israel and the United States.
According to Iranian media reports, the official said, “Ayatollah Khamenei is steadfast and resolute, and is actively commanding the field.” The remarks were made in response to widespread unverified reports circulated in some foreign media that claimed the supreme leader had been killed in recent US–Israeli strikes on Iran.
The statement counters reports suggesting a change in Iran’s leadership after the military escalation. There has been no independent confirmation of Khamenei’s status.
