Paris Olympics: Manika-led India beat Romania 3-2 to enter quarterfinals of women's TT team event
Paris, Aug 5: Star player Manika Batra led from the front as India prevailed over higher-ranked Romania 3-2 in a thrilling tie and made a memorable entry into the quarterfinals of the women's table tennis team competition at the Paris Olympics here on Monday.
Leading 2-0, India saw Romania fight back to draw level at 2-2 but in the decider, Manika delivered for her side.
Sreeja Akula and Archana Kamath started the proceedings with a 11-9 12-10 11-7 win over Adina Diaconu and Elizabeta Samara in a doubles match.
Manika made short work of higher-ranked Bernadette Szocs in a 11-5 11-7 11-7 victory as India took a comfortable 2-0 lead in the tie against their fourth-seeded opponents. India are seeded 11th in the competition.
In the second singles match however, things did not go in India's favour as Sreeja went down 2-3 (11-8 4-11 11-7 6-11 8-11) to European champion Samara after winning the first game.
Sreeja's defeat paved the way for a face-off between Archana and Bernadette and the latter won the first game 11-5, but the Indian bagged the second 11-8 to restore parity. However, Bernadette won the next two games 11-7 11-9 to clinch the match and send the tie to the decider.
Manika then blanked Adina 3-0 (11-5 11-9 11-9) to seal the tie in India's favour.
"The first match was very crucial. I think we pulled out a very good match. We share a very good bonding and we trust each other. We are really happy that we won this match. Let's focus on quarters and like today we will give our best in quarters," Sreeja said.
"Now we just prepare, we learn whatever mistakes we have done, we learn from this and just prepare for the next match."
India will be up against either the USA or Germany in the quarter-finals.
Japan, Poland, France and Thailand are also on the same side of the draw.
Last week, both Manika and Sreeja scripted table tennis history by becoming the first Indian players to reach the round of 16 in the individual event at the Olympics. The two, however, could not progress beyond that stage, losing to higher-ranked opponents.
Sreeja had lost 0-4 to world number one Yingsha Sun of China in the pre-quarterfinals of the women's singles.
"I was a little upset only for one day, but then again I had to give my best for my country and for all of them who are supporting us. So yeah, I think I just gave my best today.
"I was not thinking of winning or losing. Of course, we wanted to win, but yeah, at that time I was just giving my best for every point I was playing with Bernie and Adina.
"So I am happy with my performance, how I played and of course how we all played and we started really well with the doubles and that gave me confidence," Sreeja concluded.
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Chamoli hydropower tunnel train collision: 88 injured, magisterial probe ordered
Gopeshwar/Dehradun (PTI): Chamoli District Magistrate Gaurav Kumar on Wednesday ordered a magisterial inquiry into the collision between two loco trains inside the Pipalkoti tunnel of the under-construction Vishnugad-Pipalkoti hydropower project, which left 88 people injured.
Earlier in the day, Kumar said that the accident occurred around 8.30 pm on Tuesday at the TBM (Tunnel Boring Machine) site inside the tunnel being built by THDC (India).
A loco train carrying workers for tunnel excavation during the night shift was about two kilometres inside the tunnel when another loco train coming from the opposite direction lost control and collided with it.
One of the trains had workers and officials on board, while the other carried material.
Upon receiving information about the collision, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami ordered proper treatment for the injured. He spoke to the DM over the phone and instructed him to ensure that all the injured receive the best possible medical facilities.
DM Kumar and Superintendent of Police Surjit Singh Panwar met the injured at the Gopeshwar District Hospital.
Kumar said 109 people were on board the loco train at the time of the accident, most of them labourers. None of the injured was serious, he said.
He said that 88 of them were injured, although none of them are in serious condition. They said that 84 workers were discharged after receiving first aid, while four are still hospitalized.
DM Kumar and SP Panwar also inspected the project site and sought detailed information about the incident from the project officials.
They instructed them to strictly implement all necessary safety standards to prevent a recurrence of such an incident in the future.
After inspection, the DM issued orders for a magisterial inquiry into the accident caused by the collision of the loco trains.
Meanwhile, the Railways said the trains involved in the collision had no connection with it.
"It is clarified that this unfortunate incident occurred in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district, involving a trolley used in the local transportation system during the construction of a hydroelectric project tunnel. The train referred to in the news reports is not an Indian Railways train, but a transportation system being used locally by the project team," the government entity said in a statement.
According to officials, rail-like vehicles are used to transport workers, employees, and materials for construction work inside the tunnel.
The project, being built between Helang and Pipalkoti on the Alaknanda River, will generate 444 megawatts of electricity through four turbines. The project is targeted for completion by next year.
