Sindhu, Prannoy sail into singles quarterfinals; India suffer setback in doubles
Hangzhou (PTI): Two-time Olympic medallist Indian shuttler PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy sailed into the quarterfinals of the women's and men's singles badminton with straight game wins at the Asian Games here on Wednesday.
Former world champion Sindhu won the round of 16 match against Putri Kusuma Wardani 21-16 21-16, sealing it in her favour without breaking a sweat against the hapless Indonesian.
Sindhu will line up against China's He Bingjiao in the quarterfinals, and will fancy her chances against the Chinese having denied her a medal at the Tokyo Olympics two years ago.
Bingjiao won 21-10 21-4 against Rasila Maharjan of Nepal.
Prannoy also booked his spot in the quarterfinals as he beat Kazakhstan's Dmitriy Panarin 21-12 21-13.
Sindhu was excellent in rallies and dictated terms to her opponent from the get-go, and so was Prannoy, India's best singles player at the moment who, unfortunately, could not feature in the team event final against China owing to an injury.
However, Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand were knocked out in the round of 16 by Korean pair of Kim Soyeong and Kong Heeyong. The Koreans won 21-15, 18-21, 21-13.
Earlier, India's Tanisha Crasto and Sai Pratheek Krishna Prasad were also bowed out in the Round of 16 after defeats to Malaysia's Toh Ee Wei and Chen Tang Jie.
The Malaysian duo won 21-18, 21-18.
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Bomb threats to Delhi Secretariat, Assembly, Red Fort and two schools declared hoax
New Delhi (PTI): Multiple institutions, including the Delhi Secretariat, Delhi Assembly, Red Fort and two schools in the national capital, received bomb threats via email on Monday, which were later declared hoax, officials said.
An official of the Delhi Fire Services confirmed that Delhi Secretariat, Delhi Army Public School in Dhaula Kuan and Air Force Bal Bharti School on Lodhi Road received bomb threats.
The threat emails were also received on the official ID of the Delhi Assembly and its Speaker at 8 am, reportedly from the Khalistan National Army, sources said.
Delhi Assembly Speaker Vijender Gupta asked the Delhi Police for immediate appropriate action on the bomb threat received on his personal email id.
"The Speaker, Delhi Legislative Assembly has desired that immediate necessary appropriate action be taken in the matter and an investigation be carried out to trace the source of these emails keeping in view the serious warnings about the bomb blast threats to Delhi Legislative Assembly Secretariat and Speaker in person," the Speaker office in a letter to Delhi Police Commissioner said.
The threatening emails mention “Delhi banega Khalistan” (Delhi will become Khalistan) and read that there will be blasts in Delhi Army School, Red Fort and Metros in the next three days.
The emails claimed a blast at the Delhi Army school at 1.11 pm, Vidhan Sabha at 3.11 pm and Red Fort at 9.11 am today, they said.
After receiving the threatening emails, the administrations of both schools informed authorities in the morning, a senior police officer said.
As a precautionary measure, the premises were evacuated, and thorough search operations were carried out, the officer said.
"After nothing suspicious was found, it was declared a hoax," the officer added.
An Aam Aadmi Party leader and former MLA, Dilip K Pandey, in a post on X said, "Today, I received a bomb threat on my personal email ID, and since the matter was related to public safety, I have immediately forwarded the email to Delhi Police."
Upon receiving the information, teams from the Delhi Police, the bomb disposal squad, dog squad and Delhi Fire Services rushed to the spots and cordoned off the areas around the schools and other locations.
"We are verifying the source of the emails and further investigation is underway," the officer added.
The cyber cell has been roped in to trace the origin of the emails and identify the sender. Search operations are continuing.
