Successful day for Indians at Badminton Worlds
Nanjing (China), July 30: Indian shuttlers enjoyed a comfortable outing on the opening day of the Badminton World Championship on Monday with H.S.Prannoy and Sameer Verma sailing into the second round of the men's singles while the doubles shuttlers also marched to the next round with ease.
Prannoy, seeded 11th in the tournament, hardly broke into a sweat in cruising past unseeded New Zealander Abhinav Manota in straight games 21-12, 21-11 in a match that lasted 28 minutes. He will next take on Brazilian Ygor Coelho in the second round.
Sameer also advanced comfortably to the next round after thrashing France's Lucas Corvee 21-13, 21-10 in a 39-minute affair.
There was good news from the doubles shuttlers too as the men's duo of Manu Attri and B.Sumeeth Reddy and the mixed doubles pairs of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa, and Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N.Sikki Reddy also advanced to the second round.
While Manu and Sumeeth defeated Bulgarian pair Daniel Nikolov and Ivan Rusev 21-13, 21-18 in the 26-minute affair, the mixed doubles combo of Pranaav and Sikki comfortably went past the Czech Republic duo of Jakub Bitman and Alzbeta Basova 21-17, 21-15 in a 30-minute tie.
Later in the day, Satwik and Ashwini floored Denmark's Niclas Nohr and Sara Thygesen 21-9, 22-20 in a tie that lasted 36 minutes.
In another mixed doubles tie, Saurabh Sharma and Anoushka Parikh beat Nigerians Enejoh Abah and Peace Orji 21-13, 21-12 comprehensively in 26 minutes while Rohan Kapoor and Kuhoo Garg defeated Canada's Toby NG and Rachel Honderich 21-19, 21-6 in 28 minutes.
However, it was curtains for the women's doubles pair of Sanyogita Ghorpade and Prajakta Sawant, who lost their opening round clash 20-22, 14-21 to Turkey's Bengisu Ercetin and Nazlican Inci in 34 minutes.
Among others, top seed and defending champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark enjoyed a comfortable 21-8, 21-7 win over Portugal's Duarte Anjo, while third seed and reigning All England Champion Shi Yuqi of China beat Adam Mendrek of the Czech Republic 21-13, 21-11 to proceed to the second round.
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India, Vietnam elevate ties to enhanced comprehensive strategic partnership; set USD 25 bn
New Delhi (PTI): India and Vietnam on Wednesday elevated their ties to an enhanced comprehensive strategic partnership and set a USD 25 billion annual trade target by 2030 as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Vietnamese President To Lam held talks focusing on expanding bilateral ties in areas of trade, defence, and critical minerals in the face of increasing geopolitical upheavals.
Following the Modi-Lam meeting, the two sides signed as many as 13 agreements which will provide for deeper two ways engagements in a range of areas including digital payments, rare earth minerals, pharmaceuticals, education, banking and culture.
Modi and Lam also deliberated on the situation in the Indo-Pacific amid China's increasing assertiveness in the region, and agreed to continue to contribute to the rule-of-law, peace, stability, and prosperity.
It is understood that China's growing military muscle-flexing in the South China Sea also figured in the delegation-level talks between the two sides.
Elected as president earlier this month, Lam began his first state visit to India on Tuesday, leading a high-level delegation for a three-day trip.
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"A decade ago, Vietnam became India's first comprehensive strategic partner in ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) . Since then, our relations have made rapid and comprehensive progress," Modi said in his media statement.
"Building on this strong foundation, today we are elevating our relations to the level of Enhanced Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. We will now advance our partnership to even higher goals," he said.
"Our cooperation will reach new levels in every area ' culture, connectivity, and capacity building, as well as security, sustainability, and supply chain resilience," Modi added.
He noted that the bilateral trade between India and Vietnam has doubled in the last decade to reach USD 16 billion and that the target now is to increase it to USD 25 billion by 2030.
Modi also cited a plethora of agreements signed between the two countries to emphasis that the economic engagement is expected to witness a significant upswing going forward.
"The MoU between our drug authorities will now increase access to Indian medicines in Vietnam. Exports of Indian agricultural, fisheries, and animal products to Vietnam are also set to become easier. Very soon, Vietnam will taste India's grapes and pomegranates," he said.
The two sides also agreed to update the India-ASEAN trade agreement by the end of this year.
"This will provide a new impetus to trade and investment between India and all ASEAN countries. New initiatives in critical minerals, rare earths, and energy cooperation will ensure the economic security and supply chain resilience of both countries," Modi said.
"To boost financial connectivity, we have today decided to enhance cooperation between our central banks. India's UPI and Vietnam's fast payment systems will soon be linked. Furthermore, we are strengthening state-to-state and city-to-city cooperation between the two countries," he noted.
Modi said India is grateful to Vietnam for its strong condemnation of the Pahalgam terrorist attack and standing with India in its fight against terrorism.
"In this era of global turmoil and economic challenges, thanks to their talent, good governance, and economic reforms, India and Vietnam are emerging as the world's fastest-growing economies," he said.
"Now, through our enhanced strategic partnership, we will support each other's rapid growth. As the Buddha's teachings say, 'If you light a lamp for someone else, it also illuminates your own path'," Modi said.
He also described Vietnam a a key pillar of India's Act East Policy and Vision Ocean.
"In the Indo-Pacific region as well, we share a common outlook. Through our strengthening defence and security cooperation, we will continue to contribute to the rule-of-law, peace, stability, and prosperity," he said.
The prime minister said India will broaden its relations with ASEAN with Vietnam's cooperation.
In his remarks, Lam said both sides agreed to deepen political trust and elevate security cooperation.
Last year, the two sides inked a pact to set up a framework for submarine search, rescue and support mechanism. They also signed a letter of intent (LoI) to strengthen bilateral defence industry collaboration.
