Badminton at Olympics: Lakshya Sen enters men's singles quarterfinals
Paris, Aug 1: India's Lakshya Sen registered a comfortable straight-game win over compatriot HS Prannoy to become only the third male player ever from the country to reach the quarterfinals of the Olympics badminton competition here on Thursday.
The 22-year-old from Almora, a reigning Commonwealth Games champion and a 2021 World Championships bronze-medallist, looked in complete control as he notched up a 21-12 21-6 win over world no. 13 Prannoy in a 39-minute pre-quarterfinal clash.
Sen joined Parupalli Kashyap and Kidambi Srikanth, who had reached the quarterfinals in the London and Rio edition of the Olympic Games in 2012 and 2016 respectively.
Currently ranked 22, Sen will face 12th seed Chinese Taipei's Chou Tien Chen in the quarterfinals.
"I think having tough matches gives you confidence. I am now ready to go deep into the tournament. It will be a tricky match against Chou, I have to go and recover well and give my 100 %," Sen said after the match.
Sen was steady in his defense and mixed his attack well, while Prannoy, who played a three-game match last evening, looked tired and didn't show much resistance during the 39-minute contest.
It was the end of campaign for Prannoy, who had recovered from a bout of Chikungunya to compete at his maiden Olympics.
Sen was off to a good start, leading 7-4. He kept things under control as Prannoy seemed to struggle, played too defensively and was left to do the catch-up act. Sen closed out the opening game comfortably.
The second game was a blur as Sen looked rock solid and quickly wrapped up the contest after leading all the way.
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West Asia war: Vessel carrying 20,000 tonnes of LPG reaches Gujarat crossing Strait of Hormuz
Kandla (Gujarat) (PTI): A vessel carrying 20,000 metric tonnes of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) arrived at Deendayal Port Authority in Kandla in Gujarat after crossing the Strait of Hormuz amid the West Asia crisis, officials said on Sunday.
The Marshall Islands-flagged MV SYMI started its journey from Qatar and docked at the port in Kandla around 11.30 pm on Saturday after crossing the Strait of Hormuz on May 13, they added.
Since early March, 13 India-flagged vessels, comprising 12 LPG tankers and one crude oil tanker, have crossed the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway close to the coast of Oman through which roughly one-fifth of the world's energy supplies pass.
It has been severely disrupted by the conflict in West Asia that started on February 28, with the US and Israel launching joint attacks on Iran, triggering retaliatory strikes. It has resulted in one of the worst energy crisis the world has seen in recent decades.
Incidentally, at a special meeting of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (UNECOSOC) on safeguarding energy and supply flows, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Parvathaneni Harish said targeting commercial shipping, endangering civilian crew and impeding freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz is "unacceptable".
On May 13, an India-flagged commercial vessel came under attack off the coast of Oman.
Omani authorities rescued all 14 crew members of the vessel sailing from Somalia, but it was not immediately known who carried out the strike.
