Bhagat-Kohli mixed doubles duo loses bronze medal match in Paralympics badminton
Tokyo, (PTI): The Indian mixed doubles duo of Pramod Bhagat and Palak Kohli suffered a narrow defeat at the hands of Japan's Daisuke Fujihara and Akiko Sugino in their bronze-medal play-off match of the Paralympics here on Sunday.
The Indian duo lost 21-23 19-21 to their Japanese opponents in the SL3-SU5 class final that lasted 37 minutes to end their campaign at fourth place.
They had earlier lost the semifinals 3-21 15-21 to te Indonesian combination of Hary Susanto and Leani Ratri Oktila.
The two pairs were neck-and-neck throughout the match. The Indians were 10-8 up in the first game but the Japanese came back strongly to level at 10-10.
After that, the score-line read 14-14, 18-18 and then 20-20. The Indians were up 21-20 but then eventually lost 21-23.
In the second game also, the two pairs were on equal footing and 10-10 at the midway point before the Japanese surged ahead to win 21-19 and pocket the bronze.
The 33-year-old Bhagat on Saturday claimed India's first badminton gold at the Paralympics in men's singles SL3 class.
It was 19-year-old Kohli's debut Paralympics.
In SL3 class, shuttlers with minor lower limb impairment play standing while players with upper limb impairment play standing in SL5.
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SGPC writes to Mann, seeks ban on 'Emergency' in Punjab a day before release
Amritsar, Jan 16 (PTI): The SGPC on Thursday wrote to Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, seeking a ban on the release of Kangana Ranaut's movie 'Emergency' saying it "tarnishes" the image of Sikhs and "misrepresents" history.
Actor and BJP MP Ranaut's 'Emergency' is slated to release in cinemas on January 17.
In the letter to Mann, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee chief Harjinder Singh Dhami expressed strong objection to Ranaut's film.
Dhami said that if the film is released in Punjab, it will spark "outrage and anger" in the Sikh community and therefore it is the responsibility of the government to ban its release in the state.
The SGPC, an apex gurdwara body, had earlier also protested the film.
"It has come to our attention that the movie 'Emergency' produced by BJP MP Kangana Ranaut is going to be released on 17th January 2025 in cinemas in different cities of Punjab and the tickets have also started to be booked," its letter to Mann read.
Dhami said the SGPC had also protested the release of the movie in a letter to the Punjab Chief Secretary on November 14 last year.
"But it is sad that the Punjab government has not taken any step till now. If this film is released on January 17, 2025, then it is natural to create outrage and anger in the Sikh world," the current letter read.
Dhami said the SGPC will submit a letter also to all the deputy commissioners in Punjab, seeking a ban on the film in the state.
The SGPC denounced the "character assassination" of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, the Khalistani militant killed in 1984 in a military operation.
"If this film is released in Punjab, we will be forced to strongly oppose it at the state level," Dhami said.
In August last year, the SGPC sent a legal notice to the producers of the 'Emergency' film, alleging that it "misrepresented" the character and history of Sikhs, and asked them to remove the objectionable scenes depicting "anti-Sikh" sentiments.
In the notice, the producers of the film, including Kangana Ranaut, were asked to remove the trailer released on August 14 from all public and social media platforms and tender a written apology to the Sikh community.
The SGPC objected to film writing separate letters to the Minister of Information and Broadcasting and the Central Board of Film Certification.
