Lakshya Sen beats Kevin Cordon of Guatemala in straight games in Olympic debut match
Paris, Jul 27: Ace Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen beat Kevin Cordon of Guatemala in straight games in a group match of the men's singles badminton competition at the Paris Olympics here on Saturday.
The 22-year-old Sen won 21-8 22-20 against reigning Pan American champion Cordon in his Olympics debut match that lasted 42 minutes.
Sen, a gold medallist at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and bronze winner at 2021 World Championships, will face Julien Carraggi of Belgium on Monday in his second group match.
Despite Cordon's good comeback in the second game, Sen held his nerves and emerged as the winner to begin his campaign on a resounding note.
Sen pocketed the first game easily in just 14 minutes. He straightaway took 5-0 lead and was 11-2 ahead at the first change of ends. There was no let up from the Indian as he wrapped up the first match without much resistance from his opponent.
Cordon fought back in the second game and was 6-2 ahead after a fine net play. The Indian closed the gap at 6-8 after a nice smash.
But Sen was more error prone in the second game than in the first and he trailed 7-12 at the change of ends.
The Guatemalan kept himself ahead, winning more rallies than Sen. He was just one point away from taking the match to the deciding game as he was 20-16 ahead.
With legends Prakash Padukone and Vimal Kumar guiding him from the court corner, Sen saved his best for the last and he reeled off four straight points to level the scores 20-20 and then won another two points to seal the match.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
