P V Sindhu enters BAC semifinals, assured of a medal
Manila (Philippines)(PTI): Double Olympic medallist P V Sindhu eked out a thrilling win over China's He Bing Jiao to make it to the women's singles semifinals of the Badminton Asia Championships here on Friday.
With this win, Sindhu assured herself of a medal in the continental championships, which is making a return after a gap of two years due to COVID-19 pandemic.
The fourth-seeded Sindhu, who had claimed a bronze in the 2014 Gimcheon edition, got the better of the fifth seeded Chinese 21-9 13-21 21-19 in a quarterfinal match that lasted an hour and 16 minutes.
World number 7 Sindhu came into the match with a 7-9 head-to-head record against Bing Jiao, whom she has beaten twice in the last two meetings.
Sindhu galloped to 11-2 lead in no time and then kept things under her firm grip to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
Bing Jiao came back strongly after the change of sides, moving to 6-4 lead before managing a slender 11-10 advantage.
After the break, the Chinese reeled off five points on the trot to grab a 19-12 lead to eventually roar back into the contest.
In the decider, it was 2-2 early on but Sindhu unleashed her cross-court smashes to gather points, moving to a massive 11-5 lead going into the final change of ends.
Bing Jiao, however, scripted a recovery after the interval to narrow down the deficit to 15-16 as Sindhu let the momentum slip despite being 15-9 up at one stage.
It was 18-16 next with Sindhu's slice going to the net. The Indian then unleashed a body smash before grabbing four match points with Bing Jiao erring on the backcourt.
The Chinese saved three match points before Sindhu prevailed.
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Train to Kashmir: 22-bogie train's trial run successful on Katra-Srinagar line
Jammu: A 22-bogie train chugged between Katra and Srinagar railway stations on Sunday, officials said, marking the first successful trial run on the newly completed line to connect Kashmir with the rest of the country via rail.
The train, comprising 18 AC coaches, two luggage carriers and two engines, left the Katra railway station at around 8 am, successfully reaching its destination within four hours under the watchful eyes of the railway authorities, the officials said.
This was the first trial run between Katra and Srinagar, and came within six days after the Commissioner of Railway Safety (Northern Circle) Dinesh Chand Deshwal authorised the opening of the newly constructed Broad Gauge line.
He had given the authorisation for the start of public carriage of goods and passenger traffic in a seven-page letter to the ministry and railway authorities, based on his detailed inspection of the track on January 7 and 8.
The CRS referred to his inspection of the newly constructed BG line between the Katra and Reasi section by a motor trolley and on foot, followed by a speed trial on the entire section from Katra to Banihal.
He had then authorised regular opening of the section for passengers and freight traffic at a maximum permissible speed of 85 Kmph on the main line and 15 Kmph on turnout.
The work on the dream project to link Kashmir by train was started in 1997 and it missed several deadlines given geological, topographical and meteorological challenges.
Out of the total 272 km Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project, 209 km was commissioned in phases with the first phase of the 118 km Qazigund-Baramulla section commissioned in October 2009, followed by 18 km Banihal-Qazigund in June 2013, 25 km Udhampur-Katra in July 2014 and 48.1 km long Banihal-Sangaldan stretch in February, last year.
The work on the 46-km Sangaldan-Reasi section was also completed in June last year, leaving a total of 17 km stretch between Reasi and Katra. And this section was finally completed in December 2024 as announced by the Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.
On January 4, a successful trial run of an electric train was successfully conducted on the Katra-Banihal section. The railways has conducted six trials over the past month on various segments of the track, including the two major milestones of the Anji Khad and Chenab bridges.
Katra-Srinagar Rail Link: First 18-Coach Train Completes Trial Run Successfully pic.twitter.com/p68axcUClX
— Daily Excelsior (@DailyExcelsior1) January 19, 2025
