Saina Nehwal thrashed by Carolina Marin, Satwik Sairaj- Ponnappa eliminated from World Championships
NewDelhi, Aug 03: Saina Nehwal was thrashed by Spaniard Carolina Marin in the quarter-finals of the BWF World Championships 2018 in Nanjing China.
Saina went down in straight games 6-21, 11-21 in just over half an hour to bow out of the tournament at the last eight stage.
Marin asserted her dominance early in the match as she went 11-2 up before the break in the first game. After that it was only a matter of time before a screaming Marin had wrapped up the first game.
The second game was slightly closer after Nehwal took the first point but she trailed the seventh seed 3-7 in the second game. The 28-year-old did cut the deficit to 8-10 but Marin once again stepped up a gear to close out the game 11-21.
The defeat to the Spaniard means Saina’s head-to-head record against Marin is now 5-5.
Satwik Sairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa out
In the mixed doubles the pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Ashwini Ponnappa went down to top seeded pairing of Zheng Siwei and Huang Yagiong from China.
In a game that lasted 37 minutes the Chinese pair got the better of Indian pair 17-21, 10-21.
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In biggest haul, drugs worth Rs 51 cr seized in Meghalaya, 2 held
Shillong (PTI): The Meghalaya Police seized drugs worth over Rs 51 crore, the biggest haul of narcotics in the state so far, in East Jaintia Hills district and arrested two Mizoram-based persons in this connection, a senior officer said on Saturday.
The seizure was made during a coordinated naka-checking conducted by the police and Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) personnel in the Ratacherra area on Friday, he said.
During the operation, a vehicle with three persons, including the driver, on board was intercepted and searched in accordance with due legal procedures.
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Upon checking, 19 plastic soap cases, containing suspected heroin weighing 203.7 grams, were recovered from the possession of one of the three persons, the officer said.
The search of the vehicle led to the recovery of a blue-coloured trolley bag belonging to another occupant of the vehicle.
Suspected crystal meth (methamphetamine) tablets weighing 10.145 kilograms were found in the bag, the police officer said.
'Meth' tablets are banned in India.
Two of the three occupants of the vehicle were arrested, and a preliminary investigation suggested that they are part of an interstate and cross-border drug trafficking syndicate, the officer said.
"The total value of the seized contraband is estimated to be around Rs 51.13 crore", ANTF chief Vikash Kumar told PTI.
The arrested persons hail from Mizoram, he said.
A case has been registered at the ANTF police station, and an investigation is underway to establish the forward and backward linkages related to the seizure, the officer added.
