Saina, Srikanth enter second round of All England
Birmingham:India's Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth made a winning start to the All England Championship, notching up straight game victories in the women's and men's singles competition here.
A former finalist, Saina defeated Scotland's Kristy Gilmour 21-17 21-18 in 35 minutes, while Srikanth took half an hour to dispose off France's Brice Leverdez 21-13 21-11 on Wednesday night.
In the next round, Saina will take on Denmark's Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt, while Srikanth will face Asian Games gold medallist Jonatan Christie.
"I really enjoy it a lot, it's something every player looks up to and the challenge is even more tougher than regular Super Series events," Saina, an Olympic bronze medallist, said after progressing to the next stage.
"Everyone wants to have that trophy but, as I said, you have to play your natural game to be the best and can't really put pressure on yourself that you have to have it. If it is in your destiny you will definitely get it, but the challenge is to give your best and beat the best players," she added.
B Sai Praneeth also made it to the second round and will face Hong Kong's NG Ka Long Angus.
Sameer Verma squandered a first game advantage to go down fighting 21-16 18-21 14-21 to former world champion and world no 1 Viktor Axelsen of Denmark, bowing out of the tournament.
The women's doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy fought a gruelling battle before losing 21-16 26-28 16-21 to seventh seeded Japanese pair of Shiho Tanaka and Koharu Yonemoto.
Sikki and Pranaav Jerry Chopra, who is coming back from an injury, lost 21-23 17-21 to Hong King's Chang Tak Ching and NG Wing Yung.
The men's pair of Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy also lost 19-21 21-16 14-21 to the Chinese combination of Ou Xuanyi and Ren Xiangyu.
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Baramati plane crash: CID questions VSR Ventures owner
Pune (PTI): The Maharashtra Crime Investigation Department on Thursday questioned V K Singh, owner of VSR Ventures, which operated the aircraft involved in the Baramati crash that killed deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, a CID officer said.
“The statement of V K Singh is being recorded,” said the CID officer, without disclosing more details about the questioning, which was still underway.
A Learjet 45 aircraft, operated by VSR Ventures, crashed near the Baramati air strip in Pune district on January 28, killing Pawar and four others.
After the plane crash, an accidental death report was registered at the Baramati Taluka police station, and the case was later transferred to the Pune CID. Earlier, the state agency had said that its focus was to ascertain if sabotage or criminal negligence led to the Baramati tragedy.
Days before V K Singh's questioning, the CID had sent a set of questions to VSR Ventures in connection with its investigation into the plane crash, according to a source.
NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar had alleged on Wednesday that someone was trying to save VSR Ventures, and claimed that a preliminary probe by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) vindicated the doubts earlier raised by him.
In its 22-page preliminary report on the air tragedy, the AAIB said the visibility at the time of the crash was below the required level. It also flagged fading marks on the runway and the presence of loose gravel on the runway surface.
A few days ago, Ajit Pawar’s son Jay Pawar had shared a purported video on social media alleging that V K Singh's son Rohit Singh was seen dozing off in the chief pilot’s seat during a flight, and demanded his immediate arrest.
He had also demanded that all aircraft of VSR Ventures be grounded till the inquiry into his father’s plane crash is completed.
