Satwik-Chirag claim India's first men's doubles medal at World Championships
Tokyo(PTI): Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty on Friday scripted history by becoming the first Indian pair to win a medal in men's doubles competition at the World Championships after upsetting world number 2 Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi of Japan in the quarterfinals here.
The world number 7 Indian combination, which had claimed the Commonwealth Games gold medal earlier this month, outwitted the local favourites and defending champions 24-22 15-21 21-14 in an hour and 15 minutes to claim its maiden medal at the prestigious tournament.
It was India's second World Championships medal in the doubles event with Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa claiming a bronze way back in 2011 in the women's doubles.
Having assured themselves of at least a bronze, Satwik and Chirag will now face the sixth seeded Malaysian pair of Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik in the semifinals.
Earlier, MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila's fine run came to an end after the Indian pair lost to three-time gold medallists Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan in another men's doubles quarterfinals.
The unseeded Indian duo, which had some sensational wins this week, lost 8-21 14-21 to the third seeded Indonesian pair in less than 30 minutes.
The Indians had earlier defeated eighth seeds Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen of Denmark in the second round.
Satwik and Chirag came out with a lot of intent as they dominated the proceedings early on to establish a lead of 12-5 in the first game but the Japanese pair reeled off seven points on the trot to eke out a 16-14 advantage.
However, the Indian duo was up for the task as it fought tooth and nail to ensure it had the advantage after the opening game. Takuro and Yugo made a strong comeback in the second game after breaking off at 9-9 following a tight battle.
With the match hanging in balance, the Indian pair once again found its bearings as the two strengthened their defence and mounted an attack to lead 11-5 at the interval.
Satwik and Chirag then extended the lead to 14-8 when the Indians were called for a fault for touching the net during a return. The duo lost the point but soon managed to put that behind, leading 16-9.
Yugo produced some sensational shots, including a powerful smash and a cross court return, to keep the Japanese duo's chances alive with three points.
Two shots going wide from the Japanese duo put India a couple of points away from the win at 19-13.
The Indians then grabbed seven match points with another superb return which their opponents failed to negotiate.
A tad nervous, Satwik faltered on his serve next but Yugo sent the shuttle to the net as Chirag let out a cry in celebration.
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'Entire nation in shame': SC orders SIT probe against MP minister over remarks on Col Qureshi
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Monday pulled up Madhya Pradesh minister Vijay Shah for his remarks on Colonel Sofiya Qureshi and constituted a three-member special investigation team to probe the FIR lodged against him.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh told the minister that it had seen his videos where he made the remarks and his apology and wondered if “they were crocodile tears or an attempt to wriggle out of the legal proceedings”.
“The entire nation was in shame due to the comments... We saw your videos , you were on the verge of using very filthy language but somehow better sense prevailed or you did not find suitable words. You should be shameful. Entire country is proud of our Army and you made this statement,” Justice Surya Kant said.
The bench further grilled the minister, “What kind of apology was this? You should have simply admitted your mistake and apologised but you say if you have said this and that…then I apologise. This is not the way to seek apology. The kind of crass comments you made, you should be shameful."
Shah was represented by senior advocates Maninder Singh and Vibha Dutt Makhija
The top court asked the Madhya Pradesh director general of police to constitute a three-member special investigation team (SIT) headed by an IG rank officer by Tuesday 10 am also comprising a woman officer to probe the FIR registered following an order of the Madhya Pradesh High Court.
The first state report by the SIT, the bench said, should be filed by May 28.
Being a public representative the minister ought to have led by an example and used every single word sensibly, the court further remarked.
After drawing severe criticism for his comments made on May 12, the BJP minister said he was ready to apologise 10 times if his statement had hurt anyone and he respected Col Qureshi more than his sister.
An FIR was registered against Shah in Indore district later on May 14 following the high court's order.
The FIR was registered under Sections 152 (acts endangering the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India), 196 (1)(b) (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, language, or other similar characteristics) and 197(1)(c) (statement or action that causes or is likely to cause disharmony, enmity, or hatred between different groups) of the BNS.
