Srikanth, Sindhu advance at Badminton World Championships
Nanjing (China), Aug 1: Indian stars Kidambi Srikanth and P.V. Sindhu registered contrasting wins to enter the third round of the men's and women's singles categories respectively at the Badminton World Championships here on Wednesday.
Srikanth registered a hard fought win over Pablo Abian of Spain while Sindhu had a much easier day in office, easing to a straight games victory over Fitriani of Indonesia.
The fifth seeded Srikanth needed more than an hour to clinch a 21-15, 12-21, 21-14 victory over his unseeded opponent.
He will face another unseeded opponent in American Daren Liew in the next round. The American defeated Misha Zilberman of Israel 21-16, 21-16 in the second round.
The first game was a closely fought see-saw affair before Srikanth clinched four back-to-back points to reach game point at 20-13. Although the Spaniard managed to reduce the deficit, it was not enough to prevent the Indian from taking the opening game.
Abian made a strong comeback in the second game. He went into the break with a narrow 11-10 lead and took the game away from Srikanth immediately after the restart with an awe inspiring run of seven consecutive points.
The third and decisive game was also a neck-and-neck fight, but the Indian held his own in the closing stages to clinch the issue.
Later in the day, Sindhu did not encounter too many problems, registering a 21-14, 21-9 victory over Fitriani.
The only period of the match when Fitriani managed to match Sindhu was during the early stages of the opening game. But Sindhu took charge after the break, taking six consecutive points to build up a comfortable lead which she never relinquished.
The Hyderabad shuttler completely dominated the second game, scoring almost at will to simply blow away the Indonesian's challenge.
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Rocket from Yemen strikes Tel Aviv, injuring 16, as Palestinians mourn 19 dead in Gaza
Tel Aviv, Dec 21: A rocket fired from Yemen hit an area of Tel Aviv overnight, leaving 16 people slightly injured by shattered glass, the Israeli military said Saturday, days after Israeli airstrikes hit Houthi rebels who have been launching missiles in solidarity with Palestinians.
A further 14 people sustained minor injuries as they rushed to shelters when air raid sirens sounded before the projectile hit just before 4 am Saturday, the military said.
The Houthi rebels issued a statement on the Telegram messaging app saying they had aimed a hypersonic ballistic missile at a military target, which they did not identify.
The attack comes less than two days after a series of Israeli airstrikes on Yemen's Houthi rebel-held capital, Sanaa, and port city of Hodeida killed at least nine people. The Israeli strikes were in response to a Houthi attack in which a long-range missile hit an Israeli school building. The Houthis also claimed a drone strike targeting an unspecified military target in central Israel on Thursday.
The Israeli military says the Iran-backed Houthis have launched more than 200 missiles and drones during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. The Houthis have also been attacking shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden and say they won't stop until there is a ceasefire in Gaza.
The Israeli strikes Thursday caused “considerable damage” to the Houthi-controlled Red Sea ports “that will lead to the immediate and significant reduction in port capacity,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. The port at Hodeida has been key for food shipments into Yemen in its decade-long civil war.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said both sides' attacks risk further escalation in the region and undermine UN mediation efforts.
