SAI U-turn after BAI says India not withdrawn from Oly qualifiers
Thu, May 06 2021 10:13:35 PM
New Delhi, May 6 (IANS): There seems to be a communication gap between the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and the Badminton Association of India (BAI). Just over an hour after SAI announced that the Indian badminton team had withdrawn from this month s Malaysia Open Super 750 tournament, BAI contradicted the statement saying it was still in talks with the Malaysian government for allowing Indians to compete there. SAI subsequently did a U-turn on its initial statement.
Malaysia has put a travel ban on Indians due to the raging Covid-19 pandemic. But the tournament is important for Indian shuttlers as Malaysia Open Super 750 and the Singapore Open Super 500 tournament on June 1-6 are the last qualification events for this year s Tokyo Olympic Games. The withdrawal of the Indian team from these events would mean the end of hope to qualify for the likes of former world No.1 players
Swiss Open Super 300: Srikanth, Sindhu enter SF with straight-games win, Satwik-Chirag fight back
Second seed Sindhu advanced to final four with a straight-game win over Thai Busanan Ongbamrungphan. Updated Mar 06, 2021 · 01:05 am File image of Srikanth and Sindhu | Reuters/AFP
Singles stars PV Sindhu and Srikanth Kidambi, men’s doubles pairing Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty entered the semi-finals of the Swiss Open Super 300 tournament with contrasting wins on Friday in Basel. Olympic silver medallist Sindhu advanced to final four with a straight-game win over Thai Busanan Ongbamrungphan and apart from the later stages of the second game, had the proceedings under control.
Mixed doubles pair Ashwini Ponnappa and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy were the last Indian contenders to be knocked out of the tournament, losing 21-12, 21-17 to Hong Kong s Tak Ching Chang and Wing Yung Ng. Sain