FIRSTROUND EXITS FOR SAKSHI, VINESH AT WORLD MEET
PARIS: Olympic bronze medallist Sakshi Malik crashed out in the first round while compatriot Vinesh Phogat’s campaign also ended in a whimper as Indian grapplers continued with dismal show at World Wrestling Championships.
After three listless days, the onus was on Sakshi and Vinesh to end India’s medal drought but both failed to live up to the expectations. Sakshi and Vinesh went down in their respective Round of 16 bouts.
Sakshi was stunned by Luisa Niemesch of Germany 1-3 in women’s 60kg, while two-time junior world champion Victoria Anthony of USA got a fall over Vinesh Phogat in 48kg.
It was a humiliating defeat for Vinesh, who was unfortunately during the Rio Olympics.
This was after Vinesh had earlier won her qualification round. Other Indians in the fray on Thursday -- Sheetal Tomar (53kg) and Navjot Kaur (69kg) -also bowed out of the tournament with contrasting performances.
Navjot was beaten 5-10 by Mongolia’s Ochirbat Nasanburmaa in 69kg, but surprisingly lesser-known Sheetal emerged as the lone Indian woman wrestler to win her Round of 16 round when he got the better of Jessica Mcbain of Australia 10-0 in 53kg.
However, Sheetal could not maintain her rhythm and lost the quarterfinals against Estera Dobre of Romania, going down 2-4. GLASGOW: Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth stood just one step away from grabbing a medal each at the World Badminton Championship after entering the quarterfinals.
Sindhu survived a scare against Hong Kong’s Cheung Ngan Yi before prevailing 19-21 23-21 21-17 in a thrilling women’s singles match that lasted an hour and 27 minutes.
The 22-year-old Indian fought back from 13-16 down in the second game after losing the first to eventually come up trumps. She will face fifth seed Sun Yu of China next.
Srikanth, however, eased into the quarterfinals with yet another straight-game win over Denmark’s Anders Antonsen in men’s singles. On a 12-match winning streak, Srikanth knocked out World No. 18 Antonsen 21-14 21-18. The World No. 10 Indian will clash with top seed and World No. 1 Korean Son Wan Ho in the quarterfinals.
“It was a good game today. There were some intense rallies and I am happy for the win,” Srikanth told PTI.
Srikanth, who finished at the pre-quarterfinals in the last two editions, has a 4-4 head-to-head record against Son, whom he has beaten twice this year en route to his titles at Indonesia and Australia in June. “It will be a tough match but I have been improving with each match and looking forward for a good game tomorrow,” Srikanth added.
India’s top mixed doubles pair of Pranaav Jerry Chopra and N Sikki Reddy, seeded 15th, played their heart out before going down 22-20 18-21 18-21 to Indonesian World Number 6 duo of Debby Susanto and Praveen Jordan.
Srikanth and Antonsen split the initial six points before the Indian surged ahead with a fivepoint burst to grab a 11-8 lead at the break. The Denmark shuttler reduced the gap to 11-13 but Srikanth changed gears to produce another five-point burst to zoom ahead. The Indian eventually closed out the opening game without much ado.
Nothing much changed in the second game as Srikanth took a 11-3 lead but Anders came back strongly to reel off six points on the trot to reduce the margin to 9-11. However, Srikanth continued to move ahead to open up a 20-15 lead. Antonsen saved three matches points before the Indian sealed the issue in his favour.
Despite coming into the women’s singles match with a 3-0 head-to-head record, Sindhu found the going tough against her World No. 17 opponent, who held a slender 11-9 lead at the break. After the interval, Sindhu clawed back with two points but the duel between the two became more fierce as they moved neck and neck till 19-19 when the Hong Kong girl moved ahead to earn the bragging rights.
acrimonious split from Barcelona escalated on Thursday as the Paris St Germain forward announced plans to sue the Liga club, two days after Barca revealed they were suing the Brazilian over breach of contract.
Reports in the Spanish media said that Neymar had filed a lawsuit via Fifa against Barca for an unpaid loyalty bonus of €26 million, which was included in the last contract the player signed with the Catalan side in November 2016. FIFA confirmed to Reuters that they had “received a claim from Neymar against FC Barcelona” and said the matter was being investigated.
On Tuesday, Barcelona said they were suing Neymar for €8.5 million as they want him to return the bonus he was paid when he signed the five-year deal. The bonus Barca referred to is separate to the €26 million payment, according to reports in Spain. Neymar’smanagementgroupN& N Consultoria responded in a statement on Tuesday that the player had fulfilled the terms of the contract, as well as stating it was planning legal action. The player’s lawsuit against Barca is the latest chapter of an increasingly bitter split between Neymar andtheclubwhichcatapultedhim toworldfamebysigninghimfrom Santos in 2013 and with whom he won two La Liga titles, three Copa del Reys and the 2015 Champions League. The Brazilian launched a tirade against Barcelona’s board and president Josep Maria Bartomeu after starring on his home debut for PSG last Sunday.
He said: “I am disappointed with them (Barcelona directors). I spent four very happy years there and left happy, but not with them. For me they shouldn’t be in charge of Barcelona. Barca deserve much better.”