Shuttler Sindhu eyes title at Asian Championship
Three years after winning a bronze at the Gimcheon edition, PV Sindhu will once again eye a superlative performance when she leads the Indian challenge at the Asia badminton championship, starting here on Tuesday.
The Rio Olympic silver medallist had clinched the Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold in January this year before annexing the India Super Series title early this month. The fourth seed Sindhu then reached the quarterfinals at the Singapore Open, where she lost to Olympic champion Carolina Marin. The 21-year-old from Hyderabad will square off against Indonesia’s Dinar Dyah Ayustine in the opening round abad Saina Nehwal, who had skipped Singapore Open to work on her game after losing in the first round of Malaysia Open, will open her campaign against Japan’s Sayaka Sato.
HARIKA BOUNCES BACK AT REYKJAVIK OPEN
India’s Grandmaster Harika Dronavalli recovered strongly from her loss in the pre victory over Vignir Vatnar Stefansson in the highly-competitive Reykjavik Open. Playing white, Harika opted for French defense and exploited the inexperienced opponent by slowly increasing pressure on him till he resigned.
SAI PRANEETH TO BE MENTORED BY DRAVID
Talented shuttler B Sai Praneeth and Olympian rower Dattu Baban Bhokanal were among the six new athletes selected by Gosports Foundation, who will be supported during the third year of their ‘Rahul Dravid Athlete Mentorship Programme’. The other new entrants are rower Dushyant, weightlifters Kojum Taba and N Sathish Kumar. Gymnast Rakesh Patra, who has participated in three World Championship is also a