Sindhu battles fatigue ahead of China Open
CHANGZHOU:PV Sindhu will have to find a way to battle fatigue if she has to continue her consistent run in international circuit and regain the China Open, beginning here on Tuesday. Sindhu showed signs of fatigue during her second-round exit at last week’s Japan Open, her first early loss since the firstround ouster from the Denmark Open last October.
The 23-year-old has been the most consistent this season with silver medals in the Commonwealth Games, the World Championships and the Asian Games.
The third seeded Indian will start her campaign against Hong Kong’s Cheung Ngan Yi at the Olympic Sports Center Xincheng Gymnasium.
Two-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist Saina Nehwal, who had clinched a bronze at Asian Games at Jakarta, will be rejuvenated after skipping the Japan Open. The Indian faces a tough first round against Korea’s Sung Ji Hyun.
Among others, Kidambi Srikanth has looked a shadow of the man who clinched four titles last season. Though the seventh seeded Indian won the men’s singles silver at the Commonwealth Games, he has been inconsistent in the season so far.
Srikanth, who held the world No 1 1 ranking for a brief period this year, will look to build on his quarterfinal finish at Japan Open when he begins his campaign against Denmark’s Rasmus Gemke.
PAYAS-VISHWA CLINCH BRONZE IN CROATIA
VARAZDIN:INDIA’S young paddlers Payas Jain and Vishwa Deenadayalan paired up to clinch the bronze medal in the Cadet Boys’ team category in the Croatia Junior and Cadet Open on Sunday.
Representing India 1, Payas and Vishwa found themselves in Group 5 along with Croatia 2, Czech Republic-egypt and Chilemexico. They put up a good show and cruised to the top of the standings with identical 3-0 wins against each of them.
In the quarter-finals they beat Hungary 1 3-2 before losing 0-3 to China in the semi-finals.
MAYER BREAKS DECATHLON RECORD
TALENCE, FRANCE: France’s Kevin Mayer made up for recent disappointments in spectacular style when he set a decathlon world record of 9,126 points at the Decastar event here on Sunday.
World champion and Olympic silver medallist Mayer surpassed American Ashton Eaton’s 9,045 total at the 2015 world championships in Beijing.
“I’ve been waiting for this
SAPPORO PULLS OUT OF 2026 OLYMPICS RACE
LAUSANNE: The Japanese city of Sapporo has pulled out of the bidding to host the 2026 Winter Olympics after the earthquake in Hokkaido, the International Olympic Committee said on Monday, adding that the city would focus on bidding for the 2030 Games.
Sapporo’s withdrawal means it is the third city to pull out of the 2026 bid process after Switzerland’s Sion and Austria’s Graz.
Calgary, Stockholm and Turkey’s Erzurum are left in the running along with an Italian bid, with the IOC next month to name the city or cities to enter the one-year candidature phase.