Sports news at a glance

Srikanth in the semi-finals of Malaysia Masters Kuala Lumpur, Bhasha. India’s

 

Veteran badminton player Kidambi Srikanth entered the semi-finals of the tournament on Friday by defeating higher ranked France’s Toma Junior Popov in three games in a challenging men’s singles match here. Srikanth, ranked 65th, gave a tough fight to world number 18 Popov in the quarter-finals and defeated him 24-22 17-21 22-20 in one hour and 14 minutes. Now former number one player Srikanth will face Japan’s Yushi Tanaka in the last four. In this way, this will be the first semi-final in a year for the Indian, who won the silver medal in the World Championship and Asian Games. Tanaka defeated Toma Junior’s brother Christo Popov 21-18 16-21 21-6 in the men’s singles quarter-finals on Saturday. The second semi-final of men’s singles will be played between fourth seed Kodai Naraoka of Japan and second seed Li Shi Feng of China. Srikanth is the only Indian left in the BWF World Cup Super 500 tournament after the mixed doubles pair of Dhruv Kapila and Tanisha Crasto lost their quarterfinal bout on Friday. Kapila and Crasto gave a tough fight to top seeded Chinese pair of Jiang Zhen Bang and Wei Ya Jin in the first game but lost their momentum and were eliminated after losing 22-24 13-21 in a match that lasted 35 minutes.

Shubhkar and Veer have a tough start in Belgium

Antwerp (Belgium), Language. Indian golfers Shubhankar Sharma and Veer Ahlawat got off to a poor start in the first round of the Soudal Open and are at joint 132nd position with a score of three-over 74. Now both of them will have to score very well to make the cut. Sharma hit four big birds but made five bogeys and a double bogey. Ahlawat, on the other hand, hit two birdies but made five bogeys including a triple bogey. Belgium’s Joost Luiten has taken a one stroke lead over Canada’s Aaron Cockrill and Spain’s Angel Ayora with a score of six-under 65.

Akshay Bhatia tied for 11th in Charles Schwab tournament

Fort Worth (USA), Language. Indian-origin American golfer Akshay Bhatia made two consecutive bogeys but scored three-under 70 and is at joint 11th position after the first round of the Charles Schwab Challenge. Bhatia, who is ranked 30th in the world rankings, has earlier been at 21st position. Indian-origin British player Aaron Roy is at joint 57th position with a score of even par 70. John Pak has maintained a lead of three shots over nine players by scoring 63.

Share of women in ISRO workforce close

20 percent: V Narayanan Kolkata, Bhasha. Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman V Narayanan has said that women constitute about 20 per cent of ISRO’s workforce and they are doing a wonderful job. Narayanan said that in future the number of women employees in ISRO should exceed 40 per cent. “A country like India, where the population of women is about 50 per cent, cannot progress unless women make significant contributions,” the ISRO chairman told reporters on the sidelines of a function organised by a private school here on Thursday. When asked about the number of women employees in ISRO, Narayanan said, “There are a lot of women employees there. Women are doing a wonderful job and they should be encouraged for their contribution. Gradually this number should increase. Right now (in ISRO) there are probably about 20 per cent women scientists, but this figure should be increased to more than 40 per cent.” Referring to social reformer Raja Rammohan Roy, Narayanan said Roy and other personalities and experts from various fields raised their voices and became pioneers in the cause of welfare and upliftment of women in the 19th century.