2018 Commonwealth Games: Babita Kumari criticises IOA for not giving tickets to her parents
Babita Kumari, who clinched silver in the women’s 53kg, has alleged that the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) officials did not provide tickets to her parents so that they could watch her bout.
Wrestler Babita Kumari, who took silver in women’s 53kg on Thursday, alleged that the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) officials did not provide tickets to her parents so that they could watch her bout. Babita’s father, Mahavir Phogat, is also her coach. “My parents have come all the way to Gold Coast to watch my bout but there were no tickets for them. The IOA did not provide tickets despite repeated requests. Normally, two tickets are provided to each sportsperson for their family members. I waited till 10pm on Wednesday for the tickets, but they didn’t arrive,” Babita alleged.
Indians in badminton quarters
Shuttlers PV Sindhu, Saina Nehwal, Kidambi Srikanth and HS Prannoy entered the quarter-finals, while Satwik Rankireddy, Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy also enjoyed a successful outing as they reached the last eight in both the doubles categories on Thursday. Sindhu whipped local girl Hsuan-Yu Wendy Chen 21-15, 21-9, while Saina Nehwal advanced after the Isle of Man’s Jessica Li retired hurt while trailing 4-21, 0-2. In men’s singles, top seed Srikanth thrashed Sri Lankan Niluka Karunaratne 21-10, 21-10, while Prannoy tamed Australian Anthony Joe 21-18, 21-11. In men’s doubles, Satwik Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty defeated Mauritius’ Aatish Lubah and Christopher Jean Paul 21-8, 21-12. In mixed doubles, Ashwini Ponnappa and Satwik, and Sikki and Pranaav Chopra advanced to the quarter-finals.
Pallikal-Ghosal advance to semis
The Indian duo of Dipika Pallikal and Saurav Ghosal advanced to the semi-finals of the squash mixed double’s event even as compatriots Joshna Chinappa and Harinder Pal Sandhu crashed out. Both Saurav and Dipika played with a lot of confidence to script an 11-8, 11-10 win against third seeds Tesni Evans and Peter Creed of Wales. Vikram Malhotra and Ramit Tandon continued their good work with a solid win over the Jamaican pair of Christopher Binnie and Lewis Walters 11-4, 11-10 for a place in the men’s doubles quarter-finals.
