New Delhi, Apr 2: Defending champion and ace shuttler Saina Nehwal entered the semi-final of India Open Super Series Badminton 2016 on Friday.
Saina beat Sung Ji-hyun in a decider 19-21 21-14, 21-19 to book the last four place.
Both players were reported to be completely exhausted after the close duel.
Saina will be taking on World No. 2 LI Xuerui of China on Saturday.
New Delhi, Jan 29: Badminton champion Saina Nehwal joined the ruling BJP today and is likely to campaign for the party ahead of the February 8 Delhi election.
"I have won medals for the country. I am a very hardworking and I love hardworking persons. I can see Prime Minister Narendra Modi does so much for the country, I want to do something for the country with him," the shuttler said, wearing the BJP scarf.
"I draw a lot of inspiration from Narendra sir".
Haryana-born Saina Nehwal, 29, is a major acquisition for the party in the middle of the Delhi poll campaign; she is one of the most popular sportspersons in India with a huge fan following and brand value. She is preparing for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
A former world number 1, she has been honoured with the country's top sporting awards like the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and Arjuna Award. She was also awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2016.
The Badminton player has won over 24 international titles. In the London Olympics, she won a bronze. She was world number two in 2009 and number one in 2015.
With her tweets praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Saina Nehwal was widely seen to lean towards the BJP.
One of her tweets became controversial when it was found to be identical to several others in praise of a PM Modi speech last year. Saina was trolled on Twitter with screenshots of the identical tweets. She was also among the sportswomen who put up identical tweets on Diwali thanking PM Modi for his initiative to empower women, with the hashtag #bharatkilaxmi.
The BJP roped in many famous personalities last year, including cricketer Gautam Gambhir, who was elected MP from Delhi in the national election, and wrestler Babita Phogat. Just before the Haryana assembly polls, the party roped in wrestler Sushil Kumar, Babita Phogat and former Hockey team captain Sandeep Singh. Sandeep Singh won the election and was appointed minister.
Milan, Mar 28: Juventus star Paulo Dybala revealed how he "struggled to breathe" after contracting coronavirus which has killed over 9,000 people in Italy.
The Argentine international announced last Saturday he was one of three Juventus players to catch the virus along with Daniele Rugani and Blaise Matuidi, who both had no symptoms.
"I feel better now after some strong symptoms," the 26-year-old Dybala told JTV channel.
"A couple of days ago I was not well, I felt heavy and after five minutes of movement I had to stop because I was struggling to breathe.
"Now I can move and walk to start trying to train, because when I tried in the past few days I started to shake too much.
"I gasped for air and as a result I couldn't do anything, after five minutes I was already very tired, I felt the body heavy and my muscles hurt.
"Now I'm fine. My fiancee Oriana (Sabatini) has also overcome the symptoms."
Dybala has scored 13 goals in all competitions this season, including in league leader's Juventus's last game against Inter Milan before Serie A and all sport in Italy was suspended.
"The goal against Inter was the greatest emotion, (Aaron) Ramsey provided the perfect assist - it's a pity that there was no public," added Dybala.
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