Sindhu’s win overshwadowed Narsingh’s dope saga on Day 11

By Tapan Mohanta Rio de Janeiro, Aug 17 (PTI) Shuttler PV Sindhu raisedserious hopes of breaking India’s long-awaited medal quest inthe Rio Olympics by storming into the semifinals of thewomen’s singles event with a stunning straight games win overLondon Games silver medallist Wang Yihan of China, here. The two-time World Championship bronze medallist Sindhu,who came into the match with a 2-4 head-to-head record, dishedout a compact game to outmanoeuvre the more experienced Wang22-20 21-19 in a gruelling battle lasting 54 minutes. The 21-year-old Indian now stood just a win away fromassuring India an elusive medal at the Rio Olympics. With the memorable win, Sindhu became the second Indianbadminton player to reach an Olympic semifinal after SainaNehwal achieved the feat four years ago. Sindhu’s win has overshadowed the fresh saga surroundingIndia’s floundering campaign at the Rio Games on day 11 afterWorld Anti-Doping Agency lodged an appeal with the Court ofArbitration for Sports against the clean chit given towrestler Narsingh Yadav by NADA in the dope scandal back home. "WADA has appealed against the NADA (National Anti-DopingAgency) clearance in Court of Arbitration (CAS). Now thehearing is on and the IOA Secretary General (Rajeev Mehta) isthere with WADA officials," Indian contingent’schef-de-mission Rakesh Gupta told PTI. If CAS upholds WADA’s appeal Narsingh, who is scheduledto fight in the 74kg freestyle category on August 19, will notonly be able to take part in the Games here but could alsoface a career-threatening four-year ban. Enduring a disastrous campaign thus far, the medal-lessIndian contingent has been pinning its hopes mainly onshuttlers Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth, besides its wrestlers -including world championship bronze medal winner Narsingh – toend the drought before the disheartening development. Eleven days of action have failed to bring India, thatwon a record six medals in London four years ago, a singlepodium finish and there’s growing desperation to end this poorrun. India’s campaign now has been reduced to threedisciplines – track and field, badminton and wrestling – afterthe flop show put up by the contingent in other sports. It’s woes continued on day 11 today when Hardeep Singhlost 1-2 in his opening encounter against Turkey’s Ildem Cenkin the Greco-Roman 98kg category. And adding to the miserable run was the news that some ofits contingent members were served only "peanuts" at a dinnerparty organised by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sportshere on Independence Day, after having skipped dinner at theGames Village. Having conquered world no. 2 Yihan, India’s all hopes nowrests on Sindhu who will face the winners of the lastquarterfinal between Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi and NozomiOkuhara on August 18 for a place in the gold medal encounter. The lanky shuttler from Hyderabad and Srikanth, whomade it to the men’s singles quarters, are the only two medalcontenders left in the badminton competition after the shockelimination of last Games bronze medallist and former worldno. 1 Saina Nehwal two days ago. MORE PTI TAP SSR SSCSSC