German Open: Mixed day for India

Unheralded Indian men's doubles pair of Ishaan Bhatnagar and Sai Pratheek K moved into the second round even as majority of their compatriots suffered defeats at the German Open badminton tournament, in Muelheim An Der Ruhr, Germany, on Wednesday.

Ishaan and Sai Pratheek took just 30 minutes to get the better of English duo of Callum Hemming and Steven Stalwood 21-15, 21-16 in their tournament- opener.

They will next clash with fellow Indians Krishna Prasad Garaga and Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala.

The other Indian men's doubles pair of MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila fought hard before going down 13-21 22-20 19-21 to sixth seeded Malaysia combination of Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi.

The women's doubles pair of Ashwinin Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy also lost in the opening round to fifth seeded Japanese pair of Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida 13-21, 13-21.
Men's singles shuttler Subhankar Dey was shown the door by China's Zhao Jun Peng with a 21-15, 21-8 scoreline. 

Gopichand likely to contest for BAI's General Secretary post

India's chief national coach Pullela Gopichand is likely to contest for the post of Secretary General when the Badminton Association of India (BAI) holds its elections on March 25.

Gopichand, who guided Saina Nehwal and PV Sindhu to bronze and silver medals at the Olympics, is expected to file his nomination for the post on Thursday.

"Gopichand is contesting for the general secretary's post and is likely to file for nomination tomorrow," a BAI source, privy to the development, told PTI.

However, according to the BAI constitution only outgoing office bearers or a member of the outgoing Executive Committee are eligible for contesting the election for the General Secretary post and Gopichand does not fulfil this criteria.

"The Hon. Gen Secretary shall be elected by the Council amongst its member and provided that only the outgoing office bearers or the members of the outgoing Executive Committee shall be eligible to contest the election for the post of Hon Gen Secretary," the constitution reads.

Candidates can file for nomination from March 9 to 11, while the last date for withdrawing nomination is March 17-19. The Returning officer will prepare the final list of the contenders on March 20.

The 48-year-old Gopichand, one of the most successful coaches of the country, is known to wear multiple hats and it has often drawn him into conflict of interest debate over the years.

Apart from being the chief national coach, Gopichand is also the secretary of Telangana Badminton Association, a member of the selection panel and also runs a private academy in Hyderabad.

Himanta Biswa Sarma is set to be re-elected President while Ajay Singhania, who is the current BAI general secretary, is unlikely to contest the elections for a second term.