Sindhu reaches India Open semis, Praneeth, Kashyap lose in quarters
PV Sindhu took another step closer to retaining her title as she reached the women’s singles semi-finals in the India Open Super 500 badminton tournament here on Friday.
Sindhu dished out an attacking game to beat Spain’s World No. 36 Beatriz Corrales 21-12, 19-21, 21-11 in the 35-minute quarter-final match. The Olympic silver medallist will face 2013 World champion Ratchanok Inthanon of Thailand in the semi-finals.
However, it turned out to be a disappointing day for Parupalli Kashyap and B Sai Praneeth as they suffered straight game defeats to their respective opponents to bow out of the tournament. Kashyap seemed a bit tired and could not match China’s Qiao Bin, losing 16-21, 18-21 in the men’s singles quarter-finals. Eighth seed Praneeth too failed to negotiate the fast- paced game of third seed Taiwanese Chou Tien Chen and went down 15-21, 13-21.
Among others, top seeded Indonesian Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo shut out the fighting Indian men’s doubles pair of Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy 21-19 21-19, while sixth seeded women’s doubles pair of Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy lost 17-21, 21-23 to Chinese pair of Du Yue and Li Yinhui. Seventh seeded Indian pair of Jakkampudi Meghana and Poorvisha S Ram lost 10-21, 15-21 to second seeded Thai pair of Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai.
South Africa paceman Lungi Ngidi’s fairytale rise to stardom shows what some luck and a helping hand can do to talented people living in the margins.
With a huge gulf in the standards of government and private schools, a stint in the top private schools can be a ticket to success. South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis mentioned this while talking about the 21-year-old after his impressive Test debut against India.
Around 30 km from Durban is Kloof, a locality where Ngidi spent his formative years as his parents worked in the Kloof Junior Primary School, a predominantly white school.
His parents still work there, father Jerome has risen from a pool cleaner to managing maintenance.
The trip to the Johannesburg Test on invitation by Cricket South Africa, which put them up in a five-star hotel, exposed the shy couple to a new life with cameras constantly trained on them.
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Back in the school, they are at home in their uniform. Ngidi’s mother Bongi holds a set of towels to be given for washing. “Life was harsh. We had to pay for the education of our four sons. This kid (Lungi) took some burden off us, getting bursaries (100% scholarships),” says Jerome.
Bongi adds, “Both of us had to work weekends for extra money. I’d work at houses during holidays to make ends meet.”
Lungi was too good. “His hero was Makhaya Ntini. He used to say he wants to bowl like Ntini,” recalls his dad.
The bursar at the Kloof Junior Primary, Jane Wilks, says, “He had just joined the pre-primary school close to this place as a tiny