Auckland: India's B Sai Praneeth crashed out in the second round of the New Zealand Open badminton tournament with a straight-game loss against legendary Lin Dan of China here Thursday.

Praneeth's 12-21 12-21 loss meant another disappointment for India following Saina Nehwal's shock defeat in the first round on Wednesday. Seventh seed Lin Dan, thus, progressed to the quarterfinals where he will be up against top seed Anthony Sinisuka Ginting of Indonesia.

Indian men's doubles pair of Manu Attri and Sumeeth B Reddy too lost in the second round, going down against seventh seeds Goh V Shem and Tan Wee Kiong of Malaysia 17-21 19-21. In another second round men's sinlges match, H S Prannoy will take on second seed Tommy Sugiarto later on Thursday.

 

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Bengaluru (PTI): A 27-year-old techie allegedly died by suicide by hanging herself in her room at her residence here, reportedly distressed over an astrologer's prediction about her marriage, police said on Monday.

The incident occurred on Friday at MEI Layout in Bagalagunte, they said.

The deceased, identified as Vidyajyoti, was in a relationship with a man from another caste. Both families had agreed to the marriage as per her wishes, police said.

Citing a preliminary inquiry, a senior police officer said her parents had recently consulted an astrologer, who allegedly predicted that there could be misunderstandings between the couple two years into the marriage, possibly leading to separation.

To avert this, the astrologer reportedly advised performing a nine-day ritual, which the family undertook, he said.

However, on the ninth day of the ritual, Vidyajyoti allegedly went to her room and died by suicide by hanging herself from a ceiling fan when her parents were not home, he added.

The incident came to light in the evening when she did not respond despite repeated knocks on the door. Her father later broke open the door and found her hanging, police said.

Bagalagunte police have registered a UDR (Unnatural Death Report) case, and further investigation is underway.