Saina, Srikanth storm into semifinals of Denmark Open
Odense (Denmark), Oct 20: India's Saina Nehwal and Kidambi Srikanth stormed into the semifinals of the Denmark Open with hard-fought victories over Nozomi Okuhara and Sameer Verma respectively.
Saina, ranked 10th, recovered after the losing the first game to beat familiar foe and world number seven Okuhara of Japan 17-21, 21-16, 21-12 in the quarterfinal lasting 58 minutes on Friday night.
The final point of the match was a long rally which ended with the Japanese finding the net. It was a morale boosting for the Indian star, having lost her previous three meetings to Okuhara including the most recent one in Korea last month.
Saina had also lost to the 2017 World Champion during the team event at the Asian Games in August.
Overall, their head-to-head record stands at 7-4 in the Indian's favour. Saina next faces world number 19 Gregoria Mariska Tunjung of Indonesia.
Fellow Indian Srikanth too had to dig deep against countryman Verma with little separating the two in an intense men's singles quarterfinal.
In the end, world number six Srikanth prevailed over the 23-ranked Indian in an epic battle lasting an hour and 18 minutes with the final scoreline reading 22-20, 19-21, 23-21.
The two Indians had not played each prior the quarterfinal and their first meeting turned out to be a slugfest. Verma was leading for the major part of the third and deciding game where he even had a 17-13 lead before Srikanth scripted a remarkable fightback to scrape through.
Srikanth plays second seed and world number one Kento Momota of Japan in the semifinal to be held later on Saturday. The formidable Japanese enjoys an 8-3 career record over Srikanth and has not lost to the Indian in their last five meetings.
In the women's doubles, Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy's spirited campaign came to an end with a loss to top seeds, Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota, in the quarterfinals.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Woman in labour dies while being transported in ambulance lacking oxygen support
Palghar (PTI): A 26-year-old pregnant woman from Maharashtra's Palghar district died while being taken to hospital in an ambulance which was not equipped with oxygen and other necessary facilities, authorities said on Wednesday.
Palghar's Civil Surgeon Dr Ramdas Marad said the health department has repeatedly raised concerns with authorities about the lack of specialised ambulances in the region.
The woman, who was in labour pain, was brought to a rural hospital here in a critical state on Tuesday evening.
"If she had come earlier, we could have saved her," the health official said.
Palghar Lok Sabha member Dr Hemant Savara said the health department should take necessary action into the matter and ambulance services should have adequate facilities.
Pinki Dongarkar, resident of Sarni village, went into labour on Tuesday evening.
Her family immediately rushed her to Kasa rural hospital, but due to the critical nature of her condition, the staff there referred her to neighbouring Silvassa city (in the Union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu) for further medical attention.
However, despite frantic attempts by her family to secure an ambulance equipped with oxygen and necessary medical facilities through the '108' emergency service, their requests went unanswered, a health official said.
They were eventually provided with a regular ambulance by the Kasa rural hospital.
While en route to Silvassa, the woman succumbed to complications and the foetus also did not survive, health officials confirmed.
Dr Marad said the woman was brought to the Kasa rural hospital in a critical state.
According to him, the woman suffered from a condition called Intrauterine Fetal Death (IUFD), where the foetus died in the womb. The exact time of the foetal death could not be determined.
Upon arrival at the hospital, the woman was semi-conscious and showed signs of severe infection.
On issues with the 108 emergency ambulance services, which are privately operated, Dr Marad said the ambulance might have been unavailable due to high demand.
The health department has repeatedly raised concerns with authorities about the lack of specialised ambulances in the region, he said.
Talking to PTI, Palghar BJP MP Savara said, "This is a very sad incident. The health department should take necessary action in this connection. Also, such an incident should not happen in future for this reason."
"The ambulance services should have adequate oxygen and cardiac support facilities. Also, a doctor is required to accompany the patient. I will follow it up with the government," he said.
CPI (M) leader Vinod Nikole, the newly-elected assembly member from Dahanu in Palghar, said he had raised the issue in the House during his last term, but no action was taken.
He criticised the government over "indifference" towards improving healthcare facilities, particularly in tribal areas, and accused the state of prioritising other programmes, such as the Ladki Bahin Yojana, over the urgent needs of healthcare in rural regions.
