Syed Modi International: Sensational Sameer Verma defends title, erratic Saina Nehwal sinks
Lucknow, Nov 25: A gritty Sameer Verma produced a sensational performance to defend his men's singles title, making up for the failure of his compatriots in the other finals at the USD 150,000 Syed Modi International here Sunday.
World no 16 Sameer defeated China's Lu Guangzu 16-21 21-19 21-14 in a pulsating summit clash to lift the trophy for the second successive time even as Saina Nehwal, men's doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty and women's doubles combination of Ashwini Ponnappa and N Sikki Reddy bite the dust.
Former champion Saina failed to produce her best, losing 18-21 8-21 to young Chinese Han Yue -- a 2017 world junior championship silver medallist -- in a lop-sided women's singles summit clash.
Saina, who won a gold and a bronze at the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games respectively, had ended second best at the Indonesia Masters in January and Denmark Open in October this year.
Earlier, Commonwealth Games silver medallists Satwik Sairaj and Chirag also went down 11-21 20-22 to second seeds Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto of Indonesia to settle for the runners-up prize in the men's doubles competition.
Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Ashwini and Sikki also couldn't live up to the expectations, losing 15-21 13-21 to third seeded Malaysian pair of Chow Mei Kuan and Lee Meng Yean in women's doubles final. The Indian pair had lost in the finals in the last edition as well.
Sameer then brightened up the dismal day with his never-say-die attitude to claim his third title of the season, following victories at Swiss Open and Hyderabad Open.
His performance helped him gather enough ranking points to surpass Japan's Kenta Nishimoto at no 8 in the HSBC Race to Guangzhou Rankings and qualify for the year-ending BWF World Tour Finals to be held in December.
Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu is the only other Indian to have qualified for the prestigious tournament in China.
Sameer played patiently, constructing the rallies with his repertoire of strokes to dominate early in the opening game. He led 6-2 initially, before extending it to 8-4.
An error of judgement at the backline followed by Lu's three smashes saw the Chinese claw back at 8-8.
Lu unleashed another down-the-line smash to lead 10-8 before he entered the break after winning a fast-paced rally.
After the interval, Sameer looked more positive in his approach as he levelled the scores with three straight points.
But Lu again turned the tide, smashing his way to a comfortable 20-14 lead when the Indian hit wide. Sameer saved two points before another smash earned Lu the bragging rights.
The second game saw some exciting rallies right from the start with Sameer grinding out a 10-7 lead after splitting the initial 14 points. The Indian grabbed an 11-8 lead at the breather after Lu hit long.
After the break, Lu kept snapping at Sameer's heels, finding gaps in his rival's defence to narrow the lead to 13-14 and then turned the tables when Sameer hit the net.
A wide smash from Lu again gave the lead to Sameer at 17-16. But two precise returns helped Lu to draw parity at 18-18.
Another fast-paced rally ended with Lu hitting wide and he found the net next to hand two game points to Sameer. The Indian missed the line once but produced an accurate return at the backline to take the match to the decider.
Sameer strengthened his defence and used the momentum of the second game to dominate early in the decider.
He led 7-3 but Lu once again scripted a recovery, reeling off seven straight points to led 10-7.
Sameer then unleashed a body smash and hit two more sizzling smashes to make it 10-10. Lu went to the net next as Sameer managed a slender 11-10 advantage at the break.
The Indian took the next two points after the change of sides before an excellent drop shot left him sprawling on the floor.
The Indian showed immaculate defence and pounced on the chances to eke out a 16-12 lead with the help of betternet game and a couple of rasping shots.
Lu crumbled after that, hitting long and wide to hand over six match points to Sameer, who converted them as the Chinese hit the net.
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Charred body of teen found after fire destroys over 100 shanties in Delhi's Rithala
New Delhi (PTI): A massive fire swept through a cluster of shanties in Delhi's Rithala area early on Thursday, killing a 17-year-old girl and destroying more than 100 huts that left dozens of migrant families homeless.
Firefighters pulled out the charred body of the girl who was initially reported missing after the fire.
The blaze that was reported to authorities at 4.15 am spread rapidly through the densely packed shanties, triggering panic among residents who rushed out of their huts to escape the flames.
Residents said the shanty cluster was home to migrant labourers from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal and other states who worked as daily wage workers in nearby factories, construction sites and small establishments.
The Delhi Fire Services (DFS) launched a large-scale firefighting operation and deployed more than 18 fire tenders to control the blaze.
After the fire was brought under control, firefighters recovered the charred body of a teenage girl from the debris.
"Teams reached the location soon after the call was received and began firefighting operations. The fire had already engulfed several shanties in the cluster," a fire official said.
Officials said the blaze spread quickly because the huts were built very close to each other and many contained highly inflammable materials such as plastic sheets, wooden planks and cloth.
Firefighters and local police personnel carried out rescue and cooling operations and managed to bring the fire under control by around 6.30 am.
"The fire had spread to more than 100 huts and a adjacent godown of paper rolls and cardboard and the doors and windows of some residential flats also caught fire. A 17-year-old girl charred body was also recovered. Her body was sent to BSA Hospital by PCR," the officer said.
Police said the girl has been identified and further legal procedures are underway.
Many families said they lost everything in the fire as they had to flee with no belongings during the fire.
"We ran out to save our lives when the fire started. Within minutes everything was burning. Our hut, clothes, money and documents -- everything has turned to ashes," said Ramesh Kumar, a labourer from Bihar who has been living in the area.
Another person from West Bengal, said the flames spread so quickly that people barely had time to wake their children and escape.
"We woke up to screams and saw fire everywhere. We somehow managed to take the children outside. We could not save anything from the hut. All our belongings are gone," she said.
Some residents were seen searching through the burnt remains of their huts in the hope of finding salvageable items. "We worked for years to build this small hut and collect household items. In just a few minutes, everything we had earned was destroyed," said a migrant worker from Uttar Pradesh.
Police said the exact cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained and an investigation is underway.
