Korea Open: Sindhu fails to decode An Seyoung, campaign ends at semifinals
Suncheon (South Korea) (PTI): India's P V Sindhu suffered her fourth successive defeat to the young An Seyoung to sign off her women's singles campaign at the semifinal stage of the Korea Open Super 500 badminton tournament here on Saturday.
The third seeded Indian tried everything at her disposal but couldn't find a way to get past the world number four Korean, going down 14-21 17-21 in 48 minutes.
The 20-year-old An Seyoung gave ample display of her athleticism with her diving returns to keep the rallies alive and didn't falter in her precision, leaving Sindhu to do the catch-up job from the start.
The second seeded Korean rode on her superb retrieving skills to gallop to a 6-1 lead early on. Next she dived twice in quick succession on both flanks to blunt Sindhu's attack and sealed it with a delightful drop.
Two powerful returns took Sindhu to 4-7 but An Seyoung came up with two precise returns, a body blow and then produced another over-the-head return to gain a healthy 11-6 lead at the break.
Sindhu tried to step up the pace but An Seyoung displayed a wide array of shots to always stay a step ahead. The Indian got a few points with her smashes but she couldn't put pressure on the Korean.
An Seyoung disposed off two weak lifts from Sindhu and then grabbed eight game points, two of which were saved by the Indian before the Korean unleashed a lightening straight smash to seal it comfortably.
Sindhu was off to a good 3-0 start after the change of ends but An Seyoung soon surged ahead to 5-3.
The Indian grabbed two quick points before the match became a tight battle with Sindhu's precise forecourt return being matched by the booming smashes from the Korean.
A long shot was followed by a net winner from Sindhu to keep the scores tied at 9-9 but the Korean was relentless in her retrievals and soon moved to a two-point advantage when Sindhu shot one to the net.
Sindhu kept breathing down the neck of her opponent at 12-14, with the Korean going long and to the net.
A service error from An Seyoung kept it 14-16 before the Korean produced a cross court return and, with Sindhu also miscuing a couple of shots, it was 18-14 advantage for the local hope.
Sindhu reeled off three points on the trot to keep the match alive but An Seyoung sent one away from the backhand of the Indian, who went to net next to gift three match points to the Korean.
An Seyoung unleashed another smash to seal it and go down on her knees in joy.
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Insensitive of Pune hospital to deny admission to woman, says Fadnavis; forms inquiry panel
Mumbai (PTI): Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has ordered the formation of a committee to inquire into the death of a pregnant woman after she was allegedly refused admission by Pune's leading Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital over non-payment of a deposit of Rs 10 lakh.
The controversy escalated on Friday with local political activists staging a protest outside the hospital and the hospital claiming that the woman's relatives were making misleading allegations.
A day earlier, BJP MLC Amit Gorkhe claimed in a video message that Tanisha Bhise, the wife of his personal assistant, was refused admission by the hospital. She was taken to another hospital where she died after delivering twins, he said.
A statement from the Chief Minister's Office said on Friday that he had taken serious note of the incident. "He has ordered the formation of an inquiry committee under the chairmanship of the Joint Commissioner of Charity, Pune," it said.
It said that the deputy secretary or under-secretary of the Law and Justice department would be the member secretary of the committee.
Further, instructions have been issued to the principal secretary, the Law and Justice department and the charity commissioner to ensure that the Charity Patient Scheme prepared as per the directions of the High Court is effectively implemented by all charity hospitals, the CMO said.
"All charitable hospitals should seek approval from the 'Charity Hospital Help Desk' through the online system to make reserved beds available to patients from the poor and vulnerable groups," it said.
The government has approved 186 posts of charitable health workers in charitable hospitals, and they should be filled immediately, the CMO statement said.
Talking to reporters here, Fadnavis said it was "insensitive" on the part of the hospital to deny admission to a pregnant woman.
He conceded that there was a lot of anger among the people over the incident.
"Medical ethics are needed. The Chief Minister's medical cell also intervened, but the hospital did not budge," Fadnavis said.
An internal inquiry report of the Mangeshkar Hospital claimed that the allegations of denial of admission for non-payment of Rs 10 lakh were "misleading" and made "out of frustration" by her family.
The woman's pregnancy was in the high-risk category, and her two underweight fetuses of seven months, coupled with a history of an old ailment, required Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) treatment for at least two months, it said.
The treatment required Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh and the family was advised that in case of lack of funds, they could admit the patient to the government-run Sassoon General Hospital for a complicated surgery, it added.
BJP MLC Chitra Wagh, meanwhile, came under criticism for a social media post praising the party's women's wing members who targeted and vandalised a private clinic in Pune's Kothrud area belonging to Dr Shusrut Ghaisas, who works at the hospital.
Dr Nilima Ghaisas, his mother, said her son did not practice there.
Activist Vishwambhar Choudhari criticised Wagh's remarks and claimed that the BJP-led state government recently allotted land to the hospital for Rs 1 per year rent.
The deceased woman's husband was the personal assistant of a BJP Member of the Legislative Council, yet he could not do anything, Chaudhari said.
