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CWG: Indians shine in singles, doubles events on Day 8 (TT Roundup)
Gold Coast, April 12 (IANS) India’s singles and doubles players outscored their respective opponents to advance while the para paddlers and Madhurika Patkar were the only disappointments on the day at the 21st Commonwealth Games here on Thursday.
Para paddlers Vaishnavi Sutar and Maitreyee Sarkar failed to qualify to the semi-finals of women’s TT6-10 singles as the former managed to win just one of her three group stage matches, while Vaishnavi failed to notch a single win to finish at the bottom of her group.
In their final group stage matches on Thursday, Maitreyee went down 0-3 (5-11, 8-11, 9-11) to England’s Felicity Pickard while Vaishnavi too went down 0-3 (3-11, 3-11, 1-11) to Andrea McDonnell.
In the women’s singles category, it was disappointment for Madhurika who went down 2-4 (9-11, 8-11, 11-2, 3-11, 11-8, 6-11) to England’s Kelly Sibley, to crash out of the competition.
The day started with Indian paddlers winning their respective women’s doubles round of 16 matches and then advancing to the semis.
In one of the quarter-finals, Mouma Das and Manika Batra came back strongly from an one-game deficit to prevail over the English pair of Tin-Tin Ho and Maria Tsaptsinos 3-1 (12-14, 11-3, 11-7, 11-6).
Manika and Mouma had earlier blanked Sri Lanka’s Hansani Kapugeekiyana and Ishara Madurangi 3-0 (11-4, 11-4, 11-1) in a rather one-sided quarter-final contest.
The Indian duo will now take on Malaysian duo of ying Ho and Karen Lyne, on Friday for a place in the final.
In another quarter-final, Sutirtha Mukherjee and Pooja Sahasrabudhe had a comfortable 3-0 (11-6, 11-7, 14-12) over Canada’s Alicia Cote and Mo Zhang.
The Indian pair had earlier defeated the Welsh duo of Charlotte Carey and Chloe Thomas with a 3-1 (11-7, 11-5, 8-11, 11-6) verdict.
Sutirtha and Pooja will next face Singapore’s Tianwei Feng and Mengyu Yu in the other semi-final on Friday.
In the mixed doubles category, India were off to a bright start with all the three pairs advancing to the quarter-finals.
The veteran duo of Achanta Sharath Kamal and Mouma Das started the march to the quarter-finals by inflicting a 3-0 (11-5, 11-9, 11-9) straight games defeat over English pair of David McBeath David and Kelly Sibley.
Sharath and Mouma will next face Canada’s Wang Zhen and Zhang Mo for a place in the semi-finals on Friday.
In another round of 16 tie, India’s Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Manika Batra overcame stiff resistance to beat Canada’s Marko Medjugorac and Alicia Cote 3-2 (11-8, 11-13, 10-12, 11-8, 11-4).
Sathiyan and Manika will now take on Singaporeans Xue Jie Pang and Yihan Zhou in the quarter-finals.
The third Indian pair of Sanil Shankar Shetty and Madhurika Patkar sailed into the quarter-finals with an easy 3-0 (11-4, 11-5, 11-6) win over Mauritius duo of Rhikesh Taucoory and Elodie Ho Wan Kau.
In the quarter-finals, the Indian duo will be up against English pair of Liam Pitchford and Tin-Tin Ho on Friday.
In the women’s singles category, Mouma Das entered the quarter-finals but it was curtains for Madhurika Patkar, after losing her round of 16 match.
Meanwhile, Manika advanced to the semi-finals. The World No.58 ousted lower-ranked Yihan Zhou of Singapore 4-1 (11-5,11-6,11-2,6-11,11-9) with ease in the quarter-final.
The 22-year-old will now face Tianwei Feng in the semis on Saturday.
Earlier on Thursday, Manika thrashed local girl Tracy Feng 4-1 (11-6, 11-6, 9-11, 11-9, 11-7) to reach the last eight of the competition.
In other singles match, Mouma, however, had to fend off stiff resistance from England’s Tin-Tin Ho in a see-saw contest to eventually emerge victorious 4-3 (11-7, 7-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-13, 11-7, 11-8) in her round of 16 match.
In the quarters, the Indian veteran will be up against another Singaporean Mengyu Yu.
In the men’s double category, Achanta Sharath Kamal and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, and Harmeet Desai and Sanil Shetty reached the quarter-finals.
Sharath and Sathiyan outplayed the Sri Lankan pair of Buwaneka Jayasingha Mudiyanselage and Imesh Ranasingha 3-0 (11-3, 11-4, 12-10) in their round of 16 tie at the Oxenford Studios here.
Sharath and Sathiyan will now be up against England’s David McBeath and Samuel Walker on Friday, for a place in the semi-final.
In another match, Harmeet and Sanil also prevailed comfortably over Northern Ireland’s Paul McCreery and Ashley Robinson 3-0 (11-4, 12-10, 11-9).
The Indian duo will now face off against Australians Heming Hu and Xin Yan in the quarter-finals on Friday.
In the men’s singles, Achanta Sharath Kamal, Harmeet Desai and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran stormed into the quarters after winning their games in the Round of 16.
Sharath outplayed Australia’s Heming Hu 4-1 (11-8, 12-10, 8-11, 11-6, 11-5) and will now clash against Englans’s Liam Pitchford in the quarters on Friday.
Harmeet too ovecame the Malaysian challenge 4-1 defeating Chee Feng Leong 11-5, 11-7, 11-5, 7-11, 11-4. He will now face Quadri Aruna of Nigeria in the quarters.
Sathiyan advanced to the next stage after Segun Toriola from Nigera retired with an injury after the opening game with the scoreline reading 11-7 in the Indian’s favour.
Sathiyan will next take on England’s Samuel Walker in the quarters on Friday.
–IANS
gau/pur/vm
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Dr. Abhishek Verma Dedicates a Shelter in Memory of His Mother, Veena Verma, at KGMU; Inaugurated by Daughter Nicolle Verma
World-renowned business tycoon Dr. Abhishek Verma has supported Foodman Vishal Singh’s Hunger-Free World mission. In memory of his mother, Late Veena Verma, who was a 3 term Rajya Sabha MP.
Dr. Verma dedicated a state-of-the-art free permanent shelter for the attendants of patients at KGMU Medical University, Lucknow, under the aegis of Vijay Shree Foundation. His daughter, Nicolle Verma, inaugurated the shelter.
During the event, Foodman Vishal Singh honored Nicolle Verma by presenting her with a memento. Mrs. Nidhi Sharma and Avantika Yadav, associated with the organization, welcomed her with garlands. Following this, Nicolle Verma distributed essential items to the attendants and also handed out fruits. She became emotional remembering her grandmother on her birth anniversary.
On this occasion, she also inaugurated the “Veena Verma Sevalaya” in memory of her grandmother, Veena Verma, to serve the attendants. She expressed, “I feel proud that my family is engaged in nation-building as well as social service. Today, in collaboration with Vijay Shree Foundation founder Foodman Vishal Singh Ji, I feel immensely proud to dedicate this shelter for the poor, helpless, and needy attendants of patients battling serious illnesses like cancer. I am honored to be associated with the Hunger-Free World Mission for humanity.”
Inspired by the continuous humanitarian service provided by Vijay Shree Foundation over the past 17 years, Nicolle Verma donated 10 lakh rupees to support the cause. The purpose of this donation is to ensure that services continue for the needy attendants of patients suffering from severe illnesses in hospitals, as facilitated by Foodman Vishal Singh.
It is noteworthy that Dr. Abhishek Verma’s family has a legacy of public and philanthropic service. They are helping millions to carry forward the values and service work of their parents. On the occasion of his mother’s birth anniversary, Dr. Abhishek Verma dedicated this state-of-the-art permanent shelter at Lucknow Medical College to serve the attendants of patients through the Vijay Shree Foundation.
Supporting Foodman Vishal Singh’s Hunger-Free World mission, Dr. Abhishek Verma assured that he would continually support keeping this flame of humanity alive. He also promised to assist in providing medicines to the helpless patients.
Continuing her grandmother’s legacy of service, Nicolle Verma personally served food to the needy patients and attendants. She said, “It is our good fortune to have received the joy of doing this noble work today through Foodman Vishal Singh. I have taken another step forward in carrying my family’s values and cooperation by joining hands with the Vijay Shree Foundation. My father taught me to serve and help the needy, and I feel happy when I bring a smile to someone’s face.”
On the birth anniversary of the late Veena Verma, the event organizer, Vijay Shree Foundation founder Foodman Vishal Singh, said, “We feel proud and happy that Dr. Abhishek Verma, a globally renowned business tycoon, has extended his support to uplift our country from the hunger index. Today, on his mother’s birth anniversary, he inaugurated a state-of-the-art permanent shelter at Lucknow Medical College, which will always be helpful for the needy attendants of patients. It is a pleasure for me and the organization to receive the affection of Mr. Verma.”
The event was attended by General Manager Verma Family Office Hemant Garg, Sonu Rajput, and the organization’s volunteers, including Sandeep Singh, Parmeshwar Ji, Prashant Rao Gautam, Balram Singh, Ramesh Chaudhary, Suman, Jeetu, Anil, Suraj, Vinay, Manish Bhadauria, Manas Mehrotra, Vivek, Apurv, Happy, and others.