Sport

Sikki and Saina enter semifinals

PUNE: Unseeded N. Sikki Reddy of India continued her impressive run in women’s singles badminton with a hard-fought 21-14, 22-20 win over Jonggowisastro Jessica of New Zealand to join the top-seed Saina Nehwal and Guru Sai Dutt (men’s singles) in the semifinals of the third Commonwealth Youth Games at Shiv Chattrapathi Sports Complex here on Wednesday.

Sikki Reddy, who won the first game comfortably, struggled in the second trailing 13-19 at one stage as the Kiwi rival got her forehand smashes and the net dribbles going.

But just when it seemed Jessica would stretch the issue into the third game, her game went awry with her deep returns invariably going out. Added to it Sikki Reddy found her rhythm and came up with a good net game and some stunning smashes.

Changing the length of her returns and getting her cross-court returns in, the 15-year-old student of Villa Marie College clicked in the crunch time to wrap up the game.

It was an easier outing for Saina Nehawal as she got past Ng Sin Em of Malaysia 21-13, 21-9 in 20 minutes. She was rarely tested and the few points which her opponent got were primarily due to the unforced errors.

Guru Sai Dutt too had a smooth sailing into the last four stage with a fluent 21-14, 21-6 win over Welson Yu Sheng Lim of Malaysia. The Malaysian, with a better net game, started well but struggled once Saina hit back with a perfect blend of attack and defence.

Aditya Prakash also moved into the last four stage with a 21-16, 16-21, 21-13 win over Loh Wei Sheng of Malaysia.

At the shooting ranges, the young guns of India fired on all cylinders while winning three gold medals.

It all started with the 17-year-old Lakshya Bansal of Ghaziabad, who trains in Varanasi, winning the 25m pistol event with an aggregate score of 567 (281 in precision & 286 in rapid). He was followed by James Mathew Hendry of Canada (547: 274 & 273) and Australia’s Arron Wilson (547: 275 & 272).

Deepika Patel then bagged the 10m air pistol gold with a score of 470.2. She was quite thrilled to win, and that too in front of her idol Anjali Bhagwat. Singapore’s Mei Kay Chong Eunice (464.3) and Wahidah Binti Ismail of Malaysia (464.20) won silver and bronze.

In double trap, the 15-year-old Gusti Asher Noria clinched gold with a total of 180. Zieger Smith Philip of South Africa (172) and Chester Cobb of Great Britain (167) took the silver and bronze.

Rushad Damania bagged the bronze in the 50m rifle three-position with an effort of 1189.10.

England’s James Huckle and Zubair Muhammad Bin Muhammad of Malaysia took the top two spots.

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