Sports
Badminton loses a courageous queen
By a Special Sports Correspondent
The passing away of national badminton player Oshadee Kuruppu was a big loss for the game even if it didn’t come as a shock for her family members.
Oshadee was suffering from leukemia and was diagnosed with the illness in 2020 July. Till then her life was pretty good; having achieved most of her life’s goals. She had played badminton at the highest level and was the proud recipient of a silver medal at the 2009 Asian Junior Under 16 Badminton Championships; contesting the girls’ doubles event. Completing her school education at Visaka College she was selected to pursue a degree in Sports Science at the Sabaragamuwa University. Her interests in badminton continued at university and she was able to represent her academic institute at the World University Games. She was even employed at MAS in the Human Resources Division and also got positive responses for job applications when she sought state sector employment. Her illness curtailed the time she spent on employment.
She was a determined girl and sports had driven into her that fighting spirit. No challenge in life was too big for her. That’s how her brother Virajith described his late sister.
But two years ago after returning home from training she had complained of being under the weather. “She said that she had felt unusually tired. At one time had seen two shuttlecocks while playing badminton; suggesting a certain adverse body condition had given impaired vision. Oshadee suggested we see a doctor and a blood test done a few hours after her training session revealed that her hemoglobin count in the blood had dropped drastically. She was asked to admit herself immediately because medical experts wanted to inject blood into her body,” recalled Viranjith.
Her world started collapsing slowly after that. But the good news for her was that all her loved ones, friends and most importantly her boyfriend Akila Dahanayake were right behind her. She was in and out of hospitals and when her condition was deteriorating her family sent her to India for extensive treatment. Though she was receiving treatment at Apeksha Hospital she was given a new lease of life when receiving treatment in India under the guidance of Dr. Mallikar Arjun. She made amazing progress there within 45 days and returned to a somewhat stable condition before coming back to Sri Lanka.
Her treatment in India was made possible due to the generous contribution made by well-wishers (Mostly Old Visakians). This social media group was able to raise around Rs 10 million. According to Viranjith there were other donors contributing and the total efforts produced a fund worth Rs 15 million which was sufficient to send her to India for treatment.
However despite making it to India, the plans to perform a donor transplant didn’t materialize. The donor chosen for this mission was Oshadee’s mother. But according to Viranjith his mom had become unsuitable to continue being the donor because of altering antibodies within her (mother) body. Oshadee was given a strong dose of chemotherapy as the alternative and sent back to Sri Lanka.
Her family is grateful to all who made contributions to enable Oshadee receive the best of treatment in India. Special mention must be made of Sri Lanka Badminton President Rohan De Silva for his contributions made personally to lift the spirits of Oshadee’s family when the chips were really down and funds were needed for treatment. The family is also grateful to Dr. Buddhika Somawardene who treated Oshadee at Apeksha Hospital.
The first few days of February had started off promisingly for Oshadee. She wanted to visit many people, eat the food that she loved and spend time with her boyfriend Akila. But suddenly her condition had started to deteriorate and she was rushed to the hospital once again. She was pronounced dead on February 8 and the cause of death, according to the hospital, was cardiac arrest. She was 27 years old at the time of death.
When contacted her boyfriend Akila said that they were to get married in 2020 August, but Oshadee was diagnosed with the disease and she had started showing symptoms in July that year. Akila had been a great strength to Oshadee and stood by her during this ordeal. Even at the funeral it had been Akila who had attended to most of the matters concerning the final rites.
“She was a courageous person and faced her condition without fear. She used to seek information on google and knew what the doctors were doing at each stage of her illness. But there came a time when she said that she was tired and had had enough. But her condition improved again and she was facing life. Then death came and took her away,” said Akila.
Chintaka Fernando, who coached her in badminton during the 2009 Asian Youth Championships, said that he was amazed by the courage shown by Oshadee during her battle with the illness. “She wanted to live and never gave up. She was a committed badminton players and played at the highest level. Apart from all that she was a very friendly person; hence everybody loved her,” said Fernando.
The last rites for the late Oshadee Kuruppu were performed at the Godigamuwa Public Cemetery on February 10. The badminton fraternity will have fond memories of Oshadee’s fighting skills in the badminton court here and abroad, but those who knew her outside the sport will remember a charming lady who won everybody’s hearts with her charming smile and gracious manners.
Qualifier Maja Chwalinska is one win away from a fairytale French Open triumph after setting up a final showdown with Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva.
The Polish world number 114, who had only ever won one match at a Grand Slam before this tournament, continued her astonishing run at Roland Garros by beating 25th seed Diana Shnaider 7-6 (7-4) 6-4.
Three weeks and nine matches after her French Open campaign began, Chwalinska dropped to the ground after firing in the 32nd and final winner of another scintillating display.
With that, she became the first qualifier in history to reach the women’s singles final at Roland Garros, and the crowd chanted her name as she spoke in her post-match interview.
On Saturday, she will attempt to become only the second qualifier in the Open era to win a Grand Slam after Britain’s Emma Raducannu at the 2021 US Open.
It would be a fitting conclusion to a French Open filled with spectacular shocks from the outset.
But, on the evidence of her dominant victory over Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk, the in-form Andreeva will provide the sternest test of her credentials to date.
A beaten semi-finalist in 2024, the 19-year-old was hugely impressive in a 6-1 6-3 victory that made her the third-youngest woman to reach the Roland Garros showpiece this century, after Coco Gauff and Kim Clijsters.
Should she prevail in her first major final, eighth seed Andreeva would become the third-youngest first-time Grand Slam champion this century, after Maria Sharapova and Raducanu.
(BBC)
Pakistan edged home in a low-scoring tussle to secure their third straight ODI series win against Australia. They batted with grit and patience to scale the target of 158 with four wickets and 49 balls remaining on a square-turner in Lahore.
Pakistan – in a surprising move – produced spin-heavy surfaces for this series, which was supposed to test their player pool ahead of the next year’s ODI World Cup in southern Africa and the pitch for the last match offered extra bite to the spinners as the ball turned and bounced sharply, making run-scoring a difficult proposition, especially during the chase.
Maaz Sadaqat seemed aware of how tough batting would get as the innings progressed and he provided Pakistan a rapid start with a 26-ball 27, hitting five fours. He must have taken notes watching Josh Inglis bat in the first innings, as the Australia captain picked up boundaries in the first powerplay to make the most of the run-scoring opportunities with the balls – one from each end – hard and new.
However, Sadaqat was trapped in front by Matt Short as he looked to paddle-sweep his off-break. The left hander did not curb his attacking instincts despite the wicket of Sahibzada Farhan in the third over as he fell prey to Nathan Ellis’ vicious off-cutter.
The chase was anchored by Babar Azam who made a gutsy 40. He hit only three boundaries – two off Matt Kuhnemann and the other off Ellis – in his 84-ball vigil at the crease. Ellis, who had removed him in the previous two matches, tested his defences with his variations, but Babar had done his homework and seemed to be picking his cutters and slower-ones from the hand rather than the pitch.
The highlight of his stay was his battle with Kuhnemann, who beat his outside edge on myriad occasions. The left-arm finger spinner dragged him forward with his tossed up deliveries on a length and spun the ball away from him sharply. Babar, on each occasion, covered his off stump intelligently, bringing his bat and front foot in unison. But he was undone when Kuhnemann dragged his length back a fraction and produced a magnificent delivery which ripped past the outside edge as Babar went on the back foot.
Kuhnemann had previously removed Ghazi Ghori and Salman Ali Agha to keep Australia in the contest and he finished with 3 for 38. When Matt Renshaw also struck for his first ODI wicket, having Arafat Minhas held at slip by Cameron Green after a bobble, Pakistan were wobbling on 112 for 6
They were dragged over the line by Shadab Khan, who Pakistan feel is their next batting allrounder, as he made an unbeaten 29 off 42 in an unbeaten partnership of 49 with Abdul Samad.
Australia had been skittled for 157 in 42 overs, losing 7 for 38 from 119 for 3, as Shaheen Shah Afridi took three wickets alongside two apiece for Abrar Ahmed and Shadab after Inglis decided to bat having comfortably defended 232 in the previous match.
The decider began 15 minutes late because of a brief downpour. The only innings of note in the first half of the match was posted by Inglis who made 65 off 71 balls having been moved up to open, with the next best score was 19.
After Short had picked out mid-on second ball of the match (following Alex Carey’s first-ball dismissal two days ago) Inglis batted with fluency. He took on Afridi and welcomed Minhas with a crunching drive for four then a monstrous inside-out six over cover. In an innings in which he scored heavily on the off side, Inglis unfurled reverse sweeps against the spin. He made only 13 out of 65 runs on the leg side.
Marnus Labuschagne’s struggles in ODIs and on this tour continued as a mix up in the 12th over curtailed his stay. He was supporting Inglis by milking the spinners and seemed to have settled when Inglis did not return his call for a second. He had to scramble back from the middle of the wicket only to fall short of a Minhas’ direct hit from the non-striker’s end.
Carey provided a supporting hand to Inglis in a 52-run partnership before a scorching delivery from Haris Rauf nipped into him and struck the top of middle stump. It sparked a collapse and soon Afridi had Inglis and Cameron Green caught across three balls at the start of his second spell.
Salman then took a sharp catch at slip as Abrar lured Renshaw – Australia’s best batter on the tour – into a drive. Abrar also bowled Cooper Connolly in his next over as Australia slipped from 119 for 3 to 131 for 7. Connolly, who replaced Tanveer Sangha, was playing as a batter only as he continues to recover from a back injury which prevented him bowling during the IPL.
Shadab’s wicketless patch finally ended after five ODIs (and more than 300 deliveries) when Ghori took a spectacular catch as the ball looped off Oli Peake’s foot after taking an inside edge. It was after the second ODI that Mike Hesson, the Pakistan head coach, had relegated Shadab to the fifth bowler in this line-up, but the legspinner bowled with good rhythm, bringing the stumps into play more often by tossing the ball on length regularly.
He had Adam Zampa bowled off a ball that stayed low in the 42nd over before the run out of Ellis brought an end to the innings.
Whether producing rank-turners for these three games was the best preparation for the 2027 World Cup which will be played in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia is debatable. That Pakistan have something to celebrate after their poor ODI and Test tour of Bangladesh and a hapless outing in the T20 World Cup will motivate this side.
Scores:
Pakistan 161 for 6 in 41.5 overs (Babar Azam 40, Shadab Khan 29*; Matthew Kuhnemann 3-38) beat Australia 157 in 42 overs (Josh Inglis 65; Shaheen Shah Afridi 3-30, Abear Ahmed 2-19, Shadab Khan 2-28 ) by four wickets
[Cricinfo]
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