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.
The first truly heavyweight clash of this expanded T20 World Cup format comes freighted with both history and subplots. A rematch of the 2010 World T20 final at Kensington Oval, the match pits Jos Buttler’s defending champions – who are aiming to become the first team to retain the trophy – against the Australian winning machine, victors at the 2021 edition and current world title-holders in Test and ODI cricket. And that’s before you throw in the Ashes for afters.
Already there is added pressure on England, after the rain in Bridgetown led to a share of the points in their opener against Scotland (and that having conceded 90 runs from 10 overs without taking a wicket in a tepid bowling display). Lose to their oldest rivals and it will leave their Super 8 prospects open to being waylaid by the perils of net run-rate calculations, or worse.
The Scotland match was the third abandonment in five suffered by England, after a rain-affected home series against Pakistan, which has clearly hampered their readiness for this campaign after almost six months without playing T20 together. It does not take much for a side to click in this format – and England looked in decent shape when they did get on the field against Pakistan – but Buttler will be anxious for things to go their way on Saturday, if only to avoid further questions referencing the team’s disastrous ODI World Cup defence last year.
Australia, under the laidback leadership of Mitchell Marsh would love nothing more than to add to the English sense of jeopardy – having helped bundle them out of the tournament in India on the way to taking the crown. Their head to head record is less impressive in T20 however, with England having won six of the last seven completed encounters, as well as that 2010 final.
Despite a wobble with the bat, Australia avoided mishap against Oman earlier in the week, the experience of David Warner and Marcus Stoinis shining through in difficult batting conditions. Surfaces in the Caribbean – not to mention those games staged in the USA – have already had teams scratching their heads; rather than the “slug-fest” England had prepared for, following a high-scoring tour of the Caribbean in December, it looks as if boxing smart may be the way to go.
Speaking of Warner, this could be the last time he faces up against England in national colours – and another match-winning contribution would likely reduce the chances of them meeting again in the knockouts. On the other side of the card is Jofra Archer, fresh from an emotional maiden outing at Kensington Oval and ready to take on Australia for the first time in any format since 2020. Can Mark Wood fire up England’s campaign, as he did during last summer’s Ashes? Will Pat Cummins be back to harass the old enemy once again? Seconds out, it’s almost time to rumble.
Cummins is set to return after being rested for the Oman game, which saw Mitchell Starc leave the field with cramp. Starc is understood to be fine and could keep his place – which would likely see Nathan Ellis miss out. Marsh is still not fit to bowl, with Australia likely to continue with the allrounder combination of Stoinis and Maxwell to give them cover.
Australia (probable XI): David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh (capt), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Josh Inglis (wk), Tim David, Pat Cummins, Nathan Ellis/Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
The one change England may consider is Reece Topley coming in for Wood, with the expectation that there will be some rotation among the seamers through the course of the tournament.
England (probable XI): Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (capt & wk), Will Jacks, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley/Mark Wood
[Cricinfo]
Once is coincidence, twice is a clue, and three times is proof.
To paraphrase Agatha Christie, that is the narrative around South Africa’s meeting with Netherlands at this T20 World Cup.
The Dutch beat South Africa at the 2022 tournament and ended their semi-final hopes in a match where South Africa appeared to be sleep walking, and then beat them again at the 2023 ODI World Cup, where they exposed South Africa’s vulnerability in the chase. If they to do the treble, not only will Netherlands take the lead in Group D, but they will offer conclusive evidence of the threat they pose to Full Members, especially South Africa.
Of course, it will take some doing after South Africa’s opening performance against Sri Lanka, where they reduced their opposition to their lowest T20I total and chased it down in fairly straightforward fashion thanks to the most stable middle-order of their white-ball era. In Aiden Markram, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller, South Africa have bankers and big-hitters and, for this match, they also have the advantage of experience. They’ve already played at Eisenhower Park, and have first-hand knowledge that run-scoring doesn’t come easily;Klassen said they are prepared to use their “cricket brains” and play “smarter cricket”.
But the conditions could be good news for Netherlands, who are not naturally a line-up of big hitters and build their innings on a foundation of turning ones into twos. In other words, they tend to take a slightly more conservative approach to batting, which may work well here, but they’ll be wary of the uneven bounce of the surface and will have to come up with plans to counterattack especially against South Africa’s seamers. Their own bowlers were exemplary in Dallas and will look to build on that performance against a line-up that will likely be more proactive than Nepal’s, but who they have managed to keep quiet not once, but twice in the past. Third time’s the charm, they say.
Anrich Nortje’s stunning return to form against Sri Lanka means South Africa may not have to tinker with the bowling combination, and Gerald Coetzee and Tabraiz Shamsi may have to wait their turns to get a game. The batting line-up should be unchanged, with no space for Ryan Rickelton yet.
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markam, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Ottneil Baartman, Anrich Nortje
Conditions in New York may tempt Netherlands to include an extra seamer and they have Kyle Klein in their squad. But it could come at the expense of a shortened batting line-up and they may not want to risk that.
Netherlands: Michael Levitt, Max O’Dowd, Vikramjit Singh, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Scott Edwards (capt, wk), Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, Logan van Beek, Tim Pringle, Paul van Meekeren, Vivian Kingma
[Cricinfo]
Nuwan Thushara’s last over brought Sri Lanka screaming back into the match,as he first bowled Rishad Hossain, and then nailed Taskin Ahmed in front of the stumps with a pinpoint swinging yorker. This left Bangladesh eight wickets down, with 12 runs still to get.
However, the experienced Mahmudullah was at the crease for Bangladesh, and despite some further nervy moments, pushed Bangladesh across the line off the last ball of the 19th over.
But this was a match chiefly decided by Bangladesh’s own outstanding bowling. Mustafizur Rahman was the best among them, using shorter lengths and his cutters efficiently, to claim figures of 3 for 17. Rishad Hossain’s three-for through the middle overs also kept Sri Lanka quiet.
Mustafizur was instrumental in Sri Lanka’s downward spiral through the middle overs, which culminated in a crash-and-burn end. Ultimately, their inability to find boundaries, or even rotate strike against good Bangladesh bowling resulted in their downfall. A score of 125 for 9 always seemed poor on a decent pitch, even if their bowlers made a match of it in the end.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 125 for 8 in 19 overs (Towhid Hridoy 40, Litton Das 36; Dhanajaya de Silva 1-11, Nuwan Thushara 4-18, Wanidu Hasaranga 2-32, Matheesha Pathirana 1-27) beat Sri Lanka124 for 9 in 20 overs (Pathum Nissanka 47, Dhananjaya de Silva 21; Tanzim Hasan Sakib 1-24, Taskin Ahmed 2-25, Mustafizur Rahman 3-17, Rishad Hossain 3-22) by two wickets
[Cricinfo]
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