Ekiring settles for silver, recognised by USPA
Dec 09, 2014
Edwin Ekiring beat all but failed to conquer tournament top seed, Australian Luka Wraber, as he lost the final of the South Africa international badminton championships in Johannesburg.
By Norman Katende
South Africa International Badminton Open
Men singles
Final
L. Wraber (AUS) bt E. Ekiring (UGA) 2-1
Semi Final
E. Ekiring (UGA) bt M. Ludik (Czech) 2-1
Edwin Ekiring beat all but failed to conquer tournament top seed, Australian Luka Wraber, as he lost the final of the South Africa international badminton championships in Johannesburg.
Ekiring who was recognised by journalist during the Nile Special/USPA monthly assembly was beaten by Wraber 2-1.
In the USPA poll, which recognised him for his performance in the Zambia Open, Ekiring managed to get 485 points, beating golfer Flavia Namakula (410), Vision Volleyball Club (440) and Motorsport’s Max Van Pee (455) to the monthly accolades. He will be crowned on Thursday.
But over the weekend, Ekiring, who was looking for three consecutive titles, having won the Nigeria and Zambia open before travelling to South Africa had moved on from being unseeded in the tournament- having been ranked 22.
Having battled through the ranks from his unseeded position, Ekiring moved through the first round to the semi-final where he met training partner and tournament seed two Milan Ludík, who was also his men’s double partner.
And it was a tight match that needed Ekiring to keep his nerves. Having taken the first set 21-19, Ekiring was made to run around the court as Ludik sEnt him to the net and forced him into errors as he lost the second set 21-16, Ekiring however composed himself, making himself come back from a 7-point deficit to take the decisive set 21-19 and advance to an even tougher final.
He however did not give in easily even after losing the first set 21-16, he left no option for Wraber in the second set beating him 21-7 and everyone thought that he would walk over in the third set, though Wraber changed his game, which saw him fight on to take the third set 21-19.
“It was a tight game but I gave it all the best. Hard that I lost but good that I have played well,” Ekiring said after losing the game.
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