By MOSES CHIMFWEMBE –

•SIAMUPANGILA sisters Ogar (left) and Evelyn show off their silver medals which they won in the women doubles at the just ended Rose Hill International Badminton championship in Mauritius.

ZAMBIA’S high-fliers Ogar Siamupangila and her younger sister Evelyn at the weekend minted silver medals at the just ended Badminton Confederation of Africa (BCA) Rose Hill international championship held in Mauritius. The two sisters, who were the sole representatives for Zambia at the four-day tournament, produced an impressive performance in the womens doubles to grab silver. Having suffered elimination in the women singles, the duo put up a brave fight in the women doubles in the bid to salvage some pride for Zambia but was eluded of gold medals by the Ugandan pair Gloria Najjuka and Daisy Nakalyango. The first set was a tightly contested affair, but the Ugandans claimed a narrow 21-18 win and sailed through to nail the tie with a 21-10 victory in the second set. On their way to the final, the Zambians beat Shania Leung and Ganesha Mungrah of Mauritius 2-0 with set scores of 21-7, 21-6 in the quarter-final before seeing off the Ugandan duo Bridget Bangi and Aisha Nakiyemba via a 21-17, 21-17 score in the semi-finals. Ogar, who was seeded second in the women singles and on bye from the first round, could not match the prowess of South Africa’s Johanita Scholtz in a closely contested quarter-final match that saw the Zambian suffer elimination via a 22-20, 21-18 score. However, Evelyn, despite being seeded third in the women singles, could not progress past the first round after falling at the hands Kobita Dokhee of Mauritius. The Zambian seemed set to shrug off challenge from the Mauritian by winning the first set 21-9 before she was stunned in the last two sets, with scores of 21-14, 21-12.