Chhattisgarh win National handball crown

Patna, December 27, 2009: Chhattisgarh shocked defending champion Services by 29 to 27 goals to win the 38th senior National men’s handball championship at the Kishore Bharati Stadium in Kolkata on Sunday.

According to information reached here, the two teams were tied 15-15 at half-time.

In an absorbing summit clash where the lead changed frequently, Chhatisgarh’s experience and better tactics prevailed over Services’ youth and fitness. B. Kalita (7) and Binu (5) top scored for the winners while P. Kumar, I. Singh and N. Yadav scored five goals each for the losers.

Punjab beat Delhi 34-25 to clinch the third spot. Delhi, National Handball Academy (NHA), Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Bengal finished at fifth to eighth places.

Deepak Kumar of Delhi was adjudged the best player of the tournament. N.S. Anand of Chhattisgarh was declared the best goalkeeper.

Results:
Final: Chhattisgarh 29 (B. Kalita 7, Binu 6) bt Services 27 (P. Kumar 5, I. Singh 5, N. Yadav 5). 3rd place: Punjab 34 (Mohinder Singh 12, Tarsem Singh 9) bt Delhi 25 (Samsher Singh 6, Deepak Kumar 6).

Source: CSJC

Bihar U-19 boys lose in BCCI Associates and Affiliates tournament final

Patna, December 23, 2009: Bihar’s Chhattisgarh jinx that began in the league phase of the tournament remained intact in the final too. Bihar lost to Chhattisgarh by seven wickets in the final of the BCCI Associates and Affiliates U-19 tournament in Raipur on Wednesday.

Much was expected from this side which got their first chance in a national-level BCCI tournament after an isolation of almost 10 years. The way Bihar boys played in final showed they needed more match practice and the nerve to excel in the bigger stage. It could be termed as total batting collapse.

According to information reached here, Bihar won the toss and elected to bat first. But Bihar batting once again crumbled against Chhattisgarh attack spearheaded by Ratik Raj, who claimed three wickets for 18 runs. Sunny Das’s two wickets for 9 runs and Prakhar Raj’s as many wickets for 18 runs further spelt doom as Bihar innings folded for only 105 runs off 38.3 overs.

Ravishankar (24), Kshlay Sharma (16) and Vikash Ranjan (13) could reach the double figures for Bihar.

In reply, Ian Coster once again fired his guns against Bihar. Coster made a brilliant half-century (56 runs). Prakhar Roy scored unbeaten 25 runs as Chhattisgarh reached the target losing three wickets on the way off 17 overs.

Sandip Patil, Director, National Cricket Academy, gave away the prizes. Sanjay Jagdale, Joint Secretary, BCCI, Ratnakar Shetty, CAO, BCCI, Stanley Saldanha, official of BCCI and Ajay Jha, Administrative Manager, NCA and distinguished guests of Chhattisgarh Cricket Association were present at the prize distribution function.

Bihar enter BCCI Associates and Affiliates U-19 tournament final

Patna, December 22, 2009: Bihar stormed into the final of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Associates and Affiliates under-19 cricket tournament outsmarting Meghalaya by nine wickets in their last league match at Bhilai Steel Plant ground here on Tuesday.

Now, Bihar will take on Chhattisgarh in the final tomorrow in Raipur. Bihar won five matches out of six they played so far in this tournament.

According to information reached here, Bihar bowlers called the tune and tormented Meghalaya batting line up with their probing and accurate attack. Ravishankar was the pick of the bowlers claiming four wickets for 32 runs. Satish Roy got two wickets for 16 runs while Kamalesh took one wicket for 17 runs. Meghalaya could muster 82 runs off 34.1 overs. Raj Bishwa (27) and Trijeey (14) were the only two batsmen from Meghalaya to reach the double figures.

In reply, Shashim Rathore played a rapid fire knock of unbeaten 51 runs to guide Bihar to a thumping nine-wicket victory. Shashim hit ten boundaries in his half-century. Ravishankar made 22 runs with four boundaries. Rupam claimed one wicket for 39 runs. Bihar reached the target losing only one wicket.

Bihar U-19 boys lose to Chhattisgarh

Patna, December 21, 2009: Bihar tasted their first defeat in the BCCI Associates and Affiliates under-19 cricket tournament in Raipur on Monday. Bihar lost to hosts Chhattisgarh by 25 runs in a league match.

According to information reached here, Chhattisgarh made 117 runs off 50 overs after electing to bat first. Ian Coster hit polished 67 runs to be the top rungetters for Chhattisgarh. Gurujeet scored 31 runs. For Bihar Satish Roy bowled well to capture for wickets for 31 runs while Rajesh Singh took three wickets for 27 runs.

After restricting Chhattisgarh to a moderate total, it was expected that Bihar boys would surpass the target without much hiccups. But that did not happen as Bihar batsmen crumbled and collapsed at 152 all out off 48.1 overs. Kumar Aditya (41), Mangal Mahrour (23) and Rajesh Singh (23) failed to defy the inevitable. Vishal (2 for 20), Sunny (2 for 25) and Gaurav (2 for 34) were the leading wicket-takers for Chhattisgarh.

Grand treble for Ganesh Pantkar

Patna, December 20, 2009: It was the day of Ganesh Pantkar (West Zone) in the Oriental Insurance carrom championships here on Sunday. Pantkar earned a grand treble claiming the men’s singles, doubles and mixed doubles titles.

In the men’s singles final, Ganesh Pantkar outplayed A Ghatilal 12-8, 12-0 while in men’s doubles pairing with Anand, he beat the combination of Malyadri and NA Raj 3-11, 16-0, 14-11. In the mixed doubles final, Pantkar and Aruna beat L Malyadri and Vimala 19-2, 14-2.

G Bharati won the women’s singles title defeating Sangeeta Oak 4-3, 10-6, 7-5. In the women’s doubles final, Asha Nagpal and Sangeeta Oak beat Vimala and Bharati 4-8, 13-0, 8-2.

Former world carrom champion Rashmi Kumari, who was the chief guest at the closing function, gave away the prizes.

Photo caption: Winners of Oriental Insurance carrom championships pose for a group photograph in Patna on December 20, 2009.
Photo: Aftab Alam Siddiqui

Bihar U-16 cricket team felicitated

Patna, December 20, 2009: Randhir Verma Foundation on Sunday felicitated Bihar under-16 cricket team who won the BCCI Associates and Affiliates tournament in Shillong recently, in a colourful function.

MLC Bhumipal was the chief guest while Bihar Cricket Association (BCA) secretary Ajay Narayn Sharma, Anil Sulabh and former international umpire LP Verma were the special guests at the function.

Photo caption: Bihar U-16 cricket team at the felicitation function in Patna on December 20, 2009.
Photo: Aftab Alam Siddiqui

Ranbir, Rashmi to lead Bihar junior kabaddi teams

Patna, December 20, 2009: Ranbir and Rashmi Kumari will lead Bihar boys and girls teams in the 36th Junior National kabaddi championships to be held in Bhopal from December 24.

Announcing the teams, Bihar State Kbaddi Association secretary Kumar Vijay said Rana Ranjit Singh and Shivshankar Singh would be the managers of the boys and girls teams.

Teams: Boys: Ranbir (captain), Veeru, Ujjawal, Jietndra, Bhavesh, Mukesh, Abhishek, Arup, Satishm, Santosh, Bipin Bihari and Avinash. Coach; Neel Kamal.

Girls: Rashmi Kumari (captain), Santoshi, Reena, Devyanti, Sinku, Manisha, Shabnam Praween, Mamta, Poonam, Deep Sheekha, Jyoti and Pooja. Coach: Mukesh Kumar.

Photo capiton: Bihar junior kabaddi teams in Patna on December 20, 2009.

Photo: Aftab Alam Siddiqui

Bihar tenni-koit teams for Sr. National named

Patna, December 20, 2009: Rakesh Ranjan and Akanksha Lal will lead Bihar men and women tenni-koit teams in the senior National championships to be held in Jaipur from December 24.

Bihar Tenni-Koit Association secretary Neeraj Kumar Pappu said Ravindra Kumar would be the manager of the team.

Men: Rakesh Ranjan Kumar, John Aryan, Chandan and Deepak.
Women: Akanksha Lal, Sumedha, Shobha, Rani, Simran and Niva. Coach: Dr Sudhir Kumar.

Rajesh shines in Bihar big win over Sikkim

Patna, December 20, 2009: Bihar carved out another impressive 142-run victory over Sikkim in the limited over BCCI Associates and Affiliates under-19 tournament in Raipur on Sunday.

According to information reached here, this was the fourth straight win for Bihar in the tournament.

It was the day of Bihar skipper Kumar Aditya, who played a rapid fire innings of 83 runs with seven boundaries and one six. In form Mangal Mahrour scored a magnificent 81 runs with 5 fours. Bihar piled up 292 runs for the loss of four wickets off 50 overs. Rajesh Singh contributed unbeaten 41 runs down the order.

Rajesh shone again in the second part of the match. In Sikkim’s run chase, Rajesh came as a big hurdle with his bowling. He grabbed four wickets for 39 runs to skittle out Sikkim for 150 runs off 35.1 overs. Sikkim captain Leeyung played sedate knock of 52 runs with five hits to the fence.
Brief scores:
Bihar 292 runs for loss of 4 wickets off 50 overs (Mangal Mahrour- 81, Kumar Aditya -83, Shashim Rathour-29, Rajesh Singh-41, Nishant 27, Bisla 1 for 39, Jiwan 1 for 41, Danish 1 for 51).
Sikkim 150 all out in 35.1 overs (Leeyung- 52, Udit-24, Gopal-26, Karamvir-15, Rajesh Singh 4 for 39, Ravishankar 2 for 12, Satish 2 for 31, Ashish Ranjan 1 for 30).

West Zone claim Oriental Insurance carrom titles

Patna, December 19, 2009: West Zone clinched the men’s and women’s team titles of Oriental Insurance inter-zone carrom tournament here on Saturday. In both the groups, South Zone got the runners-up titles.

In women’s team event, it was a tie between West Zone and South Zone as both had won two matches and collected four points in the league. But West Zone was declared champion as they had beaten South Zone in the league stage.

Earlier, Devi Singh, director cum general manager (operation), Oriental Insurance, New Delhi inaugurated the tournament playing a board with Dhirendra Verma, general secretary, All-India Oriental Insurance Sports and Recreation Club, New Delhi. Sushil Kumar, Chief Regional Manager, Oriental Insurance, Patna welcomed the guests.

Results:

Women: West Zone beat North Zone 3-0 (Asha Nagpla got walkover, Sangeeta beat Saroj 10-0, 8-0, Arun Mayankar beat Radha 14-0, 16-0).
South Zone beat Central Zone 3-0 (Vimla beat Savita Sundar 22-0, 18-0, Bharati beat Rita Chandra 16-0, 12-0, Madhvi got walkover).
West Zone beat South Zone 2-1(Asha Nagpal beat Vimala 11-3, 1-10-, 14-0, Madhvi (South) beat Aruna Mayankar 11-0, 8-11, 6-5, Sangeeta Oak (West) beat Bharati 17-0, 8-5).

Men: South Zone beat East Zone 2-1 (L Mayadri beat B Dutta 13-1, 5-8, 9-4, Vikash Sinha and NK Niyogi (East) beat K Sundaram and Ganesh 5-3, 5-6, 9-0, Anantram Raj (South) beat VK Sinha 13-3, 13-6).
West Zone beat South Zone 2-1; North Zone beat Central Zone 2-1, South Zone beat North Zone 3-0.

Photo caption: Devi Singh, director cum general manager (operation), Oriental Insurance, New Delhi inaugurates the Oriental Insurance carrom tournament playing a board with Dhirendra Verma, general secretary, All-India Oriental Insurance Sports and Recreation Club in Patna on December 19, 2009.

Photo: Aftab Alam Siddiqui

Bihar women soccer player Madhu Kumari gets Rs 1.25 lakh cash award

Patna, December 18, 2009: Local MP Shatrughan Sinha on Friday felicitated former India women soccer team vice-captain Madhu Kumari with a cheque of Rs 1.25 lakh on the occasion of Pandit Dindayal Upadhyay exhibition football match at the outer ground of the Moinul Haq Stadium here.

The cash award was given to Madhu for her continual exemplary performance in women soccer for Bihar as well as for India. The function was organized by BJP Krida Manch, Bihar.

Speaking on the occasion, Shtrughan Sinha said Bihar Government should make a special fund to provide economic support to Bihar players.
Bihar’s Art, Culture and Youth Affairs Minister Renu Devi, who was the guest of honour at the function, said Bihar Government was ready to provide all possible help to budding players.

BJP Krida Manch state president Brajesh Kumar Raman presided over the function and its vice-president Shambhunath Pandey proposed a vote of thanks.

The function began with a exhibition soccer match between Patna and Muzaffarpur women teams. Patna beat Muzaffarpur via tie-breaker in a keenly contested match.

Photo captions:

Top: Patna MP Shatrughan Sinha (left) gives away a cheque of Rs 1.25 lakh to former India women football team vice-captain Madhu Kumari in Patna on December 18, 2009.

Middle: Patna MP Shatrughan Sinha and Bihar Sports Minister Renu Devi jointly inaugurate Pandit Dindayal Upadhyay exhibition football match.

Bottom: Patna and Muzaffarpur players in action during the match.

Photos: Aftab Alam Siddiqui

Bihar-Sikkim match washed out

Patna, December 18, 2009:
Bihar and Sikkim shared points as their match in the on going BCCI Affiliates and Associates under-19 cricket tournament was abandoned due to rains in Raipur on Friday.

According to information reached here, after the day’s play, Bihar and Chhattisgarh topped the list with 9 points each after four matches while Sikkim with 7 points after five match were in second position.

Bihar U-19 boys too strong for Manipur

Patna, December 16, 2009: Bihar Juggernaut continued to roll on in the BCCI Associates and Affiliates under-19 tournament at Bhillai on Wednesday. Bihar steamrollered Manipur by 179 runs in their third match of the tournament.

According to information reached here, electing to bat first Bihar piled up impressive 277 for the loss of nine wickets off 50 overs. All the frontline Bihar batsmen came well with the bat. Mangal Mahrour scored a polished half century (50 runs off 83 balls). His knock contained six hits to the fence. Pawan Kumar (32, 55 balls, 3x4), Nishant (44, 66 balls, 3x4), Rajesh (45, 36 balls, 4x4, 2x6) and Ravi Shankar (30 not out, 14 balls, 4x4, 1x6) were the effective rungetters for Bihar. Jenius of manipur took 5 wickets for 36 runs while Jyotish captured 2 wickets for 39 runs.

In reply, Manipur could achieve to score 98 runs. Jhanudin reached the double figures making 12 runs. Satish Roy of Bihar was the wrecker-in-chief claiming 6 wickets for 34 runs in his spell of nine overs. Ashish got two wickets, Abhishek and Ravi Kumar bagged one wicket each.

Brief scores:
Bihar: 277 for the loss of nine off 50 overs (Mangal -50, Pawan Kumar-32, Nishant -44, Rajesh – 45, Ravi Shankar - 30 not out, Jenius-5 wickets for 36 runs, Jyotish-2 for 39,Homendra-1 for 58).
Manipur: 98 runs in 30.4 overs ( Jhanudin- 12, Satish Roy- 6 wickets for 34 runs, Ashish- 2 wickets, Abhishek and Ravi Kumar-1 wicket each).

Big win for Bihar U-19 cricket team

Patna, December 15, 2009: Bihar earned a massive 9-wicket win over Arunachal Pradesh in their second match of the BCCI Associates and Affiliates under-19 tournament at Bhillai on Tuesday.

According to information reached here, electing to bat first Arunachal Pradesh could muster only 70 runs off 19.4 overs. Rajesh and Satish ripped through the Arunachal Pradesh batting line up sharing six wickets between them. Rajesh finished the day with three wickets for 11 runs while Satish took as many wickets conceding 14 runs. Abhishek claimed two wickets for 12 runs.

In reply, Bihar raced to the target losing only one wicket. Sashim Rathour made a quick-fire 35 runs off 10 balls. Mangal Mahrour scored unbeaten 24 runs off 11 balls.

Brief scores:
Arunachal Pradesh: 70 off 19.4 overs (Brena Kri-18, Sohal-17 and Biki Tasuk-14 not out. Rajesh-3 for 11, Satish Roy-3 for 14, Abhishek-2 for 12, Kamlesh-1 for 25)
Bihar: 71 for loss of 1 wicket in 4.1 overs (Shashim Rathour-35, Mangal Mahrour- not out 24, Aditya- 8 not out).

ECR, Danapur clinch Moinul Haq Trophy

Patna, December 13, 2009: East Central Railway (ECR) Danapur clinched the 61st Bihar State and inter-district football championships for the Moinul Haq Trophy beating defending champions Patna 4-2 in a thrilling final at DSA ground in Purnia on Sunday.

According to information reached here, ECR Danapur players dished heart-out performance in the final. They took commanding 2-0 lead in the first half. They looked like an unbeatable side right from very start of the game. Anwar Hussain scored the first goal for ECR Danapur in 15th minute. Manoj Kumar increased the margin in the 26th minute (2-0).

In the second half too, Railwaymen played brilliant cohesive football giving no chance to rival forwards to sneak into their territory. Pankaj Tudu of ECR Danapur was the hero of second half. The agile striker scored twice, first in the 67th and second in the 77th minutes to take Danapur tally to 4-0.

After taking invincible 4-0 lead, Danapur men let loose the reign in the fag end of the second half as Patna succeeded in scoring two goals. R K Mahto in the 80th and Durga Charanto in the 85th minutes scored the two goals to reduce the margin to 2-4.

Md Sohib of ECR Danapur was adjudged man of the match while Jiten Lohar of Patna was declared man of the tournament. Former MP Rajesh Ranjan Yadav alias Pappu Yadav gave way the winners’ trophy.

Photo caption: Former MP Rajesh Ranjan Yadav alias Pappu Yadav gives way the winners’ trophy to Danapur team in Paurnia on December 13, 2009.

Bihar U-19 boys begin title hunt in style

Patna, December 12, 2009:
Bihar started their title hunt in style beating Nagaland by 3 wickets in the opening match of BCC Associate and Affiliate members under-19 cricket tournament at Bhillai on Saturday.

According to information reached here, batting first Nagaland scored 221 runs for the loss of nine wickets off 50 overs. Vikas top scored with 66 runs while Lotha made 28 runs. Kamalesh Singh captured three wickets for 37 runs and Satish Roy took two wickets for 30 runs.

In reply, Bihar achieved the target losing seven wickets off 42.5 overs. Rajesh Singh and Aditya made fluent half centuries. Rajesh made 62 runs while Aditya scored 59 runs. Ravishankar (31) and Mangal (38) were other notable run scorers for Bihar.

EC Railway, Samastipur earn third place

Patna, December 12, 2009: East Central Railway, Samastipur division earned the third place beating Siwan 2-1 in the 61st Bihar state and inter-district football championships for the Moinul Haq Trophy at the DSA ground in Purnia on Saturday.

According to information reached here, Bimal Tudu of Siwan opened the account in the 15th minute to give his side 1-0 lead. Siwan failed to maintain the lead as Ajit Sanyal of Samastipur scored the eqaliser in the 20th minute. Narayan Prasad increased the margin in the 35th minute.

After 2-1 lead in favour of Samsatipur in the first half, the match did not produce worthwhile soccer in the second half. Ajit Sanyal of Samastipur was declared man of the match.

Moinul Haq Trophy football: Patna enter final

Patna, December 11, 2009: Patna entered the final of the 61st Bihar state and inter-district football championships for the Moinul Haq Trophy defeating Siwan by a solitary extra time goal at DSA ground in Purnia on Friday. In the Sunday’s final Patna will take on East Central Railway, Danapur division.

According to information reached here, after a barren first half and regulation time play, Jiten Lohar of Patna scored the match winner in the 11th minute of the extra time. Jiten was later adjudged man of the match. Earlier, Lohar had netted a record eight goals against Samastipur in the quarterfinal.

EC Railway, Danapur move into final

Patna, December 10, 2009: East Central Railway Danapur edged out EC Railway, Samastipur 6-5 via tie-breaker to enter the final of 61st Bihar state and inter-district football championships for the Moinul Haq Trophy at DSA ground in Purnia on Thursday.

According to information reached here, Samastipur opened the account in the 55th minute after a barren first half when Umashankar found the target. Danapur fought back putting immense pressure on rivals’ citadel as Anwar Hussain brought the much needed eqaliser just two minutes before the long whistle.

In tie-breaker Danapur marksmen hit the target in all five attempts while Samastipur could convert four. Apurva Nandi of Danapur was adjudged man of the match.

Bihar U-19 cricket team leaves for Raipur

Members of the Bihar Under-19 cricket team pose for a group photograph with Bihar Cricket Association office-bearers before leaving for Raipur in Patna on December 9, 2009. Bihar will take part in the BCCI Associates and Affiliates under-19 tournament to be held in Raipur.
Photo: Aftab Alam Siddiqui

Govt says no to order an inquiry into wrestlers doping

New Delhi, December 10, 2009: The Government has no proposal to order an inquiry in the circumstances leading to the failure of our wrestlers in doping tests. There is well laid down procedure under the National anti-Doping code to handle dope positive cases.

These are first looked at by the disciplinary panel and in the event of the disciplinary panel confirming the result, the affected athlete can appeal before the Appellate Panel. The decision of the Appellate Panel is final. On first violation of the anti-doping code, the defaulting athlete is liable for a two years ban and any subsequent offence attracts life ban.

Wrestlers who have tested positive are bound by the penalty imposed by the competent authority. The international federation has not imposed any general ban on the participation of Indian Wrestlers in the Commonwealth Games 2010.

This was stated by the Minister of State for Youth Affairs & Sports, Pratik Prakashbapu Patil in the Rajya Sabha today, in a written reply to a question by Varinder Singh Bajwa.

Press release from Union Youth Affiars and Sports Ministry
Through Press Information Bureau, Government of India.

Giving a boost to rural sports through PYKKA

New Delhi, December 10, 2009: Government of India introduced a centrally sponsored scheme entitled ‘Panchayat Yuva Krida Khel Abhyan’, in 2008-09, for creation of basic sports infrastructure in all village and block panchayats and for conducing sports competitions at blocks, districts, states and national level of the country.

The XIth Five Year Plan outlay for this scheme is Rs.1500 crore. The scheme envisages to cover around 2.50 lakh village panchayats and 6,400 block panchayats (including their equivalent units) in a phased manner over a period of 10 years at an annual coverage of 10% (and the coverage will be 20% in the case of special category states including North Eastern States).

The scheme is implemented through the state governments / UTs administrations. An amount of Rs. 25.98 crore was, so far, sanctioned / released to Government of Andhra Pradesh during 2008-09 and 2009-10 for creating basic sports infrastructure in 2190 village panchayats and 113 block panchayats there. Further, for conducting competitions in 296 blocks and 22 districts and for state level competition during 2009-10, admissible grant to the State is Rs.3.55 crore against which Rs. 0.95 crore has already been released.

This was stated by the Minister of State for Youth Affairs & Sports, Pratik Prakashbapu Patil in the Rajya Sabha today, in a written reply to a question by Mohd. Ali Khan.

Press release from Union Youth Affiars and Sports Ministry
Through Press Information Bureau, Government of India.

Patna, Siwan and Samastipur reach semifinals

Patna, December 9, 2009: Semifinalists were spotted in the 61st Bihar State and inter-district football championships for the Moinul Haq Trophy at DSA ground in Purnia on Wednesday. Patna, Siwan and EC Railway, Samastipur joined EC Railway, Danapur in the semifinals.

According to information reached here, Patna trounced Saran 3-0 with brilliant hat-trick of goals from RK Mahto that he scored in the 6th, 10th and 15th minutes of the match.
Patna will take on Siwan in the first semi final on Friday.

Siwan outplayed Munger 3-1. Md Nasim Khan was the hero of Siwan win as the agile striker found the target in the 25th and 58th minutes while Krishna Shakia scored the other one in the 15th minute. Banshi Kumar of Munger netted the lone goal for in the 16th minute.

Samastipur crushed Bhojpuir 4-2 in the last quarterfinal match. Ramesh Kumar of Samastipur scored all the four goals in a row in the 15th, 19th, 65th and 77th minutes. Rakesh of Bhojpur scored two goals in the 53rd and 55th minutes. Samastipur will clash with Danapur in the first semi final on Thursday.

Victorious Bihar U-16 team returns home

Members of Bihar under-16 cricket team which won the BCCI Associates and Affiliates tournament in Shillong returned Patna on December 8, 2009. A large number of fans and office-bearers of Bihar Cricket Association (BCA) were present at the Patna airport to accord grand welcome to victorious team.
Photo: Aftab Alam Siddiqui

EC Raliway, Danapur enter semifinals

Patna, December 8, 2009: East Central Railway, Danapur edged past hosts Purnia 7-6 via second sudden death in a pulsating quarterfinal match of the 61st Bihar state and inter-district football championships for the Moinul Haq Trophy in Purnia on Tuesday. With this win, Danapur entered the semifinals.

According to information reached here, both the teams were locked 1-1 at the end of regulation time. Fagu Tudu of Purnia scored the first goal in the 55th minute while Md Wahid of Danapur leveled the score in the 70th minute.

In the tie-breaker, both the teams scored four goals each. In the sudden death both the teams scored one goal each. The second sudden death came into force and Danapur managed to break Purina defence and scored the match winning goal and get ticket for the semifinals.

Mob attacks Danapur players, 5 injured
Later in the evening about 100 people said to be the supporters of Purnia team attacked Danapur players with lathis and other conventional weapons and injured five of them when the players were at their camp at Zila School.

The District Football Association Purnia alleged that police administration had failed to provide security to the players despite repeated request by the organizers.

Police reached the spot half an hour after the incident and took six persons into the custody.

Jiten Lohar nets eight goals as Patna humble Samastipur 15-0

Patna, December 7, 2009: Jiten Lohar struck a record eight goals as Patna humbled Samastipur 15-0 in the 61st Bihar state football championships for the Moinul Haq Trophy in Purnia on Monday.

According to information reached here, in the other match of the day, Saran beat Darbhanga 2-1. With this victories both Patna and Saran moved into the quarterfinals.

Samastipur was just no match to Patna, as the latter scored flurry of goals. Pritam Bahadur (three) Shahbaz (two) and R K Mahto (two) were the other goal scorers. Jiten Lohar was declared man of the match.

In the second match, Santosh Kumar of Saran scored first goal in the 29th minute. Ranjan Kumar of Darbhanga brought in the equaliser in the 32nd minute. Rais Alam of Saran scored the match winner in the 35th minute. Raju Kumar of Saran was adjudged man of the match.

Earlier on Sunday, Munger, Siwan and Danapur won their respective matches. Munger beat Bettiah 4-1, Siwan beat Mansi 3-0 while East Central Railway, Danapur beat Gaya 2-0.

Satish Deogam to lead Bihar sub-junior football team

Patna, December 7, 2009: Satish Deogam will lead a 20-member Bihar team in the 32 sub-junior National football championships (final round) to be held at Gurgaon from December 10, according to S Ejaz Hussain, secretary, Bihar Football Association.

Team: Satish Deogam (captian), Hemant Kumar Gope, Amit Kumar, Sandeep Kachhap, Sumit Das, Baloo Soren, Durga Murmu, Ayush Ranjan, Samu Murmu, Sanjay Biruli, Sajal Mallick, Bibision Horo, Md Sarfaraz, Sunil Lohar, Samu Hembrum, Budhrai Soren, Mangal Kachchap, Avinash Kumar, Jay Prakash Srivastava and Shamsher Alam. Coach; Santosh Kumar. Manager; Md Fahruddin.

Bihar win BCCI Associates and Affiliates U-16 Trophy

Patna, December 7, 2009:
A century opening partnership between Siddhant (75) and Shiv (62 not out) paved the way for Bihar’s stunning nine-wicket victory over Meghalaya in the final of the BCCI Associate and Affiliate under-16 cricket tournament at Shillong on Monday.

This was Bihar’s maiden title win in BCCI tournament after 10-year of banishment.

According to information reached here, Siddhant knock contained nine hits to the fence while Shiv slammed 10 boundaries in his unbeaten innings. Bihar raced to the target of 147 off only 24.3 overs losing one wicket.

Earlier, Bihar won the toss and elected to field first. Bihar bowlers Faisal Gani and Nishant Prakash put hosts Meghalaya in trouble right from the start with their fiery and probing attack. Both the bowlers took three wickets each. Kumar Rajnish bagged two wickets. Meghalaya innings ended at 147 off 44 overs.

Aningisiri Sen (33, 3x4), Ankit Kumar (22) and Sirijit Ghoshal (45,7 x4) were the main contributors for Meghalaya.

Meanwhile, Bihar Cricket Association secretary Ajay Narayan Sharma announced a cash award of Rs 1 lakh for the winning team.

Brief scores: Meghalaya 147 all out in 44 overs (Aningisiri Sen -33, Ankit Kumar -22, Sirijit Ghoshal- 45, Faisal Gani 3 wickets for 16, Nishant Prakash 3 wickets for 32,Kumar Rajnish 2 wickets for 19 runs).
Bihar 148 for one in 24.3 overs (Siddhant -75, Shiv -62 not out, Rajiv Kumar 4 not out).

Photo caption: Members of the Bihar U-16 team pose for a group phtotograph after winning the BCCI Associates and Affiliates Trophy final in Shillong on December 7, 2009.

Donny Polo School clinch Sukhdeo cricket trophy

Patna, December 6, 2009: Donny Polo School lifted 25th all-India Sukhdeo Narain memorial inter-school cricket trophy defeating Dev Public School by three wickets in a keenly contested final at the Moinul Haq Stadium here on Sunday.

In a low scoring match, batting first Dev Public School could manage to score 60 runs off 19.5 overs. Donny Polo medium pacers wreaked havoc on Dev School batting line up with beautiful demonstration of swing bowling. Pramod Kumar was the pick of the bowlers claiming three wickets for 21 runs. Anurag was the lone batsman who reached the double figures (14). Shasim, Deepak and Rahul took two wickets each.

In reply, Donny Polo boys too lost quick wickets. At one stage, they were struggling at 46 for the loss of six wickets. Nishant (16) and Aditya (12) later guided their side to victory. Donny Polo achieved the target losing seven wickets, Rajkishore and Aditya claimed two wickets each.

Pramod was adjudged man of the match.

Patna Central MLA, Arun Kumar Sinha was the chief guest at the closing function and he distributed the prizes. Vinod Kumar, Dr Achal Kumar Sinha, NK Saini, chief manager, Canara Bank and Bihar Players Association president Mritunjay Tiwari were the special guest at the function.

The organizers also felicitated photojournalists Aftab Alam Siddiqui, Ashish Gupta and Pramod Kumar for their contribution to sports photography.

Photo caption: Donny Polo School boys with Sukhdeo cricket trophy in Patna on December 6, 2009.

Photo: Aftab Alam Siddiqui

Grand double for Saurav and Nupur

Patna, December 5, 2009: Patlputra Colony court proved lucky again for Saurav Panja. In an all-Bengal final, Panja overcame the challenge from Manoj Sewa 6-4, 6-2 to win Deshratna Dr Rajendra Prasad memorial all-India ranking tennis tournament title here on Saturday.

In the same venue about 43 days ago, Panja tamed his state mate Sewa 6-3, 6-3 to clinch Hubnet all-India ranking tennis title. Today was no different as Saurav won in clinical fashion.
Later, partnering with Manoj Sewa, he claimed the men’s doubles title defeating the Assam-Orissa pair of Anshuman Dutta and Chandrashekhar Mohanty 6-1, 6-2 and earned a grand double.

It was a bad day for Rani Smita Jain of IAF as she failed to break the final jinx in this court. Earlier in Hubnet tournament, Rani lost to Karnataka girl Shweta G Khakandaki 2-6, 0-6. This time Nupur Kaul (Mahrashtra) beat Rani Smita Jain 6-3, 7-6(5) to win the title.

As it happened in the men’s section, Nupur Kaul too earned a grand double. Pairing with Dipti Srivastava (WB), she won the doubles title defeating the Bihar-Delhi combination of Shilpi Jaiswal and Nehal Sahani (Delhi) 6-2, 6-3.

DN Sahay, former Governor of Tripura, distributed the trophies and prize money. Dr. Akhouri B Prasad, secretary BLTA welcomed the guests. Shishir Jaiswal (joint secretary, BLTA) and Kunal Aikat (chief coach, BLTA) were present on the occasion.

Photo caption: Nupur Kaul (top) and Saurav Panja (bottom) in action during their singles final in Patna on December 5, 2009.

Photo: Bihar Lawn Tennis Association

Bihar enter BCCI Associates Cup final

Patna, December 5, 2009: Bihar entered the final of BCCI Associates and Affiliates under-16 tournament decimating Sikkim by a huge margin of 225 runs at Silchar (Assam) on Saturday.

According to information reached here, this was Bihar third successive win in the tournament. Elected to bat first after winning the toss, Bihar boys piled up 278 runs for the loss of six wickets off 50 overs. In reply sikkim were all out for 53 runs off 27 overs.

For Bihar, Shiv made a blazing 90 with 10 hits to the fence. Siddhant scored 87 runs with 15 boundaries. Kumar Vijay hit a half-century (50) with seven hits to the fence. Deepak took three wickets for Sikkim.

In reply, Nishant destroyed the Sikkim batting taking five wickets for 14 runs. Faisal Gani claimed three wickets for 10 runs.

Brief scores:
Bihar -278 for the loss of six wickets (Siddhant -87, Shiv -90, Kumar Vijay -50, Deepak took 3 wickets, Ravi, Saurabh and Rohit got one wicket each).
Sikkim -53 all out (Jhanudin 12, Nishant 5 wickets for 14 runs, Faisal Gani 3 for 10, Vivek 1 for 16, Rashid 1 for 13).

Photo caption: Bihar team players come out of the ground after winning the match against Sikkim at Silchar on December 5, 2009.
Photo: Joy Roy

Darbhanga rout Jamalpur in Moinul Haq Trophy soccer

Patna, December 5, 2009: Darbhanga outplayed Eastern Railway, Jalampur 4-1 in the 61st Bihar state football championships for the Moinul Haq Trophy in Purnia on Saturday.

According to information reached here, Nani Babu Thapa opened the account in the 29th minute for Darbhanga. Ajay Kumar increased the margin in the 32nd minute (2-0). Ajay made it 3-0 in the 40th minute.

At the breather Darbhanga were leading 3-0. After the break Anjar Guraon swelled the margin to 4-0 with a 46 minute goal. Pawan Kumar of Jamalpur scored the lone consolation goal. Ajay Kumar was adjudged man of the match.

In other match of day, Samastipur tamed Lakhisarai 2-0. Aftab Alam scored the first goal for his team in the 50th minute while Sanjay Kumar increased the tally in the 82nd minute.

Earlier on Friday, West Champaran beat Aurangabad 4-0 while Mansi edged past Rohtas by 2-1. Kundan of West Champaran netted a hat-trick by scoring goals in the 38th, 54th and 66th minutes respectively. Pitambar shot home the fourth goal in the 77th minute. Kundan was adjudged man of the match.

In the other match, Raushan Kumar (6th) and Ismail Rien (48th) scored for Mansi. Rajnikant of Rohtas reduced the margin in the 89th minute.

Lakhisarai edge out Kaimur

Rajesh Yadav’s brilliant goal in the sudden death enabled Lakhisarai beat Kaimur 7-6 on Thursday. The match ended 6-6 at the end of regulation time and penalty shootouts. Dharmendra Kumar of Lakhisarai scored two goals while Amit Kumar hit one.

Imitiyaz Ansari netted two goals and Lavkush Paswan scored one goal for Kaimur. In the shootouts, both the teams scored three goals each.

In the other match of the day, Darbhanga beat Jamui 3-1. Shiv Kumar, Rajan Kumar and Ajay Kumar all scored one goal each for Darbhanga. Sunil Soren of Jamui scored the lone goal for his side.

Earlier on Wednesday, Rohtas beat Nawada 4-3 via in tie breaker. Betia defeated Vaishali 2-0.
On Tuesday, Darbhanga beat Saharsa 4-1 and Lakhisarai got walkover against Seohar.

Bihar U-19 cricket team for BCCI Associates and Affiliates tournament announced

Patna, December 5, 2009: Bihar Cricket Association (BCA) on Saturday announced a 15-member Bihar under-19 team for the BCCI Associates and Affiliates tournament to be held at Chhattisgarh from December 12 to 23.

BCA secretary Ajay Narain Sharma said Kumar Aditya of Patna would lead the team.
Team: Kumar Aditya (c), Patna, Kamlesh Singh (Patna), Abhishek Kumar Singh (Patna), Ravi Shankar (Patna), Kislay Sharma (Patna), Shasheem Rathore (Patna), Rajesh Singh (Supaul), Mangal Mahrour (Gaya), Shankey Kumar (Muzaffarpur), Nishant Kumar (Patna), Vikash Ranjan (wk), Muzaffarpur, Aaranv (Nalanda), Satish Roy (Patna), Ashish Ranjan (Patna), Pawan Kumar (Muzaffarpur).
Reserves: Suman Chandrel (Khagaria), Khuram Reza Khan (Patna), Ravi Anand (Patna), Varun Raj (Bhojpur) and Md. Amir Faisal (Darbhanga).

All-Bengal clash in men's final

Patna, December 4, 2009: It’s all-Bengal clash in the men’s final of the Deshratna Dr Rajendra Prasad memorial all-India ranking tennis tournament at the Patliputra Colony courts here on Friday. Saurav Panja faces his state mate Manoj Sewa for the crown.

Just 42 days ago, the duo clashed for the Hubnet all-India ranking tournament title at the same court and at that time Saurav Panja tamed his state mate and higher ranked Manoj Sewa 6-3, 6-3 to win the crown.

In Friday’s men’s singles semifinals, Saurav Panja took a straight path on his way to second successive final beating Santanu Rajput (Delhi) 6-4, 6-4 while Manoj Sewa (WB) trounced Sagar Ahuja (Mahrashtra) 6-3, 6-3 to set up a final encounter with Panja.

In women’s singles, Nupur Kaul (Mahrashtra) stopped local girl Shilpi Jaiswal’s march 6-3, 6-2. Rani Smita Jain (IAF) beat Dipti Srivastava (WB) 6-1, 6-3 in the second semifinal to get an order for final assault.

In the women’s doubles semifinals, Dipti Srivastava (WB) and Nupur Kaul (Maharashtra) beat Shruti Jaiswal (Bihar) and Shruti Archita (Maharashtra) 6-4, 6-1 to enter the final. The Bengal-Maharashtra pair now meets the Bihar-Delhi combination of Shilpi Jaiswal and Nehal Sahani who beat Manuella Gomes (Delhi) and Disha Satish Agarwal (Delhi) 6-1, 6-2 in the other semifinal.

In men’s doubles semifinals, Anshuman Dutta (Assam) and Chandrashekhar Mohanty (Orissa) beat Hari Chidambaram (IAF) and Robin Das (WB) 6-2, 6-2. Saurav Panja (WB) and Manoj Sewa (WB) beat Parth Indordia (Gujarat) and Himanshu Mali (Maharashtra) 6-4, 6-3 in the second semifinal.

Photo caption: From top; Shilpi Jaiswal (Bihar), Nupur Kaul (Mahrashtra), Manoj Sewa and Saurav Panja (both Bengal) are in action during their semifinal matches in Patna on Friday.

Photo: Aftab Alam Siddiqui

Bihar's Shilpi Jaiswal enters semifinal

Patna, December 3, 2009: Shilpi Jaiswal of Bihar moved into the women’s singles semifinals of the Deshratna Dr Rajendra Prasad memorial all-India ranking tennis championships defeating Gaini Sharani of Andhra Pradesh 6-2, 6-1 at Patliputra Colony Courts here on Thursday.

Another Jaiswal sibling, Shruti beat Disha Satish Agarwal of Delhi 6-1, 6-3 to enter the quarterfinal of the women’s singles.

The day saw an upset when Rubal Shandilya of Delhi sent Devpriya Jaiswal (Bihar) packing 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 in a men’s pre-quarterfinal match. Saurav Panja and Manoj Sewa also booked their berths in the semifinals.

Results
Men’s singles pre-quarterfinal:
Rubal Shandilya (Dli) beat Devpriya Jaiswal /Bih/ 6-3, 1-6, 6-4.
Men’s singles quarterfinals: Santanu Rajput (Dli) beat Veer Vasant Venkatesh (Kar) 6-1, 6-2; Saurav Panja (WB) beat Anshuman Dutta (Asm) 6-3, 6-1; Manoj Sewa (WB) beat Bharat Bhardwaj (Har) 1-6, 6-2, 6-3.

Women’s singles pre-quarterfinals:
Shruti Jaiswal (Bih) beat Disha Satish Agarwal (Dli) 6-1, 6-3.
Women’s singles quarterfinals: Nupur Kaul (Mah) beat Nehal Sahani (Dli) 3-6, 6-4, 6-3; Rani Smita Jain (IAF) beat Omlata Rai Kumari (UP) 6-0, 6-1; Shilpi Jaiswal (Bih) beat . Gaini Sharani (AP) 6-2, 6-1.
Women’s doubles quarterfinals:
Shruti Jaiswal (Bih) and Shruti Archita (Mah) beat Bobby Yadav (UP) and Rashi Yadav (UP) 6-0, 6-0.
Manuella Gomes (Dli) and Disha Satish Agarwal (Dli) beat Gaini Sharni (AP) and Omlata Rai Kumari (UP) 6-3, 6-4.
Men’s doubles quarterfinals:
Robin Das (WB) and Hari Chidambaram (IAF) beat Devpriya Jaiswal (Bihar) and Chinmay Pradhan (Orissa) 7-5, 7-5.
Men’s doubles pre-quarter finals: Hari Chidambaram (IAF) and Robin Das (WB) beat Dushyant Verma and Jatin Dahia (Dli) 6-3, 6-3.
Anshuman Dutta (Asm) and Chandrashekhar Mohanty (Asm) beat Gaurav Tripathi (MP) and Aditya Tiwari (MP) 7-5, 6-4.

Photo caption: Rani Smita Jain (top) and Shilpi Jaiswal (bottom) in action during their women's singles match in Patna on December 3, 2009.

Photo: Aftab Alam Siddiqui

Vivek scripts Bihar's thumping win over Chhattisgarh

Patna, December 3, 2009:
Vivek Kumar’s four wickets for 42 runs helped Bihar script six wickets victory over Chhattisgarh in the BCCI Associate Cup Under-16 cricket tournament at Silchar (Assam) on Thursday.

This was Bihar’s second straight win the in tournament. Earlier on Tuesday, Bihar beat Manipur by eight wickets.

According to information reached here, it was Vivek, who tormented Chhattisgarh batting line up with his pace and accuracy. Bating first Chhattisgarh were all out for 143 runs off 42.5 overs. Nishan Prakash took three wickets for 33 runs while Mohammad Rashid bagged one wicket for 18 runs. Irfan batted well to score 36 runs with four boundaries.

In reply, Bihar took over the target losing four wickets on the way off 32.1 overs. Vikash Ranjan (44 not out) and Kumar Rajnish (40 not out) steered Bihar to victory after some early hiccups. Shiv Kumar made 21 runs.

Brief scores: Chattisgarh-143 all out (Irfan-36 with 4 boundaries, Ankit Singh-29, Shakib-21, Vivek Kumar 4 for 42, Nishant Prakash-3 for 33, Md. Rashid-1 for 18, Krishna Anurag-1 for 16).

Bihar-144 for 4 (Vikash Ranjan-44 not out, Kumar Rajnish-40 not out, Shiv-21, Rajeev Kumar-14, Rajesh 2 for 18, Danish-1 for 21, Ankit 1 for 27).

Photo caption: Bihar cricket team poses for a group photograph after winning its match against Chhattisgarh at Silchar (Assam) on December 3, 2009.

Sourav Panja, Manoj Sewa in quarterfinals

Patna, December 2, 2009: Manoj Sewa and Saurav Panja continued their upward march in the Deshratna Dr Rajendra Prasad memorial all-India ranking tennis tournament at Patliputra Courts here on Wednesday.

In men’s singles pre-quarterfinals, Saurav Panja of West Bengal outplayed his statemate Robin Das 6-4, 6-3 and Manoj Sewa also from West Bengal struggled a bit to down Jatin Dahia (Delhi) 7-5, 6-4.

The best match of the day was between Devpriya Jaiswal and Rubal Shandilya, Rubal won the first set 6-3 but Devpriya came back very strongly to take the lead of 5-1 in the second set when the match was stopped due to bad light.

Results:

Men’s singles pre-quarterfinals: Anshuman Dutta /Asm/ beat Hari Chidambaram /IAF/ 6-7, 6-2, 7-6; Shantanu Rajput /Dli/ beat Pranshu Barthwal /UP/ 6-3, 6-2; Veer Vasant Venkatesh /Kar/ beat Aditya Tiwari /MP/ 4-6, 6-3, 6-3; Bharat Bhardwaj /Har/ beat Vishwanath Sawadi /Kar/ 5-2 retired hurt; Sagar Ahuja /Mah/ beat Dhruv Agarwal /UP/ 7-5, 6-0-1; Saurav Panja /WB/ beat Robin Das /WB/ 6-4, 6-3; Manoj Sewa /WB/ beat Jatin Dahia /Dli/ 7-5, 6-4.

Women’s singles quarterfinals: Dipti Srivastava /WB/ beat Deepshikha Gupta /Raj/ 6-1, 6-1; Gaini Sharni /AP/ beat Fatema Packer /Bih/ 6-1, 6-0; Rani Smita Jain /IAF/ beat Manuella Gomes /Dli/ 6-1, 6-1.

Men’s doubles quarterfinals: Parth Indorda /Guj/ and Himanshu Mali /MP/ beat Ragendra Prasad Rai /UP/ and Nagendra Prasad Rai /UP/ 6-1, 6-1.

Photo caption: Saurav Panja (top) and Manoj Sewa (bottom) in action during their respective men's singles match in Patna on December 2, 2009.

Photo: Aftab Alam Siddiqui

Donny Polo School to face Dev Public School in Sukhdeo cricket final

Patna, December 2, 2009: Donny Polo School set up title clash with Dev Public School in the 25th All-India Sukhdeo Narain memorial inter-school cricket tournament at the Moinul Haq Stadium here on Wednesday. The final will be played on December 6.

In the semifinals, Dev Public School edged out Ashwani Public School, Danapur by 23 runs while Donny Polo School, Patna chalked out a comprehensive 8-wicket win over Bharti Public School, Delhi.

Praviranjan of Ashwani Public School and Deepak Kumar Singh of Donny Polo School were named man of the match in the respective matches. Bihar Cricket Association secretary, Ajay Narain Sharma gave away the prizes.

Put into bat, Dev Public School made 131 runs all out off 24.1 overs while Ashwani Public School boys could manage to score 108 runs off 24.2 overs.
In the second match, batting first Bharti Public School scored 73 off 22.1 overs. In reply, Donny Polo boys surpassed the target losing two wickets on the way.

Brief scores: Dev Public School 132 (Saket 33, Anurag 21, Sudarshan 17, Anis 15, Praviranjan five wickets for 21 runs, Himanshu Hari 2 for 22).
Ashwani Public School, Danapur: 108 (Fahad 29, Cahndan 20, Praviranjan 14, Anurag 2 for 15, Kushagra Mani 2 for 30, Raj Kishore 1 for 9).
Bharti Public School: 73 (Ankit Narang 21, Abhishek Chowhan 19, Lokesh 10, Deepak Kumar Singh 3 wickets for 7 runs, Rohan Mishra 3 for 19).
Donny Polo School: 77 for 2 (Nitesh Anand 34, Nishant Kumar not out 25, Sachin 1 for 17).

Photo caption: Bihar Cricket Associaion secretary Ajay Narain Sharma gives away man of the match award to Deepak Kumar Singh of Donny Polo School in Patna on December 2, 2009.
Photo: Aftab Alam Siddiqui

Vivek, Rajiv stars in Bihar’s big 8-wicket win over Manipur

Patna, December 1, 2009: After about 10 years of isolation from national cricket, Bihar boys got the platform to show their mettle in the BCCI Associate Cup under-16 tournament at Silchar in Assam. They did not disappoint in their first match against Manipur and chalked out impressive eight-wicket victory to start their campaign in style.

First it was Bihar’s Vivek, who ripped apart Manipur batting line up and bowled them out for paltry 77 runs off 11.3 overs.

In reply, Rajeev Kumar hit a hurricane unbeaten half-century to pilot Bihar to a whipping eight-wicket victory. Rajiv’s unbeaten knock of 51 runs contained 11 nicely executed boundaries. Bihar achieved the target losing only two wickets off 11.3 overs. Opener Siddhant Vijay scored 22 runs off 33 balls with four hits to the fence.

Shilpi, Devpriya advance to quarterfinals

Patna, December 1, 2009: Bihar’s Shilpi Jaiswal moved into quarterfinals of the women’s singles in the Deshratna Dr Rajendra Prasad memorial all-India ranking tennis tournament at the Patliputra Colony courts here on Tuesday.

Shilpi trounced Rashi Wahal of Uttar Pradesh 6-0, 6-0. Shilpi’s younger brother Devpriya Jaiswal also entered the quarterfinals of the men’s singles beating Kshitij Kamal of Delhi 7-6, 6-3 in a grueling encounter.

Seeded Manoj Sewa of West Bengal had no difficulty to dispatch Chinmay Pradhan of Orissa 6-2, 6-1 in a pre-quarterfinal match.

Results:

Men’s singles pre-quarterfinals: VISHWANATH SAWADI [KAR] Bt. NAUNIN [DLI] 6-0, 6-3; SAGAR AHUJA [MAH] Bt. NISHIT VAKIL [MAH] 6-0, 6-1; JATIN DAHIA [ DLI] Bt. NAGENDRA PRASAD RAI[UP] 6-2, 6-4; MANOJ SEWA [ WB] Bt. CHINMAY PRADHAN [ORS] 6-2, 6-1; DHRUV AGARWAL [UP] Bt. PARTH INDORDIA [GUJ] 6-3, 6-0; DEVPRIYA JAISWAL [BIH] Bt. KSHITIJ KAMAL [DLI] 7-6, 6-3.

Women’s singles pre-quarterfinals: SHILPI JAISWAL [BIH] Bt. RASHI WAHAL [UP] 6-0, 6-0; SHRUTI ARCHITA [MAH] Bt. NEHAL SANHI [DLI] 3-6, 6-4, 6-3; OMLATA KUMARI RAI [UP] Bt. SEEMA KUMARI [UP] 6-0, 6-3.

Men’s doubles first round: RAGENDRA PRASAD RAI /UP/ & NAGENDRA PRASAD RAI /UP/Bt. AMAN KUMAR/BIH/ & SAURABH RAGHUVANSHI /MP/ 6-1,6-1.
DEVPRIYA JAISWAL /BIH/ & CHINMAY PRADHAN / ORS/ Bt. SANISH M. MISHRA /UP/ & ABHILASH TIWARI /UP/6-4, 6-4.

SHANTANU RAJPUT /DLI/ & RUBAL SHANDILYA /DLI/Bt. SHIVRAJ SINGH /WB/ & PRANSHU BARTHWAL /UP/ 6-3,6-4.

VIJAY BHARDWAJ /HAR/ & BARTH BHARDWAJ /HAR/Bt. SAGAR AHUJA /MAH/ & NISHIT WAKIL /MAH/ 6-4,6-3.

SAURAV PANJA /WB/ & MANOJ SEWA Bt. VISHWANATH SAWADI /KAR/ & VEER VASANT VENKATESH /KAR/ 3-6, 6-0, 6-2.

PARTH INDORDA / HIMANSHU MALI Bt. NAVNEET KUMAR / DHRUV AGARWAL 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.

ANSHUMAN DUTTA /CHANDRASHEKHAR MOHANTY UNFINISHED GAURAV TRIPATHI / ADITYA TIWARI 5-5.

Photo caption: Shilpi Jaiswal (top) and Devpriya Jaiswal (bottom) in action on December 1, 2009.

Photo: Aftab Alam Siddiqui

Dev Public School and Donny Polo School move into Sukhdeo cricket semifinals

Panta, December 1, 2009: Dev Public School and Donny Polo School advanced to thesemifinals of the 25th All-India Sukhdeo Naraian memorial inter-school cricket tournament at the Minul Haq Stadium here on Tuesday.

Dev Public School annihilated Don Bosco Academy by 123 runs while Donny Polo School trounced St Francis School, Punjab, by 71 runs.

Raj Kishore Yadav of Dev Public School and Anmol Kumar Boni of Donny Polo School were adjudged man of the match in their respective matches. Dr Ajay Sinha and Dr Chitaranjan Prasad jointly gave away the awards.

Batting first, Dev Public School scored 198 for eight wickets off 25 overs. Sudarshan (37), Akash (30), Raj Kishore (29) and Anish (26)were the main contributors. Amitabh and Mukesh claimed two wickets each.

In reply, Don Bosco Academy could score 75 runs for the loss of nine wickets off 25 overs. Rishav made 36 runs. Raj Kishore grabbed three wickets for 6 runs.

In the second match of the day, Donny Polo boys collected 158 runs for 5 off 25 overs, Anmol Kumar Boni played a blazing knock of unbeaten 85 runs. Ritesh Kumar scored 27 runs.
In reply, St Francis boys were all out for 87 runs. Ajay Sandhu (22), Rispal Singh (17) and Rajbir Singh (15) were the main contributors. Anand Priya and Rahul Kumar destroyed visitors’ innings claiming three wickets each.

Photo caption: Donny Polo School boys in Patna on December 1, 2009.

Photo: Aftab Alam Siddiqui

Sourav Panja begins his campaign in style

Patna, November 30, 2009: Top seed Saurav Panja of West Bengal tamed Vijay Bhardwaj of Haryana 6-2,6-1 to enter the second round of Deshratna Dr RajendraPrasad memorial all-India ranking men and women tennis championships at Patliputra Colony courts here on Monday.

Earlier, Bollywood star turn politician and Patna Sahib MP, Shatrughan Sinha inaugurated the championships. Bihar Lawn Tennis Association secretary Dr Akhouri B Prasad was present at the opening function.

Results:

Men’s singles first round: Anshuman Dutta (Asm) beat Rajendra Prasad Rai (UP) 6-0,6-2; Robin Das (WB) beat Aman Kumar (Bihar) 6-0,6-1; Himanshu Mali (Mah) beat Veer Vasant Venkatesh (Kar) 6-3,6-4; Saurav Panja (WB) beat Vijay Bhardwaj (Har) 6-2,6-1; Hari Chiidambaram (IAF) beat Sanish Mani Mishra (UP) 6-3,6-3; Aditya Tiwari (MP) beat Saurabh Raghuvanshi (MP) 6-0,6-0; Shantanu Rajput (Delhi) beat Chandrashekhar Mohanty (Assam) 6-4,6-3; Pranshu Barthwal (UP) beat Gaurav Triphati (MP) 6-2,7-6;Rubal Shandilya (Delhi) beat Jhonny Benjamin (Kar) 6-0,6-1; Bharat Bhardwaj (Har) beat Navneet Kumar (UP) 6-1,6-0.

Photo caption: Patna MP Shatrughan Sinha inaugurates Deshratna Dr Rajendra Prasad memorial all-India ranking tennis tournament in Patna on November 30, 2009.

Photo: Aftab Alam Siddiqui

Samastipur, Bhojpur and Purnia in quarterfinals

Patna, November 30, 2009: West Champaran, Rohtas and Samastipur earned full points winning their respective matches in the 61st Bihar State and inter-district football championships for the Moinul Haq Trophy in Purina on Monday.

According to information reached here, the day’s results saw Samastipur along with Bhojpur and Purnia moving into the quarterfinals of the tournament.

West Champaran trounced Gopalganj 6-0 with a hat-trick by Pitambar, who scored in the 10th, 16th and 26th minutes. Kumdan netted two goals while Hembram struck one. Pitambar of West Champaran was declared player of the match.

In another match Rohtas beat Araria by a solitary goal. Ranjit, who struck the lone goal was adjudged the man of the match.

In the third match of the day, Samastipur beat Buxar 2-0. Ram Narayan Ram and Romesh Kumar of Samastipur were the scorers for Samastipur in the 9th and 46th minutes of the match. Buxar team captain Ajay Kumar was adjudged the best player of the match.

Ashwani Public School and Bharti High School in Sukhdeo cricket semifinals

Patna, November 30, 2009: Ashwani Public School and Bharti High School cruised into the semi-finals of the 25th All India Sukhdeo Narain memorial inter-school cricket tournament at the Moinul Haq Stadium here on Monday.

Ashwani Public School beat Siddhartha Higher Secondary School by seven wickets and Bharti High School destroyed Sahu Jain High School by nine wickets. Kumar Raj (Ashwani Public School) and Vikas Vagri (Bharti High School) were adjudged man of the match for their respective matches.

Brief scores: Siddhartha Higher Secondary School: 70 all out in 19.1 overs (ManishPatel-19, S Habib-11, Kumar Raj-3/10, Himanshu Hari-2/17, Prashant Kumar-2/4).
Ashwani Public School: 74 for three wickets in 13.4 overs (Raj Kishan- 24, S Fahad-14, S Habib-2/14).
Sahu Jain High School: 77 all out in 19.5 overs (Sandeep-17, Md Saleem-13, Amar-11, Vikas Vagri-4/12, Subrato-3/17, Sachin-2/11).

Bharti High School: 78 for one (Vikas Vagri-39 not out, Ankit Narang-23, Sanjay Kumar-1/6).

Photo caption: Bharti High School boys pose for a group photograph in Patna on November 30, 2009.

Photo: Aftab Alam Siddiqui

Junior National ranking badminton in Patna

Patna, November 30, 2009: Bihar Badminton Association will organise Junior National ranking and prize-money badminton championships at Secretariat badminston hall here from January 13 next, according to KN Jaiswal, secretary, Bihar Badminton Association.

U-19, U-13 and mini boys and girls’ singles and doubles events would be organized in the tournament, he added. The last date for entry is December 23.

Bihar junior kabaddi from December 13

Patna, November 30, 2009: The 36th Bihar state junior kabaddi championships scheduled to be held at Madhubani from December 5 has been postponed. Now the tournament will be held from December 13, according to Kumar Vijay, secretary, Bihar State Kabaddi Association.

Robin nets a quadruple as Purina annihilate Madhubani

Patna, November 29, 2009: A brilliant quadruple of goals by Robin Soren piloted Purnia to a 7-1 victory over Madhubani in the 61st Bihar State football championships for the Moinul Haq Trophy in Purnia on Sunday.

According to information reached here, Robin Soren scored first goal in the opening minute of the match. He netted the second in the 8th minute. He scored two more goals to complete his quadruple in the 37th and the fourth in 70th minute of the game.

Pawan Kumar Hembram (31st), Faggu Tudu (71st) and Baiju Basera (75th) made it 7-0 for Purnia. Sagun Roy of Madhubani struck the lone goal for his team in the 42nd minute (1-7). Robin Soren of Purnia was adjudged player of the match.

Don Bosco Academy in quarterfinals

Patna, November 29, 2009: Don Bosco Academy and Donny Polo School advanced into the quarterfinals of the 25th All-India Sukhdeo Narain memorial inter-school crickettournament at the Moinul Haq Stadium here on Sunday.

Don Bosco Academy crushed Sikshayatan Public School by nine wickets while Donny Polo School got the better of Aryan Public School by 62 runs.

Rishav of Don Bosco Academy and Rohan Mishra of Donny Polo were declared manof the match for their respective matches. Dr Achal Sinha, who was the chief guest, gave away the prizes.

Brief scores:

Sikshayatan Public School: 112 for 6 (Alind 48, Vikas Raj 23, Amitabh 2 for 28, Rishav 1 for 21, Nishu 1 for 11).

Don Bosco Aacdemy: 115 for 1 (Rishav 46, Amitabh 37).

Donny Polo School: 147 for 4 (Sasim Rathore 61, Nishant 27, Anand 16, Prakash 1 for 18).

Aryan Public School, Ara: 85 all out (Deepak 21, Yuvraj 21, Rohan Mishra 6 for 21, Anand Priya 2 for 10).

Photo caption: Don Bosco Academy boys with man of the match Rishav pose for group photograph in Patna on November 29, 2009.

Photo: Aftab Alam Siddiqui

60 schools to take part in Sardal Patel athletics

Patna, November 29, 2009: The 8th Sardar Patel inter-school athletic championships to be held at the Moinul Haq Stadium here from December 11 to 13.

Upendra Kumar Singh, former MLC and president of Sardar Patel Sports and Cultural Foundation said as many as 110 gold medals would be at stake in the three-day meet. Sixty schools and 2000 athletes would take part in the championships that would organise cadet, mini-sub-junior, junior and senior boys and girls track and field events.

Organising secretary KC Mahajan said school teams from Chapra, Vaishali, Sosnepur, Bhojpur, Jehanabad, Barh and Patna would take part in the meet. To give an added charm to the championships, the organizing committee had decided to make the opening function a grand one, he added.

Arun Kumar Keshri, director, Commonwealth Games 2010, New Delhi, KM Ghosh, vice-president of the foundation, Raj Kumar Jaiswal and technical director of the meet Dhanesh Kumar Sinha also spoke on the occasion.

Siddarth Public School, Deoria in last eight

Patna, November 28, 2009:

Siddarth Public School, Deoria and Ashwin Public School moved into the quarterfinals of the 25th All-India Sukhdeo Narain memorial inter-school cricket tournament at the Moinul Haq Stadium here on Saturday.

Siddarth Public School beat Baldev High School, Danapur by 61 runs while Ashwin Public School beat St Paul’s School, Begusarai by 149 runs. Krishna Mohan Pandey of Deoria and Himanshu of Ashwin Public School won the man of the match awards. Chief guests Ajay Kumar Sinha and Hemant Kumar gave away the respective awards.

Brief Scores:

Siddarth High School, Deoria: 148 for 5 (Krishna Mohan Pandey 66, Saddam Hussain 26, Vivek 22, Saruav Suman 2 for 17, Deepak 2 for 25).
Baldev High School: 87 all out (Dinesh Yadav 41, Saurav Suman 14, Swetank 2 for 22, Satyendra 2 for 19 and Ravi Ranjan 1 for 4).
Ashwin Public School, Danapur: 207 for 4 (Himanshu Hari 50, Balram Ghosh 41, Ishan Krishna 32, Pravi Ranjan 30, Raj Krishna 16, Chandan Kumar 1 for 45, Saddam 1 for 48).
St Paul’s School, Begusarai: 58 all out (Chandan Kumar 10, Aman Raj 3 for 6, Rakesh 2 for 10, Himashu hari 2 for 12).

Photo caption: Players of Ashwin Public School (top) and Siddarth Public School, Deoria (bottom) pose for group photograph in Patna on November 28, 2009.

Photo: Aftab Alam Siddiqui

Aryan Public School, Ara in last 16

Patna, November 27, 2009:

Aryan Public School, Ara, and Baldev Inter High School, Danapur, booked their berths in the pre-quarter-finals of the 25th All India Sukhdeo Narain memorial inter-school cricket tournament at the Moinul Haq Stadium here on Friday.

Aryan Public School, Ara, beat Divine Public School, Gorakhpur, by seven wickets and Baldev Inter High School Danapur beat St Karen’s High School by two runs.

Dharmendra Kumar of Ara and Saurav Suman of Danapur were declared man of the match in their respective matches. Before the start of the match, players were introduced to former Bihar Ranji Trophy players, Sunil Kumar and Rajesh Sinha.

Brief scores:

Divine Public School; 50 all out in 21 overs (Wazat Khan-14, Dharmendra-4/9, Bhisham Kumar-2/7).

Aryan Public School: 51 for three wickets in 5.4 overs (Deepak Virat-31, Ajit Yadav-2/15).

Baldev Inter School: 132 for six wickets in 25 overs (Saurav Suman-63, Praveen Kumar-28, Nitesh-2/22).

St Karen’s High School; 130 for nine wickets in 25 overs (Rana Rakesh-22, Rahul Kumar-41, Gaurav Agrawal-10, praveen-3/23, Saurav Suman-2/19).

Photo caption: Aryan Public School, Ara, team in Patna on November 27, 2009.

Photo: Aftab Alam Siddiqui

Bihar U-19 team for CK Nayudu cricket

Patna, November 27, 2009:
A 24-member Bihar under-19 team will represent the state in the CK Nayudu inter-state school cricket tournament to be held at New Delhi from December 24.

The selected boys will attend a 15-day coaching camp to be held at the Moinul Haq Stadium here from December 6.
Team: Vinay Kumar, Rohit and Sanjay Kumar (Saran), Ashutosh Pandey and Shahid (Kaimur), Akash Verma, Avinash Chandra, Gufran and Saurav (Nalanda), Sharwan Ark (Begusarai), Faizal Shah and Faisal Gani (East Champaran), Akash, Rajesh and Md Kaif (Saharsa), Pervez Sheikh, Amarendra, Amit Chandra and Amit kumar (Munger), Nishant Prakash, Sankalp Saurav and Pawan (Muzaffarpur), Satish (Siwan) and Dhananjay(Vaishali).

Rajnish to lead Bihar U-16 cricket team for BCCI Associate Cup

Patna, November 27, 2009: Kumar Rajnish of Patna will lead a 14-member Bihar under-16 team in the BCCI Associate Cup cricket tournament to be held at Silchar and Shillong from December 1, according to Bihar Cricket Association (BCA) press release.

Matches will be played on league cum knock out basis and top team from each pool will qualify for the final. Chhattisgarh, Sikkim, Manipur and Bihar were placed in Group ‘A’, while Meghalaya, Nagaland, and Arunachal Pradesh were in Group ‘B’.

Matches of group ‘A’ will be held at Silchar while group B matches will be played in Shilong.

Team: Kumar Rajnish (captain), Shiv Kumar, Kundan Sharma, Vikas Ranjan, Ishan Kishan, Rajiv Kumar, Sidhant Vijay, Faisal Gani, Md Rashid, Vivek Kumar, Saurav Chakarborty, Krishna Anurag, Nishant Prakash and Manish Kumar; coach-cum-manager: Raju Vals.

Photo caption: Bihar under-16 cricket team in Patna on November 27, 2009.

Photo: Aftab Alam Siddiqui

EC Raliway, Danapur too good for Supaul

Patna, November 27, 2009:
East Central Railway, Danapur thrashed Supaul 5-0 in the 61st Bihar state football championships for the Moinul Haq Trophy in Purnia on Friday.

According to information reached here, Danapur skipper Rajesh Kumar netted two goals for his team in the 30th and on 76th minutes of the game respectively. Tapas Mandal (22nd), Sanjay Kumar Mandal (44th) and Apurva Nandi (46th) scored one goal each.

In another encounter, Madhubani beat Bhagalpur 5-4 via tiebreaker. Both the teams scored two goals each at the end of the regulation time.

Amarendra Kumar Choudhary (20th) and Navneet Kumar (30th) scored the goals for Madhubani. Shailendra Prasad struck two goals for Bhaglpur to equalize the lead. In the tiebreaker Madhubani slammed three while Bhagalpur converted only two goals.

Shikshayatan Public School and Donny Polo School in pre-quarterfinals

Patna, November 26, 2009:
Shikshayatan Public School and Donny Polo School got the tickets for last 16 stage of the 25th All-India Sukhdeo Narain memorial inter-school cricket tournament at the Moinul Haq Stadium here on Thursday.

Shikshayatan Public School beat DAV Public School by 31 runs while Donny Polo School thrashed Awasiya Bal Niketan, Bihta, by 119 runs.

Arnav Kumar (Shikshayatan) and Sidhant Vijay (Donny Polo) got the man of the match awards.

Brief scores: Shikshayatan Public School: 108 for eight wickets in 25 overs (Alind Singh-39, Vikas Raj-22, Pratyush-11, Vishwajit-2/17, Harshvardhan-2/7).

DAV Public School: 77 all out in 15.5 overs (Vipul-17, Anirudh-3/14, Anurag-2/11, Sachin-2/21).

Donny Polo Public School: 170 for five wickets in 25 overs (Sidhant Vijay-70, Shasheem Rathore-48, Nitesh Anand-28, Vivek-2/17, Punit-2/30).

Awasiya Bal Shiksha Niketan, Bihta: 51 all out in 19.1 overs (Ashutosh-12, Vivek-4/9, Kundan Sharma-2/6).

Photo caption: Sidhant Vijay (Donny Polo School) receives man of the match award from former international umpire LP Verma in Patna on November 26, 2009.

Photo: Aftab Alam Siddiqui

Bihar junior kabaddi from December 5

Patna, November 26, 2009:
The 36th Bihar state junior kabaddi championships will be held at Madhubani from December 5, according to Kumar Vijay, secretary, Bihar State Kabaddi Association (BSKA).

On the basis of the performance in the championships, Bihar team for the 36th junior National kabaddi championship to be held in Bhopal would be selected, he said.

BSKA had formed a selection committee with Jagarnath Singh as its convener. Other members of the committee were Mukesh Kumar, Dinesh Chandra Jha, Ramji Upadhaya and Rana Ranjit Singh.

Ajay nets hattrick as Buxar trounce Muzaffarpur

Patna, November 26, 2009:
Ajay Kumar’s fine hat-trick helped Buxar decimate Muzaffarpur 4-1 in the 61st Bihar State football championships for Moinul Haq Trophy in Purnia on Thursday.

According to information reached here, in another match Motihari crushed Nalanda 5-1.
Manoj Kumar scored the fourth goal for Buxar. Raman Kumar of Muzaffarpur hit the lone goal for his team. Ajay Kumar was named man of the match.

Suman Gautam of Motihari struck two goals while Arun Choudhary, Md Rashid and Raushar scored one goal each. Prabhakar of Nalanda reduced the margin. Raushan of Motihari got the man of the match award.

Chandni emerges PWC champions

Patna, November 25, 2009:

Patna Women’s College organized its annual sports day at its ground on Wednesday. A large number of students participated in the track and field and other events to celebrate the occasion. Chandni Kumari of BA-I won the overall championship title collecting maximum points.

Suman of BA-II took the runner-up title while Samira Fatima of BCom-III won the indoor championship’s trophy. Bihar Legislative Assembly speaker, Uday Narain Choudhary inaugurated the meet in a gala function. Bihar Minister Dr Anil Kumar and Patna District Magistrate Jitendra Kumar Sinha were the guests of honours at the opening function.

The day began with the hoisting of the college flag followed by march past, lighting the torch, opening ceremony and oath taking and a the welcome song “Swagatam Hai Aapka”.

Dr Sister Doris D’Souza, AC, principal, Patna Women’s College, addressed the students and encouraged them to excel in every field of life.

Events that enthralled the spectators most were dumb bells by the students of BCom-II, yogasana by BSc-I and II, hoops by BA-I, dandia by B.A-II and aerobics by vocational.

Later, Uday Narain Choudhary gave away the prizes.

Teachers and staff members of Patna Women’s College also participated in the sport events. Shobha Shrivastava got the first prize in teachers’ game while Amoli got the second prize. Anshu had to be satisfied with the third prize.

Students also made a formation of 26/11 on the ground after the sports events to pay homage to the victims of 26/11 Mumbai terros attack on the eve of its first anniversary.

Photo caption: Patna Women's College students participate in the track event.

Middle: PWC students perform hoops.

Bottom; PWC students make 26/11 to pay homage to Mumbai terror attack victims in Patna on November 25, 2009.

Photos: Aftab Alam Siddiqui

Supaul edge past Arwal

Patna, November 25, 2009:
Supaul edged past Arwal 5-3 via shootouts while Bhagalpur got a walkover against Khagaria on the fourth day of Bihar State football championships for the Moinul Haq Trophy in Purnia on Wednesday.

According to information reached here, Anil Kumar put Arwal into the lead in the 19th minute through his solo effort. Shambhu Kumar made it 2-0 in the 30th minute of the match.

Arwal were leading 2-0 at the end of first half. In the second half, Supaul fought back as Raju Kumar reduced the lead in the 60th minute. Raju found the target once against to bring in the equalizer in the 77th minute. Penalty shootouts came into force for the result. Supaul struck three goals while Arwal found the target once. Raju Kumar of Supaul was adjudged man of the match.
In the second match, Khagaria failed to turn up against Bhagalpur.

St Paul’s School, Begusarai and Don Bosco Academy, Patna in second round

Patna, November 25, 2009: St Paul’s School, Begusarai and Don Bosco Academy, Patna moved into the second round of the 25th All-India Sukhdeo Narain memorial inter-school cricket tournament at the Moinul Haq Stadium here on Wednesday.

In the first match of the day, St Paul’s School prevailed over Sun International School, Patna by 72 runs while Don Bosco Academy got the better of Indian Public School, Sasaram by 6 wickets.
Batting first Begusarai boys made 153 for the loss of five wickets with Santosh Kumar scoring a magnificent 50 runs. Manish (30) too contributed well. Vishal took two wickets for 26 runs.

In reply, Sun International School were bowled out for paltry 81 runs.In the second match, Sasaram boys collected 71 runs off 22.3 overs. In reply, Don Bosco boys raced to the target losing four wickets.

Santosh Kumar Sonu of St Paul’s School and Abhishek Kumar of Don Bosco Academy were adjudged man of the match.

Brief scores: St Paul’s School 153 for 5 (Santosh Kumar Sonu 50, Manish 30, Vishal 2 for 26, Aman Aditya 1 for 11).

Sun International School 81 all out (Vishal 19, Ankit 17, Mohammad Saddam 2 for 11, Manish 2 for 11, Chandan 2 for 14).

Indian Public School 71 all out (Sunil 12, Akash Deep 11, Abhishek 3 for 10, Amitabh 2 for 6 and Satyanath 2 for 10).

Don Bosco Academy 72 for 4(Rishav 26, Amitabh 19, Aniket 2 for 10 and Animesh 1 for 11).

Photo caption: Don Bosco Academy, Patna boys (top) and St Paul’s School, Begusarai boys (bottom) after winnig their respective matches of Sukhdeo school cricket in Patna on November 25, 2009.

Photo: Aftab Alam Siddiqui