Six Bihar players advance to second round

Patna, October 25, 2010: Six Bihar players moved into the second round of the boys’ under-16 section of AITA ranking tournament at Patliputra courts here.

Venkat Siddharth, Sanoj Kumar, Anish Anupam, Adeya Sharma, Vaibhav Kumar and Ritwik Bhriguvanshi (all from Bihar) entered the second round. Upmanyu Sinha (Gujarat), Ashish Kumar Ojha (AP), Ashish Sharma and Praduman Buddhiraja (both from UP) also advanced into the second round.

Results:

Boys’ under-16 singles (first round): Venkat Siddharth (Bihar) bt Sudarshan Tripathi (UP) 6-0, 6-1; Sanoj Kumar (Bihar) bt Sourabh Maurya (UP) 6-2, 6-0; Anish Anupam (Bihar) bt Azfar Anshri (UP) 6-2, 6-1; Upmanyu Sinha (Gujarat) bt Shekhar Raj Srivastava (UP) 6-4, 6-0; Adveya Sharma (Bihar) bt Ramyak Singh (Bihar) 7-5, 6-3; Ashish Sharma (UP) bt Madhav S Singhal (Gujarat) 6-4, 7-5; Ashish Kumar Ojha (AP) bt Abhinav Kapoor (UP) 6-3, 6-2; Praduman Buddhiraja (UP) bt Abhilash Nair (UP) 6-3, 6-2; Vaibhav Kumar (Bihar) bt Ashish Sharma (UP) 6-2, 6-2 and Ritwik Bhriguvanshi (Bihar) bt Mandeep Kesharwani (UP) 6-1, 6-0.

Boys’ under-14 (first round): Sanoj Kumar (Bihar) bt Abhinav Kapoor (up) 6-2, 6-2; Adevya Sharma (Bihar) bt Ayush Bhartiya (Bihar) 6-2, 6-1; Ritwik Bhriguvanshi (Bihar) Arham Zafar (UP) 6-0, 6-3; Ramyak Singh (Bihar) bt Faizan Ahmad (UP) 6-2, 6-3 and Anshumat Shrivastav (Bihar) Azafar Ansari (UP) 6-0, 6-0.

Photo caption: Venkat Siddarth in action during his singles match in Patna on October 25, 2010.

Photo: BLTA

Prakirtik School beat YCC

Patna, October 25, 2010: Prakirtik School beat YCC by four wickets in the Maharana Pratap T20 inter-school cricket tournament at the Moinul Haq Stadium here on Monday.

Saurav Kumar of Prakirtik School, who made 23 runs and took two wickets for 12 runs, was declared man of the match.

Brief scores: YCC: 81 all out in 19.5 overs (Deepak-37, Kislay Sharma-3/11, saurav-2/12, K Anurag-2/18).

Narrow win for Nanhe Cricket Academy

Patna, October 24, 2010: Nanhe Cricket Academy (NCA) beat Raj Hans High School by five runs in the Maharana Pratap T20 inter-school cricket tournament at the Moinul Haq Stadium here on Sunday.

Sarvesh of NCA, who took two wickets for five runs, was adjudged man of the match. In the second match, Sun Sports Academy thrashed ABS School by 45 runs. Ravi Kumar of ABS School, who made 49 runs, was declared man of the match.

Brief scores: Nanhe Cricket Academy: 92 for seven wickets in 20 overs (Pradeep-20, Sanjit-18, Manoj-3/16, Dharmesh-2/4). Raj Hans High School: 87 for seven wickets in 20 overs (Gaurav-34, Saket-16, Sarvesh-2/5, Binod-2/15).

Sun Sports Academy: 103 all out in 20 overs (Ravi-49, Sumosit-10, Jitendra-3/10, Kumar Vijay-2/18). ABS School: 58 all out in 19.2 overs (Kumar Vijay-20, Ram Kumar-13, Rakesh-3/8, Monu-2/10).

Khushi Sports beat Ballia Cricket Sangh

Patna, October 23, 2010: Khushi Sports outplayed Ballia Cricket Sangh by 68 runs in the Maharana Pratap T20 cricket tournament at the Moinul Haq Stadium here on Saturday.

Anurag of Khushi Sports, who scored 82 runs, was declared man of the match.

The day’s second match saw JD Sharma High School beating Bakarganj High School by 110 runs. Rajnish Ojha of JD Sharma High School, who claimed four wickets for three runs, was adjudged man of the match.

Brief scores: Khushi Sports: 145 for four wickets in 20 overs (Anurag-82, Vishwaji-31, Pawan-1/8, Mirtunjay-1/4). Balia Cricket Sangh: 77 all out in 19.1 overs Md Saif-15, Mirtunjay-14, Brahmeshwar-19, Shashi-2/6, Nitish Rai-2/6, Abhijit Saket-2/5).

JD Sharma High School: 141 for seven wickets in 20 overs (Varun-16, Ravi-30, Manvendra-34, Shashi-31, Shubham-2/26). Bakarganj High School: 31 all out in 11.1 overs (Manish-11, Rajnish Ojha-4/3, Harsh Raj-3/5).

Photo caption: Khushi Sports players pose for a group photograph after winning the match in Patna on October 23, 2010.

Photo: Aftab Alam Siddiqui

Bihar squash teams for Junior National announced

Patna, October 23, 2010: A 34-member Bihar team will take part in the junior, sub-junior National squash championships to be held in Chennai from October 29, according to Kaushal Kishore Singh, secretary, All Bihar State Squash Racket Association.

Teams: Boys’: Aditya Raj, Runvijay, Rajiv Ranjan Sinha, Mihir Kumar, Shahrukh Ali, Samsul Arfin, Shivamkant, SN Saquib, Subodh Jaiswal, Shashi Shekhar, Keshav Chandra, Alok Mani, Alok Raj, Sandeep Bhargav, Ramesh Chandra, Ashutosh Prakash and Deepak Kumar.

Girls: Jyoti Singh, Anupam Kumari, Soni Kumari, Heena Perveen, Ayasha Aham, Amrita, Vishakha, Antra, Ayasha, Pooja Kumari, Shrushti, Aprajita Kumari, Bhavna Bharti, Priti Kumari, Arpna Singh,Abhipriya, Ankita Kumari and Abhipriya.

BB Yadav TT from October 27 in Patna

Patna, October 23, 2010: BB Yadav memorial inter-school table tennis tournament will be held at the Bihar Young Men’s Institute here from October 27, according to Mukesh Roy, secretary, Bihar Table Tennis Association.

Several school teams of Patna including Litera Valley, Patna Central School and Christ Church School had confirmed their participation in the championship, he added.

Shree Krishna and Sanoj Kumar win U-14 doubles title

Patna, October 23, 2010: The Bihar pair of Shree Krishna and Sanoj Kumar won the boys’ under-14 doubles title of the AITA talent search tournament defeating anothet Bihar combination of Anshumat Shrivastava and Adveya Sharma 6-4, 6-3 in the final at the Patliputra Colony court here on Saturday.

The Uttar Pradesh duo of Amritanjay Kumar and Aditya Vishkarma bagged the boys’ under-18 doubles title as their opponents Devpriya Jaiswal (Bihar) and Adamya Vikrant (Bihar) conceded the match due to injury.

Rishi Shankar is Bihar U-17 chess champion

Patna, October 23, 2010: Rishi Shankar of Patna won the Bihar state U-17 chess championships title. At the end of the final round play Rishi emerged head with 5.5 points at the chess training centre of the Moinul Haq Stadium.

Kumar Gaurav of Purnia got the second place with five points.

Saraswati Kumari of Kishangunj clinched the girls title with 4.5 points while Aditi Aditya with four points remained in the second position.

RB Gupta, zonal manager, Central Bank of India, distributed the prizes. Arvind Kumar Sinha, secretary, All Bihar Chess Association (ABCA) welcomed the guests.

ABCA secretary Sinha, later, announced that Rishi Shankar, Kumar Gaurav, Saraswati Kumari and Aditi Aditya would represent Bihar in the National under-17 championship.

3 Jharkhand cricketers to play in 'Apna League Aam Aadmi Ka League'

Jamshedpur, October 22, 2010: Three cricketers from Jharkhand have been selected to play in Indian Premier Corporate League to be held from October 23 to 30 at K D Singh Babu Stadium, Lucknow. Indian Premier Corporate League is being conducted by Indian Twenty 20 Cricket Federation.

Players from Jharkhand Ranjit Kumar will represent Indian Cobras while Aman Kumar and Dhananjay Kumar will play for South Eagles.

Camp-cum-selection trial was conducted by ITCF for two days in Lucknow on October 21 and 22. About 250 players from all over India have been invited by ITCF to attend the trial.

Indian Premier Corporate League matches will be shown live on DD Sports from tomorrow named as "Apna League Aam Aadmi Ka League". Eight teams have been made by ITCF named as Indian Jawans, Indian Blues, Indian Cobras, North Kings, Central Sharks, West Warriors, East Tigers and South Eagles.

President of Jharkhand State Twenty 20 Cricket Association Vipul Shukla and its vice-president Rajnish Kumar congratulated the players and wished them all the best.

Seeded players have it easy in first two rounds

Patna, October 21, 2010: All the seeded players won their respective first and second round matches to collect full points in the Bihar state under-17 chess championships at the Moinul Haq Stadium here on Thursday.

Top seed Nilesh Shankar beat Mananjay Kumar in a second round match on the top board in a game of Sicilian defence. Rupesh Ranjan defeated Mahesh Kumar in a Gucci Piano game on board number two. Kumar Gaurav struggled to beat Rakesh Roshan.

Saurabh Anand beat Samarth Mittal in Irregular opening while third seed Rishi Shankar tamed Ritik Kumar in Queen’s Pawn opening.

In girls’ section, two players Saraswati Kumar of Kishanganj and Nirmala Srivastava were leading the tabsle with two points each.

Results: Ayush Anand (2) beat Rishik Anand (1), Devashish Kumar (2) beat Subhash Saurav (1), Abhishek Sonu (2) beat Tanmay (1), Aditya Bhaskar (2) beat Satya Prakash (1), Vikas Dwevedi (2) beat Aditya Dikshit (1), Alok Priyadarshi (2) beat Shreyas (1), Vivek Anand (2) beat Arunesh (1), Dilshad Ashraf (2) beat Tushar Sinha (1), Abhinav Kumar (1) beat Nilesh (0), Prashant (1) beat Aditya Singh (0), Akash Kaushal (1) beat Pratyush Raj (0), Prince Kumar (1), beat Amrit Soni (0), Roshan Kumar (1), beat Aayush (0), Aayush Ankit (1) beat Ratnaraj Anand (0), Ravikant (1) beat Harsh (0), Mayank Raj (1) beat Shaurya Bihari (0), S Sinha (1) beat Monu (0), Utkarsh Tekariwal (1) beat Narayan (0), Rajveer (.5) drew with Aman Harsh (.5), Kishan (.5) drew with Ritik (.5).

Girls group: Saraswati Kumari (2) beat Aditi Aditya (1), Nirmala Srivastava (2) beat Gopika (1), Bharti Kumari (1) beat Shreya (0), Garima Gaurav (1) beat Jahanvi (0).

Shree Krishna, Devpriya, Shruti clinch crowns

Patna, October 20, 2010: Bihar’s number one Shruti Jaiswal and her brother Devpriya Jaiswal won the AITA talent search series girls and boys U-18 titles respectively at the Patlputra Colony courts here on Wednesday.

In the girls’ under-18 singles final, Shruti Jaiswal of Bihar out played Sripriya Sarraf also from Bihar, 6-3, 6-3. Devpriya Jaiswal drubbed Satwik Roy Sinha (West Bengal) 6-1, 6-1 to take boys U-18 title.

Shree Krishna (Bihar) clinched the boys’ under-14 singles crown beating Yash Raj Sharan (Bihar) 6-1, 6-0.

Photo caption: Shree Krishna (top), Devpriya Jaiswal (middle) and Shruti Jaiswal (bottom) in action during their respective singles final matches in Patna on October 20, 2010.

Photo: BLTA

Ashwani Public School win opening match

Patna, October 20, 2010: Ashwani Public School (junior) thrashed Lucent International School by nine wickets in the opening match of the Maharana Pratap T20 cricket tournament at the Moinul Haq Stadium here on Wednesday.

Ishan Kuishan of Ashwani Public School, who made unbeaten 41 runs, was declared man of the mach.

In the second match, Shining School outgunned Indra Singh High School by 44 runs. Pankaj Sharma of Shining School, who took three wickets for nine runs, was adjudged man of the match.

Earlier, Ashwani Group of Companies Director Nishikant inaugurated the tournament.

Brief scores: Lucent International School: 99 all out in 19.5 overs (Kumar Gaurav-16, Ravindra-16, Shashi-2/27, Pravi-2/11). Ashwani PS (junior): 101 for one wicket in 14.2 overs (Ishan Kishan-41 not out, Akash-16).

Shining School: 115 for seven wickets in 20 overs (Shailesh-22, Rohit-22, Hatik-2/8). Indra Singh HS: 71 all out in 19.2 overs (Ranjan-26, Chandan-18, pankaj-3/9, Abhishek-2/8).

Shruti meets Sripriya in U-18 singles final

Patna, October 19, 2010: Bihar’s Shruti Jaiswal set up title clash with her state mate Sripriya Sarraf in the girls’ under-18 singles final of the AITA talent search tournament at the Patliputra colony courts here on Tuesday.

In the battle for final slots, Sripriya tamed Richa Sirohi of Uttar Pradesh 6-1, 6-2 while Shruti blanked Ana Upadhyay 6-0, 6-0.

Satwik Roy Sinha of West Bengal and Devpriya Jaiswal of Bihar entered the semifinals in in the boys’ under-18 singles. Shree Krishna (Bihar), Aman Baruah Das (Assam) and Yash Raj Sharan (Bihar) moved into the boys’ under-14 semi-finals.

Results:

Boys’ under-18 singles (quarterfinals): Satwik Roy Sinha (WB) bt Adamya Vikrant (Bihar) 6-3, 4-6, 7-6; Devpriya Jaiswal (Bihar) bt Aditya Sharma (Delhi) 6-3, 6-2.

Boys’ under-14 singles (quarterfinals): Shree Krishna (Bihar) bt Ayush Raman (Bihar) 6-0, 6-1; Aman Baruah Das (Assam) bt Basu Jaiswal (UP) 6-3, 6-4; Yash Raj Sharan (Bihar) bt Anshumat Shrivastava (Bihar) 4-6, 6-4 and 6-2.

Photo caption: Shruti Jaiswal in action during her singles match in Patna on October 19, 2010.

Photo: BLTA

Sourabh, Satwik enter quarterfinals

Patna, October 18, 2010: Sourabh Raghuvanshi of Madhya Pradesh, Satwik Roy Sinha of West Bangal, Adamya Vikrant and Devpriya Jaiswal both from Bihar entered the boys’ under-18 singles quarterfinals of AITA talent search series tournament at the Patliputra Colony courts here on Monday.

In girls’ U-18 section, Meenu Pandey of Uttar Pradesh and Madhu Jaiswal of Bihar made the last eight grades.

Results:

BOYS’ U-18 1ST ROUND (SINGLES): ANKESH ANAND [BIH] BT. MANU VIKRAM SINGH [UP] 6-1, 2-6, 7-6(4); AMAN KUMAR [BIH] BT. SUDARSHAN TRIPATHI [UP] 6-0, 6-1; ANISH ANUPAM [BIH] BT. RAVI RAJ [BIH] 6-1, 6-1; ADAMYA VIKRANT [BIH] BT. MEESAM HASAN [UP] 6-1, 6-0; ABHADYA JHUNJHUNWALA [WB] BT. AKSHAT YADAV [UP] 6-0, 6-0; SHIVESH THITE [MAH] BT. SANOJ KUMAR [BIH] 6-3, 6-7, 6-3; ADITYA VISHWAKARMA [UP] BT. AMAN BARUAH DAS [ASM] 6-1, 6-2; ADARSH ANAND [BIH] BT. BASU JAISWAL [UP] 6-1, 6-0; VENKAT SIDDHARTH [BIH] BT. GOVIND PRASAD [UP] 6-0, 6-2.

BOYS’ U-18 PRE-QUARTERFINALS: SOURABH RAGHUVANSHI [MP] BT. ANKESH ANAND [BIH] 6-4, 6-0; SATWIK RAY SINHA [WB] BT. ANISH ANUPAM [BIH] 6-4, 6-1; ADAMYA VIKRANT [BIH] BT. DHARMENDRA SINGH [BIH] 6-1, 6-3; DEVPRIYA JAISWAL [BIH] BT. ADARH ANAND [BIH] 6-2, 6-0; ADITYA SHARMA [DLI] BT. AMRITANJAY KUMAR [UP] 6-4, 6-3.

BOYS’ U- 14 PRE-QUARTERFINALS: ANSHUMAT SHRIVASTAVA [BIH] BT. VAMSI REDDY [BIH] 6-1, 6-0; YASH RAJ SHARAN [BIH] BT. ABHIMANYU MANKOTIA [BIH] 6-0, 6-0; AYUSH RAMAN [BIH] BT. SAURABH KHARE [UP] 6-1, 0-6, 7-6; SHREE KRISHNA [BIH] BT. ANKIT ANAND [BIH] 6-0, 6-1; SIDDHANT RAJ [BIH] BT. REWANT RAJ [BIH] 6-0, 6-0.

GIRLS’ U-18 PRE-QUARTERFINALS: MEENU PANDEY [UP] BT. MAHIMA JAISWAL [UP] 6-4, 6-3; MADHU JAISWAL [BIH] BT. DEVYANI [UP] 6-0, 6-0; TULANA NAN [WB] BT. FATIMA PACKER [BIH] 6-4, 6-1; ANA UPADHYAY [BIH] BT. SHWETA KUMARI [BIH] 6-0, 6-0.

Devpriya, Shruti clinch crowns

Patna, October 15, 2010: As expected Bihar’s Shruti Jaiswal and Devpriya Jaisawl had faced no troubles to win AITA talent series girls and boys U-18 singles titles at Patliputra Colony courts here.

Devpriya Jaiswal mauled Shahrukh Khan of Madhya Pradesh 6-4, 6-0 while Shruti Jaiswal thrashed Sripriya Sarraf of Bihar 6-2, 6-1 to claim the crowns.

Results:

Boys’ U-18 singles final: Devpriya Jaiswal [Bih] bt Shahrukh Khan [MP] 6-4, 6-0.

Boys’ U-12 singles final: Shree Krishna [Bih] bt Psrikshit Somani [Asm] 6-0, 6-1.
Girls’ U-18 singles final: Shruti Jaiswal [Bih] bt Sripriya Sarraf [Bih] 6-2, 6-1.

Boys’ U-12 doubles final: Shree Krishna [Bih] & Anshumat Shrivastava [Bih] bt Psrikshit Somani [Asm] & Nitin Kumar Sinha [WB] 6-3, 6-4.

Devpriya, Shruti storm into finals

Patna, October 14, 2010: Devpriya Jaiswal of Bihar stormed into the final of the boys’ U-18 singles in the AITA talent search series tournament at the Patliputra Colony courts here. Devpriya outplayed Venkat Siddharth 6-1, 6-1.

In the gilrs’ U-18 singles, Shruti Jaiswal of Bihar took his appointed place in the final defeating Meenu Pandey of Uttar Pradesh 6-1, 6-1 in the semifinals.

Results:

Boy’s U-18 singles semifinals: Devpriya Jaiswal [Bih] bt Venkat Siddharth [Bih] 6-1,6-1; Shahrukh Khan [MP] bt Amritanjay Kumar [UP] 7-6,6-7,6-4.

Girls’ U-18 singles semifinals: Shruti Jaiswal [Bih] bt Meenu Pandey [UP] 6-1, 6-1; Sripriya Sarraf [Bih] bt Richa Sirohi [UP] 6-2, 6-1.

Boys’ U-12 singles semifinal: Shree Krishna [Bih] bt Sanchit Sikka [UP] 6-0, 6-1; Parikshit Somani [Asm] bt Anshumat Shrivasatav [Bih] 6-0,6-1.

Boys’ U-18 doubles semifinals: Devpriya Jaiswal [Bih] & Adamya Vikrant [Bih] bt Amritanjay Kumar [UP] & Aditya Vishwakarma [UP] 6-3, 6-2; Venkat Siddharth [Bih] & Saurabh Raghuvanshi [MP] lead (unfinished due to bad light) Ishank Ravi [Bih] & Vaibhav Kumar [Bih] 6-4.

Girls U-18 doubles semifinals: Shruti Jaiswal [Bih] & Richa Sirohi [UP] bt Ritika Ranjan [Bih] & Meenu Pandey [UP] 6-1, 6-0; Sripriya Sarraf [Bih] & Isha Verma [Bih] bt Fatema Packer [Bih] & Madhu Kumari [Bih] 6-0, 6-1.

Boys’ U-12 doubles semifinal: Shree Krishna [Bbih] & Anshumat Shrivastav bt Adveya Sharma [Bih] & Ritwik Bhriguanshi [Bih] 7-6, 5-7, 10-5; Parikshit Somani [Asm] & Nitin Kumar Sinha [WB] bt Ankit Anand [Bih] & Nilay Mishra [Bih] 6-1,6-1.

Photo caption: Shruti Jaiswal (top) and Devpriya Jaiswal (bottom) in action during their respective singles semifinal matches in Patna on October 14, 2010.

Photo: BLTA

Venkat Siddharth upsets top seed Sourabh Raghuvanshi

Patna, October 13, 2010: Venkat Siddharth upset top seed Sourabh Raghuvanshi 1-6, 7-5, 6-2 to move into the semifinals of boys’ under-19 singles in the AITA talent search tennis tournament at the Patliputra Colony courts here on Wednesday.

In under-12 boys singles, Parikshit Somani of Assam, Sanchit Sikka (UP) and Shree Krishna (Bihar) entered the semifinals.

Sripriya Sarraf (Bihar), Richa Sirohi (UP), Meenu Pandey (UP) and Shruti Jaiswal (Bihar) cruised into the semifinals of the girls’ under-18 singles.

Results:

Boys’ U-12 singles (quarter-finals): Parikshit Somani (Assam) bt Nitin Kumar Sinha (WB) 6-3, 6-3; Sanchit Sikka (UP) bt Asher Khndathil (UP) 6-2, 6-2; Shree Krishna (Bihar) bt Ankit Anand (Bihar) 6-0, 6-0.

Boys’ U-12 doubles (quarterfinals): Ankit Anand (Bihar) and Nilay Mishra (Bihar) bt Sidhant Raj (Bihar) and Asher Khndathil (UP) 6-2, 6-3; Adveya Sharma (Bihar) and Ritwik Bhriguvanshi (Bihar) bt Raman Aayush (Bihar) and Rewant Raj (Bihar) 6-0, 6-0.

Girls U-19 singles (quarterfinals): Sripriya Sarraf (Bihar) bt Aastha Anu (Bihar) 6-0, 6-1; Richa Sirohi (UP) bt Isha Verma (Bihar) 6-1, 6-0; Meenu Pandey (UP) bt Ritika Ranjan (Bihar) 6-1, 6-2; Shruti Jaiswal (Bihar) bt Avishka Gupta (Haryan a) 6-0, 6-0.

Boys’ U-19 singles (quarterfinals): Devpriya Jaiswal (Bihar) bt Tarun Nama (Delhi) 6-0, 6-2; Venkat Siddharth (Bihar) bt Sourabh Raghuvanshi (Bihar) 1-6, 7-5, 6-2; Amaritanjay Kumar (UP) bt Adamya Vikrant (Bihar) 7-5, 6-1 and Shahrukh Khan (MP) bt Aman Kumar (Bihar) 6-2, 7-5.

Photo caption: Venkat Siddharth (top), Shruti Jaiswal (middle) and Devpriya Jaiswal (bottom) in action during their respective singles matches of AITA talent search tournament in Patna on October 13, 2010.

Photo: BLTA

Venkat, Devpriya sail into quarterfinals

Patna, October 12, 2010: Local lads Venkat Siddharth and Devpriya Jaiswal cruised into the quarterfinals of the boys’ under -18 singles event of the AITA talent search tennis tournament at the Patliputra Colony tennis court here on Tuesday.

Vankat Siddarth tamed Adarsh Anand (Bihar) 6-0, 7-6 (3) while Devpriya Jaiswal (blanked Satwik Raj Sinha (West Bengal) 6-0, 6-0. In the boys’ U-12 section, Nitin Kumar Sinha, Sanchit Sikka (both from West Bengal), Asher Khndajhil (UP), Milind Malik and Ankit Anand (Both from Bihar) entered the singles quarterfinals.

Results:

Boys U-12 singles (pre-quarter-finals): Nitin Kumar Sinha (WB) bt Ritwik Bhriguvanshi (Bihar) 6-2, 6-2; Milind Malik (Bihar) bt Raman Ayush 6-1, 6-1; Asher Khndajhil (UP) bt Siddharth Raj (Bihar) 6-1, 6-0; Sanchit Sikka (WB) bt Sanoj Kumar (Bihar) 6-0, 6-0 an Ankit Anand (Bihar) bt Advevaa Sharma (WB) 6-1, 6-0.

Boys’ under-18 singles (pre-quarter-finals): Venkat Siddharth (Bihar) bt Adarsh Anand (Bihar) 6-0, 7-1 (3); Devpriya Jaiswal (Bihar) bt Satwik Raj Sinha (WB) 6-0, 6-0; Tarun Nama (Delhi) bt Parikshit Somani (Assam) 7-6 (4), 7-6 (10); Aman Kumar (Bihar) bt Anish Anupam (Bihar) 6-3, 7-5; Adamya Vikrant (Bihar) bt Anshumat Srivastava (Bihar) 6-0, 6-2 and Amaritanjay Kumar (UP) bt Ishank Ravi (Bihar) 7-5, 6-2.

Girls’ under-18 singles (pre-quarter-finals): Isha Verma (Bihar) bt Fatima Packer (Bihar) 6-4, 6-1; Meenu Pandey (UP) bt Shwetangi Shah (Bihar) 6-3, 6-3 and Avishka Gupta (Haryana) bt Sweta Kumari (Bihar) 4-6, 6-0, 6-0.

Photo caption: Venkat Siddarth (top), Devpriya Jaiswal (middle) and Adamya Vikrant (bottom) in action during their respective singles match in Patna on October 12, 2010.

Photo: BLTA

Selection trials for Bihar sub-junior football team from October 18

Patna, October 12, 2010: Bihar Football Association will organize selection trials of Bihar sub-junior team at Bhagalpur from October 18.

Bihar Football Association secretary Syed Ejaz Hussain said Bihar would take part in the East Zone qualifier for the 33^rd Sub-junior National football championship for Coca-Cola Mir Iqbal Trophy to be held at Bargarh in Orissa from October 22.

Bihar would take on Orissa in their first match on the opening day, he added.

Shruti, Ritika, Richa storm into quarterfinals

Patna, October 11, 2010: Ritika Ranjan, Shruti Jaiswal (both Bihar) and Richa Sitrohi (UP) stormed into the quarter-finals of the girls’ under-18 singles with easy first round victories in the AITA ranking tennis tournament at the Patliputra Colony tennis courts here on Monday.

Results: girls’ U/18 singles (pre-quarter-finals): Ritika Ranjan (Bihar) bt Ana Upadhyay (Bihar) 6-1, 6-2; Richa Sirohi (UP) bt Madhu Jaiswal (Bihar) 6-0, 6-1 an Shruti Jaiswal (Bihar) bt Bhavya Verma (Bihar) 6-0, 6-1.

Boys’ under-18 singles (first round): Devpriya Jaiswal (Bihar) bt Aarsh Sharma (UP) 6-0, 6-1; Aman Kumar (Bihar) bt Maun Vikram (UP) 6-3, 6-4; Venkat Siddharth (Bihar) bt Abhimanyu Mankotia (Bihar) 6-0, 6-0;Adamya Vikrant (Bihar) bt Dharmendra Singh (Bihar) 6-3, 6-3; Ishank Ravi (Bihar) bt Shree Krishna (Bihar) 6-3, 6-0; Satwik Ray Sinha (WB) bt Adveya Sharma (Bihar) 6-0, 6-0; Shahrukh Khan (MP) bt Abhishek Kumar (UP) 5-7, 6-3, 6-1; Amaritanjay Kumar (UP) bt Ritwik Bhruguvanshi ( Bihar) 6-2, 6-1;Tarun Nama (Delhi) bt Nitin Kumar Sinha (WB) 6-4, 6-3 and Parikshit Somani (Assam) bt Ayush Sharma (UP) 6-0 and 6-1.

Photo caption: Shruti Jaiswal (top), Ritika Ranjan (middle) and Adamya Vikrant (bottom) in action during their singles match of the AITA ranking tennis championships in Patna on October 11, 2010.

Photo: BLTA

Deepika, Rahul win gold as Indian archers end with 3 gold, 1 silver and 4 bronze medals

New Delhi, October 10, 2010: The Commonwealth Games archery competition came to an end with India winning three gold medals, one silver and four bronze medals at the Yamuna Sports Complex here on Sunday.

India won gold medals through Women’s recurve team (Deepika Kumari, L. Bombayla Devi and Dola Banerjee) and individual (Deepika Kumari) and men’s recurve individual (Rahul Banerjee).

The lone silver medal came through the men’s compound team (C. Srither, Ch. Jignas and Ritul Chatterjee).

The four bronze medals came through women’s compound team (Jhano Hansdah, Bheigyabati Chanu and Gagandeep Kaur), men’s recurve team (Jayanta Talukdar, Rahul Banerjee and Tarundeep Rai), men’s individual recurve (Jayanta Talukdar) and women’s individual recurve (Dola Banerjee).

England was the most successful team especially its domination in the compound division was pronounced. England, which has already begun its preparation for the 2012 London Olympics, failed to win a single gold in recurve division.

RECURVE

MEN’S FINAL: Rahul Banerejee is the No. 15 in the world, while Jason Lyon has made a great come back on the international scene for these Commonwealth Games. He was still a long shot entering the competition as he currently occupies No. 76 place in the world. He nevertheless qualified as No. 3. The first set was split after Lyon scored 9-9-9 and Banerjee 9-10-8. Lyon had the upper hand in the second set with 10-10-9, while Banerjee did 8-9-10. The Indian scored 9-9-10 in the third, but the Canadian kept shooting superbly with 10-10-9 and took a commending 5-1 lead in the match! Banerjee stayed alive in the fourth set with 10-9-9, while Lyon had 10-8-8 but kept a 5-3 advantage. Banerjee scored 9-9-9 in the fifth, while Lyon shot a liner 9, and 8. For second time in the match, he needed a 10 to close it but ended just out in the 9-ring. Shoot-off! It was the third shoot-off. Lyon shot a low 8, opening the door. Banerjee shot a 9 liner, enough for gold!

BRONZE MEDAL PLAY-OFF: The two archers have met only once: in Porec 2006, where Talukdar had his first big win at the international level and beating Gray on the way during the 1/8 elimination matches. Talukdar just had some trouble with his semifinal, but he started this bronze final on fire with 10-10-10. Gray was close to it with 10-10-9 but trailed 0-2. Gray tried to put pressure in the second set with a 10. He then shot a 9 and an 8 that was just “out”. Talukdar started with an 8 but recovered with a 10 and a 9. Split set; Talukdar 3-1. A 6 (and a 9-10) from the Indian in the third set helped Gray to tie the match, scoring 8-9-10. Match tied at 3-3. The level went very high in the fourth set! Both archers shot a 10. Then Talukdar shot a 9, and Gray a 10! However Talukdar shot a 10 to conclude the set, while Gray had 8 (Set 29-28). Talukdar led 5-3! Gray shot 8-9-9 in the fifth, while Talukdar started with 10 and 8, leaving it with an 8 to tie the set and win the match! He just got a liner 8. Bronze for Talukdar.

Earlier, Rahul Banerjee defeated Matthew Grey of Australia in the semifinalos 6-5 while Jason Lyon of Canada beat Jayanta Talukdar 6-0.

WOMEN’SN FINAL: Williamson is a five-time Olympian who won the individual bronze medal at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. She is currently the No. 30 in the world. Kumari is 17 years old and has surged to the fourth place in the world ranking in recent month, notably with a second place at the Shanghai World Cup stage last month and a first place at the Bangkok Grand Prix at the beginning of the year. She was he cadet world champion at the Youth World Championships Ogden 2009. She won the qualifications and she is the No. 1 seed in the tournament. They have met at the World Cup stage in Antalya this year and Kumari had won.

Williamson had a shaky start with 8-8 but finished the first set with a 10. Kumari started with two 9s, letting her to get another 9 to clinch the first set. She caught a liner 9 and led 2-0. Williamson was not much better in the second set with 9-8-8, while Kumari was strong with 9-10-9 and increased her lead at 4-0. Williamson scored 9-9-7 in the third set. The young and upcoming star Kumai was brilliant with 10-10-10 to clinch her second gold medal of the Games, 6-0!

BRONZE MEDAL PLAY-OFF: The 30 year old, No. 10 in the world and No. 2 seed in the tournament Banerjee was the favourite against Subramanian, who is 27 years old, No. 67 in the world (she was as high as 28 in her career) and fifth in the qualifications. These two archers met twice before in major competitions and Banerjee won the two encounters. Nevertheless Subramanian won the first set 25-23. She could not quite keep it up in the second and third set with 8-6-9 and 2-9-10. In the meantime, Banerjee scored 10-9-8 and 9-8-9 to take a 4-2 lead in the match. In the fourth set, the Malaysian archer started with an 8. Banerjee shot a 9. Subramanian shot an 8. The Indian scored an 8. Subramanian could not put pressure with her last arrow with a 7. Banerjee shot a 9 to win the set and the bronze medal, 6-2!

Earlier, Deepika Kumari outplayed Anbarasi Subramanian of Malaysia 7-1 and Allan Williamson outshot Dola Banerjee 6-2 in the semifinals.

Press release from Indian Archery Association

Double gold for Nicky Hunt and Duncan Busby in Commonwealth Games archery

New Delhi, October 9, 2010: The English archers Nicky Hunt and Duncan Busby won their second gold medals of the week in the individual compound finals on in Commonwealth Games archery event at Yamuna Sports Complex here on Saturday. Both had won picked up gold medals from team events.

Busby dominated teammate Chris White in the final, while Seppie Cilliers (RSA) was solid all way through his bronze medal match against Shaun Teasdale (NZL).

Hunt took the Women's Individual Compound event by defeating Doris Jones (CAN) in the final at the Yamuna Sports Complex on Saturday 6-4.

Both started quickly, scoring a perfect 30 to tie the first set, before Jones broke away to win the second set 29-27 and take a 3-1 lead. But Hunt roared back, scoring six consecutive 10s to take the next two sets and head into the final set with a 5-3 lead. She kept her composure to score 29 to equal Jones score and win England's third gold in archery at the Games.

In the bronze medal match, Cassie McCall (AUS) triumphed over teammate Fiona Hyde 7-3 after she opened up a 4-0 lead after the first two sets. Hyde recovered, winning the fourth set 27-26 to take it to a fifth, before McCall surged ahead, winning the decider 29-27 to take Bronze.

Here is a recap of the matches:

The compound individual finals consist of quarterfinals, semifinals and finals. The remaining eight archers of the Compound Men and Women events will compete in the final matches. In individual finals matches, archers shoot alternately up to five sets of three arrows in 20 seconds per arrow. Each set worth two points for a win, one point for a tie. The first archer who reaches 6 sets points win the match. The higher placed archer in the ranking round will decide who shoots first in the first end of each match, and then the archer with the lowest set points score will shoot first in each following end. If the scores tie, the archer who shot first in the first end will shoot first. If the tie persists after the fifth set in finals rounds, a single arrow shoot off will be shot and the athlete with the arrow closest to the centre will win.

Compound Men

Semifinal: Seppie Cilliers (RSA) vs Chris White (ENG): Cilliers did not give any room to the big white in the first two sets. Cilliers scored five 10s and one 9, while White had five 9s and one 10. Cilliers led 4-0. He opened the door a little bit in the third set with 10-9-9, and White got into it with 10-9-10, closing the gap at 2-4. The English caught a liner 10 that proved to be the difference in the fourth set: for 10-10-9 for White, 9-9-10 for Cilliers. Match was tied at 4-4! Cilliers let it go in the fifth 9-9-9, while White scored 9-10-10 to complete a comeback victory 6-4!

Semifinal: Shaun Teasdale (NZL) vs Duncan Busby (ENG): Busby took on the No. 6 in the World Teasdale in this semifinal. The English kept shooting very well with 10-9-10, while the New Zealander had 9-10-9. Busby 2-0. He continued strong in the second set with 10-9-10, while Teasdale made a little mistake (at this level) with 10-10-8. Busby 4-0. It was nevertheless his turn to commit a little mistake when he shot an 8. In the meantime, Teasdale had a perfect 30 to close the gap at 2-4. He could not quite keep it this way in the fourth with 10-9-9. Busby had 10-10-9 to secure another English man’s place, his, in the final. Busby 6-2.

Final: Chris White (ENG) vs Duncan Busby (ENG)
An all-English affair in the compound men’s individual gold final! Busby is the No. 2 seed, while White has had a great run with his matches from the No. 12 qualification rank. Both have won the team final two days ago. White started with 10-9-9, while Busby scored 9-10-10 to take a 2-0 lead. Then both had 29 points. Score was 3-1. Then White scored 9-9-10 and Busby 10-10 and... 8! Tied set, 4-2. White finished with 9-10-9, while BUSBY shot 9-10 and... 10 to clinch the match! BUSBY won 6-2 and his second gold medal of the week!

Compound Women

Semifinal: Doris Jones (CAN) vs Cassie Mc Call (AUS):
The athletes tied the first set 27-27. However Jones’ capability to score more 10s showed in the second set, which we won with 10-8-10 (28-25). Mc Call, who has made great progress in the last two years, won the third set 29-27. Match was tied at 3-3. Then Jones scored 10-9-10, while Mc Call scored 9-8-8. The Canadian was in the lead again, 5-3. The Australian could not be consistent enough and Jones cruised to victory in the fifth set, scoring 10-10-9 and winning the match 7-3.

Semifinal: Fiona Hyde (AUS) vs Nicky Hunt (GBR)
Hunt did not leave the yellow in her quarterfinal and started the semifinal on the same fashion with 10-10-10!!! She led 2-0. Hyde responded with 10-9-9 in the second set, but Hunt kept being better with 10-10-9 and took a 4-0 lead. Hyde kept fighting and got the upper hand in the third set (10-10-9 vs 9-9-9) cut the deficit at 2-4. The No. 19 in the world Hyde gave it all in the fourth set with 9-9-9, but the No. 1 in the world Hunt was unstoppable with another 10-10-10. Victory 6-2!

Gold Final: Doris Jones (CAN) vs Nicky Hunt (GBR):
Hunt is the No. 1 in the world. Jones is a great upcoming archer who won the junior world championships at Merida 2006. Hunt has three individual podiums at World Cup level this year. Jones ranked 2nd at the Ogden World Cup. Hunt earned the team gold on Thursday. Jones got silver. Hunt is the No. 2 seed of the individual competition. Jones won the qualifications last Monday and therefore is the No. 1 seed.

Both archers started the match with a perfect 30, despite some wind today coming from left to right, going North-East with around a 45 degrees angle! Jones continued with another 10. Hunt as well! Jones hit another 10! Hunt was the first one to crack with an 8. Both archers concluded with a 9. Jones led 3 set points to 1. Hunt managed to tie the match at 3-3.

In the fourth, the Canadian shot 10-9-9, while the English kept it perfect with 10-10-10 and took the lead 5-3.

Jones scored 9-10-10 in the fifth set, while Hunt started with 10-9 letting her with a 10 to shoot to tie the set and win the match. Anything less meant that Jones would have taken the set and the archers would gave gone to a shoot-off of one arrow closest to centre, where anything can happen. Hunt raised the bow, aimed calmly and hit the bull’s eye!!!! Victory 6-4 and second gold medal of the week for her.

Press release from Indian Archery Association

Bihar U-17 chess from October 20

Patna, October 8, 2010: Bihar state under-17 chess championships will be held here at the Bihar Chess Training Centre, Moinul Haq Stadium from October 20, according to Arvind Kumar Sinha, secretary, All Bihar Chess Association.

Top two players of boys and girls’ sections will get tickets represent Bihar in the National under-17 chess championship to be held in Jammu from November 2.

Grand double for Devpriya Jaiswal

Patna, October 8, 2010: It was a day of Devpriya Jaiswal of Bihar in the AITA ranking tournament at the Patliputra tennis court here on Friday. The Patna boy won a grand double claiming the boys’ U-16 singles and doubles titles.

Devpriya clinched the boys’ under-16 singles title defeating Siddharth Vishwakarma of Uttar Pradesh 7-6, 6-4. Later Devpriya and Adamya Vikrant beat Uttar Pradesh pair of Amaritanjay Kumar and Abhishek Kumar 6-0, 6-3 in the doubles final.

Shree Krishna of Bihar won the boys’under-12 singles title beating Parikshit Somani of Assam 6-2, 6-3. Jharkhand’s pair of Suchi Smita Pani and Smriti Prakash annexed the girls’ under-18 doubles title defeating Ritika Ranjan and Shwetangi Shah of Bihar 6-4, 6-4 in the final.

Photo caption: Shree Krishna (top), Ritika Ranjan (middle) and Devpriya Jaiswal in action during their matches in Patna on October 8, 2010.

Photo: BLTA

Indian women archers clinch gold, men fumble to bronze medal

New Delhi, October 8, 2010: All the smiles the Indians sported in the morning session after their women’s team picked up the gold medal of the Commonwealth Games’ recurve team final, disappeared in the afternoon as the Indian men’s team, a sure shot gold winner, fell to the ultimate gold medal winnerAustralia in the semifinals at 216-211 at Yamuna Sports Complex here on Friday.

This left the Indian trio of Rahul Banerjee, Tarundeep Rai and Jayanta Talukdar, to fight for the bronze medal against England, which lost to Malaysia in the other semifinals at 217-213. The host salvaged some prestige by triumphing 221-218. Australia defeated Malaysia 219-212 in the summit clash.

The Indian women threesome of Laishram Bombayla Devi, Deepika Kumari and Dola Banerjee, stopped England 207-208 in a pulsating final. The Indians trailed throughout but turned the contest around in the final three arrows ought to speak the team members’ strong nerve.

Canada defeated Malaysia 202-192 to win the bronze medal.

In the semifinals, India had no problems in annihilating Malaysia 213-185 and England took care of Canada 208-200.

WOMEN’S TEAM FINAL: England has reached its third team final in a row and its compound men beat India for gold on Oct. 7. Great Britain, represented by Folkard/Oliver/Williamson, has met India six times in major archery events since 2004. The two countries are even with three victories each.

England had the better start with 9-8-9-7-9-10, while India scored 9-8-9-6-8-8. The Indians trailed 48-52. Bombayla/Deepika/Dola, shooting in this order, had some work ahead to come back in this game. India made some ground at the beginning of the second end with 8-9-9-9, while England had 7-8-7-8. However, India finished with 9-8, while England scored 10-10. The English still led 102-99. The Indians could not touch the 10 ring again in the third end (9-9-8-9-9-8), while England added two more 10s (7-10-10-9-8-8). England opened up a three-point advantage 154-151. India finally found its rhythm at the beginning of the last end with 9-10-9, but England kept it on track with 10-9-10. The Indian trio concluded with 9-9-10 while the English team fell apart with 9-6-8! India got a come-back victory 207-206 with the last three arrows! Silver for England, gold for India!

SEMIFINALS: The first recurve semifinal joined India and Malaysia on the field. The format was four ends of six arrows for each team. Best total score wins. The teams has three archers who rotate after each arrow and teams actually alternate with each other after three arrows. These two countries have met in the compound women’s bronze final with India emerging the winner. No wind in the venue again this morning but both teams must have been nervous as India led after the first end 50-45. The Indians were also better in the second end (53-48) to take a commending lead, 103-93! India was solid in the second half scoring seven 10s (9 in totals) to win the match 213-185.


MEN’S TEAM FINAL: These two countries have met three times since 2005 and Malaysia has won all meeting! Nevertheless the teams are close to each other in the world ranking: Australia at 15 and Malaysia at 17. (To note the bronze medallist India is No. 1 and Great Britain No. 8). Coached by 2000 Olympic champion Simon Fairweather, Australia showed they are a truly high level team in the first end scoring 9-10-10-10-9-9 (57), while Malaysia had 10-10-7-9-8-9 (53). Malaysia did a bit better in the second end 8-9-8-9-10-10 (54), but Australia kept it above with 10-8-9-10-10-9 (56). Australia led 113-107 at the half. Both teams dropped some points in the third end (52-51), but the Australians kept a good lead, 165-158. Cheng/Abdul Rahim/Ibrahim Putra finished with 10-8-7-10-10-9 for a total 212 points; good enough for silver. Gray/Masonwells/Worth scored 8-10-9-9-9-9 for 219 points. Australia is the new Commonwealth champion in Team Recurve Men!

BRONZE MEDAL PLAY-OFF: After two successive team finals for gold, these two countries had to battle for bronze this time. To note, India has met Great Britain (in fact the English team during these last few years) four times in major competitions since 2004. India leads 3-1, including two victories at World Cup stage in 2010. This time India started well with 9-9-9-9-10-9 for 55 points, while England scored 9-7-9-8-9-8 for 50. The English made some ground in the second end with 8-10-10-9-9-10 (56), while the Indians scored 9-9-8-9-10-9 (54). India 109-106. Terry/Wills/Godfrey put pressure in the third with 9-9-10-10-10-10 (58 points), but Banerjee/Rai/Talukdar responded with 10-9-9-10-10-9 (57) to keep a two-point advantage, 166-164.


SEMIFINALS: India had a difficult start this afternoon with the recurve men’s semifinal. A 6 in the first and no 10s put the team in a bit of disadvantage. Australia started really well with 10-8-9-9-10-10 and led 56-50. India was better in the second end 10-8-9-9-9-10 (55 points) but Australia also scored 55 points, 111-105. Another 6 by India in the third end did not help the team’s cause, but Australia also dropped a few points. The Australian lead was cut by four points, 161-157. The Indian trio finished with 9-10-9-8-9-9 (54) for a total of 211 points. The English team did not let go with 10-9-10-8-9-9 (55 points). The No. 4 seed Australia upset the No. 1 seed India 216-211!

Press release from Indian Archery Association

Indian archery teams in semifinals

New Delhi, October 6, 2010: As expectedly, the Indian men’s and women’s teams moved into the semifinals of the recurve and compound sections of the Commonwealth Games archery competition at Yamuna Sports Complex here.

The men’s team, comprising Jayanta Talukdar, Rahul Banerjee and Tarundeep Rai, will play a strong Australian side for a place in the final on October 8. The women’s team, consisting of Deepika Kumari, Laishram Bombayla Devi and Dola Banerjee, will play Malaysia in the semifinals on the same date.

The other semifinals of the men’s section will be contested by England and Malaysia while in the ladies’ side it will be between England and Canada.

India beat Sri Lanka 213-205 in the men’s quarterfinal match. In other matches, Australiadefeated Canada 218-216 points; Malaysia beat Bangladesh 218-201 and Engand outplayed Cyprus 218-209.

In the women’s section, India and England, the top two seeds, got a bye into the semifinals in a six-team competition. In other quarterfinal matches, Malaysia defeated Singapore 205-200 and Canada shocked Australia 205-201.

In the men’s first round results, Sri Lanka beat Scotland 199-197, Bangladesh beat Mauritius 218-176 and Cyprus outpointed Northern Ireland 216-213.

Indian team also made it to the semifinals of the compound section and will play South Africa. The Indian men’s team, comprising Ritul Chatterjee, Ch. Jignas and C. Srither, defeated New Zealand in the quarterfinals 226-225 and outplayed Trinidad & Tobago 224-219 in the pre-quarterfinals. The other semifinal will be between England and Australia.

The women’s side, consisting of Bheigyabati Chanu, Jhano Hansdah and Gagandeep Kaur, will play top seed Canada in the ladies’ semifinals. India managed to overcome Australia 227-220 in the quarterfinals. The other semifinal game will be between England and Malaysia.

In other quarterfinal matches, Canada beat Wales 223-222; Malaysia beat Scotland 227-216 and England beat New Zealand 227-221.

Indian Archery Association press release

Indian archers Rahul, Deepika enter recurve Q-F

New Delhi, October 5, 2010: Indian top seeds Rahul Banerjee and Deepika Kumari led most of the favourites into the quarterfinals of their respective recurve sections of the Commonwealth Games archery competition at the Yamuna Sports Complex here.

But the news from the compound section was not encouraging as all the Indian archers lost except teenager Chittibomma Jignas who made it to the pre-quarterfinals. He will meet S.H. Cilliers next.

Banerjee, in red hot form, will be challenged by Mat Masonwells of Canada for a place in the semifinals while Jayanta Talukdar will clash with veteran Simon Terry of England. Tarundeep Rai, seeded 13th, fell to Cheng Chu Sian of Malaysia 4-0.

Deepika will meet Alexandra Feeney of Australia in the quarterfinals while Dola, the second seed will play 10th ranked Alan MacDougall of Canada. Laishram Bombayla Devi fell to Alexandra in the earlier round 2-4.

On the second day of the archery competition, only individual elimination rounds were gone through.

Press release from Indian Archery Association