Punjab enter quarterfinals, Bihar thrashed by Manipur

Bangalore, September 27, 2012: Gurjinder Singh and Akashdeep Singh scored thrice each as Punjab raced to a 7-2 win against the Services in their concluding pool C league game and entered the quarter-finals of Hockey India’s second senior National men’s hockey championship, here on Thursday.

In a match that was twice interrupted by rains, Services, who needed only a draw to advance to the knock-out stage, failed to deliver despite goals by Lovepreet Singh (25th) and Sanwar Ali (54th) as Punjab notched their second win in the three-team pool.

Services, who finished with three points, had their chances while Punjab went on to dominate much of the match. Gurjinder put them ahead with a ninth minute penalty corner conversion only to see Services bounce back with an equalizer from Lovepreet who diverted a cross from Mukesh Lakra.

On change of ends, Punjab were trifle lucky to get their second goal after Gurjinder’s attempt from a 43rd minute penalty corner trickled over the goal-line off goalkeeper PT Rao’s pads and the stick of defender Rajesh Lakra whose robust tackle had resulted in the award.

The Services caught up a second time when Sanwar Ali found the mark from a penalty corner in the 54th before the floodgates opened as Akashdeep (58th, 66th, 70th), Gurjinder (62nd) and Satbir Singh (69th) struck for Punjab who thus completed a resounding win.

The pool originally had five teams, but Arunachal Pradesh did not turn up and Chhattisgarh were expelled from the tournament earlier this week on disciplinary grounds.

The Services had beaten Jammu and Kashmir 18-0 while Punjab had won 12-1 against the same team. It meant the Services had a better goal-difference and a draw on Thursday would have put them in the quarter-finals.

On Pitch 2 at the MEG grounds, Chandigarh kept their hopes alive with a second win in three pool D outings, defeating Goa 14-2 while Jharkhand beat Uttarakhand 7-1 for their second success in as many matches.

In a pool H match, Manipur trounced Bihar 9-3.

The results:

Pool A: Puducherry 2 (Manthena 30; Jayaraj 43) drew with Bengal 2 (Asis Singh Sengar 38; Gurvinder Singh 65).

Pool B: Delhi 10 (Avatar Singh Mann 18, 52; Umesh 34, 44; Shyambir 46, 48; Lalit 32; Pawan Singh Chouhan 54) beat Mizoram 1 (Lalringheta 1st).

Andhra Pradesh 5 (Ramesh Krishnan 15, 33; Ramesh Setti 17; Sandeep Raju 30; Krishna Kishore 69) beat Himachal Pradesh 4 (Amit Lochab 13, 48; Sarabjeet Singh 23; Lakhvir Singh 70).

Pool C: Punjab 7 (Gurjinder Singh 9, 43, 62; Akashdeep Singh 58, 66, 70; Satbir Singh 68) beat Services 2 (Lovepreet Singh 25; Sanwar Ali 54).

Pool D: Jharkhand 7 (Ajitesh Roy 2, 34, 40, 46, 68; Anil Xaxa 41; Gainder Tigga 70) beat Uttarakhand 1 (Manoj Singh Rawat 27).

Chandigarh 14   (Deepanshu Bhargava 7, 16, 23; Raminder Singh 12, 53; Sandeep Singh 30, 66; Lakhwinder Singh 38, 51; Ravinder Singh 24; Harmanpreet Singh 32; Shahnawaz Alam 45; Lovedeep 60; Kulbhushan Vashisht 63) beat Goa 2 (Glen Prad 46, Dattesh Priolkar 70).

Pool F: Uttar Pradesh 24 (Chandan Singh 6, 13, 20, 42, 44, 51, 53; Jayakaran 14, 56, 57; Abhishek 16, 21, 22; Imran Khan 24, 59, 64; Mohd Amir Khan 26, 28, 49, 55, 66, 68, 69; Chauhan Singh 50) beat Tripura 0. 

Pool H: Manipur 9 (Chittaranjan Singh 8, 46; Herojit Singh 17, 51, 68; Hera Singh 12; Gayan Enderjit 30; Jayanta Kumar Meitel 40; Abung Singh 55) beat Bihar 3 (Chotu Kumar 1; Brisha Bhengra 54, 66).

Hockey India Press release

Top performers to get Nano cars

Bangalore, September 27, 2012: In a rare gesture, Hockey Karnataka have decided to present a Tata Nano car each to the best defender, best forward and best player in the ongoing Hockey India’s second senior National men’s hockey championship here.

The three award winners will be selected by a panel comprising Olympians MM Somaya, N Mukesh Kumar and Dilip Tirkey besides a yet to be nominated journalist, according to Hockey Karnataka’s secretary AB Subbiah.

“When we first agreed to host the Nationals, we decided that the event should be a benchmark for future competitions. Having been players ourselves, we decided to provide the best possible environment for the teams to perform at their very best

.

“The three Tata Nano cars that will be awarded to the best defender, best forward and best player of the tournament is just an extension of our efforts to showcase hockey in better light.

“We have also not spared any effort to ensure that the teams are given best accommodation and hospitality including transport from their lodgings to the venues. It is Hockey Karnataka’s hope that the teams will return home with good memories,” said Subbiah.

Press release

Vishal Singh surges ahead with splendid 65

Digboi, Assam, September 27, 2012: Jaipur’s Vishal Singh returned a splendid six-under-65 at the Digboi Golf Links in round two of the Indian Oil XtraPremium Masters 2012 to go three strokes ahead at the halfway stage of the tournament. Vishal now has a total score of 10-under-132. Md Zamal Hossain Mollah of Bangladesh fired a three-under-68 in round two to be placed second with a total score of seven-under-135.

The cut was declared at 12-over-154. Fifty-one professionals made the cut.

Vishal Singh (67-65), who was overnight tied second, started from the 10th tee on Thursday. The 39-year-old landed it within a few inches of the pin thanks to a magnificent second shot from 120 yards on the 13th to earn his first birdie of the day. Vishal sank putts from eight to 10 feet on the next three holes to produce an amazing run of four successive birdies from the 13th through the 16th. Singh’s approach on the 18th stopped just short of the hole and led to another birdie. Vishal thus made the turn at five under.

A missed opportunity from three feet led to Vishal’s lone bogey of the day on the first. He then went on to pick up two more birdies on the fourth and seventh to close with a strong 65.

“I hit it extremely close today, especially with the wedges. I was luckier with my drives as compared to round one. I found more fairways today and hit perfect approach shots. I’m in a great position at the moment and will strive to convert all my opportunities on the last two days,” said Vishal, who won his last title three years back.

Md Zamal Hossain Mollah’s (67-68) round of 68 on Thursday placed him second, three strokes behind the leader. Mollah’s second round featured four birdies and one bogey.

Mukesh Kumar of Mhow and Harendra Gupta of Chandigarh are tied third at six-under-136.

Photo caption: Vishal Singh goes for his shot in Digboi on September 27, 2012.

Press release

Reeth, Manika bow out of contest in Youth section

Jodhpur, September 26, 2012: Two seeded girls in the Youth section—No. 5 Reeth Rishya of PSPB and No. 4 Manika Batra, also of PSPB—fell by the wayside while No. 5 seed Senhora D’souza from Maharashtra and Narasimha Priya from PSPB, who is seeded in the Junior but not in Youth section, went down without much of a fight in the Junior girls event of the National Ranking (Central Zone) Table Tennis Championships at the Goushala Indoor Hall here today.

  

Joining the bunch was South Zone winner Sabhay Virmani from Delhi in the Junior boys’ category who went down to unseeded Raja Kundu from North Bengal in straight games of 9-11, 6-11, 9-11 in just 35 minutes.

However, both Manika and Reeth managed to move into the pre-quarterfinals of the Junior girls singles. Interestingly, Manika after losing to Indian Bank’s Amrutha Pushpak 3-2 (11-7, 11-6, 7-11, 10-12, 8-11) in the Youth section, exacted her revenge in the junior singles to move into the pre-quarterfinals. She defeated the Indian Bank girl 3-1 (12-10, 9-11, 11-4, 11-9) to keep her chances alive. Reeth, on the other hand, made it a one-sided affair winning her match in straight games against Varuni Jaswal of Andhra Pradesh.

Virmani, who played an excellent run at the South Zone, must have been a disappointed person on the day to bow out the way he did against unseeded Raja Kundu. Both, who believe in playing the attacking games, set the tone nicely to begin with.

However, Kundu seized the upper hand very early which proved decisive in the ultimate analysis of the match. Virmani was not able to play his strokes as he often netted the ball and even his assured returns deserted him as his opponent was able to pick them up.

Reeth, who normally plays a cautious game, was on the day off colour in the Youth section but credit must be given to Shreya Ghosh from RSPB whose ploy of delaying tactics paved the way for her pre-quarters entry. After a gruelling fight with none willing to yield even an inch, the score was levelled at 2-2, taking the game to the decider.

With several deuces coming along their way, it was anybody’s match. But Reeth failed to take the initiative at 12-11 with her serve on, net-cording her return. Shreya not only equalled the score but served out to emerge winners.

Meanwhile, Olympian and No. 2 seed in Youth girls’ section Ankita Das went about her task without a whimper and defeated Tamil Nadu’s S. Krithika 11-5, 11-6, 11-4 in double quick time to make her presence felt.

As for the other London Olympian, Soumyajit Ghosh and seeded No. 1 here in the men’s singles, will begin his action later in the day.

The seeding list of the men and women’s singles were released today and understandably, both Ghosh and Poulomi Ghatak, the reigning national champion, have been given the pride of place. As it would appear, most of the seeded players are from the Petroleum Sports Promotion Board and it is an indication of the domination of players from the institution.

The top eight seeds are:

Men: 1. Soumyajit Ghosh, 2. Soumyadeep Roy, 3. Sanil Shetty, 4. Jubin Kumar, 5. Harmeet Desai, 6. Anirban Ghosh, 7. G. Sathiyan, 8. Jubin Kumar.  

Women:1. Poulomi Ghatak, 2. K. Shamini, 3. Ankita Das, 4. Divya Deshpande, 5. Mamata Prabhu, 6. Mouma Das, 7. Mousmi Paul, 8. Madhurika Patkar.

JUNIOR BOYS’ SINGLES -   Main draw : II  Round

Abhishek Yadav [ PSPB - A ]  Bt    Himanshu Jindal [ DLI ]    3 - 1  (4, 9, -8, 5)

 D Sameera Kurhar [ TN ]  Bt    Subham Basak [ NB ]    3 - 0  (5, 11, 6)

 Pankaj Vishwakarma [ RAJ ]  Bt    Rajib Sarkar [ NB ]    3 - 1  (-9, 6, 7, 6)

 Lalrinpuia [ PSPB - A ]  Bt    Shreyal Telang [ KNT ]    3 - 0  (9, 5, 12)

 Vivek Bhargava [ RAJ ]  Bt    Ayush Tayal [ HRN ]    3 - 0  (9, 9, 8)

 Anirban Ghosh [ WB ]  Bt    Sachin Vishwanath [ TN ]    3 - 0  (2, 4, 8)

 M Anirudh [ TN ]  Bt    Shubhankar Renavikar [ MHR ]    3 - 1  (5, -10, 9, 14)

 Raja Kundu [ NB ]  Bt    Sabhay Virmani [ DLI ]    3 - 0  (9, 6, 9)

Anandharaj R [ AAI ]  Bt    Nishaad Shah [ AI ]    3 - 2  (-7, -3, 5, 8, 9)

 Ravindra Kotiyan [ MHR ]  Bt    Birdie Boro [ PSPB - A ]    3 - 1  (10, -8, 2, 8)

 Surojit Das [ PSPB - A ]  Bt    Prasenjit Sarkar [ NB ]    3 - 0  (6, 9, 10)

 Utkarsh Gupta [ DLI ]  Bt    Shubham Ojha [ RAJ ]    3 - 0  (9, 6, 7)

 K R Rohit [ TN ]  Bt    Manav Thakkar [ PSPB - A ]    3 - 0  (2, 6, 12)

 Arjun Ghosh [ WB ]  Bt    Lalhunhula [ PSPB - A ]    3 - 2  (7, -10, -12, 7, 9)

 S Sidharth [ TN ]  Bt    Peeyush Prasad [ DLI ]    3 - 1  (9, -8, 7, 11)

 Sudhanshu Grover [ PSPB - A ]  Bt    Sandipan Dey [ NB ]    3 - 0  (7, 6, 10)

JUNIOR GIRLS :  Main draw : Ist Round

Sutirtha Mikherjee [ WB ]  Bt    Abinaya Ramesh [ TN ]   ( 3 - 1  (-8, 5, 9, 4) )

 Sreeja A [ AP ]  Bt    Srushti Haleangadi [ MHR ]    3 - 0  (9, 7, 8)

 Oishwaryya Deb [ NB ]  Bt    Hely Shah [ GUJ ]    3 - 1  (9, -5, 9, 9)

 Mallika Bhandarkar [ AI ]  Bt    Shireen Inamdar [ MHR ]    3 - 0  (6, 5, 6)

 Senhora D'Souza [ MHR ]  Bt    C R Harshavardhini [ TN ]    3 - 1  (-12, 4, 11, 9)

 Priyadarshani Das [ WB ]  Bt    Priyanka Pareek [ RAJ ]    3 - 1  (-8, 4, 8, 9)

 Naina A [ AP ]  Bt    Ria Dutta [ WB ]    3 - 1  (8, -9, 6, 6)

 Manika Batra [ DLI ]  Bt    Amrutha Pushpak [ IB ]    3 - 1  (-7, 10, 4, 7)

 Karnam Spoorthy [ AAI ]  Bt    Shruti Amrute [ MHR ]    3 - 1  (10, -9, 4, 9)

 R Ke Yukti Roshini [ TN ]  Bt    Sailu Noor Basha [ AP ]    w - o

 Sagarika Mukherjee [ NB ]  Bt    Moumita Dutta [ WB ]    3 - 0  (6, 5, 9)

 Narasimha Priya S [ PSPB ]  Bt    Anchal Malhotra [ DLI ]    w - o

 Ayhika Mukherjee [ WB ]  Bt    Mansi Chhajed [ MHR ]    3 - 0  (3, 7, 10)

 Frenaz M Chipia [ DB ]  Bt    S Shanmathi [ TN ]    3 - 2  (-11, -8, 9, 7, 2)

 Varuni Jaiswal [ AP ]  Bt    Ashlesha Trehan [ MHR ]    3 - 2  (-8, 8, 11, -7, 10)

 Reeth Rishya [ PSPB ]  Bt    Ishika Ajmani [ DLI ]    3 - 0  (2, 4, 7)

YOUTH BOYS SINGLES : MAIN DRAW: FIRST ROUND

Surojit Das [ PSPB - A ]  Bt    Gautam Dhruvansh [ UP ]    3 - 1  (5, -2, 5, 5)

Lalhunhula [ PSPB - A ]  Bt    Subhankar Sarkar [ NB ]    3 - 2  (-14, 6, -8, 9, 6)

Anirban Ghosh [ WB ]  Bt    Shivan Sharma [ HRN ]    3 - 1  (7, 8, -10, 5)

Shubhankar Renavikar [ MHR ]  Bt    Ravi Joshi [ LIC ]    3 - 0  (12, 6, 9)

Pankaj Vishwakarma [ RAJ ]  Bt    Shreyal Telang [ KNT ]    3 - 2  (8, 4, -3, -5, 9)

Prasanna S [ DB ]  Bt    Subham Basak [ NB ]    3 - 1  (-7, 7, 8, 8)

Snehamoy Mallick [ WB ]  Bt    Sudarshan Prabhakar [ UP ]    3 - 2  (-10, -7, 9, 12, 10)

 YOUTH GIRLS : MAIN DRAW: FIRST ROUND

Krittwika Sinha Roy [ AAI ]  Bt    Nirja Trivedi [ GUJ ]   ( 3 - 0  (9, 1, 5) )

 Vidya N [ DB ]  Bt    Sumana Saha [ PSPB ]    3 - 1  (-9, 2, 3, 7)

 Sreeja A [ AP ]  Bt    Sumana R Krishnan [ IB ]    3 - 1  (8, -6, 9, 7)

 Mallika Bhandarkar [ AI ]  Bt    Tekemi Sarkar [ RSPB ]    3 - 1  (6, 10, -9, 13)

 Shreya Ghosh [ RSPB ]  Bt    Reeth Rishya [ PSPB ]    3 - 2  (-8, 7, -8, 12, 14)

 Sutirtha Mikherjee [ WB ]  Bt    Sagarika Mukherjee [ NB ]    3 - 0  (8, 4, 8)

 R Ke Yukti Roshini [ TN ]  Bt    Senhora D'Souza [ MHR ]    3 - 1  (8, 7, -8, 9)

 Amrutha Pushpak [ IB ]  Bt    Manika Batra [ DLI ]    3 - 2  (-7, -6, 7, 10, 8)

 Nikhat Banu [ AAI ]  Bt    Charvi Kawle [ MHR ]    3 - 1  (-9, 8, 9, 8)

 Vedika Garg [ AI ]  Bt    Riti Shankar [ DLI ]    3 - 0  (10, 9, 9)

 Ayhika Mukherjee [ WB ]  Bt    Narasimha Priya S [ PSPB ]    3 - 0  (9, 9, 9)

 V Sneha [ IB ]  Bt    Frenaz M Chipia [ DB ]    3 - 2  (-4, -5, 6, 9, 11)

 Shweta Parte [ RSPB ]  Bt    Sanya Sehgal [ DLI ]    3 - 2  (-13, 7, 1, -7, 6)

 Karnam Spoorthy [ AAI ]  Bt    Oishwaryya Deb [ NB ]    3 - 0  (6, 12, 9)

 Rupsa Bhattacharya [ WB ]  Bt    K K Narmadha [ IB ]    3 - 1  (-3, 8, 12, 6)

 Ankita Das [ PSPB ]  Bt    S Krithika [ TN ]    3 - 0  (5, 6, 4).

A TTFI Press release

Bandits gang qualifies for cavalry round of TGL 2012

Hyderabad, September 26, 2012: Bandits gang registered a respectable score of 446 on day two to qualify for the Touche Golf League 2012 cavalry round which will take place in Bangalore in November. Their overall two days total was 891.

The best individual score of Bandits gang was shot by Sridhar Reddy as he hit an amazing three-under 69 on the day two of Hyderabad's infantry round at Boulder Hills Golf Club today.

The leader board of Bandits gang also had some Professional kind of individual scores as Ashwani Kumar Reddy fired a level par – 72 while Chandarshekar B. was one shot behind after shooting one-over 73

Parxlens remained on the second position as they shot a total nett score of 931 while Scottish Sultans also could not climb up from the third place after shooting 467 for the two days total of 953. 3rd String, Young Rookies & Old Cookies and Happy Golfers finished fourth, fifth and sixth respectively.

Bandits of Hyderabad will now battle against leading teams from Bangalore and Chennai as a citadel from South zone to qualify for the Gladiator round which would be final round for choosing the best gang of India of this season. 

Press release 

Rudresh Sharma enjoys the early advantage with a 66

Digboi (Assam), September 26, 2012: Delhi’s Rudresh Sharma posted a five-under-66 at the Digboi Golf Links on Wednesday to take the lead in round one of the Indian Oil XtraPremium Masters Golf 2012. Mukesh Kumar of Mhow, Gurgaon’s Deepinder Singh Kullar, Jaipur’s Vishal Singh and Md Zamal Hossain of Bangladesh are in tied second place with matching scores of four-under-67.

The tournament was inaugurated amidst much fanfare on Wednesday morning by Mr. Barun Barpujari, Executive Director, IOCL (Assam Oil Divison), who did the ceremonial tee-off.

Heavy rain over the last few days resulted in the seventh hole being reduced from a par-5 to a par-4. Therefore the par for the course in round one was 71 instead of the usual 72.

Rudresh Sharma outshone all the other professionals on day one with a round that included seven birdies and two bogeys. He began with a bogey on the first but then reversed the trend by collecting birdies on the third, fifth, eighth and ninth to make the turn at three under.

He chipped-in on the fifth and made a 30-footer on the eighth. The 23-year-old from the Delhi Golf Club sank birdies on the 11th, 13^th and 16th as well before dropping a stroke on the 17th against the run of play.

Rudresh said, “This is a fantastic start to the tournament for me. I hit it close all day and putted really well. My best effort of the day was the 30-feet birdie putt from the edge of the green on the eighth.

That really got me going. It’s now important for me to keep my focus and continue playing in this fashion over the next three days.”

Mukesh Kumar of Mhow, a five-time winner at Digboi, made an eagle, three birdies and a bogey in his round of 67 that placed him joint second. Like Mukesh, Md Zamal Hossain Mollah too made an eagle, three birdies and a bogey to be placed tied second.

Deepinder Singh Kullar and Vishal Singh had five birdies and a bogey each in their respective rounds as they shared second place with Mukesh and Zamal.

Delhi’s Shamim Khan and Chandigarh’s Harendra Gupta were in tied sixth at two-under-69.

Photo caption: Delhi’s Rudresh Sharma in action in Digboi on September 26, 2012.

Haryana post third straight win in National hockey

BANGALORE, September 25, 2012: Defending champion Haryana continued its winning spree in the 2nd Hockey India Senior Men National Championship, setting for a 3-1 verdict against a fighting Puducherry for its third straight win in Pool A league here today.

Tamil Nadu warmed up for its needle clash in pool G with Odisha with a 16-1 victory over Kerala to add to Monday’s 25-1 conquest of Gujarat. Penalty corner specialist Rupinder Pal Singh scored five goals to lead a bunch of eight goal-scorers for Tamil Nadu against Kerala. On Monday, as many as 11 Tamil Nadu players found the mark against Gujarat.

Meanwhile, host Karnataka held centre-stage with a 5-0 victory over Himachal Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh defeated Delhi 5-2 in pool C contests and Services scored a 16-0 win against Chhattisgarh.

The results:

Pool A: Haryana 3 (Harpreet Singh 21, Karamjit Singh 27, Naveen Antil 50) beat Puducherry 1 (Kamalakannan 23). Half time 2-1.  Maharashtra 3 (Narad Bahadur 22, 65; Vijay Thapa 50) beat Bengal 1 (Adesh Balmiki 62). Halftime: 1-0.

Pool B: Karnataka 5 (SK Uthappa 4, Nitin Thimmaiah 34, VR Raghunath 40, Mohan Muthanna 56, MB Aiyappa 62) beat Himachal Pradesh 0. Halftime: 2-0. Andhra Pradesh 5 (Ajay Babu 24, Krishna Kishore 45, 70, Ramesh Krishna 50, 68) beat Delhi 2 (Pawan Singh Chauhan 23, Avtar Singh Mann 61). Halftime: 1-1.

Pool C: Services 16 (Sanwar Ali 10, 38, Arumugam 8, 20, 37, 54, Sairaj Alira 12, 32, 62, 64, Lovepreet Singh 26, 51, Sunil Somwarpet 27, 53, Sukhdev Singh 48, Muthanna Pradhan 66) beat Chhattisgarh 0. Halftime: 6-0.

Pool D: Uttarakhand 3 (Manoj Singh Rawat 12, 32, Kailash Singh Jalal 39) beat Goa 0. Halftime 1-0.

A HI Press release

32 boys, 24 girls enter main draw of National Ranking Central Zone TT

Jodhpur, September 25, 2012: Even as qualifiers struggled to find their feet in the junior boys and girls sections, respectively, 32 boys and 24 girls made the cut to qualify for the main draw of the at the National Ranking (Central Zone) Table Tennis Championships at the Gaushala Indoor Hall here today.

They will now get a chance to rub shoulders with the top-ranked players, but what surprised everyone were the many walkovers in both the sections. They were, however, not explained by the technical officials but it remained a concern for both the organizers as well as the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI), particularly at a time when the national selectors are going to be present here to choose the probable paddlers for the World Junior Championships, to be held in Hyderabad later this year.  

The TTFI, obviously piqued at the attitude of players, is contemplating imposing some penalty on them and, in due course of time, writing to the states affiliates and institutions.

Nevertheless, some of the matches were of high intensity in value with quite a few of them going down to the wire. Still in a few other matches, the also-rans managed to take a game off their better-known opponents to boost their confidence. But, as in the sub-junior and Cadet sections, one could not witness any kind of domination from a particular state or institution.

Ten paddlers from West and North Bengal in the junior boys singles made it to the draw of 64 while more institution girls hogged the limelight in the junior girls section. The rest of the places were shared by states like Maharashtra, Rajastha, Tamil Nadu, UP and institutions like PSPB Academy. As for the girls category, Indian Bank, Airports Authority of India, RSPB and Dena Bank players sealed their berth in the main draw.

With the main draw matches for the junior boys scheduled for later tonight—the girls players their matches tomorrow—the attention was riveted on some of the third-round matches in both the sections. For instance, Subhendu Show from West Bengal, who was stretched by S.Nikhil of Tamil Nadu, won 9-11, 11-8, 10-12, 12-10, 11-3 to make the cut.

However, Vijay Singh Patil of Maharashtra was not so lucky despite beating Sandeep Choudhary of UP 9-11, 9-11, 11-4, 11-3, 12-10 as he failed to qualify. But both Raja Kundu from North Bengal and Abhinav Belwal from UP made the cut. Kundu beat Tajas Kamble Of Maharashtra 6-11, 11-6, 13-11, 8-11, 11-6 while Kundu won 8-11, 11-5, 11-8, 13-15, 11-8. Among the junior girls, only Priyadarshani Das, who beat KV Vaishali of AP, 9-11, 7-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-5 entered the main draw.

But for these matches, the rest of them were more or less one-sided affairs for the regulars on the circuit.

A TTFI Press release

Bendits create a mark on day one of Hyderabad TGL 2012

Hyderabad, September 25, 2012: Bendits gang of Boulder Hills Golf Club came up with a total nett score of 445 to finish atop of day one of Touche Golf League 2012 infantry round in Hyderabad today. Parxlens gang submitted a card of 470 as a total nett score to finish second while Scottish Sultans were 16 shots behind to came up as third with a total score of 486.

3rd String gang fired a total of 495 to end the day as fifth while Happy Golferz gang came sixth after scoring a total of 531. A gang of the most impressive name as Young Rookies and Old Cookies finished the day at the bottom as they scored a total of 534.

About 8 gangs participated on the first day of Hyderabad leg today out of which 2 gangs named Golf Buddies international and Apple Golfers could not make the cut for the next day.

Press release

Haryana, Punjab record second victories in Sr National Hockey Championship

BANGALORE, September 24, 2012: Defending champion Haryana scored its second successive victory in the Pool A league of the 2nd Hockey India Senior Men National Championship here today. Punjab showcased its intentions of making a strong run for the crown slamming 12 goals for the second day running, this time against Chhattisgarh in Pool C.

Haryana’s 8-0 verdict against Bengal came as an improvement over the hard-fought 2-1 win over Bhopal on the opening day. Didar Singh led the scoring with a goal in each half – a penalty stroke in the fourth minute and a field goal in the 45th. Arjun Antil, Bharat Chikara, Naveen Antil, Gagandeep Singh and Karamjit Singh added field goals before Sardar Singh converted a penalty corner in the dying moments of the game to complete the tally.

Punjab, which had beaten Jammu and Kashmir 12-1 on Sunday, sustained its scoring spree and managed to deny Chhattisgarh any goal. After Gurjinder Singh converted a penalty corner in the second minute, Aakashdeep Singh topped the list of scorers with five goals, including a hat-trick in the second half. Sarvanjit Singh slotted home three times and Ravipal Singh twice hile Talwinder Singh got one goal.

In another Pool A match, debutant Bhopal beat back a challenge from Maharashtra and eked out a 2-1 victory, thanks a goal in each half by Affan Yousuf. Narad Bahadur’s goal in the 44th minute helped Maharashtra draw parity but with seven minutes left for the hooter, Yousuf scored his third goal of the championship to secure his team full points.

Late on Sunday night, Air India beat Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy 4-1 in a Pool E game. Prabodh Tirkey converted two penalty corners while Samir Dad (field goal) and Vikas Pillay (penalty corner) completed the tally for Air India. Vikas Choudhary’s goal reduced the margin

Results:

Pool A: Haryana 8 (Didar Singh 4, 45; Arjun Antil 34; Bharat Chikara 49, Naveen Antil 51, Gagandeep Singh 59, Karamjit Singh 65, Sardar Singh 70) beat Bengal 0. Half time: 2-0. Bhopal 2 (Affan Yousuf 22, 63) beat Maharashtra 1 (Narad Bahadur 44). Halftime: 1-0.

Pool C: Punjab 12 (Gurjinder Singh 2, Aakashdeep Singh 10, 41, 50, 52, 69; Ravipal Singh 11, 23; Sarvanjit Singh 17, 26, 62; Talwinder Singh 59) beat Chhattisgarh 0. Halftime: 6-0. Services w.o. Arunachal Pradesh;

Pool E: Air India 4 (Prabodh Tirkey 2, Samir Dad, Vikas Pillay) beat Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy 1 (Vikas Choudhary). 

A Hockey India Press release

Boro, Sagarika clinch sub-junior singles titles

Jodhpur, September 24: It was a long-awaited contest between the two Petroleum Academy boys pursuing different styles. In the end, it was the offensive Birdie Boro who won beating the defensive Lalrinpuia 4-2 to wear the sub-junior boys’ singles crown in the National Ranking (Central Zone) Table Tennis Championships at the Gaushala Indoor Stadium here today.

He also took home the winner’s purse of Rs. 12,000.

The title in the sub-junior girls’ singles went to Sagarika Ghosh who beat Moumitta Dutta 4-3. The victory was worth Rs. 10,000. The final turned out to be one-sided which the North Bengal girl won.

As for the Cadet Boys titles, Regen Alberqueque of Maharashtra defeated state-mate Ashwin Subramanian 4-2 and Prapti Sen held the West Bengal flag afloat in Cadet Girls singles by beating Swetha Steffi from Tamil Nadu 3-1. The winners took home Rs. 8,400 and Rs. 7,000, respectively.

Since both the PSPB Academy boys know each other too well, the match went along the expected line in spite of Lalrinpuia, who put on display his retrieving skill, giving some torrid moments to his rival. Nevertheless, Boro kept attacking and was rewarded with some crucial points which ultimately clinched the final in his favour.

Despite having a bleeding nose because of the heat at the indoor hall, Boro never gave up when he was leading 2-1. In the fourth game, he allowed Lalrinpuia a semblance of chance and the latter won the game at 11-8. But he blew away another good chance in the next by overdoing with chop returns. Once Boro sealed that set in his favaour, it was a mere formality in the sixth which he completed. 

Lalrinpuia was third time lucky against top-seed Anirban Ghosh, the sub-junior title winner at the South Zone a coupe of week ago, as the Petroleum Academy boy made a rough weather of what would have been a relative easy semifinal match.

In fact, Lalrinpuia should have sealed the match after taking a 3-1 lead as he was up 4-0 in the fifth set. But he allowed Ghosh to stage a come back and level the score at 3-3 in the best-of-seven encounter.

Finally, the PSPBA boy’s patience and defensive play held him in good stead even as an impatient Ghosh was erring in his stroke play and at the net at crucial junctures. 

Similarly, the sub-junior girls’ events also some seeded players falling by the wayside, including Andhra Pradesh’s A. Naina, the title winner at Bangalore’s zonal. With Naina departing in the quarterfinals, things became much easier for the others left in the fray, throwing up great opportunities for a new champion to emerge in a final clash between West Bengal’s Moumitta Dutta and Sagarika Mukherjee of North Bengal. Both had to toil earlier in the semifinals against Tamil Nadu’s C.R. Harshavardini and Shruti Amrute of Maharashtra, respectively. Moumitta and Sagarika both won 4-1 against their opponents.

RESULTS:

Sub-junior (Boys): Final: Birdie Boro (PSPBA) bt Lalrinpuia (PSPBA) 12-10, 7-11, 14-12, 8-11, 11-6, 11-8; Semifinals: Lalrinpuia (PSPBA) bt Anirban Ghosh (WB) 7-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-7, 8-11, 7-11, 11-8, Birdie Boro (PSPBA) bt Ayush Tayal (Har) 11-8, 11-7, 6-11, 11-4, 11-3;Quarterfinals:Anirban Ghosh (WB) bt Lalhunhula (PSPBA) 11-9,12-10, 11-8, Lalrinpuia (PSPBA) bt Jeet Chandra (WB) 9-11,10-12, 11-8, 16-14, 11-3, Ayush Tayal (Har) bt Ronit Bhanja (WB) 11-6, 11-9, 11-9, Birdie Boro (PSPBA) bt Arjun Ghosh (WB) 11-6, 11-9, 11-9.

Sub-junior (Girls): Final: Sagarika Mukherjee (NB) bt Moumitta Dutta (WB) 11-9, 11-3, 11-8, 8-11, 11-7; Semifinals: Sagarika Mukherjee (NB) bt CR Harshavardhini (TN) 11-9, 11-9, 13-11, 11-7,  Moumitta Dutta (WB) bt Shruti Amrute (Mah) 11-9, 11-3, 11-9, 3-11, 11-3; Quarterfinals: Shruti Amrute (Mah) bt A. Naina (AP) 11-8, 10-12, 11-6, 10-12, 11-6, Moumita Dutta (WB) bt Varuni Jaiswal (AP) 5-11, 12-10, 3-11, 13-11, 11-4, Sagarika Mukherjee (NB) bt A Sreeja (AP) 11-8, 11-7, 3-11, 11-8, CR Harshavardhini (TN) bt Priyanka Pareek (Raj) 11-5, 8-11, 11-9, 5-11, 11-6.

Cadet (Boys): Final: Regen Alberqueque (Mah) bt Ashwin Subramanian (Mah) 14-12, 11-7, 6-11, 9-11, 9-11, 11-5; Semifinals:  Ashwin Subramanian (Mah) bt Wesley Do Rosario (Goa) 11-6, 10-12, 11-6, 11-7, Regen Alberqueque (Mah) bt Anukram Jain (Raj) 6-11, 8-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-9;Quarterfinals: Ashwin Sbramanian (Mah) bt Udit Bhatacharya (WB) 7-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-8, Wesley Do Rosaria (Goa) bt Harsh Srivastava (Raj) 11-5, 8-11, 5-11, 11-7, 11-9, Regen Alberqueque (Mah) bt NR Mahuri (NB) 12-10, 11-9, 9-11, 6-11, 13-11, Anukram Jain (Raj) bt Subhojit Malakar (NB) 11-5, 11-7, 11-4.

Cadet (girls): Final: Prapti Sen (WB) bt Swetha Steffi (TN) 11-6, 11-2, 6-11, 11-4; Semifinals: Swetha Steffi (TN) bt Tulika Roy (WB) 11-8, 14-12, 5-11, 6-11, 11-9, Prapti sen (WB) bt V. Sasya (AP) 9-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-7; Quarterfinals: Prapti Sen (WB) bt Yashi (Pun) 11-9, 11-7, 10-12, 9-11, 11-9,  Swetha Steffi (TN) bt Ameesha Dhall (Del) 13-11, 11-5, 11-7, V. Sasya (AP) bt Swastika Ghosh (Mah) 8-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-5, Tulika Roy (WB) bt Atheya Ghosh (NB) 7-11, 11-3, 11-13, 11-8, 11-9.

A TTFI Press release

Haryana post 2-1 victory over Bhopal

BANGALORE, September 23, 2012: Defending champion Haryana rallied from a goal deficit to beat Bhopal 2-1 in its opening Group A league game in the 2nd Hockey India National Championship for Senior Men here today. Didar Singh and Mandeep Antil scored for Haryana after Affan Yousuf put the debutant team ahead in the 10th minute.

The results:

Pool A: Haryana: 2 (Didar Singh 20, Mandeep Antil 51) bt Bhopal: 1 (Affan Yousuf 10); Puducherry: 7 (Kamala Kannan 5, 17, 43, 59, Karthigeyan 12, Jairaj 13, 53) bt Maharashtra: 2 (Irshad Mirza 64, Vijay Tapa).

Pool C: Punjab 12 (Gurjinder Singh 9, Prabhdeep Singh 15, 43, own goal 24, Talwinder Singh 25, 59, 61, Ravipal Singh 26, Akashdeep Singh 30, Sarvanjit Singh 50, 67, Vikramjit Singh 56) bt Jammu and Kashmir 1 (own goal42). Chattisgarh w.o. Arunachal Pradesh.

Pool E: Rajasthan 6 (Naresh 14, 17, 54, OG 48, Harpreet 62, Jaisham 68) bt Nagaland 1 (Keduneizo 29);

Pool G: Kerala 11 (Muhammed Murthla 2, 16, 47, 62, E. Sarin 6, 52, 57, S. Adarse 15, Joshan George 24, S.S. Vishnu 60, 63) bt Gujarat: 0. Odisha 2 (Amit Rohitdas 12, Mikhal Barla 18) drew with Tamil Nadu 2 (Rupinderpal Singh 38, 43).

A HI Press release

Maharashtra boys dominate in group stages of National Ranking TT

Jodhpur, September 23, 2012:  The domination of Maharashtra boys in the sub-junior section was evident when as many as eight of them made it to the main draw of the National Ranking (Central Zone) Table Tennis championships at the Gaushala Indoor Stadium here today.

As for the sub-junior girls, a clear picture will emerge only after the third round group matches later this evening. But it seemed a smoothing sailing for some of the girls who are the regulars on the circuit.

With as many as 32 and 24 groups in the boys’ and girls’ sections, respectively, it was abound to be a hectic day for the sub-junior paddlers who had to play match after match with very little break in between. Nevertheless, the enthusiastic bunch of players, representing 22 states and 14 institutions, went through theirs tasks as if they were robots with the limitation of 10 tables to conduct the championships.

Yet, some of the group matches went to the wire with paddlers fighting it out against their opponents for only the group leaders were eligible to qualify for the main draw. This was where the Maharashtra boys excelled over their rivals with four each of  North Bengal and Tamil Nadu boys securing their berths. As for the hosts, the Petroleum Sports Promotion Board Academy came to their rescue with three of them—Manav Thakkar, Charag Kapoor and Z.K. Gogoi entering the round of 32.

Varun Gupta of UP, placed in group 4, was taken the distance by Andhra Pradesh’s Sai Tejesh before the former winning 12-10, -11, 2-11, 11-4, 11-4 to make the grade. Similarly, Rahul Krishna of Tamil Nadu had to stick it out of Subham Amre of Maharashtra. The Tamil Nadu boy won 5-11, 11-7, 11-9, 7-11, 12-10 in a grurlling fight that went for about 50 minutes.

There were quite a few other matches went the full distance but most of them were in a losing cause as Maharashtra’s Rutvik Pandrirkar despite winning 3-2 against Wesley D Rosario of Goa could not make it to the main draw. But for Chirag Kapoor of PSPBA the first match he played against Sandeep Choudhary of UP was too crucial as he won 3-2 after being down 0-2.

He played brilliantly in the third game taking it at 11-4 to launch an overall attack against Sandeep. That paid dividends for him as he took the next two at 11-7, 11-9 to wrap it up in his favour.

Group results:

RESULTS OF DAY ONE

SUB JUNIOR BOY'S SINGLES- GROUP 1

 Manav Thakkar  (PSPB - A)  Bt    Naved  (RAJ)   11-5, 11-5, 11-5

 Jishnu Vakaria  (AP)  Bt    Naved  (RAJ)   11-5, 11-2, 11-1

 Manav Thakkar  (PSPB - A)  Bt    Jishnu Vakaria  (AP)   11-5, 11-5, 7-11, 11-4

SUB JUNIOR BOY'S SINGLES- GROUP 2

 Siddesh Pande  (AI)  Bt    Seemanth Acharya  (KNT)   11-2, 11-3, 11-4

 Sai Sumanth T  (AP)  Bt    Siddesh Pande  (AI)   11-4, 11-1, 11-4

 Siddesh Pande  (AI)  Bt    Debomitra Chakraborty  (WB)   11-7, 9-11, 11-8, 11-6

SUB JUNIOR BOY'S SINGLES- GROUP 3

 Sarbajit Guha  (NB)  Bt    Suranjit Dey  (MEG)   11-8, 8-11, 11-7, 12-10

 Sarthak Sharma  (UP)  Bt    Suranjit Dey  (MEG)   11-4, 11-4, 10-12, 11-5

 Sarbajit Guha  (NB)  Bt    Sarthak Sharma  (UP)   11-7, 11-9, 8-11, 11-8

SUB JUNIOR BOY'S SINGLES- GROUP 4

 Varun Gupta  (UP)  Bt    Sai Tejesh  (AP)   12-10, 9-11, 2-11, 11 - 4, 11-4

 Sai Tejesh  (AP)  Bt    Akshit  (RAJ)   11-2, 11-4, 11-4

 Varun Gupta  (UP)  Bt    Akshit  (RAJ)   w – o

SUB JUNIOR BOY'S SINGLES- GROUP 5

 Sarthak Seth  (UP)  Bt    Mandar Hardikar  (MHR)   11-7, 11-9, 10-12, 7-11, 11-8

 Mandar Hardikar  (MHR)  Bt    Gaurang Shakreja  (PSPB - A)   11-9, 11-7, 11-6

 Sarthak Seth  (UP)  Bt    Gaurang Shakreja  (PSPB - A)   11-6, 11-9, 11-2

  

SUB JUNIOR BOY'S SINGLES- GROUP 6

 Jeet Chandra  (WB)  Bt    Krishna Prusty  (ORS)   11-4, 11-6, 11-4

 Krishna Prusty  (ORS)  Bt    Ankush  (PNJ)   10-12, 11-3, 11-7, 10-12, 11-3

 Jeet Chandra  (WB)  Bt    Ankush  (PNJ)   11-4, 11-2, 11-8

SUB JUNIOR BOY'S SINGLES- GROUP 7

 Mohd Ali  (AP)  Bt    Yash Choudhary  (RAJ)   9-11, 11-3, 11-3, 11-3

 Sujit Chatterjee  (NB)  Bt    Yash Choudhary  (RAJ)   11-4, 11-3, 11-4

 Mohd Ali  (AP)  Bt    Sujit Chatterjee  (NB)   11-4, 14-12, 7-11, 15-13

SUB JUNIOR BOY'S SINGLES- GROUP 8

 Anas Irshad  (KRL)  Bt    Mahuri N R  (NB)   6-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-6

 Mahuri N R  (NB)  Bt    Manthan Shah  (MHR)   w - o

 Anas Irshad  (KRL)  Bt    Manthan Shah  (MHR)   w-o

SUB JUNIOR BOY'S SINGLES- GROUP 9

 Payas Jain  (DLI)  Bt    Adwait Brahme  (MHR)   w - o

 Karan Gollerkeri  (KNT)  Bt    Payas Jain  (DLI)   11-7, 11-3, 11-5

 Karan Gollerkeri  (KNT)  Bt    Adwait Brahme  (MHR)   w - o

SUB JUNIOR BOY'S SINGLES- GROUP 10

 Sachin Vishwanath  (TN)  Bt    Sanyam Seth  (UP)   11-8,, 11- 7, 11-6

 Prithvi Dey  (MEG)  Bt    Sanyam Seth  (UP)   9-11, 9-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-9

 Sachin Vishwanath  (TN)  Bt    Prithvi Dey  (MEG)   11-9, 12-10, 11-5

SUB JUNIOR BOY'S SINGLES- GROUP 11

 Rahul Krishna  (TN)  Bt    Shubham Amre  (MHR)   5-11, 11-7, 11-9, 7-11, 12-10

 Shubham Amre  (MHR)  Bt    Rishabh Sachdeva  (HRN)   w-o

 Rahul Krishna  (TN)  Bt    Rishabh Sachdeva  (HRN)   w-o

  

SUB JUNIOR BOY'S SINGLES- GROUP 12

 Mishal Dilawar  (KRL)  Bt    Snehit SFR  (AP)   11-8, 9-11, 11-9, 11-8

 Snehit SFR  (AP)  Bt    Shubh Goel  (DLI)   11-6, 11-4, 11-4

 Mishal Dilawar  (KRL)  Bt    Shubh Goel  (DLI)   11-4, 5-11, 11-7, 11-8

SUB JUNIOR BOY'S SINGLES- GROUP 13

 Vedant Shah  (MHR)  Bt    Vishnu B  (AP)   11-5, 11-2, 11-1

 Akash Choudhaury  (WB)  Bt    Vishnu B  (AP)   11-4, 11-1, 11-6

 Vedant Shah  (MHR)  Bt    Akash Choudhaury  (WB)   12-10, 11-6, 11-3

SUB JUNIOR BOY'S SINGLES- GROUP 14

 Akash Nath  (NB)  Bt    Mukund Joshi  (RAJ)   11-8, 11- 3, 11-6

 Mukund Joshi  (RAJ)  Bt    Mohammed Ali Jr  (AP)   w-o

 Akash Nath  (NB)  Bt    Mohammed Ali Jr  (AP)   w-o

SUB JUNIOR BOY'S SINGLES- GROUP 15

 Chirag Kapoor  (PSPB - A)  Bt    Udit Bhatacharya  (WB)   11-4, 11-7, 11-4

 Sandeep Choudhary  (UP)  Bt    Udit Bhatacharya  (WB)   11-7, 11-9, 11-9

 Chirag Kapoor  (PSPB - A)  Bt    Sandeep Choudhary  (UP)   3-11, 9-11, 11-4, 11-7, 11-9

SUB JUNIOR BOY'S SINGLES- GROUP 16

 Parth Virmani  (DLI)  Bt    Samarth Kurdikeri  (KNT)   11-4, 11-4, 11-7

 Nikhil Nanda  (TN)  Bt    Samarth Kurdikeri  (KNT)   11-5, 11-7, 11-6

 Parth Virmani  (DLI)  Bt    Nikhil Nanda  (TN)   11-6, 11-9, 10-12, 11-9

SUB JUNIOR BOY'S SINGLES- GROUP 17

 Wesley Do Rosario  (GOA)  Bt    Shivjit Singh Lamba  (DLI)   11-3, 11-7, 11-9

 Wesley Do Rosario  (GOA)  Bt    Rutvik Pandirkar  (MHR)   11-7, 4-11, 7-11, 11-7, 11-9

 Rutvik Pandirkar  (MHR)  Bt    Shivjit Singh Lamba  (DLI)   11-9, 11-2, 11-4

  

SUB JUNIOR BOY'S SINGLES- GROUP 18

 Sucheth Shenoy  (KNT)  Bt    Nilay Thakkar  (GUJ)   4-11, 11-9, 6-11, 11-8, 14-12

 Sucheth Shenoy  (KNT)  Bt    Sameer Pandey  (PSPB - A)   11-4, 10-12, 8-11, 11-2, 11-9

 Nilay Thakkar  (GUJ)  Bt    Sameer Pandey  (PSPB - A)   11-9, 11-7, 4-11, 11-8

SUB JUNIOR BOY'S SINGLES- GROUP 19

 Tejas Kamble  (MHR)  Bt    Annamalai V  (PON)   w - o

 Nikhil(Rajasthan)  (RAJ)  Bt    Annamalai V  (PON)   w-o

 Tejas Kamble  (MHR)  Bt    Nikhil(Rajasthan)  (RAJ)   11-7, 11-6, 11-7

SUB JUNIOR BOY'S SINGLES- GROUP 20

 Ajay Singh Patil  (MHR)  Bt    Madhu Shekher  (RAJ)   11-6, 11-2, 11-1

 Madhu Shekher  (RAJ)  Bt    Saikat Sinha  (NB)   w-o

 Ajay Singh Patil  (MHR)  Bt    Saikat Sinha  (NB)   w-o

SUB JUNIOR BOY'S SINGLES- GROUP 21

 Ashwin Subramanian  (MHR)  Bt    Harsh Srivastava  (RAJ)   11-8, 11-9, 11-5

 Harsh Srivastava  (RAJ)  Bt    Daksh Telang  (KNT)   11-6, 11-7, 11-4

 Ashwin Subramanian  (MHR)  Bt    Daksh Telang  (KNT)   11-9, 11-7, 1-4

SUB JUNIOR BOY'S SINGLES- GROUP 22

 Gogoi C M  (NB)  Bt    Praroop  (UP)   11-6, 11-4, 8-11, 11-1

 Manush Shah  (GUJ)  Bt    Praroop  (UP)   12-10, 11-5, 11-7

 Gogoi C M  (NB)  Bt    Manush Shah  (GUJ)   11-7, 12-10, 11-9

SUB JUNIOR BOY'S SINGLES- GROUP 23

 J Rakesh  (TN)  Bt    Saroj Cyril  (AP)   11-7, 11-9, 11-6

 Raman Khokha  (DLI)  Bt    Roshan Joshi  (MP)   11-4, 8-11, 11-7, 11-7

 J Rakesh  (TN)  Bt    Roshan Joshi  (MP)   11-3, 11-7, 11-4

 Saroj Cyril  (AP)  Bt    Raman Khokha  (DLI)   5-11, 9-11, 11-8, 12-10, 11-8

 J Rakesh  (TN)  Bt    Raman Khokha  (DLI)   11-6, 11-3, 11-3

 Saroj Cyril  (AP)  Bt    Roshan Joshi  (MP)   11-5, 11-8, 11-6

SUB JUNIOR BOY'S SINGLES- GROUP 24

 Mudit Dani  (MHR)  Bt    Abhinav Belwal  (UP)   11-5, 11-6, 11-8

 Harsh Lajoti  (AP)  Bt    Parth Sapre  (MP)   w-o

 Abhinav Belwal  (UP)  Bt    Parth Sapre  (MP)   w-o

 Harsh Lajoti  (AP)  Bt    Mudit Dani  (MHR)   11-9, 11-5, 6-11, 11-8

 Abhinav Belwal  (UP)  Bt    Harsh Lajoti  (AP)   4-11, 12-10, 11-8, 13-11

 Mudit Dani  (MHR)  Bt    Parth Sapre  (MP)   w-o

UB JUNIOR BOY'S SINGLES- GROUP 25

 Santosh Kumar  (TN)  Bt    Gaurav Loharpure  (MHR)   13-11, 11-8, 10-12, 14-12

 Adarsh Srivastava  (UP)  Bt    Hariharan  (KRL)   8-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-8

 Santosh Kumar  (TN)  Bt    Adarsh Srivastava  (UP)   11-4, 11-7, 11-7

 Gaurav Loharpure  (MHR)  Bt    Hariharan  (KRL)   6-11, 11-5, 12-10, 11-7

 Santosh Kumar  (TN)  Bt    Hariharan  (KRL)   11-6, 11-7, 12-10

 Adarsh Srivastava  (UP)  Bt    Gaurav Loharpure  (MHR)   18-16, 6-11, 11-6, 9-11, 11-4

SUB JUNIOR BOY'S SINGLES- GROUP 26

 Regen Alberqueque  (MHR)  Bt    Nildeep Das  (WB)   11-6, 11-7, 1-11, 6-11, 11-7

 Anukram Jain  (RAJ)  Bt    M Eswar Rao  (ORS)   w-o

 Nildeep Das  (WB)  Bt    M Eswar Rao  (ORS)   w-o

 Regen Alberqueque  (MHR)  Bt    Anukram Jain  (RAJ)   11-7, 11-7, 11-7

 Nildeep Das  (WB)  Bt    Anukram Jain  (RAJ)   11-6, 11-7, 11-9

 Regen Alberqueque  (MHR)  Bt    M Eswar Rao  (ORS)   w-o

SUB JUNIOR BOY'S SINGLES- GROUP 27

 Tanmay Rane  (MHR)  Bt    A Shrikrishna  (TN)   11-5, 11-5, 11-8

 Ishaan Premvani  (DLI)  Bt    Ujjwal Roy  (UP)   11-7, 11-3, 11-4

 A Shrikrishna  (TN)  Bt    Ishaan Premvani  (DLI)   9-11, 12-10, 10-12, 11-9, 11-9

 Tanmay Rane  (MHR)  Bt    Ujjwal Roy  (UP)   11-6, 11-7, 11-6

 A Shrikrishna  (TN)  Bt    Ujjwal Roy  (UP)   11-7, 11-6, 12-10

 Tanmay Rane  (MHR)  Bt    Ishaan Premvani  (DLI)   14-12, 12-10, 9-11, 11-6

SUB JUNIOR BOY'S SINGLES- GROUP 28

 Harikrishna  (AP)  Bt    Dhruv Bhantia  (MHR)   11-3, 11-2, 11-6

 Asif Khan  (RAJ)  Bt    Shubham Mittal  (DLI)   11-5, 10-12, 11-9, 12-10

 Harikrishna  (AP)  Bt    Shubham Mittal  (DLI)   11-6,11-8,11-7

 Asif Khan  (RAJ)  Bt    Dhruv Bhantia  (MHR)   11-2,11-5,11-5

 Harikrishna  (AP)  Bt    Asif Khan  (RAJ)   12-10, 11-7, 7-11, 11-8

 Shubham Mittal  (DLI)  Bt    Dhruv Bhantia  (MHR)   11-2, 12-10, 11-0

SUB JUNIOR BOY'S SINGLES- GROUP 29

 Jai Mehlawat  (DLI)  Bt    Chirag Gehlet  (RAJ)   11-6, 11-3, 11-1

 Gogoi Z K  (PSPB - A)  Bt    Shreyas Kulkarni  (KNT)   11-4, 11-7, 14-12

 Jai Mehlawat  (DLI)  Bt    Shreyas Kulkarni  (KNT)   11-8,11-2,11-3,

 Gogoi Z K  (PSPB - A)  Bt    Chirag Gehlet  (RAJ)   11-1,11-4,11-6

 Gogoi Z K  (PSPB - A)  Bt    Jai Mehlawat  (DLI)   15-13, 11-9, 8-11, 11-6

 Shreyas Kulkarni  (KNT)  Bt    Chirag Gehlet  (RAJ)   11-4, 11-3, 11-5

SUB JUNIOR BOY'S SINGLES- GROUP 30

 Harsh Thakre  (GUJ)  Bt    Manin  (RAJ)   11-4, 11-9, 11-6

 Subham Das  (NB)  Bt    Kaushik Joshi  (MHR)   w-o

 Harsh Thakre  (GUJ)  Bt    Kaushik Joshi  (MHR)   w-o

 Subham Das  (NB)  Bt    Manin  (RAJ)   11-8, 11-7, 11-4

 Subham Das  (NB)  Bt    Harsh Thakre  (GUJ)   11-8, 11-6, 7-11, 11-4

 Manin  (RAJ)  Bt    Kaushik Joshi  (MHR)   w-o

SUB JUNIOR BOY'S SINGLES- GROUP 31

 Sachin Hemanth  (TN)  Bt    Hardik Malik  (HRN)   7-11, 11-5, 11-6, 11-6

 Yugandh Zande  (MHR)  Bt    Rakshith Rb  (KNT)   11-8, 11-5, 11-9

 Rakshith Rb  (KNT)  Bt    Hardik Malik  (HRN)   12-10, 10-12, 11-8, 11-3

 Yugandh Zande  (MHR)  Bt    Sachin Hemanth  (TN)   8-11, 14-12, 11-7, 11-9

 Yugandh Zande  (MHR)  Bt    Hardik Malik  (HRN)   11-6, 11-4, 11-9

 Rakshith Rb  (KNT)  Bt    Sachin Hemanth  (TN)   11-3, 11-4, 13-11

SUB JUNIOR BOY'S SINGLES- GROUP 32

 Amogh Athani  (KNT)  Bt    Sanat Bokil  (MHR)   w-o

 Ronit Bhanja  (WB)  Bt    Dhruv    (RAJ)   11-5, 11-2, 11-1

 Dhruv    (RAJ)  Bt    Amogh Athani  (KNT)   w-o

 Ronit Bhanja  (WB)  Bt    Sanat Bokil  (MHR)   w-o

 Ronit Bhanja  (WB)  Bt    Amogh Athani  (KNT)   w-o

 Dhruv    (RAJ)  Bt    Sanat Bokil  (MHR)   w-o.

A TTFI Press release

Shamim Khan prevails at Classic Golf Resort

Classic Golf Resort, Mewat, Haryana, September 21, 2012: Shamim Khan lifted his lifted his seventh professional trophy after a one-stroke victory at the PGTI Players Championship played at the Classic Golf
Resort. The Delhi golfer carded four-under-68 in round four on Friday to end up with a tournament total of nine-under-279. Bangalore’s R Murthy finished runner-up at eight- under-280.

Shamim Khan (69-71-71-68), who was three off the lead in tied fourth position after round three, made five birdies against a lone bogey in the final round. Shamim started the day confidently by sinking a 30-footer for birdie on the second. He followed that up with another superb putt from 20 feet that earned him a birdie on the fourth.
Finding the hazard on the ninth proved to be costly for Khan as he ended up dropping a bogey on that hole.

The 34-year-old Shamim surged ahead of the rest of the field with three consecutive birdies on the 13th, 14th and 15th. He landed it within four feet on the 14th and 15th. Khan made pars on the remaining three holes to ensure victory. Shamim, the only player to shoot four sub-par rounds this week, has now climbed from third place to second on the Rolex Rankings.

Shamim said, “It’s quite satisfying to bag a second title in the season. I missed a lot of short putts earlier this week but managed to convert most of them today. The long putts at the start of the round gave me a lot of confidence. I then continued the good work on the back-nine where I hit it quite close to the pins. The three straight birdies on the back-nine set up the win for me.”

R Murthy (71-70-72-67) shot the best score of the day, a five-under-67, to end up in second place, one shot behind the winner.His final round featured eight birdies and three bogeys.

Delhi’s Ashok Kumar and Noida’s Gaurav Pratap Singh shared third place at six-under-282.

Gurgaon’s Shubhankar Sharma won the trophy for the best performance by an amateur. He was the highest-placed amateur in the field at tied ninth position with a total score of three-under-285.

Picture caption: Shamim Khan receives the winning cheque from Ravi Puri, CEO, Classic Golf Resort (centre) and  Uttam Singh Mundy, Director, PGTI (right).

Patel-Uniexcel Group to forge strong team as Hockey India League’s Ranchi franchise

NEW DELHI, September 14, 2012: Hockey India League today announced that the Ranchi franchise would be taken up by the Patel-Uniexcel Group, making it the third of the six franchisees who will compete in the prestigious event to be held every year from January 2013. Sahara India and Jaypee Group are the franchisees for Lucknow and Punjab.

“We are pleased to welcome the Patel-Unixcel Group on board,” said Hockey India Secretary-General and Hockey India League Chairman Dr Narinder Batra. “We are sure that the Bangalore-based Patel Group and the Chinese Taipei-based Unixcel Group will provide a fantastic impetus to hockey in the region, which is a major nursery for the sport.”

Speaking for the Joint Venture, Uniexcel Group Chairman Suresh Kumar Chauhan said the Patel-Uniexcel Group was delighted to be making an entry into the Indian sports firmament through hockey. “There could have been no better way to get in to sport than with a sport that has emotional connect with all of India,” he said. “I am very delighted that we have got the Ranchi franchise as I come from Kolkata and always carry very strong feelings for eastern India.”

The Franchise CEO Banti Singh who hails from Kolkata and an ex-national hockey player said the Group is looking forward to developing a competitive team and contributing to the evolution of the sport in the region in particular and India in general."

The Uniexcel Group covers international trading across the globe in a diverse range of commodities and industrial raw materials. It also has manufacturing facilities in India, China, Nigeria and Ghana. It is also setting up a state-of-the art fabric coating factory worth Rs 300 crore.

Hockey India Press release

Om Prakash Chouhan bags title with an impressive four-stroke margin at Golden Greens

Gurgaon, September 14, 2012: Om Prakash Chouhan of Mhow registered an impressive four-stroke victory at the PGTI Players Championship at the Golden Greens Golf & Country Club in Gurgaon after he shot a
one-under-71 in the final round on Friday. Chouhan ended up with a total score of seven-under-281 to bag his second professional title.


Shiva Ram Shrestha of Nepal and Md Sanju of Kolkata were the joint runners-up at three-under-285.

Om Prakash Chouhan (69-69-72-71), the overnight leader, had a shaky start when he bogeyed the second after finding the rough with his tee-shot. The 26-year-old was in excellent putting form as he converted par putts from eight to nine feet on a regular basis from the third through the 10th. He then sank a 12-footer for birdie on the 11th to take a two-shot lead and followed that up with another crucial
10-feet birdie putt on the 13th.

Chouhan, who bagged his maiden professional title earlier this year, had all but sealed it by the time he stepped onto the 18th tee despite his bogey on the 17th. He finished it in style with a chip-in for
birdie on the 18th.

Om Prakash said, “My putter was hot today and I was quite accurate with my hitting on the back-nine. The number of par saves from eight to nine feet on the front-nine kept me ahead through the day. The pressure eased on me when I converted the 12-feet birdie putt on the 11th that gave me a two-stroke lead. I was confident of closing out the match from there on. My strategy of not using the driver paid-off through the week as I managed to dodge the thick rough on either side of the fairways.”

He added, “I’m delighted with my second win of the season. This has been a very successful season for me so far and importantly I’ve learnt how to finish well.”

Md Sanju (73-67-71-74) of Kolkata came in joint second to record his best ever finish as a professional. His final round of 74 featured one birdie and three bogeys.

Shiva Ram Shrestha (66-75-72-72) of Nepal shared second place along with Md Sanju. Shrestha fired four birdies and four bogeys in his round of 72 on Friday.

Mukesh Kumar of Mhow, Lucknow’s Sanjay Kumar and Delhi’s Vinod Kumar shared the fourth spot at two-under-286.

Gurgaon’s Shubhankar Sharma won the trophy for the best performance by an amateur. He was the highest-placed amateur in the field at tied ninth position with a total score of two-over-290.

Press release

Bihar struggle to hold Chhattisgarh in hockey

Patna, September 13, 2012: Bihar struggled hard to hold Chhattisgarh 1-1 in the opening match of the 64th East Zone senior national hockey championships at the BMP-5 ground here on Thursday.

Bihar opened the account in the 4th minute through Alok struck off a penalty corner. Md Shamshad leveled the score for Chhattisgarh in the 10th minute. Both the teams were tied 1-1 at the end of the first half.

Only few a minutes of play was possible in the second half as rains stopped the play. Both the teams collected one point each.

Earlier, Additional Director General of Police (BMP) Abhay Kumar Upadhyaya inaugurated the tournament.

The tournament has been organised by Bihar Hockey Association, an affiliated body of the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF).

Top: Bihar hockey team poses for a group photograph.

Bottom: Additional Director General of Police (BMP) Abhay Kumar Upadhyaya  inaugurates the tournament.

Photo: BHA

Om Prakash Chouhan seizes the lead in round three

Om Prakash Chouhan of Mhow 

Gurgaon, September 13, 2012: Om Prakash Chouhan of Mhow (Madhya Pradesh) shot a solid even-par-72 to seize the lead in round three of the PGTI Players Championship being played at the Golden Greens Golf & Country Club in Gurgaon. Chouhan’s total now stands at six-under-210.

Mukesh Kumar, who also hails from Mhow, is in joint second along with Kolkata’s Md Sanju at five-under-211.

Om Prakash Chouhan (69-69-72), who was overnight second, made his move to the top of the leaderboard with a hard-fought 72 on Thursday.

Chouhan’s opening birdie of the day came on the ninth where his third shot from 125 yards was hit with pin-point precision as it landed five feet from the hole. The 26-year-old added another birdie to his card on the par-3 13th hole thanks to a superb tee-shot that stopped just inches from the flag. He then slipped back to even-par for the day after dropping bogeys on the 14th and 15th as a result of a couple of poor tee-shots.

Om Prakash, a winner on the PGTI in 2012, said, “I hit it well today and played a steady and consistent game. I now feel very confident in the final stages of a tournament courtesy of my maiden professional win earlier this year. I’m determined to finish well this week. I will play a little cautiously on the front-nine in the final round. I will analyze the situation at the turn and then decide on my game-plan for the back-nine.”

Mukesh Kumar (69-68-74), the overnight leader, fired a two-over-74 on Thursday to fall back to tied second place. Mukesh made an eagle, two birdies and six bogeys in round three.

Kolkata’s Md Sanju (73-67-71) carded a 71 in the third round to join Mukesh Kumar in tied second place. Sanju’s round featured five birdies against four bogeys.

Shamim Khan of Delhi and Nepal’s Shiva Ram Shrestha shared fourth place at three-under-213.

Press release

Hockey India inducts Hockey Bhopal in its fold

NEW DELHI, September 13, 2012: Hockey Bhopal, which has been admitted as a new Associate Member of Hockey India, has been invited to take part in all the National Championships conducted by Hockey India. It will make its debut in the Hockey India National Championship for Senior Men in Bangalore from September 24.

“We are happy to induct Hockey Bhopal in our fold and are delighted that 1968 Olympic Games bronze medal winning player Inam-ur-Rahman is its President and 1984 Olympian S Jalaluddin Rizvi its Secretary-General,” said Hockey India Secretary-General. “Under their leadership, we are sure Bhopal will regain pride of place as a nursery for Indian hockey.”

Press release

Mukesh Kumar in control at the halfway stage

Gurgaon, September 12, 2012: Mhow’s Mukesh Kumar shot a four-under-68 in round two that propelled him into the lead at the PGTI Players Championship being played at the Golden Greens Golf & Country Club in Gurgaon. Mukesh’s total moved to seven-under-137 after his second round effort. Another Mhow-based professional, Om Prakash Chouhan, was in second place with a total of six-under-138.

The cut was declared at seven-over-151. Fifty-three professionals and two amateurs made the cut.

Mukesh Kumar (69-68) followed up his first round score of 69 with a 68 on day two that included six birdies and two bogeys. Mukesh landed it within five feet to set up birdies on the second, fourth, ninth and
10th. He also sank two 10-footers for birdies on the 12th and 16th. He dropped bogeys on the sixth and 11th.

Mukesh said, “My putting was better today as compared to round one. I did not leave any putt. I also hit it quite close on the front-nine. It’s been a long time since my last win so I’m eager to make my lead count over the next two days.”

Om Prakash Chouhan’s (69-69) second successive 69 featured five birdies and two bogeys and placed him second at six-under-138.

Shubhankar Sharma of Gurgaon was the highest-placed amateur in tied third along with the Kolkata duo of Ranjit Singh Rathore and Md Sanju. The three golfers had identical totals of four-under-140.

Press release

90 of India’s best players to be part of Hockey India League players’ auction

NEW DELHI, September 12, 2012: All 16 members of the Indian team, which competed in the Olympic Games in London earlier this year, are among the 90 domestic players who have signed up for the Hockey India League Players Auction to be held next month in the run up to the prestigious six-team Hockey India League in January 2013.

Hockey India Secretary-General and HIL Chairman Dr Narinder Batra said the cream of Indian hockey, including the 32 junior players who were receiving a stipend of Rs 10,000 a month, had signed up for the HIL Players Auction. “We are delighted that the top Indian players will be able to rub shoulders with the world’s best during the Hockey India League,” he said.

Bharat Chetri, who led India in the Olympics, and PR Sreejesh are among the goal-keepers while drag-flick exponents Sandeep Singh, VR Raghunath and Rupinder Pal Singh are among the 14 backs. India vice-captain Sardar Singh leads the list of 25 midfielders while SV Sunil, Shivendra Singh, Tushar Khandker and Gurvinder Singh Chandi are among the 41 forwards.

“We are pleased with the progress of HIL. Sahara India, Jaypee Group and Uniexcel Group have already taken up HIL Franchises for Lucknow, Punjab and Ranchi respectively. We will soon announce the remaining three franchisees. We have released a list of 14 Pakistan players who have agreed to be a part of the HIL Players’ Auction and will soon announce players from other top hockey playing nations,” Dr. Batra said.

“We are confident that Hockey India League will succeed in capturing the imagination of the sports lovers in India and overseas. The fact that FIH (International Hockey Federation) has earmarked a window for the League shows its importance. It has evoked enormous interest among players and coaches and promises to be a one-of-a-kind event.”

Goalkeepers: Bharat Chetri, PR Sreejesh, P Thirumala Rao, Nanak Singh

Keerthi Mallesh Gowda, Keshav Dutt, Sushant Tirkey, Naveen Kumar, Subodh Tirkey,

Phirembam Bisham Singh

Defenders: VR Raghunath, Rupinder Pal Singh, Sandeep Singh, Harbir Singh, Rahul Shilpkar, Chandan Singh, Gaganpreet Singh, Sukhmanjit Singh, Hans Raj, Gagandeep Singh, Amit Rohidas, Sampath Kumar Maylaram, Sumit Topno, Vikramjit Singh

Midfielders: Sardar Singh, Gurbaj Singh, Danish Mujtaba, Birendra Lakra Jr, Ignace Tirkey, Manpreet Singh, K Kothajit Singh, Bipin Kishor Kerketta, MB Aiyappa, Pradeep Mor, M Gunasekar, Amit Kumar Malik, Captain Singh, Jatinder Singh, Manish Bishnoi, Jarmanpreet Singh, Baljit Singh, Surender Kumar, Harjeet Singh, Rocky Lohchab, Suresh Toppo, Saroj Barla, Gurinder Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Vikas Choudhary 

Forwards: SV Sunil, Tushar Khandker, Shivendra Singh, Dharamvir Singh, Gurvinder Singh Chandi, SK Uthappa, Sarvanjit Singh, Nitin Thimmaiah, Pradhan Somanna, Chinglensana Singh, Prabhdeep Singh, Akashdeep Singh, Prabhjot Singh, Yuvraj Valmiki, Gurmail Singh, Ranjit Singh, Dilbag Singh, Mohit Singh Thakur, Naveen Antil, Talwinder Singh, Tarandeep Singh, Amon Mirash Tirkey, Parvinder Singh, Vinit Kamble,  Vikas Choudhary, Stanli Victor Minz, Anup Valmiki, PL Thimmanna, Sukhdev Singh, Mandeep Singh, Malik Singh, Satbir Singh, Harsahib Singh, Vijay Thapa Amon

Lowrence, Munish Rana, Siddharth Shanker, Kiran Kumar Thockchom, KD Bidappa, Mikhail Barla and Arvind Kujur.

Hockey India Press release

East Zone Senior national hockey from September 13

Patna, September 12, 2012: East Zone Senior national hockey championships organised by Bihar Hockey Association, an affiliated body of the Indian Hockey Federation, will be held  from September 13 to 16 at BMP-5 hockey ground here.
Bihar Hockey Association secretary Yogesh Kumar said besides hosts Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and SAIL would take part in the four-day meet. The tournament will be held on league-cum-knock out format.

Nepal’s Shiva Ram Shrestha takes round one lead with a sizzling 66

Shiva Ram Shrestha of Nepal 

Gurgaon, September 11, 2012: Shiva Ram Shrestha of Nepal grabbed the first round lead at the PGTI Players Championship being played at the Golden Greens Golf & Country Club, Gurgaon, after shooting a sizzling six-under-66 on Tuesday. M Dharma of Bangalore was placed second at five-under-67.

Shiva Ram Shrestha was off to a splendid start as he sank five straight birdies from the 10th through the 14th. His putter was on fire as he converted a 12-footer on the 10th and followed it up with a 16-feet putt on the 11th and a nine-footer on the 12th. The professional from Kathmandu then landed it within five feet on the 13th and 14th for two more birdies.

A couple of bogeys on the 16th and first did not derail Shiva’s round as he landed it within eight feet for birdies on the third, fourth, fifth and seventh. Shrestha’s final bogey of the day came on the eighth. He thus finished the day with an amazing run of nine birdies against three bogeys.

Shrestha, a winner of seven professional events in his homeland Nepal, said, “My exceptional start set up the round for me. I’m very pleased with my effort because this is my best single round score on Indian soil. My hitting was good but putting was spectacular. I made as many as 10 one-putts today. I’ll now focus on capitalizing on this brilliant start.”

M Dharma’s round of 67 featured six birdies and a bogey. He is currently in second place.

Delhi’s Keshav Kapoor made an eagle, six birdies and four bogeys in his round of four-under-68 that placed him third. Kapoor made eagle on the second hole.

Press release