Fully prepared to take on the opponents with our planned strategies: Ritu Rani

New Delhi, 26 April 2014: After the success story of the build-up games during the European Tour against Ireland and claiming the tour with a 2-0 win, the Indian Senior Women Hockey squad is all set and geared up for the 8th Women’s Champions Challenge 1, which commences this Sunday, April 27 in Glasgow (Scotland). 

While India will be playing its first match against Korea in Pool A, the team also boasts of 7 players Deep Grace Ekka, Monika, Lily Chanu, Poonam Rani, Vandana Katariya, Namita Toppo and P Sushila Chanu from the U-21 squad that bagged bronze medal in the Ergo Junior Women World Cup in Mönchengladbach, Germany last year alongwith the experience of Ritu Rani and Deepika who have played more than 100 international matches, the team is looking at putting up a great show during the tournament. 

Speaking on the expectations, Captain Ritu Rani said, “We are fully prepared for the Champions Challenge 1, it will be an exciting tournament with challenges while playing against top ranked countries of the world. Korea is a tough team but girls are fully confident of doing well. We will go by our planned strategies game by game.”

Speaking on the tournament and first match against Korea, Coach Neil Hawgood said, “We can’t take anytime lightly in this tournament, first game against Korea will be challenging as the opponents are coming off a 6 nations tournament against the top teams of the World in New Zealand. We also had good preparations before this tournament playing three matches against Ireland. As we prepare for Asian Games to be held later this year is a test of what we need to do to be able to direct qualify for 2016 Olympics in October.”

With the world’s top teams competing to lift the title of the 8th Women’s Champions Challenge 1, India which holds the current world ranking at 13 will fight their first match against Korea which holds the 8th rank in the world, which is scheduled for the 27th April 2014 at 21:00 HRS (IST). In their second match, India will face Scotland on 28 April 2014 followed by Belgium on 30 April 2014.

About Champions Challenge 1
Champions Challenge 1 started in 2001 and organised every two years will set the stage for one qualification sport at the illustrious Champions Trophy in 2016. Since 2011, the women’s competition has included eight teams from around the globe. Participants in the first-ever Champions Challenge 1 included Korea, India, South Africa, USA, Russia and inaugural Champions England. India finished its best at third position in the 2001 inaugural edition of the Champions Challenge 1.

Photo caption: India women hockey team practicing in Scotland.

Photo and Press release: HI

Upbeat Indian TT teams leave for Tokyo world meet

 New Delhi, April 26, 2014: After having spent quality time at an “intensive” camp for a fortnight at NIS, Patiala, the 10-member Indian table tennis teams is upbeat about their performance at the Tokyo World Championships to be held between April 28 and May 5.

The men’s team comprises A. Sharath Kamal, Anthony Amalraj, Soumyajit Ghosh, Harmeet Desai and national champion Sanil Shetty, while K. Shamini, Madhurika Patkar, Manika Batra, Pooja Sahasrabudhe and national champion Ankita Das will form the women’s squad. They will be accompanied by foreign coach Peter Engel and national coach Bhawani Mukherjee.

The team, minus Sharath Kamal, will leave for Japan today evening from here while the Indian spearhead will join the squad at Tokyo from Germany.

Talking on the preparations for the worlds, the German coach said that the teams have a “very good” chance of putting up a better show this time around. “Both teams had finished at 27 in the last worlds (in 2012) in Germany and I am sure they will do still better at Tokyo,” said Engel, now a resident of Barcelona in Spain.

The coach spoke highly of the “young team” with the experienced Sharath Kamal taking charge. 

“I am really impressed with the way the boys, particularly Soumyajit Ghosh and Amalraj, have been preparing at the camp. Even Harmeet and Sanil have been in great form. I want them to translate this form into winning matches at the Japanese capital. I have watched Sharath in recent times and, believe me, he is in a great shape,” added Engel.  

As for the girls, he said there was a great “team spirit” among them, adding he had been working on their better movements on the court and at the table. “Our training, apart from covering the technical and tactical aspects, also included about several sessions on better movements. I see vast improvements and they will do them a world of good at the championships,” he said.

Praising on the physical fitness, Engel said that Madhurika had shed five kilos and it would help her perform better. “Physical and mental fitness are the two aspects we put our emphasis on and they have yielded results. You will see a different Shamini and a leaner Madhurika from now on. We have two first-timers too in Madhurika and Manika for the world meet. I am sure they will also do very well.”

Combing back to the chances at Tokyo, both Engel and Bhawani Mukherjee said that India had a very good chance. The men’s team is in a far easier group than the women’s who have a big hurdle in Turkey.

The men’s team in Group F is pitted against Italy, Iran, Argentina, Australia and Paraguay while the women’s squad, in group G, has Italy, Turkey, Nigeria, Portugal and Bulgaria—all part of the second division teams with India taking top perch in both sections. The team that leads the group will automatically qualify for the quarter-finals and get byes into the draw of 16. Two other teams, making the cut from each group, will play the second stage which is the pre-quarterfinals.

The men’s squad will open their campaign against Argentina on April 28 in the morning while the women will have wait till the evening for their opening match against Nigeria.

A TTFI Press release

Chikkarangappa claims Surya Nepal Masters Trophy

Kathmandu, Nepal, April 26, 2014: Chikkarangappa S (69-65-67-72) of Bangalore lifted the Surya Nepal Masters 2014 trophy after defeating Kolkata’s Shankar Das (67-70-68-68) in a playoff at the Gokarna Forest Golf Resort in Kathmandu. Chikkarangappa and Das went into the playoff after both players ended up with the tournament’s best total scores of 15-under-273 from the regulation 72 holes. Abhijit Singh Chadha of Chandigarh and Faridabad golfer Abhinav Lohan were in tied third at 14-under-274.

Chikkarangappa and Shankar made pars on the first playoff hole but the second hole proved to be decisive as Chikkarangappa landed it within seven feet and sank the all-important putt for birdie even as Shankar missed his birdie putt from 15 feet. The 20-year-old Chikka thus bagged his second title and walked away with the winner’s cheque worth INR 4,84,950.

Earlier in the day, Chikkarangappa, the overnight leader by three shots, turned in a card of even-par-72 with three birdies and three bogeys. He started well with a birdie on the third but bogeys on the seventh, eighth and 14th seemed to have almost dashed his title hopes. However, the 2013 PGTI Emerging Player of the Year rallied with long birdie putts on the 16th and 18th to take the match into a playoff.

Chikkarangappa said, “It’s been a fabulous week. My good scores in the second and third rounds set up the win. I made some crucial putts today and didn’t let pressure get the better of me. I recovered well during regulation play despite finding the water on the seventh and hitting it out of bounds on the 14th. There were several contenders in towards the late stages of the final round but I just concentrated on taking the opportunities that came my way. I made a few changes to my game after my first win last year. The main alteration in my game was related to the position of my left hand on the club. The changes have helped me play better.”

Shankar Das, looking for his fifth win, posted five birdies and a bogey in his round of 68. Das, who was overnight tied third, was the leader on Saturday till the 17thhole before Chikka made a birdie on the 18th.

Former champion Abhijit Singh Chadha shared third position with Abhinav Lohan at 14-under. Chadha, who was the leader at one stage on the final day, fired a 68 on day four with six birdies and a double-bogey. Lohan shot a 70 on Saturday.

Local favourite Shivaram Shrestha produced the day’s joint best score, a five-under-67, to secure tied fifth at 13-under-275 and finish as the highest-placed Nepalese golfer. Panchkula’s Angad Cheema joined Shrestha in tied fifth after shooting a 68 in round four.

Press release

India, Ireland play 1-1 draw; India take series 2-0

New Delhi, April 19, 2014: The final test match between India and Ireland today ended in a draw with both the teams putting up a great show.  The match started with both teams on the attack and trying to convert the chances that they were getting. It was Ireland in the 7th minute opened the score card through Anna O'Flanagan. India equalized in the 31st minute through Chan Chan Devi which helped the team to end the first half with 1-1 on the scoreboard.

In the second half both the team put up their optimum pressure to take lead and eventually India succeeded by scoring from a penalty corner and Chan Chan Devi scoring her second goal. However, Ireland equalized in the 64th minute. The first shot was well saved by Goalkeeper Savita but the rebound went straight to Anna O'Flanagan and she put the ball behind the net helping her team to level the scores.

India end their preparatory tour on a high by winning the 3 matches test series by 2 win and a draw. The win will give the Indian women hockey team a huge confidence before heading to Scotland for the Champions Challenge 1 which is to be played in Glasgow, between 27th of April and 4th May.

Results: India 2 Chan Chan (31 min) vs Ireland 2 Anna O'Flanagan (7, 64 min)

TTFI engages N Korean coaches to train youngsters

New Delhi, April 19, 2014: The Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) has yet again engaged two foreign coaches—An Jong Son and Kim Song Han from North Korea—to help its states units conduct training sessions for junior paddlers during summer vacation.

The hiring of foreign coaches, part of TTFI’s annual developmental programme that began three years ago, has been a great hit with young players who have benefitted from their training methods in the last two seasons. The two coaches will be here for nearly three months and help conduct camps in more than half a dozen states this year.

Both Son and Han were here last year and held three-week camps at Agra at the behest of UP Table Tennis Association and at Guwahati, following a request from the Assam Table Tennis Federation. As per the feedback from the two states, the coaches were too good and provided a lot of inputs to local coaches besides coaching their state players during their stay in 2013.

Son has been the chief coach of the North Korean national team in 2011 and 2012. But he had trained their top team at Pyongyang between 2005 and 2010 before being elevated as the chief coach. It is interesting to note that one of his wards had defeated Soumyajit Ghosh at the London Olympics two years ago. As for Han, he had coached the state university team before being appointed as the chief coach of the nation’s youth team from 2009 to 2012.

The TTFI, which considered the feedback, has again entrusted this year’s summer’s training camps—to be held at Delhi, Sonepat, Manipur, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, West Bengal and Karnataka—to the two coaches following demands from others states as well.

The Delhi camp has already begun and several youngsters are reaping the benefit from the knowledge and skills of the two coaches. Unlike last year, requests have poured in from more states and the TTFI is trying to help them with at least a two-week camp so that more and more players from states take advantage of their presence.

“The success of these camps (conducted by the coaches) has forced us to engage them year after year and I am happy that more demands are coming in. The two North Koreans are very good in their job and it’s worth money that we pay to them,” said Dhanraj Choudhary, secretary-general of the TTFI. “I am impressed with their dedication and methods of coaching which helps youngsters adapt things easily,” Choudhary added.

Incidentally, the TTFI pays the two coaches a substantial fee besides taking care of their travel to and from Pyongyang. The local hospitality and training fee for the duration hired are borne by the state units that engage them.

A TTFI Press release