Arshdeep Tiwana emerges round two leader at Karnal

Arshdeep Tiwana 

Karnal, Haryana, June 25, 2014: Arshdeep Tiwana of the Golden Greens Golf & Country Club, Gurgaon, took the sole second round lead at the PGTI Feeder Tour event at the Madhuban Meadows Golf Course in Karnal. Tiwana shot a two-under-66 at the par-68 course to end up with a two-day total of seven-under-129. Delhi’s Suleman Ali, Pradeep Kumar of Noida and Pune’s Dinesh Raghuvanshi are all in tied second place at six-under-130.

The cut was declared at three-over-139. Forty-six professionals made the cut.

Arshdeep Tiwana (63-66), the overnight joint leader, grabbed the sole lead on day two after firing a 66 that included seven birdies and five bogeys. Tiwana was off to a slow start as he dropped four bogeys and made a lone birdie on the front-nine. Arshdeep turned it around with a brilliant back-nine. He birdied the 12th and 13th before losing a shot with a bogey on the 14th. The 25-year-old Gurgaon-based professional closed the round in style with birdies on the last four holes.  

“I wasn’t at my best on the front-nine as I dropped far too many shots. But the back-nine was a different story altogether. I sank a 15-footer to pick up a stroke on the 13th and drove it really well on the last four holes to set up comfortable chip-putt birdies. My caddie egged me on to play better on the back-nine and that helped my cause. I’ve set myself up nicely for the last round and would look to capitalize on each opportunity that comes my way,” said Tiwana, a former winner on the Feeder Tour.

Suleman Ali leapfrogged from overnight tied 22nd to tied second place after returning the tournament’s joint best score of six-under-62. His round featured seven birdies and a bogey. Dinesh Raghuvanshi, the overnight joint leader, and Pradeep Kumar also joined Suleman in tied second. Raghuvanshi shot a 67 on day two while Pradeep fired a 65 to rise from overnight seventh to joint second.

Raju Singh of Noida, Ravi of Chandimandir, Haryana and Kolkata’s Samaresh Sardar are in tied fifth at five-under-131.

Aditya Bhandarkar of Pune, who also fired the tournament’s joint best score of six-under-62 on Wednesday, is a further shot back in eighth place. Bhandarkar made an eagle, seven birdies and three bogeys in round two.

Karnal golfer Maniram Sharma (five-over-141) missed the cut.

Indian challenge at Japan Open ends

New Delhi, June 21, 2014: Indian challenge at the 2014 ITTF World Tour Japan Open Superseries came to an end when Jun Mizutani beat Achanta Sharath Kamal 11-4, 11-5, 11-6, 13-11 in the pre-quarterfinals of the $300,000 event this afternoon.

Earlier in the morning, Soumyajit Ghosh exited from the semifinals, going down in straight games to Hugo Calderano of Brazil in the u-21 singles. The Brazilian, who won 11-9, 11-8, 11-4, 11-6 at Yokohama, has come a long way from his early shaky appearances to beat the Indian.

It was no shame for the top-ranked Indian in the world to go down to the higher-ranked Japanese, but what was disturbing was the meek surrender of Sharath Kamal. In fact, the Indian was kept on a tight leash right from the beginning by the classy Japanese and it took the toll on a normally fighting Sharath Kamal. Unfortunately, the Indian was rendered clueless on the day as Mizutani kept exploiting Sharath’s weak backhands.

As for the u-21 semifinals, Hugo was all concentration on the day and it showed in his game. Matching stroke for stroke, he did not give much leeway to the Indian who seemed good in the first two games. Ghosh, however, could not sustain the pace needed to outwit the Brazilian who was clinical in his approach throughout the semifinal match.

Ghosh admitted to his folly of not continuing with his attacking game. “I made far too many mistakes and could not reply as well as I should have to my rival. He seized the chances and scored many winners of my negative play,” said Ghosh, who had beaten Hugo in the Brazil Open two years ago in the pre-quarterfinals.

Peter Engel, the foreign coach, was happy with the way the Indians had prepared for the CWG Glasgow. “The twin tour of Korea and Japan has given our paddlers a very good match practice and they have done reasonably well in the two top-class events. I am happy for their good showing,” said the coach.

India’s men paddlers will return to India before departing for the Commonwealth Games next month. Meanwhile, the women paddlers who are training in China too will join them after their training stint.

TTFI Press release

Ghosh enters U-21 semifinals at Japan Open

New Delhi, June 20, 2014: Soumyajit Ghosh beat Harmeet Desai 4-1 in the quarterfinals of the U-21 2014 ITTF World Tour Japan Open Super Seires Table Tennis Championships at Yokohama today. The former national champion will take on Hugo Calderano of Brazil in the semifinals tomorrow. The Brazilian defeated Japanese Asuka Sakai 4-3 to enter the semifinal.

Ghosh, who was on a rampage, just took 35 minutes to complete a 11-13, 11-7, 11-6, 11-8, 11-5 to grab the semifinal spot with both hands, despite losing the first extended game. Earlier, Harmeet Desai had beaten Kit Kwan Ho of Hong Kong 5-11, 11-3, 11-9, 11-4 to earn a quarterfinal meeting with Ghosh.

In the men’s section, only Achanta Sharath Kamal made it to the pre-quarterfinals after beating Kirill Skachkov of Russia in the round of 32. The Indian will take on Japanese Jun Mizutani, who downed Chinese Jingkun Liang 11-7, 11-8, 9-11, 11-5, 11-8.

In the morning, Ghosh could not match the kind of aggression that he showed in the u-21 event and went down to Peng Tang of Hong Kong in the men’s singles. The Indian lost 2-4 (12-10, 8-11, 9-11, 11-9, 5-11, 2-11).

A TTFI Press release 

Akshay Sharma’s timely eagle helps him clinch a playoff victory against Rahul Bajaj in Jaipur

Jaipur, June 20, 2014: Chandigarh’s Akshay Sharma landed his first ever title in scintillating fashion at the PGTI Feeder Tour event played at the Rambagh Golf Club in Jaipur. The 23-year-old produced a well-timed eagle to beat Rahul Bajaj of Noida on the second playoff hole.

Akshay Sharma (70-69-67) and Rahul Bajaj (67-73-66) went into the playoff having ended the regulation 54 holes with the joint best tournament totals of four-under-206.

Sharma, who was overnight tied fifth, began the day with four pars before picking up birdies on the fifth and eighth thanks to some good drives. He then hit a rough patch as he bogeyed the ninth and 10th. The Chandigarh lad came back strongly by converting a crucial 35-footer for birdie on the 16th and following that up with two brilliant drives to set up birdies on the 17th and 18th as well.

Akshay’s inspiring hat-trick of birdies on the last three holes helped him end up with a three-under-67 for the day that resulted in a playoff between him and Rahul Bajaj. The two players made pars on the first playoff hole, before Sharma finally sealed the title with a 20-feet eagle conversion on the second playoff hole.  

Akshay, who finished fourth on the Feeder Tour Order of Merit last year, said, “It’s an unbelievable feeling to win my first title and that too with an eagle in the playoff. It’s a dream finish for me. I’ve come close on a few occasions in the past but finally getting a win under my belt is a big confidence-booster for me. I drove the ball really well today to set up quite a few birdies. My putting was also much better than the first two days. I just got on a roll after the long birdie putt on the 16th.

“Interestingly, I had finished runner-up to Rahul Bajaj on the Feeder Tour at this very venue two years back after having lead by three strokes at the turn on the final day.

“I would like to thank my coach Mr. Jesse Grewal for his guidance and the Chandigarh Golf Club for providing me with a new golf set recently. I would also like to thank my fellow professionals and seniors on the tour Ajeetesh Sandhu, Sujjan Singh, Gurbaaz Mann and Shamim Khan who have all helped and supported me from the time I turned professional,” said Sharma, who has now taken the lead in the Feeder Tour Order of Merit for 2014.

Rahul Bajaj, a winner at the Feeder Tour event in Jaipur in 2012, posted his best score of the week, a four-under-66, in round three. Bajaj, who was overnight tied eighth, emerged as a strong contender with four birdies and a bogey on the front-nine but could not drive home the advantage as he added just one more birdie on the back-nine.

Rajesh Kumar Rawat of Lucknow finished third at three-under-207 while local favourite Vishal Singh was a further shot behind in tied fourth along with Manoj Kumar, another Lucknow golfer.

Chandigarh’s K Raghav Bhandari signed the best card of the week, a five-under-65, to secure sixth place at one-under-209.

Photo caption: Akshay Sharma receives the winner's cheque and trophy from (right to left) Giriraj Singh, Captain, Rambagh Golf Club, Uttam Singh Mundy, Director, PGTI and Sampath Chari, Tournament Director, PGTI.

PGTI Press release and photos 

Hockey India appoints Baskaran as manager, High Performance (South Zone)

New Delhi, June 18, 2014: With an aim to find fresh talents in the country and to benefit the game at all levels, Hockey India today announced the appointment of Olympic gold medalist V Baskaran as the Manager, High Performance (South Zone) Hockey India. He will be working under Director High Performance Roelant Oltmans.

Former coach of the senior men hockey team, V Baskaran will be working in the direction of implementing the Hockey India development programme as part of overall High Performance programme for men and women hockey at the grassroots level including school, college and district level hockey in the South Zone of the country. Baskaran will closely work with Hockey India State Member Units to ensure consistency and delivery of Hockey India High Performance coaching programmes. Also, he will monitor and evaluate the performance of coaches in Hockey India Member Units and Academies and identify the talent for elite coaching opportunities. In consultation with Director, High Performance, Baskaran will create, maintain and develop technical content for dissemination. Apart from it all, he will also look to identify junior and sub junior players who can be further brushed up for the national program.

Baskaran is set to take charge of his responsibilities, in his new role as the Manager, High Performance (South Zone) Hockey India, starting 1st July 2014. He will be responsible for the South Zone which comprises of Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andaman and Nicobar, Puducherry, Telangana and Seemandhra.

Dr. Narinder Batra, secretary general Hockey India said “I welcome V Baskaran as Manager, High Performance (South Zone). He has joined at an opportune time when hockey as a sport is regaining acceptance and there is increasing interest among youth to associate with the sport. His appointment is another step taken by Hockey India to promote the hockey at the grassroots level. Baskaran will also help to identify young talent”.

Speaking on his appointment Baskaran said “I thank Hockey India for giving me an opportunity to work in the grassroots of South Zone. I am sure that under the guidance of Director High Performance Roelant Oltmans and with the support of Hockey India Member Units and Academies, we will successfully implement Hockey India High Performance programmes in our areas which will further help us to find young talent”.

Baskaran who was the captain of the team that won the gold medal at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow has 287 internationals caps and has represented India in the Olympic Games in 1976 Montreal, two World Cups in 1973 Amsterdam (Silver) and in 1978 Buenos Aires, two Asian Games in 1974 Tehran (Silver) and in 1978 Bangkok (Silver) and Champions Trophy in 1978 Pakistan (Bronze).

Baskaran coached the senior men national team for ten years. Under his coaching India had played 187 matches including major tournaments such as the Olympic Games in 2000 (Sydney), two World Cups in 1998 in Utrecht and 2006 in Germany, Asian Games 2006 in Doha, Junior World Cup in 1997 in Milton Keynes (Silver) and Champions Trophy in 1997 in Chennai.  In 1980, he received the Arjuna Award and in the next year he received Padamshri Award.

Hockey India Press release