Photo: Aftab Alam Siddiqui
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
Kendriya Vidyalaya Kankarbagh in semifinals
Photo: Aftab Alam Siddiqui
Shankar Das wins McLeod Russel Tour Championship, earns Rolex Player of the Year title
Kolkata, December 28, 2014: Kolkata’s Shankar Das won
the Rs 1.5 crore McLeod Russel Tour Championship after his final round of
three-under-69 at his home course, the Royal Calcutta Golf Club (RCGC). Shankar
as a result of his win also topped the Rolex Rankings and bagged the Rolex
Player of the Year title for 2014.
Das totaled 16-under-272 for the week
to register the biggest win of his career.Kapurthala’s Gaganjeet Bhullar and Abhinav Lohan of the DLF
Golf & Country Club, Gurgaon, were joint runners-up at 13-under-275 as they
fired matching scores of 68 in round four.
Shankar Das (68-70-65-69), who started the final round with
a two-shot lead, came out a determined man on Sunday. Shankar’s burning desire
to win in front of his home crowd for the first time was reflected in his solid
start as he birdied the first hole from 20 feet. Das, who was also in search of
the Rolex Rankings crown, carried on the good work with another birdie on the
fourth hole.
The three-putt bogey on the 11th didn’t dampen
Shankar’s spirits as he hit an outstanding tee shot on the par-3 13th and
thereafter sank a 12-footer for birdie. The ever-smiling Shankar once again
seemed unfazed after the dropped shot on the 14th as he came back stronger
with birdies on the 15th and 16ththanks to some excellent wedge shots. The
31-year-old made pars on the last two holes to seal a comfortable three-shot
win and take home his fifth tournament trophy. Das thus earned a handsome pay
cheque of Rs 23,77, 500, the highest ever for a domestic tournament in India .
Shankar, who was ranked third in the money list at the start
of the week, finished with total earnings of Rs. 54,32,067 for the 2014 season
and therefore overhauled Bangalore ’s
Chikkarangappa S in the race for the Rolex Player of the Year. Chikkarangappa,
who finished fourth at this week’s event, ended the year with total earnings of
Rs 47,15,336 to claim second place in the Rolex Rankings for the second year
running.
“This is definitely the biggest win of my career. It’s
helped me become number one on the PGTI for the first time. It’s also great to
win on my home turf for the first time. The overwhelming support from the RCGC
members, my family and friends through this week played a huge role in my
performance. It’s been a tough time for my family this year. I missed about
four tournaments midway through the season due to my mother’s poor health.
However, I came back stronger on the tour with some good performances and top-5
finishes. It’s great to end the year with a win, my first in over 15 months. I
will now aim to use my country spot to good effect on the Asian Tour next
year,” said a beaming Shankar.
He added, “I didn’t bother too much about the leader board
today and focused on playing a good round. I was lucky to get off to a good
start with a birdie on the first. The birdie on the fourth really set up the
round for me as my confidence was soaring by then. The best shot of the day was
the tee shot on the 13thwhere I successfully negotiated a tough pin position.”
Gaganjeet Bhullar came into his own on the final day with a
68 that featured five birdies and a bogey. Bhullar did mount a challenge with a
hat-trick of birdies on the back-nine but Shankar’s late charge on the
15th and 16th put paid to Gaganjeet’s title hopes.
Abhinav Lohan also mixed five birdies with a lone bogey on
Sunday to end up in joint second along with Bhullar. Lohan, as a result,
climbed from 16th to seventh position in the final Rolex Rankings.
Gurgaon-based Shubhankar Sharma, the leader in the first two
rounds, fired an incredible albatross on the par-5 fourth during his final
round of 70. He holed his four-iron second shot from 224 yards to achieve the
rare feat. This was only the fourth albatross on the PGTI. Sharma secured sixth
place in the tournament as he totaled eight-under-280 for the week.
“It was unbelievable. I didn’t see the ball go in but I only
realized I had made an albatross when I was walking up to the green and my
playing partner Anura Rohana informed me that my ball was in the hole,” said a
delighted Shubhankar.
Kolkata’s SSP Chowrasia shared seventh spot with Sri Lankan
K Prabagaran at seven-undeer-281.
Arjun Atwal, another local favourite, ended ninth at
six-under-282 in his maiden event on the PGTI. He shot a final round of 72.
The 2013 Rolex Rankings champion Rashid Khan of Delhi , who equaled the course record of 63 earlier in the
week, was tied 10th at four-under-284 along with Sri Lankans Anura Rohana
and Mithun Perera and Delhi ’s
Vinod Kumar.
Kolkata golfer Rahil Gangjee was joint 20th at one-under-287.
Prize Presentation Picture - Caption:
Shankar Das (4th from left) receives the winner's cheque and
trophy from (L to R) Mr. Padamjit Sandhu, Director, PGTI, Master Akhil Khaitan
representing McLeod Russel, Mr. Rajeev Takru, Director, McLeod Russel, Mr.
Aditya Bajoria, Captain, RCGC and Mr. Uttam Singh Mundy, Director, PGTI.
PGTI Press release and photo
Sunday, December 28, 2014
Shankar Das surges ahead with timely 65; throws hat in the ring for Rolex Player of the Year title
Shankar Das
Kolkata, December 27, 2014: Shankar Das of Kolkata
fired a timely seven-under-65 to surge ahead in round three of the Rs. 1.5
crore McLeod Russel Tour Championship at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club (RCGC) on
Saturday. Shankar's three-day total now stands at 13-under-203 and he enjoys a
two-shot lead over his nearest rival Rashid Khan of Delhi who shot a 71 in the third round. Delhi 's Shamim Khan lies
third at 10-under-206.
Shankar's third round effort, the day’s joint best score,
meant he too emerged as a strong contender in the Rolex Rankings race besides
Rashid Khan and Chikkarangappa. Das is currently placed third in the Rolex
Rankings.
Shankar Das (68-70-65), who was overnight tied sixth, shot
his best score of the week on day three as he came up with an eagle and eight
birdies against three bogeys. Das, playing at his home course, began his day on
a bright note with an eight-foot birdie conversion on the first. He then
stumbled with bogeys on the second and third due to some errors in judgment.
The 31-year-old turned the tide in his favour with an eagle on the par-5 fourth
where he found the green in two shots and sank a 10-footer.
Shankar, a winner of four titles, then went on a
birdie-spree on the sixth, eighth, 10th and 12th after landing it
within six feet on all four occasions. His approach from 150 yards stopped
within a whisker of the hole on the eighth. The bogey on the 14th was a
minor blip as Shankar produced a fine chip shot on the 15thand two 25-footers
on the 16th and 18th to earn three more birdies.
“The bogeys early on were disappointing. On the second, I
didn’t go by my gut feeling as far as club-selection is concerned and ended up
with a poor tee shot. I then hit a half-hearted shot on the third. The eagle on
the fourth was the turning point for me. I knew I could pick up the pace from
there on. I then almost sank putts at will and fired a near-perfect approach on
the eighth,” said Shankar, who has posted seven top-5s on the PGTI in 2014.
He added, “I know I’m in contention for the Rolex Player of
the Year but I won’t let that distract me from my primary target of winning
this event. Even though I’ve done well in most events this year, I haven’t won
anything. There’s a burning desire to notch my first victory in over a year.
That thought will motivate me in the final round.
“I love the support I’ve been receiving on the course this
week. Both my kids have walked the course with me on all three days. Today they
were joined by my nephews and nieces as well. The RCGC members and my friends
are also constantly cheering me on. The tremendous crowd support did wonders
for my confidence today. I’d love to win my first event at my home course in
front of my family and friends,” said Shankar.
Rashid Khan (71-63-71), who matched the course record in
round two with a superb 63, had a relatively quieter day on Saturday as he
carded a 71. Rashid, however, hung on to his overnight second position at
11-under-205. He continues to be in the reckoning in the Rolex Rankings race.
Khan had a forgettable start as he bogeyed the first and
then found the water hazard to drop another shot on the third. He did pick up
five birdies thereafter but the double-bogey on the 16th, where he found the
hazard, put paid to his efforts.
Rashid, still a contender in the Rolex Rankings, said, “I
had a poor start just like round one. I did recover after that but the
double-bogey did the damage. A good start will be the key to my chances in the
final round as two shots is not a big lead.”
Shamim Khan returned a 69 to be placed third at 10-under-206.
Abhinav Lohan’s 65, the day’s joint best score along with
Shankar’s round, catapulted him from overnight tied 14th to tied fourth at
nine-under-207. The Faridabad-based professional had a run of five consecutive
birdies from the 12th to the 16th.
Gaganjeet Bhullar of Kapurthala also took a share of fourth
position after his round of 70.
Sri Lankan Mithun Perera (68) occupied seventh place at
seven-under-209 while the Kolkata duo of SSP Chowrasia (68) and Arjun Atwal
(72) were a further shot back in joint eighth along with overnight leader
Shubhankar Sharma (77) of Gurgaon.
Rahil Gangjee (72), another local lad, is in 11th place
at five-under-211.
Rolex Rankings: Shankar Das throws his hat in the ring
With Shankar Das taking the third round lead, it’s now
clearly a three-way race for the Rolex Player of the Year title between
Chikkarangappa, Shankar Das and Rashid Khan. The equation for the three golfers
to guarantee themselves the Rolex Rankings crown is as follows: Second-ranked
Chikkarangappa needs to finish at least runner-up at the McLeod Russel Tour
Championship while both third-ranked Shankar Das and fourth-ranked Rashid Khan
need to win the Rs. 1.5 crore event and at the same time hope Chikkarangappa
doesn’t finish runner-up.
PGTI Press release
Saturday, December 27, 2014
Ankita beats Katy to win NECC-ITF title
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Ankita Raina
Pune, December 27, 2014: Ankita Raina capped her tumultuous year with an inspiring straight set victory over Briton Katy Dunne to win the $25,000 NECC-ITF tennis title, a first for an Indian after a gap of 14 years, at the Deccan Gymkhana courts on Saturday.
Ankita made a positive start to the match and after Katy began throwing her frustration around the Indian grabbed the initiative to win the summit clash 6-2, 6-2.
Having played quite a few three-setters during the week, Ankita was ready for the worst, and that boosted her confidence by a few notches as she took control of the proceedings once Katy began falling apart.
The then National champion Radhika Tulpule had won the title in the inaugural year in 2001 when she beat Archana Venkatraman in three sets and since then four more Indians made it to the summit clash—Isha Lakhani doing it twice—but failed to get past the final hurdle.
“My goal now is to get into top 200 of the WTA Rankings. This year I was defending a lot of points of 2013 that’s why my rakings hovered around 290,” said Ankita after her win.
Ankita will move up in the 250-260 bracket after the WTA rankings are published on Monday as she won 50 valuable points for her title triumph.
“Since I was playing this final in Pune and with the kind of support I got from fans, I wanted to give my best,” said Ankita who now heads to Kerala for the National Games.
“Very excited to do it on home ground,” added Ankita.
The match began on equal terms as the two players held their own service games till 3-2 when Ankita broke Katy in the sixth game. She then took the seventh game at love before breaking the Briton again to wrap up the first set 6-2.
“When the second set began, I decided to hurry up the things. Even though I was broken in the opening game, I calmed myself down and waited for Katy to commit mistakes,” explained Ankita.
After Ankita lost her first service game in the second set, at 1-2 she shot back to bring the set on level when Katy double faulted.
The turn of things frustrated Katy and when she threw her racket she was given a warning by the chair umpire. Katy again double faulted in the sixth game when she was down 30-40 to hand 4-2 lead to Ankita.
The Indian then took the next game without much of a fuss and then earned two championship points at 15-40 before Katy returned long for Ankita to script 6-2, 6-2 win.
“It didn’t go as well as I had hoped for. I had a good week winning over better rated players, and I expected to do well today,” said Katy Dunne.
Prizes were given at the hands of Mr. BSR Sastri, GM, NECC and Mr. Mukund Joshi, Tournament Director.
Photo Caption 3: Winners with chief guests (from L to
R) Mukund Joshi, Ankita Raina, BSR Sastri, Katy Dunne and Sheetal
Iyer.
Press release
Manav wins maiden title; Archana retains sub-junior girls’ crown
Rajahmundry, December 27, 2014: Manav Thakkar of Petroleum
Sports Promotion Board Academy (PSPBA) beat Parth Virmani of Delhi 4-1 to win
the sub-junior boys’ title while Archana Kamath Girish of Karnataka downed
Varuni Jaiswal of Andhra Pradesh 4-2 to retain the sub-junior girls’ crown in
the 76th Cadet and Sub-Junior National Table Tennis Championships at the
Cherukuri Convention Centre here today.
PSPBA’s Jeho Himnakulhpuingheta defeated team mate
Alberto Lrruta 4-2 for the Cadet Boys and Delhi ’s
Vanshika Bhargava downed Diya Chitale of Maharashtra
4-2 in the Cadet Girls final for their maiden title-trophies.
Manav, having missed a golden opportunity at Ajmer , went on a cruise
mode despite his opponent matching him both in speed and agility to sew it up
rather nicely. The final saw fast-paced rallies and good strokes being played
as the full-to-the-brim hall witnessed a gripping final. Manav, who had a
fantastic season—he won all the four national ranking championships—and it was
showing in his game today. No doubt, Parth played a brave game but Manav was a
notch above him all the way through. Manav received a cash prize of Rs. 29,000
for his effort.
Triple for Archana
Archana Kamath Girish added the singles gold to the doubles
title that she won earlier in the day in the company of Kushi Viswanath. Three
days before she had annexed the team gold to complete a triple-crown feat here.
Today’s win was worth Rs. 24,000 in prize money.
The top-seed from Karnataka girl was under pressure as
compared to Varuni Jaiswal. With the crowd support behind the latter, Archana
had to muster courage after being 0-2 and come good against the Andhra girl who
had nothing to lose.
Archana, after losing the first two extended games, came
into herself to take the third game rather easily. That was the warning bells
for Varuni and understandably was forced into the back foot when Archana
started attacking, beautifully unleashing her forehand weapon and using the
flanks intelligently.
Yet, she was guilty of giving away some easy points to her
opponent. Nevertheless, she had the measure of her rival and levelled the score
2-2. Having accomplished the first task, she went on a rampage taking the fifth
and sixth without a fuss.
“The expectations were high and I was under pressure, to
start with. I am happy I was able to come back and retain the title. No doubt,
the doubles and team gold had given me confidence. It was a great experience
and a good season, too,” said the 14-year-old from Archana, who won her first
national title last year at Ajmer ,
brought back Karnataka on track. That was the first title for the state in 13
years.
Nail-biting finials
Earlier, in a fantastic nail-biting Cadet Boys final that
went down to the wire,Jeho Himnakulhpuingheta his PSPBA team mate Alberto
Lrruta 4-3 to justify his top-seed billing. Since the two boys, playing at the Ajmer Academy
The Results:
Sub Junior Boys: Final: Manav Thakkar (PSPBA) bt Parth
Virmani (DLI) 4-1 (11-9, 15-13, 10-12, 11-4,
11-13); Semifinals: Parth Virmani (DLI) bt Manush Shah (GUJ) 3-2
(11-8, 11-7, 11-8, 8-11, 12-10), Mananav Thakkar (PSPB-A) bt Sarthek Seth (UP)
3-1 (11-6, 11-4, 11-8, 11-4); Quarter Finals: Manav Thakkar (PSPB-A)
bt Subbramanian Ashwin (MHR-A)11-8, 11-5 , 11-1, Sarthak Seth (UP) bt Shivjit
Singh Lamba(DLI) 11-5, 11-5, 7-11, 7-11, 12-10, Parth Virmani (DLI) bt
Gurumurthy Chithresh (TN) 6-11, 11-3, 11-9, 11-3, Manush Shah (GUJ) bt Shaurya
Pednekar (MHR-A) 11-3, 11-3, 10-12, 11-8.
Doubles: Final:Manav Thakkar/Anukram Jain (PSPBA) bt
Shaurya Pednekar/Ashwin Subramaniam (Mah-A) 3-1 (11-6, 10-12, 11-7, 11-5).
Sub Junior Girls: (Final): Archana Kamath Girish (KNT)
bt Varuni Jaiswal (AP) 4-2 (11-13, 11-13, 11-7, 11-7, 11-6, 11-4,
11-8); Semifinals: Kamat Archanga (KNT) bt Srushti Haleangadi (MHR-A)
3-2 (14-12, 11-5, 11-8, 4-11, 11-4), Varuni Jaiswal (TEL) bt Anusha Anusha
Kutumbale(MP) 3-1 (11-5, 11-7, 11-5, 11-7); Quarterfinals: Kamath
Archana(KNT) bt Patwari Surabhi (WB) 8-11, 11-7, 11-13, 11-7, 11-3, Srushti
Haleangadi (MHR-A) bt Vanshika Bhargava (DLI) 11-5, 15-13, 11-4, Varuni Jaiswal
(TELG) bt Priyanka Pareek (RAJ) 11-5, 11-4, 7-11, 13-11, Anusha Kutumbale(MP)
bt Snehal Patil (MHR-B) 3-11, 12-10, 11-7, 11-5.
Doubles: Final: Archana Kamath/Kushi Viswanath (MNT) bt
Selenaddepthi S/Yashini S (TN) 3-0 ( 14-12, 11-4, 11-7).
Cadet Boys (Final): Jeho Himnakulhpuingheta (PSPB-A)
Alberto Lrruta (PSPB-A) 4-2 (10-12, 11-9, 11-6, 8-11, 11-4, 8-11,
12-10); Semifinals: Jeho Himnakulhpuingheta (PSPB-A) bt Jayabrata
Bhattcharjee (NB) 3-0 (11-5, 11-9, 11-5), Alberto Lrruta (PSPB-A) bt Satyam
Giri Gupta (UP) 3-2 (11-9, 7-11, 11-2, 3-11, 13-11); Quarter Finals:
Jeho Himnakulhpuingheta (PSPB-A) bt Sourajit Halder (WB) 12-10, 11-6,
11-9, Jayabrata Bhattcharjee (NB) bt Varun Shankar Balusuri (TELG) 11-9, 11-8,
11-6, Gupta Satyam Giri (UP) bt Riswav Dey (WB) 6-11, 8-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-5,
Alberto Lrruta (PSPB-A) bt Dev Shroff (MHR-A) 11-8, 10-12, 11-8, 11-8.
Cadet Girls: (Final): Vanshika Bhargava (DLI) bt Diya
Chitale (MHR-A) 4-2 (11-6, 5-11, 11-8, 11-8, 14-16, 12-10); Semifinals: Vanshika
Bhargava (DLI) bt Sharmitha Srinivasan (TN) 3-2 (16-14, 5-11, 11-3, 8-11,
12-10), Diya Chitale (MHR-A) bt Swastika Ghosh (MHR-A) 11-8, 13-15, 14-12,
14-16, 11-9; Quarter Finals: Vanshika Bhargava (DLI) bt Nithyashree
Mani (TN) 11-9, 11-9, 3-11, 11-7, Sharmitha Srinivasan (TN) bt Suhana Saini
(HRN) 11-2, 11-6, 11-9, Swastika Ghosh (MHR-A) bt Narang Laksita (DLI) 11-5,
11-7, 11-6, Diya Chitale (MHR-A) bt Kavyasree Bhaskar (TN) 11-2, 11-6, 11-9.
A TTFI Press release
Delhi keep a clean slate, Maharashtra win a tough battle
The other match in the boys’ section that attracted
attention were the ones between Jammu and Kashmir which the former won 25-23,
18-25, 25-27, 25-23, 15-09 after being taken the full distance. Most other
matches were stretched a bit but Assam downed Telangana 26-24, 25-16, 23-25,
25-23, Tamil Nadu won over Maharashtra 25-15, 25-15, 25-22, Gujarat beat Odisha
23-25, 25-18, 25-18, 25-12 and Rajasthan downed Haryana 25-23, 25-17, 19-25,
27-25.
In other pool matches, Manipur defeated Puducherry 25-27,
25-09, 25-10, 25-12, Chhattisgarh beat Goa 25-21, 25-21, 25-23 and Up accounted
for Kerala in straight sets of 25-13, 25-13, 25-12 and Gujarat posted a 22-25,
25-12, 25-10, 25-19 win over Himachal.
In girls’ matches, Haryana overcame a fighting Maharashtra
as the Delhi
neighbor won 25-16, 19-25, 25-21, 25-14. The other winners were Manipur against
Bihar (27-25, 25-15, 25-06, Chhattisgarh against Punjab 25-17, 28-26, 25-21
besides Telangana beating MP 25-21, 25-14, 25-04, Kerala winning over Punjab
25-14, 25-12, 25-14, Karnataka downing Uttrakhand 25-04, 25-11, 25-08 and
Punjab making amends with a 25-13, 25-10, 25-05 win over Bihar.
Karantaka won their second match as well beating
Chhattisgarh 25-22, 25-19, 25-22, UP beating Manipur 25-07, 25-06, 25-10 and
Telangana accounting for Uttarakhand 25-08, 25-11, 25-13.
With Delhi
being in the grip of severe cold, some of the players, particularly from down
south, were not only battling it out on the court but also the weather
conditions. Yet, there was no lack of enthusiasm among the members of all
participating teams and the organizers who are taking all care to keep the
players in the comfort zone.
Avdesh Coudhary, VFI president, is also overlooking the
arrangements made to take care of the players comfort along with organizers
Panthers Sports Society.
Press release
Delhi spikers have a mixed bag on Day One of National Sub-Jr Volleyball
But it was the match between Himachal Pradesh girls and
Andhra Pradesh that took the most attention which Himachal won in four sets of
25-17, 25-17, 20-25, 25-22.
But for this outing all other pool matches were more or less
one-sided with the fancied team cross the line without a hiccup in both
sections.
As for the Delhi
boys, their match was never a cakewalk but they had a very good combination
that helped them overcome a stiff resistance from Andhra boys. After taking the
first set with bare minimum points at 25-23, they made a strong comeback to
beat them in the next two rather easily. Price was the star cast for the Delhi team as his intense
spiking ability put the team ahead of their rivals.
Uttarakhand beat Goa in
straight sets of 25-12, 25-8, 25-23. By the time Goa
came with some kind of the fight in the last, it was too late and too little
for them. Similarly, Manipur downed Jharkhand 25-18, 25-18, 25-18 with the
latter not able to do much against a good northeast outfit.
In other girls matches, Maharashtra downed Odisha 25-4,
25-9, 25-5 and Uttar Pradesh defeated Bihar
25-4, 25-4, 25-6. Bihar proved to be a mismatch for UP as they kept spiking and
things were only made easy, thanks to Bihar ’s
loose defence.
Earlier, the championships were inaugurated by Volleyball
Federation president Avdesh Choudhary and secretary-general Ramavtat Jhakar.
The championships are organized by Panthers Sports Society
and the event is happening after 30 years in Delhi .
Rashid Khan matches course record with phenomenal 63 to move into second
Rashid Khan
Kolkata, December 26, 2014: It turned out to be an
eventful second day at the McLeod Russel Tour Championship as Delhi 's Rashid Khan matched the course record
at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club (RCGC) with a phenomenal nine-under-63 to climb
from overnight tied 14th to second place at 10-under-134. Rashid, currently
fourth in the Rolex Rankings, has now also emerged as a major contender for the
Rolex Player of the Year title. Gurgaon's Shubhankar Sharma maintained his
overnight lead after a round of three-under-69. Shubhankar is now one shot
clear of Rashid at 11-under-133.
Chikkarangappa of Bangalore, who closed the day in third
place at nine-under-135, continues to be another top contender for number one
position in the 2014 Rolex Rankings.
Indian golfing great and local favourite Arjun Atwal came up
with the day's second-best score of 66 to rise from overnight tied 22nd to tied
sixth at six-under-138.
Rashid Khan (71-63), a two-time winner on the Asian Tour
this year, followed up his sedate opening round of 71 with an incredible 63 on
Friday to match the course record which was earlier jointly held by American
Edward Fryatt and Arjun Atwal. While Fryatt achieved the feat during his 1997
Indian Open triumph, Atwal equalled the score en route a tournament victory in
2001.
The 23-year-old Rashid produced a hat-trick of birdies from
the fourth to the sixth, landing it within six feet on two occasions. This was
followed by three birdie conversions from a range of 15 to 20 feet on the
ninth, 10th and 13th. The icing on the cake for Rashid was the eagle-birdie
combination on the 15th and 16th. He hit an accurate three-iron second
shot from long range on the par-5 15th to set up his eight-foot eagle
putt.
“I had a feeling that I would shoot a six or seven under
today since I made some subtle changes in my putting stroke after yesterday’s
round. I made the changes as I needed to feel good with the putter. These
changes seemed to have worked for me as I converted some long putts in round
two. It’s great to equal the course record. I’ve always done well at RCGC, having
won two amateur tournaments here. I also won last year’s Rolex Rankings after
finishing sixth at RCGC during the 2013 edition of the McLeod Russel Tour
Championship. I’ll therefore head into the last two rounds with loads of
confidence,” said Rashid.
The prolific Khan added, “It’s been a terrific year for me
so far with three wins under my belt, including two on the Asian Tour. The
international exposure this year has helped me raise my game. I know I’m now
also in contention to retain my Rolex Player of the Year title, but instead of
focusing on that, I’d like to just play to my potential in the last two days of
the season.”
Shubhankar Sharma (64-69) mixed five birdies with two bogeys
to hold on to the lead on Friday. While the 18-year-old knocked in three long
birdie putts, including a mammoth 35-footer on the eighth, he also dropped two
bogeys as a result of errors in club-selection.
“My driving was probably better as compared to round one but
my iron-hitting wasn’t that great. I also didn’t enjoy a good start today. I’ll
look to improve on my iron-play in the next two rounds. I feel I just need to
keep grinding it out and make the first six holes and the last four holes count
as those holes present the most scoring opportunities,” said Shubhankar,
currently ranked 11th in the Rolex Rankings.
He added, “I held my own in a high-pressure situation at the
Panasonic Open last month by finishing fourth. So I know I can face the tough
challenge this week as well.”
The 21-year-old Chikkarangappa kept himself in the hunt for
the title this week as well as the Rolex Rankings crown after a round of 69
that placed him third, two strokes off the lead.
Gaganjeet Bhullar and Delhi ’s
Shamim Khan are joint fourth at seven-under-137.
The Kolkata duo of Arjun Atwal and Shankar Das occupies tied
sixth place at six-under-138. Shankar (70), currently third in the Rolex
Rankings, is also a contender for the Rolex Player of the Year title.
Atwal followed up his quiet opening round of 72 with an
error-free 66 on day two that featured an eagle and four birdies to gain eight
places from his overnight tied 14th position. Arjun landed his approach
shots within three feet for birdie on the 14th and eagle on 15th and
sank two long birdie putts on the seventh and ninth.
Atwal said, “I landed it closer today and my putting was a
little better as compared to round one. I’ll look at shooting a score of around
six-under in round three in order to stay in contention. I’m very proud that
our young golfers such as Rashid, Chikkarangappa and Shubhankar are playing so
well.”
Rahil Gangjee, another local lad, lies joint eighth along
with Delhi ’s
Chiragh Kumar at five-under-139.
PGTI Press release
Seeded boys hurry into pre-quarters; top-seeded girls get byes
Top-seed Manav Thakkar easily beat qualifier Rohit Karam of
Manipur for a clear 3-0 victory while No. 2 seed Manush Shah downed another
qualifier Nitin Singh from Uttarakhand by the same margin. It was the same case
with No. 4 Seth Sarthak of UP, who downed Mohsin Ahmed, No. 5 Snehit
Suravajjula of Telangana, who won against Punjab’s Sarthak Thakur, and eighth
seed Ashwin Subramanian of Maharashtra who posted also posted a 3-0 win over
Shaurya Gupta of Chandigarh and No. 7 seed Shaurya Pednekar of Maharashtra
scored a 3-0 triumph over Kabir Jain from MP.
However, the No. 6 seed from Delhi , Parth Virmani struggled a bit before
overcoming Saroj Siril of Telangana. The Delhi
boy won 11-9, 10-12, 12-10, 11-7. All the winners will play the
pre-quarterfinals tonight and three rounds, from quarterfinals onwards, on the
concluding day tomorrow.
But some of the matches between qualifiers had spectators
riveted to their seats as the one between Gujarat ’s
Kaushal Bhatt and Maharashtra B’s Gaurav Lohaparte in which the former emerged
winners with a 3-2 verdict. Kaushal struggled to find his feet in the first
game after being stretched by his opponent only to lose his second game. Then
Kaushal took the next only to concede the next before winning the fifth with
the least margin in the top half.
Then Kerala boy Mohammad Inush put up a brave fight against
Kashish Bhargava of Delhi
to win the match 11-9, 4-11, 11-8, 3-11, 11-8. In this match too, the Kerala
boy was 2-1 up but slackened a bit to allow the Delhi boy level the match 2-2. However, in
the end Inush played brilliantly when it mattered the most to sew his berth in
the pre-quarters where he will take on PSPBA’s Harsh Srivastava who had an easy
outing against Goa ’s Karthik Iyer.
Unlike in the Sub-Junior Boys section, the top eight seeds
in Sub-Junior Girls got first round byes and will be seen in action from round
two today. The main draw events in both the Cadet Boys and Cadet Girls sections
have begun and they will play the pre-quarters tonight.
The Results:
Sub Junior Boys (1st round):
Manav Thakkar (PSPB-A) bt Karam Rohit (MNP) 11-1, 11-4,
11-4, Sur Roy Siddhant (NB) bt Joshi Roshan (MP) 8-11, 12-10, 15-13, 11-7,
Chhabra Angad Singh (DLI) bt Bhaavanaka Vathsin (TELG) 11-8, 11-4, 13-11,
Kannan Shriram (TN) bt T. Saji Ajins (KRL) 11-7, 7-11, 11-7, 11-6, Regan
Albuquerque 11-7, 7-11, 11-5, 11-2, Goel Shubh (DLI) bt Vijay Kumar Malesh (TN)
8-11, 11-3, 10-12, 11-9, 12-10, Parekh Siddhant (GOA) bt Ishaan Hingorani (GUJ)
11-8, 11-2, 11-7, Subramanian Ashwin (MHR-A) bt Shaurya Gupta (CHD) 11-6, 11-6,
11-2, Snehit Suravajjula (TELG) bt Sarthak Thakur (PUN) 11-8, 11-3, 11-6, Bhatt
Kaushl (GUJ) bt Lohaparte Gaurav (MHR-B) 12-10, 6-11, 11-8, 8-11, 11-9, Lamba
Shivjit Singh (DLI) bt Gowthaman Sagar Piyus (TN) 11-9, 1-4, 11-9,
Bhattacharjee Jayabrata (NB) bt P.Jayasurya (AP) 11-4, 11-8, 11-9, Zamliana
John (PSPB-A) bt Raj Neeraj (KNT) 11-6, 11-8, 11-9, Gourang Shakreja (HRN) bt
Mahipal Sankket (TN) 11-6, 11-9, 11-7
Seth Sarthak (UP) bt Ahmed Moshin (ASM) 11-8, 11-4, 11-6,
Jain Anukram (PSPB-A) bt M.Eshwararao (ODS) 11-4, 11-8, 11-6, Gurumurthy
Chithresh (TN) bt Nalhotra Hrisshsikesh (MHR-A) 6-11, 11-6, 11-7, 12-10, Jain
Pyas (DLI) bt Srivastava Diyyansh (KNT) 11-6, 11-9, 4-11, 11-5
Jamadagni Rohan (KNT) bt Bodiwala Shivam (GUJ) 11-1, 8-11,
11-9, 11-5, DO Rosario Weslet (GOA) bt Dutta Manik (HRN) 11-5, 11-8, 7-11,
11-7, Somaiya Chinmaya Kapil (PSPB-A) bt Gangul Ayan (NB) 6-11, 11-6, 15-13,
12-10, Bokil Sanat (MHR-B) bt Jawahar Karan (TN) 11-5, 11-5, 11-6
Virmani Parth (DLI) bt Pala Parthi Saroj Siril (TELG) 11-9,
10-12, 12-10, 11-7, Pednekar Shaurya (MHR-A) bt Jain Akbar (MP) 11-6, 11-2,
11-5, Md. Inush (KRL) bt Bhargava Kashish (DLI) 11-9, 4-11, 11-8, 3-11, 11-8,
Gupta Satyam Girf (UP) bt Dey Arjit (NB) 11-1, 11-4, 11-9, Srivastava Harsh
(PSPB-A) bt Iyer Karthik (GOA) 11-8, 11-6, 11-7, Pandry Sameer (PSPB-A) bt Uday
Kumar U.Gokul (TN) 5-11, 6-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-3, Rane Tanmay (MHR-B) bt Malik
Yashansh (DLI) 6-11, 11-6, 7-11, 11-8, 11-6, Srivastava Adarsh (UP) bt Ch.V.S.
Sai Tejesh (TELG) 11-8, 11-8, 11-8, Shah Manush (GUJ) bt Gusain Nitin Singh (UKD)
11-4, 11-2, 11-6.
TTFI Press release
Friday, December 26, 2014
Shubhankar Sharma grabs round one lead with blistering eight-under-64
Shubhankar Sharma
Kolkata, December 25, 2014: The Rs. 1.5 crore McLeod
Russel Tour Championship, the year-ending event of the PGTI, got off to a
cracking start at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club (RCGC) on Thursday as teenager
Shubhankar Sharma of the DLF Golf & Country Club, Gurgaon, posted a
blistering eight-under-64 for the round one lead. Chikkarangappa of Bangalore
ended the opening day of the richest-ever domestic event to be staged in India , in
second place as he registered a score of 66.
Shubhankar Sharma, who at 17 years of age became the
youngest winner on the PGTI at Kochi in April this year, was in sublime form on
Thursday as he produced an incredible nine birdies against a lone bogey. The
eighteen-year-old was off to a solid start with three birdies on the first five
holes including a chip-in on the fifth. Shubhankar made the turn at five-under
after two birdie conversions from 10 to 12 feet on the seventh and ninth.
Sharma’s only bogey of the day came as a result of a lip-out
on the 10th but he came back stronger with four successive birdies from
the 15th to the 18th. He sank a 20-footer on the 17th and landed it
close to the flag on the 16th and 18th.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better start to the week. I was
striking it well and converting all opportunities on the greens. I’ve not been
doing well in the opening rounds of late but today I managed to overcome that
problem. But I know I can’t take anything for granted going into the next round
as every day is a new day in golf,” said Shubhankar, currently ranked 11th in
the Rolex Rankings.
He added, “I’ve got good memories of the RCGC as I won the
All India Amateur Championship here in early 2013 just before turning
professional. Those good memories could work for me this week.
“My success on the PGTI earlier this year and my consistent
performances on the Asian Development Tour have helped me grow as a player. The
fourth place finish in a strong international field at the Panasonic Open
recently has also instilled a lot of self-belief in me.”
Chikkarangappa got a head-start in the race for the Rolex
Player of the Year title after his opening round of six-under-66. Chikka,
currently placed second in the Rolex Rankings, ended the day in second place,
thus opening a huge gap between himself and Rolex Rankings leader Om Prakash
Chouhan of Mhow who shot a one-over-73 to be tied 27th. There is a gap of just
over Rs. 2 lakh between the two players at the moment. Chikkarangappa now has
the edge in the race for the top spot as the winner at this week’s event is set
to take home a prize purse of Rs. 23,77,500.
Chikka’s 66 featured an eagle, five birdies and a bogey. The
2014 Super Series champion almost holed out from 140 yards to set-up a tap-in
birdie on the 11th. The 21-year-old also landed it within 10 feet from 220
yards for eagle on the 15th. He sank two 15-footers on the 14th and 18th.
Chikka said, “The rough is up this week so there is a
premium on hitting the fairways. I missed just four fairways out of 16 today. I
know I’m one of the top contenders for the Rolex Rankings title but I won’t let
that dominate my thought process. I just want to play my best golf and enjoy
myself on the course.”
Kapurthala lad and winner of six international titles
Gaganjeet Bhullar mixed eight birdies with two bogeys and a double-bogey to
close the day in tied fourth at four-under-68.
Kolkata’s Shankar Das, who is currently third in the Rolex
Rankings, kept alive his hopes of topping the rankings as he too shot a 68 to
join Bhullar and Bangalore ’s
M Dharma in tied fourth.
Reigning Rolex Rankings champion Rashid Khan of Delhi was tied 14th after
a round of 71.
The Kolkata duo of Arjun Atwal (72) and SSP Chowrasia (73),
both of whom have enjoyed international success this year, were placed tied 22nd and
tied 27th respectively.
PGTI Press release
Promising young striker Akashdeep Singh idolises Sardar Singh
New Delhi, December 25, 2014: From playing a vital role
in putting India into the finals of the 17th Asian Games with a brilliant field
goal to bagging the ‘Best Junior Player of the Tournament’ award in the
recently concluded Hero Men’s Champions Trophy 2014, Akashdeep has them all to
his name and promises a lot more in times to come for Indian hockey as well as
the Hero Hockey India League which is just around the corner. Having given a
commendable performance in the last edition of the Hero Hockey India League,
Akashdeep even has to his credit of taking home the Ponty Chadha Upcoming
Player of the Tournament award for the 2014 season. With being applauded for
his performance post every tournament, Akashdeep will look at continuing his
form in the upcoming League and standing upto his Captain – Sardar Singh.
Akin to several other upcoming players, the 20-year old
striker looks up to the Indian Captain and midfielder Sardar Singh for
inspiration and encouragement. Playing under the very able Sardar Singh in the
Indian Men’s Hockey Team as well as in Delhi Waveriders, Akashdeep believes
under Sardar Singh he has had priceless opportunities to display his game-play,
observe and monitor the nuances, have his mistakes rectified and learn the fine
distinctions of the game which has helped him grow as a player in the last one
year. With such keenness to gain knowledge of the game and enthusiasm to play a
high-quality hockey makes Akashdeep Singh one of the most promising young
Indian players in coming years.
Speaking on his mentor and role-model Sardar Singh,
Akashdeep Singh said, “It has been a great prospect to play under Sardar’s
leadership and I am one of those lucky ones to not only play under his guidance
in the Indian Men team but even in the Hero Hockey India League where we are
with Delhi Waveriders. Watching him play as well as discussing the game with
him has helped me to learn a few tricks of the trade and has enhanced my game
immensely. He inspires me and many others to become the player we want to be
and make a difference to the game when on the field. I am really looking
forward to the League as we both personally are looking at a big challenge from
the rest of the teams and the aim to retain the title this year too.”
On the impending Hero Hockey India League, he further added, “I
have had amazing experiences at the last two seasons of the Hero Hockey India
league as it is one of those rare golden chances where one gets to play along
some of the finest hockey talents from world-over. One such player is Simon
Child and playing alongside him in the forward position has been a big
experience for me.”
Hockey India League Press release
Manav and Archana lead ranking charts
Manav leads the chart with 360 points, having been the most
accomplished player with four title wins in the National Ranking Championships
during the season. Similarly, Archana has accumulated 240 points for her two
title triumphs and one runner-up finish. The Karnataka girl had to skip one
national ranking event as she was representing Asia in the World Cadet
Challenge in Barbados .
Yet, her point position was such that the second ranked player, Payal Bohra of
Maharashtra was 60 points behind. The Maharashtra girl had just one title from
the Central Zone event held at Indore .
Behind Manav in the ranking chart was Manush Shah of Gujarat
followed by PSPB’s Anukram Jain, Sarthak Seth (UP), Ashwin Subramanian
(Maharashtra B), Parth Virmani (Delhi), Shaurya Pednekar (Mahrashtra B) and
Snehit Suravajjulu (Telangana).
In Sub-Junior Girls, Shrushti Haleangadi (Maharashtra),
Selenadeepthi Selvakumar (TN), Yashini Sivashankar (TN), Kushi Viswanath
(Karnataka), Priyanka Pareek (Rajasthan and Surbhi Patwari (West Bengal) are
behind both leader Archana and Payal to complete the top-eight ranked players.
With 56 and 52 groups in Sub-Junior Boys and Sub-Junior
Girls, all these top eight ranked players will be getting their first round
byes when the second stage matches begin tomorrow after the
completion of qualification matches tonight.
Both the Cadet Boys and Cadet Girls categories have 44
groups each and, like in the sub-junior sections, only one player from each
group will make it to the main draw.
Meanwhile, the doubles, which will be knockout events, will
be playedtomorrow in both sub-junior sections.
Ranking points:
Sub-Junior Boys: Manav Thakkar (360), Manush Shah (150),
Anukram Jain (135), Sarthak Seth (130), Ashwin Subramanian (120), Parth Virmani
(105), Shaurya Pedneker (90), and Snehit Suravajjula (85).
Sub-Junior Girls: Archana Kamath (240), Payal Bohra (180),
Srushti Haleangadi (180), Selenadeepthi Selvakumar (135), Yanishi Sivashankar
(135), Kushi Viswanath (120), Priyanka Pareek (120) and Surbhi Patwari (120).
A TTFI Press release
Maiden crown for Karnataka girls; PSPBA boys retain title
But it was Karnataka girls who won several hearts and maiden
crown in the sub-junior category in what was a fine come-from-behind 3-2
triumph against Tamil Nadu. Maharashtra A earned the Cadet Girls, beating a
determined Delhi 3-1 in the final, but their Cadet Boys could not replicate it
against PSPB Academy as the latter emerged 3-0 victorious.
Manav Thakkar was, understandably, the star of the evening
in PSPBA’s title triumph as he shaped the team’s fortunate by winning both his
singles and also the doubles in the company of Raegan Albuquerque. But PSPBA
lost their opening singles when SnehitSuravajjula easily defeated Raegan. But
Manav came in the way of Telangana to deny them what would have been a historic
occasion for a team that was making its maiden appearance. Nevertheless,
Telangana can take heart from the fact that making it to the final itself was a
great achievement.
Karnataka’s fortune turned around when both Archana Kamath
and Kushi Viswanath combined well in the doubles to bring some respite to their
camp. Normally a very dependent Tamil Nadu pair of Selenadeepthi and Yashini,
were taken to cleaners as the Karnataka duo won 3-1.
From there, it was Karnataka all the way as Archana beat
11-7, 11-4, 11-13, 11-7. The fast-paced match saw several rallies and good
strokes being played with Archana taking sweet revenge for her first singles
loss to Yashini.
With the team score level at 2-2, the onus was on Kushi to
bring out her best against Yashini, who is a higher ranked player. But Kushi,
shedding all inhibitions, went on the attacking mode right from the word go and
it paid her rich dividends and eventually the team. Attacking on both flanks
and playing close to the table, Kushi forced Yanishi on the backfoot and went
2-0 up.
But in the next game, Yashini came back very well and when
it looked as if she would take the rubber to the decider, Kushi played some
brilliant backhand shots successfully indulging in long rallies. What gave her
and team the power was Kushi managed to keep the ball in play and on the table
when it was needed to force her opponent commit the mistakes. Though she won
the fifth game by a minimum margin of 11-9, she deserved all the limelight
despite being in some discomfort during the final.
Win one, lose one
The Cadet Girls final too had all the thrills and it was
heartening to see both the Maharashtra A and Delhi girls putting up a great show. Delhi made a bright beginning with Vanshika Bhargava
winning her singles but Maharashtra ’s No. 1
player Swastka Ghosh pulled back with a convincing win over Laksita Narang.
Then she joined hands with Diya Chitale to win the doubles to up her teak 2-1
up before coming back to the table for the last time to win the reverse singles
and seal the fate of Delhi .
The Cadet Boys final was along the expected line as PSPB Academy
annexed the title beating Maharashtra A 3-0.
PSPBA were too good but credit should go to Maharashtra
for making it to the two finals in the Cadet sections.
In the semifinals earlier, Raegan Albuquerque played a
wonderful waiting game to launch himself into a memorable win that brought back
PSPBA from out of nowhere. Shivjit Singh Lamba was having an upper hand having
taken a 2-0 lead in the decider. But a cool Raegan held his nerve and not only
did he level but played brilliantly to put his side in the final and shut the
voice of vociferous Delhi .
But Lamba did all that he could, only in the first two games.
Results (Team Events):
Sub Junior Boys: (Final): PSPBA bt Telangana 3-1 (Raegan
Albuqueerque lost to Snehit Suravajjula 7-11, 11-13, 6-11, Manav Thakkar bt
Saroji Siril 11-9, 11-8, 11-2, Manav& Raegan bt Snejit& Siril 11-7,
9-11, 1214, 11-7, 11-3, ManavThakkar bt Snehit Suravajjula 11-3, 11-5, 11-4); Semifinals: PSPBA
bt Delhi 3-2 (Albuquetque Raegan Albuquerque lost to Virmani Parth 11-5,
8-11, 9-11, 7-11, Thakkar Manav bt Lamba Shivjit Singh 11-6, 11-3, 9-11, 11-4,
Albuquetque Raegan Albuquerque & Thakkar Manav bt Virmani Parth
& Lamba Shivjit Singh 9-11, 11-8, 11-7, 11-8, Thakkar Manav lost to
Virmani Parth 11-3, 9-11, 9-11, 3-11, Albuquetque Raegan Albuquerque bt
Lamba Shivjit Singh 11-13, 6-11, 12-10, 14-12, 11-8); Telangana bt
Goa 3-0 (Pala Parthi Saroj Siril bt Parekh Siddhant 11-9, 11-3, 11-3,
Fidel Rafeeque Snehit Suravajjula bt DO Rosario Wesley 11-3, 11-6, 9-1, 12-10,
Saroj Siril & Fidel Rafeeque Snehit bt Wesley & Parekh Siddhant 11-7,
11-8, 15-13).
Sub Junior Girls: (Final): Karnataka bt Tamil
Nadu 3-2 (Archana Kamath lost to Yashini Sivshankar 6-11, 11-6, 6-11, 4-11,
Kishi Viswanath lost to Selenadeepthi Selvakumar 6-11, 11-9, 11-5, 8-11, 9-11,
Achana&Kushi bt Se;lenadeepthi&Yashini 11-4, 11-9, 5-11, 11-7, Archana
Kamath bt Selenadeepthi Selvakumar 11-7, 11-4, 11-13, 11-7, Kushi Viswanath bt
Yashini Sivashankar 11-8, 11-6, 6-11, 11-9); Semifinals: Tamil Nadu
bt Telanagana 3-0 (Sivashnkar Yashini bt Garlapati Pranitha 7-11, 11-6,
11-6, 11-5, Selenadeepthi Selvakumar bt Jaiswal Varuni 8-11, 11-2, 11-6, 12-10,
Salenadeepthi Selvakumar & Sivashankar Yashini bt Garlapati Pranitha &
Jaiswal Varuni 11-9, 11-3, 9-11, 11-7); Karnataka bt Maharashtra A 3-0 (Kushi
Viswanath bt Bohra Payal 11-5, 12-10,7-11, 11-8, Archana Kamat bt Sruthi 11-7,
11-6, 11-7, Archana & Kushi bt Sruthi & Manushree 11-6, 10-12, 11-7,
11-4).
Cadet Boys: Final: PSPBA bt Maharashtra A 3-0 (Alberto
Lrruata bt Dev Shroff 8-11, 3-11, 11-5, 11-7, 12-10, Jeho H bt Deepit Patil
11-5, 11-7, 11-3, Alberto & Jeho bt Deepit & Ritwik 11-2, 11-9, 11-2); Semifinals: PSPB-A
bt Telangana 3-1 (Lrruata Alberto lost to Balasuri Varun
Shanker 11-9, 11-13, 4-11, 6-11, Himnakulhpuingheta Jeho bt
A.Advait 6-11, 11-9, 11-6, 4-11, 11-1, Alberto & Jeho bt Varun
Shanker & A.Advait 11-8, 11-13, 13-11, 11-9, Himnakulhpuingheta Jeho
lost to Balusuri Varun Shankar 6-11, 6-11, 7-11, Lrruata Alberto bt
A.Advait 11-7, 9-11, 11-4, 11-9); Maharashtra-A bt Tamil Nadu 3-0
(Shroff Dev bt Deenadayalan Vishwa 8-11, 11-7, 11-6, 13-11, Patil
Deepit bt Ganesh Varun 11-8, 11-511-8, Patil Deepit & Nagil Ritvik bt
Deendayalan & Ganesh Varun 6-11, 11-3, 11-6, 12-10).
Cadet Girls: Final: Maharashtra A bt Delhi 3-1 (Diya
Citale lost to Vanshika Bhargava 11-2, 7-11, 9-11, 11-8, 7-11, Swastika Ghosh
bt Laksita Narang 11-2, 2-11, 11-5, 13-11, Diya&Swastika bt Tisha
Kohli/Vanshika 11-9, 11-9, 8-11, 13-11, Swastika Ghosh bt Vanshika Bhargava
11-7, 11-3, 8-11, 11-7); Semifinals: Maharashtra-A bt Tamil
Nadu 3-0 (Chitale Diya bt Srinivasan Sharmitha 11-7, 11-8, 11-2, Ghosh Swastika
bt Baskar Kavyasree 11-4, 11-5, 11-9, Ghosh Swastika & Chitale Divya bt
Srinivasan Sharmitha & Baskar Kavyasree,11-5,11-7,11-3); Delhi bt
Karnataka 3-0 (Narang Laksita bt Joshi Aditi 12-10, 11-6, 11-8, Bhargava
Vanshika bt Manjuna Anargya 11-5, 14-16, 11-4, 11-4, Bhargava Vanshika &
Tisha Kohli bt Joshi Aditi & Manjuna Anargya 11-9, 7-11, 11-8, 13-11).
A TTFI Press release
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
Maharashtra A, UP scrape past MP and Goa; Assam suspended
Rajahmundry, December 23, 2014: Maharashtra A and Uttar Pradesh
had to bring out their best to outwit their rivals Madhya Pradesh and Goa and
enter the sub-junior girls quarterfinals of the 76th Cadet and Sub-Junior
National Table Tennis Championships at the Cherukuri Convention Centre here
today.
UP downed MP 3-2 in the top half and Maharashtra A overcame Goa by the same margin in the bottom. The other
quarterfinal winners included Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Telangana, Delhi , Karnataka and West Bengal .
The quarterfinal matches in all sections will be played
later tonight with the semifinals and finals slated for tomorrow.
Madhya Pradesh played as well as they could have done but in
the end it was UP that emerged the winners, thanks to Anusha Kutumbale who had
to share the major burden. Not only did she win both her singles, first against
MP’s Suhana Narjinary 3-2, but also against Saundarya Pathak (3-1). She and her
partner Khushi Jain, however, lost their doubles, which pushed the match down
to the wire. Suhana beat Khushi 11-8, 11-4, 9-11, 11-9 in the crucial decider
that clinched it in favaour of UP.
As for Maharashtra A, they were down 1-2 after they lost the
doubles and it was left to Srushti Haleangadi and Payal Bohra to put their best
foot forward to get them back into shape. After Shrusti won the first singles
against Urmila Mense 3-0, Tansi Kirtani restored parity by winning her singles
against Payal Bohra 7-11, 11-4, 11-6, 11-7. Then she combined with Urmila to
take the doubles against the Maharashtra pair
to go 2-1 up. But Shrushti beat Tanisi in straight games and Payal downed
Urmila in her reverse singles to cross the line.
But for these two matches, the other pre-quarterfinals were
more or less one-sided with the fancied teams making the grade.
In Cadet Girls, Assam was scratched despite the
team entering the quarterfinals by upsetting Maharashtra B 3-1 in the
pre-quarterfinals. Trisha Gogoi, who did the star turn for Assam , won both
her singles and then combed with Abrita Bhuyan to clinch the doubles. For
Maharashtra A, only Kheya Shah was able to win her singles against Abrita 7-11,
11-6, 11-7, 14-12. But Trisha, having submitted two date of birth
certificates—in both cases she was an eligible candidate to play in the Cadet
section—the team was punished by the competition manager Ganeshan Neelakanta
Iyer.
“This girl had registered with the TTFI with two birth
certificates. As a policy decision and as per our guidelines, she has to be instantly
penalized. That’s what we have done in this case,” said Ganeshan.
“Because this tantamount to cheating, we have scratched the Assam team. So
Maharashtra B will go through to the quarterfinals instead,” he added.
Meanwhile, the other teams that went through were Gujarat, Delhi , Maharashtra A, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh
and West Bengal .
Of all the pre-quarterfinals in Cadet Boys’ section, the one
between Telangana and North Bengal went the
full distance with the former winning the match 3-2, thanks to A. Advait’s fine
performance in the decider. The match was hanging in balance after the fourth
rubber which Telangana won when Varun Shankar blanked out Jayabrata
Bhattacharjee 3-0. This win must have given confidence to Advait as he overcame
a 1-2 deficit to win 11-8, 9-11, 6-11, 11-7, 11-8 to take his take into the
quarterfinals.
The other winners to join Telangana in fray were UP, Kerala,
PSPBA, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra A and Delhi.
There were no surprises in the sub-junior boys’ category as
PSPBA, Maharashtra A, Delhi, Gujarat, UP, Goa, Telangana and Tamil Nadu posted
easy wins over their rivals to enter the quarterfinals.
A TTFI release
PSPBA boys, TN girls have it easy in sub-junior sections
Led by Manav Thakkar, the team surged against Maharashtra
posting a 3-1 win and followed it up with a 3-0 thumping against Pondicherry . They have a
match against Manipur tomorrow but it will be a mere formality when they take
on the northeastern state.
With two teams making it to the second stage, which is the
main draw, the next team in line for the position seems to be Maharashtra B.
Though they lost to to PSPBA, they posted an easy 3-0 victory over Manipur and
are slated to take on Pondicherry
tomorrow.
Similarly, other group leaders were more or less identified
in the sub-junior boys section with the except of West Bengal, the leader of
group B, as Uttar Pradesh, North Bengal, Gujarat won two matches each while
hosts Andhra Pradesh—they are group E leader—lost both their matches to
Karnataka and Punjab. West Bengal boys lost their match to Maharashtra A but
beat Meghalaya 3-0, Uttar Pradesh, on the other hand, won both their matches
against Haryana and Madhya Pradesh with a 3-1 and 3-0 verdicts. Both Haryana
and Madhya Pradesh have posted a win each but the match between them will
decide who among them will make grade as the second team. Kerala have lost both
their matches to Delhi and Uttarakhand which
would mean that Delhi ,
with two wins, are bound to qualify while the second team could be Uttarakhand
from group G.
Host Andhra started on a wrong foot losing to Karnataka
boys. But it must be said to the credit of the hosts that their boys put up a
brave showing taking the match to the decider. On the other hand, West Bengal
surrendered meekly to both Maharashtra A.
In sub-junior girls, Tamil Nadu from group A are sitting
pretty with two victories over Goa and Uttarakhand in the three-team group.
Maharashta B from group C, North Bengal from group E, Delhi from group F and Karnataka from group H
have two wins and are sure to make the grade.
But in Cadet sections only one round having been completed
and two more rounds are reaming to present a clear picture who all qualify for
the second stage.
Sub Junior Boys Team Championships 1st Round
Group-A
PSPB –A bt Pondicherry
(3-0)
Thakkar Manav bt K.Ashwin Coumar (3-0) 11-5, 11-2, 11-5
Jain Anukram bt V.Annamalai (3-0) 11-4, 11-3, 11-6
Raesgan & Sameer bt K.Ashwin Coumar & V.Annamalai
(3-0) 11-7, 11-6, 11-8
Maharashtra-B bt Manipur (3-0)
Bokil Sanat bt Karam Rohit (3-0) 11-4, 11-8, 11-5
Rane Tannmay bt Konthoujam Kenao (3-0) 11-5, 11-7, 12-10
Bokil Sanat & Khinrasava bt Karam Rohit & Konthoujam
Kenao (3-0) 11-7, 11-9, 11-3
Group-B
Subramanian Ashwin bt Master Khamlianthanga (3-0) 11-6,
11-3, 11-4
Pednekar Shaurya bt C.Lalmuanawma (3-0) 11-3, 11-3, 11-5
Subramanian Ashwin & Pednekar Shaurya bt Master
Khamlianthanga & C.Laimuanawma (3-0)12-10,11-3.11-8
Halder Sourajit bt Ch.Marak Chesan (3-0) 11-5, 11-5, 11-4
DEY Riswav bt Dey Suranjit (3-1) 11-7, 10-12, 11-4, 11-5
Halder Sourajit & Ghosh Rudra Narayan bt Dey Suranjit
& Ch.Marak Chesan (3-0) 11-8, 11-9, 11-6
Group-C
Haryana bt Chattisgarh (3-0)
CHAND Anushul bt Ganguly Parag(3-0) 11-9, 11-3, 11-9
GOURANG Shakreja bt Pillay Anuj (3-0) 11-6, 11-4, 11-4
Sachdeva Rishabh & GOURANG Shakreja bt Ganguly Parag
& Pillay Anuj (3-1) 7-11, 11-6, 11-9,18-16
Uttar Pradesh bt Madhya Pradesh (3-0)
Set Sarthak bt Joshi Roshan (3-0) 11-4, 11-5, 11-9
Pallival Hardik b Choukse Tanmay (3-2) 13-15, 11-9, 11-8,
10-12, 11-3
Seth Sarthak & Paliwal Hardik bt Joshi Roshan & Jain
Kabir (3-0) 11-5, 11-8, 11-5
Group-D
North Bengal bt Chandigarh (3-0)
Bhattacharjee Jayabrata bt Sharma Sahil (3-2) 7-11, 11-9,
14-12, 7-11, 11-4
Sur Roy Sidddhant bt Shaurya Gupta (3-0) 11-7, 11-9, 11-3
Bhattacharjee Jayabrata & Sur Roy Siddhant (3-0) 13-11,
13-11, 11-9
Group-E
Karnataka bt Bihar (3-0)
Jamadagni Rohan S bt Mathuri Yogesh (3-2) 10-12, 11-6, 11-5,
10-12, 13-11
RAJ Neeraj bt Shivam Master (3-0) 11-6, 11-7, 11-4
Jamadagni Rohan S and RAJ Neeraj bt Shivam Master & Bhadouriya
Harsh Raj (3-0) 11-8, 11-4, 11-3
Saini Nikhil bt P.Jayasurya (3-2) 11-13, 11-6, 12-10, 5-11,
11-9
Sarthak Thakur lost to R.Saiswaroop (0-3)8-11, 6-11, 7-11
Sarthak Thakur & Saini Nikhil bt P.Jayasurya & R.Sai
Swaroop (3-1) 6-11, 13-11, 11-5, 13-11
Kumar Nikhil bt R.Sai Swaroop (3-2) 9-11, 11-9, 13-15, 11-5,
11-6
Group-F
Tamil Nadu bt Odisha (3-2)
Gurumurthy Chithresh bt Prusty Krishan (3-0) 11-9, 11-9,
11-5, 13-11
Gouthaman Sagar Piyush lost to M.Eshwar Rao (2-3) 9-11,
9-11, 11-5, 11-9, 9-11
Gurumurthy Chithresh & Jawahar Karan bt Prusty Krishan
& M. Eswar Rao (3-0) 11-8, 11-3, 11-9
Gurumurthy Chithresh lost to M.Eswar rao (1-3) 8-11, 7-11,
11-3, 8-11
Gowthaman Sagar Piyush bt Prusty Krishan (3-2) 11-13, 8-11,
11-4, 11-8, 11-8
Group-G
Goel Shubh bt Sharma Mehul (3-0) 11-6, 11-4, 11-7
Virmani Parth bt DEV Prabha (3-0) 11-4, 11-6, 11-7
Lamba Shivjit Singh & Virmani Parth bt Sharma
Mehul & RANA Gagandeep (3-0) 11-5, 11-4, 11-9
Uttarkhand bt Kerala (3-2)
Gusain Nitin Singh bt T.Saji Ajins (3-2) 5-11, 11-3, 6-11,
12-10, 11-5
Pandey Tushar lost to Md Inush (2-3) 14-12, 7-11, 12-10,
4-11, 5-11
Gusan Nitin Sinth & Pandey Tushar bt T.Saji Ajins
& Jacob Aswa (3-2) 11-8, 11-13, 8-11, 11-5, 11-7
Gusain Nitin Singh lost to Md Inush (1-3) 7-11, 1-11, 11-6,
11-13
Pandey Tushar bt T.Saji Ajins (3-2) 8-11, 13-11, 11-9, 11-8
Group-H
Shah Manush bt Narang Hardik (3-0) 11-7, 11-6, 11-3
Bhatt Kaushal bt Singh Tarun Deep (3-0) 11-4, 11-3,
11-3
Shah Manush & Bhatt Kaushal bt Narang Hardik & Singh
Tarun Deep (3-1) 11-4. 9-11, 11-5, 11-8
Telangana bt Assam
(3-0)
Pala Parthi Sarojsiril bt Gohain Agniv Bhaskar (3-1) 11-2,
11-4, 4-11, 11-7
Fidel Refeeque Snehit Suravajjula bt Ahmed Mohsin (3-1)
11-3, 10-12, 11-8, 12-10
Tejesh & M.Ali bt Gohain Agniv Bhaskar & Ahmed
Mohsin (3-0) 11-5, 14-12, 11-7
Sub Junior Girls Team Championships 1st Round
Group-A
Patwri Surbhi bt Erusu Anushareddy (3-1) 11-3, 11-9, 9-11,
11-4
Sen Prapti lost to B.Nagasravani (1-3) 5-11, 8-11, 11-9,
11-13
Patwari Surbhi & Sen Prapti bt Erusu Anusha Reddy &
B.Nagasravani (3-1) 11-7, 11-1, 5-11, 11-5
Patwari Surbhi bt B.Nagasravani (3-2) 9-11, 11-3, 11-9,
10-12, 11-8
Tamilnadu bt Uttarakhand (3-0)
Sivashankar Yashini bt Rawat Tina (3-0) 11-6, 11-3, 11-6
Selenadeepthi Selvakumar bt Saxena Vanishika (3-0) 11-6,
11-6, 11-6
Deepika & Kowshika bt Rawat Tina & Saxena Vanshika
(3-1) 11-7, 13-11, 5-11, 11-9
Group-C
Srushti Haleangadi bt Roy Khushi (3-0) 11-5, 11-1, 11-4
Bohra Payal bt Devrajan Varshii (3-0) 11-7, 11-2, 11-2
Sruthi Haleangadi & Manushree Sunil Patil bt Roy Khushi
& Devrajan Varshini (3-0) 11-4, 11-1, 11-4
Group-D
Assambt Jharkhand(3-0)
Baruah Prayshee bt Rai Awantika (3-0) 11-3, 11-0, 11-4
Gogoi Trisha bt Rai Hansika (3-0) 11-4, 11-3, 13-12
Gogoi Trisha & Phukan Parizat bt Rai Awantika &
Gupta Ishika (3-0) 11-9, 11-4, 11-5
Uttar Pradeshs bt Pondicherry
(3-0)
Pathak Saundarya bt R.Tehya Tanushri (3-0) 11-3, 11-5, 11-6
Narjinar y Suhana bt Amala Pankaj (3-1) 14-12, 11-7, 8-11,
11-8
Pathak Saundarya & Narijiinary Suhana bt R Tehya
Tanushri & Amala Pankaj (3-0) 13-11, 11-7, 11-5
Group-E
Sarkar Nikita bt Chaudhry Surbhi (3-0) 11-5, 11-8, 11-9
Kundu Rittika bt Bhandari Ishav (3-0) 11-3, 11-6, 11-5
Kundu Rittika & Sarkar Nikita bt Chaudhry Surbhi &
Sharma Shivakshi (3-0) 11-7, 11-5, 11-2
Telangana bt Haryana (3-0)
Varuni Jaiswal bt Paul Trisha (3-0) 11-5, 11-4, 11-8
Garlapati Pranitha bt Saini Suhana (3-0) 11-6, 11-8, 11-8
Varuni Jaiswal & Garlapati Pranitha bt
ManchandaNamya & Saini Suhana (3-0) 11-8, 11-4, 12-10
Group-F
Sachar Vanshika lost to Sharma Yashi (2-3) 11-13, 11-7,
8-11, 18-16, 8-11
Gupta Ishita bt Kashish Sahni (3-0) 11-2, 11-6, 11-7
Gupta Ishita & Ridhi Sethi bt Sharma Yashi & Kashish
sahni (3-2) 11-8, 9-11, 11-6, 5-11, 11-7
Gupta Ishita bt Sharma Yashi (3-1) 11-4, 8-11, 13-11, 11-7
Group-G
Kerala bt Bihar (3-0)
Treesha Cherian bt Bhawna Riya (3-0) 11-4, 11-4, 11-3
Baiju Riya bt Gupta Riyanshi (3-2) 9-11, 11-5, 11-5, 14-16,
11-9
Treesa Cherian & Baiju Riya bt Verma Tripi & Bhawna
Riya (3-0) 11-9, 11-4, 11-5
Group-H
Karnataka bt Madha Pradesh (3-2)
Viswanath Kushi lost to Kutumbale Anusha (2-3) 11-7, 11-7,
13-15, 5-11, 9-11
Kamath Archana bt Jain Khushi (3-0) 11-6, 11-4, 11-4
Viswanath Kushi & Kamath Archana lost to Kutumbale
Anusha & Jain Khushi (2-3) 11-5, 9-11, 12-10, 6-11, 9-11
Kamath Archana bt Kutumbale Anusha (3-0) 11-9, 1-3, 11-3
Viswanath Kushi bt Jain Khushi (3-0) 14-12, 11-3, 11-8
Meghalaya bt Odisha (3-1)
Aparajita Suryasmita lost to Sangmma Netra
Dechinga (1-3)9-11, 5-11, 15-13, 5-11
Basak Anannya bt Choudhury Anwesha (3-0) 11-4, 11-5, 11-5
Basak Anannya & Aparajita Suryasmita bt Sangmma Netra
Dechiga & Ch Marak Cheangchi (3-0) 11-6, 11-8, 12-14
Basak Anannya bt Sangmma Netra Dechiga (3-1) 11-8, 9-11,
11-4, 11-6
A TTFI release
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