BAI announces cash award of Rs 10 lakh for PV Sindhu

New Delhi, November 30, 2015: Indian badminton witnessed yet another memorable occasion as World No.12  PV Sindhu went on to register her third consecutive win of the women’s singles title of the Macau Open Grand Prix Gold as she successfully defended the Champion’s tag. Congratulating the young player on her momentous victory, Badminton Association of India has announced a cash price of Rs. 10,00,000/-.

Speaking on the announcement, Dr. Akhilesh Das Gupta, President, Badminton Association of India said, “She has yet again made us proud because of her play and determination to prove herself on the International platform. We were confident that she will retain the title and she has stood up to our expectations from her as a player who has a bright future ahead. We at Badminton Association of India are proud of her and wish her to win more such tournaments in the future”.

Playing her finale clash against World No. 6 Japan's Minatsu Mitani, Sindhu gave a brave fight to her opponent as she went on to win the match 21-9, 21-23, 21-14. It was the Indian who dominated the entire proceedings, keeping her opponent on the back-foot and not allowing a single opportunity to her to bounce back in the all important clash.

BAI release

Great Britain shock Australia, Belgium outplay Canada

Raipur, November 29, 2015: On Day 3 of the Hero Hockey World League Final 2015, Belgium found form with a big win over Canada while Great Britain stole headlines with an impressive victory over world number one Australia here on Sunday.

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The first match of the day saw Belgium’s Red Lions take on the Canada’s Red Caribous, with the Europeans emerging as 7-2 winners in a Pool A encounter that saw Jerome Truyens marked his 300th senior international appearance with a goal.

Belgium were in sparkling form in the first quarter, powering in four fantastic goals through Sebastien Dockier, Florent van Aubel and Thomas Briels before Truyens – who was also named Hero Man of the Match - netted in his milestone game. Canada were vastly improved in the second and third quarters, with Mark Pearson pulling a goal back ahead of a beautiful flicked finish from Devohn Noronha Teixeira. However, Belgium moved back into top gear in the final quarter, with Arthur van Doren and Tom Boon on target before van Aubel claimed his second to give the Red Lions their first win of the competition.

“It is always great to have a win in such circumstances, and also to score”, said 28-year-old Truyens, who started his international career in 2004, after the game. “The fact that my team has won and everyone has been congratulating me has been really special. You always want to score on such occasions, so I am happy that I have done that. What matters is the three points today.”

Canadian captain Scott Tupper said: "There were some part of the game when we played quite well, which is of course tough to say when you have lost 7-2. But we did play two of the four quarters very well. Hopefully we can build on that moving forward, and aim at keeping our game at a high level during the full 60 minutes."

Also in Pool A, Great Britain claimed a 5-2 victory over reigning world champions Australia, a result which moved the Brits onto six points.

Henry Weir and Chris Grassick were both on target for GB in the first quarter, before Jeremy Hayward pulled a goal back for the top ranked Kookaburras two minutes into the second period. However, an Ian Sloan penalty corner restored Great Britain’s two goal cushion with David Condon pouncing moments after half time to establish a 4-1 advantage against the illustrious Australians. A brilliant backhand strike from Matt Gohdes early in the second quarter gave the Aussies hope, but a Phil Roper strike sealed an impressive win and put Great Britain clear at the top of Pool A.

“We had to defend well at the end but you are always going to have to do that against Australia”, said Great Britain Head Coach Bobby Crutchley, reflecting on the match.

“We don’t just want to be known for one result, we want to keep going. I’ve learned a lot about them tonight that has really impressed me, and I’ll learn more about how they show up for the next game. That is because after a good win it is often the next game that is the biggest challenge.”

“We were off the pace today”, said Australia goalkeeper Andrew Charter, who made his 100th international appearance for the Kookaburras in the match. “We were a bit sluggish and GB came out with a little bit more pep than they have done against us for a while, and they really punished us for it. We’ll go back and learn a few things from this and look towards the next matches.”

Results – Day 3
Pool A:
Belgium 7, Canada 2
Hero Man of the Match: Jerome Truyens (BEL)

Australia 2, Great Britain 5
Hero Man of the Match: Dan Fox (GBR)

FIH Press release

Puia wins maiden title, Manika stamps her authority yet again

Dharamshala, November 29, 2015: Mizoram’s Lalrin Puia and Delhi’s Manika Batra claimed the Youth Boys and Youth Girls titles, beating PSPBA’s Manav Thakkar and West Bengal’s Kaushani Nath in the 77th Junior and Youth National Table Tennis Championships at the Indoor Stadium here today. Both winners secured a similar 4-1 verdict to stamp their authority.

It was the first title for Puia, the PSPBA boy who turned out for his state, and came in what turned out to be a one-sided affair against Manav, who was tired after the Junior Boys final. The former, a defensive player, wore out Manav leading 3-1 before shutting his opponent out in the fifth game itself.

Manika, who has had a fantastic season, proved her mettle yet again beating the West Bengal girl after some struggle despite leading 3-0.  Kaushani tried really hard and brought down the margin but could nto stop Manika, whose calculated attack and defence paid off in the end.

Pande was up 2-0 but Manav made a quick recovery to equalize. However, Siddesh upped the ante in the fifth and sixth games, countering brilliantly. The counter did work to his advantage and Manav was wilting. Taking the cue, Pandey unleashed some excellent forehands, particularly in the sixth when he was 2-4 down. He made it 4-4 and then went from strength to strength to win 11-8 for his maiden national title.

Unfortunately, last year’s champion Manav had to be satisfied with the silver medal.

Kaushani Nath led 3-1 and was just a game away from title when Selenadeepthi found her rhythm going to catch up fast with her rival in the final. In fact, the Tamil Nadu girl troubled Kaushani a lot to make it 3-all. But in the decider she faltered as she failed to press the advantage home and the West Bengal’s determination held good and she won comfortably.  

Patchy Kotiyan

Maharashtra’s third seeded Ravindra Kotiyan was not even half his self on this day against sixth-seeded Manav Thakkar who was in a roaring form. Having already entered the Junior Boys final, Manav was up to the task in Youth Boys semifinals. The fluency and confidence with which he executed his strokes, both back and forehands, bewildered Kotiyan who had been rendered clueless.

Manav, on the other hand, piled up pressure and the normally capable Kotiyan kept making mistakes which only made Manav’s job that much easier. In the end, Kotiyan could only rue his fate of letting off the chance go.

In Youth Girls’ semifinals, Delhi’s Manika Batra put herself in discomfort before catching up with North Bengal’s Sagarika Mukherjee and win the last three games to go into the final. Kaushani Nath of West Bengal beat her AAI rival Ayhika Mukherjee 4-1.

The semifinals between PSPBA’s Manav Thakkar and Tamil Nadu’s Ananth Devarajan in Junior Boys and the one between Yashini Sivashankar of Tamil Nadu and West Bengal’s Kaushani Nath were the edge-of-the-seat kinds. Ananth was leading 3-2—he won the fourth game on extended points—and put pressure on Manav. But the PSPBA boy, used to such tactics, never succumbed and did well to take the next game in a jiffy to level. In the decider, he continued the momentum to finish off in style.

As for Yashini, it was a good effort that went waste. She had a comfortable 3-1 lead and the onus was on her to wrap it up quickly. But the West Bengal girl came back nicely, dismissing any pressure or her opponent’s presence to take the next three games to shut out Yashini. Yet, it remained a mystery how the Tamil Nadu girl threw away the advantage.

Rajasthan pair rules

In Youth Boys doubles, Rajasthan’s second pair of Vivek Bhargava and Pankaj Vishwakarma—top-seeded Abhishek Yadav and Sushdanshu Grover bowed out in the semifinals—overcame West Bengal’s duo of Arjun Ghosh and Anirban Ghosh 3-2. In fact, the Rajasthan pair looked like finishing it off in the fourth game itself, comfortably leading 8-4 but let Arjun and Anirban level 2-2 after missing three match points. However, in the decider the Rajasthan duo played well to put it beyond their rivals.

In Youth Girls doubles, AAI’s top pair Sreeja Akula and Archana Kamath Girish downed teammates Ayhika Mukherjee and Frenaz Chipa 3-0 to win gold. In Junior Boys doubles, West Bengal’s pair of Anirban Ghosh and Abhimanyu Mitra defeated Tamil Nadu’s Ananth Devarajan and Sachinviswanath Sivaramakrishan 3-1 to lift the trophy.  In Junior Girls final, West Bengal’s pair of Prapti Sen and Surbhi Patwari blanked out Moumita Datta and Kaushani Nath 3-0.

Results:

Junior Boys Singles (Final): Siddhesh Pande (Mah) bt Manav Thakkar (PSPBA) 4-2 (11-9, 11-5, 6-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-8); Semifinals: Siddhesh Pande bt Manush Shah (Guj) 4-1 (11-7, 11-8, 11-9, 8-11, 11-3), Manav Thakkar bt Ananth Devarajan (TN) 4-3 (11-9, 9-11, 11-5, 11-13, 5-11, 11-1, 11-5).

Doubles: Final: Anirban Ghosh/Abhimanyu Mitra (WB) bt Ananth Devarajan/Sachinviswanath S 3-1 (11-13, 11-6, 11-9, 11-5).

Junior Girls Singles (Final): Kaushani Nath (WB) bt Selenadeepthi Selvakumar (TN) 4-3 (9-11, 11-6, 11-5, 11-6, 9-11, 3-11, 11-5); Semifinals: Kaushani Nath bt Yashini Sivashankar (TN) 4-3 (6-11, 11-8, 6-11, 9-11, 11-3, 11-3, 11-9), Selenadeepthi Selvakumar bt Shruti Amrute (Mah) 4-0 (11-8, 13-12, 11-5, 11-5).

Doubles: Final: Prapti Sen/Surbhi Patwari (WB) bt Moumita Datta/Kaushani Nath (WB) 3-0 (11-9, 11-9, 11-3).

Youth Boys Singles (Final): Lalrin Puia (Miz) bt Manav Thakkar (PSPBA) 4-1 (11-5, 11-7, 11-4, 4-11, 11-9); Semifinals: Lalrin Puia bt Arjun Ghosh (WB) 4-2 (9-11, 11-7, 9-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-6), Manav Thakkar bt Ravindra Kotiyan (Mah) 4-1 (11-5, 11-2, 8-11, 11-9, 11-5).

Doubles: Final: Vivek Bhargava/Pankaj Vishwakarma (Raj) bt Arjun Ghosh/Anirban Ghosh (WB) 3-2 (7-11, 11-9, 11-7, 14-16, 11-8).

Youth Girls Singles (Final): Manika Batra (Del) bt Kaushani Nath (WB) 4-2 (11-1, 11-2, 11-9, 7-11, 9-11, 11-9); Semifinals: Manika Batra bt Sagarika Mukherjee (NB) 4-3 (11-5, 8-11, 11-6, 7-11, 11-6, 11-13, 11-5), Kaushani Nath bt Ayhika Mukherjee (AAI) 4-1 (11-7, 11-9, 11-3, 7-11, 11-9).

Doubles: Final: Sreeja Akula/Archana Kamath Girish (AAI) bt Ayhika Mukherjee/ Frenaz Chipia (AAI) 3-0 (11-6, 11-9, 11-5).

TTFI Press release

Great Britain defeat Canada; Australia edge past Belgium; Netherlands beat Argentina; India hold Germany 1-1

Raipur, November 28, 2015: The second day of action at the Hero Hockey World League Final 2015 saw wins for Great Britain, Australia and the Netherlands, while host nation India returned to form with a deserved draw against Olympic champions Germany here on Saturday. 

Simon Mantell scored twice as Great Britain got their campaign off to a flying start with a 3-1 win over Pool A rivals Canada. Mantell needed just two minutes to open his account with a tap-in before Mark Pearson restored parity with a speculative cross from the right that found the bottom left corner. Second quarter goals from Mantell and Alastair Brogdon gave Great Britain a 3-1 advantage at half time, a lead that the dominant Europeans would never relinquish.

Also in Pool A, a solitary goal from Australia veteran Jamie Dwyer was enough for the top ranked Kookaburras to edge past Belgium. The 36-year-old five times FIH Player of the Year fired home from a tight angle in the 22nd minute to give the Aussies victory in a replay of the first place match from the Hockey World League Semi-Final in Antwerp earlier this year.

Speaking after the match, Australia striker Kieran Govers said: "It is always a good challenge to start off with Belgium, and we always have very close games with them. It was a scrappy 1-0 win, but we will look at the video, see what we need to improve on and look forward to taking on Great Britain tomorrow."

In Pool B, host nation India thrilled the fans by holding Germany to a 1-1 draw. For the second evening in succession, a large, passion-fuelled crowd turned out to cheer on the home team and was rewarded with a very good display from India, who rediscovered their form following their 3-0 defeat at the hands of Argentina on Friday evening. Germany were the first team to strike, with an unmarked Niklas Wellen finishing from close range just six minutes into the match before Akashdeep Singh scored a brilliant equalizer in the final quarter.

“We made far fewer unforced errors today than we did yesterday”, said India Head Coach Roelant Oltmans, referring to his team’s opening day defeat to Argentina. “Sometimes you need a result like that to show the way to play. I’m proud of the way we played, and this is where the tournament starts for us.”

The final match of the day was an absolute thriller between the continental champions of Europe and Pan America, with the Netherlands taking a 3-2 win over the ever-impressive Argentina to move to the top of Pool B at the end of Day 2.

Defending champions the Netherlands were irrepressible in the early stages, establishing a 3-0 lead thanks to spectacular strikes from youngster Thierry Brinkman and Seve van Ass before Roel Bovendeert tapped home a fine team move. However, two goals from Argentine penalty corner expert Gonzalo Peillat dragged Los Leones back into the game and set up a tense final quarter. Despite great pressure from their South American rivals, excellent defensive work ensured that Oranje held on to claim all three points.

Results – Day 2
Pool A:
Great Britain 3, Canada 1
Hero Man of the Match: Nick Catlin (GBR)

Australia 1, Belgium 0
Hero Man of the Match: Matt Gohdes (AUS)

Pool B:
Germany 1, India 1
Hero Man of the Match: Sardar Singh (IND)

Netherlands 3, Argentina 2
Hero Man of the Match: Robert van der Horst (NED)

FIH release

Higher-ranked Akaash, seeded Sreeja bow out

Dharamshala, November 28, 2015: Higher-ranked Akaash Nath of North Bengal suffered an unexpected exit when he was shocked by Jignesh Rahatwal of Maharashtra 3-2 in the Junior Boys singles’ main draw of the 77th Junior and Youth National Table Tennis Championships at the Indoor Stadium here today.

Akaash Nath, who can beat the best in business on his day, was found wanting right from the word go when he won the first game on extended points. The struggle continued in the next two games as Jignesh took both easily. However, the North Bengal paddler came back strongly in the next to level the score. Yet, it was not enough as Jignesh surged ahead with a good lead before shutting his opponent out by minimal point in the decider.

Another West Bengal player, Abhimanyu Mitra struggled his way into pre-quarterfinals beating Ali Mohammad of Telangana 3-2 despite leading 2-0. Ali came back very well to level the score but did not have the firepower for the last burst in the final game, going down 7-11. Kerala’s Anas Irshad Mohammad shocked Maharashtra’s Ashwin Subramanian 14-12, 11-9, 6-11, 7-11, 11-7 to move in the last 16 stages.

In Junior Girls singles, it was a shocking exit for Airports Authority of India’s second seeded Sreeja Akula, who lost to Kushi Viswanath of Karnataka. The latter not only played without tension but executed fine strokes and employed fore and backhands well, some shots brooking no challenged from her AAI rival. Sreeja, normally expected to stage a comeback, was rendered clueless on the day and bowed out in the round of 32.

In other interesting matches, Tamil Nadu’s Yashini Sivashankar survived a scare from Madhya Pradesh’s Anusha Kutumbale. It was a good match as both the players were capable of throwing off the other but what worked in favour of Yashini was the steely nerve in the decider, though she won comfortably having taken a good lead.

Maharashtra’s Swastika Ghosh, who has had a good national ranking outings this season, struggled to beat Shailu Noorbasha of Andhra Pradesh 3-2 (7-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-4). Telangana’s Naina, somewhat out of form, managed to overcome Surbhi Patwari of North Bengal 11-8, 4-11, 11-7, 5-11, 12-10 in a see-saw battle to enter the pre-quarterfinals. So did Tamil Nadu’s Seelenadeepthi Selvakumar who beat Odisha’s Anannaya Basak 7-11, 12-14, 11-4, 11-6, 11-6.

The pre-quarterfinals in all the sections, including Youth Boys and Youth Girls, will be played tonight.

   

Results:

Junior Boys Singles (Round 32): Ronit Bhanja (WB) bt Sridhar Harikrishna (Telg) 3-1, Jignesh Rahatwal (Mah) bt Aakash Nath (WB) 3-2, Manush Shah (Guj) bt Abhinav Belwal (UP) 3-1, Parth Virmani (Del) bt Mohammad Amaan (CBSE) 3-0, Anirban Ghosh (WB) bt Rakshit Barigidak (KNT) 3-1, Lalhunhlua (PSPBA) bt Asif Khan (Raj) 3-1, Shivjit Roy (JKD) bt Sohan Bhattacharya (WB) 3-0, Siddhesh Pande (Mah) bt Ishan Hingorani (Guj) 3-0, Manav Thakkar (PSPBA) bt Mudit Dani (Mah) 3-0, Shreyas Kulkarni (KNT) bt Saikat Dey (WB) 3-1, Abimanyu Mitra (WB) bt Ali Mohammad (Telg) 3-2, Sarthak Seth (UP) bt Shaurya Pednekar (Mah) 3-1, Jeet Chandra (WB) bt Raegan Albuquerque (PSPBA) 3-1, Irshad Anas Mohammad (KRL) bt Ashwin Subramanian (Mah) 3-2, Akash Choudhury (WB) bt Shubham Ambre (Mah) 3-1, Ananth Devarajan (TN) bt Snehit Suravajjula (Telg) 3-0.

Junior Boys Singles (Round 32): Harshavardhini R (TN) bt Puja Paul (NB) 3-1, Renuka Ashwani (KRL) Dyuti Patki (Mah) 3-0, Kaushani Nath (WB) bt Ashlesha Trehan Mah) 3-1, Priyanka Pareek (Raj) Harini Uydayakumar (TN) 3-1, Yashini Sivashankar (TN) bt Anusha Kutumbale (MP) 3-2, Swastika Ghosh (Mah) Shailu Noorbasha (AP) 3-2, Naina (Telg) bt Surbhi Patwari (WB) 3-2, Kushi Viswanath (KNT) bt Sreeja Akula (AAI) 3-0, Moumita Datta (WB) bt Ishita Gupta (Del) 3-0, Manshree Patil (Mah) bt Tanisi Kirtani (Goa) 3-0, Selenadeepthi Selvakumar (TN) bt Anannya Basak (Odisha) 3-2, Archana Kamath (AAI) bt Gia Anna George (KRL) 3-1, Mrittika Halder (WB) bt Harsha Kalra 3-1, Varuni Jaiswal (Telg) bt Trisha Gogoi (Asm) 3-0, Abhinaya Ramesh (TN) bt Diksa Biswas (NB) 3-2, Shruti Amrute (Mah) bt Prapti Sen (WB) 3-1.

TTFI Press release

Argentina too good for India, Netherlands and Germany play goalless draw

Raipur, November 27, 2015: The men’s Hero Hockey World League Final 2015 got underway here on Friday, with Argentina defeating India before Germany and the Netherlands played out a draw in Pool B.

Penalty corner expert Gonzalo Peillat scored twice as Argentina claimed a 3-0 win over host nation India in the opening match of the competition in front of a near capacity crowd.

Following a vibrant, colourful and entertaining opening ceremony, the home fans turned out in large numbers to witness the host nation in action.

However, it was Argentina’s Leones (Lions) that came away with all three points.

The team, coached by Carlos Retegu,i were in excellent form in the opening two quarters of the match, establishing a 2-0 lead ahead of half time.

Prolific goal-scorer Peillat opened the scoring in the third minute with a deflected penalty corner rocket that left Indian shot-stopper P.R. Sreejesh stranded, before Joaquin Menini scored from close range with another set piece.

Despite a powerful Rupinder Pal Singh shot being cleared off the line, Argentina were well worth their lead and continued to play excellent hockey in the third and fourth quarters.

Eventually, a third goal arrived, with Peillat grabbing his second with a penalty corner drag-flick that sailed into the roof of the Indian net in overtime.

"We started very well, the intensity was very good”, said Argentina’s two goal hero Gonzalo Peillat after the match. “We earned enough corners. Now we need to think how we play against Holland as they have a really good team."

India coach Roleant Oltmans was disappointed by the result, stating: "The first half could have been better. We did more in the second half but it was still not enough. Today we didn't deserve anything. We need to recover quickly now because the next match is tomorrow."

The day’s other match was also in Pool B, as Germany and the Netherlands battled to a 0-0 draw in a rematch of the EuroHockey Championship Final.

The last meeting between the teams saw the Netherlands power to a 6-1 win to claim the European title, but today’s match was all about the defensive lines.

Both goalkeepers were in good form in the game, with Germany’s Nico Jacobi pulling off a number of world class saves while Stockmann was deservedly named Hero Man of the Match. 

“It is always good to play against the Netherlands at a tournament like this on the way to the Olympic Games”, said Germany midfielder Tobias Hauke. “I think it was interesting today after our last meeting in the EuroHockey Championship Final, where we lost pretty hard. It was important to see today, with different teams of course, that we are close now and it was a hard game for both sides.”

Netherlands Head Coach Max Caldas said that Germany were arguably the better side in the first half, but was happy with his team’s display in the second period. 

“I am a big fan of the German players and the German style, and always look forward to playing them”, said Caldas. “It was a tough game but I think we took more control in the second half, although our goalkeeper saved us a little bit in the first half.”

Results – Day 1

Pool B:
Argentina 3, India 0
Hero Man of the Match:  Agustin Mazzilli (ARG)

Germany 0, Netherlands 0.
Hero Man of the Match: Jaap Stockmann (GK - NED)

FIH Press release

Rajasthan boys continue their winning ways in doubles, too

Dharamshala, November 27, 2015: After their wonder title-winning performance, Rajasthan’s doubles pair Abhishek Yadav and Sudhanshu Grover entered the  pre-quarterfinals in the 77th Junior and Youth National Table Tennis Championships at the Indoor Stadium here today.

The top-seeded pair struggled before defeating Goa’s Do Rossario Weseley and Kewal Tamhankar 7-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-2 and the duo is slated to meet Maharashtra’s B Mandar Hadikar and Arbaz Shaikh in the next round. The Goan pair had beaten Odisha’s Sudeep Behera and Janmajay Moharana in straight games of 11-6, 11-7, 11-5.

There was no problem even for the other seeded pairs, including No. 2 pair of Ravindra Kotiyar and Sanish Ambekar of Maharashtra A, third seeds Vivek Bhargava and Pankaj Vishwakarma, also of Rajasthan, and fourth seeded West Bengal duo Arjun Ghosh and Anirban Ghosh.

Kotiyan and Ambekar defeated Mizoram’s Lalrustsanga and Lalruatpuia 3-0, while the Rajasthan pair won against the Assamese pair of Aditya Dey and Zeedan Gogoi 11-6, 11-6, 11-8 and the West Bengal duo won over HP’s Ankit Jaglan and Mehul Sharma 3-1. It was surprising that the Himachal pair managed to take a game off the renowned West Bengal duo. Similarly, all the other seeded combinations had no problem in entering the pre-quarterfinals.

Only the Youth Boys pre-quarters and quarterfinals are slated for tomorrow with the final to be played the following day while all the other doubles events will be held on the last day of the championships.

In Youth Girls doubles, the top pair of Manika Batra and Aanchal Malhotra of Delhi crossed the second round easily, beating Andhra Pradesh’s Kajol Ramjali and Mah Suryadevra 3-1, AAI’s second-seeded pair of Ayhika Mukherjee and Frenaz Chipa moved into the pre-quarters beating Punjab’s Yashi Sharma and Aarushi Arora 3-1, Tamil Nadu’s Amrutha Pushpak and Seelanadeepthi Selvakumar, who are seeded No. 3, defeated Haryana’s Trisha Paul and Parineeta Saini 3-0 and fourth seeded Archana Kamath and Sreeja Akula, both representing AAI, accounted for Goa’s Tanisi Kirtani and Kefira Rodrigues 3-0.

In the Junior Boys and Junior Girls, too, the top pairs had easy outings against their opponents to sail into the pre-quarterfinals.

As for the singles events in all categories, the group qualification matches have begun with players having to complete three rounds each in all groups in what has turned out to be a crowded schedule. They will be joining the top ranked eight players who have been directly given entry in the main draw.

The main draw matches of the singles will begin tomorrow.

TTFI Press release

Rajasthan boys dethrone Maharashtra; North Bengal win Youth Girls title

Dharamshala, November 26, 2015: Rajasthan grabbed their chance with both hands when opportunity presented itself to win their second national title when their Youth Boys dethroned Maharashtra A 3-2 in a thrilling final in the 77th Junior and Youth National Table Tennis Championships at the Indoor Stadium here today.

The Youth Girls title went to North Bengal when they defeated the mighty West Bengal 3-2 in an equally enthralling final to re-launch themselves on the national scene. However, West Bengal made amends in the Junior Boys final to lift the trophy, beating 3-2 in another close encounter. The only team that retained the title in the championships was Telangana who won Junior Girls crown after rolling over Maharashtra A 3-1 in a somewhat one-sided final.

Rajasthan could pit all the PSPB boys with the petroleum institution not qualifying for the nationals here. It was a blessing in disguise for Rajasthan, who had just one—Junior Boys title won in 1986 in Delhi —to show before today. But then Ravindra Kotiyan was the only hurdle they had to overcome. Unfortunately, the tall Maharashtra boy won both this singles but what made the difference to the title was dark horse Vivek Bhargava. He won the crucial third singles against Sanish Ambekar after the scores were level.

Though Kotiyan beat Sudhanshu Grover in their reverse singles, left-handed Abhishek Yadav accounted for Siddhesh Pande 3-1 to seal the fate of Maharashtra, the winners last year at Alleppey.

North Bengal prove a point

Anuska Dutta proved to be the real clincher in the Youth Girls final as she started on a whirlwind fashion to outsmart Kaushani Nath with excellent strokes, particularly severe on her backhand. Then the experienced Sagarika Mukherjee consolidated their positions with an easy 3-0 win over Moumita Datta but what brought West Bengal back in the match was their third singles which Manisha Mukherjee won, beating Puja Paul 3-2. But then Anuska did not waste time to shut out Moumita in her reverse singles to put the issue beyond West Bengal.

West Bengal regain trophy

West Bengal regained the Junior Boys title beating PSPBA 3-2 in a gripping encoutner. In an evenly contested final, what tilted the scales in favour of West Bengal was the crucial doubles which their pair, comprising Anirban Ghosh and Ronit Bhanja, won 3-1. Earlier Ronit had lost to Manav Thakkar but the West Bengal paddler managed to put it across Lalhunhlua, who had lost to Anirban Ghosh giving the advantage to the eventual winners.  

Telangana retain title

Telangana beat Maharashtra A 3-1 to retain the Junior Girls crown. Maharashtra, who had won silver last year, could not stop an in-form Varuni Jaiswal who won both her singles and then combined with Naina to keep the title. If only Naina had not squandered four-rubber points in her singles against Manushree Patil, things would have got settled much earlier. Manushree too squared three chances but on the fourth held to take her first singles. However, she could not overcome the early rhythm that Varuni struck in their reverse singles.   

.  

Results:

Youth Boys: Final: Rajasthan bt Maharashtra A 3-2 (Abhishek Yadav lost to Ravindra Kotiyan 8-11, 12-10, 9-11, 8-11, Sudhanshu Grover bt Siddhesh Pande 9-11, 11-8, 11-7, 12-10, Vivek hargava bt Sanish Ambekar 8-11,9-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-8, Sudhanshu Grover lost to Ravindra Kotiyan 9-11, 12-10, 8-11, 14-16, Abhishek Yadav bt Siddhesh Pande 7-11, 11-6, 11-9, 12-10); Semifinals: Maharashtra A bt Uttar Pradesh 3-0 (Sanish Ambekar bt Abhinav Belwal 8-11, 8-11, 12-10, 11-5, 11-6, Ravindra Kotiyan bt Sarthak Seth 5-11, 13-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-7, Siddhesh Pande bt Arjun Kohli 11-9, 11-8, 9-11, 10-12, 11-7) Rajasthan bt Tamil Nadu 3-1 (Sudhanshu Grover bt Nikhil Suresh 11-6, 13-15, 11-2, 11-6, Abhishek Yadav bt Anandth Devarajan 14-12, 13-15, 11-8, 11-9, Vivek Bhargava lost to Anandh Raj Rajan 4-11, 10-12, 8-11, Abhishek Yadav bt Nikhil Suresh 8-11, 11-7, 11-8,11-7); Quarterfinals: Maharashtra A bt West Bengal 3-1, Uttar Pradesh bt Dena Bank 3-0, Tamil Nadu bt Maharashtra B 3-2, Rajasthan bt Delhi 3-2.  

Youth Girls: Final:  North Bengal bt West Bengal 3-1 (Anuska Dutta bt Kaushani Nath 11-4, 11-4, 7-11, 11-6, Sagarika Mukheree bt Moumita Datta 14-12, 11-8, 11-3, Puja Paul lost to Manisha Mukherjee 11-9, 13-15, 11-6, 8-11, 11-13, Anuska Dutta bt Moumita Datta 11-7, 11-8, 11-7); Semifinals: West Bengal bt Telangana 3-0 (Kaushani Nath bt Naina 11-8, 8-11, 7-11, 11-7, 11-9, Moumita Datta bt Varuni Jaiswal 11-8, 7-11, 5-11, 11-9, 11-6, Manisha Mukherjee bt Monica Manohar 11-8, 11-8, 11-5), North Bengal bt Tamil Nadu 3-1 (Anushka Datta bt Yashini Sivashankar 11-6, 9-11, 11-8, 11-3, Sagarika Mukherjee lost to Amrutha Pushpak 8-11, 9-11, 11-5, 7-11, Puja Paul lost to Selenadeepthi Selvakukmar 1-11, 7-11, 5-11, Anuska Datta bt Amrutha Pushpak 11-9, 9-11, 7-11, 13-11, 11-7, Sagarika Mukherjee bt Yasini Sivashankar 12-10, 11-8, 9-11, 13-11);  Quarterfinals: West Bengal bt AAI 3-0, Telangana bt Delhi 3-2, North Bengal bt Uttar Pradesh 3-0, Tamil Nadu bt Karnataka 3-1.  

Junior Boys: Final: West Bengal bt PSPBA 3-2 (Ronit Bhanja lost to Manav Thakkar 11-8, 8-11, 6-11, 3-11, Anirban Ghosh bt Lalhunhlua 17-15, 11-5, 11-8, Ronit/Anirban bt 11-8, 11-4, 7-11, 11-3, Anitban Ghosh lost to Manav Thakkar 8-11, 11-8, 4-11, 6-11, Ronit Bhanja bt Lalhunhlua 11-6, 11-8, 11-8); Semifinals: West Bengal bt Tamil Nadu 3-0(Ronit Bhanja bt Ananth Devarajan 5-11, 5-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-2, Anirban Ghosh bt Sachinviswanath Sivaramakrishnan 11-7, 11-8, 11-5, Ronit/Anirban bt Ananth Sachinviswanath 11-8, 11-4, 11-7), PSPBA bt Delhi 3-1 (Manav Thakkar bt Shivjit Singh Lamba 11-2, 11-3, 11-6, Lalhunhlua lost to Parth Virmani 9-11, 11-4, 9-11, 11-8, 10-12, Manav/Lalhunhlua bt Lakshay Suri/Aranya Maghav 11-4, 11-6, 11-5); Quarterfinals: Tamil Nadu bt Karnataka 3-0, West Bengal bt Telangana 3-1, PSPBA bt North Bengal 3-1, Delhi bt Gujarat 3-2.

Junior Girls: Final: Telangana bt Maharashtra A 3-1 (Varuni Jaiswal bt Ashlesha Trehan 11-8, 11-8, 11-8, Naina lost to Manushree Patil 11-4, 4-11, 6-11, 11-6, 15-17, Varuni/Naina bt Manushree/Ashlesha 9-11, 11-5, 11-6, 11-9, Varuni Jaiswal bt Manushree Patil 9-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-0); Semifinals: Maharashtra A bt West Bengal 3-0(Manushree Patil b Moumita Datta 11-9, 6-11, 12-10, 11-8, Ashlesha Trehan lost to Kaushani Nath 8-11, 8-11, 9-11, Manushree/Ashlesha bt Moumita/Kaushani 11-4, 16-14, 11-8, Manushree Patil bt Kaushani Nath 13-11, 11-9, 11-8), Telangana bt Maharashtra B 3-0 (Varuni Jaiswal bt Dyuti Patki 10-12, 11-7, 11-3, 8-11, 13-11, Naina bt Shruti Amrute 11-9, 13-11, 9-11, 11-5, Naina/Varuni bt Shruti/Manasi Chiplunkar 11-9, 11-9, 11-7);Quarterfinals: Telangana bt Andhra Pradsh 3-0, Maharashtra B bt Delhi 3-1, West Bengal bt Kerala 3-0, Maharashtra A bt Tamil Nadu 3-2.

TTFI Press release

Double blow for Maharashtra; TN girls thrive

Dharamshala, November 25, 2015: After Assam had upset Kerala in group stages on Tuesday it was Tamil Nadu Youth Girls’ turn to send second-seeded Maharashtra packing in pre-quarterfinals of the 77th Junior and Youth National Table Tennis Championships at the Indoor Stadium here today.

The more humiliating aspect of last year’s finalist was the way they were blanked out, making a mockery of the second stage draw. In fact, the Tamil Nadu girls were not in high spirits when they were drawn against Maharashtra. However, the 3-0 triumph over a tough opponent must have restored the TN team’s confidence.

Selenadeepthi Selvakumar comfortably beat Senhora D’Souza 11-9, 6-11, 11-7, 11-7 to give Tamil Nadu 1-0 lead. Then Amrutha Pushpak, who struggled in group stage matches, overcame a stiff resistance from Manushree Patil 13-11, 8-11, 11-8, 15-17, 11-6. Manushree, twice title winner in the junior section this season, played really well to draw level in the fourth game, but visibly drained out by the time they were in the decider. Amrutha, with her experience, outwitted her rival to put TN 2-0 up. Abhinaya Ramesh accounted for Rutuja Khopkar in straight games of 11-6, 11-7, 12-10 to make it a simple affair for her team.

Even their second team, Maharashtra B too bowed out, losing to Telangana 2-3, despite Shruti Amrute winning both her singles against Naina and Varuni Jaiswal. The two Telangana girls nicely targeted Dyuti Patki in their singles and the third girl Manasi Chiplunkar was taken care of by Telangana’s Monica Manohar.

Kushi Viswanath fashioned Karnataka’s quarterfinal entry, beating Rajasthan’s top girl Priyanka Pareek in the first singles. From there, it was easy for Karnataka to roll over their rivals 3-0 with Spoorthy and Samyukta doing their job even as North Bengal struggled to beat Haryana 3-2.

In Youth Boys pre-quarters, Uttar Pradesh overcame a determined Gujarat 3-2. Manush Shah, who had two national ranking titles this season, was the star player for Gujarat but he could not except winning both his singles as Soham Pandya and Ishaan Hingorani failed to put up a similar show in their singles. In contrast, all three players—Abhinav Belwal, Sarthak Seth and Arjun Kohli—won a match each to take the team to the quarters where they will take on….

The other two interesting matches in the Youth Boys category were between Tamil Nadu and Mizoram, the former winning 3-2, Anandh Raj Rajan doing the star turn for the winners. He won both his singles to put the issue beyond the grasp of Mizoram. In the other match, Dena Bank defeated Telangana 3-1 but the winners took 135 minutes to reach the quarters. Shreyal Telang won both his matches against Sridhar Harikrishna and Snehit Suravajjula while Akshay Mahanta beat Saroj Siril. The only blip was Harsh sachnandani who lost 2-3 to Snehit in the first singles.

Results:

Youth Girls (PQF): AAI bt Himachal Pradesh 3-0, West Bengal bt Gujarat 3-0, Delhi bt Assam 3-0, Telangana bt Maharasshtra B 3-2, North Bengal bt Haryana 3-2, Uttar Pradesh bt Pondicherry 3-0, Tamil Nadu bt Maharashtra A 3-0, Karnataka bt Rajasthan 3-0.

Youth Boys (PQF): Maharashtra A bt Bihar 3-0, West Bengal bt Madhya Pradesh 3-0, Rajasthan bt North Bengal 3-0, Delhi bt Punjab 3-0, Maharashtra B bt Karnataka 3-1, Uttar Pradesh bt Gujarat 3-2, Tamil Nadu bt Mizoram 3-2, Dena Bank bt Telangana 3-1.

Meanwhile, the Junior Boys and Junior Girls pre-quarterfinals have begun and the quarterfinals in all the sections will be played tonight.  

TTFI Press release

Assam girls put Kerala on mat, face first-stage elimination

Dharamshala, November 24, 2015: The Youth Girls of Assam humiliated Kerala with a 3-2 defeat that is bound to linger for some time in the minds of the latter in the 77th Junior and Youth National Table Tennis Championships at the Indoor Stadium here today.

The win over Kerala may not have put Assam in an invincible position, but it has more or less spelt doom for Kerala, who had beaten Goa 3-0 earlier in the day. With only two teams qualifying from each group for the main draw, which is the pre-quarterfinals, the chance of Kerala looks bleak at this juncture, though they have a match against North Bengal.

Not only Kerala must beat them but do so convincingly, possibly a 3-0 win, to remain in contention for the second stage. Goa is the other team in group D and they were earlier defeated 3-0 by Kerala.

Incidentally, Kerala had entered the semifinals in the last edition of the championships at Alleppey. But, today, they not failed to replicate that performance but are at the danger of being eliminated at the group stage itself. At the present moment, North Bengal with two wins have almost sealed their place in the pre-quarterfinals.

Kerala have to blame their players for inflicting the misery upon them, particularly Seraha Jacob, who lost both her singles. In comparison, Maria Rony won both her singles and kept things alive, despite Assam leading 2-0 after the doubles win. Renuka Aswani fought well but lost to Adrija Sarmah 3-11, 8-11, 11-9,1-8, 6-11 and it was left to Maria to level the score. She struggled before beating Kritika Upadhya 11-7, 4-11, 11-8, 8-11, 11-4.

Now the ball was in Seraha’s court. But her opponent, Jitakhee Mazumdar, played not only well but breathed fresh life into the team with a 11-5, 8-11, 11-8, 11-5 verdict. The Kerala girl, on the other hand, was making far too many mistakes both at the net as well not able to keep the ball on table.

Earlier, Gujarat rued the unavailability of Chipia Frenaz who is turning out for the Airports Authority of India as Gujarat lost their first round match to Uttar Pradesh 2-3. Simialarly Karnataka’s loss of Shreyal Telang and Akshay Mahanta, who are playing for Dena Bank, upset their balance. Yet, they managed to put it across Telangana 3-2 in a tough first-round Youth Boys event.

In Junior Girls, Telangana beat North Bengal with Varuni Jaiswal and Nina pitching in and interestingly Kerala managed to cross the Odisha hurdle with a 3-2 verdict in the first round. Odisha, despite losing, stood tall thanks to Ananya Basak who won both her singles. But what made the difference was Kerala’s doubles win, paired by Gia Anna George and Nandini Menon. Andhra Pradesh’s doubles pair of Shailu Noorbasha and B. Nagasravani helped their team beat Madhya Pradesh 3-2 in the first round.

As for Junior Boys, Uttar Pradesh upstaged Tamil Nadu 3-0. It was surprising to see Tamil Nadu surrender meekly despite Ananth Devarajan’s presence. Not only did he lose his singles but also the crucial doubles when he combined with team mate Sachin Viswanath Sivaramakrishnan to draw a blank on the score-sheet. However, Gujarat boys made amends for their Youth Girls loss with a 3-2 verdict over Jharkhand.

Results:

Youth Girls (1st round): AAI bt Uttrakhand 3-0, Maharashtra A bt Himachal Pradesh 3-0, Telangana bt Odisha 3-0, Kerala bt Goa 3-0, North Bengal bt Assam 3-1, UP bt Gujarat 3-2, Meghalaya bt Chandigarh 3-1, Rajasthan bt Andhra Pradesh 3-1, Karnataka bt Jharkhand 3-0, Maharashtra B bt Chhattisgarh 3-0, Tamil Nadu bt Bihar 3-0, West Bengal bt Punjab 3-0.

2nd round: Assam bt Kerala 3-2, AAI bt Pondicherry 3-0, Maharashtra A bt Madhya Pradesh 3-0, Telangana bt Haryana 3-0, North Bengal bt Goa 3-0, Gujarat bt Chandigarh 3-0, Uttar Pradesh bt Meghalaya 3-1, Delhi bt Andhra Pradesh 3-0, Rajasthan bt Jammu & Kashmir 3-0, Karnataka bt Maharashtra B 3-2, Chhattisgarh bt Jharkhand 3-1, West Bengal bt Tamil Nadu 3-1, Punjab bt Bihar 3-0.

Youth Boys (1st round): Punjab bt Kerala 3-1, Maharashtra A bt Chhattisgarh 3-0, Delhi bt Bihar 3-0, Andhra Pradesh bt Meghalaya 3-1, Karnataka bt Telangana 3-2, Mizoram bt Tripura 3-0, Dena Bank bt Goa 3-0, Haryana bt Jharkhand 3-1, Rajasthan bt Odisha 3-0, Gujarat bt Pondicherry 3-0, Tamil Nadu bt Himachal Pradesh 3-0, Madhya Pradesh bt Jammu & Kashmir 3-0, Maharashtra B bt Uttarakhand 3-0, West Bengal bt Chandigarh 3-0.

Junior Girls (1st round): Telangana bt North Bengal 3-2, Maharashtra A bt Goa 3-0, Kerala bt Odisha 3-2, Maharashtra B bt Haryana 3-1, Karnataka bt Chandigarh 3-0, Andhra Pradesh bt Madhya Pradesh 3-2, Assam bt Jharkhand 3-0, Tamil Nadu bt Himachal Pradesh 3-0, Punjab bt Chhattisgarh 3-0, West Bengal bt Jammu & Kashmir 3-0, Uttar Pradesh bt Bihar 3-0.  

Junior Boys (1st round): Maharashtra A bt Bihar 3-0, Delhi bt Punjab 3-0, PSPBA bt Haryana 3-0, West Bengal bt Pondicherry 3-0, Chandigarh bt Meghalaya 3-1, Gujarat bt Jharkhand 3-2, Maharashtra B bt Odisha 3-0, Telangana bt Goa 3-0, Himachal Pradesh bt Uttarakhand 3-2, Kerala b Andhra Pradesh 3-0, Rajasthan bt Jammu & Kashmir 3-0, Uttar Pradesh bt Tamil Nadu 3-0, Madhya Pradesh bt Chhattisgarh 3-1.

TTFI Press release

Anirban Lahiri secures creditable 20th place in European Tour's Race to Dubai Rankings

Dubai, November 23, 2015: Anirban Lahiri, a rookie on the European Tour in 2015, closed the season in an impressive 20th position in the Race To Dubai Rankings after his tied 34th finish at the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.

Lahiri, who earned his card for 2015 through the European Tour Qualifying School, claimed wins at the Maybank Malaysian Open and Indian Open and also set an Indian record for the best Major finish with his tied fifth at the PGA Championship during a memorable season. He totaled 1,558,111 Race to Dubai points for the year.

Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy, the world number three, won the Race to Dubai title with a tally of 4,727,253 points.

The 28-year-old Anirban took the world of golf by storm this year with two wins and five other top-10s worldwide to climb as high as 33 in the world rankings.

The Bengaluru lad appeared at all four Majors and made his presence felt at the British Open with a tied 30th finish before his phenomenal top-5 at the PGA Championship.

Lahiri, who recently became the first Indian to play in the International Team at the Presidents Cup, has had a power-packed 2015 season, having made an impact across three continents.

The Indian star not only posted top results in Europe and the United States but also dominated the Asian Tour in 2015. He has all but sealed the Asian Tour Order of Merit race as he leads the money list by an unassailable margin of over US$600,000.

Lahiri has amassed record earnings of US$1,139,084 during the 2015 Asian Tour season to set the stage for his ascendancy to the status of Asia no. 1 for the first time.

Anirban, having earned his PGA Tour card recently, will now make the progression from Europe to the United States next season.

The Indian quartet of SSP Chawrasia (113th), Shiv Kapur (126th), Jeev Milkha Singh (133rd) and Gaganjeet Bhullar (210th), finished outside the top-110 in the European Tour Race to Dubai rankings which was the cut-off for the exemption.

Press release

Mukesh Kumar’s team wins Pro-Am event of IndianOil Servo Masters Golf

Digboi, Assam, November 22, 2015: The Pro-Am event of the IndianOil Servo Masters Golf 2015 was won by professional Mukesh Kumar and his team.

The Pro-Am event was played in the Team Stableford format with each team comprising of one professional and three amateurs.

PGTI member Mukesh Kumar of Mhow, who finished runner-up in the main event, led his team to victory in the Pro-Am event with a total score of 121 points. Mukesh’s team comprised of amateurs Dr. Utpal Saikia, Mr. Jayant Saikia and Maj. Gen. Sandeep Sharma.

PGTI member M Dharma’s team finished first runners-up with a total of 117 points. Dharma’s team was made up of amateurs Mr. D Basumatary, Mr. Diponjoy Daulagophu and Mr. Deepraj Chetia.

PGTI member Arjun Singh Chaudhri’s team were second runners-up with a total of 113 points. The amateurs who made up Arjun’s team were Mr. Siddharth Chaliha, Mr. D B Singh and Mr. Pallav Borgohain.

 PGTI press release

Bihar kabaddi teams for Senior National announced

Patna, November 21, 2015: Bihar State Kabaddi Association announced state teams for the Senior National Championships to be held in Bengaluru from November 24 to 29.

Men: Bhavesh Kumar (captain), Chandra Bhushan Singh, Nandan Kumar Mishra (all Begusarai), Neelkamal, Avinash, Kumar Gaurav (Patna), Santosh  Kumar Singh, Ramesh Kumar Yadav (Patna) , Abhinav Kumar Singh (Vaishali), Anand Kumar Singh (Bhojpur), Arman (Khagaria), Abhishek Kumar (Muzaffarpur). Coach-Ramji Upadhyay (Bihar Police), Manager, Rajesh Kumar (Munger).

Women: Remy Kumari (captain), Komal Kumari, Riti Kumari, Rupam Kumari, Sarita Kumari (all Begusarai), Shama Parveen, Komal Kumar, Varsha Kumari ( all Patna), Jayashree Kumari, Suman Kumari (Buxar), Pragati Singh (Vaishali), Kirti Kumari (Chapra). Caoch-Rajiv Kumar Singh (East Central Railway); Manager-Saket (Patna). 

Pankaj Advani captures his 15 world snooker title

Hurghada, Egypt, November 21, 2015: Zhao Xintong, the 18 year old Chinese sensation completely outplayed his opponent Ben Jones of England 7-1 in the semifinals but found it tough against 14 times world cuesport champion Pankaj Advani of India.

Advani beat  Xintong 8-6 to win his 15 world title 

Pankaj, who had a long match against Lucas Kleckers of Germany in the other semifinals yesterday warding off his challenge 7-5, quickly captured the first 2 frames in the best of 15 finals with breaks of 106 and 56 in the first and the second respectively. Xintong took the third with a break of 53 and when in total control of the 4th got trapped by a deadly snooker behind brown ball. Unable to convert the snooker Xintong gave Advani a half chance at the top end which was immediately punished with a spectacular opening red stun pot along the top cushion. Advani thereafter took full control of the proceedings to go ahead 3-1

A deadly safety play by Advani once again put Xintong glued to his seat with scoring only 1 point as Advani kept him trapping him under the baulk line to get openings and went ahead by 4-1.

Xintong who was seen to be at the receivers end for the first time in the championship certainly was not as smooth and controlled as he had been all through to the finals and unexpectedly landed couple of times in awkward positions while on a break. However, the talent was visible as every time he came out of the situations unfolding his vast repertoire of strokes to win the 6th frame with a finely crafted break of 72 points and brought down the deficit to 2-4.

In the seventh Advani, well aware of the wide range of potting and break building capability of his worthy adversary never got tempted and applied his extraordinary cushion skills to every time come inside the baulk line and kept Zhao at bay. At this juncture one could see the restlessness in Zhao as he started over trying in desperation and ultimately succumbed to the game plan of Advani. Calm, composed and sharp as always ever, Advani made full use of the opportunity and crafted a well-controlled break of 74 points to race ahead to a 5-2 lead at the interval.  

Yesterday in the Women’s category Amee Kamani of India squandered her opportunity to be the first women player from India to reach the finals of IBSF world Snooker Championship. Amee was on song from the very first stroke on the table against Anastasia Nechaeva of Russia and quickly went up 2-0 in a best of seven frames semi-final clash with some delectable long pots.

A finely constructed 62 breaks in the third by Anastasia reduced the deficit to 1-2. Amee however came back strongly in the fourth and a ding dong battle saw Amee going up 3-1. A couple of unforced errors by Amee in fifth frame saw Anastasia claiming the frame and bringing the proceeding to 2-3. Amee who had all the opportunity to claim the sixth frame and the match faltered a couple of times and send the match to the decider. In the decider Anastasia was in her brilliant best as she crafted a magnificent match winning break of 50 points exhibiting an array of strokes enviable to even the top ranked men players of the world.

Wendy Jans of Belgium defeated Anastasia Nechaeva of Russia 5-1 to retain her IBSF Women’s world title.

Yesterday was a bad day for India in the Masters category too as all the good work by Rafath Habib went in vain as he failed to reach the medal round losing on 3-4 in the last black ball to Jason Peplow of Malta in the quarterfinals.

Rafath who started with a massive break of 134 in the first frame and another 57 in the fourth made it 3-3 and came from behind in the decider with only one red on the table needing all the colour balls but faltered on the last black and gave away the frame and the match to Peplow.

Phisit Chandsri of Thailand defeated Jason Peplow of Malta 6-2 to win the IBSF Masters event.

Press release

Shankar Das posts spectacular 65 for his third win in Digboi

Shankar Das

Digboi, Assam, November 21, 2015: Kolkata’s Shankar Das bagged his third IndianOil Servo Masters crown with a spectacular seven-under-65 in the final round at the Digboi Golf Links in Digboi, Assam. Das’ tournament tally read an impressive 20-under-268 as he was two shots clear of the field at the Rs 30 lakh event. Mukesh Kumar of Mhow, a six-time winner in Digboi, claimed the runner-up position at 18-under-270 as a result of his final round 66.

Shankar Das (66-71-66-65), who started the day in the joint lead, had a slow start as he three-putted for bogey on the first. He then played the third and fourth to perfection to pick up two strokes and make up for the early setback. Shankar, the 2010 and 2011 IndianOil Servo Masters champion, almost drove the green on the par-4 third before hitting his tee shot within a couple of feet for a tap-in on the next hole.   

Shankar established himself as the clear leader with birdies on the seventh and ninth. The 31-year-old reigning Rolex Ranking champion chipped it to within two feet on both occasions. Das began to pull away after gaining a stroke on the 11th where once again he landed his wedge with great precision within a few inches of the cup. The turning point for Shankar was the par-4 14th where he made an eagle for the second straight day after driving the green.

Das finally sealed the affair with his final birdie on the 16th after setting up yet another tap-in. He shot the day’s best round for the second straight day. Shankar took home his sixth title and a cheque worth Rs. 4,50,000 to climb from 15th to 10th place in the Rolex Ranking. His prize money earnings for the year read Rs. 12,80,653.

Bengaluru’s Chikkarangappa continues to lead the money list with earnings of Rs. 26,37,440. Mukesh Kumar’s second place finish in Digboi pushed him from fourth place to third position in the rankings.

An elated Shankar, who finished runner-up last year, said, “I’m delighted to have produced my best effort of the week when it mattered the most. It was good to come back after the initial bogey. This course has become one of my happy hunting grounds over the years. I really enjoy playing at the Digboi Golf Links and always know I can come back here despite a poor start in a round. It’s my first title this season and this gives me the much-needed momentum for the last three events of the year.

“I rate this win very high among all my wins since I managed to keep Mukesh (Kumar) at bay at one of his favourite venues. My kids kept calling me from home and reminding me that I need to win this one for them. So this win is special for that reason as well.

“I’ve learnt not to put pressure on myself by thinking too much about the result. Instead, I focus more on the process. That worked for me today. I hit it with precision through the day and once again made eagle on the 14th. The eagle was the defining moment of the day. It gave me a cushion at the top,” added Shankar.

  

Mukesh Kumar (66-68-70-66), who was third after round three, kept in touch with the lead with three birdies and a lone bogey on the front-nine. His strong iron-play earned him four more birdies on the back-nine. The 50-year-old veteran shot a clinical 66 on the final day but still fell short by two strokes.

Mukesh said, “I played really well today. I kept hitting it close but the early bogey on the second made a huge difference. I was unlucky to hit the tree with my tee shot on the second fairway as my ball got deflected to the right. That was the only error of the day. Shankar deserved the win as he outplayed everyone else.”

Gaurav Pratap Singh (65-71-67) of Noida, the overnight joint leader, carded a 69 on day four to finish third at 16-under-272.

Vinod Kumar of Delhi, who mounted an early challenge with four birdies on the front-nine, ended up with a 69, to claim fourth place at 13-under-275.

Bengaluru’s M Dharma was a further two shots back in fifth place.

PGTI Press release

Boxer Vijender Singh meets Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal

New Delhi, November 20, 2015: India's boxing sensation Vijender Singh today met. Sarbananda Sonowal, Minister of Youth Affairs & Sports at his residence. Vijender was accompanied by Indian Boxing Council President Brig. Muralidharan Raja, Monjit Sharma, COO IOS and Rahul Trehan, GM Media & PR, IOS. 

During this meeting Vijender thanked the minister for his support in his professional debut and also discussed about the plans of developing professional boxing in our country. Sonowal assured his full support to Singh. 

Vijender Singh said "I would like to thank sports minister Sarbananda Sonowal for giving me time for meeting today. I thanked him for his continuous support in my professional career. He assured me full support in my future fights and I also discussed with him about our plans of developing professional boxing in India. I am happy that he gave us very positive response for the development of pro boxing in our country".

"I believe that some boxers who are done with their amateur career should now come forward and join professional boxing, its good for their future career. I am ready to support them. I have expressed my concern to minister on the future of amateur boxing in India and he told me that his ministry is taking all necessary steps to support amateur boxers preparing for RIO Olympics" added Vijender Singh. 

Press release

Pankaj Advani sails into the semifinals

Hurghada, Egypt, November 20, 2015: Former World snooker champion Pankaj Advani sailed into the semifinals of the IBSF World Snooker Championship being played at Sunrise Crystal Bay resort, Hurghada, Egypt.

Advani’s opponent Alex Borg of Malta started off well with a break of 45. Pankaj however slowly caught him with some small but useful breaks. A high quality safety exchanges by both the players thereafter in color balls especially on the black ended with a desperate potting by Borg to go one up in the best of 11 quarterfinals encounter. The second frame saw Pankaj getting into his usual groove very quickly and with the help of two breaks of 40 and 57 drew levels.

Third frame saw Pankaj on full throttle as he kept on potting reds and colours with consummate ease and made a magnificent clearance break of 97 points.

There was no looking back for Advani as he demolished his opponent in the next three frames with breaks of 50 and 108. In the semifinals Pankaj Advani will meet the winner of Greg Casey of Ireland and Lukas Kleckers of Germany.

In the Masters category the only Indian quarterfinalist Rafath Habib failed to reach the medal round as he could not get past Jason Peplow of Malta. Rafath who surprised the former high ranked professional snooker player from Wales and a multiple winner of IBSF Men and Masters Champion Darren Morgan 4-1 in the pre quarter finals started with a massive 134 break in the first frame. Unperturbed by Rafath’s initial onslaught Peplow kept his composure and captured the next two frames to go ahead. Rafath then made a comeback with some fine potting and won the following two frames to go ahead 3-2. Peplow levelled at the next and won the final frame by potting the match winning last black ball in the centre pocket.

In the Women’s category Vidya Pillai who beat Jennifer Zehenter of Germany yesterday 4-0 to move up to the quarters lost to the reigning IBSF world Ladies Champion Wendy Jans of Belgium 2-4.

It was a neck to neck battle in the first 4 frames as both tried to overpower each with some delectable potting and crafty safety play but at the end it was Wendy, who established a stranglehold on the 5th frame from the beginning and went up 3-2. Vidya played the 6th frame brilliantly to set up a possible final 7th frame show down but lost the 6th frame and the match on the final black ball. Wendy Jans will meet Waratthanun Sukritthanes of Thailand.

The Amee Kamani and Chitra Magimairaj Quarter final, an all India encounter was a real thriller. The see-saw battle from the beginning brought both to the final show down. The battle of attrition continued in the decider and at the time of going to press Amee Kamani was leading 54-18 with only one red on the table in the final frame. The winner will be meeting Anastasia Nechaeva of Russia

Press release

Shankar Das and Gaurav Pratap Singh share lead

Shankar Das

Digboi, Assam, November 20, 2015: Kolkata’s Shankar Das and Noida’s Gaurav Pratap Singh stormed into the joint lead in round three of the Rs. 30 lakh IndianOil Servo Masters Golf 2015 being played at the Digboi Golf Links in Digboi, Assam. Das and Singh posted scores of six-under-66 and five-under-67 respectively to take their three-day tally to 13-under-203. Mukesh Kumar of Mhow, the overnight leader, slipped to third place at 12-under-204 after his third round of 70.

Shankar Das (66-71-66), who started the day in tied fifth, three off the lead, had a quiet first seven holes as he made pars all through. However, the two-time winner at Digboi, started turning on the heat with some top-class chip-putt birdies on the seventh and ninth. Shankar then followed up a couple of accurate wedge shots with seven-feet conversions to add two more birdies on the 11th and 12th.    

The eagle-two on the par-4 14th was the highlight of Das’ round. He drove the green on the 14th before sinking an eight-footer. Shankar, the 2010 and 2011 IndianOil Servo Masters champion, thus came up with the day’s best score to end up on top of the leaderboard and raise hopes of his third win in Digboi.

“I’ve been hitting it close through the week but the putts rolled in for me today. I had hit it even closer in round two but the putts were not falling. I missed as many as 13 putts in round two. The 14th has been my lucky hole so far. I birdied the 14th on the first two days and made an eagle today. It’s just one of those holes where I know I will score more often than not,” Shankar said.

The 31-year-old, reigning Rolex Ranking champion, added, “I was pleased to go bogey-free today. This gives me a solid platform for the final day. I know this course well and will focus on putting up a good number in round four rather than thinking too much about the win.”

Gaurav Pratap Singh (65-71-67), the first round leader, also revived his campaign with a 67 on day three after having slipped to tied third in round two. After making birdie-bogey on the third and fourth he produced a spectacular chip-in for birdie on the sixth which was followed by a chip-putt birdie on the seventh.

Gaurav recovered well from a tough spot from 40 yards out on the ninth to salvage a valuable birdie. The chirpy golfer from the Noida Golf Course took away birdies on the 11thand 15th despite missing out on eagle opportunities from 10 feet and five feet respectively.

“I’m delighted to be back in the reckoning today after scrambling through round two. I birdied all the four par-5s and dropped just one bogey. However, I also missed some short birdie putts especially on the 18th where it lipped out.

“It’s been a satisfying effort since I hung in there to keep myself in contention. I’m excited about playing in the leader group after a long time. I’ll just look to maintain the momentum in round four and not think too much about the leaderboard,” said Gaurav.

Second round leader Mukesh Kumar (66-68-70) dropped to this place as a result of his 70 in round three. The six-time winner of the IndianOil Servo Masters mixed four birdies with two bogeys on Friday. Mukesh, who closed the day with a long birdie putt on the 18th to reduce the lead to one shot, would also be a force to reckon with on the final day.

Delhi’s Vinod Kumar lies fourth at 10-under-206 while Bengaluru’s M Dharma is in fifth place at eight-under-208.

Defending champion Shamim Khan (71-72-72) of Delhi returned an even-par-72 to be tied 21st at one-under-215.

PGTI Press release

Manush, Prapti wear Sub-Junior crowns to end season on a satisfying note

Guwahati, November 20, 2015: Manush Shah of Gujarat and Prapti Sen of West Bengal won titles in the Sub-Junior Boys and Sub-Junior Girls sections, respectively, in the National Ranking (East Zone) Table Tennis Championships which concluded at the Deshbakhta Tarunram Phukan Indoor Stadium here today.

Manush Shah blanked out Alberto Lrruata of PSPBA 4-0 and Prapti Sen defeated Manushree Patil of Maharashtra 4-2 for their second titles this season.

The final between Manush and Alberto was disappointing because one expected the PSPBA boy to put up some resistance. However, Manush did not have to shed a drop of sweat as he wound it up much earlier than one would have anticipated.

In fact, Prapti who began the season with the title at Chennai ended it nicely by adding the second crown here to her resume. Prapti had a healthy 2-0 lead and it helped her in more ways than one as the onus was on Manushree, who had won back-to-back titles at Jamnagar and Thane. 

The girl from Maharashtra did well to take the next but once again the West Bengal girl consolidated her lead which put extra pressure on Manushree. It was very much evident, particularly in the sixth game, which went into deuce twice before Prapti putting it across to seal her opponent’s fate. But Manushree should not feel disheartened because she has really made a mark with the two titles and arriving on the scene.

Earlier during the morning session, Alberto Lrruata of PSPBA and Manush Shah of Gujarat entered the final beating their rivals Jayabrata Bhattacharjee of West Bengal 4-1 and Shivjit Singh Lamba of Delhi 4-0, respectively without a problem.

In fact the Delhi boy had to play really well in the quarterfinals against a determined PSPBA boy Sameer Pandey which the former won 3-2. That’s were Lamba lost all his energy and could not do justice against a rampaging Maush Shah, who has a title this year. As for Jayabrata, he was very patchy and it was visible in the semifinals. He, had, however inflicted a similar verdict on Shakreja Gourang of Haryana in the quarters.

Ishita, Tanisi miss chances

Even the girls’ semifinals had turned out to be a one-sided affair with Maharashtra’s Manushree Patil blanking out state mate Aditi Sinha 4-0 and West Bengal’s Prapti Sen accounting for her North Bengal rival Nikita Sarkar 4-1. But Prapti had to play out of her skin to beat Goa’s Tanisi Kirtani 3-2 in the quarterfinals. Tanisi, who managed to level after being 0-2 down, could not cope with the pressure in the decider. Delhi’s Ishita Gupta, who had won the North Zone title at Delhi, could not repeat her form and bowed out 2-3 to Aditi Sinha. Ishita had her chances in the decider but squandered two match-points to lose the game 13-15.

                                                                                                                                 

Results:

Sub-Junior Boys: Final: Manush Shah (Guj) bt Alberto Lrruata (PSPBA) 4-0 (11-2, 11-8, 11-8, 11-7); Semifinals: Alberto Lrruata bt Jayabrata Bhattacharjee (WB) 4-1 (9-11, 11-3, 11-8, 11-8, 11-9), Manush Shah bt Shivjit Singh Lamba (Del) 4-0 (11-7, 11-4, 11-4, 11-5);Quarterfinals: Manush Shah bt Harsh Srivastava (PSPBA) 3-1 (2-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-5), Shivjit Singh Lamba bt Sameer Pandey (PSPBA) 3-2 (6-11, 12-10, 7-11, 12-10, 11-9), Alberto Lrruata (PSPBA) bt Wesley Do Rosario (Goa) 3-0 (11-6, 11-5, 11-3), Jayabrata Bhattacharjee bt Shakreja Gourang (Har) 3-1 (14-12, 12-14, 11-5, 11-9).   

Sub-Junior Girls: Final: Prapti Sen (WB) bt Manushree Patil (Mah) 4-2 (11-8, 11-9, 8-11, 11-6, 6-11, 13-11); Semifinals: Manushree Patil bt Aditi Sinha (Mah) 4-0 (11-6, 11-8, 11-4, 11-8), Prapti Sen bt Nikita Sarkar (NB) 4-1 (11-8, 11-6, 11-13, 11-7, 11-8);Quarterfinals: Manushree Patil bt Diksa Biswas (NB) 3-1 (9-11, 13-11, 11-9, 11-9), Aditi Sinha bt Ishita Gupta (Del) 3-2 (11-8, 9-11, 5-11, 11-7, 15-13), Nkita Sarkar bt Diya Chitale (Mah) 3-1 (6-11, 11-6, 11-3, 11-7),  Prapti Sen bt Tanisi Kirtani (Goa) 3-2 (11-4, 11-8, 9-11, 4-11, 11-6).

TTFI Press release

India finish with 3 Gold, 3 Silver and 5 Bronze in Track Asia Cup

Deborah Herold

New Delhi, November 20, 2015: Indian Cycling team finished its campaign by winning 11 medals including 3 Gold, 3 Silver and 5 Bronze in the Track Asia Cup held at IGI Sports Complex here and ranked third in Overall medal tally. Korea finished at the top with 6 Gold, 3 Silver and 3 Bronze while Uzbekistan secured second place with 3 Gold and 4 Silver medals.  

On the final day, India won 2 Gold and 3 Bronze medals.

India’s young cycling sensation Deborah Herold made a fine start on the final day of the Track Asia Cup by winning the Gold medal in the Women Elite Sprint clocking 13.614 seconds to beat Korea’s Cho Sun Young (13.704).

Deborah also missed one medal opportunity as she fell down in her favourite Keiren event. On the final lap, she couldn’t maintain her balance and fell down on the track and after coming in contact of Deborah, Thailand’s Pannaray Rasee also lost her balance and collided. Deborah eventually settled for 1 Gold and 2 silver medals (including one from team event) in Track Asia Cup.

Deborah said “I am bit upset that I missed medal in one of my favourite event Keirin-WE as I fell down, I could have won one more Gold for India and I was leading but unfortunately I fell down and couldn’t win the medal for India. Anyways you improve with every tournament and I am following it. The overall performance of our teams is better. This event is a good preparation for us looking ahead two major events World Cup in Hongkong followed by Asian Championship in Japan early next year. Before this we will also have our training camp in Switzerland from first week of December”.

In the Junior Women Sprint finals, India’s Nayana Rajesh bagged gold medal in 13.510 seconds while Anu Chutia clinched bronze in 13.822 seconds. The silver went to Fatemeh Hadavand of Iran in 13.623 seconds. Nayana led from the start and won in a very fine manner. She was very calm during the event and pedaled the cycle like she is swimming in the pool. 

Nayana said after the event that her coach Mr. R.K. Sharma told us to be calm and soft during the event and he also gave some technical tips which we followed well and due to this I won the gold and Anu won the Bronze.

In the Men Junior section Emerson bagged bronze medal in the Sprint finals with a timing of 12.347 seconds. The Gold of this event gone to Thanawat Uraikit of Thailand and Saiid Suwaidan of UAE won the Silver.

The men’s junior team, consisting of Ranjith Singh, Sahil Kumar, Om Thalor Prakash and Sanju Udayan Abhjith won bronze in the Team pursuit 4 km event, waving off tough competition with a timing of 4:46.643s. Gold of this event won by Uzbekistan (4:39.630s) and Silver bagged by UAE with a timing of 4:42.679s.

The main attraction of today was the point race of 30Km where 16 riders took part together and they have to complete the 120 rounds of the track. However, Indian couldn’t win the medal in this race and Arvind Panwar could secure 11th place but the stamina and pace maintained by Panwar was amazing and we can hope the medals in future with this event. Nikita Panassenko of Track Team Astana won the Gold with 105 points while Timur Gumerov collected 73 points and secured 2nd place. The third place went to Wan Yau Vincent of Hongkong with a total of 52 points.

CFI Press release

World Cycling Satellite Centre inaugurated

New Delhi,  November 20, 2015: The long effort put in by the Cycling Federation of India to get World Cycling facilities in our country has been given green signal today when the “Satellite Centre” was inaugurated at the IGI Cycling Velodrome in New Delhi by Mr. Injeti Srinivas, Director General, Sports Authority of India.

It was just in April 2015 when India started SAI National Cycling Academy (SAINCA) in collaboration with Sports Authority of India & Cycling Federation of India. Most of the riders of 14-16 Age groups are in SAINCA. Now this has been accredited by World Cycling Centre as its ‘Satellite Centre’. This centre becomes the third UCI’s satellite centre in the world, whereby 181 Countries are affiliated to UCI. Only Japan and Korea has the satellite centre.

With the introduction of this new satellite centre, now riders from various countries of Asia can avail the World Class facilities for training available at IGI Cycling Velodrome in New Delhi. This will create a good opportunity to train under the guidance of World Class coaches who will be appointed by UCI World Cycling Centre. 80 riders will be given full residential facility including their boarding and equipment’s which will be provided by Sports Authority of India.

Mr. Injeti Srinivas, Director General, Sports Authority of India said, “The standard of Cycling in India is slightly raising and credit goes to Cycling Federation of India who is planning sincerely and training hard to the riders. This centre will help the development of cycling sport and form considerable bench strength for the Indian Cycling team in furtherance to their quest for participation and winning at Asian, World and Olympic Games. He also said that on behalf of Sports Authority of India, I can assure you to provide all the support from SAI to our cyclists and federation as well.

Mr. Onkar Singh, Secretary General Cycling Federation of India said on this occasion, “We are working day and night to raise the standard of Indian Riders at the World level. The Satellite Centre will help to increase the level of competition amongst our athletes and also our Indian riders will get the maximum exposure by training with foreign riders under the guidance of World class coaches”.

“The world class facilities will help them to learn the new techniques and improve their timings. I am confident that with the inauguration of this Satellite Centre, we will be able to improve our rankings and achieve more medals in the major international events soon. Once we will start getting results at international level, I am sure it will help us in the further development and promotion of sport in the country” said Mr.Onkar Singh.

Cycling Federation of India Press release