Top seed Mayur to meet 3rd seed Bendre in men’s final

 Anvit Bendre 

Mohit Mayur

Mumbai, January 30, 2016: Top seed Mohit Mayur of Tamil Nadu defeated Mumbai’s Aryan Goveas 7-6 (3), 6-3, while the third seed from Pune, Anvit Bendre accounted for Delhi’s Kunal Anand 7-6 (6), 3-6, 6-4 in the men’s singles semi-finals to set up the title clash in the Rs 13 lakh AITA Ranking Anirudh Desai JVPG Tennis Tournament, hosted by JVPG, in association with Nine Hills, at their courts, here, on Saturday.

Bendre also kept himself in line for a double by entering the mixed doubles final along with Goa’s Natasha Palha. The pair defeated Pune’s Sahil Gaware and AP’s Iska Akshara 6-1, 6-2 to set up a final clash with Mohit Mayur and Mumbai’s Rashmi Teltumbde, who defeated Chandigarh’s Ranjit Singh and MP’s Isha Budwal 6-3, 6-2 in the second semis.

The first set between Goveas and Mayur was a fierce contest with both players being broken twice, before it moved into the tie-breaker. While Mayur relied more on his deep and accurate slices, Goveas countered with powerful shots from his forehand to either flanks.

Though Goveas took the mini break in the tie-breaker, he could not keep the momentum and with Mayur making fewer errors, the top seed managed to keep his nose ahead and win the tie-break.

The second set also saw both players exchanging an early break of serve, before Goveas had to take a medical break for a strain in his serving arm. Unable to generate the same power after that, he could not prevent Mayur from breaking him again and then holding serve to extend his lead.

After a close first set, the experienced Kunal Anand upped his game to win the second set at a canter. However, he seemed to be tiring in the decider and a crucial break in the ninth game set Bendre up for the match, which he closed out with an ace while serving for the match.

Results: Men’s Singles (Semi Final): 3-Anvit Bendre (MH) bt Kunal Anand (DL) 7-6(6), 3-6, 6-4; 1-Mohit Mayur (TN) bt Aryan Goveas (MH) 7-6(3), 6-3.

Mixed Doubles (Semi Final): 1-Anvit Bendre (MH) & Natasha Palha (GA) bt Sahil Gaware (MH) & Akshara Iska (AP) 6-1, 6-2; 2-Mohit Mayur (TN) & Rashmi Teltumbde (MH) bt Ranjeet Singh (CH) & Isha Budwal (MP) 6-3, 6-2.

Press release

Bihar Police humble GRPF 3-0

Patna, January 29, 2016: Bihar Police thrashed GRPF 3-0 in the Patna Senior Division Football League at the Sanjay Gandhi Stadium here on Friday.

Anil Devkatta opened the scoring for the winners in the 12^th minute.

Stung by this reverse, GRPF men played brilliant football in the first half but they failed to bring in the equalizer due to poor marksmanship.

At the breather, Bihar Police were leading 1-0.

In the second half, Policemen played attacking football and pumped in two more goals to take the tally to 3-0. Aman Thapa scored the second goal for the Bihar Police in the 67^th minute while Anil Devkatta made it 3-0 in the 75^th minute.

Photo: Aftab Alam Siddiqui

DAV Board Colony meet St Michael’s School in final

Patna, January 29, 2016: DAV Public School Board Colony will take on St Michael’s High School in the Anu Anand Cup Super Challenge Inter-School Football Tournament final on January 31.

In the second semifinal played at the outer ground of the Moinul Haq Stadium on Friday, DAV boys prevailed over Presidency Global School 1-0.

Swetank scored the match winner in the 48^th minute.

Mohit in men’s semis; Natasha to take on Rashmi for title

 Natasha Palha 

Mohit Mayur

Mumbai, January 29, 2016: Top seed Mohit Mayur of TN outplayed 5th seed Siddharth Vishwakarma of UP to enter the men’s singles semi-finals of the Rs 13 lakh AITA Ranking Anirudh Desai JVPG Tennis Tournament, hosted by JVPG, in association with Nine Hills, at their courts, here, on Friday.

Mayur will take on Mumbai’s unseeded Aryan Goveas, who continued his fine form to knock out 8th seed Jayesh Pungaliya of Pune 6-4, 7-6 (3)

The second semi-final will feature third seed Anvit Bendre of Pune and Kunal Anand od Delhi. While Bendre recovered from the loss of the first set against the wily seventh seed, Vijay Kannan of TN, to win 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, the experienced Anand was taken the distance by AP’s Sai Saran Byreddy before winning 4-6, 6-0,7-6 (1).

In women’s action, top seed and defending champion Natasha Palha of Goa recorded an authoritative 6-4, 6-2 win over Punjab’s Nandini Sharma to book her place in the women’s singles title round. Natasha will take on 7th seed Rashmi Teltumbde, who defeated second seed Sharrmada Baluu of Karnataka 6-4, 6-2. Sharrmada, who twisted her ankle in the first set was a mere passenger in the second set. Both Natasha and Rashmi will also feature in the women’s doubles finals, winning the semi-final encounters with their respective partners.

Pune’s third seed Anvit Bendre continued his fine form make the  men’s semi-finals, recovering from the loss of the first set against the wily seventh seed, Vijay Kannan of TN, to win 4-6, 6-2, 6-1. Bendre will take on Delhi’s Kunal Anand, who was taken the distance by AP’s Sai Saran Byreddy before winning 4-6, 6-0,7-6 (1).

Also advancing to the semi-finals was Mumbai’s Aryan Goveas, who accounted for 8th seed Jayesh Pungaliya of Pune 6-4, 7-6 (3).The 17-year-old Goveas will take on top seed Mohit Mayur, who accounted for 5th seed Siddharth Vishwakarma of UP 6-4, 6-0.

With Goveas’s big first serve deserting him, the going was tough in the first set as both players traded early breaks. However, Goveas then broke Pungaliya in the ninth game and then served out the set.

The second set also saw both players trading early breaks and then holding serve to take the set into the tie-breaker, where Goveas jumped to an early 3-0 lead and kept his nose ahead to win it 7-3.

The left-handed Vishwakarma managed to trouble the top seed a bit in the first set with his big serves and baseline shots finding the spots on the flanks. He also had two break points each against Mayur in two games but could not capitalize on them. However, one break was enough for Mayur to take the first set 6-4. The second was a no contest ad errors began creeping into Vishwakarma’s game and Mayur trooped out a comfortable winner.

Women Singles (Semi Final): 1-Natasha Palha (GA) bt Nandini Sharma (PB) 6-4, 6-2; 7-Rashmi Teltumbde (MH) bt 2-Sharrmada Ballu (KA) 6-4, 6-0;

Men Singles (Quarter Final): 3-Anvit Bendre (MH) bt 7-Vijay Kannan (TN) 4-6, 6-2, 6-1; 1-Mohit Mayur (TN) bt 5-Siddharth Vishwakarma (UP) 6-4, 6-0; Aryan Goveas (MH) bt 8-Jayesh Pungliya (MH) 6-4, 7-6(3); Kunal Anand (DL) bt Sai Saran Byreddy (AP) 4-6, 6-0, 7-6(1)

Women Doubles (Semi-Finals): 1- Natasha Palha (GA) & Sharrmada Balu (KA) bt 4-Moulika Ram (AP) & Aastha Dargude (MH) 7-6(0), 6-1; 2-Shwetaa Rana (DL) & Rashmi Teltumbde (MH) bt 3-Amrita Mukherjee (WB) & Samhitha C Sai (TN) 6-2, 6-3.

Press release

Vijay Kumar Malhotra calls for inclusion of sports infrastructure in the master plan for setting up smart cities.

New Delhi, January 29, 2016: Prof. Vijay Kumar Malhotra, President, All India Council of Sports has requested the Union Minister for Urban Development to include sports infrastructure in the master plan of smart cities so as to promote sports culture and also to enable the cities to host National and International Sports Events. He further suggested to promote sports disciplines popular in the region where the smart cities are situated. A copy of the letter is attached.

Prof. Malhotra said that Prime Minister Shri Narender Modi's dream of 'smart cities' takes wings with the announcement of 20 smart cities by the Ministry of Urban Development. Indeed it is the first step in the fructification of the grand design of creating world class cities in the country.

Smart Cities focus on the most pressing needs so as to improve quality of life of the citizens.  Prof. Malhotra therefore stressed the need to focus on health and well being of citizens by providing facilities for physical & mental health and fitness along with development of other civic amenities.

Prof. Malhotra has suggested to make the provision for Multi Purpose indoor hall to accommodate Volleyball, Basketball, Badminton, Kabaddi; Yog & Meditation Hall; Multipurpose Stadium with Athletic Track, Jogging track and walk way for senior citizens; all weather International standard Swimming Pool; Archery Range where Archery is a traditional sport and facilities for all outdoor games like Football, Hockey, etc. in the master plan for Smart Cities.

Press release

FIH announces winners of the Hockey Stars 2015 awards

27 January 2016: The International Hockey Federation (FIH) has announced the Hockey Stars 2015 Coach of the Year and Umpire of the Year awards.

Great Britain assistant coach Karen Brown won the women’s Coach of the Year while Ireland’s South African coach Craig Fulton picked up the men’s Coach of the Year.

Gibraltar’s Nathan Stagno is named men’s Umpire of the Year while South Africa’s Michelle Joubert was awarded the women’s Umpire of the Year.

Women’s Coach of the Year, England and Great Britain assistant coach Karen Brown, is Britain’s most capped female hockey player of all time with 355 caps. She competed in three Olympic Games and won a bronze medal in 1992. Other playing highlights include a European gold medal, Commonwealth silver and numerous national titles with her club Slough.

Karen began coaching at Chelmsford in 2000 before moving into coaching positions with England U16, U18, U21 and the B programme. In 2005 she joined England Hockey as Junior Performance Manager, moving to assistant coach in 2006.

Since then, she has been part of the coaching team that has led England women to the EuroHockey Championships title in 2015 and bronze medals at the World Cup, Champions Trophy, two Commonwealth Games and three European Championships. With Great Britain, she was part of the coaching team that saw them win a bronze medal at the London 2012 Olympics, finish sixth at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and win a silver medal at the Champions Trophy in February 2012.

Men’s Coach of the Year - Craig Fulton gained widespread praise for leading Ireland to the Olympic Games for the first time in over 100 years. They qualified for Rio following their success at the FINTRO Hockey World League Semi-Final in Antwerp, Belgium last summer.

During his playing career, Fulton won 191 national caps for South Africa during which he competed at the 1996 Atlanta and 2004 Athens Olympic Games. Following his retirement he has taken on several coaching roles within club and international hockey.

In addition to roles as assistant coach for Ireland men and South Africa men and women, Fulton enjoyed a successful spell with Irish club Pembroke, where he guided them to the Irish Hockey League and Irish Senior Cup double as well as the EuroHockey Club Champions Trophy in 2009.

Craig’s compatriot, Michelle Joubert, voted women’s Umpire of the Year 2015, first picked up a whistle aged 22. Since then she has gone on to become only the second South African woman in history to achieve 100 senior international caps, recently receiving her FIH Golden Whistle at the Argentina Hockey World League Final in Rosario last December.

Michelle has officiated at two Hockey World Cups, in Rosario in 2010 and in The Hague in 2014, the London 2012 Olympic Games, plus one Commonwealth Games and two Champions Trophies.

Fellow umpire, Nathan Stagno, received the men’s Umpire of the Year award having also recently received an FIH Golden Whistle. He became the first Gibraltarian to make 100 senior umpire appearances during the Hero Hockey World League Final in Raipur, India last year.

Stagno has officiated at some of the sport’s biggest competitions, including the London 2012 Olympic Games, the Rabobank Hockey World Cup 2014 in the Hague, as well as two Champions Trophy events and a Commonwealth Games.

These awards are further recognition for both umpires who were selected by FIH to attend the Rio 2016 Olympic Games next summer.

Speaking about the Awards, FIH President, Leandro Negre, said: “Congratulations to Craig and Karen who have made a huge impact on the sport in 2016, both helping guide their teams to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games amongst some other key medal wins. Well done to our golden generation of umpires as well, which now includes Michelle and Nathan who have been rightfully recognised for their excellent performances on the field whilst officiating at our events last year.”

He continued: “The ambition of the Hockey Revolution, our ten-year strategy for hockey, is to make it a global game that inspires the next generation. One of our ‘big goals’ is to increase the degree of professionalism throughout the sport. Coaching and officiating is crucial to achieving our aims. These awards showcase excellence in both areas and as a result I hope many others are inspired by these individuals’ outstanding achievements.”

FIH Press release

Rashmi upsets 3rd seed to enter quarters; smooth sailing for seeds

Rashmi Teltumbde 

Mumbai, January 28: Maharashtra’s Rashmi Teltumbde extended her fine run in the women’s singles, scoring an upset victory over Tamil Nadu’s 3rd seed Sai Samitha C to enter the semi-finals of the of the Rs 13 lakh AITA Ranking Anirudh Desai JVPG Tennis Tournament, hosted by JVPG, in association with Nine Hills, at their courts, here, on Thursday.

Seeded seventh, Rashmi had to endure anxious moments in the decider before winning the tie-breaker 11-9 to set up a semi-final clash with second seed Sharrmada Baluu of Karnataka, who hardly broke a sweat before brushing aside Delhi’s Shweta Rana 6-2, 6-1.

In another upset victory, unseeded Nandini Sharma of Punjab sent packing the fourth seed from West Bengal Amrita Mukherjee with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory. Nandini will take on top seed Natasha Palha of Goa, who was convincing 6-3, 6-3 winner over TN’s Nithyaraj Baburaj.

There was an upset in the men’s 2nd round matches too, with AP’s Sai Saran Reddy getting the better of 6th seed state mate Shaikh Abdullah 6-4, 7-6 (3). Top seed Mohit Mayur of TN and 3rd seed Anvit bendra of Maharashtra booked their sports in the quarter-finals without much ado.

Results:

Women’s Singles (QF): 1-Natasha Palha (Goa) bt Baburaj Nityaraj (TN) 6-3, 6-3; 7-Rashmi Teltumbde (MAH) bt 3-Sai Samitha C (TN) 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (9); 2-Sharrmada Baluu (KNT) bt Shweta Rana (DEL) –6-2, 6-1; Nandini Sharma (PUN) bt 4-Amrita Mukherjee (WB) 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.

Men’s Singles (2nd round)

B.Y Reddy Sai Saran (AP) bt 6-Abdullah Shaikh 6-4, 7-6 (3); 1-Mohit Mayur (TN) bt Bhavesh Gour (MP) 6-3, 6-1; 3-Avnit Bendre (MAH) bt Kunal Vazirani (MAH) 6-2, 6-2; 7-Vijay Kannan (TN)  bt Ansu Bhuyan (ODS) 6-4, 6-4.

Press release

Izumo and Zhu are champions

Indore, January 24, 2016: Japan’s Izumo Takuto and Hong Kong’s Zhu Chengzhu became the Boys and Girls champions in the 11Even Sports 2015 ITTF World Junior Circuit Finals at the Abhay Prashal here today.

The three-day event came to the conclusion when the Japanese hardly dropped a sweat when he beat Carlos Vedriel from Spain 4-0 in what was a one-sided final while Zhu, despite an upper hand, overcame a stiff resistance to beat Park Seri of Korea 4-2. The each winner will carry home $3,800 while the runners-up both sections receive $2,100 each.

The boys’ final did not raise any din that one would have expected as the Japanese was fast and attacking right from the first game. Carlos, on the other hand, having played a hard-fought semifinal was under some sort of strain and that was very much evident in his game plan.

The fifth-seeded Japanese stopped his rival at seven points in the first two games and then hastened the proceedings further by finishing off with three and five points in the third and fourth to lift the crystal trophy.

“I played my natural game as I was determined to attack right from the word go. Carlos was making surprisingly too many mistakes and it helped my cause,” said the Japanese. “I could gauge his body language after the second game and I simply kept the ball on the table for him to make mistakes,” added the fifth seed.

Even the girls’ final too seemed going to semifinals way when the 12th seeded Korean changed her strategy with a lot of service variations, including tossed-up services, to outsmart her Hong Kong rival Zhu Chengzhu. But the third seed was quick to grasp it and adapt her game accordingly despite losing the fifth game which saw good rallies being converted into excellent winners by the Korean

The win had restored some confidence in Park but in the next Zhu was up to the task and surged ahead with a 3-1 lead and 5-3. But credit must go to the Korean for her patience as she made it it 7-all before giving away a three negative points much to the delight of the girl from Hong Kong.

“When I entered the arena for the final, the loss to Park Seri in the group match was at the back of my mind. I wanted to make amends for the 2-4 loss and more determined. But she quickly changed her strategy but I adapted quickly to the changes. Even in the sixth game she was down but came back to level 7-7, slowing down the game. Luckily, she gave three easy points that helped my cause,” said Zhu.

A Mixed bag    

After having playing so well for the past two days, American Zhang Kai failed against the fifth seed in the penultimate round as the Japanese Izumo Takuto just toyed with him. After putting himself in the comfort zone, he let Zhang take a game but even before he could take any further liberty the fifth seed stopped Zhang without a fuss. No doubt, Zhang tried all tricks in his book in the fifth game which Izumo won on extended points.

In contrast, the second semifinal between top-seed Korean An Jaehyun and 10th seed Spaniard Crlos Vedriel went the full distance and had all glimpses of a top-shot match with long rallies, fast backhand drives and service variations.

The Korean was down and out at 0-3 with Carlos hitting a nice rhythm. In the fourth game, too, Carlos went up 7-5 after being down 3-5 and was just four points away from the match. That was when Jaehyun took his early timeout and it paid dividends as he first levelled the score and benefited from a couple of net errors by his opponent to win his first game. In the next, he ran away with a huge lead to win. But it was the sixth game where both were wobbly with fortunes changing hands with slender leads. But when Carlos missed his first match point, the Korean shut him down to take the issue to the decider.

In the decider, Carlos was lagging behind by a few points when the Korean went 5-3 up. But the Spaniard closed down on the lead and played brilliant combination drives with great speed. Already under pressure, the No. 1 seed could not cope with his rival’s sudden burst and wilted committing a crucial service error at 7-7 to allow his opponent an upper hand. After losing the first match-point, he served well to cash in on the second and win.

But the girls’ semifinals did not throw up any surprises both Romanians bowed out when the third-seed Zhu Chengzhu from Hong Kong easily beat No. 5 Andreea Dragoman and top-seeded Adina Daconu went down to twelfth seeded Korean Park Seri, both 4-0 verdicts.

Depite being technically sound and having good service variations, Zhu struggled a bit—she was extended in three games—before putting it across Andreea. Park Seri, too, faced some heat, particularly in the second and fourth, against Adina but then the Korean determination won her the day.

Results:

Junior Boys: Final: Izumo Takuto (JPN) bt Carlos Vedriel (ESP) 4-0 (11-7, 11-7, 11-3, 11-5); Semifinals: Izumo Takuto (JPN) bt Zhang Kai (USA) 4-1 (11-6, 11-9, 7-11, 11-9, 12-10), Carlos Vedriel (ESP) bt An Jaehyun (KOR) 4-3 (11-7, 13-11, 11-8, 8-11, 1-11, 10-12, 11-8).

Junior Girls: Final: Zhu Chengzhu (HKG) bt Park Seri (KOR) 4-2 (11-4, 11-6, 8-11, 11-6, 7-11, 11-7);Semifinals: Zhu Chengzhu (HKG) bt Andreea Dragoman (ROU) 4-0 (12-10, 12-10, 11-4, 12-10), Park Seri (KOR) bt Adina Diaconu (ROU) 4-0 (11-5, 14-12, 11-7, 12-10).

TTFI release

Archana makes history, first Indian to enter quarters

Archana Girish Kamath

Indore, January 23, 2016: Archana Girish Kamath’s epoch-making run at the 11Even Sports 2015 ITTF World Junior Circuit Finals came to an end when top-seed Romanian Adina Diaconu beat the Indian 4-0 in the quarterfinals at the Abhay Prashal here today.

Archana, who became the first Indian to enter the last-eight stages, could not repeat her feat against French girl Pauline Chasselin in the third round which paved the way for her quarterfinal entry. Yet, the Bengaluru girl, who finished fifth, can look up to going a few places higher in her rankings. In addition, the 16-year-old will pocket $1,050 for her efforts.

Archana was completely out of sorts against the attacking Romanian whose backhand winners became the talk of the town. That Adina was not only fast but even furious with her approach against the 14th seeded Indian was evident right from the word go. She ran into a 9-2 in the first game, sounding the alarm bell for Archana.

The pattern continued despite Archana trying to slow down the game as none of her tricks, including backhand topspin services, worked. Interestingly, Adina was in a hurry to finish the match and she made no bones about it. She will take on Park Seri of Korea in the first semifinal tomorrow.

However hard the Indian tried, the 10th standard student from Sadashivanagar’s Poorna Pranja Education Centre in Bengaluru could not counter the pace of Romanian.

“She was too good and I was completely lost,” admitted Indian after the loss. But in the morning, it was a different Archana against Pauline. She was not only attacking but her strategy of feeding her French opponent with long balls helped. Though the French tried to come back when she made it 3-2 in the fifth set, Archana was focused on the job at hand to end Pauline’s ordeal.

“My coach advised me to keep her away from the table and I just followed Sandeep Sir’s instructions. His assessment was precise and he kept telling me to keep Pauling away from the table,” said Archana, praising Sandeep Gupta.

Siddhesh justifies

The two Indian boys, Mudit Dani and Siddhesh Pandey finished thirteen—those in 13-16 brackets are considered 13th—but national champion Siddhesh had a far better junior finals outing than Mudit. Siddhesh, who was a last-minute entrant owing to the pullout by Qatari Abdulrahman Al-Naggar, not only justified his inclusion but even performed beyond expectations. He should have won a couple of close encounters but lacked maturity at crucial junctures.

Mudit, on the other hand, has had wider exposures outside the country and gained entry because of his better world rankings. Yet when it came to performing in the finals here, Mudit fell short of expectations as he failed to take a single game off his opponents in all the matches.

Siddhesh led 2-0 in the consolation match against Germany’s Johah Schile but let his rival off the hook as the German struck a nice rhythm to take the next four games to push Siddhesh to the corner.

Match of tournament

In men’s first quarterfinal, Zhag Kai of the USA surpassed all expectations to beat Taipei’s Chun-Yu Tsai 4-3 in a gripping encounter to earn a semifinal meeting with Japanese Izumo Takuto who sdnt second-seeded Darko Jorgic packing.

In what turned out to be the best match of the tournament so far, the Japanese had everything going for himself as he should have won 4-1, then 4-2 when he led 5-0 and 5-1 in the respective games. But his cardinal blunder was the long ball which kept the Slovenian in the match as he kept returning when he was pushed away from the table. But the 16-year-old Japanese got his focus back in the decider and won with a minimal point to go through.

The boys’ semifinals line-up will be Zhang Kai vs Izumo Takuto and An Jaehyun vs Carlos Vedriel while in the girls it will be Adina Diaconu vs Pari Seri and Andreea Dragoman vs Zhu Chengzhu.

Results:

Junior Boys:

Quarterfinals: Zhang Kai (USA) bt Chun-Yu Tsai (TPE) 4-3 (7-11, 11-9, 9-11, 5-11, 11-4, 11-4, 12-10), Izumo Takuto (JPN) bt Darko Jorgic (SLO) 4-3 (11-8, 10-12, 11-9, 11-8, 10-12, 9-11, 11-9), An Jaehyun (KOR) bt Tomokazu Harimoti (JPN) 4-3 (5-11, 11-8, 11-8, 4-11, 8-11, 11-8, 11-5), Carlos Vedriel (ESP) bt Abdel-Aziz Youssef (EGY) 4-1 (11-4, 11-7, 9-11, 11-4, 11-3).

Consolation: Cristian Ple tea (ROU) bt Mudit Dani (IND) 4-0 (11-6, 11-6, 11-5, 11-9), Ali Alkhadrawi (RSA) bt Helshan Weerasinghe (ENG) 4-3 (9-11, 5-11, 11-3, 3-11, 11-5, 12-10, 11-6), Jonah Schile (GER) bt Siddhesh Pande (IND) 4-2 (7-11, 2-11, 11-5, 11-6, 11-7, 11-9), Issac Zauli (BRA) bt Mohammad Abdulwahhab (QAT) 4-2 (12-10, 21-19, 7-11, 5-11, 11-6, 11-5).

Position 9-16: 9-Pleta Cristian (ROU), 10-Jonah Schlie (GER), Joint 11: Ali Alkhadrawi (KSA), Issac Zauli (BRA), Joint 13-Helshan Weerasinghe (ENG), Mudit Dani (IND), Mohammad Abdulwahhab (QAT), Siddhesh Pande (IND)

Junior Girls:

Quarterfinals: Adina Diaconu (ROU) bt Archana Girish Kamath (IND) 4-0 (11-6, 11-6, 11-4, 11-6), Park Seri (KOR) bt Lin Chia-Hsuan (TPE) 4-0 (14-12, 13-11, 13-11, 14-12), Andreea Dragoman (ROU) bt Zhang Xuan (ESP) 4-3 (11-5, 11-13, 4-11, 15-13, 11-5, 6-11, 11-5), Zhu Chengzhu (HKG) bt Miyu Kihara (JPN) 4-2 (8-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-9, 9-11, 11-9).

Consolation: Angela Guan (USA) bt Wu Jiamuwa (AUS) 4-3 (13-11, 7-11, 5-11, 11-4, 11-7, 9-11, 11-4), Tamolwan Khetkhuan (THA) bt Amira Yousry (EGY) 4-0 (11-2, 11-8, 11-4, 12-10), Lin Po-Hsuan (TPE) bt Leticia Nakada (BRA) 4-2 (12-10, 10-12, 11-8, 2-11, 16-14, 11-5), Pauline Chasselin (FRA) bt Bruna Takahashi (BRA) 4-2 (11-6, 8-11, 11-7, 8-11, 11-8, 11-9).

Position 9-16: 9-Pauline Chasselin (FRA), 10-Angela Guan (USA), Joint 11-Tamolwan Khetkhuan (THA) and Lin Po-Hsuan (TPE), Joint 13-Amira Yousry (EGY), Bruna Takahasi (BRA), Leticia (BRA) and Wu Jiamuwa (AUS).

A Kamath (IND) bt Leticla Nakada (BRA) 4-3 (11-6, 11-9, 9-11, 2-11, 10-12, 11-5, 11-8).

Archana keeps qualifying hopes alive

Indore, January 22, 2016: With one more round of group qualification matches remaining to be played tomorrow in the 2015 ITTF World Junior Circuit Finals, some upsets at the Abhay Prashal here today indicated to a topsy-turvy results, contrary to popular expectations.

Archana Girish Kamath, despite losing her first-round match to Romania’s Adreea Dragoman 2-4 in a tough battle, returned for her second-round game against 11th seed Leticla Nakada from Brazil in the late evening match to keep her chances of qualifying for the second stage alive. The 13th seed Indian beat the Brazilian 4-3 in a pulsating second-round encounter. She, however, has a tough job at hand when she meets fourth seed French girl Pauline Chasselin in the third round match tomorrow.

But for both Mudit Dani and Siddhesh Pande, it was curtains as they lost their first and second round matches. However, Pande was a revelation in the second round against Spaniard Carlos Vedriel, who earlier accounted for second seed Slovenian Darko Jorgic. The Indian national junior champion put up a good fight against the 10th seed before going down 2-4.

After the afternoon upsets when Jorgic lost to Carlos Vedriel and Japanese Miyuu Kihara beat Tamolwan Khetkhuan of Thailand in Junior Boys and Junior Girls, it was the turn of top-seed Korean An Jaehyun to go down to American Zhang Kai, the seventh seed.

However, both Carlos and Miyuu, who posted their second successive wins, strengthened their chances of making the main draw cut in the Junior Boys and Girls sections. Others who more or less ensured their chances are Zhang Kai, Tomokazu Harimoto of Japan, Takuto Izumo, also of Japan, and Egyptian Abdel-Aziz Youssef from group 4. However, groups 2 and 3 are a bit dicey because of players posting at least one win against each other.

In the girls, category, Adina Diaconu from group 1, Lin Chia-Hsuan of Taipei along with Japanese Miyuu from group 2, Zhu Chengzhu of Hong Kong and Park Seri from group 3 and Andreea Dragoman from group 4 need just a win to enter the quarterfinals.

Having lost to the Slovenian in Hungary 2-3 earlier last year, Carlos had made himself sure not to fall to his backhand trap, the stronger point. Instead, he drove very often to his forehand and the second-seeded Slovenian was in all sorts of trouble, losing the first two games. He, however, tried to pull one back when he managed to take the third set. But then Carlos got into a nice rhythm and executed his powerful forehand which fetched quite a lot of winners.

Results:

Junior Boys:

Group 1: Zhang Kai (USA) bt Mudit Dani (IND) 4-0 (11-3, 11-5, 11-9, 11-4), An Jaehyun (KOR) bt Jonah Schlie (GER) 4-1 (11-3, 11-9, 10-12,11-4, 11-8), Jonah Schile (GER) bt Mudit Dani (IND) 4-0 (11-6, 11-8, 11-6, 11-8), Zhang Kai (USA) bt An Jaehyu (KOR) 4-0 (11-9, 11-3, 11-8, 13-11).

Group 2: Carlos Vedriel (ESP) bt Darko Jorgic (SLO) 4-1 (11-7, 11-8, 9-11, 11-7, 11-4), Helshan Weerasinghe (ENG) 4-0 bt Siddhesh Pande 4-0 (11-4, 11-9, 11-5, 11-3), Carlos Vedriel (ESP) bt Siddhesh Pande 4-2 (9-11, 12-10, 8-11, 11-5, 11-4, 11-6), Darko Jorgic (SLO) bt Helshan Weerasinghe (ENG) 4-2 (3-11, 11-4, 10-12, 11-9, 13-11, 11-5).

Group 3: Tomokazu Harimoti (JPN) bt Ali Alkhadrawi (KSA) 4-1 (11-9, 11-8, 16-18, 11-6, 12-10), Chun-Yu Tsai (TPE) bt Mohammad Abdulwahhab (QAT) 4-1 (11-8, 11-7, 11-9,4-11, 11-8), Tookazu Harimoto (JPN) bt Chun-Yu Tsai (TPE) 4-2 (11-4, 11-8, 8-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-7), Mohammad Abdlwahhab (QAT) bt Ali Alkhadrawi (KSA) 4-2 (3-11, 7-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-6, 11-6).

Group 4: Takuto Izumo (JPN) bt Issac Zauli (BRA) 4-1 (11-6, 6-11, 11-1, 11-9, 11-3), Youseef Abdel-Aziz (EGY) bt Cristian Pletea (ROU) 4-2 (11-13, 12-10, 11-7, 11-9, 9-11, 11-9),  Izumo Takuto (JPN) bt Cristian Pletea (ROU) 4-0 (11-9, 12-10, 11-7, 11-8), Abdel-Aziz Youssef (EGY) bt Isaac Zauli (BRA) 4-0 (11-7, 11-8, 11-6, 11-9).

Junior Girls:

Group 1: Adina Diaconu (ROU) bt Zhang Xuan (ESP) 4-2 (6-11, 11-9, 11-7, 6-11, 11-3, 11-6), Lin Po-Hsuan (TPE) bt Amira Yousry (EGY) 4-0 (11-2, 11-7, 11-7, 11-8), Zhang Xuan (ESP) bt Amira Yousry (EGY) 4-1 (11-7, 5-11, 11-4, 11-8, 11-3), Adina Diaconu (ROU) bt Po-Hsuan Lin (TPE) 4-1 (16-14, 11-6, 8-11, 11-8, 11-5).

Group 2: Miyuu Kihara (JPN) bt Tamolwan Khetkhuan (THA) 4-3 (1-11, 2-11, 13-15, 11-8, 11-8, 11-7, 11-2), Lin Chia-Hsuan (TPE) bt Wu Jiamuwa (AUS) 4-2 (8-11, 12-10, 11-9, 5-11, 11-5, 11-2), Chia-Hsuan Lin (TPE) bt Tamolwan Khetkhuan (THA) 4-0 (12-10, 11-5, 11-9, 11-6), Miyuu Kihara (JPN) bt Wu Jiamuwa (AUS) 4-1 (11-5, 9-11, 11-6, 11-4, 11-8).

Group 3: Park Seri (KOR) bt Zhu Chengzhu (HKG) 4-2 (4-11, 11-4, 8-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-4), Angela Guan (USA) bt Bruna Takahashi (BRA) 4-2 (11-8, 9-11, 10-12, 11-4, 11-4, 11-6), Park Seri (KOR) bt Anela Guan (USA) 4-3 (10-12, 11-4, 8-11, 7-11, 11-2, 11-8, 11-8), Zhu Chengzhu (HKG) bt Bruna Takahashi (BRA) 4-2 ( 8-11, 11-4, 11-5, 11-4, 8-11, 11-7).

Group 4: Andreea Dragoman (ROU) bt Archana Girish Kamath (IND) 4-2 (3-11, 11-1, 11-8, 11-3, 7-11, 11-5), Pauline Chasselin (FRA) bt Letcia Nakada (BRA) 4- 1 (6-11, 11-5, 14-12, 13-11, 11-8), Andreea Dragoman (ROU) bt Pauline Chasselin (FRA) 4-2 (12-10, 7-11, 11-9, 8-11, 11-7, 14-12), Archana Girish Kamath (IND) bt Leticla Nakada (BRA) 4-3 (11-6, 11-9, 9-11, 2-11, 10-12, 11-5, 11-8).

TTFI release

Bihar sub-junior girls enter football quarterfinals

Patna, January 21, 2016:  Bihar blanked Uttar Pradesh 2-0 to enter the quarterfinals of the Sub-Junior Girls’ National Football Championships in Cuttack on Thursday.

Riya Kumari struck a brace for Bihar in the 30^th and 35^th minutes of the first half.

Now, Bihar will take on Haryana on January 24 in the quarterfinal. 

Wasim Khan one shot ahead after round three of Final Qualifying Stage, Aman Raj in second spot

Wasim Khan 

Kensville Golf & Country Club, Ahmedabad, January 21, 2016: Delhi’s Wasim Khan shot a two-over-74 to hold a one-shot lead in round three of the PGTI’s Final Qualifying Stage for the 2016 season being held at the Kensville Golf & Country Club near Ahmedabad. Khan’s three-day total stood at five-over-221. Patna-based amateur Aman Raj was placed one shot behind the leader in second position.

Wasim Khan (73-74-74), who was the overnight joint leader, made two birdies against four bogeys on Thursday to stay on top of the leaderboard despite the tough playing conditions. While Wasim sank a 25-feet birdie putt on the 11th and landed it within four feet for another birdie on the 14th, he also made two three-putts for the second day in succession to drop strokes on the 10th and 16th. Khan also missed par putts from within seven feet on the fourth and eighth to total four bogeys for the day.

“My driving and iron hitting has been very good this week but I have struggled with my chipping and putting. I’ve made three-putts on all three days so far. After being three-over through 10 holes today, I made a good comeback with birdies on 11 and 14 but the three-putt on 16 was a huge disappointment. However, it’s quite satisfying to be leading at this stage. The conditions have been tough this week so it would be great to shoot an under-par score in the final round. That would give me a good chance of ending up on top of the pack,” said Wasim.

Amateur Aman Raj made three birdies and five bogeys in his third round of 74 to be placed second at six-over-222.

Noida’s Raju Singh (75) was in third place at seven-over-223 and Bengaluru’s Syed Saqib Ahmed (77), the joint round two leader, occupied fourth place at eight-over-224.

At the end of round four on Friday, the top 35 players (+ ties) will earn full cards for the 2016 PGTI season.

PGTI Press release

IOS bags Exclusive Commercial and Marketing Rights of Indian Olympic Association for 2 Years

New Delhi; January 21, 2016: Indian Olympic Association (IOA) is delighted to announce IOS Sports & Entertainment, country’s leading sports management group as its exclusive agency for two years. This is the first time in the history of Indian Olympic Association that any professional sports marketing agency has been appointed to generate sponsorship revenues for the Indian contingent that will participate in the Olympic Games to be held in Rio from 5-21 August 2016.

In a multi-pitch battle IOS won this mandate for being the exclusive agency of IOA which involves getting sponsorships, handling operations and all media & PR related work. With this mandate IOS will strategize the commercial plan for IOA so as to raise the sponsorship for Indian Contingent that will represent country in the Rio Olympic Games and all other national and international events. IOS is also planning to develop some intellectual properties in partnership with IOA and will be working in tandem to unlock the commercial potential of the Indian Olympic Association.

IOS is targeting the minimum revenue of 10-12 crore through principle and associates sponsors as well as partners for the upcoming Rio Olympic Games.

Commenting on this new association with IOS, Mr. N Ramachandran, President IOA said “I would like to welcome on board IOS Sports & Entertainment as our exclusive Sports Marketing Agency. We are sure they will deliver their best while working with IOA. We were looking for an agency that had the required expertise and credentials to raise sponsorship for Indian Olympic Association and after multiple rounds of discussions and presentations, we found that IOS was the best candidate to meet our goals”.

Speaking on this new journey with the Indian Olympic Association, Mr. Neerav Tomar, MD & CEO IOS Sports & Entertainment said, ‘’It is a matter of great pride to be associated with the IOA. We are glad to have been given this opportunity to be a part of the body that governs Olympic sports in the country. We will strive to deliver our best in all areas - sponsorships, building intellectual properties, operations and media & PR. We have developed a structure for upcoming Rio Olympic Games we are looking at 3 principle sponsors and few associates and partners. We are very excited and looking forward to working together for achieving our partnership goals”.

Mr. Rajeev Mehta, Secretary General IOA said “We were impressed with IOS’s experience in sports management that stretches from team sponsorships in the top sporting leagues to individual player management. They offered some great creative and commercial ideas that will help us unlock the potential of this association”.

London Olympics 2012 bronze medallist and currently World number 2 Badminton star Saina Nehwal said “I am happy to know IOA’s decision to appoint IOS as its exclusive agency which will help build the image and generate revenue for Olympic sports in the country. I have known Neerav and his company for over 9 years now and they have been managing and my professional career very successfully. I am confident that they will achieve new milestones in raising sponsorship for IOA” 

Another London Olympics 2012 bronze medallist shooter Gagan Narang said “I applaud IOA’s decision of appointing a sports marketing agency to look after its marketing and raise its brand value. The kind of work IOS has done in the sports arena during last 10 years makes me confident that they will deliver at their best”.

London Olympics 2012 bronze medallist and five times World Champion boxer Mary Kom said “I am happy to hear this news. This is a great step taken by IOA ahead of Rio Olympic Games. IOS signed me in 2009 and they have supported and managed me for more than 6 years now. I am confident of their ability to deliver and also wish them good luck”.

Bejing Olympics 2008 bronze and London Olympics 2012 silver medallist wrestler Sushil Kumar said “This is a new era for Olympic sports and one of India’s top company who I have known for over 7 years now has joined hands with IOA.I would like to wish both IOA and IOS in building this partnership”.

An established player in the sports marketing industry in India for over 10 years in India, IOS specializes in Consulting, Film Branding, Talent Management, Sports Infrastructure, Rights Management, Outdoor Advertising and PR & Media.

Press release 

Acid test for crème de la crème

Indore, January 21, 2016: It will not be business as usual for the crème de la crème of table tennis from six continents—Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, North America and Oceania—that has assembled here for the 2015 ITTF World Junior Circuit Finals.

All 32 paddlers—16 boys and 16 girls—on view here may have won a few titles from among the 30 tournaments, but the three-day finals commencing at the Abhay Prashad here from tomorrow will be a real acid test for them.

In the $36,000 prize money event, with the winner in each category getting $3,800, no player would want to settle anything less than the title and the biggest prize purse—a just reward after a year-long hard work a paddler has put in his fledgling career. Even those finishing 13 and beyond will not go empty handed as they are set to earn $462.50, the least from the competition.

Surprisingly, Slovenia’s Darko Jorgic and Romania’s Adina Diaconu head the lists of boys and girls, respectively, thanks to their consistent performance in the year gone by. Take the case of Jorgic. He competed in three tournaments in Egypt, Serbia and Hungary and won all the three Junior Boys’ singles titles. Adina competed in two at Bahrain and Hungary and won both.

Without a doubt, the Slovenian, whose potent weapon is the powerful backhand, will be the guy to beat and who can do it better than Korea’s An Jaehyun, who along with Romania’s Cristian Pletea or American Zhang Kai, each of whom have two titles. The Korean won the Slovak and Poland events while Pletea picked the first two titles of the year at Bahrain and the Czech Republic, Zhang in Canada and Portugal. Zhang, a powerful right hander, may well be the dark horse here and is a real contender for top honours.

Among two competitors, Qatari Mohammed Abdulhussein secured one ITTF Junior Circuit Boys’ Singles title during the year as did Japan’s Tomokazu Harimoto, Brazil’s Isaac Zauli and Egypt’s Youssef Abdel-Aziz.

Closely on the heels of Romanian Adina with two titles each are Hong Kong’s Zhu Chengzhu, Brazil’s Bruna Takahashi, the winner of World Cadet Challenge in Egypt, Spain’s Zhang Xuan and Thailand’s Tamolwan Khetkhuan. But one cannot ignore the presence of Chinese Taipei’s Lin Chia-Hsuan, Pauline Chasselin of France and Romania’s Andreea Dragoman who all have a top-podium finish each like Angela Guan of the US India’s Archana Girish Kamath, Egypt’s Amira Yousry and Chinese Taipei’s Miyuu Kihara.

Incidentally, Brazil’s Takahashi and Leticia Nakada had competed in Asuncion, Paraguay at the 2014 ITTF World Junior Circuit Finals last year. However, for all the 16 boys it is their first appearance in the ITTF World Junior Circuit Finals.

India, as hosts, have benefited from the last-minute withdrawal of one of the Qatari players, Abdulrahman Al-Naggar as his place has been given to the national champion Siddhesh Pandey. Originally, only Mudit Dani had qualified as the 13th player, based both on his final standings among the boys and Archana Kamath, who had finished 12th on the standings, too had been accommodated because of her ranking as well as the hosts wildcards.

As per the open draw taken out in front of the coaches, the Indian boys have been placed as the fourth players in groups 1 and 2, making things really difficult for both. Dani is clubbed with Korean An Jeehyun, American Zhang Kai and German Jonah Schlie in group 1 and Pandey forms part of group 2 where Slovenian Jorgic, England’s Helshan Weerasinghe and Spaniard Carlos Vedrial are pitted. But, in comparison, Archana is placed in group 4 which has Pauline Chasselin from France, Andreea Dragoman from Romania and Brazilian Leticia Nakada.

Since the format allows only two players from each group qualifying for the quarterfinals, the third and fourth finishers compete for the lower places.

However, Coach Sandeep Gupta sounded optimistic about the lone Indian girl, Archana, saying that she stood a better chance than the boys. “She is our best bet. I don’t expect her to be in the medal reckoning but I do anticipate her to qualify for the second stage,” said the coach after a practice session in the evening today.

India is hosting the event for the second time, after having conducted it in Hyderabad in 2010 when the finals were part of the World Cadet Challenge.

TTFI Press release

Syed Saqib Ahmed and Wasim Khan are joint second round leaders at Final Qualifying Stage

Kensville Golf & Country Club, Ahmedabad, January 20, 2016: Bengaluru’s Syed Saqib Ahmed(76-71) and Delhi’s Wasim Khan (73-74) led the field after round two of the PGTI’s Final Qualifying Stage for the 2016 season being held at the Kensville Golf & Country Club near Ahmedabad. The two golfers were tied for the lead at three-over-147.

Wasim Khan made three birdies against a bogey and two double bogeys in his round of two-over-74.

“I played well today, hit it close on a number of occasions and also rolled in a long birdie putt on the ninth. However, the two three-putts that led to double bogeys were a big setback. It was a tough scoring day since the pin positions were tricky and it was also windy. It’s great to be the joint halfway leader. I’ll now look to finish the week with some good scores,” said Wasim.

Syed Saqib Ahmed, who shared the lead with Wasim, shot the day’s only sub-par round. His one-under-71 featured four birdies and three bogeys.

Patna-based amateur Aman Raj, Noida golfers Arjun Singh Chaudhri and Raju Singh and Gurgaon’s Kunaal Bhatia were all tied third at four-over-148.

The halfway cut fell at 15-over-159. The top eighty players made the cut.

At the end of round four on Friday, the top 35 players (+ ties) will earn full cards for the 2016 PGTI season.

PGTI Press release

Chikkarangappa and Shubhankar Sharma earn Asian Tour cards for 2016

Chikkarangappa S and Shubhankar Sharma 

Hua Hin, Thailand, January 16, 2016: The Indian duo of Chikkarangappa S and Shubhankar Sharma earned their Asian Tour cards for 2016 after they finished tied 11th and tied 25th respectively at the Asian Tour Q School Final Stage. The top 41 players in the field secured their cards on the Asian Tour.

Chikkarangappa (67-64-72-73), the 2015 Rolex Ranking champion, was the joint leader after round three, but he ended the week in tied 11th after his final round of two-over-73 that took his total to eight-under-276. Chikka thus finished five strokes behind the winner Yikeun Chang of Korea.

The 22-year-old Chikka, who was 73rd in the 2015 Asian Tour Order of Merit, has now fought his way back onto the Asian Tour.

Nineteen-year-old Shubhankar Sharma (68-69-71-72), a winner on the PGTI, secured his maiden Asian Tour card after firing a final round of one-over-72 that placed him tied 25th at four-under-280.

The cut for the Asian Tour qualification was the top-40 and ties but 41 players eventually made it as seven players were tied for 35th at three-under-281.

Among the other Indians in the fray, Honey Baisoya posted a brilliant 67 in the final round but fell short of the qualifying mark of three-under-281 by just two shots. He finished tied 49th.

Manu Gandas shot 69, but he too occupied tied 49th at one-under-283 and as a result missed out on his card.

Rahul Bajaj (71) finished a further shot behind Baisoya and Gandas in tied 59th while Amardip Sinh Malik (79) finished 108th at 12-over-296.

PGTI Press release

Veer Ahlawat wins Pre Qualifying II, 39 players qualify for Final Stage

Veer Ahlawat

Kensville Golf & Country Club, Ahmedabad, January 16, 2016: Delhi-based amateur Veer Ahlawat (73-67) topped the leaderboard with a four-under-140 total at the end of round two of the PGTI’s Pre Qualifying II for the 2016 season being held at the Kensville Golf & Country Club near Ahmedabad.

A total of 39 players qualified from Pre Qualifying II for the Final Qualifying Stage as three players were tied in 37th position when the cut was declared at 10-over-154.

Veer Ahlawat, who hails from the DLF Golf & Country Club, made six birdies and a bogey in his round of five-under-67 on Saturday.

Manish Goyal (71-72) of the DLF Golf & Country Club finished second at one-under-143.

Vikram Rana, another Delhi-based amateur, claimed tied third at even-par-144 along with Delhi’s Karan Vasudeva, Ravi Kumar of Chandimandir and Shaquill Shane Mongol of the United States.

PGTI Press release

Nayaz Pasha and Abdul Raheem share joint first round lead in Pre Qualifying II

Kensville Golf & Country Club, Ahmedabad, January 15, 2016: The Bengaluru duo of Nayaz Pasha and Abdul Raheem shot identical scores of three-under-69 to be the joint leaders in round one of the PGTI’s Pre Qualifying II for the 2016 season being held at the Kensville Golf & Country Club near Ahmedabad.

While Pasha made six birdies, a bogey and a double-bogey in his opening round, Raheem came up with six birdies and three bogeys.

Gurgaon-based professionals Manish Goyal and Ankur Chadha and Lucknow’s Amardeep Rawat occupied tied third place at one-under-71.

Gurgaon’s Kushal Singh had a hole-in-one on the 11th during his round of 77. He was placed tied 34th.

The top 38 players (+ ties) will qualify from Pre Qualifying II, a 36-hole event, for the Final Qualifying Stage.

PGTI Press release

Amalraj champion again, Manika wears maiden crown

Hyderabad, January 10, 2016: Anthony Amalraj emerged the men’s singles winner for the second but his opponent and a second-time finalist, G. Sathiyan, was not as lucky and he went down 2-3 in the final of the 77th Senior National and Inter-State Table Tennis Championships at the Kotla Vijay Bhaskara Reddy Indoor Stadium here today.

Just 40 minutes before that, PSPB’s Manika Batra created history winning her maiden women’s title, beating another new entrant in final, Pooja Sahasrabuddhle, also of PSPB.

If Amalraj was in a zone of his own, Sathiyan was not lagging behind. But what made the ultimate difference was Amalraj played percentage game, driving well and executing his shots with pin-pointed precision. On the other hand, Sathiyan seemed to be playing under enormous pressure and it was telling on his play.

The fortune of pendulum kept swinging with both players taking the alternate sets. But the fifth game changed it all when Amalraj ran off with a quick lead and mounting pressure on his rival. Sathiyan, despite taking time-off for a quick consultation with his coach and former national champion S. Raman, things did not go his way.

Once Amalraj had made it 3-2, it was just a matter of time for him before pulling the shutters down on Sathiyan. As is his practice, Amalraj let out a big blurt in celebration and kept himself to a limit this time before lifting the Maharaja Pithapuram Cup and taking home the Rs. 2.2 lakh prize money.

Nerve-wrecker

Nobody deserved to lose this nerve-wracking final. After all, both Manika Batra and Pooja Sahasrabuddhe were playing their maiden final with the obvious aim. Today, luck was on Manika’s side—both players missed two title-points each—as she sent a power-packed forehand to the extreme right of Pooja to her bewilderment. She tried hard to reach for the ball even as it swerved from its path and out of Pooja’s reach.

Manika let out a weak cry and raised her arms up in jubilation even as her Coach Sandeep Gupta wiped the tears rolling down his eyes and stood up to welcome his student. A gentle pat on her back and a small hug conveyed a million worlds from him.

Coming to the match, when Manika took the first set it looked things were going one way. But Pooja changed the course and kept her very much in the reckoning until the last point.

Fortunes fluctuated from one extreme to another and a guess was always hazarduous. Manika was 7-5 up but went 7-8 down in the decider. From there, she grew in confidence and attacked to pick two more points. At 10-8, she served twice for the title point but Pooja saved both for a deuce. With the service back with her, Pooja went 11-10 up and squandered her first match point. Against at 12-11, Manika saved one more. And that signified, for the second time, the Travancore Cup and the winner’s purse of Rs. 1.3 lakh slipping of her hands. Pooja, however, will go home with just half the amount.

“A great relief and am very happy to have won a senior title,” said Manika in a choked voice.

Sharath disappoints

Yet again Sharath Kamal bowed out in the semifinals and this time without a fight against G. Sathiyan. What was disappointing was the way the six-time national champion and the top seed here surrendered. Except for the opening game, Sharath led comfortably in every subsequent set—6-3, 6-2 and 6-0. Probably, his heart was willing for another fight back but not the body.

Sharath may have been in some discomfiture and that was very much evident because he was unable to move well and reach the ball. On the other hand, Sathiyan was growing in confidence with astonishing winner seven as Sharath dropped his guard. Every time he took the lead, he found Sathiyan making his way up and go over his rival.

Incidentally, this was Sathiyan’s second consecutive final entry. For Sharath, his last singles title came at Kolkata in 2010 and twice he had finished runner-up to Amalraj at Lucknow (2011) and Soumyajit Ghosh at Raipur (2012).

The 4-0 win would have provided Sathiyan another good platform to go for his maiden title which he missed at Pudhucherry last year, but his opponent Amalraj was even better when he dethroned national champion Soumyajit Ghosh with a 4-1 verdict.

Ghosh was blunted from the word go as Amalraj played brilliantly and did not yield even an inch to the defending champion.  What made the semifinal more interesting was the fast-paced game the two played with a lot of good rallies and brilliant winners.  In fact, some of those shots from both hissed past the edge of the table, keeping their fans on real tenterhooks.

In women’s semifinals, No. 1 Manika Batra blanked out Krittwika Sinha Roy in less than 25 minutes while Pooja Sahasrabuddhe had to bring out her best against the resolute Madhurika Patkar. However, the second named was unable to repeat her quarterfinal performance when she beat top-seed Mouma Das last evening. Yet, Madhurika tried to stage a comeback but Pooja never allowed her to close in.

West Bengal’s double

Results:

Men’s Singles: Final: Anthony Amalraj (PSPB_ bt G. Sathiyan (PSPB) 4-2 (11-5, 7-11, 11-7, 8-11, 11-4, 11-9); Semifinals: G. Sathiyan (PSPB) bt A. Sharath Kamal 4-0 (12-10, 11-8, 11-8, 11-3), Anthony Amalraj (PSPB) bt Soumyajit Ghosh (PSPB) 4-1 (11-6, 11-5, 5-11, 11-7, 13-11).  

Doubles: Final: Abhishek Yadav/Sudhanshu Grover (Raj) bt Arjun  Ghosh/Anirban Ghosh (WB) 3-0 (11-4, 11-9,11-9); Semifinals: Abhishek Yadav/Sudhanshu Grover (Raj) bt Nithin Thiruvengadam (CB)/Sourav Saha (PSPB) 11-9, 11-6, 11-2, Arjun  Ghosh/Anirban Ghosh (WB) bt Ravindra Kotiyan/Omkar Torgalkar (RSPB) 3-1 (11-9, 8-11, 11-9, 14-12).

Women’s Singles: Final: Manika Batra (PSPB) bt Pooja Sahasrabuddhe (PSPB) 4-3 (11-3, 8-11, 11-8, 3-11, 11-7, 7-11, 14-12); Semifinals: Manika Batra (PSPB) bt Krittwika Sinha Roy (WB) 4-0 (11-7, 11-5, 11-9, 11-7), Pooja Sahasrabuddhe (PSPB) bt Madhurika Patkar (Mah) 4-2 (8-11, 11-6, 11-9, 8-11, 12-10, 11-7).

Doubles: Final: Krittwika Sinha Roy/Mousumi Paul (WB) bt Mouma Das/K. Shamini (PSPB) 3-2 (13-11, 7-11, 9-11, 11-8, 12-10); Semifinals: Mouma Das/K.Shamani (PSPB) bt Seraha Jocob/Maria Rony (KRL) 11-5, 11-8, 11-6, Mousmi Paul /Krittwika Sinha Roy (WB) bt Divya Deshpande/Madhurika Patkar (Mah) 8-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-8.

TTFI Press release

Pressure pulls national champ Mouma down

Hyderabad, January 9, 2016: The pressure of selection for the Olympic qualifiers was writ large on the faces of even the most experienced as second-seeded Mouma Das and No. 5 Ankita Das crashed out in the women’s singles quarterfinals to join those fell by the wayside in earlier rounds of the 77th Senior National and Inter-State Table Tennis Championships at the Kotla Vijay Bhaskara Reddy Indoor Stadium here today.

Top-seeded Manika Batra beat West Bengal’s Mousumi Paul 4-2 after some initial struggle for a semifinal meeting with Krittwika Sinha Roy.

In the third quarterfinal, Mouma despite picking herself up went down to seventh-seed Madhurika Patkar 3-4 and with that her ambition of retaining the national title she won last year at Pudhucherry. Sixth seed Pooja managed to stop Tamil Nadu’s Reeth Rishya on her tracks to win 4-3 in the last quarterfinal.

With selectors watching the proceedings, there were quite a few nervy moments for the country’s top paddlers in both the sections. But the worst sufferers were, undoubtedly, the weak-hearted ones as they went about committing far too many unforced errors in their anxiety to overcome their rivals. This, invariably, resulted in their best shots deserving at the crucial junctures—Mouma depended more on her backhand than the blistering forehand drives—and Reeth, cool and calm until the quarters, goofed it up in a role reversal. Pooja kept her cool and exploited her opponent’s weak points to go through to the semifinal where she will take on her Maharashtra rival Madhurika.

In men’s quarters, top-seeded Achanta Sharath Kamal steamrolled Maharashtra’s Sanil Shetty 4-1 and Sathiyan sent fourth-seed Harmeet Desai packing for a 4-3 verdict while third-seeded Soumyajit Ghosh was taken the full distance by Subhajit Saha before the former won 4-3 and in the last quarterfinal No. 2 seed Anthony Amalraj, after being 3-0 up, was stretched to a 4-2 score by Haryana’s Jubin Kumar.

Earlier, Harmeet Desai and Pooja Sahasrabuddhe of Petroleum combined well in the final to beat the West Bengal pair of Ronit Bhanja and Ayhika Mukherjee 3-1 to lift the mixed doubles trophy.

Results:

Men’s Singles: Quarterfinals: Sharath Kamal (PSPB) bt Sanil Shetty (Mah) 4-1 (5-11, 11-4, 11-8, 11-8, 11-7), G. Sathiyan (PSPB) bt Harmeet Desai (PSPB) 4-3 (13-11, 2-11, 10-12, 11-1, 10-12, 11-3, 11-6), Soumyajit Ghosh (PSPB) bt Subhajit Saha (PSPB) 4-3 (11-3, 11-5, 9-11, 11-8, 9-11, 9-11, 11-8), Anthony Amalraj (PSPB) bt Jubin Kumar (Har) 4-2 (11-5, 11-7, 14-12, 10-12, 9-11, 11-5).

Women’s Singles: Quarterfinals: Manika Batra (PSPB) bt Mousumi Paul (WB) 4-2 (8-11, 11-6, 11-4, 15-13, 11-13, 11-4), Krittwika Sinha Roy (WB) bt Ankita Das (PSPB) 4-2 (11-9, 5-11, 11-9, 13-11, 5-11, 11-2), Pooja Sahasrabuddhe (PSPB) bt Reeth Rishya (TN) 4-3 (7-11, 11-8, 5-11, 7-11, 11-6, 12-10, 11-4), Madhurika Patkar (Mah) bt Mouma Das (PSPB) 4-3 (8-11, 11-2, 11-5, 8-11, 11-9, 8-11, 11-2).

Mixed Doubles: Final: Harmeet Desai/Pooja Sahasrabuddhe (PSPB) bt Ronit Bhanja/Ayhika Mukherjee (WB) 3-1 (11-7, 11-6, 9-11, 11-7).

TTFI  Press release

Top men seeds sprout, but women wither early

Hyderabad, January 9, 2016: Fifth seed G. Sathiyan had to bright out his best against Haryana’s Sarthak Gandhi to enter the men’s singles quarterfinals in the 77th Senior National and Inter-State Table Tennis Championships at the Kotla Vijay Bhaskara Reddy Indoor Stadium here today.

The PSPB paddler won 4-2 but sixth and seven-seeded Devesh Karia of Gujarat and Rajasthan’s Sudhanshu Grover, respectively, made their exit in the pre-quarterfinals. Haryana’s Jubin Kumar accounted for Grover with a 4-1 verdict while PSPB’s Subhajit Saha thumped Karia 4-0.

Sathiyan had a dream start to lead 2-0 before Sarthak staged his comeback in the third extended game after four deuces. The Haryana lad won 16-4 but Sathiyan was quick enough to gather himself soon enough to go 3-1 up. Yet, Sarthak did not give up and managed yet another set off his rival before Sathiyan closed the shop on him. Jubin, on the other hand, cashed in on his roaring form to outsmart his PSPB rival Grover despite the latter managing to take a game off him. Others, including top-seeded Sharath Kamal, No. 2 Anthony Amalraj, No. 3 Soumyajit Ghosh, No. 4 Harmeet Desai and eight-seed Sanil Shetty entered the last-eight stages easily.

Struggle for Manika  

Top-seed Manika Batra was ill-at-ease right from the word go against Maharashtra’s Senhora D’Souza and the trouble for her continued until the decider. At one time, the Maharashtra girl was 3-1 up and an upset was very much on cards. Yet the gritty Manika, despite going into a shell, suddenly opened out to send Senhora scurrying for points. It was providence that Manika escaped several unforced errors in each game to take it to the decider.

In the decider, too, she was up 5-3 when they changed sides. But Senhora fought bravely to square it up at 5-5 then with a slender lead both saw their chances. However, at 10-7 Manika sent one to the net but in the next opportunity seized the advantage to enter quartrfinals, much to the relief of her coach Sandeep Gupta and her mother sitting in the gallery.

Credit to Nikhat

Telangana’s Nikhat Banu and seeded eight must be given full credit for taking West Bengal’s Mousumi Paul the full distance in the pre-quarterfinals. However, Nikhat has to blame herself for not pressing the advantage when she led 3-1 and letting the West Bengal paddlers a cozy ride from a precarious position. Like Manika, Mousumi had to win the last three games and that’s where Nikhat lost her plot. In fact, after a couple of deuce she let Mousumi off the hook in the fifth game from where her rival was a transformed person as Nikhat wilted under Mousumi’s continued onslaught.

Fifth-seeded Ankita Das kept herself within reach of her RBI rival Pallabi Kundu and led 3-2. But Pallabi fought back well in the fifth game to give herself an even chance in the decider. Ankita, however, was up to the task and stopped her early to romp home winners.

Mockery of seeding

Making a mockery of the seeding, both unseeded Reeth Rishya and Krittwika Sinha Roy sent No. 3 and 4 seeds K. Shamini (PSPB) and Divya Deshpande (Mah) packing in the pre-quarters. Sixth seed Pooja Sahasrabuddhe struggled to overcome West Bengal’s Ayhika Mukherjee 4-2 and No. 7 Madhurika Patkar and No. 2 Mouma Das both had easy quarterfinal passages beating Delhi’s Neha Agarwal and RBI’s Shweta Parte, respectively, with 4-1 margins.

Shamini was not only served and returned badly but even failed to counter the normal ones that Reeth had sent back. Several errors at net only hastened the end of Shami as Reeth grew in confidence from each of her winners and of the negative points she was awarded with. Divya, too, was inconsistent with her drives against Krittwika who played far better than she did the other day in team events.   

Results:

Men’s Singles:

Pre-quarterfinals: A. Sharath Kamal bt Lalrin Puia (Miz) 4-1 (12-14, 11-8, 11-6, 11-5, 11-4), Sanil Shetty bt Sourav Saha (PSPB) 4-1 (11-5, 11-13, 11-7, 11-2, 12-10), G. Sathiyan bt Sarthak Gandhi (Har) 4-2 (12-10, 11-5, 14-16, 11-4, 11-13, 11-8), Harmeet Desai bt R. Abhishek (TN) 4-1 (11-7, 11-4, 11-7, 10-12, 11-4), Soumyajit Ghosh bt Arjun Ghosh (WB) 4-1 (11-9, 11-7, 8-11, 11-7, 11-2), Subhajit Saha bt Devesh Karia (Guj) 4-0 (11-4, 15-13, 17-15, 14-12), Jubin Kumar (Har) bt Sudhanshu Grover (Raj) 4-1 (11-5, 7-11, 11-6, 11-6, 11-5), Anothony Amalraj bt Subash Mani (IAAD) 4-0 (11-9, 11-7, 14-12, 11-3).

Women’s Singles:

Pre-quarterfinals: Manika Batra bt Senhora D’souza (Mah) 4-3 (7-11, 11-5, 11-13, 4-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-8), Mousumi Paul bt Nikhat Banu (Telg) 4-3 (11-8, 8-11, 10-12, 9-11, 13-11, 11-8, 11-4), Ankita Das bt Pallabi Kundu (RBI) 4-3 (6-11, 11-4, 11-8, 9-11, 11-6, 5-11, 11-6), Krittwika Sinha Roy bt Divya Deshpande (Mah) 4-0 (11-4, 11-9, 11-4, 14-12), Reeth Risha bt K. Shamini (PSPB) 4-0 (12-10, 13-11, 11-8, 12-10), Pooja Sahasrabudhe bt Ayhika Mukherjee (WB) 4-2 (11-4, 10-12, 11-6, 5-11, 11-6, 11-3), Madhurika Patkar bt Neha Agarwal (Del) 4-1 (4-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-3, 11-4), Mouma Das bt Shweta Parte (RBI) 4-1 (11-13, 11-8, 11-6, 11-8, 11-8).   

TTFI release

Vijender Singh ready to rock like his Beatles idols!

MANCHESTER, JANUARY 7, 2016: India’s boxing superstar Vijender Singh is excited to fight in the city of his heroes for the first time on Saturday (February 13).

Undefeated middleweight Vijender Singh, who has won all his three fights by knockout inside three rounds, has his first fight of the year at the Liverpool Echo Arena and is looking to putting on another explosive performance at the birthplace of his idols - The Beatles.

Whilst boxers usually look to the sport’s legends like Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard or greats like Floyd Mayweather and Oscar De La Hoya for inspiration, the 30-year-old from Bhiwani, Haryana, says John, Paul, Ringo and George are his icons.

And while Vijender Singh is priming himself for action at the Echo Arena, his first port of call in the city will be the legendary Cavern Club on Mathews Street.

“When I turned professional in England I hoped that I would one day fight in Liverpool and fight at the birthplace of my heroes, now that dream will come true on February 13,” Said Vijender Singh.

“I love the Beatles music since I was a child back home and my parents are big fans of their music and I believe that my grandparents went to see them when they came to India in the late 1960s so growing up I remember all the hits Hey Jude, Yesterday, All You Need Is Love, Let It Be, Penny Lane, Here Comes The Sun, I love it all!”

“I can’t wait to get to Liverpool, I’ve never fought in the city before as an amateur so now I will get my chance to get down to the Cavern Club finally.  Madison Square Garden may be the home of boxing, but for me I have to get to the Cavern Club!”

“I admired boxing legends like Ali and Sugar Ray growing up, but they were never really my heroes, The Beatles however were the centre of my life growing up, I wanted to be a rock star! We’ll I’m rocking opponents in the ring now!”

Hotshot Singh aims to kick off his 2016 campaign in knockout style when he fights over six rounds in an international contest against an opponent to be announced and the 2008 Olympic Bronze Medallist is excited for the year ahead.

He added, “I ended the year in great style and now I’m looking to begin it in the same fashion by knocking out whoever is put in front of me.  This is an important year for me to continue developing and getting in more ring experience, but I’m looking to bring the excitement as well.”

Press release

PSPB sweep titles; silver lining for Jubin’s Haryana and West Bengal

Hyderabad, January 7, 2016: Winning is a habit and, thanks to the Petroleum Sports Promotion Board’s firepower, it has got stuck with their men since their first win at Jammu in 1997. PSPB’s men yet again lifted the Barna Ballack Cup, for the 18th occasion beating Haryana 3-1 in the 77th Senior National and Inter-State Table Tennis Championships at the Kotla Vijay Bhaskara Reddy Indoor Stadium here today.

PSPB women did an encore beating West Bengal 3-0 to retain the Jayalakshmi Cup for the 14th time overall and the second consecutive occasion after letting it slip off their hands for a year to Delhi at Raipur in 2012. PSPB women had won their first crown at Lucknow in 1999. Only once did their men lost hold on the trophy when they lost to Railways way back in 2001 at New Delhi.

Jubin’s symphony   

Jubin’s mellifluous symphony captivated everyone, both in the semifinal and the final, for the second day today. Yet, his co-orchestra performers somehow sounded phony notes in on the grand stage and that put paid to their gold-winning ambitions. Nevertheless, one cannot take the credit away from them for finishing the bride’s maid on the day.

After knocking off Soumyajit Ghosh in the opening rubber, Jubin Kumar had provided a perfect start. But Achanta Sharath Kamal, returning to the grandstand event, played true to his potential and class to account for Sarthak Gandhi. Sharath’s crisp shots, off both hands, had mesmerizing effect on young Sarthak and he threw in the towel early. Then Harmeet Desai—both Amalraj and Sathiyan were benched for the final—huffed and puffed his way to beating Mohit Verma to put PSPB 2-1 up. Then Sharath, despite being extended by Jubin in their reverse singles, did not get carried away and finished the job in style.

Sharath admitted he needed some more rest before he can return to his best form. Nevertheless, he was happy to have struck some form which helped his team win title for another year. “I am okay with my form but do feel like having rest for some more time. But I was really impressed with the way Jubin (Kumar) played. Beating Ghosh needed some guts and Jubin was too good today. He even took a set off me and all credits to Jubin,” said Sharath.

As for PSPB women, they did not have any difficult at all in putting it across West Bengal in a one-sided final. Except for Mousui Paul, who extended the full distance in the first rubber, both Mouma Das and Ankita Das routed Krittwika Sinha Roy and Anindita Chakraborty to emerge winnes for yet another time.

In men’s second semifinal, Jubin helped Haryana entered their maiden final as smoothly as possible when their team beat fancied Maharashtra 3-0. In the other match, it was rather easy for PSPB against Gujarat.

Sarthak Gandhi gave the vital lead when he beat Maharashtra’s No. 1 player Sanil Shetty 3-2 with Jubin to follow. He did not take much time in completing another fine-flowing show as Aman Balgu bowed before him and Mohit Verma downed Noel Pint by the same margin of 3-1.

Sharath toyed with Gujarat youngster Manav Thakkar before winning 3-0. Except for the third game, where Manav was allowed some extra liberty by Sharath, class Sharath in complete control. Anthony Amalraj and G. Sathiyan made even simpler by demolishing Devesh Karia and Jignesh Jaiswal, despite allowing them take a game each.

RBI’s journey complete

Reserve Bank of India’s women team was halted in its maiden trip to the nationals by title-holders PSPB who won 3-0 in the first semifinal in the morning. Only Shweta Parte managed to take two games off veteran Mouma Das in the second singles but both Manika Batra, who played the first singles, and K. Shamini, the third, showed no mercy to their opponents and whipped them in the first opportunity.

However, credit must go to RBI for ending up with only their second medal—their first came in the Inter-Institutional championships in August last at New Delhi—in so many years of participation. To a large extent, it was due to Krittwika Sinha Roy’s presence in the team last time that helped them qualify for the nationals. Since her quitting the RBI early this year, there was a question mark over RBI’s ability with only Shweta and newcomers like Kakoli and Shruti. Yet, the RBI should feel contended with the bronze as Shweta played her role to near perfection.

Runners-up West Bengal thumped Tamil Nadu 3-1 in the second semifinal despite Reeth Rishya’s good form. Expectedly, Reeth won one of her singles against Shreya Ghosh to level score but could not overcome Mousumi Paul to put up a semblance of fight after Vidya Narasimhan lost the third singles to the oldest player on the scene, Anindita Chakraborty—the Railways’ player is representing her state here. The fighter that Anindita is, she provide the 2-1 lead for West Bengal and thereafter it was left to Mousumi to complete the job.

For the next three days, it will be a hectic affair for all paddlers with the singles events, with qualification matches beginning later tonight.

Men’s Team: (Final): PSPB bt Haryana 3-1 (Soumyajit Ghosh lost to Jubin Kumar 11-6, 9-11, 12-14, 11-5, 8-11, A. Sharath Kamal bt Sarthak Gandhi 8-11, 11-4, 11-1, 11-6, Harmeet Desai bt Mohit Verma 11-9, 7-11, 11-6, 11-9, A. Sharath Kamal bt Jubin Kumar 10-12, 11-7, 11-8, 11-5). Semifinals: PSPB bt Gujarat 3-0 (Achanta Sharath Kamal bt Manav Thakkar 11-4, 11-5, 16-14, Anthony Amalraj bt Devesh Karia 11-3, 11-6, 11-13, 11-7, G. Sathiyan bt Jignesh Jaiswal 7-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-1); Haryana bt Maharashtra 3-0 (Sarthak Gandhi bt Sanil Shetty 11-7, 9-11, 11-8, 10-12, 11-9, Jubin Kumar bt Aman Balgu 9-11, 11-3, 13-11, 11-5, Mohit Verma bt Noel Pinto 11-5, 11-9, 6-11, 11-9).

Women’s Team: (Final): PSPB bt West Bengal 3-0 (Manika Batra bt Mousumi Paul 10-12, 8-11, 11-8, 11-8, 11-6, Mouma Das bt Krittwika Sinha Roy 11-7, 11-4, 11-7, Ankita Das bt Anindita Chakraborty 11-6, 12-10, 8-11, 11-5). Semifinals: PSPB bt RBI 3-0 (Manika Batra bt Kakoli Lahkar 11-9, 11-4, 13-11, Mouma Das bt Shweta Parte 7-11, 11-7, 11-3, 9-11, 11-9, K. Shamini bt Shruti Talnikar 11-8, 11-9, 11-4), West Bengal bt Tamil Nadu 3-1 (Mousumi Paul bt Amrutha Pushpak 9-11, 13-11, 12-10, 11-7, Shreya Ghosh lost to Reeth Rishya 6-11, 11-6, 9-11, 11-5, 9-11, Anindita Chakraborty bt Vidya Narasimhan 13-11, 11-4, 12-10, Mousumi Paul bt Reeth Rishya 11-9, 11-6, 8-11, 11-8).