Bihar Police move into Rameshwar Singh Memorial Football Tournament final

Bihar Police (blue) beat Ballia XI 4-2 and entered the final of Rameshwar Singh Memorial Football Tournament at New Police Lines ground in Patna on September 16, 2014.
Photo: Aftab Alam Siddiqui

Hockey India welcomes Hockey Village India on board as the new Academy Member

New Delhi, September 19, 2014: Adding yet another branch to its expanding family, Hockey India today announced its new Academy Member, Hockey Village India with an aim to reach out to those underprivileged children who are keen to make a career in sports an provide a platform to showcase their talent.  

Hockey Village India works towards the better future for underprivileged children in rural India in terms of Sports and Education. In 2010, a former German hockey player Andrea Thumshirn started the academy in Garh Himmat Singh, District Dausa in Rajasthan with the support of her German hockey friends and local ruling families. Thereafter, she managed to spread awareness of hockey in the surrounding areas and started giving training to 50 boys and girls who later on participated in various U-14 and U-16 domestic tournaments.

With the intention to combine sports and education, Hockey Village India opened their own school in 2013 to provide proper education and sporting facilities to the identified budding players. Some German hockey players are now also volunteering to give training to young kids in Hockey Village India. Spreading itself to different parts of the country, Hockey Village India adopted the Bhusawal Railway Boys (Maharashtra) and two more schools in South Goa in January this year; Hockey Village India also plans to open another wing in Rohtak (Haryana).

Speaking on the newly inducted Hockey Village India, Hockey India Secretary General Dr. Narinder Batra said, “Hockey India has always strived to reach out to those who inspite of having the talent cannot reach the big platform. Hockey India has always worked towards reaching out and identifying this talent. With Hockey Village India coming on board our endeavour towards this initiative will strengthen and we are extremely delighted to have them as an Academy Member”

Andrea Thumshirn is the Director and founder of the Hockey Village India.

Hockey India currently has 26 Permanent Members, 23 Associate Members, 1 Member through State Olympic Associations, 8 Academy Members and 1 Hoc-Key Member.

HI Press release

We will try and create maximum penalty corner opportunities: Gurwinder Singh Chandi

Incheon (South Korea), September 20, 2014: As the Asian Games 2014 matches approach, both the Indian men and women teams have acclimatised with the environment of Incheon through various fitness sessions and drills. Both the teams are implementing their strategies on-field to get used to the new turf and environment during these practice sessions.  Here, the experience of senior players of the teams come handy, who help other players to adapt to the new environment as early as possible.

Speaking on the preparations before their first match against Sri Lanka, Indian men hockey team’s forward Gurwinder Singh Chandi said, “As this will be my second big tournament after my comeback in the team for the XX Commonwealth Games 2014, I am looking forward to giving my best and trying to create as many penalty corner opportunities as I can. The forward line has work hard in all the weak areas which our Coaches have highlighted while watching the videos of our matches during the Commonwealth Games 2014. The team together is also working towards increasing the scoring capacity and converting the openings into goals.”

He further added, “We are also trying out the rolling substitutions and the advancements are looking positive so far. The team is well in sync with the drills and ready to take on Sri Lanka.”

Forward player of the Indian women’s team, Poonam Rani after a practice session, said, “We are fully prepared for the new format of the game. The team has worked on its mistakes made during the XX Commonwealth Games and are preparing really hard during the on-field and off-field strategic sessions. In the forward line, we are three experienced players Poonam Rani, Vanadana Katariya and myself having played more than 100 international matches and therefore it becomes our responsibility to make the young talents adapt to the international environment and the turfs as quickly as possible. We will also try our best to boost the younger ones to perform their best during the matches. Young forward player Navjot Kaur has also been successful in impressing everyone with her performance in the XX Commonwealth Games 2014 at Glasgow. We are fully committed for our responsibility towards scoring more and more goals and also creating penalty corner opportunities for our dragflickers”.

HI Press release

Arshpreet Thind registers impressive five-shot win for maiden title

Lucknow, September 18, 2014: Arshpreet Thind (66-68-69) of Gurgaon secured his maiden title after an impressive five-shot victory at the Ansal API Feeder Tour Championship presented by The Palms Golf Club – Sushant Golf City in Lucknow. Thind posted a three-under-69 in the final round to take his total to 13-under-203 for the week.

Delhi’s Gulfam (69-65-74) finished runner-up at eight-under-208 and as a result sealed the PGTI Feeder Tour Order of Merit title for 2014. Gulfam, who had won the Feeder Tour event at Forest Hill in Punjab two weeks back, topped the Order of Merit with earnings of Rs. 2,38,830. He has now earned a full card for the 2015 PGTI season (main tour). Akshay Sharma of Chandigarh finished second on the Order of Merit with earnings of Rs. 2,24,430. Akshay claimed tied 22nd place at the Ansal API Feeder Tour Championship.

Arshpreet Thind and Gulfam, who started the day as joint leaders, began with birdies on the first hole. There was a two-shot swing in favour of Gulfam on the sixth as he birdied and Thind dropped a bogey. Gulfam’s double-bogey on the ninth brought him back to level terms with Arshpreet, however Gulfam picked up a stroke again on the 10th to go one ahead.

The 31-year-old Thind, who plays at the Classic Golf Resort in Mewat, Haryana, landed it close for a tap-in birdie on the 11th to be all square with Gulfam once again. The 48-year-old Gulfam then dropped bogeys on the 12th and 16th and his second double-bogey of the day on the 15th to give Thind a comfortable four-stroke advantage. The brawny Thind, who has one of the strongest handshakes on the tour, finally ensured victory after driving the green on the par-4 17th to make birdie.

Thind said, “I was very consistent through the week having dropped just two bogeys in three rounds. I capitalized well on the good start on day one and kept the momentum going till the end. I made 16 greens in regulation today and therefore gave myself a lot of birdie opportunities. I drove the green on two par-4s today, the eighth and 17th. I also found two par-5 greens in two shots. I was playing in the leader group for the first time and I’m delighted that I played really well in such a pressure situation.

“This win would help me raise my game and improve my performances on the main tour. I dedicate this victory to my late grandmother who passed away a few weeks back,” added Thind.

Gulfam, the Feeder Tour Order of Merit champion, said, “It’s been a very satisfying Feeder Tour season. I’ve done well in all aspects of the game. I’m very pleased to achieve my goal of winning the Order of Merit and earning exemption on the PGTI for 2015.”

Pranav Kaul of Gurgaon fired a 69 in the final round to end up in third place at five-under-211.

Sheeraz Kalra of Lucknow was the best-placed among the local professionals. He finished tied fourth at four-under-212 along with Chandigarh’s Randhir Singh Ghotra.

Photo caption: Arshpreet Thind receives the winner's cheque from (L to R) Mr. Abhishek Sinha, AGM - Ansal Group, Mr. Sheeraz Kalra, GM - The Palms Golf & Country Club and Mr. Uttam Singh Mundy, Director, PGT

Release and photo: PGTI