Bihar Sports

North-East Frontier Railway crush North Western Railway

2012-02-11T00:27:00.000+05:30

Patna, February 7, 2012: North-East Frontier Railway (NFR) thrashed North Western Railway (NWR) 4-0 in a cluster D match of the All India Railway Football Championship at the Moinul Haq Stadium here on Tuesday.

The match began on fast pace but remained confined to midfield as both the teams failed to make cohesive and well-planned moves on each other’s citadel. The first half ended goalless.

In the second half, NFR scored their first goal through Rabha in the 58th minute. NFR scored three more goals in the last 15 minutes of the match. In the process, Mazumdar struck a brilliant hat-trick. He netted the three-in-a-row, in the 76th, 80^th and 87th minutes.

Earlier, East Coast Railway (ECoR) and East Central Railway (ECR) played out a goalless draw.

Photo caption: The match between East Coast Railway and East Central Railway in progress in Patna on February 7, 2012.

Photo: Aftab Alam Siddiqui

East Coast Railway trounce North Western Railway

2012-02-09T21:38:00.003+05:30

PATNA, February 6, 2012: East Coast Railway (ECoR), Bhubaneshwar, trounced North Western Railway (NWR) 8-0 in the 68th All India Railway Football Championships at the Moinul Haq Stadium here on Monday.

In another match Eastern Railway held North-East Frontier Railway to a goalless draw.

In the first match, striker Sivram Sandil netted two important goals for EcoR. Bijay Baral opened the account for EcoR in the 22nd minute. ECoR opened the floodgates in the 28^th minute through Striker Sheikh Mustakim.

In the 36th min, left-winger Salkhan Soren scored the third goal. Striker Sivram Sandil took the tally to 4-0 in the 45th minute.

In the second half, EcoR scored four more goals. Medio Hemanta Das made it 5-0 in the 50^th minute. Blecy Lakra (69^th), Sandil (71^st) and substitute Maheswar Das (86^th) minutes completed tally (8-0).

Photo caption: Eastern Railway and North-East Frontier Railway players in action during their match in Patna on February 7, 2012.

Photo: Aftab Alam Siddiqui

ECR prove too good for NWR

2012-02-06T03:40:00.001+05:30

Patna, February 5, 2012: Hosts East Central Railway (ECR), Hajipur, drubbed North West Railway (NWR), Jaipur, 3-0 in the inaugural group ‘D’ match of the 68th All India Railway football championships at Moinul Haq Stadium, here on Sunday.

ECR struck in the 30th minute through Sanjay Kumar and ended the first half with 1-0 lead.

Man Mohan Singh made it 2-0 in the 46th minute while Ranjan Ghosh increased the tally in the 88th minute (3-0).

Earlier, ECR general manager Varun Bharthuar and president of ECR, Mahila Kalyan Sangathan, Anita Bharthuar jointly inaugurated the tournament by releasing balloons. A hosts of Railway officials were present in the opening function.

Photo caption: ECR and NWR players in action during their match (top); ECR general manager Varun Bharthuar being introduced to players (middle) and Varun Bharthuar and Mrs Bharthuar inaugurating the All India Railway football tournament in Patna on February 5, 2012.

Photo: Aftab Alam Siddiqui

Daredevils happy with Jayawardene, Russell & Bracewell in their fold

2012-02-06T03:31:00.001+05:30

BANGALORE, February 4, 2012: Delhi Daredevils said the addition of Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene and young all-rounders Andre Russell (West Indies) and Doug Bracewell (New Zealand) would help the team stay competitive throughout the coming Indian Premier League season.

“We are pleased with the acquisitions at the Player Auction here today and are confident we can be competitive through the season,” said Team Mentor TA Sekar. “Going into the auction, we were very clear that we would strengthen our middle-order batting and look for allrounders. We are happy to have found what we targeted.”

He said Jayawardene would be a source of strength for the Delhi Daredevils middle-order. “There can be no doubt that Mahela will make a difference to the team with his vast experience and his approach,” he said. “We are delighted that we could add a true blue professional of his stature to our roster.”

In 106 T20 matches, Jayawardene has scored 2631 runs with two centuries and 17 half-centuries. His strike-rate has been 136.81 runs. With 1136 runs in 49 IPL matches, he has been among the most prolific batsmen in the tournament since its inception in 2008. He has had a stellar career for Sri Lanka, playing 128 Tests, 354 one-day internationals and 35 T20 internationals.

Sekar said that in Russell and Bracewell the Delhi Daredevils found the quality all-rounders it was looking for. “We wanted players who could bat explosively in the death overs and give the team four effective overs. We believe Andre and Doug are exciting talent and will live up to our expectations,” he said of the young all-rounders.

The 23-year-old Jamaican Russell has played one Test, 14 one-day internationals and five T20 internationals for the West Indies while Bracewell, 21, has played four Tests, three ODIs and two T20 internationals for New Zealand.

The addition of Kevin Pietersen to the side this season, on transfer from Deccan Chargers, and the recruitment of some exciting Indian talent like Pawan Negi, Manprit Juneja, Kuldeep Raval and Punit Bisht are all steps towards ensuring that Delhi Daredevils goes the distance in the coming IPL season,” Sekar said. “We have high quality fast bowling and efficient spinners and are confident that we have the combination we have been wanting.”

The team (as of February 4):

Indian players: Virender Sehwag (captain), Varun Aaron, Ajit Agarkar, Punit Bisht, Robin Bist, Unmukt Chand, Ashoke Dinda, Manprit Juneja, Vikas Mishra, Yogesh Nagar, Prashant Naik, Shahbaz Nadeem, Pawan Negi, Naman Ojha, Irfan Pathan, Venugopal Rao, Kuldeep Raval, Aavishkar Salvi, Tejaswi Yadav and Umesh Yadav.

Overseas players: Travis Birt, Doug Bracewell, Aaron Finch, James Hopes, Colin Ingram, Mahela Jayawardene, Morne Morkel, Kevin Pietersen, Andre Russell, David Warner and Roelof van der Merwe.

Press release

Army XI clinch Bihar Cup

2012-02-05T14:48:00.000+05:30

Patna, January 29, 2012: Army XI, Kolkata beat Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) by a solitary first half goal to clinch the first All India Football Tournament for Bihar Cup at the Moinul Haq Stadium here.

Army XI striker Thyagarajan netted the all-important goal in the 24th minute. Earlier he wasted an easy chance in the 8th minute.

With this win, Army XI got the first prize of Rs 1 lakh and the winners' trophy.

The game began on fast pace as both the teams mounted pressure on rival citadels using their flanks. KSEB frittered away a number of scoring chances in either half of the match with Md Rasid fumbling an easy shot at the rival goal from close range in the very third minute of an enthralling final.

Another KSEB player Bineesh miffed another chance in the 33th minute, while Rakesh and Sugun Kumar were also guilty of missing opportunities in the first five minutes of the second half to revive the hopes of the Kerala team.

KSEB collected a cash prize of Rs 50,000 and runners-up trophy. Bihar Tourism Minister Sunil Kumar Pintu and Animal Resources and Fisheries Minister Girraj Singh gave away the prizes to the winners and runners up. Food and Consumer Protection Minister Shyam Rajak felicitated three former Bihar players including former Indian team captain and Arjuna awardee C Prasad, Badri Prasad Yadav and Prem Kumar on the occasion.

Both the semifinalists - Tata Football Academy (TFA), Jamshedpur, and Punjab Police, Jalandhar got cash prizes of Rs. 25000 each. TFA also earned Rs 10,000 for fair play award.

Photo caption: Top: Former Indian football team captain C Prasad and former Bihar player Badri Prasad Yadav were felicitated during the prize-distribution function of the Bihar Cup in Patna on January 29, 2012.

Top 2 to bottom: Army XI players pose for photographs with the Bihar Cup in Patna on January 29, 2012.

Photo: Adftab Alam Siddiqui

Amalraj, Poulami crowned champs in National TT

2012-02-05T13:46:00.000+05:30

LUCKNOW, JANUARY 29: It was a fantastic and a well-deserved maiden title triumph for Petroleum Sports Promotion Board’s A. Amalraj over top-seed and reigning singles champion Achanta Sharath Kamal in the final of the 73rd Senior National and Inter-State Table Tennis Championships. But it also turned out to be a hugely controversial one for the new champion who, throwing all playing norms and discipline out of the window, chose to celebrate his victory by first, jumping on to the table and then threw his racquet pumping his arms.

This warranted the umpire show him the yellow card, yet Amalraj without giving any heed or respect to the umpire’s reaction, went around the centre-court merrily. This forced the umpire pull out the red card. As if this was not enough, he didn’t shake hand with Sharath or the umpire until Amalraj’s coach S. Raman reminded him.

Now he stands to lose 25 per cent of his prize money, which is Rs 2.1 lakh. The punishment has been recommended to the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) by competition manager, N. Ganeshan.

Indeed, this was the only aberration in an otherwise thrilling final which had all the ingredients. Amalraj, thus dethroned the six-time national champion Sharath, beating 4-2 (11-8, 11-8, 12-10, 9-11, 7-11, 11-8).

Amalraj, who had beaten Sharath in the inter-institutional championships for the title earlier this season, began not only confidently but showed his early aggressive intent.

The best thing about Amalraj was the never-say-die attitude. Every time he fell behind Sharath, he staged excellent comeback to outsmart his senior rival. Amalraj matched Sharath shot for shot and never was afraid to play his attacking game. He was down 6-8 in both the first and second games and showing glimpses of recovery took a comfortable lead at 2-0. In the third, Sharath got a lucky point to be 9-all and could have turned it around. But Amalraj was playing his best game and shut out the challenge at 12-10.

When somebody is up 3-0 the opponent almost always throws in the towel, but Sharath’s remarkable recovery in the next two games should have sent some warning singles to Amalraj because he had been a witness to what happened at the Kolkata nationals where Sharath clinched the title after being down 0-3 and 4-7 against Soumyadeep Roy.

Amalraj became cautious in the sixth game and points changed hands as quickly as the blistering shots the two had sent down. At 7-7, Amalraj picked up the momentum when Sharath sent the ball three times before managing to take a point to go 8-10. That was all he could manage as Amalraj’s close-to-the-net serve could not be returned across and that triggered the celebration for Amalraj.

“I had beaten Sharath before in the inter-institutional and my confidence was high. I wanted to continue in the same vein. My coach (S Raman) also motivated a lot today. My national level goal has been achieved and I now want to concentrate on even bigger goal. I am off the Germany to train for the Asian and world championships,” said Commonwealth doubles gold medallist.

Asked for his reaction on the drama that followed his win, Amalraj said: “It was not intentional and I did it in excitement. Reminded about the fine, he said: “I don’t mind losing a portion of the money,” said the 25-year-old.

Earlier in the women’s final, Shamini was not in her elements and Poulami exploited it to the hilt winning 4-0 (11-9, 11-4, 11-8, 11-7). She was both attacking and countering well to lead from beginning to the end in spite of Shamini showing the gumption to stage a comeback in the third game. Shamini was leading 8-2 in the game, but a timely time-out suggestion by husband and coach Soumyadeep Roy did a good turn for Poulami. Not only did she equal the score at 8-8, but went on to win the next two games without any trouble.

Poulami attributed her seventh title to hard work and husband’s support. “My only aim before the final was to play well, knowing Shamini’s strength. I did exactly that and I am thankful to god I was able to regain the title which I lost to Shamini last year.”

Results

Men’s singles (final): Amal Raj A (PSPB) bt Sharath Kamal (PSPB) (4-2) 11-8, 11-8, 12-10, 9-11, 7-11, 11-8; Semi-finals: Sharath Kamal (PSPB) bt Soumayajit Ghosh (NB) (4-1) 11-8, 8-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-6; Amal Raj A (PSPB) bt Subhajit Saha (PSPB) (4-0) 11-7, 11-4, 11-7, 11-8.

Doubles (final): Sanil Shetty-Amal Raj (PSPB) bt Harmit Desai-Devesh Karia (Guj) (3-2) 12-10, 8-11, 10-11, 11-6, 12-10.

Women’s singles (final): Poulami Ghatak (PSPB) bt Shamini K (PSPB) (4-0) 11-9, 11-4, 11-8, 11-7; Semi-finals: Poulami Ghatak (PSPB) bt Ankita Das (NB) (4-3) 11-3, 9-11, 11-9, 4-11, 10-12, 11-8, 11-8; Shamini K (PSPB) bt Mouma Das (PSPB) (4-1) 11-9, 11-4, 12-10, 13-15, 11-6.

Doubles (final): Shamini K-Mousami Paul (PSPB) bt Anindita Chakraborty-Pallavi Kundu (WB) (3-1) 5-11, 11-5, 11-6, 12-10.

Press release

Soumyajit, Ankita give no quarters to PSPB players

2012-02-05T13:42:00.000+05:30

LUCKNOW, January 28: It was a well-written script and the picture was perfect until the pre-quarters. The much-awaited twist in the tale in men’s singles of the 73rd Senior National and Inter-State Table Tennis Championships at the SAI sub-centre hall came about only after the interval as the quarterfinals began with all top-eight seeds taking centre-stage.

The twist in the picture was given by North Bengal’s Soumyajit Ghosh, who defeated No.4 Sanil Shetty of PSPB 4-2, while the match between Soumyadeep Roy and Subhajit Saha on table No. 3 reached the climatic proportion to live up to the standards expected of super stars. In the other quarters, Sharath Kamal defeated RSPB’s Anirban Nandi 4-2 and A. Amal Raj, despite being a little wobbly, accounted for G. Sathiyan for the same score-line.

This was, indeed, required in the singles action, particularly after the women’s quarter-finals were simple and straightforward, lacking spice. Poulami Ghatat, Ankita Das, Mouma Das and defending champion K. Shamini occupied their top perch positions shutting out whatever little challenge on their way.

In the entire scenario, the odd man and woman out are, fortunately, from North Bengal which could pose a formidable challenge considering the way both Soumjajit Ghosh and Ankita Das played today. Though Ghosh will run into Sharath Kamal, Ankita will take on Poulami Ghatak in the semi-finals.

Of the eight top-billed matches in both sections, only two stood out for more than one reason. If Ghosh displayed his aggressive style of play, it was the calm and composed Saha who, despite being stretched to seven games, played his cool game to outwit Roy. Down 8-9 in the decider, Roy was forced into frustrating shots which helped Saha first level at 9-all and take the next of Roy’s service.

On match-point, Saha served well and pushed when the return came. But Roy, in his anxiety to level the score, went for a forehand smash but only managed to send the ball out, much to the relief of Saha. Earlier, in their see-saw match, fortunes fluctuated from one extreme to another, but the two acquitted themselves well to keep them in the game all the time drawing appreciation from the crowd.

Ghosh, on the other hand, kept himself floating with Shetty countering well and even sending in his blistering forehands. But what was remarkable about the match was the two spent quality time on the table, engaging one another with their bagful of tricks. Ghosh led 2-1 after losing the opening game before Shetty taking the fourth game to give jitters to Ghosh. But with his experience and adequate exposures abroad, Ghosh prevailed over his rival to take the next two games to seal the issue.

If Sharath was a little rusty on the day against Nandi, so was Sathiyan against No. 2 Amal Raj. However, the results of the two matches were a foregone conclusion despite Sharath and Raj allowing their opponents some liberty.

While Ghatak allowed Divya Deshpande more liberty—the latter managed to take two games off her—the lone North Bengal women Ankita blanked out Pooja Sahastrabudhe in straight games in less than 50 minutes. Mouma allowed just one game for her opponent Mamta Prabhu while Shamini was in a hurry to put it across Madhurika Patkar of Maharashtra. Shamini who won 4-0, will take on Mouma in the semifinals tomorrow.

RESULTS:

MEN’S SINGLES (quarterfinals): A Sharath Kamal (PSPB) bt Anirban Nandi (PSPB) 4-2 (11-4, 8-11, 11-4, 11-9, 6-11, 11-6), Soumyajit Ghosh (NB) bt Sanil Shetty (PSPB) 4-2 (8-11, 11-4, 11-9, 9-11, 11-5, 11-3), Subhajit Saha (PSPBP bt Soumyadeep Roy (PSPB) 4-3 (11-8, 4-11, 11-9, 6-11, 12-14, 11-8, 11-9), A. Amal Raj (PSPB) bt G. Sathiyan (PSPB) 4-2 (11-6, 11-9, 5-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-8). Pre-quarterfinals: A Sharath Kamal (PSPB) bt V Nitin (PSPB) 4-0 (11-9, 11-8, 11-1, 11-8), Anirban Nandi (RSPB) bt Sourav Chakraborty (WSB) 4-3 (7-11, 12-10, 11-5, 12-10, 8-11, 12-14, 11-9), Soumjit Ghosh (NB) bt Jubin Kumar (PSPB) 4-0 (-11-8, 11-1, 12-10, 11-4), Sanil Shetty (PSPB) bt Devesh Karia (Guj) 4-3 (6-11, 11-9, 12-10, 11-9, 9-11, 14-16, 11-3), Subhajit Saha (PSPB) bt Raj Mondal (NB) 4-0 (11-8, 11-7, 11-4, 11-7), Soumyadeep Roy (PSPB) bt Souvik Kar (WB) 4-2 (11-5, 9-11, 6-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-7), G. Sathiyan (PSPB) bt Harmit Desai (Guj) 4-0 (11-5, 11-9, 11-8, 11-9), A. Amal Raj (PSPB) bt Aman Balgu (RSPB) 4-1 (11-7, 11-8, 9-11, 11-5, 11-7.

WOMEN’S SINGELS (quarterfinals): Poulami Ghatak (PSPB) bt Divya Deshpande (Mah A) 11-7, 11-4, 9-11, 14-12, 5-11, 11-5; Ankita Das (NB) bt Pooja Sahastrabudhe (Mah B) 11-4, 11-6, 11-9, 12-10; Mouma Das (PSPB) bt Mamta Prabhu (Mah A) 10-12, 11-1, 11-5, 12-10; 11-8; K Shamini (PSPB) bt Madurika Patkar (Mah A) 13-11, 11-9, 12-10, 11-6. Pre-quarterfinals: Poulami Ghatak (PSPB) bt Mallika Bhandarkar (Mah-A) 4-3 (6-11, 4-11, 11-2, 11-8, 11-6, 9-11, 11-3), Divya Deshpande (Mah-A) bt Kasturi Chakraborty (PSPB) 4-2 (1-11, 3-11, 12-10, 11-3, 11-9, 11-9), Ankita Das (NB) bt Soumi Mondal (PSPB) 4-0 (11-5, 11-5, 11-5, 11-6), Pooja Sahastrabudhe (Mah-B) bt Sukanya Bose (NB) 4-1 (14-12, 3-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-8), Mouma Daas (PSPB) bt Taniya Dutta (NB) 4-0 (11-9, 11-7, 11-3, 11-8), Mamta Prabhu (Mah-A) bt Manika Batra (PSPB) 4-1 (6-11, 11-5, 11-7, 12-10, 11-3), Madhurika Patkar (Mah-A) bt Neha Aggarwal (PSPB) 4-1 (9-11, 11-9, 13-11, 11-5, 11-7), K. Shamini (PSPB) bt Shweta Parte (Mah-A) 4-2 (11-9, 11-8, 11-1, 8-11, 11-13, 11-7).

Top-10 men sweat it out as women hang out in National TT

2012-02-05T13:39:00.000+05:30

LUCKNOW, January 27: Even as men paddlers, including all top-seeds, sweated it out inside the arena playing first-round matches, the top-10 women players spent quality time outside it, gazing sun and looking at the draw sheets to prepare themselves for the second round matches in the 73rd Senior National and Inter-State Table Tennis Championships here on the opening day of the singles events at the at the SAI sub-centre hall.

Though nothing earthshaking happened in the first round games in the men’s section, the second round matches later in the evening in both sections could throw a surprise or two. Nevertheless, there were some first round matches in women’s section that caught the attention of other players as well as the sparse audience.

Notable among them were West Bengal’s Meenu Basak, who is seeded sixteenth, bowed out to Pooja Sharma from Madhya Pradesh 4-2 (11-5, 11-3, 4-11, 11-7, 8-11, 11-8, while Kasturi Chakraborty of PSPB was stretched by Maharashtra B’s Senhora D’Souza 4-3 (11-7, 11-4, 2-11, 8-11, 13-11, 8-11, 11-8.

Similarly, Olympian Neha Aggarwal struggled against Tamil Nadu’s N. Vidya. In the end the experienced Neha held her nerves to beat Vidya 4-2 (11-6, 11-7, 11-6, 1-11, 10-12, 11-7. The PSPB girl was comfortably coasting home with a 3-0 lead, but was completely outplayed in the next as Vidya allowed just a solitary point to Neha. Egged on by teammates and the crowd Vidya brought her best and won the next at 12-10. This was the indication for Neha to pull her socks and she did well to wrap it up 11-7 in the sixth game, not allowing any elbow room for Vidya to sneak in.

In another tug-of-war like situation, the experience of Delhi’s Esha Monga stood her in good stead when she took on Airports Authority of India’s Karnam Spoorthy, a decently ranked player. Esha’s counter helped her stay in the game as she won 4-3 (11-13, 11-7, 11-8, 11-9, 9-11, 10-11, 11-8) after losing the first game which gave some indication of things to come.

Spoorthy, still a junior, acquitted herself well in spite of letting her senior off the hook—Esha took the next three games—before regrouping herself to take the fifth and sixth games. But in the decider she made some crucial unforced errors that put paid to her ambitions as Esha shut her out quickly with a whipping forehand to heave a big sigh of relief.

As for the biggies in men’s section, they sailed into the second round without trouble.

A Press Relase

Mamta helps Maharashtra win women's crown; PSPB retain men's title

2012-02-05T13:36:00.000+05:30

Lucknow, January 26: Mamta Prabhu, for the second day running, did the star turn for her team to lift the women’s crown in the 73rd Senior National and Inter-State Table Tennis Championships at the SAI sub-centre hall here on Thursday while Petroleum Sports Control Board (PSPB), led by Achanta Sharath Kamal, retained the men’s Barna-Bellack Cup.

Maharashtra A team thus became the first state outfit to win the Jayalakshmi Cup, beating North Bengal 3-2. But what was unique about the victory was the team spirit, as rightly projected by the chief protagonist, Mamta, after the deciding match.

Mamta was staring at the barrel, trailing 2-5 against the experienced Nandita Saha in the fourth game which the Maharashtrian had to win to keep her team in with some chance. Mamta not only levelled the score at 6-all, but also opened out with full determination to attack her opponent. That paid dividends and she wrapped the game 11-7.

And in the decider, she just went on a cruise mode taking a comfortable 3-0 lead to bring more pressure on her opponent. That was when Nandita cracked and with Maharastra team members straining their vocal chords with a huge support, Mamta simply walked away with an easy win in the fifth game to shut out any challenge from Nandita, who lost 11-8, 11-13, 11-9, 7-11, 8-11.

“I must give full credit to the team spiirt and I am happy I lived up to expectations,” said a beaming Mamta. “I knew before the game that I needed to win two of matches to have any chance for us to win the championships. I was prepared, but it was another day and I had simply put behind our team’s show yesterday and approached the matches today with an open mind. That helped me a lot,” said Mamta.

Indeed, the opportunity was great and Maharashtra grabbed it with both hands despite North Bengal’s Ankita Das playing her role to perfection, taking both her matches. Yet, Nandita had to win at least one match if North Bengal had to have any chance. A forlorn Nandita took it in her stride and complimented Maharashtra girls for the way they put up a great fight to win the title. “They played well and they deserved the trophy,” she said.

Earlier, Madhurika Patkar won her first singles against Nandita Saha while Divya Deshpande defeated Takeme Sarkar to give Maharashtra the edge they needed over North Bengal. The five-match rubber consumed nearlhy three hours.

As compared, the men’s final was a mis-match and it was over in just one hour with PSPB blanking out Tamil nadu 3-0. Sharath won 11-6, 11-7, 11-8 in double quick time against RS Raja while G Vinod streatched Amal Raj a bit before losing 5-11, 11-4, 8-11, 9-11. Soumyadeep Roy just toyed with Sivananda Seshadri winning the thrid singles in less than 15 minutes for the 11-9, 11-6, 12-10 verdict.

A Press release

Army XI face KSEB in Bihar Cup final

2012-02-04T14:43:00.000+05:30

Patna, January 27, 2012: Army XI Kolkata and Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) moved into the final of the All India Football Tournament for Bihar Cup at the Moinul Haq Stadium here.

In the first semifinal, KSEB edged past Punjab Police 1-0. Rashid netted the match winner in the 68^th minute off a pass from Anish.

In the second match Army XI defeated Tata Football Academy 2-0 to set up title clash with KSEB. After a barren first half, Thyagrajan scored the first goal for Army XI in the 71^st minute. S Subba increased the tally in the 74^th minute.

Photo caption: Army XI Kolkata (white) and Tata Football Academy (yellow) players in action during their Bihar Cup match in Patna on January 27, 2012.

Bottom: Thyagrajan of Army XI celebrates his goal.

Photo: Aftab Alam Siddiqui

Bihar Police bow to Indian Navy

2012-01-25T02:38:00.001+05:30

Patna, January 19, 2012: Indian Navy, Mumbai, crushed Bihar Police FC 3-0 to move into the pre-quarterfinals of the All India football tournament for Bihar Cup at the Moinul Haq Stadium here on Thursday.

Navy got their first goal in the 22nd minute through B Thapa, who foxed his marker at the near post.

Bihar Police got an opportunity to equalise in the 43rd minute when Naik’s clearance at the goalmouth landed before Martin Lepcha, who headed wide off the mark. Suresh Babu scored the second goal for Navy in the 64th minute through his solo efforts. Navy increased their tally in the 82nd minute when Raman Rai placed the ball in safely off a rebound that fell before him.

Photo caption: Indian Navy and Bihar Police (red) players in action during their Bihar Cup match in Patna on January 19, 2012.

Photo: Aftab Alam Siddiqui

Senior IPS Mann gets lucky to win the match play in CNEB All India

2012-01-25T02:32:00.000+05:30

Chandigarh, January 19, 2012: The 58-year-old IPS Mann gets lucky at his home course to win the match from an Englishman Curtis Griffiths who was 1/3^rd of his age on the day one of CNEB All India Amateur Championship, match play at Chandigarh Golf Club, here.

Mann, who recently won the bronze medal in the Asia Pacific senior’s team championship in Malaysia, missed birdies on 4^th, 5^th, 6^th, 16^th and a couple of par putts but the game became interesting when Griffiths’s ball got stuck in the tree on 16^th and Mann was 2-up after making up and down. Griffiths, 18, then chipped out to win the 17^th and Mann became 1-up with one hole to play and remained one up to win after both of them halved the 18^th. It was not an impressive day for both the English players as Jack Colegate also been beaten by Bangalore’s Trishul Chinappa who was 2 & 1.

The leader of day two of stroke play event Raghav Bhandari won the match from Delhi’s Arshad Ali in a sudden death play-off after making a birdie on the 19^th. It was a melodramatic game for both the players as Bhandari was five-down after the front nine but started firing some good shots to win the 10^th, 11^th, 12^th, 13^th to remain 1-down. Bhandari lost the 14^th to go 2-down and after halving 15^th, he won 16^th and 17^th and both of them were all squared after halving the 18^th. There was two more sudden-death play off won by Kolkata’s S. K. Pappu from Mohd Dulal Hossain and Bangladeshi Nijita Bandara from Kapurthala’s Ashbeer Singh Saini.

Delhi’s Shubhankar Sharma, who also plays on the junior circuit, beat experienced Udayan Mane 3 & 2 after playing very tricky shots from the very first hole. Sharma’s second shot on the first hole went into the right fence from where he hit the 8-iron to play a safe bogey while Mane also bogeyed to halve the hole. Sharma won the 2^nd after making par and 3^rd after making a double bogey to go 2-up but remained 1-up after Mane birdied the 4^th to win the hole. Mane won the 5^th as well and both became all squared. Both of them halved the 6^th while Sharma chipped in for a birdie on 7^th to go 1-up. After halving 8^th, 9^th and 10^th, Sharma won the 11^th, 13^th, 14^th to go 4-up while Mane won the 15^th and after the game ended on 16^th when both of them halved the hole. Other two players of Sharma’s age group Honey Baisoya (3 &1) and Sayed Saquib Ahmed (4 & 3) who is also the No. 1 Indian Junior won the matches from Chandigarh’s Sandeep Singh Sandhu and Kolkata’s Raja Sardar respectively.

Bangladeshi Mohd Nazim showed some good golf as he beat Sri Lankan N. Thangaraja by 2 & 1. The No. 1 amateur of his country, Nazim was 3-down after loosing 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd but became one-down after halving 4^th and winning 5^thand 6^th.Both of them equaled after the 8^th and then Nazim started coming in form when he won 9^th, 10^th to go 2-up. It has a great see saw throughout the round as both of them halved the 11^th they were all squared until the 13^th but Nazim became one-up after winning the 14^thto go 1-up. Nazim, then won the 17^th after making par for 2 & 1 while Thangaraja bogeyed to loose.

The No. 1 amateur of the country, S. Chikkarangappa beat Delhi’s Siddharth Semwal 5&3 who has been giving a strong challenge from the beginning. Chikka won the 2^nd, 6^th, 8^th, 9^th,13^th, 14^th and 15^th while lost only 5^th and 11^th. Other players who qualified for the pre-quarter finals were Local H. S. Kang (3 & 1) after beating his colleague Aman Guran. Angad Cheema beat Col. S. K. Lakra for 5 &3. Bangalore’s Khalin Joshi repeated his performance of the second day of Goodricke East India Amateur Golf Championship when he beat Jasjeet Singh again on the 18^th hole to remain 1-up for the day. Jamshedpur’s Karan Taunk won by 2 & 1 from Man Simran Singh. Another local Simranjeet Singh beat Bangalore’s R. Marimuthu for 5 & 4 while Delhi’s Gagan Verma was 1-up for the day after beating Captain Varun Parmar.

“It was a great match. I hit the ball good. I started 3 up after 3 and held the lead till 9. I then won the 10^th and 12^th to go 5-up. Jack made a couple of good birdies thereafter to hang in there till the 17^th where it ended with me winning 2up with one to go,”said, Trishul Chinappa who finished fifth in Sothern India Amateur Championship at KGA this season.

Grifiths and Colegate who packed their bags in the first round itself mentioned, “We are pretty happy with all the arrangements PAR sports leisure adventure management (SLAM G) has made especially the stay at the five-star and pick and drop facility. We hope to come back to India to perform better next time.”

Mr. Fauja Singh, 100-year-old marathon runner who came to give blessings to the players today, said, “I am pretty happy to see the young players, officials and the referees working so hard to keep the game of golf alive in Chandigarh. It’s my suggestion to all the players to stay away from psychotropic drugs to stay fit like me even at my age. It’s also nice to see companies like SLAM G taking the amateur game to the next level.”

Press Release

Raj Milk post impressive win in Bihar Cup

2012-01-24T14:39:00.001+05:30

Patna, January 18, 2012: Raj Milk FC of Patna outplayed Uttaranchal Police 5-0 and the Denzong Boys (Sikkim) edged out RK Steel (Siwan) 1-0 to advance into the pre-quarterfinals of the first All-India football tournament for Bihar Cup at the Moinul Haq Stadium here.

Denzong Boys took a bit time to settle themselves on the turf and then started playing cohesive and combined football. Denzong scored the first and the lone goal of the match in the 48^th minute when striker Michan Lucky unleashed a power-packed shot into the rival net from 30 yards.

The second match of the day saw Raj Milk FC mauling the Uttaranchal Police with array of attacks using both the flanks. Raj Milk shot into the lead in the 36th minute when Ibrahim shot home off a neat cross from Ola. Raj Milk were leading 1-0 at the breather.

In the second half Raj Milk forwards toyed with rival defence. The Nigerian midfielders Saydee (1) and Ola (2) and Sujay Dutta (1) were the goal scorers for Patna team.

Photo caption:

Top two: Raj Milk forwads Ola and Saydee celebrate their goal over Uttaranchal Police.

Pix 3: Denzong Boys Michan Lucky celebrates after scoring the match-winner against RK Steel.

Pix 4 and 5: Denzong Boys and RK Steel players in action during their Bihar Cup match in Patna on January 18, 2012.

Photo: Aftab Alam Siddiqui

Budh Raj to lead Bijar junior football team

2012-01-22T00:54:00.000+05:30

Patna, January 18, 2012: Bihar Football Association announced a 20-member state team under the leadership of Budh Raj Soran of Bihar Regimental Centre (BRC), Danapur, for the 48th junior National football championship in progress in Cuttack.

Team: Budh Raj Soran (captain), Sandip Kumar Tiwari, Vikas Pathak, Ajit Kumar Singh, Mirza Gulam Masum, Dilip Kumar Sharma, Sukhdeb Dutta, Akbar Ali, Gaurav Kumar, Bivision Ho, Somu Murmu, Gulshan Kumar, Samu, Hembram, Sajal Malik, Bablu Soran, Gopal Nathan Jiran Ali, Narendra Paswan, Upendra Kumar Tiwari and Monir Alam. Manager: Birender Singh. Coach: Naushad Alam.

Raghav Bhadari storms into the lead on day two of CNEB All India

2012-01-22T00:50:00.000+05:30

Chandigarh, January 18, 2012: Local lad Raghav Bhadari seized the lead after hitting one-under 70 for the total of 143 on the second day of CNEB All India Amateur Golf Championship at Chandigarh Golf Club here. Delhi’s Honey Baisoya remained on second position as he hit one-over 72 for the total of 143 while Bangalore’s Udayan Mane who was eighth yesterday, shot level-par 71 for the total of 144 to take the third position in a tie along with his colleague Khalin Joshi who finished fourth.

The day looked bright for Englishman Curtis Griffths who shot the best round of the day along with the leader of one-under 70 for the total of 145 in a tie along with Bangladeshi Mohd. Dulal Hossain, who shot two-over 73 for the total of 145 to take the sixth spot.

Yesterday’s leader Karan Taunk had a disappointing round as he hit 7-over 78 for the total of 148 to slip to the 12th position just behind S. Chikkaranppa who maintained his 11th position by hitting another three-over for the total of 148.

Bhandari, who moved to Delhi seven months ago started the day with a bogey on the opening hole, birdied the 4th, 13th and 15th and made a bogey on 17th. Bhandari said, “I played very easy shots on par-5 which I was missing yesterday. Since I have played at this course for 13 years and the confident actually helped me especially on the 12th hole where I hit the right rough and then chipped from there but managed to make good up and down for a good par.”

Griffiths, 18, got a happy start as he sank a birdie on the very first hole, made a par on 2nd and birdied the 3rd which made him steady and strong for the rest of the round. Though, he made bogeys on 7th, 8th and 17th, two more birdies on 13th and 16th satisfied him as he shot the best score of the day. Griffiths, who represents The A Squad team in England said, “I was much more comfortable with the course conditions than yesterday. I drew a straight line on my ball and on every green; I was keeping it for the right alignment which really helped me today. Also, I am pretty excited about the match play because that’s all we play back home in England all the time.”

Chennai’s L. Selvadurai, Chandigarh’s Bismad Singh, Jammu’s Raghav Wahi and Bhutan’s duo Thiley Namgay and Captain Gyamba Dukpa couldn’t make a cut for the match play starting tomorrow.

In an international team championship played concurrently, the leading team was India “A” in which Honey Baisoya (71,72) and Angad Cheema (72, 75) played for the team total of 290 while India “B” became second which represented by S. Chikkarangappa (74,74) and Khalin Joshi (73,71) for the total of 292. Curtis Griffiths (75, 70) and Jack Colegate (75, 73) of England were one point behind at 293 while Sri Lankan team (N Thangaraja & Vijita Bandara) came fourth with 296 points. Bangladeshi team of Mohd Nazim (79,78) and Mohd Dulal Hossain (72,73) came fifth for the total of 302, India “C” (Gagan Verma & Siddharth Semwal) was 6th for the team total of 306 while Bhutan (Capt. Gyamba Dukpa & Thinley Namgay) finished 7th with 364 who did not qualify for the match play.

Photo caption: Raghav Bhadari in action at Chandigarh Golf Club on January 18, 2012.

Press Release

Prayag United down J&K Police in penalty shootouts

2012-01-22T00:42:00.001+05:30

Patna, January 17, 2012: Prayag United, Kolkata prevailed over Jammu and Kashmir Police via tie-breaker 5-3 and moved into the pre-quarterfinals of the All India Football Tournament for Bihar Cup at the Moinul Haq Stadium here.

The inaugural match of the 16-team tournament saw both the teams taking control of the midfield rather making fruitful attacks on the rival box. Basically, it was a dull and drab encounter and first half ended without score.

The second half too ended goalless as penalty shootouts rule came into force. Both the teams frittered away a number of chances in the second half of the match.

In penalty shootouts, Prayag United converted all the five chances to three by their opponents. Bibhash Sarkar, Jagannath Oraon, Nababrata Ghosh, Babun Das and Bijay Chakroborty found the target for Prayag United while Fayaz Ahmed, Rakesh Verma and Ajay Kumar scored for the Jammu and Kashmir team.

Altogether 16 teams, including Army XI, Khidirpore Sporting Club (both Kolkata), Tata football Academy (Jamshedpur), Mohan Bagan- SAIL football Academy (Durgapur), Punjab Police (Jalandhar), ASC (Bangaluru), State Bank of Travancore and KSEB (both Trivandrum), Denzong boys (

Sikkim

) Indian Navy (Mumbai) and Uttaranchal Police (Uttarakhand), local teams Bihar Police, Raj Milk Football Club and RK Steel (Siwan) have been taking part in the 16-day long tournament that is organized to celebrate centenary year of Bihar.

Earlier, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi inaugurated the tournament in a grand opening ceremony. Bihar Food and Consumer Protection Minister Shyam Rajak and Art, Culture and Youth Affairs Minister Dr Sukhda Pandey were present on the occasion.

Photo caption:

From top : Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, Food and Consumer Protection Minister Shyam Rajak, MLA Arun Kumar Sinha, former Indian football team captain and Arjuna Award winner C Prasad jointly inaugurate the All India Football Tournament for Bihar Cup in Patna on January 17, 2012.

Prayag United ( violet jersey) and Jammu and Kashmir Police ( yellow jersey) play their opening match of the tournament.

Photo: Aftab Alam Siddiqui

Karan Taunk takes one stroke lead on day one of CNEB amateur golf

2012-01-18T02:48:00.000+05:30

Chandigarh, January 17, 2012: Jamshedupur’s Karan Taunk hit a bogey free round for the first time in his amateur career to take the lead in the opening round of stroke play of CNEB All India Amateur Golf Championship at Chandigarh Golf Club here on Tuesday.

Taunk shot one-under 70 at the par-71 course while the winner of Goodricke East India, Honey Baisoya played a level par round for the second position in a tie along with Sri Lankan N Thangaraja.

Local boy Angad Cheema fired an amazing eagle on the 13th to come back with one-over 72 for the third place in a tie along with Delhi’s Gagan Verma and Bangladeshi Mohd. Dulal Hossain.

S. Chikkarangappa, defending champion as well as the No.1 Amateur of the country, returned with a score card of 3-over 74 to take the 11th spot in a tie along with Sri Lankan Vijita Bandara.

Both the Englishmen Curtis Griffiths and Jack Colegate matched their scores of 4-under 75 for the 13th and 14th position respectively.

Karan Taunk, whose best finish was 7th in LIC Western India in Bombay and RCGC Cup, Kolkata this season, ran off a string of impressive shots throughout the round and the best was a birdie on 13th which made him take the lead of the day. Taunk didn’t go into much trouble even after missing the green on 5th, 10th, 11th, 12th and 17th for a bogey free round. Taunk who takes the coaching from Kel Llewllyn, said, “I am pretty happy with my round and want to give the credit to my coach Kel Lewlyn who also has been the coach of Jyoti Randhawa and Alan Singh who helps me in each aspect of the game.”

Delhi’s Baisoya, who finished fourth in All India Junior Championship early this month, sank four birdies on 6th, 7th, 16th and 17th while bogeyed the 9th, 15th and double bogeyed the 10th. The trickiest hole for him was the 15th where he hit the tee shot on the left rough next to a tube well and played a provisional ball in confusion after taking a penalty shot. By the time he reached the original ball, he found that the ball was not out of the boundary wall; he then played a rescue on fairway for the 60 yards chip and used the lobe wedge from there to secure a double bogey.

The day was not in favour of Bangalore’s duo Udayan Mane and Khalin Joshi as both of them hit two-over 73 for the eight and ninth position respectively. Mane, the winner of Mahrashtra Open was struggling to come back in the rhythm of playing the 18-holes after getting hospitalized last month while Joshi, who was three-under after front nine, lost his control on the ball after making a double bogey on 10th, 13th and bogeys on 15th and 18th.

In an international team championship played concurrently, the leading team was India “A” in which Honey Baisoya (71) and Angad Cheema (73) played for the team total of 143 while India “B” became second which represented by S. Chikkarangappa and Khalin Joshi for the total of 144. Sri Lankan team (N Thangaraja & Vijita Bandara) came third with 145 while England (Cutis Griffiths & Jack Colegate) was fourth with 150. Bangladeshi team was one point behind with 151 for the fifth place, India “C” (Gagan Verma & Siddharth Semwal) was at 155 at 6th while

Bhutan

(Capt. Gyamba Dukpa & Thinley Namgay) finished 7th with 186.

Press release

Bihar sub-junior football team announced

2012-01-17T14:53:00.002+05:30

Patna, January 16, 2012: Bihar Football Association announced a 20-member state team for the 34th sub-junior National football championship for Justice Mir Iqbal Trophy to be held in Cuttack from January 18.

Team: SK Mantu (captain), Hemlal Hembran, Nahal Bharti, Vikas Kumar, Parveen Kumar Yadav, Ankit Kumar Singh, Bablu Tudu, Rajnish Kumar, Benjamin Murmu, Deepak Kumar, Raman Kumar, Vkas Kumar (II), Aman Kumar Singh, Vishal Raj, Sonu Singh, Depak Kumar, Ali Azam, Santosh Kumar, Rupanshu George and Amzad Aftab Asharfi. Manager: Sapan Saha. Coach: Sudipto Mazumdar.

Indian men beat South Africa 4-0 in hockey Test

2012-01-17T03:03:00.000+05:30

New Delhi, January 16, 2012: The opening match of the Karbonn Cup commenced yesterday with the Indian women’s team beating Azerbaijan 3-0. In today’s match Indian Women’s team beat Azerbaijan 2-1 and in the second match Indian men’s team beat South Africa by a big margin of 4-0.

The tournament provides Indian men’s and women’s with the opportunity to prepare themselves for the Olympic Qualifiers which will also be held at MDC National Stadium, New Delhi from February 18 to 26.

Pradeep Jain, MD Karbonn Mobiles says, “We are pleased to host the Karbonn Cup and extend our support to the national sport. India has always had a great tradition in hockey especially at the Olympic Games. We have won 8 gold medals at the Olympics and this is the highest among all national teams.”

Karbonn Cup will include a 5 match Test series between Indian men and South African men and a 4 match Test series between Indian women and Azerbaijan women.

Press Release

Indian women thrash Azerbaijan in hockey

2012-01-17T03:01:00.000+05:30

New Delhi, January 15, 2012: Indian eves beat Azerbaijan 3-0 in the first match of the four match Test series for the Karbonn Cup played at MDC National Stadium here.

India who led 1-0 at half time took the lead through Anuradha Devi(19th minute) and followed it up with two penalty corner conversions by Soundara Yendala (51st minute) and Joydeep Kaur (61st minute).

Azerbaijan warded of initial Indian attacks from Kiran Dahiya and Jasjeet Kaur Handa with efficient marking in the 23-metre area.

A good chance to score went abegging when Vandana Katariya shot feebly at

Azerbaijan

custodian Viktoriya Shukarova.

India however took the lead when Anuradha Devi shot home after being setup by Lily Chanu playing in her first international match.

India

returned in the second half with more aggression and forced four penalty corners.

Skipper Asunta Lakra with Kirandeep Kaur and Deepika alongside in the midfield engineered good use of open space to propel the Indian forwards into the

Azerbaijan

striking circle.

India scored the second goal when Soundarya Yendala got the final touch from an indirect penalty corner in the 51st minute while Joydeep Kaur rounded off the tally with a crashing set piece 11 minutes later to put India 1-0 up in the series.

Press Release

PSPB boys and girls sweep all four singles titles

2012-01-10T02:36:00.000+05:30

SILIGURI, JANUARY 8, 2012: When all four singles finals of the Indian Oil 73rd Junior and Youth National Table Tennis Championships have players representing the same unit, the only guess work that remains is who among the Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) boys and girls, in the junior and youth sections, would wear the crown at the Municipal Corporation here on Sunday.

Expectedly, the PSPB academy boys and girls swept all titles on offer and the huge prize purses.

Andhra Pradesh’s Karnam Spoorthy who ran into Reeth Rishya of PSPB in the junior girls final had a chance of reversing it a bit. But despite playing her heart and soul out, she finished as the bride’s maid to Reeth.

The youth boys’ final looked to be a tame affair with Soumyajit Ghosh overhauling his PSPB mate G. Sathiyan 4-1 (11-9, 11-5, 11-9, 11-13, 11-9). Sathiyan saved five match points in a row but with Soumyajit’s serve on, Sathiyan returned wide. With the crowd, understandably, rooting for Soumyajit, Sathiyan was rendered clueless. His attacking posture also did not pay dividends as Soumyajit was returning well. By the time Sathiyan made a semblance of recovery in the fifth game, it was too late too little for the birthday boy.

The youth girls’ final between No. 1 Ankita Das and No. 6 Pooja Sahasrabudhe raised a new level with both not willing to yield even an inch. In the end Ankita, after several anxious moments throughout the game, won 4-3. She trailed Pooja 0-2 before taking the next three games on the trot. With Pooja level at 3-3 in the sixth game, the decider became more interesting as the match lasted nearly one and a half hours.

The match between Reeth and Spoorthy had all the thrills of a final which Reeth won 4-3 amidst fluctuating fortunes when points changed hands as quickly as the two returned the ball to their opponent’s court. In the end, a nervous Spoorthy wilted under pressure after a fine recovery in the sixth game which she won 14-12 to level 3-3. But having to play the youth girls’ doubles final earlier, Spoorthy was definitely lacking in stamina while Reeth was fresh which stood her in good stead.

Earlier top-seed G Sathiyan outsmarted local favourite Raj Mondal, seeded four, 4-2 in the semifinals. Mondal was subdued to begin with, particularly when Sathiyan was unleashing his powerful smashes to lead 2-0. In the third, Sathiyan, despite leading 2-0 and then 5-1, let a small window of opening for Mondal to stage a recovery. But then Sathiyan stopped him before it was too late. Mondal had earlier knocked PSPB’s Harmeet Desai out in the quarterfinals. Though ranked a slot above Desai at No. 4, Mondal created a record of sorts against his PSPB rival winning all his matches this season.

In other upsets of the day, No. 2 Sushmit Sriram of Tamil Nadu, No. 3 Manika Batra, who played with an injured leg, No. 4 Mallika Bhandarkar of Maharashtra A exited in the quarterfinals.

TTFI president Ajay Singh Chautala, who has been here to witness the matches for the last two days, gave away the cash prizes and medals to winners.

The Results:

JUNIOR BOYS: Final: (Singles): Abhishek Yadav bt Sudanshu Grover 4-2 (11-8, 6-11, 11-6, 4-11, 11-3, 14-12. Semi-finals: Sudanshu Grover bt Anandaraj R 4-0 (11-4, 11-8, 11-6, 11-9), Abhishek Yadav bt Viveh Bhargava 4-0 (9-11, 11-9, 11-6, 11-6, 11-4. Quarterfinals: Sudhanshu Grover (PSPBA) bt Lalrinpuia (PSPBA) 11-7, 11-5, 11-9, 11-4, Anandaraj R (TN) bt Utkarsh Gupta (Dli) 11-6, 12-10, 11-7, 11-9, Vivek Bhargava (PSPBA) bt Birdie Boro (PSPBA) 16-14, 6-11, 11-9, 11-13, 11-7, 11-3, Abhishek Yadav (PSPBA) bt Shubhankar Renavikar (Mah-A) 11-6, 11-7, 11-6, 11-6.

Doubles: Final: Sudanshu Grover/Abhishek Yadav bt Surojit Das/Vivek Bhargava 3-0 (11-7, 11-8, 11-8).

JUNIOR GIRLS: Final: (Singles): Reeth Rishya bt Karnam Spoorthy 4-3 (7-11, 11-7, 13-15, 11-4, 11-7, 12-14, 11-4. Semi-finals: Karnam Spoorthy bt Manika Batra 4-1 (11-8, 11-7, 6-11, 11-6, 11-9, Reeth Rishya bt Mallika Bhandarkar 4-1 (11-2, 11-9, 9-11, 11-7, 11-6. Quarterfinals: Karnam Spoorthy (AP) bt Sutirtha Mukherjee (WB) 6-11, 11-9, 11-6, 13-11, 11-7, Manika Batra (PSPB) bt Narasimha Priya S (TN) 3-11, 11-3, 8-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-7, Mallika Bhandarkar (Mah-A) bt Sagarika Mukherjee (NB) 11-6, 11-3, 9-11, 11-9, 11-4, Reeth Rishya (PSPB) bt Senhora D’Souza (Mah-A) 11-7, 11-5, 9-11, 11-5, 10-12, 11-3.

Doubles: Final: Sutirtha Mukherjee/Avhika Mukherjee bt Sumana Saha/Priyadarshini Das 3-0 (16-14, 11-7, 11-3).

YOUTH BOYS: Final: (Singles): Soumyajit Ghosh bt G. Sathiyan 4-1 (11-9, 11-5, 11-9, 11-13, 11-9).Semi-finals: Soumyajit Ghosh bt Sudanshu Grover 4-0 (1106, 11-9, 11-8, 11-4, G. Sathiyan bt Raj Mondal 4-2 (11-3, 11-6, 11-13, 8-11, 11-9, 15-13. Quarterfinals: Sathiyan G (PSPB) bt Prabhakaran E (TN) 6-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-4, 5-11, 11-2, Raj Mondal (NB) bt Harmeet Desai (PSPB) 9-11, 11-3, 11-8, 11-7, 6-11, 11-6, Soumyajit Ghosh (PSPB) bt Mohit Verma (PSPBA) 11-8, 11-8, 11-2, 11-7, Sudanshu Grover (PSPBA) bt Sushmit Sriram (TN) 12-10, 11-9, 9-11, 11-7, 7-11, 8-11, 11-7.

Doubles: Final: Harmeet Desai/Soumyajit Ghosh bt G Sathiyan/Nitin V 3-0 (11-9, 12-10, 11-6).

YOUTH GIRLS: Final: (Singles): Ankita Das bt Pooja Sarasrabudhe 4-3 (5-11, 5-11, 11-3, 13-11, 11-6, 6-11, 11-8. Semi-finals:Ankita Das bt Reeth Rishya 4-0 (11-7, 11-9, 11-7, 11-5, Pooja Sarasrabudhe bt Nikhat Bhanu 4-2 (11-13, 11-6, 11-6, 9-11, 11-3, 11-5. Quarterfinals: Ankita Das (PSPB) bt Karnam Spoorthy (AP) 11-5, 12-10, 11-6, 11-4, Reeth Rishya (PSPB) bt Mallika Bhandarkar (Mah-A) 11-6, 11-3, 7-11, 7-11, 11-5, 11-4, Pooja Sahasrabudhe (PSPB) bt Sheweta Parte (Mah-A) 11-2, 11-3, 11-4, 11-7, Nikhat Bhanu (AP) bt Manika Batra (PSPB) 11-7, 11-9, 12-10, 4-11, 11-5.

Doubles: Final: Ankita Das/Pooja Sahasrabudhie bt Karnam Spoorthy/ Nikhat Bhano 3-0 (11-8, 11-7, 11-7).

TTFI Press Release

Top seeds justify their billings in Junior and Youth National TT

2012-01-07T22:52:00.000+05:30

SILIGURI, JANUARY 7, 2012: Top eight seeds in all sections justified their billing to sail into the pre-quarters of the Indian Oil 73rd Junior and Youth National Table Tennis Championships here at the Municipal Corporation Indoor Stadium on Saturday. The domination of quality players in singles over those just making up the numbers through qualifications was evident once the latter joined the main draw to meet their fate.

As for youth girls’ second round, Reeth Rishya, who is the top seed in junior girls, was made to sweat by Kerala’s unseeded Seraha Jacob before the PSPB girl winning it 3-2 (11-5, 3-11, 11-9, 4-11, 11-7). Incidentally, all of Seraha’s matches went to the wire. In the first round she beat Yukti Roshni of Tamil Nadu 12-10, 9-11, 16-18, 11-8, 14-12 while in the junior section, beat Gayatri Talavdekar 11-5, 11-8, 11-13, 8-11, 11-5 in a fight that lasted nearly an hour and a half. Seraha, however, bowed out in the second round, going down tamely 5-11, 2-11, 5-11 to West Bengal ’s Oishwarya Deb.

Though second round matches in youth boys section turned out to just a formality, some interest was in the round of 64 where Sanmay Paranjape of Maharashtra A struggled to beat Ravi Joshi of Gujarat 3-2, his teammate Shubhankar Renavikar overcame a strong Rohan Joshi from Madhya Pradesh, also winning at 3-2, Karnataka’s Shreyal Telang downed Delhi’s Utkarsh Gupta 12-10, 6-11, 14-12, 6-11, 11-5 and West Bengal’s Sayantan Dey defeated Zubin Taraporewalla of Maharashtra B 3-2.

Andhra’s Naina dropped a game in junior section but overcame a stubborn Jagruti Murbadkar of Maharashtra B to win 13-11, 11-7, 11-13, 11-5. The Andhra girl also accounted for PSPBA’s Anona Agarwal 11-5, 11-6, 11-6 to enter the round of 16. PSPB-A’s Dwijal Trivedi struggled before beating Haryana’s Gunkirat 11-5, 11-3, 7-11, 11-6 in the first round only to lose in the second to West Bengal’s Priyadarshani Das 14-12, 11-9, 5-11,8-11, 2-11. Gujarat ’s Frenaz Chipia overcame Andhra’s Akshi Sancheti 11-8, 8-11, 14-12, 13-15, 11-9.

In comparison, the junior boys’ matches had some elements of surprises when lesser-known players extended their better-known rivals, with the fancied players winning 3-1 in most cases. However, West Bengal ’s Pathikrit Roy had to fight his way back to move ahead with 11-7, 6-11, 11-3, 10-12, 11-4 victory against Karnataka’s Vedanth M Urs. So did Ravindra Kotiyan of Maharashtra -A against Shivam Singh for an 11-7, 3-11, 13-11, 10-12, 11-7 verdict. But the two were stopped in the second round by their opponents.

PSPBA’s Surojit Das had to play his best in the second round to outsmart a determined Asif Haque of Orissa. Das won 11-9, 10-12, 5-11, 11-8, 12-10. Teammate Birdie Boro allowed Bhavesh Apte of Chandigarh one game before wrapping it up 11-6, 5-11, 11-7, 13-12 and Nishaad Shah of Maharashtra B trounced KR Rohit of Tamil Nadu 11-9, 10-12, 12-14, 12-10, 11-7. Delhi ’s Sabhaya Virmani lost to West Bengal ’s Anirban Ghosh 11-8, 13-11, 2-11, 9-11, 9-11 after leading 2-0. But there was no upset of sorts in the second-round games.

TTFI release

Qualifiers sweat it out as individual events begin

2012-01-07T02:36:00.000+05:30

SILIGURI, JANUARY 6, 2012: With the top eight paddlers in boys and girls sections getting a direct placement in the main draw, the field on the opening day of the individual events in the Indian Oil 73rd Junior and Youth National Table Tennis Championships here at the Municipal Corporation Indoor Stadium was left open to the qualifiers.

Without a doubt, all paddlers engaged in the qualifiers were sweating it out having to play two rounds on Friday. In fact, some of the juniors were also taking part in the Youth section with valuable ranking points as well as handsome prize money at stake.

With so many participants the groupings have touched a new high—youth boys divided into 50 groups and girls 40 groups while in the junior boys and girls sections, it is 48 and 46 groups, respectively. So each one of them playing the qualifiers knows of the task ahead of him or her as only those who top the group will be able to enter the main draw.

Of course, there were some the well-known paddlers who by virtue of their lower rankings had to play the qualifiers. But all of them had cakewalks into the second round while a few have already made it to the main draw. The others, who have their matches late in the evening, should do so barring a hiccup or two. That is in the realm of possibility but then the fancied ones will have to play really bad to lose sight of the target.

As for the top eights in all categories, it was a day to give their already tired limbs some much-needed rest after the grueling sessions of play during the first three days of the team events. They should enjoy the rest day and recharge their batteries to come afresh and unleash their onslaughts on their opponents in the main draw which commences Saturday morning.

TTFI Press Release

PSPB boys and girls reign supreme in Junior and Youth National Table Tennis Championships

2012-01-06T02:26:00.001+05:30

SILIGURI, JANUARY 5, 2012: It was a triple delight for the Petroleum Sports Board (PSPB) boys and girls as they won three of the four team titles that were decided on Thursday in the 73rd Junior and Youth National Table Tennis Championships at the Municipal Corporation Stadium here.

West Bengal had a consolation prize in the form of junior girls’ title after pounding Tamil Nadu 3-0. Hosts North Bengal girls, who famously upset holders Andhra Pradesh late Wednesday night, could not sustain the onslaught of their bitter rivals West Bengal .

But the story of the day was the determination and perseverance shown by PSPB paddlers who, without exception, wore out their opponents with crisp shots off both back and fore hands and great smashes. They made simple and straight forward in all the finals to blank out their opponents.

In the Youth boys final, Harmeet Desai beat Maharashtra A’s Noel Pinto in straight games while Soumyajit Ghosh followed suit with his sharp play against Sanmay Paranjape 12-10, 11-8, 11-8 and G. Sathiyan just dismissed Subhankar Renavikar 11-6, 12-10, 11-4. The Youth girls title went to PSPB as Manika Batra, Ankita Das and Pooja proved too hot for West Bengal ’s Krittwika Sinha Roy, Sutirtha Mukherjee and Supsa Bhattacharya. PSPB won 3-0.

In the final of the Junior boys, Sudanshu Grover Abhishek Yadav were too brutal against their Delhi opponents Peeyush Prasad and Utkarsh Gupta. Utkarsh, however, tried to make a match of it by taking a game off left-hander Abhishek but the latter proved too tough a nut to crack with his whipping forehand kills. Then the PSPB duo combined to outsmart Abhishek Jaggi and Prakhar Bhatt in the doubles to take the crown.

But what sent some shocking waves was the way the Tamil Nadu junior girls capitulated against determined West Bengal paddlers. Tamil Nadu’s No. 1 Narasimha Priya was the lone player who managed to put Ayhika Mukherjee under some pressure. But the West Bengal girl was up to the tricks to win 11-9, 11-9, 10-12, 11-9. Sutirtha Mukherjee defeated Yukti Roshni in straight games of 13-11, 11-7, 11-6 and after t hat Sutirtha and Ayhika combined to beat Narasimha Priya and Amrutha Pushkar in straight games to win reclaim the crown.

RESULTS:

Junior Boys (Final): PSPB-A bt Delhi 3-0 (Sudanshu Grover bt Peeyush Prasad 14-12, 11-9, 11-9, Abhishek Yadav bt Utkarsh Gupta 11-6, 9-11, 11-6, 16-14, Sudanshu/Abhishek bt Abishek Jaggi/Prakhar Bhatt 11-6, 11-3, 11-6; SEMI-FINALS: PSPB-A bt West Bengal 3-0 (Sudanshu Grover bt Anirban Ghosh 13-11, 11-4, 11-5, Abhishek Yadav bt Pathikrit Roy 9-11, 9-11, 11-5, 12-10, 14-12, Sudanshu/Abhishek bt Anirban/Pathikrit 11-7, 12-10, 11-6; Delhi bt Rajasthan 3-0 (Peeyush Prasad bt Shubham Ojha 11-9, 11-2, 11-9, Utkarsh Gupta bt Ved Vyas 11-5, 8-11, 13-11, 11-5, Utkarsh/Abhishek Jaggi bt Shubham/Ved Vyas 11-5, 11-7, 13-11.

Junior Girls (Final): West Bengal bt Tamil Nadu 3-0 (Ayhika Mukherjee bt Narsimha Praya S 11-9, 11-9, 10-12, 11-9, Suthrtha Mukherjee bt Yukti Roshni 13-11, 11-7, 11-6, Ayhika/Suthrtha bt Narasimha Priya/Amrutha Pushpak 11-7, 11-5, 11-9; SEMIFINALS: West Bengal bt North Bengal 3-0 (Ayhika Mukherjee bt Anuska Dutta 11-0, 11-6, 11-9, Sutirtha Mukherjee bt Oishwarya Deb 11-8, 2-11, 11-6, 10-12, 11-3, Sutirtha/Ayhika bt Anuska/Oishwarya 12-10, 11-4, 11-7; Tamil Nadu bt Maharashtra- A 3-0 (Yuki Roshni bt Mallika Bhandarkar 11-6, 6-11, 5-11, 11-9, 11-8, Narasimha Priya bt Senhora D’Souza 11-8, 12-10, 5-11, 3-11, 11-6, Narasimha Priya/Amruta Pushpak bt Mallika Bhandarkar/Rutuja Kopkar 14-16, 11-7, 11-8, 13-1.

Youth Boys (Final): PSPB bt Maharashtra -A 3-0 (Harmeet Desai bt Noel Pinto 11-7, 12-10, 11-8, Soumyajit Ghosh bt Sanmay paranjpae 12-10, 11-8, 11-8, G. Sathiyan bt Shubhankar Renavikar 11-6, 12-10, 11-4; SEMIFINALS: PSPB bt West Bengal 3-0 (Harmeet Desai bt Susovan Das 11-5, 11-5, 11-8, Soumyajit Ghosh bt Souvik Kar 12-10, 11-9, 11-8, G. Sathyan bt Snehamoy Mallick 11-7, 11-4, 11-6; Maharashtra A bt Delhi 3-1 (Noel Pinto bt Sarthak Gandhi 3-11, 12-10, 5-11, 11-4, 11-7, Sanmay Paranjape bt Pranshu Gupta 11-7, 11-7, 11-13, 11-7, Su\bhubhankar Renavikar lost to Utkarsh Gupta 9-11, 11-9, 11-7, 7-11, 9-11, Sanmay Paranjape bt Sarthak Gandhi 11-7, 11-7, 11-9.

Youth Girls (Final): PSPB bt West Bengal 3-0 (Manika Batra bt Krittwika Sinha Roy 11-9, 11-9, 11-7, Ankita Das bt Sutirtha Mukherjee 11-9, 11-8, 9-11, 11-5, Pooja bt Rupsa Bhattacharya 11-8, 11-9, 11-5; SEMIFINALS: PSPB bt Andhra Pradesh 3-0 (Ankita Das bt Karnam Spoorthy 11-7, 11-9, 7-11, 12-10, Pooja Saharabudhe bt Nikhat Bhanu 11-8, 11-13, 12-10, 7-11, 12-10, Manika Batra bt Naina 11-7, 11-9, 11-9; West Bengal bt Tamil Nadu 3-1 (Krittwika S Roy bt Sumana R Krishnan 11-8, 9-11, 11-3, 2-11, 11-5, Sutirtha Mukherjee bt Vidya N 11-9, 11-6, 12-10, Srey Ghosh lost to Narasimha Priya 13-11, 11-6, 5-11, 6-11, 9-11, Suthrtha Mukherjee bt Sumana R Krishnan 17-15, 11-3, 11-4.

TTFI Press Release

Top teams move into quarterfinals of Junior and Youth National Table Tennis championships

2012-01-06T02:24:00.001+05:30

Siliguri, January 4, 2012: All big teams, including those favoured to win titles, made short work of their opponents in the team events of the Indian Oil 73rd Junior and Youth National Table Tennis Championships, reaching the quarterfinals here at the Municipal Corporation Indoor Stadium on Wednesday evening.

Except for a couple of matches in each of the youth and junior sections, boys and girls included, the rest of the matches were completely a one-sided affair with the favourites making the grade without a whimper, winning their matches 3-0.

In the youth boys' section, there were no surprises as holders Tamil Nadu mowed down Assam 3-0, Delhi beat Uttar Pradesh 3-0, North Bengal downed Chattisgarh 3-0, Maharashtra A beat Haryana 3-0, PSPB accounted for Orissa 3-0, Gujarat defeated Punjab 3-0 and Karnataka overcame Maharashtra B 3-1.

As for the youth girls, Kerala took a game off holders Maharashtra A despite the latter having Mallika Bhandarkar, India No. 3 in their ranks. In fact, it was she who had to bail out her team, winning both her singles. Madhya Pradesh too managed to push Andhra Pradesh a little bit but the latter won 3-1.

In other pre-quarterfinal matches, Tamil Nadu beat Pondicherry 3-0, West Bengal downed Assam 3-0, Gujarat defeated Orissa 3-0, Maharashtra B blanked out Punjab 3-0, North Bengal scored a 3-0 win over Goa and PSPB downed Delhi 3-0.

In junior boys, holders PSPB-A blanked out Orisssa 3-0, Maharashtra A beat Karnataka 3-0, Gujarat accounted for Maharashtra B 3-0, West Bengal downed Goa 3-0, North Bengal defeated Andhra Pradesh 3-0, Rajasthan overcame Uttar Pradesh 3-1, Delhi beat Punjab 3-0 and Tamil Nadu managed a 3-1 verdict against Assam.

In junior girls, Gujarat struggle to go past Jharkhand 3-2, while Punjab managed to take a game off holders Andhra, who won 3-1, hosts North Bengal accounted for Maharashtra B 3-0, West Bengal downed Kerala 3-0, Delhi won over Karnataka 3-1, Tamil Nadu beat Madhya Pradesh 3-0, Maharashtra A defeated Orissa 3-0 and PSPB-A accounted for Uttar Pradesh 3-0.

A TTFI Press Release