Sunday, September 22, 2013

India blank Hong Kong 13-0 in the 8th Women’s Asia Cup Hockey

New Delhi,  September 21,  2013: India defeated Hong Kong China 13-0 in their opening Pool A match  of the 8th Women’s Asia Cup played at Kuala lumpur in Malaysia today.

Indian forward Rani scored maximum seven goals.

India who led 9-0 at the halftime scored through Rani (2, 6, 23, 24, 26, 34, 58 min), Kirandeep Kaur (5 min), Vandana Katariya (13, 18, 39 min), Poonam Rani (69 min) and Joydeep Kaur (70 min) while their opponents Hong Kong China failed to score any goal.


India will now take on China in their next match on Sunday.

A HI Press release

Rock-solid Gangjee canters to six-stroke win


Chandigarh, September 20, 2013: Kolkata’s Rahil Gangjee cantered to a comfortable six-stroke win at the PGTI Players Championship at Chandigarh Golf Club after a rock-solid performance in the final round. Gangjee returned a clinical two-under-70 in round four to end up with an impressive tournament total of 13-under-275. Chandigarh golfer Sujjan Singh claimed tied second position along with Bangladesh’s Md Zamal Hossain Mollah as both totaled seven-under-281.

Rahil Gangjee (67-71-67-70), the overnight leader by three strokes, was in control all through the final day. The 35-year-old hit his drive to the right on the second but managed to salvage a birdie after a good third shot and a 10-feet conversion on the green. Gangjee, known to be a proficient horse-rider, extracted another birdie from a tough situation on the 13th where he landed his second shot in the bunker. He got out of trouble on the 13th with a decent bunker shot and another 10-feet birdie putt.

The only blemish on Rahil’s card was the bogey on the 15th as he found the trees on two occasions on that hole. The man from the Royal Calcutta Golf Club (RCGC) finally sealed his fourth professional title after a par-save on the 17th and an eight-foot birdie putt on the 18th.

This happens to be Rahil’s third title on the domestic circuit. Gangjee, who went through the rigours of playing on the Web.com Tour in the United States in 2011 and 2012, also has a win on the Asian Tour that he achieved back in 2004 in China.

“I hit some solid shots through the day. The intensity was there till the end and I didn’t let go of any chances. I knew I had it in the bag after my closest competitor Zamal bogeyed the 15th. It’s great to win after such a long gap,” said Gangjee, who ended a five-year victory drought.”

He added, “I had suffered a huge setback at the European Tour’s 2010 Avantha Masters where I was leading on the final day with five holes to go. I did not the grab my opportunities on that occasion and finally finished outside the top-10. I’ve grown from that experience as it taught me how to handle pressure while leading. My stint on the Web.com Tour in the United States over the last two seasons has also made me more competitive.

“I’d like to thank my sponsor Mr. Dilip Thomas for supporting me. I also attribute my success to my swing coach Mr. Ajai Gupta and my mental coach Mr. Pradeep Agarwal, who have both helped me raise my game. This win will help me perform better on the Asian Tour,” said Gangjee, the only golfer with four sub-par rounds this week.

Sujjan Singh (71-69-73-68) of Chandigarh gave the home crowd something to cheer about as he closed with a 68 to finish joint second at seven-under-281. Sujjan’s final round featured five birdies against a lone bogey.

Sujjan said, “I was a bit rusty coming into this tournament but my performance got better with each passing day. I hit it well today.”

Md Zamal Hossain Mollah of Bangladesh (72-70-67-72) joined Sujjan Singh in tied second place after posting a sedate 72 that included four birdies and four bogeys.

Jyoti Randhawa (68-74-74-67) climbed from overnight tied 15th to tied fourth after signing off with a brilliant bogey-free 67 in the final round which also happened to be the day’s best score. He totaled five-under-283 for the event.

Chandigarh’s Akshay Sharma (69-67-72-75) dropped from overnight second position to tied fourth after he carded a 75 in the final round.
  
Randhawa and Sharma were joined by Abhijit Singh Chadha (69-72-70-72), another Chandigarh golfer and Panchkula’s Angad Cheema (73-72-70-68) in tied fourth place. While Abhijit returned a 72 on the final day, Angad submitted a card of 68.


Photo caption: Rahil Gangjee receives the winner's cheque from G S Sandhu, president, Chandigarh Golf Club. The prize presentation party also comprises of (in the background from left to right) Padamjit Sandhu, director, PGTI, Sandeep Sandhu, captain, Chandigarh Golf Club and Uttam Singh Mundy, director, PGTI.

Press release

Ritu Rani to lead Indian women hockey team

New Delhi, September 6, 2013: Hockey India announced its senior women hockey team for the 8th Women Asia Cup to be played in Kuala Lumpur from September 21-27.

Hockey India selectors B P Govinda, Surinder Kaur, Mamta Kharab, chief coach Neil Hawgood, coach I S Gill and scientific advisor Matthew Tredrea along with Government observer Harbinder Singh selected the list of 18 players and 6 standbys during the selection trials conducted at NSNIS Patiala on August 30 and 31.

India is placed in Pool A with China, hosts Malaysia and Hong Kong China while Korea, Japan, Kazakhstan and Chinese Taipei are placed in Pool B. India will open their campaign against Hong Kong China on 21 September followed by China on22 September and hosts Malaysia on 24 September.   

The 8th Women’s Asia Cup is the continental qualification tournament for the FIH Women’s World Cup 2014 to be played in The Hague, The Netherlands from May 31 to June 14 2014.

Team: Goalkeepers
1.    Rajani Etimarpu
2.   Savita

Defenders
3.    Deep Grace Ekka
4.   Joydeep Kaur
5.    Kirandeep Kaur
6.    Sunita Lakra
7.    Deepika
8.    Namita Toppo
9.    P Sushila Chanu
10. M N Ponnamma

Midfielders
11. Ritu Rani (captain)
12. Chanchan Devi Thokchom (vice-captain)
13. Soundarya Yendala
14. Lily Chanu

Forwards
15. Poonam Rani
16.  Rani
17. Vandana Katariya
18. Anuradha Devi Thokchom

Standbys
1. Sanarik Chanu
2. Asunta Lakra
3. Monika Malik
4. Navjot Kaur
5. Lilima Minz

6. Anupa Barla

Saturday, September 7, 2013

Hockey India inducts Hockey Gangpur (Odisha) as Associate Member

New Delhi, September 5, 2013: Hockey India today inducted Hockey Gangpur (Odisha) as an Associate Member.

Hockey India now has 17 Associate Members, with 27 Affiliated Members and two State Olympic Association Members.

With this inclusion, Hockey Gangpur (Odisha) can take part in all the National Championships to be conducted by Hockey India in future. Gangpur and its surrounding areas have produced numerous Olympians and international players and now with the entry of Hockey Gangpur (Odisha) in the mainstream of hockey it will help in the further development of sport in the tribal areas.

Dr. Narinder Batra, Secretary General, Hockey India said “Many players including Dilip Tirkey, Ignace Tirkey, Prabodh Tirkey, Michael Kindo, Lazarus Barla and Subhadra Pradhan have played at international level from the Gangpur region and the entry of Hockey Gangpur (Odisha) would play a major role in promoting and developing hockey in the tribal areas of Gangpur. We are hopeful that three times Olympian and former captain Dilip Tirkey (Member, Rajya Sabha) who is the President of Hockey Gangpur (Odisha) and its other members who are former international players can help the development of more talent in their region”.

Dilip Tirkey (Member, Rajya Sabha) is the President and Debashish Gouda is the General Secretary of Hockey Gangpur (Odisha).

Hockey India announces cash award for 3 players

New Delhi, September 4, 2013: Hockey India today announced a cash award for its three players who were part of the Indian Men’s Hockey team that won Silver medal at the 9th Men’s Asia Cup at Ipoh, Malaysia.

Hockey India will give Rs 1 lakh each to defender V R Raghunath for winning most outstanding player of the tournament award and vice-captain and goalkeeper PR Sreejesh for goalkeeper of the tournament award. Alongwith this Hockey India will also give Rs 1 lakh to its debutant forward Ramandeep Singh for scoring a goal on debut for the national team. Ramandeep scored his first international goal against Oman in their opening match of the tournament.

Dr. Narinder Batra, secretary general Hockey India congratulated the senior men team for winning silver medal at the Asia Cup. “Out of four individual awards at the 9th Men’s Asia Cup, Indian players have won two of them. It speaks highly about the performance of Indian team. debutant Ramandeep Singh also deserves a special mention for his maiden goal in his debut match” said Dr. Batra.

A HI Press release

Soumyajit, Shamini crowned champions

Dharwad, August 26, 2013: Reigning national champion Soumyajit Ghosh added yet another feather to his cap when he beat Anthony Amalraj 4-1 to retain the men’s singles title, while it was a double delight for K. Shamini, the women’s national champion, at the LIC-sponsored Institutional Table Tennis Championships at the District Indoor Hall here on the concluding day on Tuesday. The winners carried home Rs. 75,000 and Rs. 58,000, respectively.

Shamini won the women’s singles crown 4-0 in a one-sided final against Poulomi Ghatak. Before that she had claimed the women’s doubles title, combining with Madhurika Patkar.

Both men and women singles finals saw the PSPB team mates competing with each other, but it was Bharat Petroleum’s Ghosh who won the honours. After a brilliant start, Ghosh lagged behind in the second against Amalraj and eventually lost the game. But Ghosh, who can never be counted out, retained his flavor to win the third game, despite being 4-7 down. Amalraj, showing occasional brilliance, was definitely struggling against an expressive Ghosh who kept indulging his opponent. In the decider, Ghosh just allowed Amalraj six points to wrap it up quickly.

“I had a nice rhythm going and I cashed in on it. After winning the third game, I grew in confidence,” said the champion. Amalraj, on the other hand, admitted to have committed several errors, forced and unforced, at crucial junctures. “I was not in my groove today. I tried to control the game, but Ghosh was too good,” he said.  

As for the Shamini-Poulomi final, the national champion did not have to sweat it out at all. On the day, Shamini went great guns demolishing whatever little challenge that came from Poulomi, who was playing from her memories. “I played really good. I kept attacking and it paid dividends,” said Shamini.

But the real feeling of watching a grand final in the men’s section came when Anthony Amalraj had to endure a tough Nitin Thiruvengadam of Airports Authority of India in the second semifinals. The match was within Nitin’s grasp as he had a comfortable lead of 3-1. In fact, he should have clinched it in sixth game, but missed a match point at 10-9, then at 11-10, when Amalraj saved one before levelling the set score 11-11.

The fighting Amalraj smelt his chance and took the next two points to remain the match. And in the decider, he led 7-4 before conceding three points to Nitin. But that was all the latter could manage as Amalraj, in one of the finest comebacks, won the last three games to seal his place in the final.  

In the first semifinal, Soumyajit Ghosh had to put up some resistance against Harmeet Desai. Though Ghosh won 4-1, the score line does not suggest his struggle or the way Desai forced his opponent into playing false strokes in the match. Except for the sixth game, which Ghosh won with relative ease, every other game saw the top-seed straining every sinew to sail into the final.

The Shamini-Pooja semifinal was a mismatch of sorts with Shamini running over her opponent in double quick time. Shamini was not only stroking well but also controlled the match in a manner that champions are made of. Pooja, who showed great character against Ankita Das during the quarterfinals, somehow failed to bring to the table the variety she possesses. That, in a nut shell, was also her undoing on an important day.

In contrast, No. 2 seed Poulomi Ghatak was struggling a bit against the attacking Madhurika. But with experience on her side and her husband Soumyadeep Roy on the bench imparting advice, Poulomi prevailed over the Mumbai girl. When she made it 1-1, things could have gone either way in the third. However, some close misses at the net by Madhurika enabled Poulomi come back in a game that went to 12 points. Yet the Mumbai girl managed to reduce the margin by taking the fifth game for a 2-3 score. In the six, Poulomi never allowed any liberty and shut her rival out very quickly.

PSPB sweep doubles crown
The men’s doubles title went Sourav Saha and G. Sathiyan while K. Shamini and Madhurika Patkar combined to blank out their PSPB counterparts Ankita Das and Reeth Rishya 3-0.

Results:
Men (Final): Soumyajit Ghosh bt Anthony Amalraj 4-1 (11-9, 5-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-6);Semifinals: Soumyajit Ghosh bt Harmeet Desai 4-1 (9-11, 11-6, 11-8, 11-5, 11-6), Anthony Amalraj bt Nitin Thiruvengadam (AAI) 4-3 (7-11, 11-9, 15-17, 10-12, 11-7, 13-11, 11-7).
Doubles (Final): Sourav Saha/G. Sathiyan bt Jubin Kumar/ A. Amalraj 3-1 (8-11, 11-8, 12-10, 12-10).
Women (Final): K. Shamini bt Poulomi Ghatak 4-0 (11-7, 11-1, 11-8, 11-2); Semifinals: K. Shamini bt Pooja Sahasrabudhe 4-1 (11-6, 7-11, 11-9, 11-5, 11-7), Poulomi Ghatak bt Madhurika Patkar 4-2 (6-11, 11-3, 11-9, 12-10, 8-11, 11-4).

Doubles (Final): K. Shamini/Madhurika Patkar bt Ankita Das/Reeth Rishya 3-0 (11-9, 11-5, 11-5).

A TTFI Press release

Friday, September 6, 2013

Easy semifinal passage for Ghosh; Amalraj struggles

Dharwad, August 25: PSPB’s Soumyajit Ghosh took less than 20 minutes to book an easy passage in the semifinals of the LIC-sponsored Institutional Table Tennis Championships at the District Indoor Hall here today.

He demolished Sushmit Sriram (AAI) 4-0. In the rest of the quarterfinals which saw some ups and downs, the best turned out to be the one between Anthony Amalraj and Sanil Shetty which the former won 4-2.

If Soumyajit was giving TT lessons to Sriram, G. Sathiyan was forced to learn some from Harmeet Desai, who won 4-1. Sathiyan’s erratic game only helped Desai’s cause. Nevertheless, one cannot take away the credit from Desai who will now meet Ghosh in the first semi-final tomorrow. The other semifinal will pit AAI’s Nitin Thiruvengadam who, after his fine victory over Soumyadeep Roy in the pre-quarters, carried his form into quarters to beat Jignesh Jaishwal from Gujarat 4-1, against Amalraj.

The women’s quarter-finals had all the thrills, with Pooja Sahasrabudhe-Ankita Das match keeping the spectators on the edge of the seat. Both Pooja and Ankita kept attacking each other and one could see the fighting abilities of Ankita. Initially, they were going neck and neck in the decider, but it was Pooja who went up 10-7. But credit must be given to Ankita for the way she came back to hold the advantage—she missed three match points—only to give it away on a platter to Pooja.

As for Manika, it was the story of so near and yet so far. The Delhi girl led in the first three games and managed to take just one game against a cool-headed Shamini. Manika, for strange reasons, preferred to go the defensive way for most part of her match and that put paid to her ambitions. Otherwise, a semi-final slot was within her grasp but in desperation she threw away the chance. In the third match, Neha failed to raise her game against Madhurika Patkar who was the better of the two on the day. Poulomi Ghatak, definitely not in best of form after a hiatus, was struggling against Kritwika Sinha Roy. But lack of experience on Kritwika’s part let her down at crucial junctures when she missed a few winners.

Though it seemed a fair draw, unseeded Jignesh Jaishwal stretched sixth-seeded Jubin Kumar to win 4-3. The Gujarat player was comfortably leading 2-0 but an off-colour Jubin came back nicely to make the pre-quarterfinal match very interesting. With fortunes fluctuating the match went to wire before Jaishwal clinching it with the minimum margin at 12-10. No. 3 seed Soumyadeep Roy was not even a shadow of his former self and lost to young Nitin Thiruvengadam in straight games. No. 4 seed Harmeet Desai lost to top-seed Soumyajit Ghosh, but not before making a veiled threat. But No. 8 seed Aman Balgu went down in straight sets to Sushmit Sriram.

However, unlike the men’s fare, at least three women pre-quarterfinals matches went the full distance. Sixth-seed Neha Aggarwal came back from 0-2 down to beat Reeth Rishya, Kritwika Sinha Roy put up a great fight to outwit No. 7 seed Divya Deshpande  4-3 and Nikhat Bhanu frittered away what was her match to No. 4 seed Ankita Das. There were moments of great fight backs from Nikhat, who after leading 10-7 in the decider, lost to the guiles of Ankita Das. Similarly, Neha employed her attacking tricks against Reeth to go past the line.

Results:
Men: Quarterfinals: Soumyajit Ghosh bt Sushmit Sriram 4-0 (11-4, 11-9, 11-2, 11-9), Harmeet Desai bt G. Sathiyan 4-1 (12-10, 2-11, 11-7, 11-6, 11-2), V. Nitin Thiruvengadam bt Jignesh Jaiswal 4-1 (14-12, 9-11, 11-6, 11-7, 12-10), Anthony Amalraj bt Sanil Shetty 4-2 (11-7, 6-11, 4-11, 11-5, 19-17, 11-9); PQF: Harmeet Desai bt Anirban Ghosh 4-0, V. Nitin Thiruvengadam bt Soumyadeep Roy 4-0, G. Sathiyan bt Abhishek Yadav 4-1, Sushmit Sriram bt Aman Balgu 4-0, Soumyajit Ghosh bt Sudhanshu Grover 4-1, A. Amalraj bt Sourav Saha 4-1, Sanil Shetty bt Sougata Sarkar 4-1, Jignesh Jaishwal bt Jubin Kumar 4-3.


Women: Quarter-finals: K. Shamini bt Manika Batra 4-1 (11-8, 5-11, 13-11, 13-11, 11-2), Pooja Sahasrabudhe bt Ankita Das 4-3 (11-6, 8-11, 11-8, 6-11, 11-7, 5-11, 15-13), Madhurika Patkar bt Neha Aggarwal 4-1 (15-13, 8-11, 11-9, 11-7, 12-10), Poulomi Ghatak bt Kritwika Sinha Roy 4-2 (12-10, 11-9, 11-6, 7-11, 6-11, 14-12); PQF: K. Shamini bt Anandita Chakraborty 4-2, Manika Batra bt Mousmi Paul 4-0, Pooja Sahasrabudhe bt Sanya Sehgal 4-0, Ankita Das bt Nikhat Bhanu 4-3, Madhurika Patka bt Suthirtha Mukherjee 4-2, Neha Aggarwal bt Reeth Rishya 4-3, Kritwika Sinha bt Divya Deshpande 4-3, Poulomi Ghatak bt Mallika Bhandarkar 4-0.

A TTFI Press release

Ghosh, Shamini get top singles slots

Dharwad, August 25, 2013: Soumyajit Ghosh in men’s singles and K. Shamini in the women’s singles have been given the top slots in the seeding list at the end of the qualification matches in both sections of the LIC-sponsored Institutional Table Tennis Championships at the District Indoor Hall here today.

Ghosh, who is the national men’s champion, leads the men’s main draw which consists of 64 players, representing various Petroleum units as well as 18 states. K. Shamini, who is the women’s title-holder at the Raipur national early this year, is at the top of the women’s draw ladder.  Incidentally, both the players represent the Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB).

However, as compared to the women’s main draw, which is of 32 players with all top eight seeds coming from PSPB, the men’s draw has at least two seeds—Aman Balgu from the Railways and Sourav Chakraborty from Haryana—from other than the Petroleum units. Though this may bolster the confidence of Balgu and Chkraborty over the rest from other states, seeding could be the Damocles’ sword hanging over their heads.

Young Sanil Shetty, who has had a brilliant year up to the national championships, has been seeded No. 2. But Soumyadeep Roy, the veteran PSPB who gave a goby to the team championships here, has been seeded behind him at No. 3. Unfortunately, Anthony Amalraj who won his maiden national singles title at Lucknow two years ago has been pushed to the No. 7 slot, just a place before Aman Balgu, who played a wonder match for RSPB yesterday.

Last year’s runner-up at the Raipur nationals, Poulomi Ghatak, has been seeded second behind Shamini. In fact, Poulomi, who last played in January, has been out of action for almost seven months owing to an injury. Yet, she has maintained her ranking, thanks to a fine performance last season, to be seeded higher than others. Poulomi has, however, had avoided the team events here to concentrate on singles, which is a prize money event. Madhurika Patkar and Ankita Das are following each other in the seeding list at No. 3 and 4, respectively.

All the seeded players in both the sections will play their first round matches later this evening after the qualification matches that got over in the morning.

As for the mixed doubles, the clash will between two superior PSPB pairs for the gold medal on Monday evening. In the afternoon today, Sanil Shetty and Manika Batra defeated the husband-wife duo from PSPB, Subhajit Saha and Nandita Saha 11-6, 11-7, 6-11, 14-12. At table No. 1 Jubin Kumar and Neha Aggarwal accounted for the other PSPB pair Harmeet Desai and Reeth Rishya 2-11, 11-9, 12-10, 11-6. Both the matches were devoid of any thrills as against the fine display put up by the winnings teams.

Seeding List:
Men: 1. Soumyajit Ghosh, 2. Sanil Shetty, 3. Soumyadeep Roy, 4. Harmeet Desai, 5. Sourav Chakraborty (Haryana). 6. Jubin Kumar, 7. Anthony Amalraj, 8. Aman Balgu (RSPB).

Women: 1. K. Shamini, 2. Poulomi Ghatak, 3. Madhurika Patkar, 4. Ankita Das, 5. Pooja Saharasabudhe, 6. Neha Aggarwal, 7. Divya Deshpande, 8. Mosusmi Paul.

PSPB men and women retain team crowns

Dharwad, August 24, 2013: The Petroleum teams supremacy came to the fore yet again when  Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) men and women retained the team titles in the LIC-sponsored Institutional Table Tennis Championships at the District Indoor Hall here today, making it almost a one-sided affair in both the finals. PSPB men defeated Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) 3-1 while PSPB women beat Airports Authority of India (AAI) 3-0.

Aman Balgu upset Amalraj 3-2 to give a grand beginning for Railways. But the pace that Balgu set was somewhat dented by both Soumyajit Ghosh and Harmeet Desai who rolled over their rivals. Ghosh, the crucial link the in the PSPB line-up, then disposed of Balgu in the fourth singles, much to the relief of the PSPB bench.

Amalraj showed patchy brilliance on the day and credit must go to Balgu for the way he staged a nice comeback from 1-2 down to breathe easy at 2-2.  But his opponent was certainly not comfortable and Balgu from 2-2 suwent up 5-2, then 7-4 before allowing Amalraj just a couple of points to win 11-6. Then Ghosh came and demolished Souvik Kar with a straight games win, Harmeet Desai, despite a stutter, provided his team a 2-1 lead and left completion job in the expert hands of Ghosh.

Ghosh, who defeated Balgu 3-1, was under great pressure, particularly in the third game which he won 12-10. The see-saw battle saw some excellent rallies and away-from-the-table game with no quarters given. But some crucial errors on the part of Balgu at 10-10 proved his undoing. Ghosh, despite leading in the fourth, allowed Balgu come close before raising his game a notch higher to clinch it with the minimum margin of 11-9.

“Balgu played a great game, but I woudn’t have played any different. The third game was too close for my comfort. I managed to pull it off. Even in the fourth, I was leading. But a silly mistake trying to put the ball back on the table and he made it 9-9,” said Soumyajit Ghosh after leading the team to victory.

K. Shamini beat A.V. Nivedita 3-1 to put PSPB 1-0 up. Nivedita, playing well, failed to control her game despite giving some anxious moments to her opponent. In fact, the AAI girl should have taken the third game as well after drawing level in the second, but Shamini staged a fine comeback in the third, after trailing 4-8, to win 11-8. From there, it was Shamini all the way as she wrapped the next at 11-8 with a blistering forehand winner.

Ankita, playing the second singles, , began with a bang against Kritwika Sinha Roy taking the first game 11-2, but lost her second 7-11 to the AAI player who seemed like giving a spirited fight. But the London Olympian displayed excellent shot selections and playing close to the table, stroked well. Kritwika, who lost 1-3, was somewhat off colour and failed to raise her game today.

Nikhat Bhanu, however, raised some hope for the AAI as she opened with a win against Madhurika Patkar. But the Mumbai girl, though took her time, ran up a 4-0 lead in the second, reminding her opponent of her capabilities. From 0-4, Nikhat made it 4-4 and then 7-5. However, Madhurika cashed in on Nikhat’s unforced errors at the net and made it 7-7 and then lead 10-9 for the second time. With serve returning her way, the Mumbai girl finished the job competently to level 1-1.

After that she never looked back though Nikhat kept threatening her survival in the third. From 7-7 Madhurika took lead at 8-7, taking four consecutive points, to surge ahead in the rubber. That was also the indication for Nikhat to pull up her socks and after levelling the score 8-8, the Hyderabadi just managed a solitary point as Madhurika wound up to help PSPB go over the line.

Meanwhile, the men and women’s singles qualifiers began this morning with 250 paddlers participating in the Rs 3.32 lakh prize money events. Those who finish in the top-eight will receive cash prizes.

Results:
Team finals: Men: PSPB bt RSPB 3-1 (A. Amalraj lost to Aman Balgu 2-3 (11-6, 8-11, 11-6, 7-11, 7-11), Soumyajit Ghosh bt Souvik Kar 3-0 (11-5, 11-8, 11-4), Harmeet Desai bt Noel Pinto 3-1 (8-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-7), Soumyajit Ghosh bt Aman Balgu 3-1 (11-3, 8-11, 12-10, 11-9).

Women: PSPB bt AAI 3-0 (K. Shamini bt AV Nivedita 3-1 (11-9, 10-12, 11-8, 11-8), Ankita Das bt Kritwika Sinha Roy 3-1 (11-2, 7-11, 11-06, 11-9), Madhurika Patkar bt Nikhat Bhanu 3-1 (2-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-9).

A TTFI Press release

PSPB win youth boys crown for yet another time

Dharwad, August 22, 2013: Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB), led by the experienced G. Sathiyan, extended their reign on the Youth Boys title, winning all their matches in the four-team round-robin league for yet another time here at the District Indoor Hall here.

First, they beat Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) and followed it up with a win over Air India, before accounting for Airports Authority of India. As for the victory margins, there was a familiar pattern to
it as PCPB cleaned up all their opponents 3-0.

Airports Authority of India (AAI) finished with the silver while Air India and RSPB, who had a good match against AAI, had to be content with the bronze medals.

With Sathiyan leading the charge for PSPB, it was only natural for the other young paddlers—Sourav Saha, Abhishek Yadav and Sudhanshu Grover—follow their leader as they accomplished the tasks with
clockwork precision. Abhishek, the bronze medal winner at the recent Asian Youth Games at Nanjing, played true to his potential against Railways’ Arnab Adhikari and Sudhanshu Grover, replacing Abhishek,
completed the task against Air India’s Siddesh Pande.

Simialrly, Sushmit Sriram and R. Anandraj, despite being a defeated force, helped Airports Authority of India beat Air India 3-1.  AAI had finished behind PSPB in the last edition at Kolkata and there will be
no difference to the script here.

In the Youth Girls section, which has a five-team round-robin format, only two matches have been played on the opening day and a clear picture will emerge only on the morrow. However, the indications are
that PSPB should sail through comfortably, thanks to paddlers like Manika Batra, Suthirtha Mukherjee and Narasima Priya who form their core team.

In the men’s team event, PSPB have already notched up two wins over Major Ports and Ordinance Factories; so was the case with RSPB, the runners-up last year, who downed both Dena Bank and ESIC. With more matches to follow in the women’s team championships late into night, it remains to be seen which other teams, barring the PSPB and RSPB, make it to the last 16 stage.

Results:
Men: Group A: PSPB bt Major Ports 3-0, PSPB bt Ordinance Factories
3-0; Group B: RSPB bt Dena Bank 3-0, RSPB bt ESIC 3-1; Group C:
Central Revenue w/o BSNL, Central Revenue bt Air India 3-1; Group D:
AAI bt State Bank of Patiala 3-0, AAI bt DASCB 3-1; Group E: LIC w/o
Air Force SCB, LIC bt RBI 3-0; Group F: Indian Audit bt DAE 3-0.


Women: Group A: PSPB bt BSNL 3-0, Group B: RSPB bt RBI 3-0, RSPB bt
LIC 3-2; Group C: Dena Bank w/o ESIC, Air India w/o ESIC; Dena Bank bt
Air India 3-1; Group D: AAI bt Indian Bank 3-0.
Youth Boys: PSPB bt RSPB 3-0, AAI bt Air India 3-1, PSPB bt Air India
3-0, AAI bt RSPB 3-2, PSPB bt AAI 3-0.
Youth Girls: Indian Bank bt RSPB 3-1, PSPB bt Air India 3-0, PSPB bt
Indian Bank 3-0.

Brave Abhishek bows out with bronze at Asian Youth Games

Nanjing, August 19, 2013: Abhishek Yadav fought valiantly against world No. 1 and top-seeded Chinese Zhendong Fan before bowing out 2-4 (4-11, 13-11, 13-11, 4-11, 8-11, 7-11) in the semi-final of men’s singles event at the second Asian Youth Games here tonight. But with no play-offs, the Indian ensured himself a bronze medal on his maiden appearance at the Games.

Incidentally, he booked his place in the Youth Olympics Games to be held here next year as the top eight players make it to the Games automatically.

Yadav, despite losing the first game, came back strongly in the second and third to lead 2-1. But in the fifth game, Yadav ran the top-seed Chinese close with his courageous forehand and backhand topspin as he reduced the margin from 4-9 to 8-9 when the Chinese took timeout. What a nice strategy it turned out to be as the world junior champion never looked back after that.

The Indian, despite losing the semi-final, was lauded by the appreciating crowd for giving a hard time to the home boy. “I am happy with my overall performance. But the Chinese was too good a player,” said Yadav, giving full credit to his rival.

“We are happy that Abhishek gave a good fight before going down to the junior world champion,” said team manager Jayesh Acharya. “Even out girl Suthirtha Mukherjee did well up to the pre-quarters. We will return home tomorrow with something to show from our boy,” he remarked.

Marathon game
In the morning, Yadav played a marathon fifth game to defeat Malaysia’s Dunley Foo in the quarterfinals, which practically ensured the Indian at least a bronze medal at the ongoing second Asian Youth Games here this morning.

The Indian disposed of Foo 4-1 (11-6, 11-5, 15-13, 5-11, 18-16) in 41 minutes, which included two games that stretched every sinew of the left-handed Yadav and tested his patience to no end.  Yadav had the measure of his rival in the first two games, but in the third from 9-7 allowed the Malaysian come back but the Indian teenager put up a grat fight to take the game at 15-13, the battle lasting full 10 minutes.


Though the Malaysian took the fourth game to keep his chances alive, the Indian, leading 6-4, allowed Foo some leeway and he surged ahead to 10-8. But Yadav managed to keep his opponent on check to level the score at 16-16. At this point, Yadav held his serve and returned well to go up 17-16 before cashing in on Foo’s mistake to break his service to take the game and match in 12 minutes.

A TTFI Press release

Abhishek ensures bronze at Youth Games

Nanjing, August 19, 2013: Abhishek Yadav, playing a marathon fifth game, defeated Malaysia’s Dunley Foo to enter the semi-finals of the men’s singles, thus ensuring himself at least a bronze medal at the ongoing second Asian Youth Games here this morning.

The Indian disposed of Foo 4-1 (11-6, 11-5, 15-13, 5-11, 18-16) in 41 minutes, which included two games that stretched every sinew of the left-handed Yadav and tested his patience to no end. He will now meet the top-seeded Chinese Zhendong Fan in the semi-final later this evening. The Chinese beat Taipei’s Chia-Hung Sun in straight games.

With no play-off, both the losing semi-finalists will be awarded bronze medals.

“I am completely drained out. Two big games, particularly the last one, sapped my energy. But I held my nerve to go past him (Foo),” said Yadav. Asked about his opponent in semi-final, Yadav said he was wary of the Chinese. “I will play to my strength and let’s see,” he said.

Yadav had the measure of his rival in the first two games, but in the third from 9-7 allowed the Malaysian come back and level the score first at 9-9. From there, the see-saw battle continued with none giving a quarter to the other. For the first the Malaysian went 12-11 up before Yadav caught up with him to make 13-13. That was also the end of resistance from Foo as the Indian took the next two points to go 3-0 up, the fifth game taking full 10 minutes.

However, the Malaysian took the fourth to keep himself in the match. Then the real marathon began and Yadav, leading 6-4, in the fifth game allowed Foo take charge. He surged ahead to 10-8 but Yadav on his serve equalled the score to breathe easy. At 16-icture seemed gloomy for the Indian as Foo was not only returning well but was catching his rival on the wrong foot. Then came the turning point as Yadav served and returned well to go up 17-16 and waited to cash in on Foo’s mistake when he served next to take the game and match in 12 minutes.

Team manager Jayesh Acharya was happy for Abhishek. “It was a crucial game (fifth) and what impressed me was the way Abhishek won those crucial points,” said Acharya.  “We came to the Games with two paddlers and am happy we will not go empty-handed,” he remarked.

Press release