Author: Abhishek Shukla

Owner of Sports India Live.
by Abhishek Shukla

Kojum Taba wins Gold in 2017 Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships

Punam Yadav (69 kg) Senior Women won Silver medal, Seema (75 kg) won Silver medal in Senior section and Gold medal in Junior section whereas A. Anju Devi (75 kg) won Silver medal in Youth Girls section followed by Gold medal for Kojum Taba (94 kg) in Junior Men and Bronze Medal by Vikas Thakur (94 kg) Senior Men on day 5 of the 2017 Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships at Gold Coast, Australia.

Detailed results of the Indian team concluded are as under:-

S.No.

Name

Section

Wt. Cat.

Snatch

C&J

Total

Result

1.

A. Anju Devi

Youth Girl

75 kg

73 kg

94 kg

167 kg

2nd / Silver Medal

2.

Punam Yadav

Senior Women

69 kg

97 kg

120 kg

217 kg

2nd / Silver Medal

3.

Seema

Senior Women

75 kg

91 kg

111 kg

202 kg

2nd / Silver Medal

4.

Junior Women

75 kg

91 kg

111 kg

202 kg

1st / Gold Medal

5.

Vikas Thakur

Senior Men

94 kg

150 kg

190 kg

340 kg

3rd / Bronze Medal

6.

Kojum Taba

Junior Men

94 kg

140 kg

177 kg

317 kg

1st / Gold Medal

by Abhishek Shukla

Joshna Chinappa moved into the final of the HKFC International

Hong Kong: Indian national champion Joshna Chinappa shocked the top seed Annie Au of Hong Kong to storm into the final of the HKFC International, a PSA world tour event here on Friday.

The third seed Indian who had a tough quarterfinal match against the 8th seed Liu Tsz-Ling,also of Hong Kong yesterday, shed aside her diffidence in wearing down the highly rated opponent, who is ranked 10th in theWorld, two rungs above Joshna. The 71 minute match ended 11-9, 10-12, 11-7, 8-11, 11-9 in Joshna’s favour and in the process the Indian had done a repeat performance of the same event last year by not only moving into the final but beating the same opponent! On that occasion too the match had gone the full distance of five games.

Joshna now awaits the winner of fourth seed Tesni Evans (Wales) and second seed Nour El Tayeb (Egypt) for the title match on Saturday.

by Abhishek Shukla

Harinder Pal Sandhu won his fifth PSA title in a row in Kuala Lumpur.

Kuala Lumpur: Harinder Pal Sandhu’s winning streak in the PSA circuit continues. The former national champion won his fifth straight title and 10thoverall here on Friday when he defeated Mohd Syafiq Kamal of Malaysia in the final of the Malaysian Tour event.

The top seeded Indian who had a relatively easy move upto the final was given a tough fight by the second seeded Malaysian before Harinder prevailed 11-8, 10-12, 11-3, 9-11, 11-6. This is the seventh time that the two had met and Harinder has emerged the winner each time. “A fabulous win for Harinder and we are proud of him,” said the national coach Cyrus Poncha. Harinder is a trainee at the Indian Squash Academy in Chennai.

This is Harinder’s 22nd match win in a row in the circuit starting with the Malaysian Tour again, in May. He followed that success with wins in Makati Open in Philippines, South Australian Open and Victorian Open (both Australia), the last one in July.

by Abhishek Shukla

Ragala Venkat Rahul break nation records in 2017 Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships

Ragala Venkat Rahul (85 kg) and Sivalingam Sathish Kumar (77 kg) qualified directly for 2018 Commonwealth Games by winning GOLD medal in their respective body weight categories during 2017 Commonwealth Senior (Men & Women)Weightlifting Championships.

Ragala Venkat Rahul busted 16 new records with his standout lifting of 351 kg (156 kg + 195 kg).

New National Senior records  (5)            Earlier records

Snatch                156 kg                                155 kg (Vikas Thakur)

Clean & Jerk     189 kg  195 kg                 188 kg (R.V. Rahul)

Total                    345 kg  351 kg                 341 kg (Vikas Thakur)

New National Junior records  (6)           Earlier records

Snatch                152 kg  156 kg                 150 kg (Vikas Thakur)

Clean & Jerk     189 kg  195 kg                 188 kg (R.V. Rahul)

Total                    341 kg   351 kg                 338 kg (R.V. Rahul)

New Commonwealth Junior records      (5)       Earlier records

Snatch                156 kg                          152 kg (Boady Santavy of Canada)

Clean & Jerk     189 kg  195 kg                 185 kg (Steven Kari of PNG)

Total                    345 kg   351 kg                330 kg (Kojum Taba)

India started competition of 4th day during 2017 CommonwealthWeightlifting Championships at Gold Coast, Australia with a GOLD and BRONZE MEDAL in 77 kg Youth Boys where Ragala Varun won Gold with a total weight of 269 kg (124 kg + 145 kg) and Abhishek Poonia won Bronze with a total weight of 256 kg (113 kg + 143 kg).

Detailed results of the Indian team concluded are as under:-

S.No.

Name

Section

Wt. Cat.

Snatch

C&J

Total

Result

1.

Ragala Varun

Youth Boy

77 kg

124 kg

145 kg

269 kg

1st / Gold Medal

2.

Abhishek Poonia

Youth Boy

77 kg

113 kg

143 kg

256 kg

3rd / Bronze Medal

3.

Nikeeta Kale

Youth Girl

69 kg

73 kg

90 kg

163 kg

1st / Gold Medal

4.

S. Nirupama Devi

Junior Women

69 kg

77 kg

101 kg

178 kg

1st / Gold Medal

5.

S. Sathish Kumar

Senior Men

77 kg

148 kg

 

172 kg

320 kg

1st / Gold Medal

6.

Ajay Singh

Junior Men

77 kg

140 kg

170 kg

310 kg

1st / Gold Medal

7.

R.V. Rahul

Senior Men

85 kg

156 kg

195 kg

351 kg

1st / Gold Medal

Junior Men

85 kg

156 kg

195 kg

351 kg

1st / Gold Medal
by Abhishek Shukla

India continues winning streak on second day of 2nd SABA U16 Zone Championship

Bengaluru/Kathmandu, 6th September 2017: The Indian U16 men’s team has beaten Bangladesh 83-64 on the second day of the 2nd SABA U16 Zone Championship being held at the Dashrath Rangshala Stadium, Kathmandu. Forward Priyanshu from India led all scorers with 32 points while India’s topscorer in the previous game, centre Princepal Singh maintained his form and dropped 13 points. Overall, four Indian players scored in double digits.

Bangladesh tried to make a comeback in the second quarter by outscoring India 18-16 but India enjoyed a dominant third quarter to ensure it ended on the winning side.

Moving ahead, India are the strongest contenders for the championship, as they take on Nepal again on 8th September at 13:30 (13:15 IST).

India (Priyanshu 32pts, Binod Rajak 14 pts, Princepal Singh 13 pts) bt Bangladesh 83-64 [26-13, 16-18, 16-9, 25-24]

by Abhishek Shukla

Harinder Pal Sandhu moved to semi-final in Malaysia Squash Tour

Kuala Lumpur: India’s Harinder Pal Sandhu, who is the top seed has moved into the semi-final of the Malaysia Squash Tour, a PSA event which got underway here on Wednesday.

Harinder won both his matches in the day. He beat wild card entrant Ong Sai Hung of Malaysia in the first round 11-2, 11-3, 11-4 and later in the day in the quarter final defeated his country-mate Ramit Tandon, seeded seven, in three close games 12-10, 12-10, 11-8.

In the women’s section, the lone Indian Sachika Ingale, seeded three, went down in the first round to a Malaysian Wen Li Lai. The Malaysian won 11-9, 11-6, 11-3

by Abhishek Shukla

Rude shock for Mouma; Manika passes test in National Ranking (South Zone) TT

Dharwad, September 6: Lacking the much-needed match practice, former national champion Mouma Das was on the verge of ouster in the LIC All India National Ranking Table Tennis Championships (South Zone) at the District Indoor Stadium here today.

But the veteran, who never faced such situations in recent times, will be fighting it out tomorrow to prove her distractors wrong when she takes on Anubha Bajaj of Delhi in her last outing. Not that she needs to prove a point to anybody, but for her own sake she will give her cent percent to enter the main draw, after going down to Airport Authority of India’s Chipia 10-12, 11-7, 8-11, 8-11.

However, the lapse in her concentration proves the point beyond doubt that there is no substitute to match practice which Mouma missed desperately, after giving a skip to season-opener  Central Zone ranking event at Indore and the subsequent Institutional championships at Delhi.

On the other hand, another former national champion Manika Batra brushed aside her qualification grind to post two straight wins in Group 1 to gain her main draw place. This should serve her well as the preparation ground for the forthcoming 30th ITTF-ATTU Asian Cup in Ahmedabad from September 15.

Unmindful of the sudden change in stature Manika, who is currently world No. 104, first defeated Assam’s Syeda Dania Taski in her opening match, beginning it as cautiously as possible. Gradually gaining ascendancy over her Assamese opponent, she finished off the match in style in less than 20 minutes to win 11-6, 11-2, 11-1. In the second round, she downed Rajasthan’s Nikita Rautela 11-8, 11-6, 13-11 to seal her place in the main draw, the first round of which will begin tomorrowevening.

But for Mouma, who accounted for Senhora D’Souza 11-4, 11-3, 11-9 in her first round group 17 tie rather easily, the loss to Chipia must have come as a rude shock.  After being extended in the first game, Mouma was visibly tired and yet she picked up momentum in the second to win it. However, hampered by the normal quick flowing movement Mouma was at the receiving end as the AAI girl played truly well to more or less take the top perch in the group.

The draw of 128, which received rave reviews from players, was introduced at the Central Zone National Ranking championships at Indore to help a second player get into the main draw. In the earlier system adopted, only the group leader made the cut. Under the current dispensation, the players hovering in the 17-32 brackets and up to 64 have chances to sneak in if they manage to post at least one win in a group of four players, particularly in a three-way tie.

Take for instance, Krittwika Sinha Roy, who is India No.15.  By that yardstick she should have topped the group with an all-win record and walked into the main draw. But the PSPB woman was stunned when RBI’s new recruit and India No. 4 in Youth Girls, Harshavardhini, outwitted her 8-11, 11-9, 11-9, 13-11 in their first round group 7 tie. However, Krttwika still has a chance to make the grade.

Setback for Karnataka

From the hosts’ point of view, it was a bad beginning for Kushi Viswanath who lost her first round match in group 15 to Ashlesha Trehan of the Railways 9-11, 11-13, 11-6, 5-11. Shailu Noorbasha of Andhra Pradesh downed Samyukta Kumar 10-12, 11-6, 12-10, 11-7. However, Spoorthi Venkatesh, who defeated Namna Jaiswal of Gujarat 11-7, 11-9, 13-11, made amends for her teammates’ loss.

In men singles, Shreyas Kulkarni started on a wrong note against Nitin Thiruvengadam of Canara Bank in group 10. Nitin, a seasoned player, just toyed with his Karnataka opponent to win 11-5, 11-4, 11-5. But P.V. Charan defeated Aakash Kasar of Maharashtra 11-6, 11-8, 11-9 in his first outing to give Karnataka some hope.

As for the regulars in both sections, the results went along the expected line. But with a day to go for the qualification processes to end, some surprises could be in store.

by Abhishek Shukla

Vikram knocks out first seed in HKFC International Squash tournament

Hong Kong: India’s Vikram Malhotra was the hero on the opening day of the main draw competitions in the HKFC International Squash tournament, a major PSA world tour event here on Wednesday.

Coming into the main draw after going through two rounds of qualifying matches this US-based Indian knocked out the top seed Zahed Mohamed of Egypt in a sensational first round match. Zahed is a world ranked 20 player, over 40 rungs above the Indian but that did not matter as Vikram playing by far his best squash in recent times, grabbed the first game over extra points, took the next one relatively easily. A fight back by the Egyptian queered the pitch before Vikram finished it off in style 13-11, 11-7, 6-11, 11-8. The match lasted 46 minutes. However for the other qualifier, Mahesh Mangonkar things did not go his way. He lost in the first round to the third seed Omar Mosaad of Egypt. The Egyptiahn won 11-3, 11-7, 9-11, 11-6.

In the women’s section, the two leading ladies of India Joshna Chinappa , seeded three and Dipika Pallikal Karthik , seeded six had smooth sailing. Joshna defeated qualifier Li Sum Yin of Hong Kong 11-4, 11-4, 11-6 while Dipika accounted for another qualifier Tang Yan Yi,also of Hong Kong, 11-6, 11-4, 11-9.

by Abhishek Shukla

Muthupandi Raja wins Gold in Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships

Muthupandi Raja of India won GOLD Medal in 62 kg Youth (Boys) with a total weight of 260 kg (110 kg + 150 kg) and SILVER medal in 62 kg Junior Men with 260 kg. Jimjang Deru was unable to compete in Clean & Jerk event due to injury occurred in the Snatch event where he successfully lifted 110 kg in his second attempt and failed to lift 114 kg in his third attempt and got injured.

The third day of 2017 Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships started with a BRONZE Medal in 58 kg Senior Women section by Saraswati Rout forIndia who lifted a total weight of 179 kg (82 kg + 97 kg) whereas Erra Deexitha won a GOLD Medal in 58 kg Junior Women section with a total weight of 167 kg (73 kg + 94 kg).

Deepak Lather secured 3 Medals for India – GOLD Medals in Youth (Boys) and Junior (Men) section in 69 kg body weight categories and BRONZE Medal in Senior (Men) section in 69 kg body weight category with a total lift of 295 kg (138 kg + 157 kg).

Detailed results of the Indian team concluded are as under:-

S.No.

Name

Section

Wt. Cat.

Snatch

C&J

Total

Result

1

M. Raja

Youth Boy

62 kg

110 kg

150 kg

260 kg

1st / Gold Medal

Junior Men

62 kg

110 kg

150 kg

260 kg

2nd / Silver Medal

2.

Jimjang Deru

Senior Men

62 kg

110 kg

E/T

E/T

—

3.

Saraswati Rout

Senior Women

58 kg

82 kg

97 kg

179 kg

3rd / Bronze Medal

4.

Erra Deexitha

Junior Women

58 kg

73 kg

94 kg

167 kg

1st / Gold Medal

5.

Deepak Lather

Youth Boy

69 kg

138 kg

157 kg

295 kg

1st / Gold Medal

Junior Men

69 kg

138 kg

157 kg

295 kg

1st / Gold Medal

Senior Men

69 kg

138 kg

157 kg

295 kg

3rd / Bronze Medal

6.

Vandna Gupta

Senior Women

63 kg

88 kg

109 kg

197 kg

4th place

7.

P. Umeshwori Devi

Youth Girl

63 kg

72 kg

89 kg

161 kg

3rd / Bronze Medal

Junior Women

63 kg

72 kg

89 kg

161 kg

3rd / Bronze Medal

by Abhishek Shukla

India to host 2019 Edition of Commonwealth Senior, Junior & Youth Weightlifting Championships

The Executive Board of Commonwealth Weightlifting Federation has allotted the 2019 Edition of Commonwealth Youth (Boys & Girls), Junior (Men & Women) and Senior (Men & Women) Weightlifting Championships to INDIA.

Indian Weightlifting Federation will host the 2019 Edition of Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships in India.

 

by Abhishek Shukla

India Dominates on Day 1 of the 2nd SABA U16 Zone Championship

Bengaluru, 5th September 2017: The Indian U16 men’s team won 152-17 against Maldives on the first day of the 2nd SABA U16 Zone Championship being held in Dashrath Rangshala Stadium, Kathmandu. Centre Princepal Singh from India led all scorers with 31 points while Captain Harshvardhan Tomar chipped in with 24. Overall, six Indian players scored in double digits. For Maldives, captain Md. Hashim contributed 4 points in the loss.

India made a strong opening statement by outclassing Maldives through all the four quarters of the game, both on offense as well as defense. The Indian team didn’t allow the Maldives boys to score in double digits in any single period. Moving ahead, India will be the overwhelming favourites as it takes on Bangladesh tomorrow at 13:00 (12:45 IST).

India (Princepal Singh 31 pts, Harshwardhan Tomar 24 pts, Binod Rajak 20 pts) bt Maldives (Md. Hashim 4 pts, Shamikh Shameen 4 pts) 152-17 [26-7, 41-2, 49-2, 36-6]

by Abhishek Shukla

Sharath, Archana add spice to South Zone TT Championship

Dharwad, September 5: The picturesque Dharwad, known as the Pensioners’ Paradise, will be luring for the next seven days a lot of young players to it when the city plays host to yet another major event—the LIC All India National Ranking Table Tennis Championships (South Zone)—in five years at the District Indoor Stadium, commencing here tomorrow.

Having conducted the All India Institutional Championships in 2013, the Dharwad District Association is all geared up to welcome paddlers from across the country, including reigning national champion A. Sharath Kamal, G. Sathiyan, the winner of Central Zone at Indore, A. Amalraj, the recent addition to the Arjuna Award list, Harmeet Desai and Sanil Shetty in the men section, while in the women category the who’s who of Indian table tennis will vie with each other to have a shot at the crown.

Soumyajit Ghosh, who is yet to play in a national ranking tournament this year—he participated in the Institutional meet in New Delhi—has chosen to skip the second one, too. But there are other seasoned paddlers like Sharath and the rest who have realised the significance of South Zone, the third domestic event on the TTFI calendar. So much so, there are over 800 players competing in 10 categories for the Rs. 6.70 lakh prize money which saw a 10 percent increase from the previous years.

More than the money, the ranking points carry a lot of weight when it comes to considering players for Team India duty in international tournaments abroad. With just 8 months to for the CWG in Gold Coast in Australia and the Asiad later in Indonesia, it is important for all players to get in right shape to have a look-in by the national selectors and be a part of the Team India scheme devised by TTFI with the help of foreign expert Massimo Costantini.

The players, who are now getting used to the open draw introduced for the first time at Indore, participated in it yesterday in which top 16 men and 8 women paddlers got an early wind of what to expect in the main draw. This novelty has done away with the suspense that prevailed before, thus making the contests sharp and focused.

With the top eight seeds already decided—Sharath is leading the chart in men singles while Pooja Sahasrabuddhe in women singles—the battle could get as fascinating as possible once the main draw begins. Despite Sathiyan winning the title at Indore, he is behind Sharath in seeding as the latter being an elite player has been accorded preference over the former. But for two women paddlers the South Zone could be a tricky affair Manika Batra and Mouma Das will have to begin from the scratch, having to play from the qualifiers.

However, the most unlucky among the two could be Manika Batra, the lone woman contender representing India at the forthcoming Asian Cup in Ahmedbad. During open draw, PSPB’s Archana Kamath and Poulami Ghatak edged out Manika in the toss as all the three with 55 points to each were joint seventh in the ranking. But Mouma, having missed both the Central Zone and the Institutional championships at Delhi, has no points this season. Perhaps, this will be first time in many years that Mouma has to play the qualifiers.

However, playing qualifiers is not a bad thing at all and who could vouch for it better than Sharath? With no ranking points in his kitty, the top-ranked Indian in the world had to do precisely that in last year’s South Zone at Vizag and it had done him a world of good. He went on to win the national ranking title in several years and followed it up with the national title at Manesar!

Apart from the star parade, the local flavour will keep the audience glued to their seats as they will look up to Archana Kamath, Kushi Viswanath and Anargaya Manjunath in the junior section while Sujan Bharadwaj and Akash in the sub-junior and Cadet sections to put up a grand show in front of the ‘home’ crowd.

For the championships here, STAG tables and flooring will be used while DHS balls will be in play on the first five days. STAG balls will be used for the sub-junior and cadet events only on the last two days. The event will see a deployment of 61 technical officials, including chief referee C.L. Thade, deputy referee Manjunath along with the services of veterans A.S. Kler, Henry under the leadership of competition manager G. Ganeshan.

LIC and Indian Oil Corporations, who have pitched in their might to the championships, are the main sponsors while United Commercial Bank will be the co-sponsors. Other institutions like Canara Bank, Dena Bank, SBI, AAI, Century Developers and TECHSER have also contributed in their own way to help conduct the championships.

by Abhishek Shukla

Mirabai Chanu and Sanjita Chanu qualifies for 2018 Commonwealth Games

Saikhom Mirabai Chanu became first lifter to qualify for 2018 Commonwealth Games – Gold Coast City, Australia by winning GOLD MEDAL in 48 kg weight category during ongoing 2017 Commonwealth Senior (Men & Women) Weightlifting Championships at Gold Coast, Australia on second day of the competition.

She lifted a total weight of 189 kg (85 kg + 104 kg) in 48 kg weight Senior category and finished 1st (first). She broke Commonwealth record in Snatch event with a lift of 85 kg bettering her own by 1 kg which was made by her on 24th April 2016 at Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Khumukcham Sanjita Chanu became second lifter to qualify from INDIA for 2018 Commonwealth Games – Gold Coast City by winning GOLD MEDAL in 53 kg weight category during ongoing 2017 Commonwealth Senior (Men & Women) Weightlifting Championships at Gold Coast, Australia on second day of the competition with a total lift of 195 kg.

Sneha Soren of India won GOLD MEDAL with a total of 138 kg (60 kg + 78 kg) in 48 kg Youth Girls whereas Jhilli Dalabehera also won GOLD MEDAL with a total of 154 kg (67 kg + 87 kg) in 48 kg Junior Women section.

Earlier in the day, 56 kg weight category took place where Gururaja of India finished third (3rd) with a total of 246 kg (107 kg + 139 kg) in Senior section.

Jeremy Lalrinnunga of India won 2 GOLD MEDALS both in Youth and Junior section with a total lift of 240 kg (109 kg + 131 kg).

Zakhuma won SILVER MEDAL in Youth 56 kg weight category with a total lift of 215 kg (95 kg + 120 kg).

Detailed results concluded so far are as under:-

S.No.

Name

Section

Wt. Cat.

Snatch

C&J

Total

Result

1

K. Ormila Devi

Youth Girl

44 kg

57 kg

76 kg

133 kg

1st / Gold Medal

2.

Sneha Soren

Youth Girl

48 kg

60 kg

78 kg

138 kg

1st / Gold Medal

3.

Jhilli Dalabehera

Junior Women

48 kg

67 kg

87 kg

154 kg

1st / Gold Medal

4.

S. Mirabai Chanu

Senior Women

48 kg

85 kg

New record

104 kg

189 kg

1st / Gold Medal

5.

Ananya Patil

Youth Girl

53 kg

66 kg

80 kg

146 kg

1st / Gold Medal

6.

M. Purnima Chanu

Junior Women

53 kg

70 kg

90 kg

160 kg

1st / Gold Medal

7.

Ananya Patil

Junior Women

53 kg

66 kg

80 kg

146 kg

3rd / Bronze Medal

8.

Kh. Sanjita Chanu

Senior Women

53 kg

85 kg

110 kg

195 kg

1st / Gold Medal

9.

M. Santoshi

Senior Women

53 kg

86 kg

108 kg

194 kg

2nd / Silver Medal

10.

Jeremy Lalrinnunga

Youth Boy

56 kg

109 kg

131 kg

240 kg

1st / Gold Medal

11.

Zakhuma

Youth Boy

56 kg

95 kg

120 kg

215 kg

2nd / Silver Medal

12.

Jeremy Lalrinnunga

Junior Men

56 kg

109 kg

131 kg

240 kg

1st / Gold Medal

13.

Gururaja

Senior Men

56 kg

107 kg

139 kg

246 kg

3rd / Bronze Medal
by Abhishek Shukla

Former National Coach sets a new Table Tennis Academy

Sri Amit Mukherjee, former National Champion, National TT Coach sets a new TT Academy in name of ‘Dinobandhoo Table Tennis Academy’ near Mandirtala, Shibpur-Howrah.
The inauguration was held on Saturday evening in presence of Internationally famed TT Stars Sri Anirban Nandi & Smt. Priyadarshini Das with other dignitories present there.
The Managing Committee of Dinobandhoo Branch School (HS) came forward with joint hand & in their school auditorium the Academy would be running in full swing .
“It is very much important to mention the names of Sri Shyamal Ghosh, President, Howrah Zilla TT Association & Sri Shiladitya Chatterjee, District Jt. Secretary, without their meaningful support it would not have been possible to take such a noble step”  ..said Sri Amit Mukherjee, the Chief Coach of this Academy.
He also added that Training on ‘Yoga & Meditation’ , ‘Personal Grooming & Confidence’ , ‘Multi-Ball & Sequence’ , ‘Health Check Up & Diet’ etc. would be given apart from TT Training at regular basis.
by Abhishek Shukla

Nepal to host 2nd SABA U-16 Championship for Men from tomorrow

Bengaluru, 4th September 2017: The Nepal Basketball Association is all set to host the 2nd SABA U-16 Zone Championship for Men from 5th to 9th September 2017 in Kathmandu, Nepal.

 

India has been drawn in Pool – A alongside Nepal and Bhutan. Pool – B comprises Maldives, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. The top two teams from each pool will progress to the knockout stages.

 

The winning team qualifies to the 2017 FIBA Under-16 Asian Championship that will be held in Malaysia later this year.

 

India had not participated in the previous 2015 edition that was won by Bangladesh, yet will start off as favourites. (It is important to be recall that despite not participating in the previous SABA Championship, India had still competed in the 2015 FIBA Under-16 Asian Championship as a replacement for a central Asian team that had withdrawn in the last minute.)

 

India’s preliminary round schedule is as follows:

 

  • 5th September 2017 – India v. Bhutan 13:00 pm (12:45 pm IST)
  • 7th September 2017 – Nepal v. India 13:00 pm (12:45 pm IST)

 

The semi-finals will be played on 8th September 2017: the winner of Pool A plays the runner-up of Pool B, and the winner of Pool B plays the runner-up of Pool A. The final will be played on 9th September 2017 at 13:00 pm (12:45 pm IST).

 

The team is coached by Vibhor Bhriguvanshi, elder brother of Indian senior national team star Vishesh Bhriguvanshi. His assistant coach is Babu Davis. The team will also be accompanied by manager Kulvinder Gill and referee Tanmoy Das.

 

INDIAN CONTINGENT

 

Jersey. No. Name Position DOB Place of Birth Representing State Height

(cms)

(ft & inches)

 Weight

(Kgs)
4 Princepal Singh C 03/01/01 Ferozepur, Punjab Punjab 210 (6’ 10.6’’) 95
5 Binod RAJAK PG 02/04/01 Kolkata, West Bengal Punjab 171 (5’ 6’’) 61
6 Harshwardhan TOMAR F/C 01/02/01 Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh 199 (6’ 5’’) 91
7 Mani THAKUR PG 26/10/01 Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh 173 (5’ 6’’) 63
8 Ajmer SINGH C 09/10/01 Delhi Chandigarh 188 (6’ 1’’) 70
9 Gaurav SHEORAN F 10/02/02 Hisar, Haryana Haryana 184 (6’) 73
10 Priyanshu F 18/03/02 Shabga, Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh 183 (6’) 68
11 Jerom PRINCE GEORGE PG 01/10/02 Saudi Arabia Kerala 174 (5’ 7’’) 64
12 Prashant TOMAR PG 05/03/01 Baraut, Uttar Pradesh Karnataka 176 (5’ 7’’) 64
13 Nitish BENIWAL PF 15/02/01 Delhi Delhi 190 (6’ 2’’) 85
14 Vigneshwar UPADHYAY PF 01/01/01 Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh Telangana 193 (6’ 3’’) 75
15 Rajveer Singh BHATI F 26/05/02 Bikaner, Rajasthan Rajasthan 184 (6’) 71

*PG – Point Guard / Feeder, G – Guard, F – Forward, G/F – Wing, PF – Power Forward, C – Centre, PF/C – Post

 

Team Manager: Kulvinder Gill

Coach: Vibhor Bhriguvanshi

Assistant Coach: Babu Davis

Referee: Tanmoy Das

 

 

 

GROUPINGS & FIXTURES

 

Pool – A Pool – B
1. India 1. Maldives
2. Nepal 2. Bangladesh
3. Bhutan 3. Sri Lanka

 

5th Sept 2017 (Tuesday)

Game No. Match Game Time

(In local Nepal time)
1. India vs. Bhutan 13:00 PM
2. Maldives vs. Bangladesh 15:30 PM

 

6th Sept 2017 (Wednesday) (Formal Opening of the Championship)

Game No. Match Game Time
Opening Ceremony 13:00 PM
3. Bhutan vs. Nepal 13:00 PM
4. Bangladesh vs. Sri Lanka 15:30 PM

 

7th Sept 2017 (Thursday)

Game No. Match Game Time
5. Nepal vs. India 13:00 PM
6. Sri Lanka vs. Maldives 15:30 PM

 

7th Sept 2017 (Friday) (Semifinals)

Game No. Match Game Time
7. Winner A vs. Runner B 13:00 PM
8. Winner vs. Runner A 15:30 PM

 

9th Sept 2017 (Saturday)

Game No. Match Game Time
9. Third Place Match 12:00 PM
10. Title Match 15:00 PM
by Abhishek Shukla

Indian Women’s Hockey team leaves for Europe tour

New Delhi, 04 September 2017: After the three-week national camp at SAI, Bengaluru, the Indian Women’s hockey team will leave for the Europe Tour tonight from the Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru. The 18-member Indian team will be captained by striker Rani while in-form goalkeeper Savita will shoulder the duties of Vice-Captain. The team will play four matches during their tour, the first and third of which will be against Ladies Den Bosch on September 8 and 15 in Netherlands. They will also play two matches against the Belgium Junior Men’s team on September 11 and 18 in Antwerp, Belgium.

“This is the first time we are playing a Junior Men’s National team. While we play a lot of practice matches with the Junior Men’s side during our National Camps, the team is excited to be playing against the Belgium’s Junior National team who are the Junior World Cup finalists. It will be challenging no doubt, but I am confident we will learn a lot from this exposure,” stated captain Rani Rampal, ahead of the team’s departure.

The Europe Tour will be a good experience ahead of the all-important Asia Cup next month in Japan where the team will look to win the title. “The idea of playing the Men’s team was to toughen our team mentally and also the pace of the game will be much faster. The National Camp was good as we played two matches with the Men’s team here in Bengaluru every week and the girls have put in a lot of hard work in this camp. Asia Cup is important and in my opinion, at the moment the Indian team is the No.1 side in Asia and there’s no doubt that we will be gunning for the title. However, before that, we want to make sure our preparation is thorough and we have left no stones unturned. In this tour, we give some young girls the opportunity to show themselves in high level matches as it will create competition within the team. It will result in bringing up the level of the players, therefore I am looking forward to see them play,” stated Chief Coach Sjoerd Marijne.

 

by Abhishek Shukla

Record machine Kohli overtakes Tendulkar

From Dhoni to Kohli, here are some stat highlights from fifth ODI between Sri Lanka and India

100 – ODI stumpings for MS Dhoni, the most in ODIs and first in three digit figures. He surpasses Kumar Sangakkara’s tally of 99 ODI stumpings to top the table. Overall, it was his 161st stumpings in ODIs, again the most by any player in this format.

15 – Wickets for Jasprit Bumrah in this series, the most by any pacer in a bilateral series of five or less matches. In such series, only two bowers Amit Mishra (18) and Rashid Khan (16) have picked most wickets than Bumrah, both being spinners.

2 – Number of times, Indian pacers picking five-for in any series or tournament. Alongside Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar had picked five wickets in third game. The only other instance of picking such five-for was in 1999 World Cup when Robin Singh and Venkatesh Prasad had done such job.

30 – Number of ODI hundreds for Virat Kohli, joint second-most in the history of game with Australian Ricky Ponting. Now only Sachin Tendulkar (49) is ahead of Kohli in ODIs for most hundreds. Kohli became quickest in the list to score 30 ODI hundreds. He took 189 innings whreras Tendulkar took 267 innings and Ponting took 349 innings.

1 – Sri Lanka’s first whitewash at home in a bilateral series of five or more games. Overall, this is their third whitewash, second in this year (against South Africa) and second against India.

6 – Number of whitewashes by India in a bilateral series five or more matches and second against Sri Lanka. Kohli was the captain in three of these whitewashes. The other three were; two by MS Dhoni and one by Gautam Gambhir.

by Abhishek Shukla

Bengaluru FC sign Eduardo Garcia; finalize squad for Indian Super League

Bengaluru: Bengaluru FC completed their quota of foreign signings and finalized their squad for the upcoming season with the addition of Spanish winger Eduardo ‘Edu’ Garcia Martin, the club announced on Saturday. Having penned a one-year deal, Edu becomes the eighth overseas player and the fifth Spaniard in the squad for the Blues’ maiden season in the Indian Super League.

 

Head Coach Albert Roca welcomed his fellow countryman to the Blues’ fold and said, “Edu is an exciting young winger. His versatility down the flank will provide us with great options in terms of personnel as well as our game plan. He will be a great addition to our squad and fits in well with our philosophy.”

 

Twenty-seven-year-old Edu, who joins the Blues from Spanish side Real Zaragoza, shared his excitement ahead of his first overseas stint, “I’m very excited for joining the club. From the first time, I liked the idea of playing for Bengaluru’s team in the Indian Super League. Football in India is growing a lot and it’s an important challenge for me. I hope I can help the club to reach the objectives for the season. I can’t wait to start!”

 

Born in Zaragoza, Edu joined his home side Real Zaragoza’s youth setup in 2002, aged 12. He progressed through the ranks at the club before making his debut with the reserves during the 2009–10 campaign, in Tercera Division.

 

In 2012, Edu joined CD Ebro before moving to fellow league team SD Ejea the following season. In July 2014, he returned to Ebro and scored career-best 16 goals during his first season, helping his team gain promotion to Segunda Division B, before adding a further eight in his second season.

 

The winger then sealed a return to Real Zaragoza in at the start of the 2016-17 season and made 27 appearances for the Los Maños helping them finish 16th with 50 points in the Segunda Division.

by Abhishek Shukla

Hockey India sacked Roelant Oltmans

Saturday, September 2, 2017: A critical agenda to assess and take steps towards the way forward and long term success for Indian hockey concluded today at the three-day meeting of the Hockey India High Performance and Development Committee.

The power packed meeting was attended by over twenty-four members over the three days including Harbinder Singh, B.P Govinda, V. Baskaran, Thoiba Singh, Dr. A.B. Subbaiah, Dr. R.P Singh, Joydeep Kaur, Sardar Singh, P.R Sreejesh, Manpreet Singh, Roelant Oltmans, Jugraj Singh, Arjun Halappa, Hans Streeder, Scott Conway, David John, Elena Norman, Mariamma Koshy, Md. Mushtaque Ahmad Rajinder Singh, Tapan Das, Bhola Nath Singh, Firoz Ansari and Gyanendro Ningombam. Inputs were incorporated from all Committee members to emerge with focus areas and the way forward for the Indian Men’s Team. 

The outcome of the meeting was basis the objective to not only assess the recent performance of the Men’s national team at the World League Semi Final tournament as well as the European Tour but to also take concrete steps towards a winning performance in critical upcoming tournaments including the Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and the World Cup coming up in 2018 and the 2020 Olympic Games.

Key decisions taken included Chief Coach Roelant Oltmans to step down. While Roelant Oltmans role as Chief Coach in improving the teams’ overall fitness and cohesiveness has been appreciated, the results are what matter and the performance of the team has not been consistent or up to the desired levels.

Additionally, the Director High Performance and Hockey India Selection Committee will be required to perform a detailed assessment of all the senior core probables, with those that have reached their peak performance to make way for younger talent. The ray of hope shown via noteworthy performance of a much younger team at the recently concluded Europe Tour proves that it is time to recalibrate.

High Performance Director, David John in the interim will take charge till a suitable replacement is found for a smooth transition of the Indian Men’s team.

Mr. Harbinder Singh, Chairman of the Hockey India Selection Committee said, “The Committee was convened since we are collectively not satisfied with the Indian Men’s Hockey team’s performance in 2016 and 2017 and feels that wins in Asia can’t be a benchmark for success any more. We need to show results beyond intent in key international tournaments where the sporadic success over the last two years is more incidental than deliberate. To make results a reality, we need to make hard decisions for the greater good of the future of Hockey in India. The current format of coaching was not showing results beyond a certain level. The Committee unanimously agreement that immediate action was required to be taken and while change may not always be comfortable it is essential if we want to position ourselves as a serious global contender for the upcoming critical tournaments in 2018 including the Asian Games & World Cup and 2020 Olympic Games.”

by Abhishek Shukla

SIX U-23 PLAYERS NAMED IN SQUAD FOR MACAU

NEW DELHI: Six players from India’s AFC U-23 campaign in Doha were named in the 24-member squad for India’s forthcoming AFC Asian Cup Qualifier match against Macau on September 5, 2017. The squad will be departing for Macau from Mumbai via Bangkok on Friday (September 1, 2017).

India currently stay on top of Group A with 6 points, courtesy back to back victories against Myanmar and the Kyrgyz Republic.

However, National Coach Stephen Constantine felt there is “no reason to underestimate Macau as a Team.”

“Macau will be playing at home and in front of their home crowd. There’s always a marked difference between playing at home and playing an away match but we are aware of the challenge,” Constantine said on arrival.

The Team has been camping in Mumbai since August 12, 2017 during which they played two International matches against Mauritius and St. Kitts and Nevis in the Hero Tri-nation Football series as part of the preparation.

“The matches provided us with the much-needed match practice ahead of our challenge against Macau,” Constantine mentioned.

Legendary Footballer IM Vijayan who will also be travelling to Macau as an observer said the “team looks to be in great shape.”

 

“The body language is positive but ahead of such matches, there’s always a tendency of taking it a bit lightly against lower ranked opponents. The boys need to keep working hard on the ground against Macau,” he stated.

 

The squad for Macau stay as follows:

GOALKEEPERS: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Subrata Paul, Albino Gomes.

DEFENDERS: Pritam Kotal, Lalruatthara, Sandesh Jhingan, Anas Edathodika, Arnab Mondal, Salam Ranjan Singh, Narayan Das, Jerry Lalrinzuala.

MIDFIELDERS: Udanta Singh, Jackichand Singh, Nikhil Poojary, Eugeneson Lyngdoh, Rowllin Borges, Md. Rafique, Germanpreet Singh, Anirudh Thapa, Halicharan Narzary.

FORWARDS: Jeje Lalpekhlua, Sunil Chhetri, Robin Singh, Balwant Singh.

by Abhishek Shukla

Joshna beats Dipika in China Open squash

Shanghai: When two stars meet there has to a sparkle in the contest. This is what the organisers of the just concluded senior national championship in New Delhi had looked forward too seeing the healthy rivalry of Joshna Chinappa and Dipika Pallikal Karthik, the top two women players of the country.

However citing an ankle strain and keen to give that area a rest before the tough international season ahead, Dipika withdrew and a squash feast was denied to the aficionados of the sport in the capital. But what was missed in New Delhi was served soonafter in distant Shanghai in the China Open, a PSA World tour major event in the final round of the qualifying phase!

Good friends but great rivals the two found themselves face to face on Wednesday, thanks to the draw, and expectedly the meeting must have produced a rousing contest if the scoreline was anything to suggest. The match went five games and like in the Mumbai National in 2016 where Dipika outdid Joshna here too she started off well, grabbing the first game but Joshna bounced back to take the next two. Dipika made it four games all to queer the pitch but finally it was Joshna who won 7-11, 11-5, 11-6, 7-11, 11-8. At the last meeting of the two too in the Asian Championship in Chennai in April, it was Joshna who had prevailed, coming back from a game down in a scintillating five-game contest to pick not only her maiden Asian title but also become the first Indian to win the senior Asian title.

Joshna, fresh from her success in the national now moves into the main draw as a qualifier where the world’s top 10 ranked  players are in the fray. Saurav Ghosal is the other Indian who has moved into the men’s main draw, via the qualifying phase.

by Abhishek Shukla

Bengaluru FC strengthen attack, sign Venezuela International Miku

Bengaluru: Bengaluru FC have added more firepower to their frontline with the signing of Venezuelan International striker Nicolas ‘Miku’ Ladislao Fedor Flores ahead of their debut Indian Super League season, the club announced on Tuesday. The 32-year-old who signed a two-year deal, arrives to Bengaluru from Spanish side Rayo Vallecano with whom he spent the last two-and-a-half seasons.

The 6’ 1” attacker will team up with Spaniard Braulio Nobrega at the front and becomes the Blues’ seventh foreign signing for the season and the first ever South American player at the club.

Head Coach Albert Roca was delighted with the newest addition to the squad and said, “I’m extremely happy to have secured the services of Miku. He is an exciting player with some great skills and his playing style will help us a lot. Miku has played for several top clubs for a number of years now, and the experience he brings in will be very crucial for us this season.”

Having completed formalities, an excited Miku said, “I have heard a lot about the club and the city. We have some great players in the club who always fight for titles, so I hope it will be a good season for every one of us in Bengaluru. I spoke to Albert Roca about the club, the league and the team. He’s a very good and experienced coach and explained to me what he wants from me for this season. I can’t wait to join my teammates and begin training.”

Born in Caracas, Venezuela to a Hungarian father and a Venezuelan mother, Miku began his football career in Spanish powerhouse Valencia’s youth system. Turning professional in 2004 with the Mestella-side, the striker turned out for CD Alcoyano (2004-05, 2nd B), UD Salamanca (2005–06, 2nd B), Ciudad de Murcia (2006, 2nd), Valencia ‘B’ (2007, 2nd B), Gimnastic de Tarragona (2007–08, 2nd), UD Salamanca (2008–09, 2nd) in the Spanish league system. His highlight during this period was striking 18 goals in the promotion winning campaign at Salamanca during the 2005-06 Segunda ‘B’ season.

The striker returned back to parent club Valencia for the 2009-10 La Liga season, before moving in the heart of Spain to Getafe. His four-year spell with the Madrid-based club saw him amass 26 La Liga goals in 90-plus appearances. Miku also had short loan spell with Glasgow-based Celtic FC in 2012-13 where he won the Scottish League and Cup double.

 

The following season, the Venezuelan moved out of Europe for his first spell in Asia where he represented Al-Gharafa SC (2013-15) in the Qatar Stars League. In January 2015, Miku returned to Spain to join Rayo Vallecano, another Madrid-based club. The striker settled in quickly and began firing all guns blazing in the 2015-16 season. In February 2016, he became the first Venezuelan to score in four consecutive Spanish top flight matchdays, winning La Liga’s Player of the Month award. That season Miku netted nine times and assisted four goals in 22 appearances for Rayo in the La Liga finishing their joint second-highest top-scorer in the league.

At the continental level, Miku has represented Celtic in the UEFA Champions League while playing in the UEFA Europa League for Getafe and Valencia, also scoring a hattrick in the competition for the latter.

A full international since 2006, Miku has 51 caps for Venezuela and has scored 11 times, most notably against Brazil in the during the 2015 Copa America in Chile. The striker also helped his team to a fourth-place finish in the 2011 Copa America held in Argentina. Interestingly, the striker has already played in India as a part of the Venezuela team which faced Argentina in an International Friendly in Kolkata back in September 2011.

For the record, Miku is the fifth-highest (joint) goalscorer for the Venezuelan national team and is 23rd (joint) in the list of most caps for his country.

by Abhishek Shukla

Hockey India names 35-member Indian Men’s Core Group for next coaching camp

Bengaluru, 25 August 2017: With just about 45 days to go for the much-awaited Hero Asia Cup 2017 to begin in Dhaka on October 11, the Indian Men’s Hockey team is back to the grind at Sports Authority of India, Bengaluru for a 40-day national camp. A core group of 35 members which features as many as 13 players from last year’s Junior World Cup winning team will be put to test in the next coaching camp set to commence from August 26.

Junior World Cup Champions Vikas Dahiya (goalkeeper), defenders Dipsan Tirkey, Harmanpreet Singh, Gurinder Singh, Varun Kumar, midfielders Harjeet Singh, Manpreet Junior, Nilakanta Sharma, Sumit and forwards Mandeep Singh, Gurjant Singh, Simranjeet Singh and Armaan Qureshi along with goalkeeper Suraj Karkera who was part of the junior core group last year find themselves in the core group. The Indian team in their previous outing beat World No.4 Netherlands in back-to-back matches followed by a win against Austria. The five-match Europe Tour saw six Indian players make their debut with Varun Kumar, Gurjant Singh and Armaan Qureshi scoring their first international goal for the senior squad, making it a memorable tour.

While there is a strong presence of youth in the core group, the likes of experienced Sardar Singh, SV Sunil, Kothajit Singh, Chinglensana Singh, SK Uthappa, Ramandeep Singh, Akashdeep Singh among others will add to the fervor at the camp. “With new comers putting up a good performance in the Europe Tour, it’s an advantage for us to have a strong and bigger pool of players who will be available for selections for the Hero Asia Cup 2017,” stated the 25-year-old Manpreet Singh who led the team to three successive wins in Europe.

The midfielder further added that the team’s aim will be to finish at the top at the Hero Asia Cup 2017 and the 40-day camp will be nothing short of a grilling experience where players will have to compete against each other for a spot in the final 18 that gets to represent the country. “There is no doubt that we need to finish the Hero Asia Cup 2017 as winners. This is an important camp where we need to set our game right and ensure there are no weak points before leaving for the tournament. The players have come with a mindset to give more than 100 per cent in each session. Each one of us regardless of being a senior or junior will have to earn our place in the team and I am sure this competition within the core group will help improve our overall performance as a team,” added an optimistic Manpreet Singh.

Core Group:   

Goalkeepers

1.     Akash Chikte

2.     P.R. Sreejesh

3.     Vikas Dahiya

4.     Suraj Karkera

Defenders

5.     Dipsan Tirkey

6.     Pardeep Mor

7.     Birendra Lakra

8.     Kothajit Singh

9.     Surender Kumar

10.   Rupinderpal Singh

11.   Harmanpreet Singh

12.   Jasjit Singh Kular

13.   Gurinder Singh

14.   Amit Rohidas

15.   Varun Kumar

Midfielders

16.   Chinglensana Singh

17.   S.K. Uthappa

18.   Sumit

19.   Satbir Singh

20.   Sardar Singh

21.   Manpreet Singh

22.   Harjeet Singh

23.   Nilakanta Sharma

24.   Manpreet Junior

25.   Simranjeet Singh

Forwards

26.   Ramandeep Singh

27.   SV Sunil

28.   Talwinder Singh

29.   Mandeep Singh

30.   Affan Yousuf

31.   Nikkin Thimmaiah

32.   Gurjant Singh

33.   Akashdeep Singh

34.   Lalit Upadhyay

35.   Armaan Qureshi

by Abhishek Shukla

India played out a draw against Saint Kitts

Indian team started with a win in last match against Mauritius in ongoing Hero Tri-Nation series, here in Mumbai. Coach Constantine swapped goal scorers from last time which will feature Balwant starting for the Team whereas Robin Singh will sit in dugout this time.
India started the proceedings for the match, and attacked with in the first 2 minutes of play with Balwant in center but failed to pass the final defense line.

A 10th minute a jackichand did some athletic moves to tap in a ball from midfield in St. Kitts box but it eventually landed in for Corner to Indian team, which in turn produces nothing.  In 15th minute oppositions Tishan played some excellent ball in India’s half which scared hosts a bit, but was safe at the end.

Balwant Singh Played some exciting game in the first half of the match and also got some good help up front from JeJe .

Real chance came in 20th minute of the game with Jeje’s pass to Narzary in right flank and the later his cross inside the box which saw Balwant headed the ball to Goal but was saved by Jamal from St. Kitts.

Later Borges got a good run till opposition box but failed to defeat the defense in the end and but wins a corner for home team, corner was well tapped by Captain Sandesh, who guided to alone man Jacki outside the box, Jacki  powered it over crossbar.

Yohannes had a good strike over Indian bars but failed to convert. In next minute Balwant and Jeje paired to play some head shots near oppositions Box, where Justin and Clyde muscled jeje in between, which saw a free kick for India just outside Box and Balwant put the ball inside the Goal but goal was disallowed due to offside by Narayan das.

After half  hour mark Saint Kitts got a free kick in India’s half which was saved by Indian custodian in gloves at the end. Some complaints from Saint Kitts dugout for which referee Dilan Perera stopped the play and had a word with the team amanagement near opposition dugout.

First goal of the match came from jackichands header in 39th minute which he received as a cross from Rowlin Borges. The header was executed perfectly and Saint Kitts goal keeper Jamal had no answer for that.

Rowlin Borges came down to business again when he passed to Jeje in 43rd minute of the play, which Jeje hit but saved by Jamal near the crossbar.

At half time India is leading the visiting side by one goal and that goal came from Jackichand’s header.

As second half started Indian team got first move near opposition Box but failed to get any constructive out of it. In return Saint Kitts also had a chance near the Indian crossbar but failed to capitalize. Real chance came in 49th minute when Kotal played a good chance but misplaced and shot wide.

In 50th minute Robin Singh had  a great run from midfield to box but he didn’t gave a pass to Jeje and lost the ball, if he had passed to jeje that might have been a Goal for India. In next minute Jeje had a great run and gave  a timely pass to Robin Singh, who lost the ball to Saint Kitts defense.

In 56th minute Eugeneson long ranger sailed over the bar. A couple of changed for host as Nikhil Poojary comes in for Jackichand and MD Rafique comes in place of Eugeneson in 61th minute.

After the changes, visitors started to make some pressure as Rogers from Saint Kitts pilled a shot over Indian bar. Indian pair of Borges and Nikhil poojary put up some good skills near opposition box but ultimately Nikhil pass to Robin which later.

Saint Kitts equalizes from the corner kick as substitute Amory Gvaune taps in from that corner. This goal came after several pressure situation in Indian box which were saved by Indian custodian near the goal post. Jinghan had some great tackles in Indian defense line and prevented many opposition strikes into Indian half.

Saint Kitts and nevis started some good play as their Kimaree, carlos and Tishan played a huge role in a good and Successful comeback. A good chance for India as Poojary sarted a good pass to Robin , who later passed to Rafique. Rafique failed to capitalized and missed the sitter.

Constantine subsituted Rowlin Borges with Anirudh Thapa in 80th minutes. As soon as Anirudh Thapa comes in to play he had good run in opposition half. Robin received brilliant pass from Das in midfield which he passed to poojary, he had a great run but failed to score or pass in final frontier.

Manvir Singh came in place of jeje in 86th minute of play his last second chance in as many games.  He missed in his second minute when Poojary passed to him and he was in almost perfect place to score but completely miss timed.

Most exciting moment came in additional minutes in second half as Robin kicked ball which hit goal post and later saved by jamal. Last five minutes were very exciting as India got chances after chances mostly poojary and Robin were involved in all but failed to convert upfront.

At the end it was a draw, both team played well and it was exciting second half at the end. Though India missed many opportunities but should take this result as we were missing many big names likes Sunil Chhetri, Udanta, Gurpreet Sandhu who all are in club duty for AFC Cup.

 

 

 

by Abhishek Shukla

Hockey India names 18-member Senior squad for Europe Tour

New Delhi, 23 August 2017: Hockey India today announced the 18-member Indian Women’s team for the 15-day Europe Tour to begin from September 5 in the Netherlands. The team will be Captained by striker Rani while in-form goalkeeper Savita will shoulder the duties of Vice-Captain.
The team features a mix of youth and the experienced in their line-up with the defence formed by Deep Grace Ekka, Sunita Lakra, Gurjit Kaur, Navdeep Kaur and Rashmita Minz.  The goal will be kept by Savita and Rajani Etimarpu while the midfield will feature Namita Toppo, Nikki Pradhan, Monika, Karishma Yadav, Lilima Minz and Neha Goyal. The forwardline will see Rani, experienced Poonam Rani, Vandana Katariya, Reena Khokhar and Lalremsiami.
In their previous outing at the Women’s Hockey World League Semi Final, the team lost to England in the quarter final and eventually ended the competition in 8th place. The team began the year on a positive note with a five-match series win against Belarus followed by a podium finish at the World League Round 2 in Canada. However, it is consistent performance that the women’s team seeks as they had lost a five-match series to higher ranked New Zealand ahead of the Women’s World League Semi Final in Johannesburg. “I wouldn’t say we dropped our performance after starting the year on a winning note. Our exposure against New Zealand was good despite the loses and we will be working on the mistakes we made in Johannesburg during the on-going camp in Bengaluru. We need to be more consistent and the team is positively working towards achieving better results,” expressed Captain Rani.
Meanwhile Coach Sjoerd Marijne stated that the Holland experience will throw open a bigger pool of players to choose from for the all-important 2017 Women’s Asia Cup in Japan. “We will be experimenting new combinations in Holland and try out different variations in PC conversions and goal scoring. Mental training is another aspect we are focused on at the moment in our ongoing camp apart from improving speed and core fitness,” stated the 43-year-old Dutch Coach.
Squad:
Goalkeepers
1.     Savita (Vice Captain)
2.     Rajani Etimarpu
Defenders
3.     Deep Grace Ekka
4.     Gurjit Kaur
5.     Navdeep Kaur
6.     Sunita Lakra
7.     Rashmita Minz
Midfielders
8.     Namita Toppo
9.     Nikki Pradhan
10.  Monika
11.  Karishma Yadav
12.  Lilima Minz
13.  Neha Goyal
Forwards
14.  Rani (Captain)
15.  Poonam Rani
16.  Vandana Katariya
17.  Reena Khokhar
18.  Lalremsiami