Author: Abhishek Shukla

Owner of Sports India Live.
by Abhishek Shukla

Spirited Indian Women’s Hockey Team go down 1-4 to USA

Johannesburg, 10 July 2017: A dominant USA beat India 4-1 in their second Pool B match here at the Women’s Hockey World League Semi Final on Monday.
There was plenty of action in the first quarter with USA keeping India’s goalkeeper Savita busy at the post. They won a PC in only the 2nd minute of the match but nothing came off that opportunity as Savita came up with an effortless save. A smart referral call by Rani appealing that there was a back stick by the defender in her attempt to stop Rani from driving into the circle, saw India win their first PC. However, an innovative variation didn’t pay off as Deep Grace Ekka’s strike lacked the power to carry it past the keeper. Almost immediately, India came close to scoring when Vandana brilliantly assisted by Rani made a diving effort to deflect the ball into the post. Though she got a slight touch on the ball, it wasn’t enough to convert. With less than two minutes remaining in the first quarter, USA won their second PC but in vain as Savita came up with yet another great save.

India came up with an improvised attack in the second quarter. Rani managed to win India their second PC in the 22nd minute. She showcased exceptional dribbling skill to beat two USA defenders on the counter to find the foot of US defender in the D. But the chance to score went begging with stopper Monika miss-trapping the ball. USA however didn’t fumble when given a chance. Jill Witmer dispossessed Deep Grace to drive into the circle and beat Savita to score USA’s first goal in the 24th minute. Though India made a brilliant effort to equalize when Rani from the midfield sent a powerful pass to Vandana inside the circle in the dying minutes of the second quarter, but US keeper ensured they kept the lead with a great save.
While both teams traded PCs at the start of the third quarter, it was a quick-thinking Monika, dribbling into the circle, who found Lilima Minz positioned perfectly to deflect. Minz made no mistake as she scored the equalizer in the 38th minute. Though India played on par with the higher-ranked USA in the first two quarters, the equalizer saw USA change gears to put India under the burner. Only two minutes later, a miscalculated attempt to defend on India’s part saw Taylor West (40’) score USA’s second goal. Jill Witmer scored her second goal of the match when she perfectly deflected a dragflick to take USA’s lead to 3-1 in the 43rd minute.
The final quarter saw USA apply pressure on India, limiting India’s chances in the striking circle with strong defence. Meanwhile, USA continued to dominate with a fourth goal scored in the 49th minute. It was Michelle Vittese who scored the goal from the top of the circle. Though USA won another PC in the dying minutes of the match, nothing came off it but it didn’t stop them from notching up their second win of the tournament.
India will take on Chile on July 12 at 15.30 hours IST. Matches will be shown live on Star Sports 1, HD1 as well as live streamed on Hotstar.com
by Abhishek Shukla

William Jones Cup Kavita Akula stars for India on final day

Bengaluru, 10th July 2017: Late last evening, on the final day of the William Jones Cup, the China ‘White’ team beat the Indian women’s basketball team 79-41.

Kavita Akula starred for the Indian women with 13 points, finding her shooting touch from beyond the arc, hitting three threes. India was dominant on the boards again, out-rebounding the Chinese women 43-35, led by Anjana P G with 10 rebounds.

This was the India’s final game before the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup later this month in Bengaluru. The William Jones Cup has been a key warm up event giving the Indian players an opportunity to showcase their skills and stake a claim for an enhanced role at the Asia Cup. They did not disappoint: while senior players Jeena Skaria and captain Anitha Paul Durai were consistent throughout, youngsters like Kavita Akula and Anmolpreet Kaur stepped up with encouraging performances. A matter of concern though will be the fitness of forward Poojamol K S, who suffered a knee injury during the last match against China ‘White’. Further details as to her participation in the Asia Cup are awaited.

Now, the focus shifts to Bengaluru, where India will be focused on securing promotion from Division ‘B’ to Division ‘A’.

Republic of China White (Hsiao-Tung Peng 14 pts; Lin-Chuan Huang 12 pts; Wang Wei Lin ‘#11’ 11 pts) bt India (Kavita Akula 13 pts, 8 rebs; Anjana P G 10 rebs; Anitha Paul Durai 7 pts) 79-41 [24-13, 22-11, 20-3, 13-14]

by Abhishek Shukla

Indian Girls U18 team score two wins and finish in fifth in Rugby

Mumbai, July 10: The Societe Generale Indian Under-18 Girls Rugby team finished a creditable fifth in the Rugby sevens discipline for U18 Girls category in Paris World Games 2017 held at the Stade Georges Carpentier, Paris last weekend. The Indian team participated under the aegis of the Indian Rugby Football Union (IRFU).

In the Paris World Games Rugby sevens event, a total of 7 teams from across the world including, UAE Federation, Swiss Federation, Atlantis Girls (USA) , AAS Sarcelles, Comité Paris Ile de France, Baby Paris Ladies and India participated and fought for top honors.

The Rugby India girls’ team could not register a win on the opening day of the competition. The results and scores unfortunately did not reflect the competitive and spirited performance of Team India, which was truly applaudable.

The girls enjoyed twin success of the second day by winning both their matches. They recorded an emphatic 50-0 victory over UAE in the first match and they then carried the momentum into their last match of the tournament which saw them come from behind to defeat AAS Sarcelles 17-5.

The Rugby India U18 Girls team also had the opportunity to visit the FFR (French Rugby Federation) Training Facility, in Paris. The girls interacted and trained with the French National Women’s Development team. This was a great experience for the girls.

The 12 Indian players: Sumitra Nayak (Captain), Basanti Pangi, Rajani Sabar, Lija Sardar, Soni Mandangi (all Odisha), Rima Oraon, Lachmi Oraon, Punam Oraon, Sandhya Rai, Suman Oraon (all West Bengal), Gargee Walekar (Maharashtra), Sultana (Delhi).

Rehmuddin Shaikh (Assistant Coach, Mumbai).

Performance of Indian U18 Girls Rugby Team

Day One: Rugby India lost to Baby Paris Ladies 7-29.

Rugby India lost to AAS Sarcelles 10-12.

Rugby India lost to Atlantis Rugby (USA) 0-45.

Day Two: Rugby India beat UAE 50-0.

Rugby India beat AAS Sarcelles 17-5.

by Abhishek Shukla

North East Tigers start their campaign on a high as they beat Bahubali Boxers 12-9 in 3rd match of Super Boxing League

New Delhi, 9 July 2017: In what turned out to be an electrifying Sunday in the Super Boxing League, Asha Roka-led North East Tigers beat Bahubali Boxers in the first match of Group B with a margin of 12-9 to start their league campaign on a high.

 

It was North East Tigers’ Nanao Singh, Jeevan Singh and captain Asha Roka who gave their side a 12-0 lead after three bouts, in the presence of dignitaries such as Hockey India CEO Elena Norman, Bahubali Boxers’ owner and Bollywood ace Suneil Shetty, Jaura Group Chairman RS Jaura, Intex Technologies’ Director Keshav Bansal, and North East Tigers’ supporter & Bollywood actress Daisy Shah.

 

Suneil Shetty-owned Bahubali Boxers did try their best to turn the momentum in their favour as they won through Sombhir Shastri, Dushyant Shrivastav and Kuldeep Singh in the latter three bouts but each of the boxers could only win 3 points each for their side, which was not enough to match Asha Roka’s Knock Out win over her opponent earlier in the match.

 

The first bout of the night was between Sunil Sharma from the Bahubali Boxers and debutant Nanao Singh from the North East Tigers in the Feather Weight category. The boxer from the North East Tigers, Nanao Singh started the bout on the front foot as he threw some good combinations on his opponent in Round 1 & 2. Bahubali Boxers’ Sunil Sharma could not utilize his height advantage throughout the fight. 26-year old Singh showed his real strength and stamina in Round 4 as he forced some enthralling combinations on Sharma to bag the fight by Unanimous Decision to give the lead to the North East Tigers.

 

In the second bout of the night, it was upto to Bahubali Boxers’ Joseph Emmanuel to cut down the lead for his team as he faced Jeevan Singh from the North East Tigers in the Welter Weight category. However, it was Singh who started Round 1 looking like a man-on-a-mission as he took his opponent to the corner and barged him with some hard punches. This put Boxers’ Emmanuel on the back-foot early on but he weathered the storm to keep his composure, and showed signs of a comeback in Round 2. He waited for the opportunity to strike Singh, but the latter kept his composure at the key moments to counter Emmanuel’s tactics. Both the boxers exchanged some mind blowing one-twos and jabs to keep the crowd interested as the fight reached its last Round. In the end, Singh’s efforts were deemed more impressive by the referees as he was awarded the victory by Unanimous Decision to put his side 6 points ahead.

 

The responsibility of cutting short the lead for her team was presented to Tulsi Helen of the Bahubali Boxers as she took on the captain of the North East Tigers in the Female Fly category. The third bout of the night was important for Tulsi Helen as she had the opportunity to utilize her experience to hit back on the North East Tigers. However, the impressive 18-year-old Asha Roka had other plans in mind as she started the bout aggressively. Roka hit her opponent with combinations of three-four punches which got her the victory as she beat her opponent in the first Round itself to extend her team’s lead to 12 points. The North East Tigers were awarded six points as Roka was declared the winner over Helen by Knock Out.

 

The score line read 12-0 in favour of the North East Tigers after the halfway stage on the night as Bahubali Boxers struggled to open their account. It was Boxers’ Sombhir Shastri who was given the duty to close the points’ gap as he took on Tigers’ Noba Meitei in the Middle Weight category. In Round 1, Shastri landed some body shots on his opponents but Meitei was the more impressive of the two boxers as he was quick on his feet and struck the punches with more precision. Round 2 saw both the boxers maintain their offense and defence as neither wanted to lose. In Round 3, both the boxers waited for the opportune moment to strike their opponent, but it was difficult for either to get an opening. However, Round 4 started with high energy and high aggression as Shastri pushed Meitei into the corner, and barged him with strong punches. The former needed a Knock Out victory to secure all 6 points for his team, but Meitei held on and fought back as he produced some combinations of his own. However, it was Sombhir Shastri who kept his cool and won the bout by Unanimous Decision to grab the maiden three points for his team.

 

The fifth match saw Bahubali Boxers’ hopes riding on their pugilist Dushyant Shrivastav, as he took on North East Tigers’ Jitender Nandal in the Super Middle Weight category. The first two Rounds saw both the boxers fight it out with equal venom as they aimed to establish their supremacy on the fight. Some jabs and one-twos from both the boxers was the highlight of the first two Rounds, but it was Shrivastav who took the initiative in Round 3 as he aimed to get his side back on track on the points tally with a win. The 26-year-old focused on hooks and uppercuts to get the better of Nandal as the latter struggled to find his mojo. In, what was a do-or-die moment for the Boxers, their talisman Shrivastav held his nerve to produce a huge combination in Round 4 to seal the victory over Nandal as he won by Unanimous Decision to put the scores 12-6 in Boxers’ favour with one bout to go.

 

Bahubali Boxers’ Kuldeep Singh was presented with the tough and unlikely ask of beating his opponent, North East Tigers’ Ashish Ahlawat by a Knock Out in order to equal the scores for both the teams on the night. Round 1 saw both the pugilists launching and exchanging punches to start the bout with aggression. It was difficult to adjudge who the better boxer was until Round 3 where Boxers’ Kuldeep Singh came into his own to strike the composure out of Ashish Ahlawat. The former dominated the bout throughout, but he could not Knock Out his opponent, which eventually meant that could only get three points for his side as he was awarded the win by Unanimous Decision. At the end of six bouts between the two sides, it was the North East Tigers who came out on top against the Bahubali Boxers as they won the match 12-9.

by Abhishek Shukla

India at 22nd Asian Athletics Championship – Day 4

India finished Day 4 with 5 GOLDS, 1 SILVER adn 3 BRONZE medals.

ARCHANA ADHAV won GOLD in Women’s 800m, but later disqualified by officials as she nudged Sri Lankan athlete in final 50m.

Start Time
Gender
Event
Round
Athlete
Result
Notes       
2017-07-09 09:10:00 Women Long Jump Heptathlon SWAPNA BARMAN 6.03m 3rd –  859 Pts
2017-07-09 09:10:00 Women Long Jump Heptathlon LIKSY JOSEPH 6.19m 1st – 908 Pts
2017-07-09 09:10:00 Women Long Jump Heptathlon PURNIMA HEMBRAM  5.97m 5th – 840 Pts
2017-07-09 09:20:00 Women 200m Round 1 Heat 1 SRABANI NANDA 24.01  1ST Q
2017-07-09 09:40:00 Women 200m Round 1 Heat 3 DUTEE CHAND 23.84 2nd Q
2017-07-09 09:55:00 Men 200m Semi Final Heat 2  AMIYA KUMAR MALLICK 21.12 5th q
2017-07-09 10:00:00 Women Javelin Throw Heptathlon 6 SWAPNA BARMAN 45.03m 1st – 764 Pts
2017-07-09 10:00:00 Women Javelin Throw Heptathlon 6 LIKSY JOSEPH  35.29m 6th – 577 Pts
2017-07-09 10:00:00 Women Javelin Throw Heptathlon 6 PURNIMA HEMBRAM 39.08m 3rd – 650 Pts
2017-07-09 10:30:00 Men 4x400m Heats 1 INDIA 3:06.96 1st Q
2017-07-09 17:30:00 Women Pole Vault Final  KM SANGEETA   NM
2017-07-09 17:30:00 Women Discus Throw Final SEEMA PUNIA  54.11m 6th
2017-07-09 17:30:00 Women Discus Throw Final KAMALPREET KAUR BAL  54.32m 5th
2017-07-09 17:30:00 Women Discus Throw Final HIMANI SINGH 51.39m 7th
2017-07-09 17:40:00 Women 200m Final SRABANI NANDA 23.67 5th
2017-07-09 17:40:00 Women 200m Final DUTEE CHAND 23.59 4th
2017-07-09 17:45:00 Men Long Jump Final SIDDHARTH MOHAN NAIK  NM
2017-07-09 17:45:00 Men Long Jump Final SAMSHEER S E 7.47m 11th
2017-07-09 17:45:00 Men Long Jump Final ANKIT SHARMA 7.83m  4th
2017-07-09 17:50:00 Men 200m Final AMIYA KUMAR MALLICK 21.03 7th

2017-07-09 18:00:00 Women 800m Final TINTU LUKA DNF
2017-07-09 18:00:00 Women 800m Final ARCHANA ADHAV 2:05.00 DSQ
2017-07-09 18:00:00 Women 800m Final LILI DAS 2:07.49 4th
2017-07-09 18:10:00 Men 800m Final VISHWAMBHAR KOLEKAR 1:51.07 8th
2017-07-09 18:10:00 Men 800m Final JINSON JOHNSON 1:50.07 BRONZE
2017-07-09 18:30:00 Women 800m Heptathlon 7 SWAPNA BARMAN 2:16.20 4th – 876 Pts
2017-07-09 18:30:00 Women 800m Heptathlon 7 LIKSY JOSEPH 2:11.69  2nd – 940 Pts
2017-07-09 18:30:00 Women 800m Heptathlon 7 PURNIMA HEMBRAM 2:16.21 5th – 876 Pts
2017-07-09 18:30:00 Women FINAL Heptathlon 7 SWAPNA BARMAN 5942 Pts GOLD
2017-07-09 18:30:00 Women FINAL Heptathlon 7 LIKSY JOSEPH 5633  4th
2017-07-09 18:30:00 Women FINAL Heptathlon 7 PURNIMA HEMBRAM 5798 BRONZE
2017-07-09 18:40:00 Women 10000m Final MEENU .  35:25.73 7th
2017-07-09 18:40:00 Women 10000m Final L. SURIYA  33:04.10 4th
2017-07-09 18:40:00 Women 10000m Final SANJIVANI JADHAV  33:28.35 5th
2017-07-09 19:30:00 Men 10000m Final GOPI THONAKAL 29:58  SILVER
2017-07-09 19:30:00 Men 10000m Final G. LAKSHMANAN 29:55 GOLD
2017-07-09 19:30:00 Men 10000m Final KALIDAS HIRAVE  32:29.87 8th
2017-07-09 19:35:00 Men Javelin Throw Final ABHISHEK SINGH 68.22m 14th
2017-07-09 19:35:00 Men Javelin Throw Final NEERAJ CHOPRA 85.23m GOLD
2017-07-09 19:35:00 Men Javelin Throw Final DAVINDER SINGH KANG  83.29m  BRONZE
2017-07-09 20:25:00 Men 4x400m Relay Final INDIA 3:02.92 GOLD
2017-07-09 20:50:00 Women 4x400m Relay Final INDIA 3:31.34 GOLD
by Abhishek Shukla

Indian Women’s Hockey Team hold South Africa 0-0

Johannesburg, 08 July 2017: Brilliant goalkeeping by Savita saw India hold hosts South Africa 0-0 in their first match at the Women’s Hockey World League Semi Final here on Saturday.

India made a strong start with a structured game, a better ball possession in the first 15 minutes. There were also some crucial circle penetrations made in the first quarter that fetched them a PC in the 12th minute of the match. However, a fiercely struck flick by India’s dragflicker Gurjit Kaur was well-defended by South Africa’s first runner to deny India an early lead.
With the second quarter starting with the score reading 0-0, South Africa bounced back into the game with an improvised attack. They made two brilliant attempts on goal. First it was Tarryn Glasby who beat Indian defenders in the circle to take a shot on goal, but an alert Savita was brilliant in her efforts to keep South Africa from scoring. Sulette Damons’ shot on goal was perhaps the best chance South Africa had to score but her powerfully struck shot was slightly off the mark even as Savita made a diving effort to defend. Both teams went into halftime in a stalemate.
There was plenty of action in the third quarter with hosts South Africa, backed by a roaring home crowd, and the support paid off when the home team scored through a field goal by Stephanie Baxter. However, a clever call for video referral by India denied South Africa the goal as it came off the back of the stick. India continued to keep the pressure on the hosts with a strong defence to keep them from making successful forays into the striking circle.
The final quarter witnessed both teams build up frantic pace, as both India and South Africa pushed for a goal. India won their second PC in the 47th minute but striker Rani’s attempt at scoring a PC was denied by South Africa’s first runner who deflected the ball rather perfectly. The following minutes saw South African forwards keep India’s Savita busy at the post as they made tactical variations to take shot on goal. But Savita was exceptional to deny them a goal. South Africa made eight unsuccessful attempts on goal with 34 circle penetrations while India had 15 circle penetrations and three shots on goal. Though South Africa won their only PC of the game in the dying minutes, Tarryn Glasby was kept from converting the goal. India did well to hold hosts to a 0-0 draw and share the points.
India will take on USA on July 10 at 21.30 hours IST. Matches will be shown live on Star Sports 1, HD1 as well as live streamed on Hotstar.com
by Abhishek Shukla

William Jones Cup – India’s frontcourt duo impress against China

Bengaluru, 8th July 2017: On day four of the William Jones Cup, India continued to show improvement in the run-up to the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup later this month in Bangalore. Even though India lost 59-113, there were quite a few positives to draw from their performance against a strong Chinese team, as the Indian women shot a healthy 45 percent from the field, and rebounded the ball well. China are 10th in the FIBA women’s rankings.

 

Head coach Zoran Visic made two changes to the starting line-up that began the game against South Korea, bringing point guard Kavita Akula and Rajapriyadharshini R in for Poonam Chaturvedi and Barkha Sonkar. The coach will be encouraged by the all-round performances from Jeena Skaria in back to back games, as she dropped 15 points on 7-of-13 shooting and grabbed 8 rebounds. Shireen Limaye also stepped up, with 14 points that included two 3 pointers.

 

But the Chinese women got off to a fast start in the game, leading 31-9 after the first quarter. They held their lead throughout, eventually prevailing because they shot the ball better overall: 60 percent from the field and 48 percent from beyond the arc. Five Chinese players finished the game with points in double figures.

 

Next up, the Indian women play China ‘White’ on 9th July at 1700 hrs CST (1430 IST).

 

Republic of China Blue (Wu Ying Jie 28 pts; Zheng Yi Xiu 18 pts; Huang Xiang Ting 13 pts) bt India (Jeena Skaria 15 pts, 8rebs; Shireen Limaye 14 pts; Anitha Paul Durai 8 pts) 113–59 [31-9, 23-13, 25-22, 34-15]

by Abhishek Shukla

India at 22nd Asian Athletics Championship – Day 3

India won total 5 medals on 3rd Day including 1 GOLD, 1 SILVER and 3 BRONZE medals.

Start Time
Gender
Event
Round
Athlete
Result
Notes       
2017-07-08 09:00:00 Women 100m Hurdles Heptathlon 1 PURNIMA HEMBRAM 13.75 2nd – 1014 Pts.
2017-07-08 09:00:00 Women 100m Hurdles Heptathlon 1 SWAPNA BARMAN 13.99 4th – 980 Pts.
2017-07-08 09:00:00 Women 100m Hurdles Heptathlon 1 LIKSY JOSEPH 14.65 6th – 888 Pts.
2017-07-08 09:10:00 Men Long Jump Qualification group-1 SIDDHARTH MOHAN NAIK 7.39m 11th Overall
2017-07-08 09:10:00 Men Long Jump Qualification group-2 SAMSHEER S E 7.42m  7th Overall
2017-07-08 09:10:00 Men Long Jump Qualification group-2 ANKIT SHARMA 7.42m  7th Overall
2017-07-08 09:20:00 Women 800m Round 1 Heat 1 ARCHANA ADHAV 2:09.42  1st Q
2017-07-08 09:30:00 Women 800m Round 1 Heat 2  TINTU LUKA  2:06.66 1st Q
2017-07-08 09:40:00 Women 800m Round 1 Heat 3  LILI DAS 2:07.24  2nd Q
2017-07-08 09:40:00 Women High Jump Heptathlon 2  SWAPNA BARMAN 1.86m 1st – 1054 Pts
2017-07-08 09:40:00 Women High Jump Heptathlon 2 LIKSY JOSEPH 1.71m  4th – 867 Pts
2017-07-08 09:40:00 Women High Jump Heptathlon 2 PURNIMA HEMBRAM 1.71m 5th – 867 Pts
2017-07-08 09:50:00 Men 800m Round 1 Heat 1 JINSON JOHNSON 1:50.48  1st Q
2017-07-08 09:50:00 Men 800m Round 1 Heat 3 VISHWAMBHAR KOLEKAR 1:51.62  1st Q
2017-07-08 10:30:00 Women 100m Hurdles Round 1 – Heat 1  NAYANA JAMES 14.45 10th Overall
2017-07-08 11:00:00 Men 110m Hurdles Round 1 – Heat 2 SIDDHANT THINGALAYA 13.72 3rd
2017-07-08 11:10:00 Men 110m Hurdles Round 1 – Heat 3 PREM KUMAR 14.39 6th
2017-07-08 18:00:00 Men Hammer Throw Final NIRAJ KUMAR 63.26m 9th
2017-07-08 18:15:00 Men 110m Hurdles Final SIDDHANT THINGALAYA  13.72 5th
2017-07-08 18:25:00 Men High Jump Final AJAY KUMAR 2.15m 9th
2017-07-08 18:25:00 Men High Jump Final CHETHAN B. 2.20m 5th
2017-07-08 18:30:00 Women Shot Put Heptathlon 3  PURNIMA HEMBRAM  11.84m 1st – 651 Pts
2017-07-08 18:30:00 Women Shot Put Heptathlon 3 SWAPNA BARMAN 11.39m  3rd – 621 Pts
2017-07-08 18:30:00 Women Shot Put Heptathlon 3 LIKSY JOSEPH  10.59m 7th – 568 Pts
2017-07-08 18:30:00 Women 3000m SC Final SUDHA SINGH 9:59.47 GOLD
2017-07-08 18:30:00 Women 3000m SC Final PARUL CHAUDHARY 10:22.99 4th
2017-07-08 18:35:00 Women Triple Jump Final SHEENA N V 13.42m BRONZE
2017-07-08 18:35:00 Women Triple Jump Final JOYLINE MURAL LOBO 12.71m 7th
2017-07-08 18:45:00 Men 3000m SC Final DURGA BAHADUR BUDHA  9:04.05 8th
2017-07-08 18:45:00 Men 3000m SC Final NAVEEN KUMAR 9:02.95 7th
2017-07-08 20:10:00 Men 200m Round 1 Heat3 AMIYA KUMAR MALLICK  21.30 2nd Q
2017-07-08 20:35:00 Women 400m Hurdles Final R., ANU 57.22 SILVER
2017-07-08 20:35:00 Women 400m Hurdles Final M., ARPITHA  59.78 8th
2017-07-08 20:35:00 Women 400m Hurdles Final MURMU, JAUNA 59.11 7th
2017-07-08 20:35:00 Men 400m Hurdles Final  JABIR MP 50.22  BRONZE
2017-07-08 20:35:00 Men 400m Hurdles Final  SANTHOSH KUMAR T 50.95  6th
2017-07-08 21:10:00 Women 4x100m Relay Final INDIA 44.57 BRONZE
2017-07-08 21:30:00 Women 200m Heptathlon 4 PURNIMA HEMBRAM  24.86 1st – 900 Pts
2017-07-08 21:30:00 Women 200m Heptathlon 4 LIKSY JOSEPH  25.02 2nd – 885 Pts
2017-07-08 21:30:00 Women 200m Heptathlon 4 SWAPNA BARMAN 26.1 6th – 788 Pts
by Abhishek Shukla

34th Youth National Basketball Championship – TN girls and Punjab boys crowned

Hyderabad, 8th July 2017:  Tamil Nadu girls and Punjab boys have been crowned champions of the 34th Youth National Basketball Championship for Boys and Girls got underway at the Indoor Stadium, Gachibowli in Hyderabad.

 

The Championship was organized by the Hyderabad District Basketball Association under the aegis of the Telangana Basketball Association and the Basketball Federation of India.

Final Standings

Standings Girls Boys
1 Tamil Nadu Punjab
2 Karnataka Madhya Pradesh
3 Kerala Andhra Pradesh
4 Uttar Pradesh Haryana
5 Chhattisgarh Uttar Pradesh
6 Punjab Kerala
7 Maharashtra Karnataka
8 Madhya Pradesh Tamil Nadu
9 Haryana Maharashtra
10 West Bengal Rajasthan

 

Prize & Souvenir Distribution ceremony

For the prize and souvenir distribution ceremony, Shri G Kishan Reddy (MLA & Floor Leader, BJLP, Telangana) was the chief guest and Dr V Ragothaman was the guest of honour.

 

Shri M Rajender Reddy, President, Telangana Basketball Association, released the Championship souvenir.

The top three teams received trophies and medals. Individual players were also awarded in the following two categories:

  • Most Valuable Player: Girls– Sanjana Ramesh, Karnataka; Boys– Princepal Singh, Punjab
  • Most Promising Player: Girls- Arya Sreeramaneni, Telangana; Boys-Divyaraj Singh Rathore, Madhya Pradesh
  • Special Best Player Awards conferred by Ms P Padmaja, former Railways player

o   Girls–  Monica Jayaseeli, Tamil Nadu (In the memory of Smt Anbumani, Ms Padmaja’s mother)

o   Boys– A Sai Pavan Kumar, Andhra Pradesh (in the memory of Ms Padmaja’s former Coach and mentor, the late Shri TVSN Prasad, former General Secretary of Andhra Pradesh Basketball Association (APBA) and Executive Member of the BFI).

Tamil Nadu bt Kerala 70-53

The two undefeated teams from the league phase finally faced off in the summit clash earlier this afternoon.

 

Karnataka girls started off well taking an early lead. Karnataka centre Sanjana Ramesh made her intentions clear with a big block on rival centre Pushpa. Karnataka guard Grishma then followed with a  lovely left hand in and out hesitation drive then ended up with the perfect running left hand floater, while back up guard Nidhi Chaudhari followed with a three of her own. But soon things evened out as TN sized Karnataka’s zone defence and began regularly beating them to the basket. TN also got going in transition and the scores at the end of the first quarter read 18-14 in favour of TN.

 

The second quarter began with Tamil Nadu Coach R Delhi Raj constantly urging his team to play faster knowing that Karnataka was fielding a bigger, slower line up. His players responded with a flurry of baskets in the paint as they raked up a 25-14 lead. Karnataka continued to hurt from a lack of transition defence and soon TN’s lead had ballooned to 37-23 at halftime.

 

Sanjana Ramesh, who would be named MVP of the Championship, did a great job defensively with 6 blocks and 19 rebounds, but was contained to just 9 points offensively. With Sanjana being closely guarded, it was left to her teammates to contribute. However, Reshma Ramesh’s 16 points and Anagha Nagarajan’s 10 paled in comparison to Tamil Nadu’s duo of Monica Jayaseeli (24 points) and Pushpa (20 points). Pushpa, in particular, stood out for her defence on Sanjana and her 11 offensive rebounds led to multiple key second chance opportunities.

Punjab bt Madhya Pradesh 80-77

What was expected to be a fairly one sided contest turned into an exciting cliffhanger. Madhya Pradesh, having come up all the way from lower Level 2 to reach the finals, have been playing inspired basketball. Today they were literally facing their biggest challenge yet in the form of Punjab centre Princepal Singh. Standing at 6ft 10.5 inches, Princepal has been dominating all past opponents. So MP Coach Kulvinder Singh needed to think out of the box to contain the teenage giant who has improved leaps and bounds after joining the NBA Academy, Noida and is already the best player in the U18 circuit.

 

The MP team is a unique line up in the sense that it comprises all guards and forwards with no real centre to match Princepal. Aware of these limitations, Coach Kulvinder made his team to play an up-tempo offence and take Princepal’s size out of the equation. His wards responded beautifully with multiple fast break points. Against a set half court offense, guard Divyaraj Singh Rathore and forward Amit Singh Chauhan were able to convert on some tough high arcing floaters and baseline jumpers so that by the end of the first quarter, MP was trailing only by 1 point, 18-19.

 

In the second quarter, Divyaraj hit a couple of big threes, with MP simultaneously double teaming Princepal on defence. Princepal kept making the right play of identifying the double teams and dishing it out to his teammates on the perimeter. But guard Rajan and Akashdeep were unable to get going initially despite getting wide open looks. Now MP led 29-23 and the temperamental Princepal began showing signs of frustration. Late in Q2, Punjab’s role players finally showed some form with Akashdeep hitting two back to back threes to take Punjab back up 33-30. The teams then traded buckets right up to the halftime buzzer, with Punjab leading 38-37, going into the third quarter.

 

Entering Q3, MP starter Amit Singh got fouled out within the first 5 minutes. His unfazed teammates stuck to their guns and kept drawing out Princepal to the perimeter and scoring in the paint. Punjab then started routing its offence through forward Harsimranjit who responded with some big baskets around the hoop.

 

Late in the fourth quarter, the scores were 73-75 with MP in the lead, before yet another MP starter, Shunit Singh too got fouled out. Punjab point guard Mani Singh, who had been largely ineffective till this point then made two big freethrows to give his team a two point lead. On the other end Udayveer Yadav countered with an acrobatic finish that tied the game at 77-77 with around 20 seconds remaining. On the other end, Princepal got fouled and converted both his clutch freethrows to take his side back up by two.  MP were unable to score in the ensuing possession as Mani Singh closed out the 80-77 win with another made freethrow.

Results from Day 8 (8th July 2017)

 

Girls

 

Finals

  1. Tamil Nadu (Monica Jayaseeli 23, Pushpa 20, Pavithra 12) bt Karnataka (Reshma Ramesh 18, Anagha Nagarajan 10, Sanjana Ramesh 9) 70-53 [18-14, 19-9, 16-14, 17-16]

3-4 Place Match

  1. Kerala (An Mariya Johny 17, Ann Mary Zachariah 16) bt Uttar Pradesh(Vrinda Garg 10, Tripti Singh 9) 58-47 [16-7, 9-7, 17-13, 16-20]

 

Boys

Finals

  1. Punjab (Princepal Singh 25, Rajan 18, Harsimranjit Singh 16, Akashdeep Sharma 12) bt Madhya Pradesh (Divyaraj Singh Rathore 28, Udayveer Yadav 20, Mani Thakur 8) 80-77 [19-18, 19-19, 20-21, 22-19]

 

3-4 Place Match

  1. Andhra Pradesh (A Sai Pavan 21, S V V Sai Krishna 17, M Mani Kanta 11) bt Haryana (Anil 20, Mukesh 17, Kapil Mor 17) 72-68 [15-16, 14-21, 25-11, 18-20]
by Abhishek Shukla

OPM Punjab Sultans beat UP Terminators 15-6 in the second match of Super Boxing League

New Delhi, 8 July 2017: The second match of Super Boxing League took place here today as OPM Punjab Sultans beat UP Terminators with a margin of 15-6 to start their league campaign with a terrific victory.

 

Amandeep Singh, Saroj Bugalia, Vicky Singh and Sumit Rangi were all winners in their respective categories for the OPM Punjab Sultans. Afghani boxer, Md. Mustafa and Indian Deepak Kumar were the only two winners on the night for the UP Terminators.

 

In the first fight of the day, OPM Punjab Sultans’ Amandeep Singh beat UP Terminators’ Nick Zodinsanga in the Feather Weight category by 3 points as the contest was decided by Unanimous Decision. OPM Punjab Sultans’ Amandeep Singh started strong in the first fight of the night as he dominated Round 1. The 31-year-old took the fight to the youngster from Mizoram, Nick Zodinsanga, as he threw some impressive punches on the UP Terminators’ man. The third Round saw a similar story as Nick failed to make a mark on his opponent. Amandeep held on as he used his experience to keep out Nick’s attacks in Round 4 to clinch the victory and give his side the early lead.

 

UP Terminators’ Md. Mustafa was given the responsibility to cut short the lead in the second fight of the night as he took on OPM Punjab Sultans’ Balkar Singh in the Welter Weight category. The Afghani boxer who lives in India, Mustafa, did not disappoint his team in the first Round as he smacked a couple of clean one-twos on Singh. The Terminators’ boxer continued his form in Round 2 as he became the clear favourite. However, in Round 3, it was Sultans’ Balkar Singh who made a comeback into the fight as he started a hefty exchange of punches which got the crowd going. Round 4 was crucial for both the boxers in order to attain supremacy and snatch the win for their team. It was Md. Mustafa who came out on top as he won the bout through Unanimous Decision to put the teams level on points at 3-3.

 

The third fight saw Super Boxing League’s women in action as UP Terminators’ Sulav Magar took on OPM Punjab Sultans’ Saroj Bugalia in the Female Fly category. It was a crucial tie in the match as a win for either boxer would put their team into the lead with three more fights to go. UP Terminators’ Nepali boxer, Sulav Magar started Round 1 very strongly as she barged her opponent with some nasty blows. However, as the fight progressed, Sultans’ Saroj Bugalia pulled up her socks to hit some good blows to her opponent in the next three Rounds. It meant that Bugalia was awarded the win by Unanimous Decision to put her team OPM Punjab Sultans in the lead with a score line of 6-3.

 

The fourth fight saw UP Terminators’ Deepak Kumar take on OPM Punjab Sultans’ Sagar Narwat in the Middle Weight category. In the first Round, both pugilists kept their shape in order to not give-in to their opponents’ initial attacks but Sultans’ Sagar Narwat was able to control the fight by the scruff of its neck as he threw some heavy hands on Deepak Kumar. The latter seemed to have lost some confidence in himself as he looked more fatigued of the two boxers after the second round itself. However, Kumar started Round 3 with fresh energy as he struck some barging blows which affected Sagar Narwat. The Terminators’ boxer produced some beautiful combinations in Round 4 to make it a well balanced fight which eventually ended in UP Terminators’ Deepak Kumar winning the bout by Split Decision to put the teams level on points at 6-6 after four bouts.

 

The fifth fight of the night was between UP Terminators’ Amitesh Chaubey and OPM Punjab Sultans’ Vicky Singh in the Super Middle Weight category. It was an important bout for both the teams as a win for either boxer would put them in a commanding position. Terminators’ Chaubey took the initiative early on as he produced some marvellous combinations to put pressure on Singh in Round 1 and 2. However, Singh chose to hold on to his composure in the next two Rounds. The experienced boxer kept his guard up when it mattered, and took every opportunity to strike punches on Chaubey. Thus, the final result was in favour of OPM Punjab Sultans’ Vicky Singh as he won by Unanimous Decision to put his team in front with a tally of 9 points to Terminators’ 6 points.

 

The last fight of the night was eventually the decider as a win for OPM Punjab Sultans would see them win the match and a win for UP Terminators would put the scores level. In the Heavy Weight category, OPM Punjab Sultans were represented by Sumit Rangi while it was upto UP Teminators’ skipper Sandeep Dahiya to bring the match in his side’s favour. The former started the bout very aggressively through quick and perfect combinations. Dahiya sustained the first Round but he could not manage to last even two Rounds as he was Knocked Out by a superb one-two punch from Sumit Rangi. The referee stopped the match after 2 minutes and 20 seconds of Round 2 as OPM Punjab Sultans’ Sumit Rangi was awarded the victory by a Technical Knock Out. The win for Rangi meant that the OPM Punjab Sultans registered their first victory of Super Boxing League by a score line of 15-6.

Super Boxing League moves onto its third fight-nighttomorrow as the Group B teams will be in action at the Siri Fort Squash and Badminton Stadium in New Delhi where North East Tigers will take on Bahubali Boxers in their opening match of the league.

 

The fights in Super Boxing League will be held over theFriday, Saturday and Sunday and will be telecasted live on SONY ESPN and SONY ESPN HD at the prime time slot of 7:00 – 9:30 PM. The fights will also be live streamed on SPN’s digital platform SONY LIV.

by Abhishek Shukla

India at 22nd Asian Athletics Championship – Day 2

Indian Won 4 Gold medals in a day along with 2 Silver and 2 Bronze.

Start Time
Gender
Event
Round
Athlete
Result
Notes       
2017-07-07 09:00:00 Men 110m Decathlon 6  ABHISHEK SHETTY 15.89  5th
2017-07-07 09:30:00 Women 400m Hurdles Round 1 – Heat 1  ARPITHA M. 1:00.05 3rd
2017-07-07 09:30:00 Women 400m Hurdles Round 1 – Heat 2 JAUNA MURMU 57.96 2nd
2017-07-07 09:30:00 Women 400m Hurdles Round 1 – Heat 2 ANU R. 58.26 3rd
2017-07-07 09:40:00 Men Discus Throw Decathlon-7 ABHISHEK SHETTY 41.17m 3rd – 688 Pts
2017-07-07 10:40:00 Men 4x100m Relay Round 1- Heat 2 INDIA DQ
2017-07-07 10:50:00 Men Pole Vault Decathlon-8 ABHISHEK SHETTY  4.00  4th – 617 Pts
2017-07-07 18:00:00 Men Javelin Throw Decathlon – 9 ABHISHEK SHETTY 59.51 3rd  – 730 Pts
2017-07-07 18:05:00 Women 100m Semi Final – Heat 2  DUTEE CHAND 11.56 2nd Q
2017-07-07 18:15:00 Men Triple Jump Final KARTHIK U. 15.93m 7th
2017-07-07 18:15:00 Men Triple Jump Final ARPINDER SINGH 16.33m 4th
2017-07-07 18:20:00 Women High Jump Final SAHANA KUMARI 1.75m 6th
2017-07-07 18:25:00 Men 100m Semi Final AMIYA KUMAR MALLICK DQ
2017-07-07 18:30:00 Men Shot Put Final OMPRAKASH SINGH KARHANA  18.70m  4th
2017-07-07 18:30:00 Men Shot Put Final TAJINDER PAL SINGH TOOR  19.77m SILVER
2017-07-07 18:30:00 Men Shot Put Final JASDEEP SINGH DHILLON 18.07m 8th
2017-07-07 19:45:00 Women 1500m Final CHITRA P U 4:17.92  GOLD
2017-07-07 19:45:00 Women 1500m Final MONIKA CHOUDHARY  4:30.77  10th
2017-07-07 19:55:00 Women 400m Final NIRMLA . 52.01  GOLD
2017-07-07 19:55:00 Women 400m Final JISNA MATHEW 53.32  BRONZE
2017-07-07 19:55:00 Women 400m Final M R POOVAMMA 53.36  4th
2017-07-07 19:55:00 Men 1500m Final AJAY KUMAR SAROJ 3:45.85 GOLD
2017-07-07 19:55:00 Men 1500m Final SIDDHANTA ADHIKARI 3:50.64 4th
2017-07-07 20:05:00 Men 400m Final MUHAMMED ANAS Y 45.77 GOLD
2017-07-07 20:05:00 Men 400m Final AROKIA RAJIV 46.14 SILVER
2017-07-07 20:05:00 Men 400m Final AMOJ JACOB 46.49 4th
2017-07-07 20:30:00 Women Hammer Throw Final SARITA R SINGH  58.71m 6th
2017-07-07 20:30:00 Women Hammer Throw Final NIDHIKUMARI . 52.66m 10th
2017-07-07 20:30:00 Women Hammer Throw Final GUNJAN SINGH 59.19m 5th
2017-07-07 20:35:00 Men 1500m Decathlon 10 ABHISHEK SHETTY 4:45.18 4th – 648 Pts
2017-07-07 20:45:00 Men 400m Hurdles Round 1-Heat1 DURGESH KUMAR PAL  52.47 5th
2017-07-07 20:55:00 Men 400m Hurdles Round 1-Heat 2 JABIR MP  51.06  2nd Q
2017-07-07 21:05:00 Men 400m Hurdles Round 1-Heat 3 SANTHOSH KUMAR T 51.59 2nd Q
2017-07-07 21:30:00 Women 100m Final  DUTEE CHAND 11.52  BRONZE
by Abhishek Shukla

34th Youth National Basketball Championship It’s TN vs Karnataka girls and Punjab vs MP boys in the finale

Hyderabad, 7th July 2017:  The semifinal matches of the 34th Youth National Basketball Championship for Boys and Girls got underway at the Indoor Stadium, Gachibowli in Hyderabad.

 

The Championship is being organized by the Hyderabad District Basketball Association under the aegis of the Telangana Basketball Association and the Basketball Federation of India.

 

Tamil Nadu and Karnataka girls, as well as Punjab and MP boys are through to the finale.

 

Tamil Nadu girls showed excellent composure and stuck to their game plan to defeat Kerala in the first semifinals. Tamil Nadu’s stifling defense threw the Kerala’s offense into disarray. The entire Tamil Nadu starting unit got going early, as they raked up a 21-12 lead. In the second quarter, Kerala did a better job of slowing down Tamil Nadu, as the teams traded buckets till halftime. The third quarter was surprisingly low scoring with neither team able to get into an offensive rhythm. To make matters worse, Kerala forward An Mariya Johny had to leave the game due to an inury. By the end of the third period, Tamil Nadu led 39-28, and in a bid to reduce the deficit, Kerala started applying defensive pressure in the fourth quarter. Kerala brought themselves within 5 points of Tamil Nadu, before the latter was able to break free for easy transition layups and the ultimately comfortable 59-50 win.

 

In the first boys’ semifinals, Punjab boys had no trouble against the undersized Andhra Pradesh defeating them 68-53. Punjab centre Princepal Singh yet again was too much to handle, as Andhra Pradesh were outrebounded and outscored in the paint. Punjab led for nearly the entire game as Andhra Pradesh was forced to keep playing catch up before eventually falling well short.

 

The third semifinals saw Karnataka girls continue their undefeated run as they outmatched Uttar Pradesh 75-46. Centre Sanjana Ramesh top scored for Karnataka with 23 points while forward Anagha Nagarajan contributed with 13 points of her own. For Uttar Pradesh Vartika Kushwaha led her team with 19 points. Karnataka had a whopping 29 points from UP’s turnovers, and were also able to score repeatedly from the inside to ultimately win by a margin of nearly 30 points.

 

The fourth semifinals was a chippy encounter between two teams very similar in size and approach. There was very little to choose from between these two bruising sides intent on forcing their way to the rim and scoring within 10 seconds of the shot clock. Madhya Pradesh had a double digit lead late in the game before Haryana rallied to bring it within single digits. But the side from central India managed to go on another late run to seal the thrilling 85-82 win.

 

Results from Day 7 (7th July 2017)

 

Girls

 

Level 1

Semifinals

  1. Tamil Nadu (Pushpa 29, Deepa Dharshini 7) bt Kerala (Ann Mary Zachariah 22, Aparna Sadasivan 7) 59-50 [21-12, 11-11, 7-5, 20-22]
  2. Karnataka (Sanjana Ramesh 23, Anagha Nagarajan 13) Uttar Pradesh (Vartika Kushwaha 19, Vrinda Garg 8) 75-46 [15-10, 28-11, 10-16, 22-9]

 

5-6 Place Match

  1. Chhattisgarh (Neha Karva 19, Elijabet Ekka 15) bt Punjab (Radha Rani 16, Priyanka Behal 10) 48-46 [10-15, 15-9, 11-15, 12-7]

 

7-8 Place Match

  1. Maharashtra (Abha Lad 20, Siya Deodhar 17) bt Madhya Pradesh (Divya 17) 72-42 [20-12, 19-5, 20-16, 13-9]

 

5 to 8 Classification Matches

  1. Punjab (Radha Rani 24, Heena 18) bt Madhya Pradesh (Asmat Kaur Taunque 14, Divya Sam 14) 51-50 [13-9, 10-5, 15-19, 13-17]
  2. Chhattisgarh (Neha Karva 33, Elijabet Ekka 30) bt Maharashtra (Abha Lad 17, Purvi Mahalle 12, Suzanne Pinto 10) 78-55 [15-14, 20-7, 19-18, 24-16]

9 to 10 Classification Match

  1. Haryana bt West Bengal Walkover

 

Boys

 

Level 1

Semifinals

  1. Punjab (Princepal Singh 21, Rajan 13, Harsimranjit Singh 12) bt Andhra Pradesh (M Mani Kanta 19, S Sachin 12, S V V Sai Krishna 9) 68-53 [20-7, 18-10, 21-18, 9-18]
  2. Madhya Pradesh (Divyaraj Singh Rathore 34, Udayveer Yadav 28) bt Haryana (Kapil Mor 30, Mukesh 24) 85-82 [22-18, 19-13, 18-18, 26-33]

 

5-6 Place Match

  1. Uttar Pradesh (Priyhanshu 25, Tushal Singh 12, Devansh Pavdighada 12) bt Kerala (Joshua Abraham 16) 70-40 [24-10, 14-10, 20-7, 12-13]

7-8 Place Match

  1. Karnataka (Prashant Tomar 28, Akshan Rao 25 ) bt Tamil Nadu (Gokul V 39, K Arun Pandian 9) 96-77 [17-22, 30-20, 20-20, 29-15]

 

5 to 8 Classification Matches

  1. Uttar Pradesh (Priyhanshu 15, Tushal Singh 14) bt Tamil Nadu (Gokul V 11) 61-33 [16-3, 14-13, 20-11, 11-6]
  2. Kerala (Tom Jose 35, Joshua Abraham 13) bt Karnataka (Prashant Tomar 20, Akshan Rao 17) 83-82 [20-18, 12-17, 18-17, 33-30]

 

9 to 10 Classification Match

  1. Maharashtra (Kamlesh Rajbhar 20, Arjun  Yadav 15) bt Rajasthan (Rajveer Singh Bhati 18, Digvijay Singh 12, Kuldeep Singh 12) 74-57 [25-10, 18-12, 15-19]
by Abhishek Shukla

William Jones Cup Day 3 Indian women impress against South Korea

Bengaluru, 7th July 2017:  The Indian women’s basketball team continued their campaign at the 39th William Jones Cup International Basketball Tournament against South Korea.

The team put in a much improved performance after the first two games of the tournament. Going into the fourth quarter, the Indian women were trailing 47-37. Point guard Kavita Akula and captain Anitha Paul Durai, who was restored to the starting line-up after being rested in the last game, rallied strongly to close the gap to five, but the team eventually lost 56-61.

Head coach Zoran Visic continued to chop and change the starting line-up with one eye on the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup in Bangalore later this month. He handed Barkha Sonkar, Shireen Limaye, and Poonam Chaturvedi their first starts of the tournament. Shireen Limaye made the most of the opportunity, scoring 6 points and racking up 5 rebounds.

Jeena Skaria was the top performer for the Indian women, coming off the bench to drop 9 points and grab an impressive 13 rebounds. Collectively, the Indians were strong off the boards, out-rebounding the Korean women 41-25. The team’s shooting from beyond the arc was also much improved, with an impressive rate of 36%.

Next up, the Indian women play China ‘Blue’ on 8th July at 1900 hrs CST (1630 IST).

South Korea (Kim Hyeon 16 pts; Kim Min Jung 13 pts; Kim Bo Mi 13 pts) bt India (Jeena Skaria 9 pts, 13 rebs; Anitha Paul Durai 7 pts; Navaneetha Pattemane Udayaumar 7 pts) 56-51 [17-13, 11–10, 19–14, 9–14]

by Abhishek Shukla

Super Boxing League starts off as Delhi Gladiators beat Haryana Warriors 12-6

New Delhi, 7 July 2017: The first-of-its-kind boxing league in India, Super Boxing League started off here today as Delhi Gladiators beat Haryana Warriors with a margin of 12-6 in the presence of its CEO & founder Bill Dosanjh and Chairman, Olympic medalist boxer Amir Khan. The inaugural fight night saw boxers from both teams impress the crowd at the Siri Fort Squash & Badminton Stadium where Delhi Gladiators produced a phenomenal team effort to start their campaign on a high as Owner and Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput cheered them on.

Super Boxing League’s first-ever match saw two strong teams in Delhi Gladiators and Haryana Warriors vying to start off the league on the front-foot. In the first fight of the night, Delhi Gladiators’ Rakesh Lochan beat Haryana Warriors’ Naveen Nehra by a Split Decision to get off the mark on the points table. Both the boxers looked fairly eager to start the match with confidence as they threw some great combinations at each other. The fight was equally split between the two boxers until Round 3, but Rakesh Lochan showed his stamina as he barged Naveen with heavy blows to seal the victory in Round 4.

In the second fight, Haryana Warriors’ captain Neeraj Goyat beat Delhi Gladiators’ Vanlulpuwia by a Split Decision to secure the much-needed three points for his team. Neeraj started the match on the front foot as he used his experience in Round 1 to keep out the debutant, Gladiators’ Vanlalpuwia. Neeraj kept his guard up in Round 2 as Vanlalpuwia started to come into his own. However, Neeraj used his experience to defend well as Vanlalpuwia started to show some technical strength to counter and take control of the game. But the latter’s efforts were not enough on the night as the judges awarded the victory to Warriors’ captain Neeraj Goyat to put the teams level on points after the second fight.

However, Delhi Gladiators restored their lead again as Delhi Gladiators’ Shivani Dahiya beat Haryana Warriors’ Suman Kumari by a margin of three points as a result of Split Decision. The first fight of Super Boxing League in the Female Fly category started off with the more experienced Shivani Dahiya being the aggressor as she launched clear-cut punches on her opponent in Round 1. Shivani kept the pressure on her opponent in Round 2 as Suman’s inexperience proved to be the difference. Round 3 and 4 witnessed a similar story as Shivani produced a masterclass of her own, throwing punches on Suman from all directions to take the points tally to 6-3 in Gladiators’ favour.

The fourth fight saw Delhi Gladiators’ captain, Pawan Maan take on Haryana Warriors’ Amit Kumar in the Middle Weight category. In the first Round, both pugilists kept their shape in order to not give-in to their opponents’ initial attacks. However, Round 2 saw Pawan Maan controlling the fight by the scruff of its neck as he threw some heavy hands on Amit Kumar. The latter seemed to have lost some confidence in himself as he looked more fatigued of the two boxers after the second round itself. Pawan Maan produced some beautiful combinations in Round 3 to take full control of the fight as Amit failed to match his opponent. Amit did try to make a comeback into the fight in Round 4 but it was too little, too late for the 25-year old as Delhi Gladiators’ skipper Pawan Maan extended his team’s lead to 9-3 as he won the bout by Unanimous Decision.

It was up to Haryana Warriors’ Sukhdeep Singh to pull the match in his team’s favor as he took on Delhi Gladiators’ Gaganpreet Sharma in the Super Middle Weight category. Both the boxers started the first Round with a display of skills and patience as they maintained great head-movement, aggression and combination. Round 2 saw both fighters exchanging punches to maintain their flow but Gaganpreet stood out as he closed the gap well. It was important for Sukhdeep Singh to Knock Out his opponent in the next two Rounds if he was to help his team in closing down the margin. However, 27-year old Sharma held on to maintain his composure and avoid a Knock Out as Singh struck some nasty blows in Round 4 to win the bout by Split Decision to put the scores 9-6 in Delhi Gladiators’ favour.

In the last fight of the night, Haryana Warriors’ Jagdeep Singh had the opportunity to put the teams level on points or even take the win as he took on Delhi Gladiators’ Jagroop Singh in the Heavyweight category. In what turned out to be the most competitive bout of the evening, both pugilists exchanged punches through their left and right hands in Round 1. However, the energy shown by both the boxers meant that they lost some composure in Round 2 which slowed down the fight. The two exchanged more one-twos and jams in the third Round as it made for an interesting finish to the fight. In the final round, both the boxers focused more on guarding themselves against blows, however, Delhi Gladiators’ Jagroop Singh had the upper hand which was proved by the referees as he won the bout by Split Decision to give his side the victory 12-6.

Speaking on the maiden victory in the Super Boxing League, Delhi Gladiators’ captain Pawan Maan said, “I am extremely proud of the team as they produced a fine performance to start the league on a high. This win will give all our team members the confidence to keep the momentum in the future matches. I could not have imagined a better way to start the SBL.”

Haryana Warriors’ captain Neeraj Goyat also spoke about how his team was not lucky enough on the night. He said, “We did our best to perform well for the team but sometimes it is not enough. We were a bit unlucky today as there were a couple of fights which could have gone either way. It is just the start of the league so we will now focus on making all the improvements that we can.”

The fights in Super Boxing League will be held over the Friday, Saturday and Sunday and will be telecasted live on SONY ESPN and SONY ESPN HD at the prime time slot of 7:00 – 9:30 PM. The fights will also be live streamed on SPN’s digital platform SONY LIV.

by Abhishek Shukla

FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017 draw throws up intriguing ties

The Official Draw for the FIFA U-17 World Cup, which will be played in six venues across India between 6 and 28 October 2017, took place on Friday in Mumbai.

The draw revealed that hosts India will take on USA in their opening match of the competition in New Delhi. Group A also includes Colombia and Ghana, who will also clash as part of the first day’s action.

Perhaps the most intriguing quartet of teams can be found in Group D, where FIFA tournament debutants Niger were drawn with Korea DPR, Brazil, and Spain.

The draw ceremony was held in the presence of Sunil Gulati, FIFA Council member, Praful Patel, President of the All India Football Federation and Vijay Goel, Indian Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports. Assisting in the draw ceremony were FIFA Legends Esteban Cambiasso and Nwankwo Kanu, as well as Indian national team legend Sunil Chhetri and Indian badminton star Pusarla Venkata Sindhu.

One of the highlights of the ceremony was the performance of the tournament’s Official Song. Pritam and Babul Supriyo revealed ‘Kar Ke Dikhla De Goal’ for the first time, much to the delight of the assembled audience.

FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017 Draw

Group A: India, USA, Colombia, Ghana
Group B: Paraguay, Mali, New Zealand, Turkey
Group C: Iran, Guinea, Germany, Costa Rica
Group D: Korea DPR, Niger, Brazil, Spain
Group E: Honduras, Japan, New Caledonia, France
Group F: Iraq, Mexico, Chile, England

by Abhishek Shukla

Jackson is optimistic about India’s performance in upcoming U17 world cup

In Press conference organized before FIFA U17 world cup draw in Mumbai, Jackson Singh said he is very confident that Indian team will perform well in World cup. When asked about today’s draw and which team he prefers to play in World Cup he said, “We respect all teams and will play against any team which will be placed against India tonight.

When asked about his future plans, he said he wants to play for Bengaluru FC and if given a chance in German Clubs.

Jackson also pointed out that teams European tour is was very helpful and they all learned  a lot in the tour playing against teams like Italian, French and Spanish clubs. He also thanked India government for backing players and giving this opportunity to play in World cup for India.

Arsenal and Nigerian legend Nwankwo Kanu  is hopeful that this tournament would help out youths in country to play best football. When asked about defending champion Nigeria not able to qualify for World cup this time he said that its unfortunate, federation will look into this and correct the things what went wrong this time.

Esteban Cambiasso, ex-Real madrid and Argentinean player said that these tournaments help budding talent and will help Indian players a lot.

In post draw press conference Indian u17 coach Luis Norton de Matos said that this would be the learning step for our players and he is very confident that we do well in world cup. In upcoming 90 days to world cup will be playing against top U17 teams like Colombia, Mexico and Chile. When asked who the toughest opponent is in Indian group, coach relied “Colombia is the toughest”.

AIFF president, Praful Patel is also confident in teams and said definitely Indian players will perform well in world cup. He also added that India is bidding for FIFA U20 world cup 2019 and Sports minister, Vijay Goel said that Government of India will provide all possible support if India is select as Host of prestigious event.

by Abhishek Shukla

Upbeat Indian Women’s Hockey Team take on South Africa

Johannesburg, 07 July 2017: The Indian Women’s Hockey team will take on South Africa in their first pool B match here on the opening day of the Women’s Hockey World League Semi Final on Saturday 8 July 2017. The team led by Rani arrived in Johannesburg one week prior to the tournament which has helped them in their preparations. Getting acclimatized to the conditions in the host city which is at an altitude of 1,753 metres was easier thanks to the high-altitude training held in SAI Centre Shillaroo before arriving for the event which is also a World Cup Qualifier. “We had some good short training sessions here over the past week and the girls did well. They did not tire easily which was one of the main reasons to have the high-altitude camp. We have one session planned today (Friday) on the game pitch which will count as our final preparation before the start of the tournament,” expressed Chief Coach Sjoerd Marijne on the eve of the match.

The Women’s team also played two practice matches against England and Ireland. “Both teams are physically dominating when they play. So, the exposure against these two teams before the start of the tournament was good. I personally think South Africa plays a lot like Ireland. We controlled the entire game against Ireland and against England we did well first half with better control. It is important for us to play disciplined hockey and if we are able to do that then we have a great chance of doing well,” he added.
India have Chile, USA, Argentina apart from South Africa in their pool. “The mood in the team is quite upbeat ahead of our first match. South Africa is ranked around us (No.13 in the world) and I feel we have improved a lot over the past year and are mentally a tougher team than we were before. I am quite confident we will get off to a good start and then take it match-by-match. First goal here is to make it to the Quarter Finals,” expressed striker Rani about the mood in the team.
While both South Africa and Chile are ranked below India at No. 13 and No. 20 respectively, USA and Argentina will pose bigger challenges for the team. While USA is ranked No.6 in the world, Argentina are ranked No.3. “A lot of what we did in the camp over the past few months under Chief Coach Sjoerd involved mental training as a major aspect. We initially did have small mental blocks against playing higher ranked teams. But I think we have overcome that and know that we must just stick to our plans, structure and give our 100 per cent,” stated an optimistic Rani.

India will take on South Africa on July 8 at 21.30 hours IST. Matches will be shown live on Star Sports 1, HD1 as well as live streamed on Hotstar.com

by Abhishek Shukla

South Zone Senior Men’s and Women’s Rugby 7’s Tournament, Bengaluru on July 8, 2017

July 8, Bangalore: Bangalore is all set to play host to its first  South Zone Senior Men’s and Women’s Rugby 7’s Tournament. The tournament scheduled on July 8,2017  will feature six  state  teams representing five southern states  in India.

 

The eight participating state  teams include Andhra Pradesh , Kerala , Tamil Nadu , Telengana , Puducherry and the hosts Karnataka . This will be the first of the five city circuit that will take place in the four other states in the coming months to come . The next leg of the circuit will be held in September at Kurnool, Andhra Pradesh. The tournament is organised by Karnataka Rugby Football Union (KRFU ) under the aegis of South India Rugby Football Association and Rugby India .

 

The Five teams in the men section will play a round robin and the top two teams will play for the Winner and runners up and the next two teams will play for the third place

 

The tournament will begin at 9am at  Sree Kanteerva Stadium , the finals for the Women’s will take place at 4.30 pm and the Men’s final will take place at 5pm on July 8, 2017.

Talking about the tournament, Mohan Krishna, President of South India Rugby Football Association  said, “With Rugby being included as an Olympic sport we see such tournaments to be an important part of the chain of rugby development , it helps us gives exposure to players in the grass roots to compete and excel and be noticed so that they have the opportunity to play for the country . The South Zone is the first to start this type of tournament .”

Talking about playing on the home ground , Karnataka captain and India player Roshan Lobo said ,“Though being the one of the oldest rugby playing state in the south , we have fielded a young and fit team to give them match exposure and develop the next line of players , we believe we are still the favourites in the tournament in the men’s section “

Nagesh Rao , Secretary  Karnataka Rugby Football Union  said, “We are very pleased to host the first edition first All India South Zone Senior Men’s and Women’s Rugby 7’s Tournament in Bengaluru . Events like these go a long way to promote the sport in a region and we hope that this tournament will do the same. We would like to express our gratitude towards Transworld Rugby  who have been a great supporter for the game , Adroit  Facility Management Services , Scrummer , and the Government of Karnataka  for helping us in organizing the tournament .

by Abhishek Shukla

Harinder Pal Sandhu enters Samifinal in South Australian Open

Adelaide: Third seed Harinder Pal Sandhu warmed up to another fluent display to beat Korea’s Ko Youngjo, the fifth seed, to enter the semi-final of the South Australian Open, a PSA World Tour event here on Thursday.

The former Indian national champion needed just 28 minutes to complete his task with scores of 11-3, 11-3, 11-9. Harinder now gets ready to meet the top seed Piedro Schweertman of Netherlands in the last four.

by Abhishek Shukla

India at 22nd Asian Athletics Championship – Day 1

India Won 2 Gold, 1 Silver and 4 Bronze medals in Day 1 of the 22nd Asian Athletics Championship, here in Bhubaneswar.

 

Start Time
Gender
Event
Round
Athlete
Result
Notes       
2017-07-06 08:30:00 Male 100m Decathlon 1 ABHISHEK SHETTY 11.78 7th – 695 Pts
2017-07-06 08:50:00 Female 1500m Round 1 – Heat 1 MONIKA CHOUDHARY 4:26.25  4th (Qualified)
2017-07-06 09:00:00 Female 1500m Round 1 – Heat 2 CHITRA P U 4:36.80 2nd (Qualified)
2017-07-06 09:10:00 Male 1500m Round 1- Heat1 SIDDHANTA ADHIKARI 3:57.46 2nd (Qualified)
2017-07-06 09:10:00 Male Long Jump Decathlon-2 ABHISHEK SHETTY 6.62m 7th – 725 Pts.
2017-07-06 09:20:00 Male High Jump Qualification Group 1 CHETHAN B. 2.10m 1st (combine)
2017-07-06 09:20:00 Male High Jump Qualification Group 1 AJAY KUMAR 2.10m 1st (combine)
2017-07-06 09:20:00 Male 1500m Round 1-Heat 2 AJAY KUMAR SAROJ  3:51.37 1st (Qualified)
2017-07-06 09:35:00 Male 400m Round 1-Heat 1 MUHAMMED ANAS Y  46.70 2nd (Qualified)
2017-07-06 09:45:00 Male 400m Round 1- Heat 2 AROKIA RAJIV 46.41 1st (Qualified)
2017-07-06 09:55:00 Male 400m Round 1- Heat 2 AMOJ JACOB 47.09 1st (Qualified)
2017-07-06 10:15:00 Male Shot Put Decathlon-3 ABHISHEK SHETTY 13.52 2nd – 699 Pts
2017-07-06 18:00:00 Male Discus throw Final VIKAS GOWDA  60.81m  BRONZE
2017-07-06 18:00:00 Male Discus throw Final DHARAMRAJ YADAV 54.53m 11th
2017-07-06 18:00:00 Male Discus throw Final KIRPAL SINGH 53.64m 13th
2017-07-06 18:00:00 Male High Jump Decathlon 4 ABHISHEK SHETTY 1.89m 6th
2017-07-06 18:05:00 Male Pole Vault Final S. SIVA  NM All faults
2017-07-06 18:10:00 Female Long Jump Final NAYANA JAMES 6.54m  SILVER
2017-07-06 18:10:00 Female Long Jump Final NEENA V. 6.32m BRONZE
2017-07-06 18:10:00 Female Long Jump Final G. KARTHIKA 5.96m 8th
2017-07-06 18:30:00 Female 100m Round 1-Heat 3 DUTEE CHAND  11.40 1st (Qualified)
2017-07-06 18:45:00 Male 100m Round 1- Heat 1 AMIYA KUMAR MALLICK 10.48 3rd
2017-07-06 18:45:00 Female Shot Put Final MANPREET KAUR 18.28m GOLD
2017-07-06 18:45:00 Female Shot Put Final ANAMIKA DAS 14.96m 5th
2017-07-06 18:45:00 Female Shot Put Final RAMANPREET KAUR 14.91m 6th
2017-07-06 19:25:00 Female 400m Round 1- Heat 1 NIRMLA 52.79  1st (Qualified)
2017-07-06 19:35:00 Female 400m Round 1- Heat 2 JISNA MATHEW  53.18 2nd (Qualified)
2017-07-06 19:35:00 Female 400m Round 1- Heat 2 M R POOVAMMA  53.16  1st (Qualified)
2017-07-06 19:40:00 Male 400m Semi Final- Heat 1 MUHAMMED ANAS Y
2017-07-06 19:40:00 Male 400m Semi Final- Heat 2 AMOJ JACOB
2017-07-06 19:40:00 Male 400m Semi Final- Heat 2 AROKIA RAJIV
2017-07-06 19:45:00 Female Javelin Throw Final ANNU RANI 57.32m  BRONZE
2017-07-06 19:45:00 Female Javelin Throw Final POONAM RANI  52.56m 8th
2017-07-06 19:45:00 Female Javelin Throw Final SUMAN DEVI  50.90m 10th
2017-07-06 20:10:00 Female 5000M Final L. SURIYA 16:01.96 4th
2017-07-06 20:10:00 Female 5000M Final SANJIVANI JADHAV 16:00.24 BRONZE
2017-07-06 20:55:00 Male 5000m Final MURLI KUMAR GAVIT 15:02.43  6th
2017-07-06 20:55:00 Male 5000m Final G. LAKSHMANAN  14:54.48  GOLD
2017-07-06 21:35:00 Male 400m Decathlon – 5 ABHISHEK SHETTY 52.02 6th – 724 Pts
by Abhishek Shukla

William Jones Cup – Indian players get crucial exposure against Japan

Bengaluru, 6th July 2017:  The Indian women’s basketball team came up against a strong Japanese team in their second game of the 39th William Jones Cup, to lose 42-93. This was always going to be a tough game, as the Japanese women’s team are ranked 13th in the world, and Indian basketballfans will be encouraged by the performance put in by the Indian women.

 

The team featured a much changed starting line-up, as head coach Zoran Vicic gave the bench an opportunity to stake a claim for an enhanced role in the upcoming FIBA Women’s Asia Cup in Bangalore later this month. Captain Anitha Paul Durai, R Rajapriyadharshini, and Jeena Skaria were replaced by Anjana P G, Navaneetha P U, and Anmolpreet Kaur in the starting line-up. All three put in hearty performances, but the coach will be particularly encouraged by Anjana P G, who had 4 points and 6 rebounds.

 

In the end, the Indian team was no match for the quick scoring Japanese women. As a team, the Japanese shot 49% from the field and 33% from beyond the arc, with five players finishing the game with points in double figures. The Japanese women raced to a 36-13 lead at the end of the first quarter, an offensive performance that was typified by a quick fire 13 points in 5 minutes from Hayashi Saki. She finished the game with 17 points.

 

Next up, the Indian women play South Korea on 7th July at 1500 hrs CST (1230 IST).

 

Japan (Hayashi Saki 17pts, Mirai Tamura 15 pts, Midori Murayama 10 reb) bt India (Raspreet Sidhu 9 pts, Shireen Limaye 8 pts) 93-42 [36-13, 20-7, 12-8, 25-14]

by Abhishek Shukla

Youth National Basketball Championship Haryana boys shock TN to reach semis

Hyderabad, 6th July 2017:  The knockout stages of the 34th Youth National Basketball Championship for Boys and Girls got underway at the Indoor Stadium, Gachibowli in Hyderabad.

 

The Championship is being organized by the Hyderabad District Basketball Association under the aegis of the Telangana Basketball Association and the Basketball Federation of India.

 

From the girls’ side, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, while in the boys, Punjab and Haryana, are through to the semifinals.

 

Kerala girls and Punjab boys cruise into the semis

Kerala girls had no trouble against Maharashtra, with their superior size and steady execution on both ends of the floor. Kerala centre Ann Mary Zachariah showed her class, with the offense repeatedly running through her in the post. Displaying sound awareness, Zachariah would either back down her defender to score, or draw the foul and go to the freethrow line or else attract the double team and pass to the cutting Aparna Sadasivan who was able to make tough runners in the lane look easy.

 

In the first boys’ semifinals, Punjab dominated the much shorter Karnataka team, winning 89-66. Punjab centre Princepal Singh, listed at 6ft 10.5 inches, controlled the paint and prevented any inside scoring opportunities for Karnataka. Karnataka point guard Prashant Tomar tried his best to drive and dish but the big bodies of Punjab proved to be a stumbling block for the southern side. Karnataka could only end up scoring from beyond the arc or in transition, which wasn’t nearly enough against this well oiled Punjab team that are now heavy favourites to go the distance.

 

UP girls and Haryana boys win close games

Compared to the first two quarterfinals, the next two proved to be extremely close fought affairs. A resurgent UP team, which seems to have improved across all age groups in recent years, outlasted Punjab girls 60-52 to book their spot in the final four. Punjab led at the end of the first quarter, before UP wrested the lead with a 15-9 second period. At halftime, the score read 24-20 in favour of UP and the second half saw this well coached side continue to gradually build its lead. With as many as four players scoring in double digits, it was a consummate team effort that saw UP prevail. Meanwhile for Punjab, Radha Rani top scored with 18 in the losing effort.

 

The fourth quarterfinals between Tamil Nadu and Haryana was perhaps the most exciting one of the day so far. There was little to choose from between these two bruising teams even though Tamil Nadu led by double digits at the end of the first and third quarters. Haryana kept mounting comebacks and a massive three point play by Mukesh took the side up by 1, 71-70 with 22 seconds remaining. Tamil Nadu took a time out so as to start the offensive possession on the front court. But the inbounds play couldn’t have gone worse for TN as Haryana’s Sahil forced the turnover and his scored in the ensuing possession, to close out the memorable 73-70 win. The young TN side should hold their heads high for a game well fought, but would perhaps rue the fact that they let a winnable game slip from their grasp.

 

In the fifth quarterfinals Karnataka girls had it very easy against a Madhya Pradesh side that seemed to lack energy from having played a pre-quarterfinals game earlier this morning. Tamil Nadu girls too outclassed Chhattisgarh 73-49.

 

AP & MP boys shock Kerala and UP

In the last two quarterfinals, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh shocked Kerala and Uttar Pradesh respectively. Three key facts make these victories truly spectacular: 1) Both AP and MP are Level 2 teams that have come up to Level 1; 2) Both AP and MP were playing their second match of the day and the fatigue factor was expected to work against them; and 3) Both their opponents Kerala (3-1) and Uttar Pradesh (4-0) had topped their respective Level 1 Groups in the league stages.

 

Andhra Pradesh has been impressive with its brand of ‘total basketball’ where all 5 players on the floor seamlessly rebound, shoot, defend and drive. MP, on the other hand, has been playing hardnosed gritty basketball that may not win the applause of purists but is effective nonetheless.

 

They continued with their contrasting styles tonight at the expense of Kerala and UP. It remains to be seen how far they can keep going, but it is safe to say that they will be viewed as underdogs no more.

 

 

 

Results from Day 6 (6th July 2017) till 7 pm

 

Girls

 

Level 1

Quarterfinals

  1. Kerala (Aparna Sadasivan 14, Ann Mary Zachariah 12, An Mariya Johny 9) bt Maharashtra (Abha Lad 12, Siya Deodhar 11) 58-45 [11-7, 15-11, 21-9, 11-18]
  2. Uttar Pradesh (Vrinda Garg 15, Vartika Kushwaha 12, Riya Baliyan 12, Alankrita Singh 11) bt Punjab (Radha Rani 18, Priyanka Behal 12) 60-52 [9-11, 15-9, 16-15, 20-17]
  3. Karnataka (Grishma N 28, Nidhi Chaudhari 12, Reshma Ramesh 10) bt Madhya Pradesh (Rajvi Desai 19, Divya Sam 12) 73-43 [15-8, 22-14, 27-9, 9-12]
  4. Tamil Nadu (Pushpa 24, Lakshmi Priya 18) bt Chhattisgarh (Neha Karva 21) 73-49 [15-13, 25-15, 21-7, 12-14]

Pre-quarterfinals

  1. Chhattisgarh (Neha Karva 27, Urvanshi Baghel 19, Elijabet Ekka 13) bt Haryana (Suman 19, Ritika 13) 78-47 [24-14, 19-15, 16-9, 19-9]
  2. Madhya Pradesh (Asmat Kaur Taunque 16, Ruchi Patel 15, Rajvi Desai 10) bt West Bengal (Liza Deb 15, Jyothi Routh 10) 63-39 [22-11, 19-11, 14-10, 8-7]

 

Relegation from Level 1 to Level 2

* Both teams have already been relegated. This match is played so as to decide their lower level groupings for next year.

  1. Gujarat (Naiya Patel 24, Tanisha Shah 13, Hethavi Sorathiya 8) bt Rajasthan (Shataksh Rathore 16, Akshita 11, Ankita 9) 62-38 [22-11, 17-4, 16-15, 7-8]

 

Level 2 Loser’s Knockout Finals*

*This is a standalone tournament for Level 2 teams that have already been eliminated from the main draw

  1. Himachal Pradesh (Pallavi Bramla 37, Rakhi 14) bt Chandigarh (Tarini Boprai 32) 71-48 [22-9, 15-9, 16-13, 18-17]

 

Boys

 

Level 1

Quarterfinals

  1. Punjab (Princepal Singh 32, Harsimranjit Singh 19, Rajan 18) bt Karnataka (Aniket Sahoo 21, Akshan Rao 14) 89-66 [30-9, 21-20, 16-15, 22-22]
  2. Haryana (Mukesh 23, Kapil Mor 19, Gaurav 16) bt Tamil Nadu (G Dhanosh 25, Gokul V 14) 74-70 [13-23, 17-8, 13-24, 31-15]
  3. Andhra Pradesh (A Sai Pavan Kumar 25, S Sachin 18) bt Kerala (Jerom Prince 23) 82-61 [27-23, 18-13, 23-14, 14-11]
  4. Madhya Pradesh (Divyaraj Singh Rathore 27, Udayveer Yadav 18) bt Uttar Pradesh (Priyhanshu 23, Krishnakant Singh 8, Shubham Karwasara 8) 79-67 [9-20, 26-14, 20-15, 24-18]

Pre-quarterfinals

  1. Andhra Pradesh (A Sai Pavan Kumar 32, S Sachin 19, P Pavan 12) bt Maharashtra (Tanay Thatte 27, Arjun Yadav 14) 91-61 [23-13, 23-26, 20-14, 25-8]
  2. Madhya Pradesh (Udayveer Yadav 29, Mani Thakur 16, Divyaraj Singh Rathore 15, Shunit Singh 12) bt Rajasthan (Kuldeep Singh 17, Rajveer Singh Bhati 14, Deepu 12) 88-60 [25-13, 12-17, 26-17, 25-13]

 

Relegation from Level 1 to Level 2

* Both teams have already been relegated. This match is played so as to decide their lower level groupings for next year.

  1. Delhi (Nitish Beniwal 23, Aryan 14, Sanksar Nagpal 11) bt Chhattisgarh (Harendra Kumar 22, Saif Ali Khan 16) 73-54 [20-14, 20-12, 11-10, 22-18]

 

Level 2 Loser’s Knockout Finals*

*This is a standalone tournament for Level 2 teams that have already been eliminated from the main draw

  1. Telangana (Vinay Kothari 16, Rithik Pothuganti 16, Aman Topno 13, Vighneshwar Upadhyay 13) bt Assam (Salew Kadete 21, Sanjay Balmiki 19, Shivam Sunar 12) 79-69 [21-11, 20-17, 14-27, 24-14]
by Abhishek Shukla

Asian Athletics Championship 2017: Morning Session report

Bhubanseswar, July 6: India’s Arokia Raj came up with the fastest time (46.61 seconds) in round one of the glamourous men’s 400m on the opening morning of competition in the 22nd Asian Athletics Championships at the Kalinga Stadium here on Wednesday.

Here’s an account of the proceedings.

Decathlon:

Thailand’s Suttisak Singkon came up with solid efforts in long jump (7.79m) and shot put (14.09m) to grab the lead after the first three events. He was second behind Japanese Kazuya Kawaski in 100m dash, unable to breach the 11-second mark, but came into his own in the two field events on the opening morning. Silver medallist the last time in Wuhan, China’s Guo Qi, who has a season’s best of 7517 points under his belt, did not find his rhythm and is lying fifth among seven starters.

Men’s 400m round one:

India’s Arokia Rajiv held off a challenge from Sri Lankan Ajith Premakumara in the second heat to emerge the fast qualifier with a time of 46.41 seconds. Oman’s Mubarak Ahmed was a comfortable winner of the fourth heat in 46.51 seconds while Sri Lanka’s Dilip Ruwan, who beat home favourite Muhammaed Anas in the opening heat, was third fastest with 46.58. The third Indian in the fray Amoj Jacob was the best in the slowest of the four heats, winning in 47.09. Saudi Arabia’s Ismaeel Mohammed, who was drawn in the same heat as Mubarak Ahmed, clocked the fourth fastest time in the heats (46.60).

Men’s 1500m round one:

India’s Ajay Kumar Saroj got the crowd on its feet with a stirring run over the final 450m that saw him win the second heat in 3:51.37 from Iran’s Moslam Niadoost (Iran) and Adnan Taes (Iraq); Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed Othman, who was challenging the Indian on the final bend, lost steam in the final 50m and finished fourth.

Earlier, Qatar’s Jamal Hairane won the first heat quite comfortably while Indian SIddhantha Adhikari came up with a good finishing burst to move into second place.

Men’s high jump qualification:

The gangling Zhang Guowei (China), world championship silver medallist, sent out a strong signal to his competitors when qualifying for the final by clearing at 2.10m. Takahari Hiromi (Japan), Bai Long (China), Syrian  Majed El Dein Ghazal and Korean Woo Sang-Hyeok as well Indians B Chethan and Ajay Kumar were among the 14 who cleared this height and ensured a place in the final. Bangladesh’s Mahfuzur Rahman and Kuwait’s Abdal Rahman Alyouga were the ones who went out of the qualification, unable to clear 2.04m and 2.00m respectively.

Women’s 1500m round one:

India’s Chitra PU bravely hung in as part of a tight bunch of six runners and found her way through to lead briefly on the home stretch of the second heats – giving the goodly crowd at the Kalinga Stadium reason to cheer. However, Japan’s Ayako Jinnouchi surged forward to break the beam while North Korea’s Hyo Sim’s desperate lunge at the finish earned her the third place.

In a faster heat earlier, China’s Geng Min ran along the shoulders of front-running Japanese Nozomi Tanaka for a long while and after Jordan’s Tamara Amer shifted gears to take the bell, Gen Min responded with a kick over the last 250m that saw her home comfortably ahead of the others. India’s Monika Choudhary, lying sixth for much of the race, despite some jostling moved up to fourth place with a hardy effort over the last 150m.

by Abhishek Shukla

INDIA CLIMB UP TO 96 IN LATEST FIFA RANKINGS

NEW DELHI: The Indian National Football Team achieved its best-ever FIFA Ranking since February 1996 as they were ranked 96 in the July FIFA Rankings released earlier today (July 6, 2017). In the process, India are currently placed 12th in AFC.

 

India’s best-ever FIFA Ranking till date stays 94 which was attained in February 1996 while 99 stayed India’s second-best FIFA Ranking which was also achieved in November 1993.

 

Indian Football and the National Team have been on an upsurge with a string of good results leading to a climb of 77 places in FIFA Rankings over the last two years. The Team has now won 13 of their last 15 matches and are unbeaten in the last 8 matches (including the unofficial match against Bhutan).

 

India were ranked 171 when Constantine took over as National Coach for the second time in February 2015 and slipped further to 173 in March 2015 in the FIFA ladder even before Constantine could have his first game in charge against Nepal, which India eventually won 2-0 on aggregate.

 

Congratulating the Team, AIFF President Mr. Praful Patel said: “It’s a giant leap of faith for Indian Football. Two years back, we were 173 and now we have reached our second best FIFA Ranking ever. The leap signifies the potential of Indian Football. Congratulations to the National Team boys, the Coach, the staff and all in AIFF.”

 

Mr. Kushal Das, General Secretary, All India Football Federation (AIFF), stated: “This comes as a huge boost ahead of our next AFC Asian Cup qualifying match against Macau on September 5, 2017. Hats off to the Team for giving it their all in achieving this milestone. Qualifying for the AFC Asian Cup 2019 stays our top priority.”

 

National Coach Stephen Constantine stated: “When I took over, I had mentioned that my target was to bring India below 100. I am happy to have played a small part in this process. Kudos to the boys, the staff and a big thank you to my colleagues in AIFF for supporting us all throughout. I also need to thank Mr. Patel and Mr. Das for their trust in allowing me to do things in the manner I wanted.”

 

“But the present FIFA spot doesn’t mean that we have achieved much. We need to stay focused on the upcoming challenges.”

 

A qualification spot in the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 is what the AIFF aims at this moment. That would be India’s second AFC Asian Cup stint in 8 years, the last being in Doha in 2011.

by Abhishek Shukla

Indian women begin William Jones Cup with a loss to New Zealand

Bengaluru, 5th July 2017:  The Indian women’s basketball team has begun its 39th William Jones Cup International Basketball Tournament campaign with a 52-75 loss to New Zealand. The Indian women, seeking valuable exposure before the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup later this month, were hoping for a positive start. But their opponents, the “Tall Ferns” raced to a 9 point lead at the first quarter, and extended it to 16 points by half time.

 

The New Zealanders were led by the scoring of Micaela Cocks with 21 points, supported by Chevannah Paalvast and Jillian Harmon who dropped 15 and 11 points respectively. The “Tall Ferns” lived up to their moniker, out-rebounding the Indian team 43-31.

In contrast, the Indian women shot 42% from the field, and will definitely look to improve from beyond the arc (6/21) and the free throw line (2/7). This being their first competitive outing in months, the Indian women’s 24 turnovers can be overlooked, provided they to do a better job of protecting the ball in coming matches. The top performers for the Indian team were captain Anitha Paul Durai with 15 points, and R Rajapriyadharshini with 8 rebounds, while veteran shooting guard Raspreet Sidhu chipped in with 11.

Next up, the Indian women play Japan on 6th July at 1500 hrs CST (1230 IST).

New Zealand (Micaela Cocks 21 pts, Chevannah Paalvast 15 pts, Jillian Harmon 11 pts) bt India (Anitha Paul Durai 15 pts, Raspreet Sidhu 11 pts, R Rajapriyadharshini 8 reb) 75–52 [24 – 15, 18 – 11, 13 – 9, 20 – 17]