Author: Abhishek Shukla

Owner of Sports India Live.
by Abhishek Shukla

Youth National Basketball: UP, Kerala, Tamil Nadu qualifies for Quarters in both sections

Hyderabad, 5th July 2017:  The 34th Youth National Basketball Championship for Boys and Girls saw its final day of league action conclude today 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.

 

Exciting Conclusion of League Rounds

It was an exciting final day of league action as there were many close fought games that went right down to the wire. Notably, Tamil Nadu boys beat Punjab 75-73, Rajasthan boys beat Kerala 80-75, while Delhi beat Karnataka 60-58. All of these teams progressed to the quarterfinals, barring Delhi, which will be relegated to Level 2 next year.

 

In the girls section, Tamil Nadu and Kerala girls posted easy wins. Punjab had it surprisingly easy against Madhya Pradesh, winning 61-43, while UP brooked no resistance from Gujarat.

 

All the pre-quarterfinalists and quarterfinalists have now been confirmed and will face off tomorrow in the following manner:

 

Court – 1

No Team “A” Vs Team “B” Group Timing
                                                                  PRE QUARTER FINAL
104 A 4 MADHYA PRADESH Vs B 5 WEST BENGAL GIRLS 07.00 AM
105 A 4 RAJASTHAN Vs B 5 MADHYA PRADESH BOYS 08.30 AM
                                                                         QUARTER FINAL
106 A 3 MAHARASHTRA Vs B 2 KERALA GIRLS 10.00 AM
107 A 3 KARNATAKA Vs B 2 PUNJAB BOYS 11.30 AM
108 B 3 UTTAR PRADESH Vs A 2 PUNJAB GIRLS 02.00 PM
109 B 3 TAMIL NADU Vs A 2 HARYANA BOYS 03.30 PM
110 A 1 TAMIL NADU Vs W/O CHH/ HAR GIRLS 05.00 PM
111 B 1 UTTAR PRADESH Vs W/O MP/ RAJ BOYS 06.30 PM

 

Court – 2

 PRE QUARTER FINALS LEVEL – I

No Team “A” Vs Team “B” Group Timing
                                                                PRE QUARTER FINAL
112 B 4  CHHATTISGARH Vs A 5 HARYANA GIRLS 07.00 AM
113 B 4 MAHARASHTRA Vs A 5 ANDHRA PRADESH BOYS 08.30 AM
                                                                         QUARTER FINAL
118 B 1 KARNATAKA Vs W/O WB/ MP GIRLS 05.00 PM
119 A 1 KERALA Vs W/O MAH/ AP BOYS 06.30 PM

 

 

Results from Day 5 (5th July 2017)

 

Girls

 

Level 1

Group A

  1. Tamil Nadu (Pushpa 25, Monica Jayaseeli 22, Lakshmi Priya 12) bt Maharashtra (Siya Deodhar 17, Suzanne Pinto 15, Khushi Dongre 9) 84-67 [14-24, 18-16, 24-14, 28-13]
  2. Punjab (Radha Rani 27, Priyanka B 13) bt Madhya Pradesh (Asmat Kaur Taunque 13) 61-43 [7-3, 13-9, 20-14, 21-17]

Group B

  1. Uttar Pradesh (Vrinda Garg 7, Pratishtha Singh 6, Vartika Kushwaha 6) bt Gujarat (Hethavi Sorathiya 8) 37-18 [7-2, 8-6, 9-6, 13-4]
  2. Kerala (Ann Mary Zachariah 22, Sandra K A 17, Aparna Sadasivan 16) bt Chhattisgarh (Neha Karva 28, Elijabet Ekka 13) 72-51 [13-15, 24-9, 18-15, 17-12]

 

Level 2 to Level 1 Qualifying Matches

* Both teams have already qualified for the pre-quarterfinals. This match is played so as to enable the winner to decide their pre-quarterfinals opponent.

  1. West Bengal (Liza Deb 27, Jyothi Routh 22) bt Haryana (Ritika 20, Priyanka Gupta 19, Suman 13) 69-67 [10-13, 20-10, 17-23, 22-21]

 

Level 2 Loser’s Knockout Semifinals*

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

  1. Chandigarh (Tarini Boprai 23, Vaidehi Singh 19) bt Telangana (G Sandhya 16, Arya A Sreeramaneni 14) 65-58 [15-14, 16-11, 16-13, 18-20]
  2. Himachal Pradesh (Ananya Sanoria 11, Rakhi 10) bt Andhra Pradesh (P Satya Sai Sushmita 24) 59-48 [15-13, 8-11, 14-17, 22-7]

 

 

Boys

 

Level 1

Group A

  1. Delhi (Nitish Beniwal 27, Sankar Nagpal 11) bt Karnataka (Akshan Rao 16, Shreyas Shrinivas 10) 60-58 [10-11, 8-18, 24-7, 18-22]
  2. Rajasthan (Rajveer Singh 27, Kuldeep Singh 16) bt Kerala (Jerom P 25, Tom Jose) 80-75 [23-8, 23-18, 20-21, 14-28]

 

Group B

  1. Tamil Nadu (Gokul V 32, R Harikara Prabhu 14, K Arun Pandian 10) bt Punjab (Princepal Singh 23, Harsimranjit Singh 22, Mani Singh 15, Rajan 11) 75-73 [14-26, 16-7, 25-21, 20-19]
  2. Uttar Pradesh (Priyhanshu 25, Aniket Singh 19) bt Chhattisgarh (Saif Ali Khan 23, Harendra Kumar 14) 91-55 [27-16, 15-16, 19-12, 30-11]

 

Level 2 to Level 1 Qualifying Matches

* Both teams have already qualified for the pre-quarterfinals. This match is played so as to enable the winner to decide their pre-quarterfinals opponent.

  1. Madhya Pradesh (Divyaraj Singh Rathore 41, Udayveer Yadav 24, Mani Thakur 11) bt Andhra Pradesh (A Sai Pavan Kumar 31, S V V Sai Krishna 16, S Sachin 16) 96-90 [18-33, 27-19, 18-17, 33-21]

 

Level 2 Loser’s Knockout Semifinals*

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

  1. Telangana (Vinay Kothari 18, Aman Topno 16, Vighneshwar Upadhyay 14, Rithwik Thamareddy 13) bt Himachal Pradesh (Abhay Dhadwal 22) 84-57 [32-23, 20-17, 18-11, 14-6]
  2. Assam (Shivam S 17, Kaif Ahmed 15, Sanjay Pal Balmiki) bt Gujarat (Rishabh Chaudhary 17, Rushal Kholiya 10) 63-55 [21-18, 12-8, 10-8, 20-21]

 

Pending results from Day 4 (4th July 2017) after 6:00 pm

 

Girls

 

Level 1

Group B

  1. Uttar Pradesh (Vartika Kushwaha 25, Vrinda Garg 18, Tripti Singh 12) bt Chhattisgarh (Urvashi Baghel 13, Neha Karva 13, Elijabet Ekka 11) 83-48 [25-24, 26-11, 22-10, 10-3]

 

Level 2 Loser’s Knockout Quarterfinals*

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

  1. Andhra Pradesh (A Surya Kamala Kumari 10, R Swetha 10, P Sathya Sai Sushmita 10) bt Uttarakhand (Sarita Bisht 2, Shrishthi Sharma 2) 39-4 [18-2, 2-2, 10-0, 9-0]
  2. Chandigarh (Tarini Boprai 20) bt Assam (Lakshmi Kachari 9, Bishnu Priya Borah 4) 38-17 [16-4, 6-2, 2-1, 14-10]

 

Boys

 

Level 2 to Level 1 Qualifying Matches*

*The winning team qualifies from Level 2 to Level 1

  1. Andhra Pradesh (M Mani Kanta 26, A Sai Pavan Kumar 16, S V V Sai Krishna 15) bt West Bengal(Avijit Monikar 15) 74-24 [20-5, 17-6, 20-9, 17-4]
  2. Madhya Pradesh (Divyaraj Singh Rathore 16, Udayveer Yadav 9) bt Bihar (Dharmendar Kumar 5, Bhupendra Bahadur 4) 59-22 [26-7, 17-4, 9-4, 7-7]

Level 2 Loser’s Knockout Quarterfinals*

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

  1. Gujarat (Rushal Kholiya 12, Bhavya Upadhyay 11) bt Goa (Jeshua Pinto 10) 43-25 [12-6, 8-2, 13-12, 10-5]
by Abhishek Shukla

Bengaluru FC sign Aussie midfielder Paartalu

Bengaluru: Less than a week after retaining Sunil Chhetri and Udanta Singh, Bengaluru FC have added to their arsenal in signing Australian midfielder Erik Paartalu on a season-long deal. The Blues have also retained defender Juanan Gonzalez who will join John Johnson for another season at the heart of Bengaluru’s defence.

Towering at 6’4″, Sydney-born Paartalu began his career in the National Soccer League, now the A-League, with Northern Spirit. His stints in Australia included three seasons with Brisbane Roar when they played AFC Champions League football. At Brisbane, Paartalu won two Championships and one Premiership and played 85 consecutive matches while setting an Australian record of any sporting code with an unbeaten streak of 36 games.

Paartalu moved to Chinese side Tianjin TEDA FC in 2013 before a switch to Thailand with Muangthong United the following year. He was also part of South Korean side Jeonbuk Hyundai for a brief period in the season that side went on to win the AFC Champions League.

The midfielder earned his first senior national team cap in 2012, playing in a World Cup Qualifier for the ‘Socceroos’ against Saudi Arabia.

“I was really excited by the Bengaluru FC project because it is a club that’s doing really well for itself in an expanding market. Indian football is getting bigger and bigger. It felt like the right project to get involved with. I spoke with Cameron Watson and he sold it to me in terms of where the club is. They’ve been very successful in the last four years and are looking to make major steps in the Indian Super League,” said Paartalu.

The 31-year-old was confident that his experience in AFC competition will prove handy for the Blues who are gearing up for their inter-zone semifinal in the AFC Cup against North Korean side 4.25 SC onAugust 23.

“I’ve played in a lot of countries in Asia so that experience is invaluable when it comes to playing games on different continents with short turnarounds. Being 31, I’ve experienced football for a long time and playing in the AFC Cup will definitely suit me. I look forward to playing in the ISL and I know I can do well in the League with a good team around me.”

Bengaluru FC coach Albert Roca said he was confident of Paartalu bringing his experience to the table as the club attempts to rebuild the squad this season. “A lot of things change for us this season and experience is what will play a key role during this phase. Erik brings that kind of experience with him and I’m certain he will be a vital figure at Bengaluru FC,” said Roca.

by Abhishek Shukla

Star Sports to broadcast I-League along with ISL from 2017-18 season

NEW DELHI, 5th July 2017: The League Committee members met under the Chairmanship of Mr. Subrata Dutta at AIFF Headquarters, Football House, Dwarka, New Delhi on Wednesday (July 5, 2017). The Committee unanimously took the following decisions:

The I-League and the Indian Super League will be held simultaneously for the 2017-18 season and would kick-off after the completion of the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017.

The Committee also deliberated on the proposal from various PSUs of conducting an Institutional/Corporate League for the PSUs and Corporates, starting from 2017-18 season and unanimously agreed on the proposal to organise the league under the aegis of AIFF, subject to all expenses being borne by the participating teams.

A task force was formed to oversee operation, marketing and promotion of the I-League 2017-18. The task-force comprises of the Chairman of the League Committee, the Vice-Chairman of the League Committee, a member from FSDL and the AIFF General Secretary and the CEO, I-League, as ex officio members.

The Committee asked the AIFF General Secretary to discuss with Asian Football Confederation as to how they would like to operationalise the future road map for Club Football in India and empowered him to form the task force for the purpose, if required.

Meanwhile, it was confirmed by FSDL that the I-League would be broadcasted on Star Sports platform with much improved production quality.

The Committee also stated that the scheduling of the ISL and I-League matches needs to be discussed and finalised with Star Sports, FSDL and I-League department.

The Committee also approved the allocation of funds to I-League Clubs as follows:

  • Travel subsidy: Rs. 50 lakhs per Club
  • Special subsidy: Rs. 20 lakhs per club
  • Central Marketing expenditure of Rs. 1 crore by AIFF, subject to the Clubs submitting their local marketing plan to the Federation before AIFF placing the Central Marketing expenditure to the AIFF Finance Committee.

Relating to diverse views on number of foreign players to be playing in the League, the Committee decided the matter should be referred to the AIFF Executive Committee for a final decision as it falls under the purview of the AIFF Executive Committee.

The Committee also decided that the format and timing of the proposed Super Cup/Champions Cup be finalised after reviewing the calendar of the SAFF Championships to be held in Bangladesh in 2018, and further discussions with FSDL.

by Abhishek Shukla

FIFA Legends Kanu, Cambiasso to attend Official Draw for FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017

FIFA Legends Kanu, Cambiasso to attend Official Draw for FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017

FIFA and the Local Organising Committee (LOC) today announced the participation of FIFA Legends Esteban Cambiasso and Nwankwo Kanu along with Indian sporting icons Sunil Chhetri and PV Sindhu at the Official Draw for the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017.

Kanu and Cambiasso are no strangers to the FIFA U-17 World Cup. Kanu held the Winner’s Trophy aloft with Nigeria’s Super Eaglets in 1993 while Argentina’s great Cambiasso participated in the 1995 edition.

Kanu won Olympic gold in 1996, was twice chosen as African Player of the Year, and played for the Super Eagles at the 1998, 2002 and 2010 editions of the FIFA World Cup™.

Cambiasso, meanwhile, won the FIFA U-20 World Cup 1997 and was part of Argentina’s team at the 2010 FIFA World Cup™.

Nwankwo Kanu said: “The FIFA U-17 World Cup 1993 really spurred my career – within years of winning the title, I won the Olympic gold and from there as I would like to believe, there wasn’t any looking back. This tournament provides youngsters the necessary stage for development and I believe this year’s edition will provide us all with exceptional talent – much like the previous tournaments.”

The two football icons will be joined by local legends Sunil Chhetri and PV Sindhu, who will take part as draw assistants. Chhetri is India’s national football team captain and all-time top goalscorer. Twenty-one-year-old badminton player PV Sindhu is one of India’s finest athletes at the moment and made waves after winning the Olympic silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics, becoming the youngest Indian to make a podium finish in an individual event at the Olympics.

The draw on 7 July will also be attended by officials from the participating teams and the Host Cities. The event will be telecasted live on FIFA.com.

by Abhishek Shukla

FC Goa retains Mandar Rao Dessai and Laxmikanth Kattimani

Panaji, 5th July 2017: FC Goa is pleased to confirm the signings of Goalkeeper Laxmikanth Kattimani and winger Mandar Rao Dessai on 3- year-deals which will keep the players on the Konkan coast till the end of 2019-20 season. The club will now enter the domestic draft having retained the maximum quota of retentions allowed as per the regulations of the league organizers.

Club president, Akshay Tandon said, “We are delighted to have been able to agree terms with Laxmikanth Kattimani and Mandar Rao Dessai. Both of them have defended the club’s crest since its inception and we couldn’t be happier that they will continue to do so for a further three years. Both of them have been vital pieces of the jigsaw in the past seasons and we expect them to continue in the same vein. With only two players being allowed for retention, we are pleased that they have ended up being Mandar and Kattimani.”

Kattimani signs with the club having plied his trade for Mumbai FC in the concluded I-League season. The shot-stopper has made 25 appearances with the club over the past three seasons of the ISL. Since becoming first choice in the second season, no goalkeeper has managed to tally more than Kattimani’s 84 saves. Mandar renewed terms with the club having spent the last I-League season on loan at Bengaluru FC. The flying winger previously had a small stint at Villareal prior to the start of the 3rd season of the ISL.

After extending his stay at the club, Mandar said, “I’m pleased to be able to come back to Goa again. For the past three seasons, I have received an immense amount of love and support from the fans and have learnt a lot at the club. I want to continue to keep moving in an upward trajectory and continue to develop my skills under the new coach. I’m keen to play my part in ensuring the club pushes hard for the title this year.”

Kattimani added, “I’m thankful to the club for the faith they have shown in my abilities. Being a Goan, it’s a moment of pride to be able to represent the club which plays in Goa. We are starting fresh this year with a lot of expectations and after the disappointment of last season, we are keen to ensure we give the fans something to cheer about this season.”

With the duo agreeing terms, the club now has three players on its books for the upcoming season, with Bruno Pinheiro having become the first foreign signing of the club the previous month.

by Abhishek Shukla

Suthirta-Pooja pair wins a bronze in Australian Open table Tennis

New Delhi, July 5: Indian paddlers, continuing their good run and form, created a flutter when Sutirtha Mukherjee and Pooja Sahasrabudhe defeated crowd favourites Miao Miao and Jian Fang Lay from Australia 3-1 (11-9, 12-14, 8-11, 9-11) to enter the semifinals women doubles in the Seamaster 2017 Australian Open at Gold Coast this morning.

The Australian pairing was the more experienced on the court, yet the Suthirtha and Pooja didn’t back down. They had answers for the unique style of play by Lay. “Jian Fang Lay is very tricky and has an odd game. We discussed a strategy with our coach Massimo Costantani before the match. We were prepared and the strategy worked,” added Pooja

“We were very excited. I feel beating Australia in Australia was something special,” said Pooja Sahasrabudhe. But the pair did admit that the clash with the top-seeded Chinese was more than a formidable test.

Before the semifinals this afternoon, the Indians said that they would try their best. But that was not good enough as it was another match for the experienced Chinese pair which went about its job methodically.

The pair’s luck ran out and the Indians had to satisfy themselves with the bronze medal when they lost to the Chinese duo of Chen Meng and Zhu Ling, who are also the top seed. The Chinese disposed of the Indians quickly with an easy 11-4, 11-6, 11-2 victory. Chen Meng and Zhu Yuling were imperious in their match against Sutirtha and Pooja as the no.1 seeds were in complete control on the court, booking a place in the final.

Earlier,  in men singles Harmeet Desai lost to Japan’s Maharu Yoshimura, the No.12 seed (11-7, 11-6, 16-14, 11-8), but Sanil Shetty upset Korea’s Jang Woojin, the No.13 seed, (11-9, 3-11, 12-10, 11-3, 6-11, 11-8) and G. Sathiyan accounted for Chinese Taipei’s Chen Chien-An, the No.14 seed (11-6, 4-11, 1-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-9), two biggest achievements for the Indians in the round of 32.

In the pre-quarterfinals to be played later this evening, Sathiyan will take on Frenchman Simon Gauzy while Sanil will clash with Cho Seungmin of South Korea in tough outings.

by Abhishek Shukla

FIFA & LOC for FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017 reopen ticket sales for Kolkata, Guwahati and Kochi

FIFA and the Local Organising Committee of the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017 today announced that Phase I tickets for Kolkata, Guwahati and Kochi have been reopened for sale.

Illustrating the huge interest in the beautiful game in these regions, tickets for these three cities had been sold out well before knowing the teams that will play at the venue.

Ticket sales for Phase I are scheduled to end on 7th July 2017, after the Official Draw for the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017. Keeping that in mind, the Organising Committee has decided to ensure fans who have not yet got a chance to buy the Venue Package in the three cities, can access the discounted tickets for another three days.

Speaking about the decision, FIFA Deputy Secretary General Zvonimir Boban said “We’ve been really impressed with the interest in the tournament, especially in Kolkata, Guwahati and Kochi, and we’d like to give the fans there one more opportunity before the draw to book their place for this historic event in India. This is a beautiful demonstration of the love that Indian people have for football.”

Tickets for Phase II will go on sale once the fixtures have been decided on 7th after the Official Draw for the tournament. The phase will exclusively be available for VISA cardholders between 7th and 21st July.

The FIFA U-17 World Cup will take place in India between 6th and 28th October.

by Abhishek Shukla

INDIA EXPRESSES INTEREST TO HOST FIFA U-20 WORLD CUP IN 2019

NEW DELHI: All India Football Federation today (July 4, 2017) submitted an expression of interest to host the FIFA U-20 World Cup in India in 2019.

Mr. Praful Patel, President, All India Football Federation stated that this would be the next “logical step for the development of Football in India.”

“With India hosting the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017 this year in October, we feel hosting the U-20 World Cup would be the best way to sustain the footballing momentum in India. Even though the event was held earlier this year in Asia in Korea Republic, we would be happy to discuss with FIFA about the possibility of hosting the event in India in 2019,” he said.

The format of the U-20 World Cup is same as the FIFA U-17 World Cup with 24 teams playing out of six venues.

Meanwhile, the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017 will be held in India from October 6-28, 2017.

by Abhishek Shukla

Indian girls U18 rugby captain Sumitra confident of returning with a medal

Mumbai, July 4: The Societe Generale-Indian Girls’ Under-18 rugby team, will compete in the Rugby Sevens U-18 girls event at the Paris World Games 2017, to be held in the French capital, commencing on July 7 to 9, 2017, this was announced at a media conference on Tuesday.

The 12-member Indian team, which comprises of six players from Odisha, four from West Bengal and one each from Delhi and Maharashtra, will be captained by Sumitra Nayak from odisha.

Sumitra Nayak said the team will try their best to return with a medal, maybe even the gold from the tournament. “We have trained hard for the past one month here, in Mumbai under Hussain Sir. We have practised a lot and worked on improving our skills for the tournament and we will give our best to bring laurels for the country,” said Nayak, who initially trained at the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences in Bhubaneshwar.

The Indian team accompanied by coach Nasser Hussain will depart for Paris onJuly 6.

This is the second time that an India Girls’ Under-18 team will be participating in an international rugby tournament. Last year the Indian U-18 girls team had bagged a bronze at the inaugural Asian U-18 Rugby Sevens held in UAE.

Hussain pointed out that the team was picked after a selection process. “We had a selection camp where 25 girls took part out of which 12 girls were selected,” said Hussain.

Hussain said five girls – Sumitra, Rajni Sabar, Basanti Pangi, Lija Sardar (all Odisha) and Gargee Walekar (Maharashtra) – were part of the squad in the Asian tournament held in UAE. This time the team will be strengthened by inclusion of four girls from West Bengal, who will be making their international debut.

“So far, seven teams have confirmed their participation for the rugby event,” said the coach, adding it was a fairly young side.

Hussain said that team members will be meeting members of both the French women’s national rugby team and under-18 team during their visit.

Apart from rugby, the World Games – conducted with an eye on France winning the bid to host the 2024 Olympics – will see competitions in volleyball, football, badminton, basketball and handball.

The Games will see participation of around 15,000 athletes from over 60 countries.

by Abhishek Shukla

Youth National Basketball Championship: Karnataka girls and UP boys top their league groups

Hyderabad, 4th July 2017:  The 34th Youth National Basketball Championship for Boys and Girls entered Day 4 today 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.

Haryana, WB girls elevated to Level 1; TN girls stay undefeated

Tamil Nadu girls (3-0) stayed unbeaten by outclassing Madhya Pradesh (2-1) today. Both teams are assured of quarterfinal berths, but Tamil Nadu will look to win its final league match tomorrow against Maharashtra and end the league stages at the top of Group A. From the lower Level, West Bengal and Haryana have progressed to the upper Level 1, and simultaneously securing a spot in the pre-quarterfinals. West Bengal managed to keep a fighting Delhi side at bay, winning 61-58, while Haryana had it fairly easy against Odisha with a 53-41 victory.

 

Karnataka and Maharashtra girls too posted wins over Gujarat and Rajasthan respectively. The 4-0 Karnataka has finished as the top side in Group B and will take on the to-be-announced 4th placed team from Group A in the quarterfinals.

 

Kerala and UP boys continue to impress

In the boys’ section, Kerala (3-0) beat Karnataka (2-1) in impressive fashion. The two sides were coming into this game undefeated and guaranteed of knockout berths. But it was defending champs Kerala who showed their class with a 75-45 drubbing of their southern neighbours. Kerala will face Rajasthan tomorrow while Karnataka takes on Delhi.

 

Later in the evening, in an overtly physical encounter, Punjab boys beat Maharashtra 75-58 to go 2-1 with 1 league match remaining. Meanwhile Haryana boys (2-2) drubbed Rajasthan (1-2) by 21 points to book their spot in the quarterfinals. In Group B action, Uttar Pradesh continued to impress by beating Tamil Nadu and ending their league rounds with perfect 4-0 records.

 

Results from Day 4 (4th July 2017) until 6:00 pm

 

Girls

 

Level 1

Group A

  1. Tamil Nadu (Monica Jayaseeli 19, Pushpa 15, Lakshmi Priya 11) bt Madhya Pradesh (Ruchi Patel 14, Rajvi Desai 10) 67-42 [17-17, 16-11, 22-7, 12-7]
  2. Maharashtra (Khushi Dongre 21, Suzanne Pinto 16, Purvi Mahalle 8) bt Rajasthan (Shataksh Rathore 14, Akshita Jain 10) 70-34 [18-10, 20-8, 17-8, 15-8]

Group B

  1. Karnataka (Sanjana Ramesh 19, Reshma Ramesh 11) bt Gujarat (Tanisha Shah 13) 59-38 [18-11, 19-6, 6-10, 16-11]

 

Level 2 to Level 1 Qualifying Matches

  1. West Bengal (Jyothi Routh 16, Babita Das 13, Liza Deb 12) bt Delhi (Bharti 19, Khushi 18) 61-58 [15-16, 12-10, 17-15, 17-17]
  2. Haryana (Ritika 16, Priyanka Gupta 14, Varsha 11) bt Odisha (Lipramayee Satapathy 16, Pragati Ray 12, Anuradha Seth 6) 53-41 [16-12, 17-13, 11-7, 9-9]

Level 2 Loser’s Knockout Quarterfinals*

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

  1. Telangana (Arya A Sreeramaneni 12, G Sandhya 11) bt Goa (Katherine Barreto 4, Naomi Nunes 4) 49-15 [11-5, 22-2, 8-4, 8-4]
  2. Himachal Pradesh (Pallavi Bramla 15, Ananya Sanoria 10) bt Jharkhand (Anu Oraon 13) 50-25 [15-8, 14-0, 12-13, 9-4]

Boys

 

Level 1

Group A

  1. Kerala (Jerom Prince 23, Joshua Abraham 16, Abhishek Joseph Jason 12) bt Karnataka (Prashant Tomar 12, Pranav 11, Akshan 9) 75-45 [19-11, 26-9, 17-5, 13-20]
  2. Haryana (Kapil Mor 29, Anil 14) bt Rajasthan (Rajveer Singh Bhati 19, Kuldeep Singh 15) 78-57 [13-12, 12-16, 24-19, 29-10]

Group B

  1. Uttar Pradesh (Priyhanshu 34) bt Tamil Nadu (Gokul V 18, G R Balaji 11, R Harikara Prabhu 11) 65-59 [16-12, 15-19, 18-18, 16-10]
  2. Punjab (Princepal Singh 20, Mani Singh 15, Harsimranjit Singh 14, Rajan 13) bt Maharashtra (Tanay Thatte 29, Arjun Yadav 14, Om Pawar 12) 75-58 [20-15, 9-12, 27-5, 19-26]

 

Level 2 Loser’s Knockout Quarterfinals*

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

  1. Himachal Pradesh (Manmohan Singh 16, Abhay Dhadwal 13, Ajay Kumar 8) bt Odisha (Harshvardhan Nayak 10) 51-28 [27-5, 17-7, 3-8, 4-8]
  2. Assam (Salew Kadete 16, Shivam Sunar 10) bt Jammu & Kashmir (Harithik Choudhary 30, Deepak Bhardwaj 7) 59-46 [20-9, 8-12, 14-15, 17-10]
  3. Telangana (Vighneshwar Upadhyay 35, Aman Topno 15) bt Jharkhand (Prabhat Kr Mahato 12, Varun Raipat 11, Sushant Deep 10) 86-49 [15-18, 19-13, 26-12, 26-6]

Pending Results from Day 3 (3rd July 2017) after 6:30 pm

 

Girls

 

Level 2

Group C

  1. Haryana (Rupal 15, Varsha 10, Priyanka Gupta 6) bt Himachal Pradesh (Ramandeep Kaur 9, Ananya Sanoria 8) 55-25 [14-3, 15-7, 10-9, 16-6]

Group E

  1. Jharkhand (Arpita Mohan 11, Anu Oraon 6) bt Bihar (Kavya Singh 14) 35-31 [14-12, 10-5, 6-6, 5-8]

Group F

  1. Odisha (Lipramayee Satpathy 27) bt Assam (Lakshmi Kachari 13, Juhi Kedia 8) 42-23 [11-9, 16-9, 10-1, 5-4]

 

Boys

 

Level 1

Group A

  1. Karnataka (Akshan Rao 23, Prashant Tomar 15, Nideesh Naik 11) bt Haryana (Mukesh 36, Anil 7) 70-66 [21-15, 14-21, 17-15, 18-15]

Group B

  1. Tamil Nadu (Gokul V 27, G R Balaji 14, A Adhisiva 9) bt Chhattisgarh (Saif Ali Khan 19, Harendra Kumar 12) 69-46 [17-17, 20-11, 18-9, 14-9]
by Abhishek Shukla

Sanil Shetty and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran win against the odds in Australia Open TT

In what we can call a fairy tale day for 2 Indian paddlers when they defeated much higher ranked players from Korea and Taipei. Sanil Shetty defeated no. 13 seed Korea’s Jang Woojin by 4-2 and and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran accounted for Chinese Taipei’s Chen Chien-An, the no.14 seed by 4-2 in first round matches of Seamaster 2017 ITTF World Tour Platinum Australia Open

Harmeet Desai lost to Japan’s Maharu Yoshimura, the no.12 seed by 4-0. In men’s double pair of Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Sanil Shetty defeated Australian pair by 3-1. Indian pair of harmeet Desai and Amalraj Anthony lost against Chinese Taipei’s pair of Hung-Chieh Chang and Chien-An chen by 3-2

In Women’s doubles Indian pair of Pooja Sahasrabudhe and Sutirtha Mukherjee got walkover aginst Chinese Taipei pair. Madhurika patkar and Manika Batra lost against Japanese pair of Mima Ito and Hina  Hayata by 3-1

Men’s Singles Result:

Harmeet Desai lost to Japan’s Maharu Yoshimura, the no.12 seed (11-7, 11-6, 16-14, 11-8)

Sanil Shetty beat Korea’s Jang Woojin, the no.13 seed, (11-9, 3-11, 12-10, 11-3, 6-11, 11-8)

Sathiyan Gnanasekaran beat Chinese Taipei’s Chen Chien-An, the no.14 seed (11-6, 4-11, 1-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-9).

 

Men’s doubles Results:

Sathiyan Gnanasekaran/Sanil Shetty beat KaneTownsend/ David powell (12-10, 7-11, 11-6, 11-7)

Harmeet Desai/Amalraj Anthony lost to Hung-Chieh Chang/Chien-An chen (11-5, 11-6, 7-11, 8-11, 7-11)

 

Women’s double:

Pooja Sahasrabudhe and Sutirtha Mukherjee W/O

Madhurika patkar and Manika Batra lost against Japanese pair of Mima Ito and Hina  Hayata (8-11, 13-11, 3-11, 8-11)

 

by Abhishek Shukla

Indian women’s basketball team set to depart for William Jones Cup

Bengaluru, 3rdJuly 2017:  The Indian women’s basketball teamis all set to depart for the 39th William Jones Cup International Basketball Tournament, which is being played from July 5th to July 9th 2017 in Taipei, Taiwan.

The team is led by veteran cager Anitha Paul Durai, and comprises Anjana PG, Barkha Sonkar, Raspreet Sidhu, Poojamol Subhashmon, Navaneetha P Udayaumar, Kavita Akula, Rajapriyadharshini Rajaganapathi, JeenaSkaria, ShireenLimaye, Poonam Chaturvedi, and Anmolpreet Kaur. The team is being coached by newly appointed Serbian Head Coach Zoran Visic, and Coach Shiba Maggon.

Ahana Puranik will be the team physiotherapist and Mr Srinivasa Murthy will be the team manager. Maniraj Moses Henry will be the international referee from India officiating at the event.

 

The William Jones Cup is a basketball tournament that has been held annually in Taipei since 1977. The tournament was named in honor of Renato William Jones, who was one of the founders of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA). One team represents each country, and that team could be the national team, a professional club, or a college team. The tournament will be played in a single round-robin format, and the final points tally will determine the placing of the teams.

 

The women’s team will depart in the wee hours of 4th July, and arrive in Taipei in the afternoon. Their first game is against New Zealand, on 5th July at 1500 hrs(local time). Their second game is against Japan, on 6th July at 1500 hrs. Their third game is against Korea, on 7th July at 1500 hrs. Their fourth game is against Republic of China -A, on 8th July at 1900 hrs. Their final game is against Republic of China -B, on 9th July at 1700 hrs. All their games will be played at the Changhua Gymnasium, Changhua County, Taiwan.

 

Last year, the South Korean team took the gold in the women’s tournament, while Japan and Chinese Taipei A finished second and third respectively.

 

INDIAN CONTINGENT FOR THE 39TH WILLIAM JONES CUP

 

Sr. No. First Name Middle and Last Name Position DOB State/Unit
1 Anitha PAUL DURAI Guard 6/22/85 Indian Railways
2 Anjana PRASANNAN GEETHA Forward 11/9/94 Kerala
3 Anmolpreet KAUR Centre 11/24/99 Punjab/Japan
4 Barkha SONKAR Point Guard 12/24/96 Uttar Pradesh/USA
5 Jeena PALANILKUMKALAYIL SKARIA Forward 1/9/94 Kerala
6 Kavita AKULA Point Guard 1/10/96 Chhattisgarh/USA
7 Navaneetha PATTEMANE UDAYAKUMAR Forward 7/28/94 Indian Railways
8 Poojamol KOCHUPARAMBU SUBHASHMON Forward 8/14/96 Kerala
9 Rajapriyadharshini RAJAGANAPATHI Centre 1/3/94 Indian Railways
10 Raspreet SIDHU Forward 7/18/89 Delhi
11 Shireen VIJAY LIMAYE Player 2/13/95 Maharashtra
12 Poonam CHATURVEDI Player 7/1/95 Chhattisgarh
Support Staff
13 Zoran VISIC Head Coach 10/13/56 Serbia
14 Shiba MAGGON Coach 3/16/76 Delhi
15 Srinivasa MURTHY Manager 2/18/62 Karnataka
16 Ahana PURANIK Physiotherapist 9/15/92 MP
17 Maniraj PRABHU KEBA MOSES HENRY Referee 1/5/83 Tamil Nadu

by Abhishek Shukla

Youth National Basketball Championship: Six teams through to the quarterfinals; Telangana sides knocked out

Hyderabad, 3rd July 2017:  The 34th Youth National Basketball Championship for Boys and Girls witnessed Day 3 today 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.

 

MP, Karnataka and Kerala girls through to the quarters

In girls’ Level 1 Group A games, Madhya Pradesh girls (2-0) continued to impress, with back to back wins against Rajasthan yesterday and against Maharashtra today. Rajvi Desai of MP was especially prolific, scoring 38 points in the close 62-57 win that has already guaranteed them a spot in the quarterfinals. Maharashtra meanwhile has gone 1-1. Both teams still have two league matches left to be played. In another Level 1 league match, bottom placed Punjab rallied to beat Rajasthan 50-18 and stay in the hunt for a spot in the pre-quarterfinals.

 

Meanwhile in girls’ Group B, Karnataka continued to steamroll past varied opponents. This time it was Uttar Pradesh at its mercy as the two ‘Rameshes’ of Karnataka, Reshma and Sanjana had 36 points between them in the 59-40 win. The 3-0 team from the south will be looking to top its Group as it takes on Gujarat tomorrow. Kerala girls (2-1) had an easy day as well, beating Gujarat 39-21 and setting up a finale league clash against Chhattisgarh (currently 1-1) on 5th July.

 

Kerala, UP and Maharashtra progress

The relatively shorter Kerala boys’ team showed that size doesn’t matter as they more than made up for it with their hustle and intensity. After beating Haryana 85-75 late last evening, Kerala outclassed Delhi today in an intensely fought encounter. Kerala (2-0) is assured of a spot in the final 8, while Delhi (0-3) is one loss away from an inglorious league stage exit.

 

In boys’ Level 1 Group B, Uttar Pradesh beat Maharashtra 61-59 in an exciting back and forth game. Both teams — UP with a 2-0 record and Maharashtra which is 2-1 — are guaranteed of spots in the knockouts.

 

Delhi girls and AP boys knockout Telangana teams

From Level 2, Delhi girls (3-0) dashed the hopes of Telangana, and are now one step away from progressing to the pre-quarterfinals. Telangana has been knocked out of the competition after finishing 2nd in their group. West Bengal girls have topped Group D beating Jammu & Kashmir 30-14.

 

In Level 2 boys, neighbours Andhra Pradesh’s full court defense proved too much to handle for Telangana, who fell 47-94. This was a must win game for both teams in order to stay in contention for the knockout rounds, and now Andhra Pradesh has topped Group F and will face West Bengal (the Group C topper) for a spot in the pre-quarterfinals.

 

 

 

Results from Day 3 (3rd July 2017) until 6:30 pm

 

Girls

 

Level 1

Group A

  1. Madhya Pradesh (Rajvi Desai 38, Asmat Kaur 8) bt Maharashtra (Siya Deodhar 12, Suzanne Pinto 11, Khushi Dongre 8) 62-57 [14-18, 13-8, 14-16, 21-15]
  2. Punjab (Radha Rani 20, Heena 10) bt Rajasthan (Shataksh Rathore 8, Ankita M 7) 50-18 [18-8, 9-2, 16-4, 7-4]

Group B

  1. Karnataka (Reshma Ramesh 18, Sanjana Ramesh 18) bt Uttar Pradesh (Vartika Kushwaha 18, Vrinda Garg 11) 59-40 [10-10, 10-12, 26-11, 13-7]
  2. Kerala (Ann Mary Zachariah 13, Sumra Stanly 11) bt Gujarat (Tanisha Shah 8) 39-21 [14-4, 12-3, 6-9, 7-5]

 

Level 2

Group D

  1. Chandigarh (Kamaljit Kaur 9) bt Uttarakhand (Rupali Dhanta 8) 24-11 [4-2, 5-0, 3-7, 12-2]
  2. West Bengal (Jyothi Routh 7, Liza Deb 6) bt Jammu & Kashmir (Chitreshi Gupta 5) 30-14 [13-4, 3-0, 10-0, 4-8]

Group E

  1. Delhi (Khushi Ahlawat 12, Bharti 10) bt Jharkhand (Soni Kumari 11) 48-22 [14-8, 16-1, 6-3, 12-10]
  2. Delhi (Vanshita Singh 25, Bharti 13) bt Telangana (D Devi Reddy 13, K Jyothi 11) 71-52 [21-14, 16-12, 11-10, 23-16]

Group F

  1. Andhra Pradesh (P Satya Sai Sushmita 12, A Surya Kamla Kumari 10, K Sudha Madhvi 8) bt Puducherry (Venus Gloriya 8, Rasika S 6) 52-19 [16-4, 8-3, 6-7, 22-5]

 

Boys

 

Level 1

Group A

  1. Kerala (Jerom Prince 15, Abhishek Joseph 13, Tom Jose 11) bt Delhi (Nitish Beniwal 29, Sanskar Nagpal 13) 70-63 [13-17, 13-18, 26-16, 18-12]

Group B

  1. Uttar Pradesh (Priyhanshu 17, Aniket Singh 13, Krishnakant Singh 10) btMaharashtra (Tanay Thatte 24, Kamlesh Rajbhar 12, Pritish Kokate 10) 61-59 [16-11, 12-11, 14-11, 19-26]

 

Level 2

Group C

  1. West Bengal (Amarendra Nayak 26, Avijit Monikar 18) bt Chandigarh (Jaskaran Brar 18, Manpreet Singh 8) 56-40 [10-6, 12-9, 22-7, 12-18]
  2. Himachal Pradesh (Manmohan Singh 19, Sahil Chandel 11) bt Jammu & Kashmir (Harithik Choudhary 8) 72-22 [25-4, 20-9, 19-5, 8-4]

Group D

  1. Bihar (Bhupendra Bahadur 17, Dharmendar Kumar 12) bt Uttarakhand (Ansh Saini 19) 53-39 [12-14, 21-7, 10-4, 10-14]
  2. Jharkhand (Munna Sharma 16, Sushant Deep 15, Deepak Barnwal 8) bt Gujarat () 52-49 [9-11, 18-9, 9-10, 16-19]

Group E

  1. Madhya Pradesh (Divyaraj Singh Rathore 20, Udayveer Yadav 16) bt Assam (Salew Kadete 17) 61-43 [8-13, 18-10, 15-13, 20-7]

Group F

  1. Goa (Jeshua Pinto 21, Primamsji Triparthi 7) bt Puducherry (Dharun Anand 5) 46-12 [14-3, 4-3, 11-5, 17-1]
  2. Andhra Pradesh (M Mani 34, A Sai Pavan 22, V Sai Ganesh 10) bt Telangana (Rithwik Thammareddy 15, Vighneshwar Upadhyay 13, Vinay Kothari 12) 94-47 [18-5, 20-10, 17-16, 29-11]

Pending Results from Day 2 (3rd July 2017) after 7:00 pm

 

Girls

 

Level 1

Group A

  1. Madhya Pradesh (Rajvi Desai 17, Ruchi Patel 15, Kashivi Khandelwal 9) bt Rajasthan (Ankita Mandia 11, Shataksh Rathore 9) 63-36 [18-9, 14-16, 19-8, 12-3]

Boys

 

Level 1

Group A

  1. Kerala (Tom Jose 21, Abhishek Joseph 17, Jerom Prince 11) bt Haryana  (Mukesh 23, Anil 17, Gaurav 13) 85-75 [21-17, 26-17, 14-21, 24-20]

 

Level 2

Group C

  1. West Bengal (Avijit Monikar 22, Amarendra Nayak 21) bt Himachal Pradesh (Kabeer 14, Abhay Dhadwal 14) 66-48 [18-8, 10-10, 18-19, 20-11]

Group D

  1. Jharkhand (Sushant Deep 17, Varun Raipat 11) bt Uttarakhand (Arin Singh 15, Ansh Saini 8) 57-25 [10-2, 10-6, 11-11, 26-6]
by Abhishek Shukla

TWO MORE MINERVANS GET CALLED FOR TEAM INDIA

After the recent selection of 7 Minerva Punjab FC players in the India U-23 squad for the upcoming AFC Championship 2018 qualifiers to be held in July 2017, two more Minerva Punjab FC players namely Anirudh Thapa and Davinder Singh have now been called to join the squad in New Delhi prior to departure for exposure tour to Singapore in preparation for the tournament.
Kamalpreet Singh, Kamaljit Singh, Germanpreet Singh, Manvir Singh, Sukhdev Patil, Vinit Rai and Girik Khosla had been called earlier in May for the final squad training camp at New Delhi. Now Anirudh Thapa, who turned heads in his I-League debut with Minerva Punjab FC (on loan from Chennaiyan FC) and Davinder Singh- product of Dalbir Football Academy who has been part of Minerva’s 2nd Division League Team since 2016 season, have been summoned to the camp.
This takes the total number Minervans in the squad to 9. Minerva has already contributed 10 players to the India U-17 World Cup Squad earlier this year and now with significant contributions to the U-23 India Squad, Minerva’s scouting and Youth Development Programs are greatly benefiting the national teams.
by Abhishek Shukla

Youth Basketball: UP boys bt Punjab; Hosts Telangana boys open with win

Bengaluru, 2nd July 2017:  The 34th Youth National Basketball Championship for Boys and Girls entered Day 2 today 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.

 

Mr Narendra, MD of APLL, which is one of the sponsors of the event, and his wife Smt Aruna were the chief guests for the Telangana girls’ game played in the evening. For the Telangana boys’ game Smt Sofi Sam, the only international women’s player from Andhra Pradesh/Telangana was the chief guest.

 

Maharashtra, UP and Telangana boys post wins

In a significant league encounter this morning, last year’s runners up Uttar Pradesh continued to shine at the U16 level this year too, beating Punjab 68-62. UP (1-0) and Punjab (1-1) are both teams favoured to reach the decisive stages of the Championship so this clash between these strong teams was an excellent appetizer for things to come. Punjab centre Princepal Singh, who is already dominating at the National U18 level and only last month helped his state win the Junior National Championship had 21 points today, but it paled in comparison to UP’s Priyhanshu who scorched his way to 42 game winning points. Scores were tied at the end of the first quarter and remained almost neck and neck going into the halfime. Q3 saw UP pull ahead thanks to 5 straight points by Priyhanshu and by the start of the fourth period UP was up by 8 points, 54-46. Punjab’s Akashdeep Sharma hit 5 threes to complement Princepal, but eventually it was UP that secured the W.

 

Maharashtra boys beat Chhattisgarh by 1 point, 54-53. This was after they upset Tamil Nadu yesterday 69-67. Maharashtra is now 2-0 and is the top placed team in Group B, with 2 matches still to be played. Just like in the game against Tamil Nadu yesterday, yet again, it was Maharashtra’s captain Tanay Thatte who came through for his side. Tanay’s match-high 25 points also included two clutch freethrows in the final few seconds that secured the win.

Earlier in the morning, hosts Telangana boys opened with a lopsided 59-10 win over Puducherry in lower Level 2 action. Telangana will need to top its Group F and finish among the top two Level 2 teams in order to progress to the knockout stages.

 

In girls’ Level 1 play, Kerala overcame the disappointment of yesterday’s loss to Karnataka by beating Uttar Pradesh 69-48. Balanced scoring by Kerala, with 4 players posting 15 points or more made it hard for UP to contain their talented opponents. Defending champions Tamil Nadu girls had an easy victory over Punjab, while Karnataka continued to impress by beating Chhattisgarh 57-44.

 

Later in the evening, the Telangana boys returned to action against Goa, effortlessly beating them 67-22. Telangana boys will now face off against Andhra Pradesh in a blockbuster clash that will decide the winners of Group F. The Telangana girls meanwhile also cruised past Jharkhand 50-16 to go 2-0 in their group with one match remaining.

Results from Day 2 (2nd July 2017) until 7:00 pm

 

Girls

 

Level 1

Group A

  1. Tamil Nadu (Monica Jayaseeli 17, Pushpa 12) bt Punjab (Priyanka Behal 14, Radha Rani 7) 60-27 [24-13, 13-6, 11-8, 12-0]

Group B

  1. Kerala (Anmariya Johny 17, Sandra KA 16, Aparna Sadasivan 15, Anagha Nair 15) bt Uttar Pradesh (Vartika Kushwaha 23, Muniba Ali 16) 69-48 [14-16, 13-12, 22-10, 20-10]
  2. Karnataka (Sanjana Ramesh 19, Grishma N 17, Abigail Deepa 11) bt Chhattisgarh (Neha Karva 19, Elijabet Ekka 7) 57-44 [20-8, 7-9, 16-10, 14-17]

 

Level 2

Group C

  1. Haryana (Suman 17, Ritika 9) bt Goa (Kimeron Vas 8, Naomi Nunes 7)36-15 [3-3, 13-5, 8-4, 12-3]

Group D

  1. West Bengal (Jyothi Routh 22, Liza Deb 19) bt Chandigarh (Tarini Boprai 31, Nilisha 6) 61-50 [21-12, 13-14, 13-16, 14-8]
  2. Uttarakhand (Divyangana 14, Kamaljit 12) bt Jammu & Kashmir (Chitreshi 4, Ananya 4) 22-8 [2-5, 10-3, 5-0, 5-0]

Group E

  1. Delhi (Khushi 11) bt Bihar (Kushi Prakhar 2) 43-2 [10-2, 17-0, 14-0, 2-0]
  2. Telangana (Khatrawath Jyothi 12, G Sandhya 8, K Geethika 8) bt Jharkhand (Arpita Mohan 8, Anu Oraon 4) 50-16 [18-4, 14-1, 6-4, 12-7]

Group F

  1. Andhra Pradesh (P Sathya Sai 21) bt Assam (Lakshmi Kachari 6) 35-14[15-6, 5-1, 6-4, 9-3]
  2. Odisha (Lipramayee 18) bt Puducherry (Monisha 4) 39-21 [8-2, 12-11, 12-4, 7-4]

 

Boys

 

Level 1

Group A

  1. Rajasthan (Rajveer Singh Bhati 27, Digvijay Singh 14) bt Delhi (Nitish Beniwal 19, Aman Ahlawat 11, Sanskar Nagpal 6) 67-50 [13-12, 22-8, 14-16, 18-14]

Group B

  1. Uttar Pradesh (Priyhanshu 42, Shubham Karwasara 9) bt Punjab (Princepal Singh 21, Akashdeep Sharma 17) 68-62 [12-12, 18-17, 24-17, 14-16]
  2. Maharashtra (Tanay Thatte 25, Om Pawar 14, Arjun Yadav 4) bt Chhattisgarh (Ayushman Singh 16, Govind 15, Ritesh Yadav 9) 54-53 [17-21, 10-9, 9-11, 18-12]

 

Level 2

Group C

  1. Jammu & Kashmir (Shivam Heer 43, Harithik Choudhary 19) bt Chandigarh (Jaskaran Brar 24, Abhinav Sharma 17, Sahaij Pratap Singh Sekhon 14) 79-76 [19-18, 16-20, 17-20, 27-18]

Group D

  1. Gujarat (Rishabh Chaudhary 15, Jayraj Jadeja 11) bt Bihar (Md Wasit Ali Sufi 14, Dharmendar Kumar 11, Mannu Singh 10) 57-46 [16-13, 19-12, 10-14, 12-7]

Group E

  1. Madhya Pradesh bt Tripura walkover*
  2. Assam (Deepjyothi Brahma 16, Salew Kadete 11) bt Odisha (Harshvardhan Nayak 11, Ankit Barla 10) 67-44 [21-10, 14-7, 16-10, 16-17]

Group F

  1. Telangana (Vighneshwar Upadhyay 21, Aman Topno 12) bt Goa (Daniel Godinho 4, Primamsji Triparthi 4) 67-22 [25-6, 11-4, 17-8, 14-4]
  2. Telangana (Vinay Kothari 11, Vighneshwar 11, Sumant Marni 10) bt Puducherry (P Pavithran 6) 59-10 [22-4, 17-0, 14-4, 6-2]- This match was originally scheduled to be played on 1st July but was subsequently postponed.
  3. Andhra Pradesh (S V V Sai Krishna 14, M Mani Kanta 10) bt Puducherry (P Pavithran 9, D Nandagopalan 4) 77-19 [24-2, 13-8, 22-5, 18-4]

*The Tripura boys team has withdrawn itself from the Championship.

by Abhishek Shukla

Bopanna lost in Finals of Eastbourne against Bryan brothers

Rohan Bopanna in partnership with Andre Sa of Brazil was beaten 6-7(4), 6-4, 10-3 by the top seeded Bryan twins, Bob and Mike of the US, in the $693,910 ATP tennis tournament on grass in Eastbourne.

The champions collected $34,430 and 250 ATP points and the runners-up got $18,150 and 150 points.

Unseeded pair of Bopanna and Andre won three matches before the loss in finals. In first round they defeated Saville and Fabbiano by 6-3, 6-4. In Quarterfinals Indo-Brazilian pair defeated M Matkowski and M Mirnyi by 6-2, 6-7, 10-3 in tie breaker. In semifinal match played against R Haase and D Inglot, they won in tie breaker by 7-6, 3-6, 11-9.

by Abhishek Shukla

India to play U17 World cup matches in Delhi, FIFA agreed to AIFF request

Following a request from the All India Football Federation to hold the group matches of the FIFA U‑17 World Cup India 2017 in which India are playing in New Delhi, and the fruitful discussions between the Local Organising Committee (LOC) and the local government, FIFA has agreed to amend the match schedule as follows:

Group A, featuring the home team, which is automatically seeded as A1, will be based in New Delhi and teams of Group B will be based in Navi Mumbai. Matches for the knockout stage remain as planned before.

Acknowledging the increased efforts of the local authorities and the LOC in connection with the requested amendment, FIFA’s Head of Tournaments Jaime Yarza said: “Attendance, especially in the venue where the home team plays its matches, is one of the priorities of the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017, crucial to achieving the purpose of better positioning football in the country, so the government’s commitment in this regard is highly appreciated. The presence of the Secretary of Sports at the meetings concerning the state of the works in the stadium and training sites sends a positive message and reflects the strong involvement of the authorities. We expect this involvement to extend into the area of pollution prevention, which has been an important topic discussed in relation to the tournament, in particular in Delhi. We are now expecting an action response plan to prevent pollution levels from affecting the tournament, which ideally should continue beyond the tournament.”

In less than ten days – on Friday, 7 July 2017 at 19:00 local time – the draw for the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017 will take place at the Hotel Sahara Star, Mumbai.

Besides India, who are automatically qualified as hosts, the following teams have booked their tickets to the competition: Iran, Iraq, Japan, Korea DPR (AFC); New Caledonia, New Zealand (OFC); Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay (CONMEBOL); Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico, USA (CONCACAF); England, France, Germany, Spain, Turkey (UEFA); Mali, Niger, Ghana, and Guinea (CAF).

by Abhishek Shukla

34th Youth National Basketball Championship tips off in Hyderabad

Bengaluru, 1st July 2017:  The 34th Youth National Basketball Championship for Boys and Girls has tipped off 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.

 

Morning Session

In the morning matches so far, defending champions Tamil Nadu girls have opened with an easy 76-31 win over Rajasthan. In the boys section, Karnataka and Punjab also registered important victories over Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh respectively. Last year’s semifinalists Karnataka trailed at the end of the first and second quarters before a strong showing in the third period saw them outlast their opponents from western India. In the Punjab vs Chhattisgarh boys game, repeated turnovers in the third quarter cost Chhattisgarh dearly as Punjab was able to pull away for the easy double digit win.

 

Arguably the most exciting match of the morning was between Haryana and Delhi boys. This level 1 Group A league encounter started with Delhi dominating, with 14-7 and 13-9 opening quarters. That’s when the momentum shifted drastically towards Haryana who clawed their way back in the second half. A buzzer beating two pointer by Haryana’s Mukesh pushed the game into overtime and they continued to shine in the extra five minutes to hand Delhi the heartbreaking loss.

 

In lower level 2 games, Himachal Pradesh boys and girls, West Bengal girls and MP girls too posted victories in their respective bids to get elevated to Level 1.

 

Opening Ceremony

The opening ceremony was in the afternoon, with Shri T Padma Rao Goud (Minister for Sports and Youth Services as well as Excise & Prohibition) and Shri Dr Vivek Anand (Advisor to Government of Telangana & Chairman & Managing Director, Visaka Groups) as chief guests. Guests of honour include Shri G Kishan Reddy (MLA, BJP), Shri Burra Venkatesam (Telangana Principal Secretary, Youth Affairs & Sports), Shri K Govindaraj (President, BFI), Shri Chander Mukhi Sharma (General Secretary, BFI) and Shri Ragothaman (Treasurer, BFI). Special invitees include Shri Ranga Rao (President, Olympic Association of Telangana), Smt Dr Vidya Sravanthi (Co-option Member, GMHC), Shri S R Prem Raj (General Secretary, Olympic Association of Telangana) and Shri Arvind Krishna (Film Actor).

 

Don Bosco School, Hyderabad were particularly entertaining with their innovative basketball themed performance that was enjoyed and appreciated by all those present.

 

Later in the evening hosts Telangana girls got off to a dream start beating Bihar 42-10.

Results from Day 1 (1st July 2017) until 7:00 pm

 

Girls

 

Level 1

Group A

  1. Tamil Nadu (S Pushpa 14, S Lakshmipriya 13, Monica 10) bt Rajasthan (Ankita Mandia 11, Shatakshi 9, Akshita 8) 76-31 [25-8, 25-10, 14-9, 12-4]
  2. Maharashtra (Suzanne 15, Shruti Bhosale 13) bt Punjab (Heena 17, Radha Rani 15) 57-47 [18-10, 9-7, 7-14, 23-16]

Group B

  1. Chhattisgarh (Elizabeth Ekka 24, M Nagmani 11) bt Gujarat (Naina Patel 16, Hetushree S 6) 69-35 [15-9, 20-7, 19-11, 15-8]

 

Level 2

Group C

  1. Himachal Pradesh (Pallavi 14, Ramandeep 9, Ananya 8) bt Goa (Katherine Barr 10, Shimei Nathan 6) 49-27 [18-4, 12-6, 14-10, 5-7]

Group D

  1. West Bengal (J Routh 18, B Das 12, M Singh 12) bt Uttarakhand (Srishti Sharma 14) 74-20 [18-0, 15-0, 17-6, 24-14]

Group E

  1. Telangana (G Sandhya 9, Aarya 8) bt Bihar (Kavya 5) 42-10 [18-3, 8-2, 10-2, 6-3]

Group F

  1. Odisha (Lipramayee 23, Swagatika 13) bt Andhra Pradesh (V Satwika 12, R Swetha 11) 46-41 [11-7, 13-8, 12-6, 10-20]

 

Boys

 

Level 1

Group A

  1. Karnataka (Prashant T 21, Akshan Rao 13, S Sreenivas 10) bt Rajasthan(Kuldeep Singh 23, Digvijay 16, Rajveer 10) 70-65 [13-18, 21-17, 27-16, 9-14]
  2. Haryana (Mukesh 24, Gaurav 18) bt Delhi (Nitish 29, Aman 20) 69-65 [14-7, 13-9, 16-23, 17-21, 9-5(OT)]

Group B

  1. Punjab (Akashdeep Sharma 27, H Singh 9, Md Singh Gill 8) bt Chhattisgarh (Ayushman Singh 14, Govind 11, Ritesh Yadav 08) 55-42 [16-8, 04-12, 18-9, 17-13]

Group C

  1. West Bengal (Avijit Monkar 37) bt Jammu & Kashmir (Shivam Heer 21, Harithik C 14) 70-51 [25-19, 11-12, 18-9, 16-11]

Level 2

Group C

  1. Himachal Pradesh (Abhay 25, S Singh 13, Sahil 6) bt Chandigarh(Sahaij 15, Jaskaran 15, Harkirat 08) 61-55 [6-18, 16-8, 14-11, 25-18]

Group E

  1. Madhya Pradesh (Uday Veer Yadav 29, Divyaraj Singh 23, Mani Thakur 6) bt Odisha (Chitta Ranjan 8, Harsh Vardhar 7, Soilen Mondal 7) 62-26 [23-06, 17-09, 18-06, 04-05]
by Abhishek Shukla

FIBA Asia Cup 2017: India Pooled with Iran, Jordan and Syria

BEIRUT, Lebanon (FIBA Asia Cup 2017) – The finalized competition schedule for the Group Phase and the Final Phase of the FIBA Asia Cup 2017 has been announced.

Asia’s premier basketball event will tip off in the Lebanese capital at 13:30 local time on August 8 with Kazakhstan taking on debutants New Zealand in Group C action in Nouhad Nawfal Arena. The day will also see Group D action take place, before teams in Groups A and B take center stage the following day.

India is pooled along with Iran, Jordan and Syria in Pool A. India will play first match on Day 2 of the tournament against Iran.

The Group Phase concludes on August 13, with the top team from each group advancing to the Quarter-Finals. Teams that finish 2nd and 3rd in each Group will face off in the “Qualification to the Quarter-Finals” playoff games. The competition concludes with the Final taking place at 21:00 local time on Sunday August 20.

India’s Schedule:

9 August 2017: India v Iran

11 August 2017: India v Jordan

13 August 2017: India v Syria

Full schedule: Click here

by Abhishek Shukla

34th Youth National Basketball Championship to tip off in Hyderabad from 1st July

Bengaluru, 30th June 2017:  The 34th Youth National Basketball Championship for Boys and Girls will be held at the Indoor Stadium, Gachibowli in Hyderabad from 1st to 8th July 2017.

 

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.

The opening ceremony will be held on Saturday, 1st July at 4 pm, with Shri T Padma Rao Goud (Minister for Sports and Youth Services as well as Excise & Prohibition) and Shri Dr Vivek Anand (Advisor to Government of Telangana & Chairman & Managing Director, Visaka Groups) as chief guests. Guests of honour include Shri G Kishan Reddy (MLA, BJP), Shri Burra Venkatesam (Telangana Principal Secretary, Youth Affairs & Sports), Shri K Govindaraj (President, BFI), Shri Chander Mukhi Sharma (General Secretary, BFI) and Shri Ragothaman (Treasurer, BFI). Special invitees include Shri Ranga Rao (President, Olympic Association of Telangana), Smt Dr Vidya Sravanthi (Co-option Member, GMHC), Shri S R Prem Raj (General Secretary, Olympic Association of Telangana) and Shri Arvind Krishna (Film Actor).

The fixtures and groupings have been announced. The prestigious Championship will feature 26 boys’ teams and 25 girls’ teams in the U16 age group, from various Indian States and Union territories, and will be played in a league cum knockout format.

The teams are grouped into two levels –Level 1 features the top 10 teams from the previous championship divided into two groups of five teams each (Group A and B), while Level 2 features the remaining teams divided into four groups (Group C, D, E, F).

In the league stages, all the teams play each of the other teams in their group once. The top three teams from each of the groups in Level 1 advance directly to the quarterfinals, while the fourth placed teams play pre-quarterfinal games against the top two teams from Level 2.

The competition is expected to be fierce beyond the immediate prospect of glory, because the teams that finish last in each of the groups in Level 1 are relegated to Level 2 for the next edition of the tournament, while the Level 2 teams that qualified for the pre-quarterfinals will replace them in Level 1 in the next edition

Over the years, this Championship has provided a platform for the country’s best players in the U16 category to showcase their talents. This allows selectors to identify and shortlist the most promising players and coaches to parachute into national team training camps with an eye towards participation in international events.

by Abhishek Shukla

Star Sports launches campaign for Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT) – ‘See Champions, Be Champions’

MUMBAI, June 30, 2017: As the world’s finest table-tennis players battle to be the best in India’s newest franchise-based professional sports league Ultimate Table Tennis (UTT), Star Sports has unveiled its campaign for the tournament – ‘See Champions, Be Champions’. The UTT league commences its inaugural season from July 13 to July 30.

 

UTT league promises to provide nearly three weeks of action-packed table tennis. The finesse of Sharath Kamal and the elegance of Han Ying in a Table Tennis arena is a sight to behold for any sports enthusiast. Holding true to its commitment of making sports a more engaging and immersive experience for viewers, Star Sports, India’s leading sports broadcaster, has launched a captivating film in the build-up to UTT league.

The first in the series of the campaign captures the unmissable action of the global sporting tournament. Fashioned around the theme – See Champions, Be Champions – the film showcases edgy Table Tennis action in a manner never seen before. It features two youngsters trying to imitate the skills of a Table Tennis maverick that they had witnessed on television, some time ago. The fast-paced, edgy action displayed by the two players, in the middle of a high-octane match, makes for a striking visual, which in-turn inspires the two viewers to test their skills in a setting as unlikely as a household.

 

Commenting on the film, a Star India spokesperson said,“The ‘See Champions, Be Champions’ film for Ultimate Table Tennis League (UTT) rediscovers the fervor for the sport in a refreshing way. It aims at showcasing Table tennis as a skill sport and break the stereotype of being a recreational sport. At Star Sports, through Ultimate Table Tennis, we want to renew the fan’s zeal for Table Tennis and provide fans a flavour of the dynamic, nail-biting action that they can expect from UTT league.”

 

Ultimate Table Tennis will be hosted in Chennai and New Delhi with the final leg held in Mumbai. It will have 18 matches divided into 15 leagues, two semis and one final.

by Abhishek Shukla

NBA LAUNCHES FIRST BASKETBALL SCHOOL IN DELHI

DELHI, Jun 30, 2017 – The National Basketball Association (NBA) today announced the launch of its first NBA Basketball School in Delhi, a network of tuition-based basketball development programs around the world open to international male and female players ages 6-18.  Apeejay School, Seikh Sarai, is the first center in Delhi for NBA Basketball School.

 

The first NBA Basketball School globally was launched in Mumbai in April, as part of a multiyear agreement with India On Track (IOT), one of India’s leading sports management, marketing and development companies.  Additional NBA Basketball Schools will be launched in India and around the world in the coming months.

 

The new initiative adds an additional layer to the NBA’s existing basketball development efforts, including the Jr. NBA, Basketball without Borders (BWB) and NBA Academies.

 

The Jr. NBA, the league’s global youth basketball participation program for boys and girls, will help identify young players who have the talent to attend NBA Basketball Schools.  From there, the top players at each NBA Basketball School will have the opportunity to be selected to attend NBA Academies, the league’s network of elite basketball training centers around the world to develop top international male and female prospects.  Registration to attend the NBA Basketball School in Mumbai is now open at indiaontrack.nba.com. 

Each NBA Basketball School will feature year-long, tuition-based programs open to international male and female players ages 6-18.  The NBA Basketball School curriculum, which is designed to help players, parents, coaches and organizations better understand the process of improvement, has been developed by the NBA’s Elite Basketball Development team in consultation with current and former NBA coaches, former NBA players, and player development experts.  The comprehensive curriculum covers oncourt training, strength and conditioning, and basketball education for young players ages 6-18 and will be implemented by local coaches working directly with the NBA’s International Basketball Operations staff around the world.

 

The NBA Basketball School in Mumbai and now in Delhi builds on the NBA’s existing basketball and youth development initiatives in India.  The Reliance Foundation Jr. NBA program has reached more than 3.5 million youth and trained more than 3,000 physical education instructors nationwide since its launch in 2013.  In November 2016, the NBA announced its plan to launch NBA Academy India, an elite basketball training center in Delhi National Capital Region (NCR) for the top male and female prospects from throughout India.  NBA Academy India, the first of its kind in the country, will open in May.

by Abhishek Shukla

Bengaluru FC retain Chhetri, Udanta

Bengaluru: In a big statement of intent, Bengaluru FC have retained skipper Sunil Chhetri and Udanta Singh after the duo signed three-year deals that will keep them with the Indian Super League side till the end of the 2019-20 season, the club announced on Friday. With the signings, Bengaluru FC have ticked off the ISL’s rule of a maximum of two retentions for players over twenty-one years.

 

“We are thrilled at being able to retain the present and the future of Indian football in Sunil and Udanta. The two of them have been immense for Bengaluru FC and will be vital cogs in our wheel as we take on the challenge of rebuilding the club for what will be a tough season ahead,” said club CEO, Parth Jindal.

 

Chhetri, 32, has been with Bengaluru for four seasons, finishing top scorer for the Blues every year. Udanta, meanwhile, joined Bengaluru in the 2014-15 season and has only grown from strength to strength. The twenty-one-year-old from Manipur capped off a fantastic season under Albert Roca last year where he regular starter and played a key role in the club’s Federation Cup triumph. Udanta was also named Players’ Player and Fans’ Player of the Season at the club’s annual awards night earlier this month.

 

“I’ve always been vocal about how Bengaluru FC is a club that is always close to my heart and I couldn’t be happier to commit three years to the blue shirt of BFC. The Bengaluru FC fans have always shown me so much of love and I’m glad at the prospect of playing in front of them yet again. With Bengaluru in the ISL, these are exciting times at the club and I’m sure we will build the best possible squad for the season,” said Chhetri, who with 54 goals is also the top scorer for the national team.

 

Udanta too expressed happiness at extending his stay with Bengaluru. “I’ve progressed and learnt so much in the three years that I’ve been with Bengaluru FC and I’m looking forward to giving the club and its fans three of my best years to come. It’s also reassuring to have Sunil bhai with me here and I’m confident we will be fighting for trophies like we always do,” said Udanta.

by Abhishek Shukla

FC Pune City Women’s wins against Tripude Sports Academy

FC Pune City rode on the double strikes from striker Senorita Nogngpluh to blank Tripude Sports Academy, Nagpur in a Group-B league match of the WIFA Women’s Football Championship, which is being conducted as part of the FIFA-AIFF State Development Project, at the Cooperage ground, on Friday. Senorita scored both the goals in the first half, the first in the 14th minute and second in the 27th minute.

In the second match of the day, Aadhar Pratisthan, Mumbai and KSA Women’s FC shared honours as they played out a tame goalless draw.

The Mumbai outfit Aadhar Pratisthan topped the group with 7 points while Pune City were placed second with 6 points and both have qualified for the semi-finals, which is scheduled to be played on Sunday, July 1. The finals will be held the following day on Monday, July 3.

In the semi-finals, Aadhar Pratisthan will take on United Poona FA, while Pune City will clash with hot favourites Bodyline FC.

Results – Group-B: Aadhar Pratisthan, Mumbai 0 drew with KSA Women’s FC, Kolhapur 0.

FC Pune City, Pune 2 (Senorita Nogngpluh 2) beat Tripude Sports Academy, Nagpur 0.

by Abhishek Shukla

Junior Boys ensure a bronze at Asian Table Tennis meet

New Delhi, June 30: The Junior Boys team, comprising Manav Thakkar, Jeet Chandra and Manush Shah, ensured at least a bronze medal for India in the 23rd Asian Junior and Cadet Table Tennis Championships at Asan (South Korea) today.

The Indian boys defeated Iran 3-1 in the quarterfinals to enter the semifinals where they will clash with top-seeded China.

But the Junior Girls crashed out of the team championships losing to top-seed China in straight games. The team members were Moumita Datta, Archana Kamath and Selenadeepthi Selvakumar.

The stories in the Cadet Boys and Cadet Girls were no different as the China blanked out the Indian Cadets 3-0 in both the sections. However, it was creditable for all the Indian squads to have qualified for the main draw where they had to face the toughest opponents.

Manav Thakkar began well to beat Amirreza Abbasi 11-9, 5-11, 11-7, 11-7 to provide a nice cushion. But Jeet Chandra, after putting up a good fight lost the second rubber to Amin Ahmadian 11-5, 15-13, 6-11, 9-11, 10-12 which helped Iran level score.

However Manush Shah ensured 11-3, 11-9, 12-10 win against Iran’s third player Alin Rahnamayhaghighi for India’s upper hand. Manav, playing his reverse singles, downed Ahmadian 11-7, 11-3, 9-11. 11-9 to seal India’s semifinal place.

Earlier in Junior Girls, only Archana managed to take a game off her Chinese rival Tianyi Quian in the second rubber loss of 7-11, 11-9, 8-11, 8-11 while Yingsha Sun beat Moumita Datta 11-8, 11-8, 11-3 and Xunyao Shi beat Selena 11-4, 11-3, 11-5.