Chandigarh:
City boy Angad Cheema won the 111th CNEB All India Amateur championship title after beating an experienced Gagan Verma 5 and 4 in a final 36-hole competition at Chandigarh Golf Club on Sunday. With the victory, Cheema also finished second on the Indian Golf Union’s Order of merit list as it was the last event of the 2011 season. In the team championship, Bangalore’s duo S Chikkarangappa and Khalin Joshi got the runner’s-up prize while Cheema and Delhi’s Honey Baisoya were declared winners. Cheema, who turns 22 on January 25, was followed by his father throughout the day.

After taking the trophy, he said, “It was an emotional win for me as my dad was watching my game for the first time on course.” Both players, who finished second in World Inter Amateur Championship in Malaysia in 2011, started the day aggressively in the morning session as both of them were all square until 16th hole. Verma won 3rd, 4th, 5th, 8th, 12th, 14th holes. Cheema won 6th, 7th, 9th, 10th and 13th to become equal. In afternoon, Cheema became 1-up to claim the contest.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / Home> Collections> City Boy/ Chandigarh / TNN / January 23rd, 2012

New Delhi:

In the end, a few angry words from the coach did the trick. India bounced back from a ‘lost’ situation to hold South Africa to a 3-3 draw in the fifth and final hockey Test at the Major Dhyanchand National Stadium on Sunday.

The Indians put up an ordinary display early on in the inconsequential match, having come to the tie leading the series 3-1. At the breather, they were down 0-3. But thing changed dramatically afterwards.

“I was a little angry. I told the players to pull up their socks and do more in the field. I could understand that they were a little complacent having already won the series,” coach Michael Nobbs said after the match.

The terse words coupled with some tactical changes not only helped India score thrice in the second half, but also denied the visitors any addition to their tally.

A goal attempt by SV Sunil after a fine run on the right flank was stopped by the rival goalkeeper but Sardar Singh grabbed the free ball and passed on to Yuvraj Walmiki who slammed home in the 43rd minute for India’s first goal.

VR Raghunath scored through India’s fourth penalty corner six minutes later to further reduce the lead before Sarvanjit Singh set it up for SK Uthappa in the 66th minute to complete the tally.

Earlier, South Africa dominated the first half with goals from Ricky West (26th minute), Ian Haley (31st) and Miguel de Grasa (34th). Nobbs said that he was happy to see his players’ abilities to salvage the situation from critical positions. “Coming back from that position is a terrific result, a real positive. In the last four-five months, whenever we have trailed, we have often made strong comebacks,” he said.

On Sunday, India fielded comeback men Rupinder Pal Singh and Danish Mujtaba, who returned to the side after brief injury layoffs. Both played for a fair amount of time though they looked a bit rusty. Having done a lot of experimentation with the team in the five-match series, Nobbs suggested that his boys would continue playing attacking hockey when they square up during the upcoming Olympic qualifiers.

source: http://www.TimesofIndia.Indiatimes.com/ Home> Sports> Hockey / by Biswajyoti Brahma / TNN / January 23rd, 2012

A report in the DNA stated that veteran Indian hockey player Dilip Tirkey and former goalkeeper AB Subbaiah may be appointed as the defence coaches of the national team. The decision came after India’s poor defence let the opposition score goals in the recent matches. There were many defensive lapses and the team management feels that the gaps must be filled before the qualifiers.

India may play two spinners in the final match of the test series in Adelaide, reports The Hindu. Pragyan Ojha along with Ravichandran Ashwin has been drafted into the side and medium pacer R. Vinay Kumar who made his debut in the Perth test will sit out. The Adelaide pitch favors spin bowling more that the other Australian grounds and that could result in India opting for two spinners.

Indian opening batsman Gautam Gambhir said in a statement in Mid Day that Indian pitches should not be criticized and they should continue to assist spin bowling in the future as well. He said that every home team prepares pitches according to their strength and criticizing Indian pitches is not right. He also said that the Australian fast bowlers will have to bowl well in the sub-continent to show that they really are good.

source: http://www.IndianSportsNews.com / Monday, Januaryn23rd, 2012

Bangalore: Jan 21, 2012 DHNS:

The Karnataka State Hockey Association has upgraded the floodlights at its stadium here to FIH standards, paving the way for the conduct of international matches at night.

“The KSHA has spent one crore rupees to get this done,” said KSHA secretary K Krishnamurthy. “For a long time, the biggest setback for us was the lack of proper lights. If one wants to host international matches under lights, they must be at least 1200 lux.

“After a lot of discussions, we decided to go ahead with the plan. It did cost us a lot, but we should be in a position to host international matches. With the World Series Hockey coming up, the fans have a lot to look forward to.”

A total of 10 towers have been erected — five on each side with each boasting of ten 200KW bulbs, taking the total capacity to 1300 lux. Most of the work has been completed with just light fittings on one tower left. While the light bulbs are manufactured by GE, the installation work has been done by Saptharishi, Hyderabad.

“We switched on just half of the lights today on a trial basis. The entire work will be complete in a week’s time. A complete check will be done during the Kodava Samaj hockey tournament next month.”

source: http://www.DeccanHerald.com / Home> Sports / DHNS / January 21st, 2012

New Delhi:
India’s hockey coach Michael Nobbs has a problem of plenty after impressive debuts by youngsters in the ongoing Test series against South Africa and he says it would be difficult to select the best 18 for next month’s Olympic qualifiers.

As many as four players — Harbir Singh, SK Uthappa, Kothajit Singh, Chinglesana Singh Kangujam — made their debut in the series against South Africa and Nobbs said these young players deserve an India cap.

“In this series, we tested everybody, we deliberately designed it to see who can take a grip of the opportunities and win their position and some players did,” Nobbs said.

“We have probably the best option now and there are around 25-26 players who can play for India.

“Uthappa was brilliant, Kothajit was good too, these are some of the players who have put themselves in the mix to be selected and it would be difficult to pick the best 18 Indian players for the Olympic qualifiers now,” he added.

With the youngsters making the most of the opportunity, it would be interesting to see what happens when injured players such as Rajpal Singh make a comeback and Nobbs agrees it would take a lot of hard work for them to earn back their place in the side.

“Rajpal will need to put a lot of hard work to replace someone who is ahead of him right now. In hockey, we have a saying that never lend your stick to someone because you might not get it back. He has time to do it,” Nobbs said.

With the series already in India’s pocket after the 4-3 victory last night, Nobbs said he will experiment in the fifth and final Test tomorrow.

“We have already won the series, so I will have the latitude to experiment and try out some new combinations. Danish Mujtaba, Manpreet Singh and Rupinder Pal Singh will play tomorrow,” Nobbs said.

With little less than a month left for the Olympic qualifiers, Nobbs said defence is one area which India need to work on before the tournament kicks off on February 18.

“We are allowing our defence to be penetrated and I think, this is one area, where we have a fair bit of work to do in the next four weeks,” he said.

Asked if he was satisfied with the performance of the players in the Test series, Nobbs said a lot of combinations have come up and he has to figure out the options for the qualifiers.

“We played a lot of combinations and we have a good base now, we are looking at the patterns. Manjeet Kullu, Harbir, Ignace – all are good options. We are looking forward and heading in the right direction,” he said.

Nobbs said the series against South Africa was a tough one and a good preparation for the qualifiers.

“This was a tough series and a good drill for us. South Africa is a very good team, they are placed just below us. If we can beat them, I think we can beat teams like Canada, France, Poland, Italy and the United States, whom we are playing in the qualifiers,” he said.

India, the highest-ranked team in the tournament at 10th, have been grouped with Canada, France, Poland, Italy and the United States in the men’s section of the first of the six Olympic Qualification tournaments.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/ Home> Sports> Hockey / PTI / January 21st, 2012

15 families from Kodagu are organising a five-a-side tourney in keeping with the city’s frenetic pace. The idea is to revive interest in the game

Kodavas are born with hockey sticks, goes a local saying. So, it’s no surprise that Kodagu has produced some of our finest hockey players apart, of course, from coffee, oranges and beautiful people. To keep alive that association and to revive interest in the sport, 15 Kodava families are organising a five-a-side hockey tournament to suit Bangalore’s fast pace from Jan 24 to 26 at the Hockey Stadium in Richmond Town.

K D Ganapathy told Bangalore Mirror, “We are a team of 30 members from 15 different families of Chickpet in Virajpet. We call ourselves the Coorg Challengers Chickpet Association (CCCA). The families’ motive is to revive interest in hockey among Bangaloreans and donate the profit from these tournaments to orphanages and blind schools. Today, we are what we are because of hockey and we want to give back to the sport by instilling that spirit in as many youngsters as we can.”

The team includes former Indian hockey players like K K Poonacha who is currently coaching the Oman national team, B J Kariappa, assistant to Indian hockey coach Michael Nobbs, K D Ganapathy, K M Somanna, C C Muthanna and others who have played for several universities and public sector units.

Birth of a tournament
“It all started four years ago when we found that hockey was a rare game in Bangalore except in a couple of schools,” Ganapathy said.

“At that time, we decided that the game or tournament should not be restricted to Kodavas alone. We approached clubs, schools and colleges, inviting youngsters to play hockey. However, there were problems of numbers and time as players weren’t able to last for the entire stretch of the game. That’s when we thought of a mini-hockey tournament, the CCCA Cup,” Ganapathy recalled.

Rink hockey
Five-a-side hockey tournaments are popular in Australia and New Zealand and are called rink hockey in Mumbai.

Unlike the regular 11 players in the traditional format, there are only five players in a team and they play across a field measuring 25X80 sq ft — a quarter of the original field. And each session lasts 7.5 minutes, said Bopanna, another member of the association.

Each team has to pay an entry fee of Rs 2,500 and winners get Rs 50,000 as cash prize.

“Last year, 24 teams participated and the profits were handed over to Thejaswi Seva Trust in Kumaraswamy Layout and Field Marshal Cariappa Hockey Trust in Virajpet to nurture potential hockey-players,” Ganapathy said.

source: http://www.BangaloreMirror.com / Home> News> City> Story / by Niranjan Kaggera / posted on Thursday, January 19th, 2012

Madikeri, Karnataka :
The Ichetttira Family will organise this year’s Kodava Family Cup Hockey Tournament in Ammathi during April. The President of the Tournament Committee I K Anil announced this in a press conference here today.
This will be the 16th edition of the Kodava Hockey Festival, which is certified by the Limca Book of Records as the biggest Hockey Cup in India.
The festival will be inaugurated on April 21 and will be ending on may 13. Around 250 teams are competing in over 23 days of exhilarating hockey.
Current and former Indian hockey players will participate and add grandeur of the tournament. The tournament attracts over three lakh sporting enthusiasts from all walks of life.
Even the family members settled at outside places will be arriving to participate and witness the event especially during their respective family players game.
Mr Anil said the main aim of the tournament is to promote the sport of hockey and celebrate fellowship, culture and sport.

source: http://www.CentralChronicle.com / Sports / January 16th, 2012

India’s most impressive amateur in recent years, Seenappa Chikkarangappa begins his quest for the first hat-trick in more than 80 years when he starts as a strong favourite to retain his All India Amateur Championships title from Wednesday.

Chikka, who is leading the IGU’s Order of Merit, is going for the first hat-trick since 1930, when E L Watts, completed his fourth successive win.

Since then no player has won the All India Amateur Championships three times in a row.
At the Indian Golf Union’s flagship event, the International challenge will include four teams from outside India.

The strongest will be from England, to be represented by Jack Colegate and Curtis Griffiths, who are both members of the England A Squad.

Other foreign teams include Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, whose players have won the title in the past. Bhutan has also sent a strong contingent.

One of the oldest amateur championships in the world, the All India Amateur Championship started in 1892 and is run by the Indian Golf Union.

It has a 36-hole stroke play qualifying competition over the first two days from which the leading 32 players proceed to the match play knockout event.

Chikkarangappa, currently No.1 on the Indian Amateur Tour Circuit, said, “I am happy to come back to the Chandigarh Golf Club once again and hopeful to win the All India title third time in a row.”

Last year in Bangalore, Chikka, considered one of the brightest prospects in Indian golf, retained the title he won in 2010, beating fellow Bangalorean Pritam Haridas in the final.

When Chikka won the title in 2010 at 17, he was the youngest ever winner of the All India Amateurs.

With Indian amateurs showing great promise over the last 18 months, the tournament will bring to the fore the strength of Indian amateur golf.

In 2011, Chikka, after winning the All India title in his hometown in February, also won the Inter-State, Southern India and Western India titles, besides losing in the final of Goodricke East India.

But Chikka will not have it easy and will be a given a run for his money by the likes of Honey Baisoya, who stunned Chikka in the final of Goodricke East India Matchplay.
Baisoya was also second at the Northern India.

Another Bangalore lad, Khalin Joshi has also been in good form, finishing second to Chikka at both Southern and Western India championships.

He would be hoping to have his revenge on the biggest stage of Indian amateur golf.
Among the others, who could upset the form book are Angad Cheema, who topped the RCGC Cup, the experienced Manav Das, seasoned Gagan Verma and the dangerous Udayan Mane, winner of the Maharashtra Open and semi-finalist at 2011 All India Amateurs.

Among the dark horses will be Ashbeer Saini, semifinalist at the Northern India, Sidharth Semwal, runner-up at the Maharashtra Open, and the young Trishul Chinappa, also of Bangalore.

England last sent a team six years ago, and before that in 2004 England’s James Smith reached the semi-finals.

The only English winner of the title has been former England captain Malcolm Lewis, who triumphed at Calcutta in 1981.

source: http://www.DeccanHerald.com / Home> Sports / Chandigarh, January 16th, 2012