It took a play-off to determine the winner of the Take Solutions India Masters, and even then there was only a couple of inches in it. S. Chikkarangappa’s 9-iron from 145 yards on the 18th sailed past the flag, bounced once on the green, and rolled sharply back.

It left him needing a birdie putt of some four feet to win the tie-breaker, and he nailed it. Moments earlier, Shubhankar Sharma had watched his birdie putt, from 10 feet, settle inches wide of the cup.

It was thus by the finest of margins that Chikkarangappa defended his title at the Eagleton Golf Resort on Saturday. Shubhankar — dogged to the end — and he returned an identical tally of 25-under-263 to force the first play-off hole, when the local favourite triumphed. That it went down to the wire was due to Shubhankar’s run of four birdies on the final four regulation holes, a passage of play that included one putt from 20 feet on the 16th.

Chikkarangappa, level with his opponent overnight, had eased into a two-shot lead by the seventh hole, after a hat-trick of birdies had followed a bogey on the fourth.

It appeared that advantage would be enough, but Shubhankar simply would not give up.

“Even I didn’t expect that he would make four out of four at the end,” Chikkarangappa said later. “But I was confident. I have been involved in three play-offs as a professional and I’ve now won all three.”

It was an emotional victory for the 22-year-old, who was in tears as he embraced his mother afterwards. “I’ve been through a bad patch these last three months. I had a back injury that made me fear for my career. Also, losing on my home course would have been very hurtful,” he said.

Chikkarangappa took home a cheque for Rs.13,65,000, which lifted him to first place on the PGTI Order of Merit.

The win was his second on the Asian Development Tour and seventh overall. Abhijit Chadha, who shot the day’s best of 10-under-62, finished the tournament in third place at 19-under-269.

The scores (top eight after 72 holes): 263: S. Chikkarangappa (65, 66, 66, 66), Shubhankar Sharma (65, 64, 68, 66); 269: Abhijit Chadha (70, 69, 68, 62); 270: Greg Moss (62, 70, 71, 67), Rashid Khan (65, 70, 68, 67); 271: Himmat Rai (64, 67, 69, 71); 272: Anura Rohana (66, 73, 66, 67), Oskar Arvidsson (69, 69, 67, 67).

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Sport> Other Sports / by Shreedutta Chidananada / Bengaluru – October 31st, 2015

Ashwini Sports Foundation, floatedby Olympian Ashwini Nachappa, takes a step closer to building itsworld-class facility in Coorg with inauguration of Shooting Rangeand Gymnasium at Gonikoppal, South Coorg.

Embassy Group, India’s leading real estate developer, haspartnered with Ashwini’s Sports Foundation (ASF) to launch thespanking new, world-class Embassy ASF 10m Shooting Range andGymnasium. It was inaugurated by Jitu Virwani, Chairman & ManagingDirector, Embassy Group and his wife Lina Virwani recently.

Arjuna Awardee, Ashwini, over the past decade, has been focusingon creating a unique approach to education that integrates sportswith academics at a very early age. Along with her husband DathaKaruambiah, she manages a school – KALS which put this approach intopractice. Talented athletes from this school are then absorbed intoASF, which then provides structured, world-class training through aunique 4-step model. More than 50 talented children have beenidentified and are training in Athletics and Hockey. With theEmbassy ASF Shooting Range, ASF will now addthis to its repertoire of sporting disciplines.

Speaking on the occasion, Jitu Virwani said that “we are verysupportive of Ashwini Nachappa’s and ASF’s efforts to popularizeshooting as a sport. We are extremely pleased to have collaboratedwith ASF to set up a facility that matches international standards.I am sure this shooting range will help many young rifle shootingaspirants develop their talent and become world beaters at nationaland international events. We stand committed to the vision of ASFand wish them all success in their future endeavours.”

Ashwini Nachappa said that “our intent at ASF is to create asustainable and replicable model that will enable talented athletesnot just in Coorg but from anywhere in the country to rise to theirfullest potential. I am hoping that in the next 5-7 years we areable to show results at the international level and be able toproduce world champions.

source: http://www.news.webindia123.com / WebIndia123 / News Home> India / Coorg, Thursday – October 29th, 2015

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Hockey India, the apex body governing the sport in India has introduced Hockey Coorg as an Associate Member unit from the state of Karnataka. The state of Karnataka will now boast of two member units, where Hockey Karnataka themselves already operate as a Permanent Member unit while the latest entrant Hockey Coorg will operate as an Associate Member unit. The newly formed Hockey Coorg, will see Mr. PE Kalaiah spearheading the unit as the President.

Hockey India, which currently has 20 Permanent Member units, will have 28 Associate Member units with the formation of Hockey Coorg. Karnataka has traditionally been a major contributor to the sport of Hockey.

Hockey Coorg’s primary functionality will be to manage the large talent pool from the Coorg region of the state that in the past has produced some great players like BP Govinda, Arjun Halappa, AB Subbaiah and MP Ganesh. A few of the current players donning the national cap from Coorg are VR Raghunath, SV Sunil, SK Utthappa, Nikin Thimmiah and Nithin Thimmaiah.

With the formation of Hockey Coorg, the region can now participate in the National Championships as a separate team, helping India unearth a larger pool of talent for the future. Speaking on the development, Mohd. Mushtaque Ahmad, Secretary General, Hockey India said, “I am delighted to welcome Hockey Coorg as an Associate Member unit of Hockey India.

The region of Coorg has always given our country some exceptional athletes in the sport of hockey, and with the formation of this new unit, I am confident that we will be moving towards a formidable talent pool who only are going to help us carry forward the legacy and honour of the sport, bringing many laurels to the country.”

source: http://www.sportskeeda.com / Sports Keeda (SK) / Home> Hockey> News / Press Release / October 29th, 2015

The governing body for hockey in the country, Hockey India, announced on Monday that Hockey Coorg will be inducted as an associate member in their set-up.

The move will now see Karnataka represented by two individual bodies; Hockey Karnataka and Hockey Coorg, and both units will be allowed to field teams at the National Championships.

“Hockey Coorg’s priority will remain the same and that is to nurture talent for the Karnataka side,” PE Kalaiah, president of Hockey Coorg, told Deccan Herald. “They (Hockey Karnataka) will have first refusal of right (players) from the talent pool and we will then give the remaining players a platform to improve their skills.

“The concept of this membership is not to attract boys who are playing in Bengaluru but originally are from Coorg, but rather to have a larger talent pool that remains in the State. Plenty of players are either on the fringe or ply their trade in different States. We might as well have them play for our State and remain at home,” he explained, while alleying any fears of change in dynamics of the functioning of HK.

Spotting talent
Hockey Coorg has 24 senior teams from different parts of Coorg that are affiliated to them but talent-spotting at the school level remains on top of their list of priorities. “Hockey Coorg’s first preference will be to conduct school-level tournaments and ensure that the players have the right infrastructure and opportunity to play. Presently, more than half the boys at the SAI camp in Bengaluru are from Coorg and have worked their way up the existing system,” added Kalaiah.

Sandeep Somesh, Joint Secretary of Hockey Karnataka, echoed Kalaiah’s sentiments on the subject.

“This is a move in the right direction for Hockey Karnataka as the players we nurture will have more opportunities to represent the State, since Hockey Coorg is an affiliated body and we will get to choose the best players from a larger group,” he noted.
Sandeep also dismissed any concerns of presence of two teams hampering the functioning of the body.

“Nothing changes,” he stressed. “Though Hockey Coorg will be an independent body, Hockey Karnataka remains the regulating body for hockey in the State.”

While both bodies will look to work in tandem in the near future, plans on infrastructure and other training processess are still in the pipeline.

“Hockey Coorg will work alongside us in the future but the roles for both bodies will be clearly defined and we will look to execute them,” remarked Somesh.

While divulging into the role that Hockey Coorg could carry out, the former India International spoke of Coorg being a perfect breeding ground for budding talent.

“We have seen that over the last several years, Coorg has produced some of the best players that the country has seen. I have no doubt that they will continue to do a fine job. They have been organising inter-school and inter-college tournaments as well as club-level tournaments from where players have been spotted and trained,” he pointed out.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> Sports / by Arjun Ganesh / DHNS – October 27th, 2015