Mysuru :

A blitzkrieg by left-hander J. Suchith, who hammered the fastest 50 of KPL, a 15-ball 54 for Mysuru Warriors, was not enough to stop the Bijapur Bulls from bulldozing their way to a convincing seven-wicket win over Mysuru Warriors in the Karbonn Smart KPL 2015 at the SDNR Wadiyar Grounds here yesterday.

Suchith’s blazing knock, studded with three fours and six towering sixes, matched Yusuf Pathan’s 15-ball 50 for Kolkata Knight Riders against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL 2014 season.

Chasing a target of 167 set by Warriors, Bijapur Bulls were well served by Robin Uthappa (49 n.o, 34 b, 3×4, 2×6) and opener Rajoo Bhatkal (40, 21b, 6×4, 1×6).

The Bulls were cruising along the chase all through with the openers putting on 66 for the first wicket. Then Uthappa took over and in the company of Sunil Raju (23) and M. Nidesh (24 n.o.,) guided the team towards victory. The wins also puts Bijpaur Bulls on top of the table with 11 points from five wins and one washed out contest.

Robin Uthappa was awarded the Man of the Match.

Earlier, Suchith’s knock and new skipper, CM Gautam’s 58 were the highlights of the Mysuru Warriors innings, who became virtually the first team in the league to face bowing out of competition. Taking first strike, the Warriors batsmen showed positives in their approach. There were small and useful partnerships up the order. But unable to step on the run-rate meant the team would finish with a total of a little too few.

But Suchith plundered the last two overs scoring 23 from the 19th and the last five balls of the 20th over, Abhimanyu Mithun was hammered for 24 runs which took the team to 167 from 120 in 18th over.

Seven-wicket win for Bellary Tuskers

In an earlier tie, skipper Bharat Chipli and Amit Vemra batted well to guide Bellary Tuskers register a seven wicket win over Belagavi Panthers.

A match-winning third wicket partnership off 111-runs in 84 balls between skipper Bharat Chipli 63 (54b, 3x4s, 3x6s) and southpaw Amit Verma 52 n.o. (48b, 4x4s, 2x6s), helped Bellary Tuskers to defeat Belagavi Panthers by a seven wicket margin.

Earlier, Belagavi Panthers batting first, began confidently with their openers Abhisek Reddy 35 (34b, 4x4s) and Stalin Hoover 23 (15b, 5x4s) adding 46-runs for the opening wicket in 5.3 overs, but after the fall of Stalin, wickets fell at regular intervals and Belagavi Panthers ended up scoring 136 for seven in 20 overs. R. Jonathan (20) and wicket-keeper bat G.S.Chiranjeevi (20) were the other contributors. Prasanna Patil impressed for Bellary Tuskers with three for 20.

In reply, Bellary Tuskers scored 137 for three in 19.2 overs. After a shaky start (21 for two in 4.2 overs), Bharat Chipli and Amit Verma pulled them out of the woods and helped their team cruise to a comfortable seven wicket win.

After five games, Bellary Tuskers have secured six points are placed third in the points table, while Belagavi Panthers having qualified with nine points from five games are in the second position.

The Scores Mysuru Warriors 167 for five in 20 overs (C.M. Gautham 58, J. Suchith 54 n.o., A. Mithun two for 35) lost to Bijapur Bulls 171 for three in 19.4 overs (Robin Uthappa 49 n.o., Rajoo Bhatkal 40, R.Samarth 34).

Belagavi Panthers 136 for seven in 20 overs (Abhishek Reddy 35, Stalin Hoover 23, G.S. Chiranjeevi 20, R. Jonathan 20, Prasanna Patil three for 20) lost to Bellary Tuskers 137 for three in 19.2 overs (Bharat Chipli 63, Amit Verma 52 n.o, H.S. Sharath two for 23).

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Sports News / Tuesday – September 15th, 2015

Hubballi :

Robin Uthappa came to the party in style hammering an unbeaten 45-ball 73 to steer Bijapur Bulls to a convincing seven wickets victory over Hubli Tigers in the Karbonn Smart KPL 2015 here on Sunday.

The India opener who came in at the fall of the first wicket was circumspect to start with before opening his shoulders to send the Hubli players on a leather retrieving spree. He slammed six fours and four sixes during his tenure at the wicket and in the company of skipper B Akhil (24 n.o.) knit together 64 runs for the unbroken fourth wicket.

Uthappa found his rhythm early and his confidence grew and he began middling the ball. Once he changed gears, the home team bowlers were not their own self and wilted under his slaughter.

Earlier a 58-ball identical 73 by Hubli opener KB Pawan enabled Hubli post a decent 152 after being invited to bat.

Hubli began well with Taha and Pawan negotiating the Bulls’ attack with confidence. But the departure of Taha saw the Hubli batsmen who followed struggle and none seemed to be able to give Pawan the support at the other end.

Even as Pawan went about accumulating runs, wickets fell at regular intervals at the other end and finally the total of 152 proved to be insufficient to defend for the bowlers.

Uthappa collected a cheque for rupees ten thousand for his efforts which fetched him the as the Man of the Match award.

Speaking about his performance, Uthappa said, “It was a good game. It was an important toss to win and I think we bowled pretty well and contained them to a manageable total. The wicket actually got better as the game progressed and I knew that if I just played my role it would be an easy target to chase.”

SCOREBOARD
Hubli Tigers:
Mohammad Taha c A Somanna b R Bhatkal 22; KB Pawan st Uthappa b Appanna 73 (58b, 3 x 4, 4 x 6); Abhinav Manohar st Uthappa b Appanna 15; Kunal Kapoor c Mithun b Vyshak Vijay Kumar 15; Sreenath Aravind c M Nidesh b Appanna 9; Kranti Kumar (not out) 10; Nithin Bhile c A Somanna b Cariappa 0; Chetan Wilias (not out) 4. Extras: (w-2, lb-2) 4.
Total: (For six wickets, 20 overs) 152

Fall of wickets:
1-28 (Taha); 2-68 (Manohar); 3-102 (Kapoor); 4-125 (Aravind); 6-145 (Pawan); 7-145 (Bhille).

Bowling: Abhimanyu Mithun 4-0-32-0; Vyshak Vijay Kumar 3-0-23-1; Rajoo Bhatkal 3-0-24-1; KP Appanna 4-0-29-2; B Akhil 2-0-12-0; KC Cariappa 4-0-30-2.

Biapur Bulls:
R Samarth (run out) 20 (14b, 3 x4); Rajoo Bhatkal c SL Akshay b B Naveen 13; Robin Uthappa (not out) 73 (45b, 6 x 4, 4 x 6); Deepak Chougle c N Bhille b D Negi 17; B Akhil (not out) 24 (19b, 1 x 4, 1 x 6). Extras: (w-4, bn-2) 6.

Total: (For three wickets, 17.-01 overs) 153.

Fall of wickets: 1-16 (Bhatkal); 2-56 (Samarth); 3-89 (Chougle).
Bowling: Kranti Kumar 2-0-14-0; B Naveen 4-0-36-1; SL Akshay 3-0-45-0; Sreenath Aravind 3-0-14-0; Chetan Williams 2-0-15-0; D Negi 3-0-29-1.
Toss: Won by Hubli Tigers; opted to field
Result: Bijapur Bulls won by seven wickets.

source: http://www.sportskeeda.com/

Each match is a learning curve

Easily one of the world’s finest squash players of the present era, Nicol David of Malaysia, ever the humble type, would often say that each match for her remains an education, an occasion to learn more.

Coming from a World No. 1 that would sound strange. But that is what sports is all about, a never ending learning curve towards new frontiers of excellence. If Nicol knows she is good, nay the best in the world, then her aim is to keep ensuring that the talent she is gifted with, remains shining.

As Maj S. Maniam,the Consultant coach of the SRFI and the man who led the renaissance of Indian squash, puts it, “Once a player has strong basics in the sport then the aim should be to be consistent in the performance level backed by a strong self-belief.” True no player, not even a champion, can be infallible. Sport after all is much about chance.

A fairly easy drop may turn a stunning let down or a most difficult pick could end up being a breathtaking winner. Only, a champion player ensures the degree of winning-strokes remains high. Else, we would have had a flood of ‘Nicols’ or ‘Shorbaghys’! For, it is never easy to be on the high always.

Joshana and Kush rely on aggression

Among the top players in India, Joshana Chinappa and Kush Kumar are one of a kind, marked by their similarities in approach. Both are aggressive, can be unbeatable on their day but then can also fade away much against expectations. What they are high is in their self-belief that they are good and each time they enter the court, it would seem they taunt their opponent to beat them!

Their recent journey to Australia provided typical examples of their approach. Each enjoyed winning a title, but both showed that alone did not inspire better times ahead.

Kush didn’t capitalise after Tasmanian Open win

Consider Kush for instance. The former national junior champion, only just into the lanes of the professional circuit, showed the grit to make every match a winning one in the Tasmanian Open in Australia for his maiden PSA title. However in a tighter field in Melbourne in the Victorian Open, he burnt away too fast after promising much. He dislodged the second seed Nasir Iqbal of Pakistan in the very first round and that was no small achievement for only weeks earlier Saurav Ghosal had a tough time putting this Pakistani down.

Just when it seemed Kush was on course for an encore came Steven Finitsis, a senior pro but more importantly one, who like Kush, fights for every point and forced the Indian’s exit. At the much bigger settings of Australian Open, Kush had to come via the qualifying phase and the young man was found wanting there. However all the pluck and flourish ended in the very first round to the experienced eight seeded Rex Hedrick of Australia, who has eight titles under his belt.

A good beginning then proved half done for Kush in Australia but like Nicol, the Indian ace too would do well to take each outing as part of the learning curve. He can only get better from all this experience.

Annie Au was too good for Joshana

Unlike Kush, Joshana is a seasoned player who knows much of the tricks of the trade. Still, it is not often that this champion player comes really good. The Victorian Open gladdened many an Indian heart for the typical Joshana perfomance authoritative from the start. Seeded next to Rachael Grinham (Australia) and Line Hansen (Denmark), Joshana outdid the two.

Though she did not face Rachael, thanks to Christine Nunn (Aus) who beat her in the quarterfinal, the way she made short work of Nunn in the semis identified her as the potential winner. She proved that with another standout show against Line. However a week later on the same courts, Joshana lost the earlier touch. Atleast that was how it looked when she, as sixth seed struggled to get past the twelfth seeded Megan Craig of New Zealand.

The truth came when she was swept aside in the quarters by Annie Au, the champion from Hong Kong and the top seed. Joshana has beaten Annie before but this is a different player now, ranked 11 in the world and 16 rungs above the Indian. Joshna had feared it will be tough against Annie but a straight game loss in just over half an hour seemed a bit too harsh for her talent. Be that as it may, considering that among the Indians in the fray, Joshana and Kush, both products of the Indian Squash Academy, were the only ones to demand attention, they deserved plaudits.

What is more, Indian squash deserve players of such genre who make the sport exciting and at the same time give the assurance that no task is necessarily too tough. It is just the day!

source: http://www.sportskeeda.com / Sports Keeda / Home> SK Squash> Opinion / by Sharikal Raman / August 12th, 2015

The talk essentially gave an insight and a recap of the way these champions struggled through their formative stages.

It was an evening when four of the champion sportspersons – shuttlers Gutta Jwala, Ashwini Ponnappa, star cricketer Mithali Raj and Indian football captain Sunil Chetri – participated in a talk ‘India’s Potential as a Sporting Nation’ organised by the FICCI Ladies Organisation on Wednesday.

The talk essentially gave an insight and a recap of the way these champions struggled through their formative stages. Each one of them had a different story to tell, but one which clearly could prove to be an inspiration for all the budding young talent dream big.

“We owe our success to our parents. But for whom, we would not have been here. Fortunately, they only insisted that we train hard, stay positive and never put pressure on winning. So, effectively, we just enjoyed our game over the years,” said both Jwala and Ashwani.

“My career took off to a different level after 2009 when I started partnering Jwala for it gave me a stature in seniors’ category. We both play offensive game and complement each other pretty well. Importantly, the goals are the same for us – to bring laurels to the country,” chipped in Ashwani, to make a point.

Jwala felt that they were successful despite the lack of proper sports structure even though they were grateful to the Government of India for taking care of all their exposure trips. “But, we often feel there should be some accountability on this front and this is where the Associations disappoint,” the flamboyant shuttler said.

For his part, Sunil Chetri differed stating that All India Football Federation did what best it could to support the footballers cause. “I look at this way. You don’t plan to become a Jwala or an Ashwini or a Mithali. You have to change your style of preparations and keep changing your goals as the situation demands,” he pointed out to a query from the ladies. “It is imperative to love what you want to do,” he added.

Mithali recalled her struggle when many looked down at her in a male-dominated cricket. “In a way, I am lucky that my parents protected me really and set up a wall which could block all hindrances, emotions and let me stay focussed,” she said. “Yes, I would love to see Inter-schools cricket for girls to nurture future talent,” she remarked. She revealed that she was actually coaxed to play cricket being a ‘lazy girl’ as the parents wanted her initially to give company to her brother who played Grade II level cricket.

And, all four star athletes were clear India needs a sports structure. “We need a system to take care of core areas – training, exposure and proper monitoring. It is always easy to say India fails to produce even a couple of world or Olympic champions. But tell me how many of the millions of kids get proper training,” was Chetri’s poser.

Former Ranji cricketer Vijay Mohan Raj was the moderator for the programme.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by V.V. Subrahmanyam / August 06th, 2015

Melbourne :

Joshna Chinappa today upstaged second seed Line Hansen in straight games to win the USD 15,000 Victorian Open squash competition for her 10th WSA title.

Third seed Joshna beat the Dane 11-5, 11-4, 11-9 in the final of the WSA event. It was only last week that Joshanalost to Line in Kooyong.

The Indian’s last triumph had come in the Richmond Open in April last year.

Known for mixing strokes and accuracy in the placements, the Joshna held the upper-hand right through, though she admitted, it was a “hard game” particularly after Line fought and brought the score to nine-all in the third game.

Coming as it did soon after her recent success in the National Championship, she was happy with her current form.

With the Australian Open to start in a few days and the venue being the same, the Joshna is looking forward to more success.

“I am so happy it will be at the same centre,” she said.

The title in the men’s section went to Australian Ryan Cuskelly who beat Greg Lobban of Scotland 12-10, 13-11, 11-9.

Meanwhile, India went down 0-2 to top ranked and title-favourite Egypt in the quarterfinals of the girls’ event of the WSF-world junior squash championship in Eindhoven.

Debutant Nikita Joshi, who played first, tried her best but Salma Hany Ibrahim was far superior. The Egyptian won 11-5 11-6 11-2 to give Egypt the lead.

Adya Advani was pitted against the top player Habiba Mohamed and it proved a tough task for the Indian. Habiba won easily 11-3 11-5 11-3 to give Egypt the win and a place in the semi-final.

India now will play for the 5th to 8th place matches

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Sport / by PTI / August 02nd, 2015

Ashwini Ponnappa is on a high after winning the Canadian Open women’s doubles crown along with vastly experienced Jwala Gutta. The Ashiwin-Jwala pair reached their career-best ranking of 13 having upset a higher ranked Dutch pair in the final of the Canadian Open.

Ashwini and Jwala are now focused on putting up a solid performance in next month’s World Championships.

Ashwini talked about her Canadian Open exploits, state of women’s doubles badminton in India and much more in an exclusive interview.

Excerpts:
Q: The Canadian Open win must have been just what was needed given the fact that the World Championships is happening in August coupled with the Olympics, which is just a year away. Must be pleased with the way things are going.

Yes I’m happy that Jwala and I won the Canadian Open. Though we won a few medals last year, we had not won a tournament in a very long time, hence this win feels great, especially because it is the Olympic year and the competition is fierce.

Q: You and Jwala did not have it easy in the final of the Canadian Open – you led 15-6 in the second game but the Dutch pair levelled things at 15-15 before you and Jwala showed your tenacity to win the match and the title. Do you think you guys are playing the best doubles of your career?

The Dutch pair are experienced and have won a lot of tournaments, so it was a tough match, I’m happy we won. Yes, I do think Jwala and I have improved and matured as a pair, which has helped us to play some really good matches and beat some top pairs.

Q: You and Jwala are the country’s top ranked women’s doubles – you guys reached highest ever ranking of 13 – how challenging it will be to break into the top ten and stay there consistently?

It is extremely tough for Jwala and me, especially since the two of us lack support in terms of firstly not having a professional doubles coach or a centre with sparring partners where the two of us can train together. We have managed to do well so far despite training in different cities merely because of the support we have received by the government in terms of sending us for all our tournaments, which has helped our game a lot. Sadly, that alone is just not enough to help us break into the top 10.

Q: You had upset the world number 8 in the final of the Canadian Open – how would you assess your chances in the World Championships?

We have as good a chance of doing well as any other pair out there. Though most of the pairs we would be up against come from countries which produce a lot of doubles pairs, I think me and Jwala are quite a strong pair and have a unique style as we are very offensive, so that should help.

Q: A lot has been said about you and Jwala being not included in the TOP scheme in the first two lists. How optimistic are you guys of being included in the next list?

Pretty optimistic!

Q: What are the improvement areas you guys need to focus on going forward?

Probably our defense needs focus.

Q: You are younger to Jwala by a few years, but you seemed like you have matured as a doubles player in recent times to complement the experience of Jwala. Your thoughts.

When I started playing with Jwala I was more or less an amateur with zero experience at the senior international level. But from the very first day Jwala has been supportive and encouraging and helped me to develop as a player.

Playing with her helped me to aim and dream big. The fact that she believed we could do well too helped a lot. And of course with time and experience, I think I’ve matured as a player.

Q: What would pave the way for the new crop of women doubles players in India as we are struggling to churn out quality pairs if we take both of you out of the equation?

To start off with, it would be having separate doubles camps with a doubles specialist and good sparring partners. If doubles as an event is given the right kind of encouragement and support, only then will it help youngsters to look at the event as a career option.

source: http://www.sportskeeda.com / SportsKeeda /Home> Badminton> Canada-Open>Badminton / by Suhrid Barua / July 18th, 2015