Glasgow 2014 was shuttler Ashwini Ponnappa’s second appearance at the Commonwealth Games. And the girl from Bengaluru was “satisfied” with her performance if not overwhelmed, after taking her second medal in as many Games.

Ashwini and Jwala Gutta, the 2010 CWG gold medallists, settled for silver in the women’s doubles after going down 17-21, 21-23 against world no. 18 Malaysian combo of Vivian Kah Mun Hoo and Khe Wei Woon in the final.

But Ashwini said the best was yet to come from the pair.

“Me and Jwala are getting better and better with each tournament. These Games have given us the motivation and belief that we are in the right direction, that we are getting close to what we are striving for,” she said.

Talking of their mistakes during the title clash, Ashwini said that she needed to work on the mental aspect and her shot selection in high pressure situations

“We have now learnt our lessons from these Games. Personally I think, my strokes weren’t smart. Also, I have to be calmer. I was expecting too much from myself during the final, so at some point I got irritated. I need to avoid those situations,” she pointed out.

Jwala and Ashwini re-united last October, and since then they picked up the senior nationals title in December before bagging the bronze at the Asian Badminton Championship in April this year.

Asked if she was satisfied with their show at Glasgow, Ashwini said, “Yes, you can say that.

“I am happy to get a medal. We went into the Games targetting the gold. But I don’t think we played to our capabilities in the final. Still, it’s always a good feeling to win a medal.”

The Commonwealth gold has been missed, but the year still has a couple of major tournaments left and Ashwini said she hardly has any time to celebrate her medal. “We are targetting one tournament at a time. Next is the World Championships, and we want to do well there,” she said.

“There is no time to relax, so I am starting my training with Tom John sir. Jwala will be training with S.M. Arif sir. I will join her in Hyderabad after a couple of weeks,” said Ashwini.

source: http://www.asianage.com / The Asian Age / Home> Sports> Other Sports / by Priyanka Sharma / August 07th, 2014

Chennai :

The gold dust is yet to settle. Fresh from her stellar show at the Commonwealth Games along with partner Dipika Pallikal, 27 year-old Joshna Chinappa is in a happy zone.

With the Asian Games round the corner, she isn’t game for a break yet.

After her return to the city, Joshna took time off on Wednesday for a freewheeling chat with TOI.

Excerpts:

How would you sum up your CWG experience and how different is this win from any of your other ones?

I had a great time at Glasgow. The stadium was fantastic, the crowds great and the atmosphere electric. All my wins have been special in some way. But to win gold at the Commonwealth Games for India has been a long-cherished dream. I worked really hard with my trainer Rajamani ahead of the event. That it’s incidentally India’s maiden squash medal at the Games makes it even more special.

After the tri-nation win in Malaysia, were you upbeat of your chances as a pair and what are the adjustments you had to bring about in your game to complement each other better?

Dip and I were confident that as a pair we could win a medal. We took it one game at a time though. I didn’t have to adjust much because we are both strong on our respective sides and we both knew what we had to do on court to win our games.

What are the tournaments you’d be focusing on next?

I have already moved on to my next event and will be getting back to training soon. My next event is the Malaysian Open and Hong Kong Open in two weeks. After which there’s the Asian Games in Incheon.

How would you rate your chances at the Asian Games?

I have a good chance in the individuals. As far as the team event is concerned, we won a bronze in the last edition in Guangzhou so I hope we can go higher than that this time.

In what way are you hoping that this win will help change the way squash is viewed in the country and what are your expectations from the state government to help improve the state of the sport?

We do get a bit of support from the central government. Our chief minister has always been encouraging towards sport and sportspersons and we’ve always been rewarded when we win at big international events. I hope this win will spur more youngsters to take up squash and work hard. We need more squash courts in Chennai and more kids being supported if the sport has to take a leap into the future.

How did you celebrate after the win?

We went for shopping the next day. I prefer spending time on my own when I’m not training or watch a movie or catch up on TV shows (I watch way too many!). Revenge, The Following, Real housewives of Beverly Hills are some of my favourites.

FAST FIVE

Biggest fantasy: To own an island.

Biggest fear: Visiting the dentist.

Worst moment: When I got injured and the doctor in America told me I needed surgery and couldn’t play for a month.

One thing you can’t do without (apart from squash): I can be a bit superstitious… might need to cut down on a few.

One thing you hate about yourself: I don’t hate much about me except that I need to relax a bit more.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> Sports> More Sports> Others / by Susan Ninan, TNN / August 07th, 2014

Star opener Robin Uthappa and middle-order bat Manish Pandey, along with KL Rahul, are expected to rake in the big mo­olah at the Karnataka Premier League players’ au­c­tion here at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Thursday.

Uthappa, the player of the tournament in the recently-concluded IPL-7, is in the auction as his team — Bangalore Brigadiers — have pulled out of the third edition. His team-mate at Kolkata Knight Riders, Pandey, couldn’t be retained by Belagavi Panthers as existing teams are allowed to keep just one player from Pool A that consists of the top 30 State cricketers.

Panthers, who also had R Vinay Kumar in their ranks, went for the Karnataka skipper. The medium pacer will also be leading the Panthers in the T20 league to be held from August 28 to September 12.
Another batsman, who has made rapid progress in the last one year, Karun Nair, has been retained by defending champions Mangalore United while Bijapur Bulls left their slate clean.

Stuart Binny, the second highest paid player behind Uthappa in the previous auction, will not be available for the tournament as the all-rounder has been included in the ODI squad for the England series. With Mumbai Indians refusing to release leg-spinning all-rounder Shreyas Gopal and medium pacer HS Sharath injured, there were three vacancies in Pool A. Left-arm spinner KP Appanna, medium pacer SL Akshay and batsman C Cheluvaraj have come in as replacements.

Another top-order batsman Rahul, who was also part of Brigadiers, will be one of the most sought after players at the auction scheduled to kick off at 3.30 pm after the unveiling of the sponsor’s logo. Hard-hitting opener Mayank Agarwal is also sure to generate some heat along with A Mithun, S Arvind, Ronit More, Amit Verma and Kunal Kapoor.

It will be interesting to see how much interest former State cricketers like Anand Katti, Yere Goud and B Akhil — who are all in Pool A — generate among the bidders.

Unlike in the previous auction in 2009, when the franchises were allowed to spend Rs 7 lakh each on buying players, amounting to Rs 56 lakh, this time the cap has been raised to Rs 20 lakh per team. As a result the six teams at the player bidding together can spend a maximum of Rs 1.2 crore on a minimum of 90 players (taking into consideration that each team should have a minimum of 15-player squad) and a maximum of 108.

The two retained players, Vinay and Nair, who have a minimum cap Rs 3 lakh, will get 15 per cent more than the highest paid player in the auction in their respective teams or whichever is the higher amount.
Each franchise can spend a maximum of Rs 12 lakh to buy no more than five players from Pool A and if any player in this ‘elite’ group goes unsold he will come into Pool B which has close to 200 players.

The unsold Pool A player, however, can go under the hammer again only after Pool B players are auctioned off. The base price for unsold Pool A player is pegged at Rs 25,000. Each bid for a player has to be raised by Rs 10,000 for Pool A and by Rs 5,000 for Pool B.

Also, to help maintain local flavour, it has been made mandatory for teams to have two players from their catchment area.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> Sports / DHNS , Bangalore – August 06th, 2014

Says Joshna Chinappa, squash champion

Bangalore :

Joshna Chinappa, who along with her partner Deepika Pallikal won the gold medal in Squash Doubles at the Commonwealth Games held in Glasgow recently, says that though she resides in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, by heart and soul she is a Kodavathi.

In a special interview to a newspaper after her return to Chennai on Tuesday, Joshna, hailing from the Kuttanda family, said that she took pride in saying that she has the lineage of Field Marshal K.M. Cariappa and the first Inspector General of Karnataka, P. Ponnappa.

“Though I am residing in Chennai with my parents, I belong to Kodagu district in Karnataka. My father Anjan Chinnappa is an industrialist in Chennai. I have houses in Bangalore and Kodagu too. I am the grand niece of Field Marshal Cariappa (grand-daughter of the younger sister of Field Marshal Cariappa). My great grandfather Ponnappa was the first IGP of Karnataka, which is a matter of pride for me,” she gushed with a broad smile and added, “Whenever I visit Kodagu, I meet school children and spread awareness about the game of squash.”

She recalled the days when her father Anjan Chinappa used to play squash at the Madras Cricket Club, to which she would accompany him and started playing the game. “Seeing my interest in the game, my father gave me all the support and encouragement. Thanks to my parents’ efforts and well-wishers’ support, I got the honour of bringing credit to India,” she said.

For Joshna, several international events are lined up. After a few days rest, she will be participating in the two international championships in Malaysia and then attend the Asian Championship. “Winning the gold in the CWG has boosted my confidence. I will spare no effort to clinch a gold in the 17th Asian Games to be held in Korea,” she said. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa had awarded cash prizes of Rs. 50 lakh each to Joshna and Deepika for the CWG gold.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / August 09th, 2014

Mysore :

Renowned equestrian Ajai Appachu has been selected for the 17th Asian Games to be held in Korea to participate in the horse-riding competition during Sept. 2014. Trained at Embassy International Riding School, Bangalore, Ajai will be accompanied by his student Fawad Mirza and Nadia Hariprasad.

For Ajai Appachu, this is the second Asian Games. He has won prizes in all the equestrian competitions that he took part, having won more than 50 awards so far. A truly gifted rider and an extremely successful instructor, Ajai has won innumerable equestrian accolades in India, South Africa and Australia in every field of equestrian sport, whether dressage, show jumping or eventing.

Ajai has been trained under world-class instructors and is now the guiding force behind the Embassy International Riding School (EIRS) competition yard.

His students reflect his ability and the EIRS team for the Junior National Equestrian Championship is a force to reckon with, having achieved the highest medal tally at national level since 2003. The young rider has a long list of achievements under his belt.

Ajai started his winning streak in competitive riding in 1996 when he was adjudged the best rider in the zonal championships at Kolkata. Ajai is the son of Maj. Gen. (Rtd.) Cheppudira Jai Appachu and Gita, hailing from Kodagu.

Ajai won the Individual Gold (1.30 mt) at the recently held KRA Cup, Seoul, South Korea. Also, won the Team Silver for Jumping; Qualified for the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China in the year 2010; Won FEI World Jumping challenge Category A in Meerut (2011); Won the FEI World dressage challenge held at Embassy International Riding School in 2008; Won Team Gold in show jumping at the Junior International (1999); Best Rider at the Tollygunj Horse Show (1997-98); Junior National Champion at Bangalore (1998); Represented India in South Africa where the team won a gold and three bronze medals; Represented India for the 4th time in the International Tent Pegging meet (2000) and other awards.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / August 07th, 2014

In the Quadrangular A Team ODI tournament that is reaching its closing stages in Australia, India registered their fifth straight win on the trot, against Australia A, on Thursday. The loss ended Australia A’s five match unbeaten run that started in the first match of the tournament against the same opponents. Chasing 229 for win, India reached home with 5-wickets to spare.

Ambati Rayudu(77) and Kedar Jadhav(52) stitched together a 101-run partnership after India A lost three wickets early in the chase. Rayudu batted cautiously for his half-century, while Jadhav continued to be the aggressor. The Maharashtra batsman struck two sixes and three boundaries in his knock, which was eventually ended by Cameron White.

Sanju Samson joined Rayudu and continued from where Jadhav left; the duo added 52 off 59 balls that set India on course for the win. Parvez Rasool contributed 20 off 16 to guarantee a victory. The Kerala wicketkeeper-batsman finished on an unbeaten 49 from 51 balls.

Earlier in the day, White won the toss and decided to bat first at the Marrara Oval, Darwin. Opener Marcus Stoinis batted briskly for his 58, before falling to Akshar Patel. The breakthrough opened the gates for Manoj Tiwary who bagged his maiden five-wicket haul of his career by getting rid of the next five batsmen.

Peter Nevill (23) got stumped by Samson, while the captain did not last long. Phil Hughes, who scored the incredible record-breaking double century in his last outing, became the second batsman to be stumped off Tiwary’s leg-spin in the match, for 58.

Akshar Patel was extremely effective, bowling economically and also picking up important wickets. The left-arm spinner cleared off the tail that sneaked in some quick runs towards the end of the innings. Australia were eventually bowled out with 228 on board in the final over of the innings.

Indian skipper Robin Uthappa failed once again with the bat and is without a single half-century in this entire tour. In the end, it turned out to be a convincing victory for the visitors. The two sides will meet again in the finals on Saturday.

source: http://www.sportskeeda.com / Sports Keeda / Home> Report> Cricket / by Pradeep Kalamagam / July 31st, 2014