Hoping for a bagful of medals

Famous Personalities of Kodagu / Coorg, Sports

Pune:

The picturesque Balewadi Sports Complex looked resplendent against the Baner Hillock, washed clean by the steady drizzle since afternoon. Yet, some 50 odd fans braved the pitter-patter to gather at the warm up ground as Indian quartermiler MR Poovamma went through her drills on the eve of Asian Track and Field Championships, on Tuesday evening.

As the chief coach Bahadur Singh watched keenly from a distance, another coach, N. Ramesh was busy explaining to a group of people how much it depends on the young 400 metres runner to lift the sagging morale of Indian athletics after the doping scandal involving six top female runners threatened to break the backbone of the sport.

“With all top female 400 metres runners including Ashwini and Mandeep being banned for doping, some felt India’s supremacy in Asia in this event would be over,” said Ramesh.

“We were once again able to build a team from the scratch that would be hard to beat in Asia. If Poovamma is our best bet, then equally talented are girls like Nirmala and Anu Mariam Jose.”

Having established herself as the top quartermiler of the country, Poovamma is placed second in the Asian lists for the season with her 52.75 recorded at Fed Cup at Patiala. For the record, No. 1 Japanese Haruka Sugiura, 52.52, is not competing here.

Poovamma should be a strong contender for gold; she had swept the three legs of the Asian Grand Prix series this season. Yulia Rakhmanova of Kazakhstan is expected to be her closest challenger. Gone are the days when India returned home with 10 gold medals from the Asian meet like they did in 1985 in Jakarta.

India are no longer considered an athletics superpower in the continent and in the last meet in Kobe, they managed to win only one gold through triple jumper Mayookha Johny.

Yet, in the 20th edition of the Championship beginning here Wednesday, India, being represented by a record number of 107 athletes, are expected to win a handful of medals. While the hosts have the luxury of naming three participants in each of the 42 events, the fact that as many as 21 events won’t see Asia’s current toppers would also definitely help the athletes from the home country. For being the hosts, India can expect to finish second or third in the medals tally, which has been dominated by the Chinese athletes for nearly 30 years now.

In the next one week, several Indians are expected to finish on the podium — Vikas Gowda (men’s discus), Sudha Singh (women’s 3000m steeplechase), MR Poovamma (women’s 400m), Kumaravel Prem Kumar (men’s long jump), Tintu Luka (women’s 800m), Renjith Maheswary (men’s triple jump) and Krishna Poonia (women’s discus). While all these are gold medal prospects, the likes of Mayookha Johny (women’s long jump and triple jump) and Arpinder Singh (men’s triple jump) are among other medal prospects.

The winners of gold medals in this meet would have the advantage of getting direct qualification for the World Championship in Moscow. Gowda is the top performer of the season among the participants with Iran’s 2012 London Olympic silver medallist Ehsan Hadadi deciding to skip the event in view of the Moscow World Championships in August.

Gowda’s 65.82m effort in April is the season’s second best among Asians after Hadadi’s 66.98m.

In women’s 3000m steeplechase, Sudha Singh is the clear favourite after her 9:45.60 effort in the National Inter-State Championships in Chennai early last month, which is a national record.

In the absence of last edition winner Minori Hayakari of Japan, Sudha’s contest for gold medal is likely to be with Ruth Chebet of Bahrain.

Sudha, the reigning Asian Games gold medallist, had finished second behind Hayakari in the last Asian Championships in 2011 in Kobe.

Krishna Poonia, the Commonwealth Games gold medallist and India’s most famous female athlete would be taking the field without much practice.

“I suffered an injury and could hardly practice after the Chennai nationals. I have to rely more on experience,” she said.

source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, Calcullta-India / Front Page> Sport> Story / by Jaydeep Basu / Wednesday – July 03rd,2013

Ktk CM gives Rs 1 lakh cheque to Ponnamma

Famous Personalities of Kodagu / Coorg, Records, All, Sports

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah today handed over Rs one lakh cheque to M N Ponnamma, who was part of the bronze-medal winning Indian junior world hockey team in Moenchengladbach, Germany.

“I would like to congratulate Ponnamma for her achievement. The government will extend all support to her and hope she would one day play for the Indian senior team,” Siddaramaiah told reporters after handing over the cash reward to Ponnamma at his official residence here.

Ponnamma, who hails from Ponnampet town in Kodagu district, thanked Siddaramaiah for supporting her. “I was very happy when the chief minister promised to extend all support to me.”

Ponnamma said she is focusing hard to come up with yet another sterling performance in next month’s Asia Cup to be played in Malaysia.

Ponnamma, who is a defender, played in all the matches of the world junior hockey tournament and scored the all important third goal in the quarterfinal against Spain, which India won 4-2.

She said her good performance in the last year’s nationals had earned her a place in the national team.

source: http://www.business-standard.com / Business Standard / Home> PTI Stories> National> News / by Press Trust of India / Bangalore – August 14th, 2013

Jwala Gutta, Ashwini Ponnappa to renew partnership

Sports

India’s most successful doubles badminton pair Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa are set to renew their partnership in October.

The successful combination of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa, who won India’s first women’s doubles bronze medal at the 2011 World Championship, is all set to be back together.

Almost a year after they broke up following Jwala’s seven-month sabbatical from badminton in August last year, Ashwini and Jwala are in talks to pair up once again but both of them refused to divulge the details.

The duo confirmed on Tuesday that they will play together again.

“Yes, we have decided to partner again. We have done well together and we just thought of renewing the partnership once more,” Ashwini said.

Jwala Gutta (left) and Ashwini Ponnappa. File Pic
Jwala Gutta (left) and Ashwini Ponnappa. File Pic

Jwala reiterated the same point here at the unveiling of the Indian Badminton League (IBL) trophy.

“Yes, we decided to get back together. We have done well in the past. We won medals at the Commonwealth Games and then at the World Championships. It is hard to say when we will get back together because we need to discuss a lot of things as of now,” Jwala told IANS.

Asked what were the reasons for getting back together, Jwala said: “Well, there are many reasons. When the time is right, we will let you know. It is not just about the results but about a lot more. But the important thing is we are getting back together.”

Both the shuttlers, however, refused to divulge details of their future plans.

Ashwini and Jwala are India’s only doubles shuttlers to win a medal at the World Championships, where they clinched the bronze in London two years ago.

Discussing the partnership, Ashwini said: ” feel Jwala and I can get back together. Both of us think it would be good for us. We have done well in the past but I don’t want to talk much about it now.”

Following the London Olympics, Jwala had taken a break and Ashwini decided to pair up with Pradyna Gadre. The pair had some good wins and are currently the world number 26 combination in the world.

Jwala, who had been playing with Prajakta Sawant since April after the latter was named in the Indian squad following a court’s order.

Jwala and Ashwini had also won the Commonwealth Games gold medal at the Siri Fort stadium where they will lead Delhi Smashers and Pune Pistons in their inaugural match of the Indian Badminton League (IBL).

source: http://www.mid-day.com / Mid Day / Home> Sports / New Delhi – August 13th, 2013

Ashwini Nachappa releases Nirupama’s autobiography

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Sports

Former sprint champion Ashwini Nachappa did the honours in releasing the autobiography of ex-India tennis player Nirupama Sanjeev (nee Vaidyanathan), titled “Moonballer” at a function here Tuesday.

Nirupama said: “In the book launch elsewhere, I had distinguished sportspersons releasing my book, but all were men and I am glad that in Bangalore, it is Ashwini.”

Nirupama, who became National champion at 14 and was the first Indian woman to win a first round tie in a Grand Slam event (Australian Open in 1998), said the book chronicled her struggles, hardships and her quest for excellence in the game.

“I wrote it as a motivational book for all those who face similar situations, though things have changed a lot in Indian tennis,” said the US-based Nirupama.

Turning nostalgic, she said: “It was not an easy journey for me and I took up the game because I wanted to prove my family that I too can be a player, than being a mere ball girl for my brother.

“My coach was my father who was a self-taught player and coach. I made my decision to turn professional and to stay and play in Europe when I was 17. It was not an easy choice either, with no sponsor, and I had to do everything on my own.

“I remember the time when I had to opt out of doubles tie of an ITF tournament in Barcelona because I could not afford to say in a Hotel. Nevertheless, it was a satisfying career and I chose to write after I came out of retirement after a10-year break,” said Nirupama.

Married to Sanjeev, a software pro in the US where she has her ‘Niru Tennis Academy’, Nirupama urged the youngsters not give up on their dreams.

Ashwini, who is also writing her book, echoed Nirupama’s sentiments and said: “Both of us achieved what we could due to parental support.

“Sport is a great leveller in life. It teaches one to handle emotions, success and defeats and many a life lessons could be learnt in a sports arena.”

source: http://www.business-standard.com / Business Standard / Home> News-IANS / Sports / by IANS / Bangalore – August 13th, 2013

Aggression has a new meaning for me, says Uthappa

Leaders, Sports

Mumbai :

Robin Uthappa has stood out for his trademark shot, walking down the wicket to loft over the bowler’s head. But such rash shots have often led to the Karnataka batsman’s downfall. The 27-year-old now wants to eliminate such risks to try and regain his India spot and sees his inclusion in the India ‘A’ squad to face New Zealand A in a one-day series this month end as a first step. Uthappa speaks to HT.

How do you see your India ‘A’ selection?

For the last year-and-a-half, I have been working on different aspects of my game – physical and mental. This is the first step towards making it to the India team.
How have you changed over the last season?

I needed a level of consistency to have the kind of season I did. Before the last season, I knew I was only 50-60% ready. But, if I could still have a decent season, I knew I can achieve a lot more.

Would you say you are more mature?

The definition of aggression has changed for me. I’m still an aggressive batsman, but I put a bigger price on my wicket. And technical changes helped me finish among the top-ten run-getters in the IPL despite difficult conditions in Pune (Pune Warriors’ home). I changed my grip and stance, which allowed me a better base.

What keeps you motivated?

I believe I belong to the India team. I never batted in one position for three games at a stretch. Had I done that in my 38 ODIs, I would have cemented my place. And Test cricket is something I have wanted since I picked up the bat.

Have you spoken to senior players?

I met Dravid a couple of weeks ago. He had heard I scored a triple century (in the Safi Darashan tournament). He came and watched me bat and told me he was very happy with how I have changed my batting approach.
HT Media Limited

source:http://www.india.nydailynews.com/ Daily News / Home> News / Mumbai – Saturday, August 10th, 2013

Nicaragua launches new coffee trail

Coffee News

nicaragua13aug2013
The Nicaragua Tourist Board has launched the Coffee Trail, a new tourist route that will give visitors a unique experience of the northern region of the country.

The Coffee Trail covers five regions and aims to show visitors the diverse culture, food, scenery and tourism products of this area. Visitors following the route will travel through several coffee and tobacco plantations and stay in charming rural hotels or guest farmhouses, where they can take part in everyday activities.

The tour will also include hiking through nature reserves, visiting picturesque towns and villages, and seeing how the locals make handicrafts made of marble, clay or tusa (corn skin). The local gastronomy is another main attraction, including several corn-based dishes.

In Matagalpa, travellers can find out more about the history of tobacco and coffee production in the area at the National Coffee Museum. The region of Jinotega is the country’s main producer of coffee and is renowned for its quality. In Estelí, visitors can choose amongst several natural parks – Cerro Tisey-La Estanzuela, Miraflores-Moropolente, Canta-Gallo, and La Patasta – to enjoy stunning scenery. Madriz is famous for its ‘rosquillas’, or typical doughnuts, perfect to accompany a good cup of coffee, while Nueva Segovia is known for its colonial and revolutionary history.

The Coffee Trail will offer visitors a combination of indigenous traditions, history, lush natural landscapes and a rich biodiversity, as well as the chance to interact with the locals.

Further information and details of accommodation and tour companies offering the route will be available shortly on the Nicaragua Tourist Board’s website: www.visit-nicaragua.com.

source: http://www.iwantsun.co.uk / Home> Active Sun / Friday – July 26th, 2013

Likith brace powers Govt HS

Sports

A brace from Likith BM powered Government High School, Ponnampet past Bishop Cottons Boys High School 2-0 in the Rotary Bangalore Indiranagar GS Randhawa memorial inter-school boys’ hockey tournament at the KSHA stadium on Thursday.

In the girls’ category, for the Bothireddy Cup, a double from Chemvamba R helped GHS Ponnampet crush Bishop Cottons Girls High School 5-0. An own goal in the 45th minute only added to Cotton girls’ woes.

Results: Boys: GHS Ponnampet: 2 (Likith BM 11th, 29th) bt Bishop Cottons BHS: 0.
Girls: GHS Ponnampet: 5 (Charisma AP 2nd, Niveditha N 26th, Chelvamba R 27th, 29th, Own goal 45th) bt Bishop Cotton GHS: 0.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> Sports / by DHNS / Bangalore – August 09th, 2013

I Am ‘Prajju’

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

Praju12aug2013
Actress Prajwal Poovaiah hailing from the hilly region of Coorg has cut short her name to ‘Prajju Poovaiah’ and that is mainly because of the existence of young actor Prajwal Devaraj.

First seen in ‘Cotton Pete’ Kannada cinema muhurth of director N Omprakash Rao, Prajju was later picked for ‘Bheema Theeradalli’. With an average film for her debut she went to Tamil cinema and come back to Kannada via ‘Kittodh Love Story’. She is now main lead in ‘Patharagitthi’.

Prajwal Poovaiah is ‘dilkush’ for the new offer. The second film centers on the heroine. It is a love story too says Prajwal Poovaiah.

In her comeback to Kannada cinema Prajju wants to get good name first here and then accept other language films.

In ‘Kittod Love Story’ I have good dialogues while in ‘Patharagitthi’ it is romantic and naughty. I have to perform well in both the film to get a strong stay in audience mind says Prajwal Poovaiah. Even before the release of her debut Kannada film she was consulted for a Tamil film. Prajwal made debut in ‘Anagarikalu’ and glamorous looking heroine Prajwal Poovaiah got offer ‘Veteyadu’ Tamil film.

source: http://www.indiaglitz.com / India Glitz / Home> Watch Movies / Monday – July 15th, 2013

Taking first step to stardom

Famous Personalities of Kodagu / Coorg, Records, All, Sports

Apart from its arresting natural beauty, the aromatic coffee estates and the delicious pandi (pork) curry, Coorg is also famous for its insatiable love for the national sport — hockey.
HockeyPlayerKF11aug2013

The game runs so deep in almost every Kodava’s blood that there has hardly been an instance where a national side has not had a player from the community. From legends BP Govinda, MP Ganesh and MM Sommaiah to current national team vice-captain VR Raghunath, Coorg has always taken immense pride it wielding the stick.

Last Sunday (August 4), however it was not the men but a shy 20-year-old girl who made Coorg proud by creating history. Mallamada Narendra Ponnamma played a key role as the Indian team clinched a bronze medal at the FIH Women’s Junior World Cup in Moenchengladbach, Germany — their best-ever finish in the quadrennial bash that has taken everyone by surprise.

“I’m really happy and thrilled with the bronze medal,” a delighted Ponnamma told Deccan Herald from her home in Ponampet. “It’s been a long time since the women’s team has tasted any sort of success at the international level and this is the tonic that we so desperately needed.

“After we finished last in the (FIH) World League Semifinals (Round 3) (in Rotterdam, the Netherlands), we were very determined to do well in the World Cup. Nobody gave us any chance and I guess that worked in our favour. The expectations were very low and we just wanted to play positive hockey.

“Around eight of us were from the senior side and we knew this was our last shot at the junior level. We had experience on our side as we’ve been playing together for a while now. The overall team spirit was great and it all came together really well,” added Ponnamma as accolades kept pouring in from several quarters since her arrival back home.

As a sport-loving kid, Ponnamma played many games during her childhood before settling into hockey, thanks to her father Mallamada Bopaiah Narendra who represented the Madras Engineers Group as a defender. Learning a few tricks from her dad, she kept honing her skills at her school, securing her first break in 2005 when she was picked up by Sports Authority of India (SAI) hostel in Madikeri.

The call-up changed her life completely as she started devoting more time to hockey, making an instant impression with the coaches there. She then started performing well in district-level tournaments and also the at National championships.

A hard-tackling defender who is sparingly used as a midfielder, Ponnamma realised her cherished dream of wearing the national colours when she was picked for the four-nation tournament in Argentina in December 2011 where India won the bronze.

Although she missed the cut for the all-important FIH Olympic Qualifiers in February last year where India finished runners-up to favourites South Africa, Ponnamma has played in four other international tournaments with the Moenchengladbach World Cup being her maiden appearance at the junior level.

Having improved upon her Hindi-speaking abilities that have helped her communicate better with team-mates, Ponnamma felt the graduation to the senior national side at an early age and Neil Hawgood’s arrival as coach has played a key role in her transformation.

“The gulf in the quality of hockey from State-level to national-level is huge. It’s fare more so at the international level. (Neil) Hawgood has helped us a lot. He has changed the formations, strategies and I feel we have made some improvements technically. There has been huge emphasis on fitness as well. My goal right now is to keep working hard and secure a permanent spot in the national team,” said Ponnamma.

While becoming a permanent member may be the long-term goal, the immediate task ahead of Ponnamma is to do well in the national camp set to kick off in Patiala on August 14. During the near month-long camp, the team for the eighth Asia Cup in Kuala Lumpur will be chosen which India need to win to seal their spot for the 2014 World Cup in The Hague, Netherlands.

“Yes, that’s (making it to the Asia Cup squad) my first target now. The competition is stiff as we have about 5-6 slots for defenders in the team. However, this bronze medal has given me a lot of confidence and I hope to build on it. Fingers crossed!” added Ponnamma.

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> Supplements> Sportscene / by
Sidney Kiran / DHNS – August 11th, 2013

Gautam, Uthappa to make best use of India A opportunity

Famous Personalities of Kodagu / Coorg, Sports

Bangalore :

Karnataka’s prolific run-getters CM Gautam and Robin Uthappa have been drafted into the India A squads for their home series against New Zealand A side to be held at Port Trust Diamond Jubilee Stadium in Visakhapatnam from Aug 31 to Sep 15.

Gautam, who finished the 2012-13 Ranji Trophy season as the third highest run-getter with 943 runs, has been picked to play a three-day (Aug 31) and a four-day game (Sep 5). Uthappa, who was in the Board President’s XI that played against the visiting Australia earlier this year, is selected to play the one-dayers.

An elated Gautam said it was an opportunity to make his presence felt. “It will be great to play against New Zealand in the longer version of the game. A couple of big scores can shape my dreams of making it to the India Test team,” said Gautam, who made his India ‘A’ debut against Australia in January in Chennai.

For Uthappa it will be the platform to work his way back to the Indian One-Day team. “I am looking forward to this assignment as an opportunity to stage a comeback to the Indian team. Playing well in these tournaments helps me get back into the reckoning,” said Uthappa, who scored an unbeaten triple hundred for KSCA XI in the Safi Darashah tournament. “I was expecting this call as I have had a good season in the domestic one-dayers and the last IPL season,” said Uthappa.

Mumbai all-rounder Abhishek Nayar will lead the unofficial Test team while Delhi batsman Unmukt Chand will lead the one-day team.

The series will be followed by a tour by the West Indies ‘A’ team, which plays all its matches in four venues in Karnataka – Bangalore, Mysore, Hubli and Shimoga – from September 17 to October 13.

The squads: Three-day & 4-day games: Abhishek Nayar (capt), Jiwanjyot Singh, Unmukt Chand, Vijay Zol, Manpreet Juneja, V Jagadish, CM Gautham (Karnataka), Dhawal Kulkarni, Imtiaz Ahmed, Aniket Choudhary, Shrikant Wagh, Jalaj Saxena, Rakesh Dhruv, Sarabjeet Ladda.

ODIs: Unmukt Chand (capt), Robin Uthappa (Karnataka), Aditya Tare, Kedar Jadhav, Mandeep Singh, Ashok Menaria, Sanju Vishwanath, Sachin Baby, Dhawal Kulkarni, Basant Mohanty, Sandeep Sharma, Shrikant Wagh, Rahul Sharma, Jalaj Saxena.

source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> Sports> Cricket> New Zealand / by Sunil Subbaiah, TNN / August 07th, 2013