Ace Indian tennis player Rohan Bopanna, who recently became the fourth Indian to win a grand slam after clinching the mixed doubles title at the French Open, on Wednesday, met Union Minister of Sports Vijay Goel to discuss the promotion of tennis among youth in the country.
Bopanna, playing alongside Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski, clinched his maiden Grand Slam title at the Roland Garros last Thursday.
The seventh-seeded Indo-Canadian pair staged a comeback after losing the opening set and defeated Lena Groenefeld and Farah 6-2, 2-6, 12-10 in a summit clash that lasted for one hour and six minutes at Court Philippe Chatrier.
The Sports Minister shared the pictures of him meeting the 37-year-old tennis star on his official Twitter handle.
?Delighted to meet #FrenchOpen Mixed Doubles ’17 winner @rohanbopanna; discussed promotion of #tennis among #youth. Keep inspiring all Rohan!? wrote Goel.
Speaking to reporters after the meet, Goel said, ?I discussed about the promotion of tennis with Bopanna. He told me about his academy and I am happy that already there are around 70 students there? The government always encourages such private academies.?
?I wish he open his academies in the other parts of the country as well,? he added.
Meanwhile, Bopanna thanked Goel for taking out his time and said, ?It was really nice that he took out some time to meet me?I am really happy that he is encouraging sports a lot.?
?I think this is what is required in India for every aspect in our field, no matter what sport it is,? he added.
Bopanna became only the fourth Indian to win a Grand Slam title after Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza.
The All India Tennis Association has also declared that they will recommend the tennis player from Bangalore for this year?s Arjuna Award.
Speaking about the same, Bopanna told ANI, ?We will know in a few months if I receive the award or not, if I do, I would be very grateful and very honoured.?
(This article has not been edited by DNA’s editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)
source: http://www.dnaindia.com / DNA / Home> India> News> Sports News / ANI / Wednesday – June 14th, 2017
Rohan Bopanna clinched his maiden Grand Slam title when he won the French Open mixed doubles final with Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski in Paris on Thursday.Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and India’s Rohan Bopanna hold aloft the trophy after winning the French Open mixed doubles title in Paris on Thursday. The pair defeated Germany’s Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Colombian Robert Farah 2-6, 6-2 (12-10). (AP)
Indian tennis ace Rohan Bopanna and Canadian partner Gabriela Dabrowski produced a fighting performance to beat their German-Colombian opponents Anna-Lena Groenefeld and Robert Farah in the final to clinch their maiden French Open mixed doubles title in Paris on Thursday.
Seeded seventh, Bopanna and Dabrowski took an hour and six minutes to win, saving two match points, as they overcame the unseeded Groenefeld and Farah 2-6, 6-2, 12-10 on Philippe-Chatrier Court.
Bopanna has become only the fourth Indian to win a Grand Slam crown, after Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza. Indians have accounted for 20 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles. Two of those victories belong solely to India with Sania Mirza partnering Mahesh Bhupathi.
Bopanna entered the final of a Grand Slam tournament after a gap of seven years. He had also qualified for a Major final in 2010 when he and Pakistan partner Aisam-ul-haq Qureshi entered the title clash of the US Open.
The 16th seeds had then lost to American twins Bob and Mike Bryan in the final.
Bopanna is the also the fourth Indian to win a mixed doubles crown at the world’s premier clay court tournament. Bhupathi won India’s first Grand Slam title in 1997 when he partnered Japan’s Rika Hiraki to claim the French Open.
Bhupathi again won in 2012, this time with compatriot Sania Mirza.
Paes too had savoured glory on the red clay when he won in 2016 with Martina Hingis.
Bopanna and Dabrowski did not start well, losing the first set 2-6. The seventh seeds gave away as many as four breakpoint chances and Groenefeld and Farah converted two to take the lead in the match.
However, the Indian-Canadian combine fought back well to clinch the second set with the same scoreline.
Though they were broken once, Bopanna and Dabrowski converted three of the five breakpoint opportunities they got to push the match into a match tie-break (earlier known as Super Tie-Break).
The German-Colombian pair led throughout the tie-break, and held two match points at 9-7. However, Bopanna and Dabrowski somehow managed to save both.
Bopanna and Dabrowski had their first chance when they took the lead at 10-9. They lost the opportunity as scores were levelled at 10-all but the pair grabbed the next two points to seal victory at Roland Garros.
source: http://www.hindustantimes.com / Hindustan Times / Home> Tennis / HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times / June 08th, 2017
Wild Kaapi, your morning coffee comes from certified estates that support gaurs, elephants and monkeys, along with Arabica beans
Under the cool canopy of native trees in the Western Ghats, coffee bushes spread out, gleaming with red berries. In the early morning hours, if you are lucky, you may spot rare species like the Malabar grey hornbill, water snow flat butterfly or the Asian fairy bluebird among these shade-loving plants. And now, thanks to the efforts of Wild Kaapi — the world’s first ‘certified wildlife-friendly’ coffee brand — you can ensure your morning brew comes from plantations that foster fauna on their lands. Started by wildlife conservationist, Krithi K Karanth — who has has been working in the Western Ghats, a biodiversity hotspot, for the last 19 years — and her husband, Avinash Sosale, the coffee brand got its certification this April and opened its doors to buyers last month.
(photo credit: Ramki Sreenivasan)
Live and let live
Wild Kaapi started as an offshoot of a three-year research project (part of a grant by the National Science Foundation to study coffee, areca and rubber plantations in the Western Ghats). Karanth, of the Centre for Wildlife Studies — with Paul Robbins of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Dr Ashwini Chhatre of University of Illinois — measured biodiversity, and studied labour practices and market dynamics of the farming areas.
During the project, she interacted with over 1,000 planters in the three coffee growing areas of Karnataka — Kodagu, Chikmagalur, and Hassan — and realised how frustrated they were “because they weren’t getting value for their coffee due to the middlemen involved”. That’s when the idea for Wild Kaapi originated, and the duo is now exploring new ways to get a premium price for products that support wildlife. “This includes social enterprises that can contribute to conservation action. (After all) traditional wildlife conservation relies heavily on donors,” says Sosale, who quit a career in automotive business to be a part of the venture. “At this stage we have two commitments: we have told coffee growers we will pay them the highest price, and, with the profit we generate, we will build a conservation fund to award grants to young conservationists,” he adds.
Animal tales
Millennials are more discerning towards coffee, observes Sosale. “Today’s consumer is informed. Ethical and conscious consumption is what we want to tap into.” To qualify for certification, the coffee not only had to have a good cupping (tasting) score, but the plantation had to support a vast biodiversity. Of the more than 187 farms they audited (recording the species of birds, butterflies, mammals, amphibians and trees), only four made the cut: Agora (with 124 species), Bindiga (137), Hulikere (119) and Cornerstone (120). Wild Kaapi has named their single-origin Arabicas after the plantations they are sourced from.
Shreedev Hulikere, a third-generation coffee grower with 60 acres in Chikmagalur, who is partnering with Wild Kaapi, says he wasn’t aware of the numerous wildlife species on their estate till now. “While my ancestors traditionally hunted, I’m a conservationist. I tell my labourers not to destroy any bird nests. I know that barbets nest here and they eat the borer worms that destroy coffee. Similarly, I’m not going to chase away the monkeys and civets that eat my coffee because I’m being compensated elsewhere. Just because a porcupine destroys a pepper creeper, I’m not going to hunt it down,” he says.
Love thy neighbour
The audit also revealed a few surprises. “We found frogs listed as endangered or threatened in the IUCN Red List (the world’s most comprehensive inventory of global conservation status) at these plantations,” says Karanth. The certification not only places their coffee in a premium space, but also paves the way for a new movement. “If you have wildlife-friendly practices, you can promote sustainable agriculture. We are trying to establish a new model — a profitable enterprise that also enables better livelihoods. This hasn’t been tried before; it’s a new way of thinking,” says Karanth.
(photo credit: Ramki Sreenivasan)
While their immediate goal is to prove that such a model is sustainable, Sosale is also mulling introducing coffee scrubs, soaps, candles and flavourings — all huge product lines in the international space. Moving into pepper and cardamom, which grow hand-in-hand with coffee, also holds much promise.
Prices start at ₹390 for 250 gms.
To know more, and buy the coffee, check out wildkaapi.com.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Life & Style> Homes and Gardens / by Bhumika K / June 02nd, 2017
We would like to inform you that the Board of Directors of the Company at their meeting held today, the 18th May 2017 and appointment of Dr. P.G. Chengappa as an Additional Director with effect from 18th May, 2017.
We would like to inform you that the Board of Directors of the Company at their meeting held today, the 18th May 2017, have considered and approved the following: a.Appointment of Dr. P.G. Chengappa as an Additional Director (Non-executive, Independent) with effect from 18th May, 2017.
A brief profile of Dr. Chengappa is enclosed herewith. Dr. Chengappa is not related to any of the Directors of the Company. b.Re-appointment of Mr. K. Venkataramanan as an Executive Director – Finance and CFO of the Company for a period of 3 years with effect from 25th October, 2017.
This disclosure is made in terms of the requirements of Regulation 30 of SEBI (Listing Obligations & Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015.Source : BSE
Hotbed for hockey. Nikkin Thimmaiah with his Chendanda team at the Kodava Hockey Festival final.
The Kodava Hockey Festival is testimony that the game is still thriving in Kodagu, feels internationals Nikkin Thimmaiah and SK Uthappa
A crowd of 30,000 people turned out to watch the Kodava Hockey Festival final between Chendanda and Pardanda on May 14, an eye brow-raising statistic to the uninitiated. This wasn’t an international event, not even a national championship. The average spectator turnout for an Indian Premier League game at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium was 25,000 but this hockey contest — played between families in Kodagu district — beat even the IPL. Cricket, they say is religion in the country. In Kodagu district, it’s hockey that gets the adrenaline pumping.
“Every player from Kodagu begins his career in this tournament, including me,” Nikkin Thimmaiah, India forward and a member of the Chendanda winning team, said.
“I watched my father play in this tournament as a six-year-old. That was one of the catalysts that spurred me to take up the sport.”
The tournament is unique in many ways. A team comprises members of a family and there is no distinction between either age or gender. The festival itself has been conducted annually since 1996. The game, though, goes on through the year as youngsters are encouraged to make it a career. “It’s the most talked about sport in Kodagu and even now, kids are still enthusiastic about the game,” Thimmaiah added. “Kids generally place hockey on a priority.”
Over the years though, the number of players from Kodagu making it to the international level has fallen. Currently, there are only three — Thimmaiah, SK Uthappa and SV Sunil — in the Indian squad. There’s no player from Karnataka in the junior team, but Uthappa insists hockey is not dead. The sport is now alive, more than ever, and tournaments like the Kodava Hockey Festival keep it ticking. “I began playing hockey seriously after watching my brother play,” Uthappa said. “I played badminton first, but in Coorg, everything is about hockey. Hockey is in our blood and that’s why we start playing. The next influential factor is your family. It depends on how they support and encourage you to play hockey as a child. Thanks to that tournament, it’s a tradition that everyone participates in it.
“Even now, that culture of developing the sport remains. You often hear that gadgets have taken the fun out of outdoor games. There are kids who use iPads in Coorg but they know how to balance it with the game. I think that love for the sport is influential in getting everyone to play it. Imagine you have to play this sport in every school. You will naturally be inclined to it.”
But it’s not just this tournament which gets Kodavas hooked to the sport. Uthappa says everyone is interested in playing some sport, but what cricket is to the entire country, hockey is to a Kodava. “We Kodavas follow, discuss and dissect hockey just as other people in the country do with cricket,” Uthappa said. “Families here are aware of everything that we do. Over the years, they have become more educated about hockey, thanks to the promotion and media exposure hockey is getting. Now, everyone’s involved in an educated discussion. For example, they tell me I played well in the first quarter, but my dribbling went awry in the third quarter and so on. Earlier, it was only the basic question of whether you won or lost and by what score.”
source: http://www.bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com / Bangalore Mirror / Home> Sports> Others / by Aravind Suchindran / Bangalore Mirror Bureau / May 23rd, 2017
Ricky Ponting has picked Kolkata wicketkeeper Robin Uthappa over MS Dhoni in his team of the year, citing the former’s ability to score from the get-go as the reason for his choice. The former Aussie captain, unsurprisingly, opted to go for two Indian pacers in his best XI for this season’s IPL.
In a position that has been dominated by MS Dhoni for a few years now, Ricky Ponting decided to give Uthappa the nod ahead of his compatriot. While Dhoni finished with just 290 runs in the season compared to Uthappa’s 388, Ponting explained that the approach to the game had changed and it was important for the players to start making an impact from the very first ball their face.
“He’s (Uthappa) a guy whose strike-rate is incredible this year, 165 for the entire tournament. You need those guys in the middle-order to be able to score quickly right from the start. You don’t have that luxury anymore in the T20 game to be able to play yourself in and work the ball around. You have to go in and dominate right from the start and I think that’s what he’s been able to do really well,” Ponting told Cricket Australia.
For the opening slots Ponting decided to use two of his overseas’ players with David Warner and Hashim Amla making the cut. The Aussie opener was the easy choice for his compatriot considering he was the leading run scorer of the tournament with 641 runs at an astonishing average of 58.27 and a strike rate of 141.81. While Amla has not been seen as a traditional T20 player in the past, this season the South African shocked everyone by putting the numbers up on the board at an average of 60 and a strike rate of 145.83.
“He’s (Warner) just been in complete control of his game for a number of years now in the IPL. He thrives on extra responsibility and leadership. Davey’s led the side really well. I’ll actually name him captain as well on the back of what he’s done the last couple of seasons,” Ponting added.
“He (Amla) got a chance as a replacement player at the back-end of last season with the Kings XI, but this year played the best that I think anyone has ever seen him play, whether it be in an international T20 game or in the IPL. He’s the only man in the tournament to score two hundreds (in IPL10) and has got them pretty quickly.”
Following the openers are two Indian stars whose consistency was on show yet again. While Gautam Gambhir led his side to the second qualifier, Suresh Raina was let down by a weak bowling attack as they finished seventh on the table. The duo scored a combined 940 runs this year with Ponting reserving special praise for Gambhir for managing to put up the numbers in spite of changing his batting positions.
“I said before the finals started that I’m a bit surprised that he’s (Gambhir)batting in that number three position considering what he’s done at the top of the order for Kolkata for a long time. He’s ended up with nearly 500 runs … that’s a reasonable tournament. I’ve said for a long time that the number three position in T20 cricket is the hardest spot to bat because you’ll generally go in at the loss of a very early wicket and be expected to hit boundaries straight away,” Punter explained.
“He’s (Raina) just a class T20 player (and) a classy short-form player. He’s got a great one-day record for India as well. (While) he’s got the ability to really dominate spin-bowling. In that role in the middle-order is generally when most of the spinners are bowling, and he’s got the ability to really dominate there.”
The 3-time World Cup winning cricketer had no problem in naming Ben Stokes, who was named the MVP for the entire tournament, as one of his all-rounders due to the Englishman’s 12 wickets in 12 games and 316 runs with the bat which included a century. The second option, however, is a slightly dodgy one with Ponting showing confidence in Hardik Pandya over his brother Krunal Pandya. Pandya Sr. scored 243 runs while claiming 10 wickets while Hardik scored 250 runs and took 6 wickets.
“The MVP for the entire tournament (and) the guy that was most talked about before the tournament started was Ben Stokes. (He’s) on a huge deal with the Supergiants and has probably earned every cent of it to be fair. Twelve wickets in 12 games, made that big hundred as well. The thing about him is he does bring that real X-factor to their line-up and he’s someone you can rely on to bowl four overs. He can also make a hundred in the middle-order. I know they paid a lot of money for him but I’m sure they’re pretty happy that they did. Unfortunately for them he wasn’t around for the finals. When it comes down to what it came down to on that last ball of the game, not having your X-factor player there, they sadly missed him,” Ponting said.
“One guy I’m happy to name in the side is Hardik Pandya, the young allrounder from the Mumbai Indians. I’ve had a chance to work a lot with him the last couple of years. He had a dream-start two seasons ago, (but) found things a bit tougher last year. The thing that I liked was when it was his turn to step up and bowl a couple of overs, either with the new ball or towards the back-end of the innings, he was able to do it and do it well. He closed out a couple of games (with the ball) as well. He’s a pretty complete package now.”
Bhuvneshwar Kumar(26 wickets) and Jaydev Unadkat(24 wickets) make an interesting pair of specialist bowlers. While Bhuvneshwar has had the advantage of bowling in Hyderabad more often, considering it was a slightly bowler-friendly pitch, Unadkat impressed Ponting with his flexibility in varying conditions and particularly his variations.
While one was the leading wicket taker of the season of the season, the other was not far behind, having played a lower number of games.
“If you wind the clock back five or six years, this guy (Unadkat) was touted as the next Indian opening bowler in Test cricket, one-day cricket and T20 cricket. He’s got the ability to swing the ball around as we saw through this tournament and he’s got very good slower ball skills as well. He did a terrific job for his team in varying conditions with new ball and old ball, that’s the sort of flexibility you need in your team as far as your fast bowlers are concerned,” the Aussie said of Unadkat.
His bowling contingent consisted of two leggies, Imran Tahir and Rashid Khan. Ponting pointed out the difference in their economy rate, with Rashid being miserly in his runs while Tahir was slightly expensive, as the difference between the two players. However, both players showed their effectiveness with Rashid ending up with 17 wickets in 14 matches while Tahir claimed 18 in 12 games that he played.
“I’ve actually named two leg-spinners in the side, one that started the tournament really well (was) Rashid Khan. One thing you see with the spinners – and certainly the good spinners in T20 cricket – is even if they don’t take a lot of wickets, their economy-rate is always quite low,” Ponting said while explaining the selection of Rashid Khan.
“(Tahir’s) runs-per-over is slightly higher – 7.85 – which is a little on the high side for a top-class spinner in the IPL but … 12 games, 18 wickets (speaks for itself). You know when you bring these leg-spinners on through those middle-overs that they are going to create some opportunities for you and Imran Tahir has been around for a long, long time.”
The world No 14 recently beat her compatriot and doubles partner Dipika Pallikal Karthik to become the first Indian to win the Asian Squash Championship.
IANS
“It was special.”
Joshna Chinappa is on a high. Last month, she beat her compatriot and doubles partner Dipika Pallikal 13-15, 12-10, 11-13, 11-4, 11-4 in Chennai to achieve a significant milestone: the first Indian to win the Asian Squash Championship.
It’s an achievement she has eyed for a long time. “It was something I have wanted to win in my career,” Chinappa told Scroll.in. “There is always added pressure playing at home.”
Taking the squash world by storm
It has been an enthralling past 12 months for the 30-year-old. Chinappa broke into the top-10 in July last year and reached the quarter-finals of the World Championship, becoming the second Indian to do so after Pallikal. She lost 6-11, 12-10, 7-11, 11-8, 3-11 to world No 3 Camille Serme of France in the quarter-final. “My run in the World Championship was fairly good and each match was harder than the first,” said Chinappa. “However, I am really grateful to be doing what I do.”
In November 2015, Chinappa beat the world No 2 Raneem el Welily. Currently ranked 14th in the world, her recent win has given her the desire to get better. However, she feels that to beat the top players in the world, a lot of work has to be done. “It is not easy just breaking into the top-five,” she said. “We [Indians] can definitely do it. But for that we need more support from the time we start our careers and continued support till we our done playing. Unfortunately, it hasn’t been that way, though it has improved over the past few months.”
A coach does help
For a major part of her career, Chinappa travelled to tournaments without a coach. However, with Achraf El Karagui now in her corner, Chinappa seems to have taken her a game a notch higher. “I have worked with some of the best coaches at different stages in my career who have all contributed to my game,” she said. “My dad [Anjan Chinappa] and Ritwik Bhattacharya have been the biggest influences. It’s great to have Achraf as part of our team. He is very committed towards helping us and he understands the game really well. He has been able to add more to my game in the past six months.”
But has the move come a little too late? “It has been tough to play without a coach in my corner for the most part of my squash career,” she added. “Though, if my teammates are around we help each other. But it is something I got use too. However, it is always nice to have your team be there for your matches.”
Beating and also playing with Pallikal
Coming into the Asian Championship, Pallikal had a 3-0 win record against Chinappa. So, for Chinappa to beat Pallikal was an extraordinary feat. “Dipika and I are the only ones on tour from India in the women’s circuit, so it is natural to know each other well,” Chinappa said. “We know each other’s game inside out. We also train together most of the time. I enjoy playing doubles with her and we both love playing for India as a team. It works both ways.”
However, the duo will team up once again to defend their doubles gold at the Commonwealth Games next year and are also playing together for the Asian Games. “I look forward to playing with Dipika at the CWG and defending our gold medals,” said Chinappa.
The road ahead
Following her Asian Championship win, Chinappa is back to the grind and slogging it out as she prepares for the World Doubles Championship in Manchester in August. She is back to training and hopes to stay injury-free for the next two years at least. “I train six days a week, twice a day,” she said. “It is usually a combination of squash, weights and on-court fitness. I have an early start and my day usually ends around 7.30 pm after all the training. I have the world doubles in Manchester in the first week of August. I hope to be injury-free and healthy during the next season.” However, she did not reveal her ultimate goal in the sport. “There are certain things I would like to achieve in my career, but for now it is still a secret,” she said.
Growth of squash
Talking about the growth of squash in India, Chinappa, who idolises former athlete PT Usha, said that things are slowly but steadily changing for the better. “Squash has definitely grown a lot more in the past few years,” she said. “The Sports Authority of India, the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu, and the Squash Rackets Federation of India have been a lot more supportive in the past two years. There are so many juniors coming up. Of course we can improve the game further, so we can really reach the grassroot level and kids from smaller towns. We need to give them facilities and support their career financially if we want to see more results.”
We welcome your comments at letters@scroll.in
source: http://www.thefield.scroll.in / Scroll.in / Home> The Field / by Bibhash Chatterjee / May 17th, 2017
Around 4,800 players will participate in Kodava community’s event
The Kodava community’s craze for hockey is as legendary as their participation in the Indian army.
This love for the sport is celebrated by the people of Kodagu with an annual hockey festival, where family teams from the community get together to test each other’s dribbling skills.
This year’s festival will have a special resonance as the organisers are making a bid to enter the Guinness World Records for the most number of participants at a hockey event.
The festival which started in 1996 with 60 teams will see the participation of 306 hockey family teams this year.
Speaking to Bangalore Mirror, Ramesh, the organizer of the festival, said, “This year, we have more than 300 teams, which means that 4800 players will be articipating. Theirs is a Guinness Record for 4000 players taking part in a tournament. This event will break that record.”
Ramesh also said that they have already entered the Limca Book of Records in 2004 for participation of more than 281 teams in the festival.
Speaking about the significance of the event, Ramesh said that it has become a cultural festival for the Kodavas.
“We never call it a hockey tournament, but we call it a hockey festival. It is the 21st year of the celebrations and it has become a cultural milestone for the Kodavas,” he said.
About the festival
* The hockey festival in Kodagu was started by Pandanda Kuttappa and Kashi Brothers at Karada in 1996.
* Kuttappa and Kashi Brothers also founded the Kodava Hockey Academy in 1997 and continuing to be the founder president for the academy till now.
* The festival follows the international rules for hockey.
* It also encourages the participation of women and senior members in the hockey team.
source: http://www.bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com / Bangalore Mirror / Home> News> States / by Bangalore Mirror Bureau / May 12th, 2017
The central government on Thursday appointed Prabhat Kamal Bezboruah as Chairman of Kolkata-based Tea Board and M.S. Boje Gowda as Chairman of Bengaluru-based Coffee Board.
Bezboruah has been serving as the Chairman of Tea Research Association and Gowda is a well-known coffee grower.
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approved the proposal to appoint them, an order of Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) said.
Bezboruah is appointed for the period up to November 1, 2018, while Gowda will have a tenure up to December 14, 2018.
“Necessary communication in this regard has been sent to the Department of Commerce,” the DoPT said.
The Tea Board is entrusted with a supervisory role for tea industry, while the Coffee Board takes care of the interests of coffee growers.
–IANS
bdc/nir
source: http://www.canindia.com / CanIndia.com / Home> Business> Economy / IANS / by CanIndia New Wire Services / May 04th, 2017
India’s Joshna Chinappa and Hong Kong’s Max Lee (L) pose with their trophies after the 19th Asian Squash Championships in Chennai on Sunday.(PTI)
Joshna Chinappa held off a fighting Dipika Pallikal 13-15, 12-10, 11-13, 11-4, 11-4 in 78 minutes to win probably her biggest title.
Joshna Chinappa on Sunday scripted history by becoming the first Indian to clinch the Asian Squash title with a thrilling win over compatriot Dipika Pallikal Karthik in the women’s final in Chennai.
In the men’s final, however, Saurav Ghosal went down fighting against No.1 seed Max Lee to finish second best.
In a clash between two players who train together at the Indian Squash Academy in Chennai, Chinappa held off a fighting Pallikal 13-15, 12-10, 11-13, 11-4, 11-4 in 78 minutes to win probably her biggest title.
The first game saw the two Indians go toe-to-toe as they mixed aggression with strong defence. Pallikal squeezed out the opener as her rival faltered at the end.
The second game was another long one and went to the extra points again as neither gave away an inch. However, in a reversal of fortunes, Chinappa saved a game point to level the match.
The third game was another close affair as the Indians sought to forge ahead. It was even-steven as both the players had to work hard to win every point. Pallikal saved two game points to take a crucial lead.
Chinappa, however, wasn’t shaken after falling behind and came out all guns blazing to run away with the fourth game as Pallikal made too many errors for her own comfort.
At the start of the decider, Pallikal suffered a mild injury scare as she slipped and fell on the court. But Chinappa kept her cool and stormed to a big lead.
Pallikal fought back, but only briefly as the world No.14 Chinappa sealed a memorable triumph in front of a cheering crowd.
Earlier, Ghosal faded after a bright start, which saw him win the opening game, dropping just five points, to go down 11-5, 4- 11, 8-11, 7-11 in 61 minutes against Lee, ranked 17 in the world.
The Indian, cheered by a holiday crowd at the Express Avenue mall, was quickly off the blocks and hit some delectable shots to take the opening game.
Undeterred by the loss of the first game, Lee roared back and ran away to win the second to level the match.
The third game was a long one as both gave nothing away. Ghosal played well but his rival always had the answers to whatever was thrown at him. He hit some superb winners of his own to take the third game and gain an edge.
The fourth game appeared to be heading to a rout as Lee surged to a 8-2 lead before Ghosal fought back. He saved two championship points before handing the no.1 seed his maiden Asian title.
source: http://www.hindustantimes.com / Hindustan Times / Home> Sports> Other Sports / by Press Trust of India / Chennai – April 30th, 2017
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