Category Archives: Sports

Madras miscellany

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Leaders, Records, All, Sports, World Opinion
S E Runganadhan
S E Runganadhan

A double V C and a H C

Searching for some information the other day I was delving into The Madras Tercentenary Commemoration Volume when I noticed that there had been an officially constituted Madras Tercentenary Celebration Committee in1939 and that it had been chaired by a Dewan Bahadur S E Runganadhan. The name struck a chord and I recalled having written briefly about him in his role as Vice Chancellor of the University of Madras. It was as Vice Chancellor (1937-40) that he had ensured the publication in 1939 of the 20,000-word addendum to the Tamil Lexicon (1924-1936). And it was while Vice Chancellor that he had steered the celebrations of Madras’s 300th birthday, which included the publication of the Tercentenary Volume and a History of Madras by Rao Saheb C S Srinivasachari who had been the first Professor of History at Annamalai University.

Srinivasachari’s Vice Chancellor at Annamalai University had been its first, Samuel Ebenezer Runganadhan (1929-35). Starting from scratch, Runganadhan had developed at Chidambaram the country’s first private university to a level of the country’s pioneering ones — Calcutta, Bombay, Madras and Allahabad. Runganadhan had come to Annamalai after heading a college and teaching English at Presidency from 1908 to 1915 and heading that famed Department from 1919 to 1929.

The quintessential ‘brown sahib’ in immaculate Western attire, speaking impeccable English perfectly pronounced, and displaying the elegant manners of English gentry, he was considered a better teacher of English than any Englishman. It was only his occasional outbursts of temper over carelessness and shoddy work that cracked the veneer, it was said. But it was also said that it was the standards that he set that helped Annamalai University sink deep roots and grow into an institution of repute, a reputation unsullied until recent years.

Invited to serve on the Council of the Secretary of State for India in 1940, Runganadhan moved to London and from there it was but a step to being appointed High Commissioner of the Government of India in 1943, the year he was knighted. He was succeeded by V K Krishna Menon in 1947, who became Independent India’s first representative in the U.K.

The years immediately after the end of the war in Europe saw Indian students wanting to come to the U.K. for higher studies; the U.S. had not yet been ‘discovered’. But with its own war veterans returning to civvy life and Britain’s limited number of universities and polytechnics having to cater to them, Sir Samuel had his hands full trying to find seats for Indian students (I was one he couldn’t help) — especially with all the pressures being exerted on him. Getting Indian victims of the war — the wounded in hospitals, stranded sailors from torpedoed ships, and released prisoners-of-war — back home with the limited passages available was another problem that he had to tackle. And not least of all, he had to ensure the supplies India’s nascent industries needed. But he coped and survived and returned to India to enjoy a long retired life involved with various Christian activities like the Christian Medical Colleges and the YMCA.

The Best cricketers

The mention of A W Stansfeld of Best & Co in this column on June 13 reminded me of an era when the British business houses expected their ‘officers’ (they’re ‘executives’ nowadays) to be members of clubs and participate in the activities of such institutions, particularly in sport. Stansfeld’s firm (later Best & Crompton) was one of the most sports-minded of the lot and contributed significantly to Presidency teams and sports administration. Stansfeld, like Robert Carrick, Robert Denniston (later to be knighted) and E K Shattock, played cricket for the State and was to later say that the fact that he enjoyed playing cricket had a great deal to do with his being recruited by Denniston.

When Stansfeld sailed for India in 1937, Best’s London representative cabled Madras, “Sending A W Stansfeld. Left hand bat, played Kent Second Eleven.” Hastening Stansfeld’s departure from London was the fact that he was needed to replace Raymond King who was going on Home Leave. King himself was to remember his arrival in Madras at about 9.30 a.m. on a Sunday morning in January 1929. No sooner had he sat for breakfast with a colleague in the chummery, there was a call for him. It was from Denniston. “The A team (Madras Cricket Club) is one short,” said the legendary Denniston (Miscellany, July 28, 2003) after the usual warm welcome. “Would you be a good chap and join us?” And, since you don’t say ‘no’ to the boss even if you have spent two nights on the train for Bombay, there was R M King, later to be Chairman and Managing Director of the Company, on the field at 11.30 a.m.! He goes on to recollect, “At lunch, I signed the membership form and by 6 pm the following day I performed a similar action for the Gymkhana Club as I was required to play rugger against HMS Emerald on the Thursday of my first week.”

The most talented of the Best cricketers was, however, the burly Robert Black (Bob) Carrick. The ‘Four Musketeers’ of early Madras cricket were Daniel Richmond (also to be later knighted), Robert Denniston (Denny to all), C P Johnstone and H P Ward, the former two for their administrative contributions though their cricketing role was not insignificant, the latter two for their cricketing prowess, making the two Oxbridge Blues amongst the best ever in Madras cricketing history. But if they were the musketeers, they needed a D’Artagnan. And that was Bob Carrick.

Carrick, described as the ‘Jessop’ of Madras cricket and a player who could hit sixes on request, it was said, played for the Presidency for 18 years, including turning out against A E Gilligan’s team in 1927. C Ramaswami described this public school (Winchester) product as “the idol of the crowds”, a “natural cricketer who lifted the ball over the ropes with ease. His off-drives and hits to the long-off and long-on were pleasing to watch. Brilliant in fielding, his medium paced bowling was often used.” But typical of the best sportsmen of the age, Carrick was an outstanding all-rounder.

By 1929, Carrick had won the South India Golf Championship at Ooty nine times, on every occasion he participated. He played hockey for the MCC’s title winning teams, he muddied himself at rugby and soccer for the Gymkhana Club in championship events, and was a regular at the South Indian Tennis Championships. They don’t make them like that any more.

The Tom Kibble wedding
The Tom Kibble wedding

A picture out of the past

Prof. Rani Siromoney of Madras Christian College sends me this wedding picture from the past through Prof. Joshua Kalapati, the chronicler of MCC, as a reminder of the connection Prof. Tom Kibble, F.R.S., internationally renowned mathematical physicist, who passed away recently, had with MCC. He was the son of Prof. Walter Frederick Kibble, the third head of MCC’s Department of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy, a department Kibble Sr. served from 1924 to 1961. His wife Janet was head of the women’s hostel in Guindy.

Tom Kibble was born in Madras, when MCC was in George Town, and grew up in Tambaram till he left for the U.K. for higher studies in the 1940s. In Madras, he schooled at Doveton Corrie. I wonder how many there remember him.

Walter Kibble was the mentor for several students who went on to teach at MCC, like Rani and Gift Siromoney and George Abraham.

Today’s picture of Tom Kibble’s wedding dates to 1957 and on the extreme right are Walter and Janet Kibble.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> Metroplus / by S. Muthiah / June 19th, 2016

Dayakattai, a thrilling game of cutting and racing

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All, Sports
A game of Dayakattai in progress  Archita Suryanarayanan
A game of Dayakattai in progress  Archita Suryanarayanan

Chennai :

The sound of the long, rectangular brass dice reverberates on the wooden table. “Six and two. You can cut him…and play vettaatam,” instructs 83-year-old Namagiri Lakshmi to her grandson Vijay. Welcome to Dayakattai, a traditional Tamil dice game.

In a race-to-the-finish game (a predecessor to Ludo) you have  four rectangles filled with squares that your pieces need to traverse. You start with six pieces in your ‘home’  territory, and you have to pass all the coins through the opponents’ territories and come back home. You can bring the pieces onto the board only if you roll a dayam and you need to ‘cut’ any opponent at least once. The bonus — you get an extra roll of the dice if you get a one, five, six or 12.

In Pagade, which is similar to Dayakattai, you can ‘cut’ the opponent’s pieces and send them back to the start box. However, there are eight safe zones where other players cannot cut you.

Experts like Lakshmi remember playing since they were little. “It used to be a little different back then — if you rolled a 7 or 9, it was a no-play. And we used to sing folk songs as we played,” she recalls. And she can do the mental math and tell you, based on what you’ve rolled, which square your piece will end up in. “Five, two, six, three — this piece will land there,” she says.

In fact, the association with the game runs so deep in the family that just the night before her grandson Vijay was born, his mother Usha played Dayakattai! “We played late into the night and the next morning Vijay was born in the hospital,” she remembers.

Explaining the concept of dokka vettu, she says, “It’s a more recent and violent addition to the game. It’s when your piece gets cut just one square before reaching home. It triggered so many fights between the kids!” Vijay and Usha recall a famous punch-line from the game when one player cut another player in revenge: “Vettuku vettu. Rathathuku ratham (cut for a cut, blood for blood).

The squares used to be drawn using maakkal (chalk-like substance) or even sandal. The coins can be anything from peanuts to cashew nuts. “Kids liked taking edible coins, because when you came back home, you could eat them! Sometimes, they would simply eat one in the middle of the game and say they had already crossed the finish line! It’s tough to keep track because there are six coins a player!” laughs Lakshmi.

With the spirit of game coursing through this family’s veins, looks like it will be quite some time before one can forget the coins and the cuts!

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Varun B. Krishnan / June 25th, 2016

VIT sponsors athlete’s travel expenses to Turkey

Education, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Records, All, Sports, World Opinion
Timely help:VIT University chancellor G. Viswanathan hands over a demand draft for Rs. 50,000 to N. Hemamalini on Thursday.— Photo: C. Venkatachalapathy
Timely help:VIT University chancellor G. Viswanathan hands over a demand draft for Rs. 50,000 to N. Hemamalini on Thursday.— Photo: C. Venkatachalapathy

N. Hemamalini will represent the country in javelin throw

VIT University Chancellor G. Viswanathan on Thursday handed over a demand draft for Rs. 50,000 to N. Hemamalini, a student of Government Girls Higher Secondary School, Odugathur, to meet the travel expenses to participate in the World School Athletic Championship to be held next month in Turkey.

Daughter of a farmer, the student will be representing the country in javelin throw at the championship.

Ms. Hemamalini, who is in class XII, has been training in javelin throw for the last three years and has bagged 13 medals in State and National-level championships so far. She has created three records at the State, South India and National level, with her best throw being for 40.98 metres. She has been selected for the World School Athletic Championship to be held from July 11 to 18 in Turkey. As she required sponsorships, VIT University chipped in with financial assistance of Rs. 50,000.

Ms. Hemamalini said she was happy to receive the assistance as it would help her meet the travel expenses to fly to Turkey. VIT vice-presidents Sekar Viswanathan and G.V. Selvam, vice-chancellor Anand A. Samuel and S. Pandiyan, headmaster of Government Girls HSS, Odugathur, were present.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Tamil Nadu / by Staff Reporter / Vellore – June 17th, 2016

Novel on tiger hunting wins Yuva Puraskar award

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Green Initiatives/ Environment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Records, All, Sports
PROUD MOMENT: Kaanakan is the second novel of Thirumangalam-based Lakshmi Saravana Kumar
PROUD MOMENT: Kaanakan is the second novel of Thirumangalam-based Lakshmi Saravana Kumar

Saravana Kumar’s novel ‘Kaanakan’ deals with Paliar tribes’ struggle against bid to appropriate their land for ganja cultivation.

Tamil writer and filmmaker Lakshmi Saravana Kumar’s novel Kaanakan, which depicts the life of Paliar tribe in the Western Ghats and hunting practices, has won the Sahitya Akademi’s Yuva Puraskar award for 2016.

“It deals with the Paliar tribes’ struggle against ganja plantations and the attempt to appropriate their land for the purpose in the 1980s,” said Mr. Saravana Kumar, who has penned three novels and six short stories and a poetry collection.

An associate of director, Vasanthabalan, Saravana Kumar, who had worked with him Kaaviya Thalaivan and Aravaan, is now working on his own film.

Kaanakan is Thirumangalam-based Saravanakumar’s the second novel. His first novel is Uppu Naaigaland his latest is Neelappadam .

“Kaankan deals with hunting and the ethics of hunting. It starts with hunting of a tiger and ends with tiger hunting men. The richness of a forest is always judged by the presence of tiger. There are some ethics when it comes to hunting. Females are spared by hunters,” said 31-year-old Saravana Kumar.

Tamil writer and publisher Kuzha. Kathiresan has won the Sahitya Akademi’s Bal Sahitya Puraskar for his contribution to children’s literature. Born in Royavaram in Pudukottai district, Mr. Kathiresan was trained in by Azha. Valliappa, a writer known for his contribution to children literature.

Simple lines with good messages are the hallmark of Mr Kathiresan’s works. He is running Inthinai Pathipagam, which published most of the works of T. Janakiraman and other great writers.

“I have written 4,000 poems and some of them were prescribed for schoolchildren in the State and Singapore,” said Mr. Kathiresan.

It deals with Paliar tribes’ struggle against bid to appropriate their land for ganja cultivation

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by B. Kolappan / Chennai – June 17th, 2016

In the ring with Muhammad Ali

Records, All, Sports, World Opinion

RockyBrassCF07jun2016

Thirty-six years after he sparred with Muhammad Ali, Rocky Brass tells SUSANNA MYRTLE LAZARUS how that one moment with the boxing legend changed his life

Like most 17-year-olds, Rocky Brass was frequently in trouble for several reasons. “My father, Dion Brass, was a police constable, and he wanted to make sure I wasn’t doing anything foolish. Although he was not a boxer himself, he thought that the sport would give me discipline; so he started the Crusaders Boxing Club,” says Rocky. That’s what set the amateur boxer on a path that would lead to one of the highlights of his career: sparring with Muhammad Ali.

The scene is best described in Rocky’s words: “There was an event where Ali was to spar with Jimmy Ellis at Jawaharlal Nehru stadium in Madras in 1980. I was the bantamweight champion of the State at the time. It was chaotic, with the then Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran also making an appearance at the venue. Being the brash 22-year-old I was back then, I put up my hand when Ali asked the crowd if anyone wanted to get into the ring with him. He immediately asked me to come up. I can still recall every moment of that bout. Seeing the way he moved up close — he really does float like a butterfly and sting like a bee! I ducked one blow, but I can still hear the whoosh of that punch as it passed by my ear. Of course, he did knock me out, but it was worth it.”

Less than a minute in the ring with one of the greatest boxers of all time changed Rocky’s life. It helped that Ali mentioned in his speech that he was a promising talent.

He was offered a job under the sports quota in Southern Railways as a khalasi; today, after 36 years of service, he is a mail express guard.

Memories of that day — a photo of him sparring with Ali, another of him with MGR, and the most precious of them all – a glove given to him by Ali. “We have shifted several houses over the past three decades, and all of this has been carefully taken with us wherever we’ve gone,” laughs Rocky, as he flips through a file of photos and certificates from his boxing days. He has passed on his love for boxing to both his sons, Ricardo and Gerard, who have bagged several titles themselves.

RockyBrassCF07ajun2016

As we chat in his Perambur apartment, the 58-year-old shows no signs of fatigue, although he returned to Chennai from Renigunta only at 4.30 a.m. He recalls how in the pre-Internet era, he would depend on the occasional The Ring magazine his aunt would send from abroad to read about the international stars.

“With no YouTube, we had to wait till someone brought along tapes of matches, so we could watch and learn. It was a different time, and we could devote all our energy and concentration to boxing. Today, there are enough and more distractions for youngsters, so they aren’t able or willing to do the same,” says Rocky.

He admits that the current situation for boxing is less than desirable, with politics in the governing bodies of the sport.

His son Ricardo explains, “There were some issues in the State Boxing Association, which resulted in it splitting in two. Only one team from each State can participate at the National level. This can get frustrating for the others who train and then can’t compete.”

It’s only when this situation is clarified and there is additional support in terms of finances, competitions and training infrastructure provided by the Government that the sport will be able to really flourish, adds Rocky. In spite of this, there are many who are passionate about boxing, and continue to pursue it.

With 17 months left to go before he retires, Rocky is already planning to get back to the sport; this time, as a trainer.

“I definitely want to start a boxing school for those who are passionate about the sport and are willing to learn. If a small state like Manipur can produce a Mary Kom, why can’t Tamil Nadu?” he asks.

As for protective parents who are worried about the physically demanding nature of boxing, he says, “It’s more than just that. It teaches discipline, hard work, and like it did for me, can change one’s life for the better.”

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus> Society / by Susanna Myrtle Lazarus / June 07th, 2016

Breaking bad with a board game

Amazing Feats, Business & Economy, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Sports, World Opinion
Arjun Shankar, creator of the 'Breaking Bad' board game. Photo: Yash Suda
Arjun Shankar, creator of the ‘Breaking Bad’ board game. Photo: Yash Suda

A chance $100 ticket, and the opportunity of a lifetime. Arjun Shankar tells how he went about creating a board game based on Breaking Bad, and met its creator Vince Gilligan

Like every other teenager, Arjun Shankar got hooked on to Breaking Bad while still in college. He watched the 62 episodes 25 times.

In 2015, he quit his three-year-old auditing job in a multinational firm, decided to drop out of CA with one exam to clear, and started working on a board game based on the Emmy award-winning series — complete with the popular characters Walter White, Jesse Pinkman and Gus Fring; Meth labs and dollar rolls.

In eight months, after 15 different versions, a brand new Breaking Bad board game was born. “Probably, the only one in the world as of now,” he claims.

Arjun then went a step further. He decided to meet the creator of the series, Vince Gilligan. And early this year, he did.

The journey from the comfort of his home in KK Nagar to a red carpet event in LA, where he finally got to meet Vince, is a story that seems straight out of a movie script.

With no prior background in board games, except for playing the conventional Snakes and Ladders, Monopoly, and so on, Arjun went ahead to give life to a “path-breaking idea inside his head”.

“It was the time when Chennai was marooned due to the floods. There was nothing much to do anyway, so I locked myself up inside a five ft by eight ft store room for 19 hours every day, conceptualising the game. I cut off from friends, films, television and social media. Things were pretty bad at home as well. I come from a conservative family, and it was tough for my folks to understand and accept what I was doing,” recalls the 22-year-old.

“But, I held on to my passion. There were times when I worked till I almost passed out, woke up with a new idea all of a sudden, and worked on it for the next 12 hours. Though I lost nearly 25 kg in the last five months, mentally, I was never exhausted. I told myself it was something no one else in the world could do, but me,” he says.

Once the board game was ready, he created a one-man company called Tripeee Games, and applied for his U.S. visa. “I wanted to show Vince what I had created. I knew I was a ‘nobody’ with no network to reach the guy. But people always talk about destiny, about how the universe rearranges itself for those who wish for something, and I wanted to see if there was any truth in it,” he says. Turns out, there was.

“I got my U.S. visa in three days, and flew there in the next two days,” he says. Once there, he arranged to meet Vince’ lawyers at Santa Monica, LA, and presented before them the game prototype. Impressed with it, they said he would be put in touch with a higher authority. A few weeks passed before Arjun got any reply. “Vince’s direct lawyer got back to me saying she saw potential in the game, but could not sign a deal, as it needed to come through a proper channel,” he recalls.

The rights for the characters are with Sony Pictures, and to proceed with the development of the game, Arjun would need an investor who could help him get the rights, and a game developer. “I realised I still had a long way. Considering it as nothing more than a good learning process, I started packing my bags for India,” he says.

That’s when Arjun came across the public event ‘2016 PaleyFest’ at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood — Vince Gilligan was part of the panel. Call it divine intervention or just sheer luck, “but there was just one seat left in the first row of the hall for $100, and I spent the last few dollars left with me on it,” he says.

Arjun shares with us a video recording of the “biggest moment of his life”. In the video, Vince and the rest of the cast of Better Call Saul — an offshoot of Breaking Bad — are on the dais; and on the first row in the audience is our Chennai boy. When the moderator announces the session open to the audience, Arjun, all suited up, pounces at the opportunity. “I was numb. There were 1,500 people in the audience, and two heavyweight bouncers right in front of me. I knew that this was my only chance to talk to the director. So, I went ahead and grabbed the mike. I couldn’t remember a thing I spoke, until I saw the recording,” he says.

Arjun spoke to Vince about his story, took out the prototype of the game which he had taken along with him to the event, and asked feebly, ‘Would you like to see it?’ “Vince was perplexed. He probably hadn’t met anyone as crazy as me. However, he did agree to see it,” laughs Arjun. And, just like that, Arjun’s board game was screened on the big screen before hundreds in the audience, and probably thousands worldwide on their televisions. “Vince seemed pretty impressed, and said: ‘We will connect you with the right person’, before pointing at his assistant,” recounts Arjun, who was mentioned as a “bold game maker who pitched his invention to Vince”, on the next day’s Hollywood Reporter. “I hope Vince does not forget me and my creation in the near future,” he says.

That’s probably enough time for Arjun to get his game out.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> Metroplus> Television / Naveena Vijayan / May 30th, 2016

Turning to doubles to sustain a professional career

Sports

JeevanCF29may2016

Over the past few weeks, Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan has been criss-crossing Asia, playing doubles in Challenger tournaments in China, South Korea, Uzbekistan and Thailand. The result has been a steady rise in the rankings to a career-best 129 in doubles earlier this month (currently 131).

But his story is another instance of a once up-and-coming singles player turning to doubles to sustain a professional career in the sport. Speaking about the reasons behind his switch to doubles, Jeevan says, “Being 27, now I want to see myself competing in the Grand Slams and if doubles is the more logical way to achieve that goal then I will have to prioritise it.”

Jeevan, who has seven Futures singles titles in his bag adds, “I still enjoy playing singles whenever I can. But I will base my schedule around higher prize money events that will help my doubles progression.”

The Chennai lad explains the challenges in competing in singles at top level for an athlete coming from India and rues the lack of structured programme that has seen many promising juniors fail to make the leap.

“Creating a top 100 player from Asia requires many factors to fall in place from finding committed sponsors to a great team to support your every need. I feel there isn’t any structural development programme to make it happen in India. Travelling and training abroad can get expensive without any sponsors and it just became a smarter decision for myself personally to focus my energy on cracking into the top 100 in doubles and playing tour events.”

To make up for not having a travelling coach, Jeevan recently tied up with former India Davis Cup player Harsh Mankad’s digital venture Tenicity to help him analyse his game during Challenger events.

“Harsh was helping me tactically by watching my matches on live stream while at the Challengers and gave me valuable information which helped me play better round by round. We shared ideas, game plans and notes of how to improve and tactics against certain players — all on the Tenicity website. It’s the best application for someone who isn’t travelling with a coach but would like to share information and notes on day to day observations on one’s game while at the tournaments.”

Earlier in the year, Jeevan partnered Somdev Devvarman for the Chennai Open and the duo reached the semifinals where they lost to Benoit Paire and Austin Kraijeck and it was this run that prompted Jeevan to turn to doubles more seriously. “We had a good run to the semifinals and I saw this as a good platform to build my doubles career.

“The Chennai Open was a good start to the year and after the week ended I really felt that we were capable of winning a tour event given a few more opportunities. I have travelled primarily in Asia and played on the ATP Challenger tour since then and the past few weeks I’ve had a string of good results. 300 points in the past four Challengers is a good start to 2016. And I will need to keep improving and learning how to maximise my potential in doubles and make the transition from Challenger events to tour events.”

While the Chennai lad doesn’t yet have a permanent doubles partner, he is not in a hurry to look for one and prefers to wait as he finds his feet in doubles. “It’s definitely better to have a permanent partner but I will be looking for the ideal type to compliment my game style to make us the most effective team.”

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Sport> Tennis / by S. Dipak  Ragav / Chennai – May 28th, 2016

Even at 84, he imparts Silambam lessons to thousands of kids in TN

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Sports

Coimbatore:

At the age of 84, T A Angappan twists and spins the silambam (bamboo stick) with the flair and agility of a five-year-old child. Angappan was trained in Silambattam, a local martial artform, at the nascent age of seven by his father at Tiruchengode in Namakkal district.

Angappan not only learnt the martial art, but also took an oath to promote the ancient artform and trained youngsters to take it up professionally.

Today, Anagappan, at 84, still continues to teach Silambattam and has thousands of students across the state. He visits Coimbatore once in two months to train his students and also holds a free summer camp at R S Puram during the summer vacation where hundreds of students take part and learn the martial art for 15 days.

“I want more girls than boys to learn this art,” he says. In 1964, he demonstrated the artform at the Mariamman Kovil temple festivities. In a bid to pursue parents to send their daughters to train in the martial art, he dressed one of his male students as a girl in one of the performance.

“Even after my persuasion, none of the families were willing to send their daughters. So I made a boy dress like a girl and perform. After watching that, I got one student from Salem who was acting in films and theatre. It’s only after she stepped up, did other girls also start joining the classes,” said Angappan.

Angappan was born to a weaver and said his father taught him the martial art daily after he got back from work. “From 9pm till midnight, me and my father would practice Silambattam. But there was no compromise with my education and I finished my SSLC and then got a job in a co-operative society,” Angappan said. It’s only after a friend recommended him to become a physical education teacher at a school, is when Angappan decided to teach Silambattam professionally.

“None of the schools then wanted Silambattam to be taught in schools, even government schools were not interested. I had to insist, a chief education officer of Tiruchengode to let me demonstrate the martial art. I trained a batch of children for an hour and after the demonstration, the officer agreed to allow Silambattam to be taught in government schools,” he said.

Angappan said the main reason for the martial art not being taken up as a professional sport is because of lack of qualified teachers.

“There should be at least one well-known teacher for the art to grow internationally. Though Silambattam associations have been set up in Malaysia, it is still only a state-level sport there,” said Angappan.

He was part of an Indian delegation to Russia in September 1987, where 11 of his students demonstrated their Silambattam skills. “The tour opened the gates for the martial artform to be recognised internationally and be given more consideration in India,” he said.

Angappan, who has been a true ambassador of Silambattam, said the art needs to grow among people in its true form. “I have hundreds of students who promote others to take to the sport. I do not wish for it to be commercialized and lose its essence. Many think the of it is as just a tool for fighting, but Silambattam is an art and helps one grow as a person, just like Kung-fu, Kalari or Karate,” he said.

Many cinema stuntmen have been trained by Angappan in the art. “They taught me sword fights and I taught Silambattam in return,” he says

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Coimbatore / by Komal Gauthami, TNN / May 23rd, 2016

Generations on a Gamely Gallop

Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Records, All, Sports
Polo players Abhimanyu (left) and M Buchi Prakash Rao | R Satish Babu
Polo players Abhimanyu (left) and M Buchi Prakash Rao | R Satish Babu

To revive polo in Chennai, M Buchi Prakash is scouting for land where the Buchi Babu family plans to open a riding school and train youngsters in the sport. “I have a licence for importing horses from New Zealand, which I did earlier, and had 12 stables,” says Buchi Prakash, a polo player, who first took a team to Bombay in 1971 and won the Silver Stick in the All India Polo Tournament at the age of 21. He intends to open the academy by September.

Buchi Prakash is also a six-time winner of the Kolanka C up, which was donated by the raja of Kolanka. The six-foot-tall cup is made of pure silver and is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as “the world’s largest trophy”. He also won polo matches in 18 countries, including playing against the Sultan of Brunei. The equestrian says he learnt the scientific techniques of the game from Prem Singh, the erstwhile maharaja of Jodhpur, but is a self-taught polo player.

Malavika Prakash Rao | Vinod Kumar T
Malavika Prakash Rao | Vinod Kumar T

Buchi Prakash’s daughter, Florida-born Malavika Prakash Rao, followed in his footsteps. “My exposure to horses and riding began at the age of two,” says the 40-year-old with a laugh. “I later trained under Savanth saheb, the riding instructor in the Madras Polo and Riders Club from the age of six.” Frequent trips to Chennai enabled her to pursue her sports activities. Later, in 1993, realising her passion for horses and riding prompted her to enroll in the Water Stock house Training centre in Oxfordshire in England to train in dressage and stable management.

After her graduation from the Academy of Arts in San Francisco, she moved to Bengaluru in 2010 and joined the Embassy International Riding School. She participated in dressage competitions and won many. In 2015, Malavika won the 11th place, competing with international riders. “The club hosts competitions for six months a year for horse jumping and dressage,” she explains.

Malavika comes from a long line of sportspersons. “Polo is more a masculine game, which has come down to us from the Persians and was taken seriously by the royal families in India. I always stood in when a player could not make it to the polo match,” she says. She also plays tennis.

Malavika’s great great grandfather Modavarapu Venkatamahipati Nayudu, or Buchi Babu, was a great Madras sportsman in the 1880s and 1890s. He founded the Madras United Club and owned the sprawling Luz House. He had 21 stables.

Malavika’s great granduncles Baliah and Ramaswami were cricketers in the 1930s, and were famous for breaking the clock of the Presidency College clock tower with their sixes. They played in the Ranji Trophy. Ramaswami’s tennis feats in Cambridge earned him the Cambridge Tennis Blues and a place in the Davis Cup team. He played international doubles with M J Gopalan.

Buchi Prakash’s father M V Prakash, who began his sports career with cricket, tennis and golf, ended up playing polo and won the South India Gold Vaz Award in 1955 and the Kolanka Cup in 1960. He also won many tennis tournaments in Madras Gymkhana Club in 1945.

Malavika’s brother Abhimanyu carries the family tradition by playing polo and won the Kolanka cup in 1997.

Youngest of Buchi Prakash’s brood is 32-year-old Kadambari, a swimmer. “My grandfather used to swim three kilometres every day. Even though we were encouraged to play different of sports, I was fascinated by swimming,” she says. “We learnt to ride as children. Our day began at 5.30 am with my father drilling us “toes up, heels down, but my heart was in swimming”. She won the state Masters Swimming Champion Meet in Chennai in 2012, and in 2013, she won three golds and a silver at the Indore National Aquatic Meet.

SPORT IN THEIR GENES

■ Malavika comes from an ancestry of a long line of polo players

■ Her great grand uncles Baliah and Ramaswami were cricketers in the 1930s

■ Her great, great grandfather, Modavarapu Venkatamahipati Nayadu, founded the Madras United club, owned the sprawling Luz House and had 21 stables

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Magazine / by Uma B alasubramaniam / May 07th, 2016

Class 12 Chennai Girl Top TT Player in the Country

Education, Records, All, Sports, World Opinion

Chennai :

Come summer, parents wonder how to keep children occupied. The studious types keep themselves engaged with computers, painting or music classes. Naughty ones prefer to play outdoors.

The boys keep themselves occupied by enrolling in numerous cricket academies, and many also join swimming clubs. Girls generally take up table tennis or chess and stay away from the heat.

HarshvardiniCF27apr2016

This is how CR Harshavardhini was initiated into table tennis at the tender age of seven. She has grown since, and is currently No 1 in the junior category in India. The 17-year old’s self-belief, dedication and hard work have helped her evolve as a table tennis player of repute. Moreover, her decision to train under one coach and one academy has paid rich dividends.

“At a time when players were shifting from one academy to another once in 2-3 years, I entrusted Harshavardhini to noted coach Ravi Venkatesh. Ravi took personal interest in her game, and has groomed her into a champion,” recalls CK Ravichandran, Harshavardhini’s father.

Harsha has forged a reputation as a ‘giant killer’ thanks to her attacking play. “She has developed into an attacking player, who is swift on her feet too. She is dedicated and sincere. Her self-belief is a big plus,” says coach Ravi, based at MVM Academy at Maharishi Vidya Mandir School, Chetpet. “Since the academy is in her school, it’s easy to train in the morning and evening. The school management too has been supportive by granting her leave to take part in tournaments,” adds Ravi.

Harsha says passion for the game is her driving force. “Love for the game has enabled me to climb up the ladder. My solid preparations at the academy have helped beat higher ranked players like Manika Batra, who is ranked No 1 in youth and women.”

The Class 12 student, who wants to do commerce, has represented India in the cadet category and won gold in the team event at the South Asian Games. Harsha has also won gold for India at Open events in Elsavder and Gautemala.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Ashok Venugopal / April 27th, 2016