Category Archives: Sports

Armed Cops Team Bags Championship Trophy

Sports
Police personnel enjoying a final kabaddi match at the 54th police games meet at Netaji stadium in Vellore on Sunday | S Dinesh
Police personnel enjoying a final kabaddi match at the 54th police games meet at Netaji stadium in Vellore on Sunday | S Dinesh

Vellore / Tiruvannamalai  :

Armed Police, Chennai, won the overall championship in the 54th Inter-Zonal Police Games Meet 2014 held in Vellore and Tiruvannamalai districts.

Over 1,000 police personnel from central, north, south and west zones, Greater Chennai Police (GCP) and Tamil Nadu Commando Force (TNCPF) and Armed Police participated in the three-day sports meet, which began on Friday.

Eight events – obstacles, volley ball, basket ball, hockey, foot ball, hand ball, kabaddi and shuttle cock – were held. These events were held in three venues — VIT University campus, Nethaji Stadium and District Sports Complex in Tiruvannamalai. The Armed Police won volleyball (women), hockey (men), handball (men) and shuttle cock (men) doubles.

It was a runner-up in volleyball (men) and shuttle cock (women) singles events and amassed a highest total of 183 points.

Central zone won obstacles and volleyball events beating South Zone and the Armed Police respectively in the finals. Greater Chennai Police emerged as a winner in basketball (women) and football beating Armed Police and west zone respectively.

Central Zone emerged as winners in kabaddi in both men’s and women’s category. In the events, Greater Chennai Police emerged as the second best team in men’s and women’s categories.

DIG Periaiah won the shuttle cock (officers) singles event, while DIG Periaiah and the DSP of TNCPF Elangovan emerged as winners in shuttle cock (officers) doubles event.

DIG of Vellore Range R Tamil Chandran handed over the overall championship trophy to Armed Police. He also distributed medals to winners of other events during the valedictory programme at Nethaji Stadium in the fort city on Sunday.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Tamil Nadu / by Express News Service / July 21st, 2014

Madurai girl dribbles basketballs for 6km, enters Limca Book of Records

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Records, All, Sports

Madurai :

A 13-year-old girl from here has successfully entered into the Limca Book of Records for dribbling two basketballs simultaneously for a distance of six km. The girl, who skated throughout the distance, achieved the record in 29 minutes and 58 seconds. The 13-year-old L S Sivashree is known to make everyone awestruck with her feats as she often engages herself in doing many impossible tasks. She is also a state-level under-14 basket ball player and an athlete who loves to run on long tracks.

Sivashree did the dribbling for Limca a few months back amidst thundering applause from the crowds on the busy Kamarajar Salai. She, along with her father L S Sundaramoorthy, a sports trainer and her younger sister L S Yogashree were all on cloud nine when they received the copy of the book recently. Although they received an official e-mail with confirmation and the copy of book with her record under ‘Human Story’ category, they are still awaiting the certificate. Like Sivashree, Yogashree too is keen in athletics and basketball.

A Class 8 student of Meenakshi School at Vandiyur Mariamman Theppakulam where she resides, an enthusiastic Sivashree said, “I want to participate in the Olympic Games and bring laurels to the nation in athletics event. Not only in sports, I’m also good in studies too. I always score more than 80% in all the subjects.”

“Sivashree in earlier attempts ran for 30 km when was just five years old. When she was six she ran for 10.5 km by dribbling a basketball. In another attempt she dribbled a ball while skating for 19 km when she was seven years. We have presented them to the Guinness records but they have not even considered the little girl,” said Sundaramoorthy.

“In the next level, I want prove my talent in running and basketball at the national level. I have been undergoing rigorous training to come up at the national level,” Sivashree said.

Sundaramoorthy said that during his school days he wanted to pursue basketball and table tennis seriously but was rejected citing his height. He then took up kho-kho and athletics to emerge as a state player. From then, he has been coaching his two daughters to groom them into the international level, he said.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Madurai / by v. Devanathan, TNN / May 23rd, 2014

Chess prodigy from Tiruchi adds feathers to his cap

Education, Sports
L.N. Ram Aravind, who bagged two silver medals in the Asian Youth Chess Championship. Photo: R.M. Rajarathinam / The Hindu
L.N. Ram Aravind, who bagged two silver medals in the Asian Youth Chess Championship. Photo: R.M. Rajarathinam / The Hindu

Ram Aravind bags silver medals in Asian Youth Chess Championship

Chess prodigy L.N.Ram Aravind has added two more international medals to his kitty .

The class 7 student of Kamala Niketan Montessori School here bagged silver medals in the standard and rapid formats in the under-12 age category at the recently-concluded Asian Youth Chess Championship in Tashkent (Uzbekistan).

In the standard format, Ram Aravind, who trains at Chess Gurukul in Chennai, and Nguyen Anh Khoi of Vietnam were tied for the top spot with 7.5 points each after the ninth and final round. However, Khoi was adjudged winner since he had defeated Ram Aravind in the fourth round.

Ram Aravind had won gold medals in the under-8 (in the year 2011) and under-10 (2013) categories at the championship. He is also the reigning national under-11 champion.

In the rapid event at the Asian championship, he finished with 5.5 points (five wins, a draw, and a loss) from seven rounds. “I like playing rapid chess as it helps to improve my speed,” he says.

The FIDE Master has set his sights on the World Youth Chess Championship (standard format) to be held in Durban later this year. He had bagged under-8 silver medal in 2011 and under-10 bronze medal in 2012 at the championship. “I am aiming for gold this time,” says the gifted youngster.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Tiruchirapalli / by G. Prasad / Tiruchi – July 03rd, 2014

The setter who had a smashing time

Sports

The Tamil Nadu volleyball team’s record, sweeping all national titles from 1991 to 1994, remains unbroken and the man at the centre of things for TN was Sundaram Ponnusamy, the setter. “Except for setter, there were no specialist positions back then. We had a general game where a blocker may take the role of a universal, an attacker and vice-versa when the situation demanded. Only the setter had a defined role,” says the 46-year-old.

In 1993, Salem-born Sundaram’s cup of joy was overflowing as he got the captaincy of TN and the national team but a bike accident in 1995 threw his career off track. He escaped with minor injuries to the stomach, but running and training were impossible. “For six months, I couldn’t play at all and regaining my position in the Indian team seemed impossible,” he recollects.

Not one to give up easily, the fitness junkie set about regaining his health. “It was a slow process and it took me another six months to start playing actively. I knew I had to start from scratch, so played in all the small tournaments,” he says.

His perseverance paid off and he re-joined the state team after 3 to 4 four years. Another four years later, with the national squad lacking a quality setter, a super-fit Sundaram became the automatic choice for the Asian Championship in Thailand in 2006. At 38, he was the oldest and was given the opportunity to lead the team. “We lost to China in the semifinals and that remains our best performance since the third place finish in 1982,” the former setter says of his last international game.

On the popularity of the game in Chennai, the current IOB coach who also guided the state team to the national title in December 2013 says, “I have been in Chennai for the last 25 years. Nothing much has changed in terms of crowd reception. You play in the stadiums of Egmore or Santhome, there is hardly any crowd. Even if people come, they stay till 8.30 at the most. Go to residential localities like Kodambakkam or Ashok Nagar, the stadiums are packed with vociferous crowds who don’t mind staying even if the match goes well past midnight. It is a rural sport with rural following.”

He says the game should be taken to the people, to the residential places. “Stadiums wouldn’t do any good.” As for the evolvement of the sport, he adds, “Coming from rural areas and with a passion for the game, all we cared about was playing and securing some job. Things are not the same now. Job opportunities have dwindled and players are also choosy about the team they play and the pay they receive.”

(A weekly column on famous sportspersons whose first playing field was Chennai)

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Chennai / by Anjana Senthil, TNN / July 12th, 2014

Keeper of yore with a keen eye for talent

Sports

He was not only effective behind the stumps but also had the knack of spotting and nurturing talent.

Bharath Reddy, who donned the gloves for India in 4 Tests and 3 ODIs and was a mainstay in the TN line-up for long, was instrumental in young L Sivaramakrishnan making his Ranji debut in the quarterfinals against Delhi at Chepauk in 1981-82. “Siva was just 16 when he made his (Ranji) debut. I had a lot of faith in his abilities, and had asked our skipper S Venkatraghavan to give Siva a chance, and it was granted,” recalls the man with 95 first-class appearances for TN. He took 171 catches and effected 50 stumpings playing for TN.

Reddy first came to notice with an unbeaten 101 against Midlands School during the Indian Schools team tour of England in 1973. “Studying at the Madras Christian College Higher Secondary School was a big plus since they backed me to the hilt. I was allowed to concentrate fully on my game.

I developed a liking for keeping since it provided the best view of the proceedings in a match. One could see how a batsman was planning to take on a bowler, the changes he was making to his stance,” says the Pachaiyappa’s College alumnus.

Having had the fortune of keeping wickets to the likes of Venkatraghavan and Bishen Singh Bedi, Reddy considers Prasanna the toughest to read. “While Venkat, V V Kumar, Bedi and B S Chandrasekhar were all great, Prasanna stood out for the ability to fox a batsman with his loop.”

He has no regrets in life but the 59-year-old believes he could have played more matches for India. “Players of our era were happy with whatever we achieved. Maybe, we lacked the drive that cricketers of the subsequent generations had.”

After retirement, Reddy has been involved in spotting and nurturing talent at Chemplast. “You may be blessed with talent, but if you don’t have the platform to showcase it, what’s the use? When I was Tamil Nadu captain, I ensured players who had the spark made it to the team. W V Raman was a classic case. He had the talent and temperament, and I ensured he made his Ranji debut for the state.

Chemplast has given chances to the likes of L Balaji, Murali Vijay and many others over the years. My chairman has been very supportive and has backed my choices all the time. There have been many who have asked him (our chairman) how he has put up with me for so long,” says Reddy .

(A column on famous sports personalities whose first playing field was Chennai)

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Chennai / by Prasad Ramasubramanian, TNN / July 05th, 2014

Coimbatore fan designs golden World Cup miniature

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All, Sports, World Opinion
A miniature model of World Cup and a lively football match made out of gold (Photo: DC)
A miniature model of World Cup and a lively football match made out of gold (Photo: DC)

Coimbatore:

Here is shining example of what the football World Cup frenzy can do to a fan. G. Venkatesh, a goldsmith by profession and belonging to Vellalore, has crafted a beautiful miniature model of the World Cup using 130 milligram of gold.

Venkatesh, who has been making miniature objects using gold since 2009 hoping to create a Guinness record, has fashioned the football World Cup, all of 0.7 millimetres, with just 130 milligrams of gold.

Along with it, he has also crafted a replica of a lively football match with a team of miniature players, all made of gold, running around a ball. “I used to play football during my school days. Nowadays, I get to watch matches on television despite my painstaking and demanding job schedule,” he said. It took nearly 12 long hours for him to craft the World Cup and recreate the match scene.

Claiming to have dropped out of school after class 7, Venkatesh said his dream is to become a record-holder – like the achievers he sees on TV. Venkatesh is now busy crafting a miniature car, whose doors could be opened and wheels move.

“I had participated in few exhibitions and showcased my works and won appreciation.  Some even came forward to buy my models for a good price, but I do not want to sell them,” he said. He hails from a poor family as his father T. Ganesh is a painter, mother G. Rajeswari is a homemaker and brother G. Manikandan is into crafting furniture.

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Nation> Current Affairs / DC / by V. Ashok Kumar / June 25th, 2014

Roaring Riders: a love story of man and machine

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Sports
The club, which was the brainchild of four fans of the motorcycle, now has over 60 members — Photo: R. Ragu / The Hindu
The club, which was the brainchild of four fans of the motorcycle, now has over 60 members — Photo: R. Ragu / The Hindu

Fans of the Czech-inspired motorcycle model are all set to celebrate the 14 International Jawa Day in July

July 13 may be just another Sunday for many of us, but for a group of bikers, it’s a day of camaraderie.

Meet Roaring Riders, the city’s sole club that swears by the Czech-inspired motorcycle model, Jawa and its successor, the Yezdi. They are all set to celebrate the 14 International Jawa Day on July 13 at the old airstrip in Sholavaram.

Christened in July 2003, the motorcycle club was the brainchild of four Chennaiites who were part of an online Jawa-Yezdi lovers group.

“We then gave an open call online to Jawa and Yezdi lovers in Chennai and were pleasantly surprised to receive swift responses from five people. This gave the much-needed adrenaline rush for the group and soon, many likeminded riders came forward to be part of Roaring Riders,” says Srini Kasyap, one of the founder members of the group, and a proud owner of three Yezdi (Roadking, Deluxe and Colt 60) models.

The thunderous engines of the Roadkings and Deluxes of the small group of riders first roared on the stretch of Elliots Beach on a fine Sunday morning in July 2003.

Eleven years down the line, the group has grown to an over 60-members strong Jawa–Yezdi riders club with an online fan following of nearly 350 persons.

“With an annual long ride across the State and monthly short rides, the group has evolved and established relationships with similar chapters in Bangalore, Mysore, Kozhikode, Thiruvananthapuram and also, Mumbai,” adds member Prakash Nagarajan, who promises the upcoming Jawa Day celebration will be a real spectacle.

On July 13, it is expected that over 50 motorcyclists will assemble to flaunt their bikes, which include classic models of Jawa and Yezdi.

Veteran invitees, who raced Czech models on the once bustling Sholavaram airstrip, which used to be the city’s sole racing circuit, will also be present.

For more on the event, to which any motorcycle lover is welcome, visit www.roaringriders.in

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Petlee Peter / June 18th, 2014

Families in the saddle to bond over horses

Education, Sports

Like the racecourse to which it is affiliated, Madras Riding School is a trendsetter. The first riding school in the city, it was established in 1951 to teach civilians the finer points of horse-riding. Lessons were initially held at Raj Bhavan, where Jawaharlal Nehru inaugurated the school in 1959. However, the horses themselves were stabled at 100 Feet Rd in Velachery on grounds leased to Madras Race Club.

“There were fewer students back then and most belonged to the upper echelons of society,” says N V Ravi, president of Madras Riding School. The school counts industrialists and cricket administrators M A Chidambaram and A C Muthaiah and barrister Govind Swaminathan among its former students.

Six decades later, the school’s stables have double the number of horses at 30 and three times as many students – around 80. The school has also moved location, to Velachery High Road where the erstwhile Apprentice Jockey Training School stood.

“It was where people who wanted to pursue professional horse-racing were trained,” Ravi says. The jockeys may have long left the grounds, but the racehorses remain. Several of the thoroughbreds at the school were once habitues of the race track.

Today, the school’s students – from age three to 70 – may have no intention to gallop 100kmph, but they do train for subtler equestrian sports like show jumping and dressage. In fact, a couple of Madras Riding School’s students like Namrata Kishore, 17, and Sai Arun, 21, have won the Junior National Equestrian Championship in jumping, and a new crop of riders like Kayva Gopal, 13, and Avadaath Kiran, 9, have been high scorers at the newly introduced Indian Dressage League.

Chief instructor and manager at the school Anita Ojha says six decades ago people signed up because they had nothing but recreational riding in mind. Now, even though they first sign up for recreational riding, they are soon drawn into competitive riding, primarily because of the progressive format adopted by the school where students are gradually initiated into all aspects of equestrian sport and encouraged to test their ability against other accomplished riders in the school.

She adds that the proliferation of local and national championships and the growing competitiveness of this generation have also changed the nature of the game. “What’s more,” says Ojha, “whole families are now coming to class, to bond over horses, which is wonderful to see.”

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Chennai / by Joenna Rebello Fernandes, TNN / June 20th, 2014

Martial art from Tamil Nadu thrives abroad, neglected in state

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Sports, World Opinion

Coimbatore :

Khainul Bin Abdullah, a Class 8 student at Melaka in Malaysia, has been learning martial art forms that originated in Tamil Nadu, for the last three years including ‘suvadu’ and ‘mallu sandai’.

He began learning this after seeing his elder brother learn them. Now he has become an expert in these forms and attends competitions in many parts of the world. Abdulllah was one of the participants at the Asian level Adithada Competition held at the Rathinam Group of Institutions at Eachanari near Coimbatore on Saturday and Sunday.

“Several people from across the world are coming to learn ‘adithada’, which includes many of our traditional forms like ‘suvadu’, ‘verum kai por’, ‘mallu sandai’ and various other traditional martial arts,” said Kalari P Selvaraj, general secretary of World Adithada Federation. These forms are collectively called ‘Adithada’. They were practised by Tamil expatriates and have gained a huge following abroad.

A few years ago they formed World Adithada Federation to popularise the forms. “We are hopeful that one day this art will be recognised by the Olympic Games committee as some Chinese and Japanese martial arts are,” said Selvaraj. However, they are yet to receive recognition from the Indian government.

Adithada was recognised by the Malaysian government as a sports event two years ago. Now there are around 1,000 people learning this.

“Many schools have included this as one of their extra-curricular activities,” said R Damodharan, a trainer from Malaysia. Excelling in the sport will help students going for higher education, he said.

Apart from Malaysia, participants have also come from Singapore and Bangladesh to take part in the event. Neethan Islamudheen, a martial arts trainer in Dhaka, said that there was a growing interest in the form in his country. He began to learn ‘adithada’ after a few trainers from the federation held a seminar in Dhaka a year ago.

“Many of those who are learning other martial arts are showing interest in it. This is because we find it has more traditional movements,” he said.

The organisers say they have to popularise the sport in various countries and get recognition in at least 90 countries to get entry in Olympics.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home>City> Coimbatore / TNN / June 09th, 2014

Understanding the formula of racing

Sports
Instructors getting ready to handle the driving session for the students at the Supra SAEINDIA ’14 drivers’ training programme at the Kari Motor Speedway in Chettipalayam, Coimbatore, on Wednesday./ by Special Arrangement / The Hindu
Instructors getting ready to handle the driving session for the students at the Supra SAEINDIA ’14 drivers’ training programme at the Kari Motor Speedway in Chettipalayam, Coimbatore, on Wednesday./ by Special Arrangement / The Hindu

The second phase of the training programme will be held next month

It was three days of thrills and frills for over 100 undergraduate and post-graduate engineering students in the Supra SAEINDIA ’14 drivers’ training programme, which concluded at the Kari Motor Speedway in Chettipalayam recently.

Organised for the first time by Spitfire Motorsports Pvt. Limited, in association with Meco Motorsports, the training programme turned out to a real learning experience for most of them. “It was simply amazing. We learnt a lot,” said Nehal Goudar. “It helped us to understand a racing car better,” quickly added Rahul. “Brilliant sessions but would love to have more track time in Formula and Saloon cars,” pointed out Parth Dipak.

There were many in the crowd who echoed sentiments.

But the surprising fact is that everybody, besides in-depth training programme, showed keen interest in participating in motor racing events.

“Obviously, they have reasons to be pleased. Normally these students get to design and construct their own formula cars with help from their faculties. It’s part of their curriculum but the driving part matters a lot. And, we are teaching them exactly that,” said C. Rajaram, Director, Spitfire Motorsports.

Former Formula racing driver Akbar Ebrahim of Meco Motorsports has given the task to his race boys to be the instructors.

They are Sandeep Kumar (Chennai), Chittesh Mandody (Kolhapur), Nikhil Kashyap and P.D. Nanjappa (from Bangalore).

They are national racing champions in various categories and they are handling the task given to them in an efficient manner.

“Meco Motorsports has sent us the drivers and we have provided the cars (four saloon & five Formula LGB Swift),” said J. Balamurugan, Director, Spitfire.

“It’s a unique opportunity to find whether they are good drivers. They can learn the technology and give their feedback. We can increase the motorsport base as well,” he added.

Balamurugan said the instructors had done an excellent job.

“It’s not speed that we are teaching but the right technique,” said Nanjappa. “It’s an excellent experience for us as well. They are all engineering students and they understand the concept much better. It makes our job easier,” he added.

“In fact, we have been through a lot of classes before coming here. We have been trained by Akbar Sir to train others. And, as racing drivers we are able to explain things much better,” said Sandeep.

“It’s a win-win situation for both because we get to refresh our racing knowledge,” he added.

Why Coimbatore? “It’s a natural choice because the city has both track and talent. Spitfire has got experienced people to handle the job as well,” said Balamurugan.

The second phase of the training programme will be held at the same venue next month.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Coimbatore / by Rayan Rozario / Coimbatore – May 30th, 2014