Twelve-year-old Varun, one of the members of the Royal Madras Yacht Club (RMYC) is getting ready for his sailing classes in the Optimist while his coach Chinna Reddy is giving him instructions about adjustments and speed control. “I am going to Hyderabad this year for the nationals. This is my first time,” he says happily.
A J80 is almost prepared to glide into the deep waters and in it are a few young sailors waiting for Chinna to get in. “We are the present champions of the club and also permanent members here,” one of the sailors introduces the group. As the boat leaves the dock, the champions start discussing flash mobs, demos and many more events they are planning to host in the coming days. “We are trying to create awareness about this amazing watersport. There is a huge potential for it in Chennai. The metropolis has such a huge coastline that you do not have to come to the port to sail. You can literally sail out of anywhere here. But the sad part is that nobody knows much about sailing as a sport or maybe they are unaware of the right place to look for,” complains Zephra Currimbhoy, who represented India as the only female practicing sailing squad in the 2010 Asian Games held at China.
“We have students from the ages of seven to 70 years,” Reddy says proudly. “Some children are afraid of the water initially but after awhile they literally start living in the sea!” However, inspite of their best efforts to promote sailing in more than 50 schools across the city, the instructor says with a sad smile, “The response has been limited.” But things quickly look up again when Rufus, a sailing student, speaks up. “I love the water and have come across a number of fascinating marine creatures. The kind of atmosphere out there is unexplainable.” As long as there are those who find a second home in the waves, sailing will have a fair amount of wind beneath its wings.
(For details, log onto: http://www.rmyc.in)
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Seetha Dinesh / May 28th, 2014
The Governing Council of the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) has nominated Akbar Ebrahim, a renowned driver coach and former Formula race driver, as India’s deputy representative at the Federation Internationale de L’Automobile (FIA).
FMSCI Chairman Vijay Mallya endorsed the decision and the FIA was informed about this, according to a FMSCI Media release here Saturday.
Mallya is the Titular Delegate of India and a member of the prestigious World Motor Sports Council of the FIA, which is responsible for all aspects of international motorsport at every level from karting to Formula One.
Ebrahim has replaced Vicky Chandhok in the role and will represent the FMSCI to lend a hand to Mallya in the FIA, the release added.
Ebrahim said: “While my predecessor worked hard to get F1 to India, my priority now would be to get more Indians into F1 and its likes. We are going to work hard to create opportunities for our sportspersons to step out and take on the world.
“We will make sincere efforts to align with global best practices and avail all possible assistance from international associates.
“India has all that is required for our kids and our sport to unleash, and what we need to do now is to package and present our case to the world. To start the campaign, we need to lead the charge in the Asian Region.”
Ebrahim had recently met FIA President Jean Todt at the FIA Asia Pacific Region Motor Sport Forum in Sri Lanka, where Todt had drawn everyone’s attention to FIA’s taskforce that is currently in operation in the Asia Pacific region.
“The idea behind this initiative is to interact, assist and coordinate between motor sports federations in this region,” said Ebrahim.
source: http://www.business-standard.com / Business Standard / Home> News-IANS> Sports / by IANS / Chennai – May 17th, 2014
India’s Armaan Ebrahim finished on podium in both the races in the second round of the Blancpain FIA GT Series here Sunday, marking a successful return after having suffered a high speed crash in the opening round in Nogaro (France) last month.
Driving for Fortec Motorsports in the Silver Cup Class, the Chennai driver finished an identical third in both the outings, less than a month after suffering a dislocated collar bone and a cracked rib in the qualifying of the sprint race.
In Sunday’s second race, Armaan’s car was hit from the rear early on, forcing him to drop behind, but recovered solidly to finish third. A stewards hearing later could see Armaan move up to the second spot in his class in Race 2 in which he finished 13th overall.
As the original car was completely written off and the new car due to arrive in another two weeks, Armaan drove the teams second car along with a new teammate, Miguel Torel.
The two one-hour tests was spent mainly on getting to grips with Mercedes SLS AMG as due to the crash in Round 1, no pre race tests were possible.
The grid being one of the most competitive in GT Racing with as close to six F1 drivers and most others being Platinum and Gold category drivers representing Factory teams, the top 14 cars were all within a second in Qualifying.
“Two podiums in the Silver Cup is a dream start after a bad crash in the last round in France. It takes a bit of time to get back in the groove especially when you have to contend with acute pain in the collar bone and ribs which makes it very difficult to be aggressive with the steering wheel in the high speed corners.
“Also, as this is the first time I am driving the Mercedes SLS AMG, it does require quite a bit of pre-season testing, and unfortunately we have not been fortunate to have that,” said Armaan.
source: http://www.business-standard.com / Business Standard / Home> News-IANS> Sports / by IANS / Fawkham (Britain) / May 18th, 2014
The Chennai boys’ team, winners of the U-18 inter-disctrict basketball championship. Coimbatore won the girl’s championship
Chennai boys and Coimbatore girls retained their respective titles on the final day of the St Joseph’s 26th junior inter-district (U-18) basketball championship, held at the Sports Village on Sunday.
The Chennai boys were in great form as they trounced Tiruvallur 100-43 in the final. Muthukumar starred for the hosts win 25 points, while Jedidiah Gabriel made a neat contribution of 20 points. For Tiruvallur, Surya top scored with 14 points.
Chennai played aggressively right from the beginning. Their excellent defence and passing helped them get to the magical 100 point mark for the first time in the tournament. Chennai pocketed `10000, while Tiruvarur got Rs 7000. Dindugul finished third and won Rs 5000. In the girls’ final, Coimbatore outplayed Erode 60-40. Shanu with 16 points was the top scorer for Coimbatore. The winners got a cash prize of Rs 10000 while Erode received Rs 7000. Chennai came third and pocketed `5000.
Dr B Babu Manoharan, Managing Director, St Joseph’s Group of Institutions and former Indian player N Robinson gave away the awards.
SPECIAL: Bullocks galloping to the finishing line at Thummalapatti near Batlagundu in Dindigul district on Friday. / by Special Arrangement / The Hindu
‘Rekla’ race to test the agility of bullocks
Temple festivals not only unite all communities together under a common platform and provide a space for youth to display their talents and courage but also ensure survival of traditional sports.
Double bullock cart race, locally known as ‘rekla’ race, was one such traditional and famous sports held as a part of the annual Chithirai festival of Sri Muthalamman Temple at Thummalapatti near Batlagundu near here. The entire village wore a festive look on Friday and people from Thumallapatti and nearby areas thronged it to witness the festival since morning.
The main road connecting Thummalapatti, Kanavaipatti Sri Lankan refugee camp and Pudhupatti Kamarajapuram was converted into a race track. Traffic was closed on this road.
Spectators converged on both sides of the road to witness the event.
Under big bull category, bullocks owned by Madhu Bala of Cumbum clinched the first prize.
Vairam of Goodalur bagged the second prize. In the mid-size bull segment Sellayi Amman of Vadipatti emerged winner and Sridhar of Goodalur settled with second prize.
In the small size category, known as ‘Karichan Kunju’ segment in the local parlance, bullocks owned by Arivu of Uthukuli emerged winner and bulls of Arunkumar of Chinnamanur got the second prize.
Cash award of Rs.10,000 Rs.7,000 and Rs.6,000 were given to top three winners. Majority of prizes were bagged by bulls from Theni district.
Race organizer Pon. Kuppusamy said that 138 bullock carts from Dindigul, Theni, Madurai, Cumbum, Theni, Chinnamanur, KK Patty, Alanganallur, Iyyampalayam, Natham, Singampunari, Melur, Sholavandhan, Tiruchi and Manaparai participated in the race.
This race will test the agility of bulls and riding tactics of young riders, he added.
Sufficient force was deployed at the village to regulate the crowd.
The bullocks were divided into three categories – big bullocks, mid size bullocks and small size bullocks – on the basis of their size, height and capability to take part in the race. Separate races were conducted for each category.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Tamil Nadu / by K. Raju / Dindigul – May 03rd, 2014
The Nehru Yuva Kendra and the Muthamizar Tarkappukalai Valarchi Arakkattalai will organise martial arts annual festival in the city on May 25. Various martial art troupes functioning in the state will demonstrate the art forms such as silambam, wrestling, using of weapons, body building etc. Each troupe will be allotted thirty minutes time for displaying and demonstrating the martial arts.
The objective of the programme to create awareness among the common people on the martial arts of the State, motivate the troupes practising martial arts and provide them a platform to display their talent. Interesting troupes could register with the Arakkatalai on or before May 5. For details, they can call 9442610605, a press release of K. Chandrasekar, managing trustee of the Arakkattalai, here said.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Tiruchirapalli / by Special Correspondent / Tiruchi – April 27th, 2014
Ramanathan Krishnan and Lalitha Krishnan at their natural grass court patterned on those at Wimbledon./ Photo : R Ravindran. / The Hindu
The English championship is two months away and fans are making plans to be there. But the first family of Indian tennis has other ideas
No sprightly girls and boys to chase the yellow balls. No linesmen to yell out calls. No electronic board to flash the scores. But superlative matches are played every day at this grass court, where tall trees fill in for spectators.
These ‘matches’ defy the humdrum order of time, space and sequence. One moment, an iceberg-cool Borg and a fiery McEnroe are locked in a nail-biting tie-breaker. In the next, Ashe gets the better of Connors with a clever mix of slice and spin. Then come Nadal and Federer fighting a war of attrition, which is followed by an emotion-soaked final where a kind Duchess of Kent offers her shoulder to a teary-eyed Jana Novotna, disconsolate after her loss to Steffi Graf.
Welcome to the private grass court at Oliver Road in Mylapore, maintained by Indian tennis’ first family, the Krishnans, as a tribute to Wimbledon. For the Krishnans, this natural grass court, which borrows features from the hallowed courts of Wimbledon, serves as a mind screen to replay and relive the timeless matches from the prestigious English championship. (Also significant is that this court is one of the very few natural grass courts in the country.)
“Wimbledon is dear to every member of our family. We have followed the championship closely for decades,” says Ramanathan Krishnan, 77 now.
Ramanathan Krishnan in action at Wimbledon. / The Hindu Archive
The Krishnans not only tracked Wimbledon, they also excelled in it — a fact that largely shaped their deep attachment to the championship and also the decision to design a natural grass court patterned on those at Wimbledon. Ramanathan Krishnan is a two-time semi-finalist (1960 and 1961) at Wimbledon and his son Ramesh Krishnan, the winner of the 1979 Wimbledon juniors title and a quarter-finalist in the men’s section in 1986.
Ramesh Krishnan discussing with his father Mr Ramanathan Krishnan at a practice session in Madras on October 07, 1980 as mother Mrs. Lalitha Krishnan and his playmates look on./ The Hindu Archives
“It was our son Ramesh’s idea to design a Wimbledon-type grass court at our house on Oliver Road. Around four years ago, he came up with this plan and everyone was excited about it. Ramesh got all the necessary information from Wimbledon. My wife Lalitha assisted in executing the project. And when it was done, we knew we had brought Wimbledon home,” declares Ramanathan, who spends the evening hours with Lalitha at this private grass court, both of them merrily parked in broad, deliciously comfortable bamboo chairs. “When Wimbledon is on, we bring out the television set and watch the matches sitting here,” says Lalitha, 70.
The Krishnans are going to a lot of trouble to make Wimbledon more immediate for themselves: they have put two men, A. Shanmugam and M. Manickam, on the job of maintaining the court. Natural grass court maintenance is costly and cumbersome, the reason we don’t have many of them around.
Notably, this grass court is not used regularly — for ‘real’ matches, that is. “Once in two months, Ramesh, who lives in R.A. Puram, brings some of his friends along for a game,” says Ramanathan.
Besides the love of Wimbledon, there are other sentiments that spur the desire to keep the court in shape and working order. Beneath the grass, lie clayey memories of long practice hours and family bonding. “This was a clay court for well over three decades, before it was turned into a grass court four years ago. We set up the clay court in 1975. It was a training ground for Ramesh,” says Ramanathan.
“Father would train Ramesh from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at this court,” recalls Gowri Krishnan-Tirumurti, Ramanathan’s daughter, who also trained at the court and is the 1982 Indian national juniors champion.
TK Ramanathan with his son Ramanathan Krishnan./ The Hindu Archives
In its clayey days, the court saw five south Indian champions play and practise the sport — T.K. Ramanathan, Ramanathan Krishnan, Ramesh Krishnan, Gowri Krishnan and Shankar Krishnan (a cousin of Ramesh and Gowri). “Just like my dad and brother, Shankar went on to play Davis Cup,” says Gowri.
This private tennis court may have created champions, but its charm lies in the sense of togetherness it has fostered among the Krishnans. “I remember when we would be practising, our mother would sit on the sidelines and peel oranges for us,” says Gowri.
The bonding has extended to the youngest generation. Ramanathan’s grandchildren — Gayathri, Nandita, Bhavani and Vishwajit — are in their twenties and studies have taken some of them away from home; yet, when they visit their grandparents, they love to sit around this clay-turned-grass court. Says Gowri, “Successive generations have learnt many things around this court. Discipline is one of them.”
And, surely, also what it takes to be a winner.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus> Society / by Prince Frederick / Chennai – April 25th, 2014
R. Gunasekar with his 1997 Contessa. / Photo: R. Ravindran / The Hindu
Online communities bond over the Contessa. They periodically organise rallies and exchange restoration notes
When he is at the wheel, R. Gunasekar senses admiring glances coming his way. Delusions of grandeur? No, he drives around in a Contessa, a car that is getting scarcer and is beginning to strike most people as a curiosity.
As this machine was rolling off the Hindustan Motors’ assembly line as recently as 2002, this is rather surprising, and saddening. As any automobile enthusiast following the Contessa would tell you, many of these cars have gone to the scrapyard.
Members of a Contessa club from Kerala who are active on Facebook./ by Special Arrangement / The Hindu
On the positive side, there are online communities that bond over the Contessa. They periodically organise rallies and exchange restoration notes. As these groups connect on popular social networking sites such as Facebook and on reputed automobile forums such as Team-BHP.com, they are capable of drawing other Contessa owners into their fold.
“These online groups are a hope for the Contessa: they may keep the remaining cars from going to the scrapyard,” says Gunasekar, who is not very active in any of these forums, but is in touch with those who are.
Among the prominent ones is CCI-Conty Club India (on Facebook), which organised a meet-up for Contessa owners from Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu at Nilgiris in 2013. The event saw a turnout of around 20 cars; the Club is reported to be planning another meet-up shortly, this time in Bangalore.
Meet-up of CCI-Conty Club India members in Nilgiris last year. / by Special Arrangement / The Hindu
“Most of the people in the various Contessa clubs are in their early-20s to mid-40s age group. These are people who have experienced the car as children or as young adults: having seen it driven or driven it themselves. Their passion for the Contessa is incredible,” says Gunasekar, 34.
A good number of them have a grip on the character of the car and seem fully capable of spearheading restoration projects – a healthy sign, considering a last-ditch effort is required to save this Indian car.
Gunasekar, who is assistant manager at Popular Motor Corporation and a car freak from the cradle, is similarly hands-on about his 1997 Contessa that has a 2.0-litre, inline-four diesel engine and twin-lamp headlights.
“My father runs a garage and I have seen Contessa cars being serviced there,” he says. “Ambassador and Contessa have a good number of interchangeable parts, especially engine parts. To service the engine in my car, I can use the parts of a corresponding Ambassador diesel engine. It is the same with the gear-box. Front brake pads, brake booster and a few suspension bushes are among other interchangeable parts. For those that are not, I go to the second hand market at Pudupet.”
If he still does not find what he is looking for, he knows where to turn to.
Says Gunasekar, “I just have to go to any of the online forums. They are certain to be helpful.”
(Prince Frederick is a staff writer for MetroPlus and MetroPlus Melange)
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus> Motoring / by Prince Frederick / Chennai – April 30th, 2014
Sharath Kamal’s improved backhand has helped him equal his career-best ranking of 39 in nearly four years. Photo: PTI/ File
New Delhi:
India’s top table tennis player Sharath Kamal thinks he has finally won his long battle against a shaky backhand, which has helped him equal his career-best ranking of 39 in nearly four years.
The jump in the rankings has also given the three-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist the confidence to set high targets in 2014, a crucial year with the World Championships, Commonwealth Games and Asiad all lined up from late April to August.
On top of his wish list is breaking into the top-30 by year end. He also wants to regain the CWG singles and team titles he won in 2006.
“Playing in these big events gives me a chance to further improve my rankings. I think with the level of table tennis I am playing at the moment, I can probably look at a top 30 spot by 2014 end,” Sharath told PTI from Dusseldorf where he has spent two years playing for top German club Borussia Dusseldorf.
He further said about his expectations: “Most importantly, I would like to win back the singles and team gold at the CWG but the mighty Singaporeans will be there as always and we have to figure out a way to beat them. Asian Games will obviously be tougher but I will try to get the maximum out of it.”
Interestingly, it was right before the 2010 CWG in New Delhi that the Chennai-born paddler broke into the top-50 and he has again found his rhythm ahead of the Glasgow Games in July-August. He endured a tough time in between as the changes he made in his game did not bear fruit.
He started losing to lower-ranked players and even the youngsters back home besides letting go off his throne at the National Championship after winning it six times. Now he feels he has improved significantly in the last 12 months with his ever lethal forehand complimenting a solid backhand, considered vital in the modern game.
“All this improvement is a result of stability in my backhand. I am pretty much a different player from last year and have improved my game in all aspects. Training in Germany for the last two years too has helped a great deal,” said the lanky player.
It was only in March he recorded the biggest win of his career, beating World No.8 Chuang Chih-Yuan of Chinese Taipei in the Asian Cup. India’s foreign coach Peter Engel, too, is pleased with Sharath’s progress but warns his backhand issues are not solved yet.
“His backhand has become better but still there is a lot of room for improvement. The recent results show that he is winning the important points and is more relaxed with his service. As he is hardly training with us in India, I hope his club coaches fix the flaw completely,” Engel said.
Overall, the last six months have been encouraging for Indian table tennis with youngsters Harmeet Desai (136) and Soumyajit Ghosh (118) entering the world’s top-150. Senior player Anthony Amalraj falls just out of that bracket on 151.
Sharath said the future augurs well for the men’s team. “This is a really good sign and Amalraj should be also be in the top 150 soon. Now we have a very balanced team and we can challenge many of the world’s top teams. Ghosh and Harmeet will break the top 100 barrier mark if they continue the same way,” the 31-year-old concluded.
source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Sports> Other Sports / PTI / April 11th, 2014
K. Premkumar, National long jump champion, and J. Hemashree, National sprinter in relay, were chosen as the best sportsman and sportswoman respectively for the annual awards for excellence by the St. Joseph’s Sports Academy.
K. Premkumar, national long jump champion, and J. Hemashree, national sprinter in relay, were declared the best sportsman and sportswoman respectively.
K. Premkumar, National long jump champion, and J. Hemashree, National sprinter in relay, were declared the best sportsman and sportswoman respectively for the annual awards for excellence by the St. Joseph’s Sports Academy at the St. Joseph’s College premises on Sunday.
Premkumar created a national record of 8.09 metres, while Hemashree was part of the Indian relay quartet that scooped a bronze medal in the last Asian Junior meet.
Established in 1999 with an initial strength of 25 boys and 25 girls, the Sports Academy, funded by the St. Joseph’s College of Engineering, has trained over 250 athletes and the enjoys the distinction of having shaped 28 international stars like Gayathree, Hemashree and Deepika.
A total of Rs.1.60 lakhs was given away as cash prizes for the 32 achievers this year. Deepika received the highest prize of Rs.17000, followed by Dharn and Prem Kumar at Rs.14750 and Rs.11000 respectively.
The Academy also honoured fifty coaches with a cash award of Rs.10,000 each. The leading coaches included R.Chandran, L.Srinivasan, Sampath, Delliraj (Basketball), Maruthaiyam, Prakash, Samy (Volleyball), Ravichandran, Velayuthan (chess), Sivakumar (Coimbatore), Annadurai (Myladurai) and Suresh (Thanjavur) in athletics.
The award winners were felicitated by Dr. Babu Manoharan, Managing Director, St .Joseph’s College of Engineering.
Dr. C. Sylendra Babu, ADGP-Coastal Guard presided over the function along with Mr. M.Vijayakumar, Secretary, TNPSC, P.K.Behera, Additional Commissioner of Central Excise, Olympian V.Baskaran, and C.K.Valson, Secretary, AFI.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Sports> Athletics / by Staff Reporter / Chennai – April 09th, 2014
