A Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel from Kanyakumari district has entered the Guinness Book of World Records along with a group of other Indian magicians for continuous performance of magic tricks by a group.
The Indian Brotherhood of Magicians (IBM) broke the record set by 130 magicians in Italy, by peforming magic continuously for six hours in New Delhi on April 24 this year. The group performed various tricks, including the ribbon trick, rope trick, dove and rabbit vanishing tricks among others, to enter the book of records. The group of 162 magicians broke the record by performing the same task. They received their Guinness certification, recently.
B Ajithkumar, 41, of Arumananai Vilavankode, in Kanyakumari district said that he had always been interested in magic and pursued his passion even after he joined the CRPF at the of 22. He learned tricks from great magicians in Thiruvananthapuram and also Wilson Sambakulam in New Delhi, whom he considers his master.
Ajithkumar who is now serving in Assam, came down to his home town recently and showed the certificate to the Kanyakumari district collector, Sajjansingh R Chavan, who lauded him for his efforts. Ajithkumar’s daughter Sangeetha is also learning some tricks from her father.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Madurai / TNN / October 15th, 2016
More than 100 bodybuilders from various gymnasiums participated in ‘Mr Madurai 2016’ competition conducted by the Madurai District Amateur Body Building Association.
S Vetrivelu from Cosmo Fitness Gym was selected as ‘Mr Madurai’.
Tamil Nadu minister for cooperation Sellur K Raju presided over the event and distributed prizes.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> Chennai News> Madurai / TNN / October 09th, 2016
Arun Krishnan (in the red jersey) successfully completes the Ironman Championship. (photo courtesy / Arun Krishnan’s Facebook)
Chennai :
“Post retirement, you have to keep yourself occupied,” says Arun Krishnan . The 67-year-old may sound like any other elderly person striving to remain purposeful, but make no mistake, Krishnan is India’s oldest Ironman , and acknowledges better than anyone else that age is just a number. “Anything is possible if one has the will,” he says.
In 2009, a day after he turned 60, he sat down to prepare himself a bucket list and wrote down a determined entry – ‘The Ironman Asia Pacific Championship, Cairns, Australia’. To Krishnan, a fitness buff with extraordinary levels of endurance, this seemed doable with rigorous training. However, two years later in 2011, his doctors informed him that his knees had worn out and forbade him from climbing stairs, leave alone running.
“I quickly took to Ayurveda, which helped me do the Chicago, Berlin and the Half Iron marathons. But that said, Ayurveda worked for me, it need not for everyone. One must be careful,” says Krishnan.
In January 2014, misfortune struck again when he was all set to compete in the Tokyo marathon. His knees locked up and he completed it in six agonizing hours, swearing “I’d never run again.” But the itch of completing an Ironman triathlon got the better of him and he once again sought Ayurveda, this time, along with physiotherapy. The Ironman games called for a rigorous training spanning 24 weeks, and when Krishnan came to know of even older contenders participating in it including an 84-year-old Japanese man and an 82-year-old Catholic nun – it gave him further impetus to see it through.
After braving a swelling sea following sudden rain, Krishnan finished the triathlon with a 3.9km swim, 180km of cycling and a 42km run, in 16 hours, 27 minutes and 35 seconds, about two minutes and 25 seconds ahead of the cut-off time.
After achieving such an incredible feat, one may think that a man of Krishnan’s age would like to go easy. But not for a man with Krishnan’s spirit. He, instead, penned down another task to his bucket list – to train for another two decades to run an Ironman with his granddaughter. “She’s two years old now,” he smiles, adding “But more immediately, I want to run the Boston qualifier.”
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> Chennai News> Chennai / Saranya Chakrapani / October 01st, 2016
This is the first time that India clinched three medals from this event.
The Indian players on the podium during the mixed doubles medal ceremony (image courtesy: WSF World Doubles Twitter)
India finished a historic campaign at the WSF World International Doubles at Marrara, Darwin in Australia on Thursday with three medals for the first time in the history of the championships. The second-seeded mixed doubles pair of Saurav Ghosal and Dipika Pallikal had to settle for silver in the summit clash where they lost to the third seeds Paul Coll and Joelle King of New Zealand, 8-11, 8-11 in 34 minutes.
Besides that, the second Indian mixed doubles pair of Harinderpal Sandhu and Joshna Chinappa as well as the top-seeded women’s doubles team of Chinappa and Pallikal both captured the bronze after losing their respective semi-finals.
Pallikal and Ghosal had prevailed over the Kiwi mixed doubles pair in a tight match a day earlier in their final group assignment and were thus considered the favourites. But King and Coll put up a determined show that took the game out of the Indians’ hands.
By constantly varying their pace and returns, they never allowed the Indians to build a rhythm. The Kiwi pair’s dropshots and their strategy of keeping the ball in the middle paid rich dividends.
The Indians had more chances in the second game which was neck and neck. But Coll and King applied just the right amount of pressure in the end, to seal the win in straight games.
The performance of all the Indian players at the World Doubles earned praise from the national coach Cyrus Poncha who called it a ‘fabulous show’.
“Whichever way one viewed it, this has been a fabulous show overall by the Indians. Returning with three medals is something to be proud of and the players surely need a pat on their backs for this,” said Poncha, who was with the squad in Darwin.
The Indians will now be turning their attention to the season’s first World Series event – the Hong Kong Open that starts on August 23.
source: http://www.sportskeeda.com / SportsKeeda / Homepage> Squash> News / by Sudeshna Banerjee @Sudsports / August 18th, 2016
K Sivakumar, havildhar attached to the Madras Regimental Centre in Wellington, is the first person in Tamil Nadu to have climbed the Mount Everest as part of an army mountaineering expedition this May. He is presently posted at II Madras in Sikkim. On his first visit, after the expedition, to his home town Lovedale near Ooty, K Sivakumar talks to TOI’s Shantha Thiagaragan on his inspiration and challenges faced in climbing Mount Everest.
What gave you the inspiration to climb Mount Everest? I joined the army in 2001. In 2004, I was sent to Mountaineering Training School in Gulmarg, Kashmir, for six months training. I passed out with 80 per cent score in the training. Initially, I drew inspiration from other army personnel in the training. But my motivation was heightened when I got posted at the same training school as my instructor for four years. During those years, I got the chance to climb six peaks in Ladak, Utharanjal and Himalaya while training army students.
Have you attempted to climb the Everest before?
Yes. In November 2014, a team of army personnel had planned to scale Mount Everest to celebrate fifty years of climbing the mountain by the army. But unfortunately, the expedition was cancelled midway due to an earth quake on April 25, 2015. The Nepal government had also cancelled permission to access the Everest. During that time 18 people died and around 60 were injured.
How do you handle the disappointment?
The experience only gave me more courage and hope. In November 2015, a team of 30 members were sent for training in army camps in New Delhi for two months. Out of the 30 people, two seven-member teams were selected to climb Mount Everest. I was fortunate to have been chosen. We reached Kathmandu on March 30 and on April 5 we started our Everest expedition.
How did you manage the low oxygen level and rations on your expedition?
As the oxygen level is very low after 7000 meters, we could not eat but we needed energy. Part of our ration included energy bars and drinks which helped us get through the expedition. The oxygen was part of our mountaineering costume. It took us 25 days to reach Mount Everest and return to Kathmandu.
How did you feel when you reached the highest peak? On May 19, after crossing several army base camps, we reached the very top of the mountain. Words cannot express how I felt when I reached the peak. I just could not believe I had actually climbed the Everest. It took several days for the achievement to sink in. Standing there at the top was the best moment of my life. We stayed there for 20 minutes to take pictures and videos as evidences.
Did you ever think that one day you would climb Mount Everest?
I was an athlete when I was in school. However, mountaineering never crossed my mind. Only after joining the army, I developed a passion for mountaineering. If not for the army and support from my family, I could not have achieved this goal.
How does it feel to return home after scaling the highest mountain?
It is very refreshing to return home and spend time with family.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Coimbatore/ by Shantha Thiagarajan / TNN / August 19th, 2016
Four students from The Good Shepherd International School in Ooty won one gold and three bronze medals in Tamil Nadu State Rifle Shooting Championship for the year 2016.
Over 500 contestants from various parts of the state participated in the competition that was held for five days from August 3 to 7, 2016 at the Coimbatore Rifle Club.
About 11 students, including four girls from the Good Shepherd International School took part in the rifle shooting championship, while four secured medals.
Aditya Bhavesh Vaghasia won the gold medal with 358 points in youth men with 10M air pistol category, while Anushka Agrawal, Alice Deswal and Danielle Luzanne D’souza won bronze medals under youth women category in the 10M air rifle team event scoring a total of 1032 points together.tnn
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Coimbatore / TNN / August 09th, 2016
Chief Minister Jayalalithaa has given Rs. 1.45 crore to five sportspersons in the State, including a differently-abled woman who won honours in international contests.
Ms. Jayalalithaa presented a cheque for Rs. 25 lakh to Jenitha Anto of Tiruchirappalli for winning an international chess tournament held in Serbia last month. This is the fourth time she had won the tournament.
The Chief Minister gave Rs. 1.20 crore incentive to four other sportspersons, C. Ajith Kumar, R. Naveen, L. Samayasri, and S. Priyadarshini who had won medals in different events at the World School Athletics Championship in Turkey in July.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Special Correspondent / Chennai – August 08th, 2016
Desikachar practicing yoga, while his teacher and fatehr T. Krishnamacharya looks on.
T.K.V Desikachar, son of Indian yoga master T.Krishnamacharya , passed away in Chennai on Monday. He was 78. TKV Desikachar is the son and student of T. Krishnamacharya, popularly known as “the father of modern yoga.”
The Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram trust in Chennai was founded in 1976 by Desikachar as an ode to his father’s teachings.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Internet Desk / Chennai – August 08th, 2016
A bicycle café, active clubs and more than 100 super randonneurs. The author explores Chennai’s vibrant cycling culture
As a culture that now celebrates all things quantifiable — a fitbit to track your steps, an app to count how far you’ve run — fitness is at the epicentre of our tech-focussed lives. From the calories you’ve consumed to the weights you’re lifting, there’s a number that makes it all worthwhile. If you didn’t Instagram a screenshot of your Runtastic app, have you even really worked out?
You’d assume then that this cycling fad that seems to be sweeping the city is just that — a fitness phase. Is cycling the new running? The new boot camp? Surprisingly enough, for all the avid bikers we spoke to, fitness came at the very end of their list of priorities. Whether it’s waking up at 5 a.m. to cycle, or spending the weekend on long rides, many of them may have started cycling to get fit, but they all agree it is way more than exercise that they are out to get now.
Creating culture
“Please don’t call it a themed restaurant,” Ashish Thadani clarifies at the very beginning of our conversation. Too many people have misunderstood what Ciclo (pronounced chee-klo), India’s first bicycle cafe, is attempting to do, and Ashish is eager to explain. As someone who cycles every day, Ashish admits that Ciclo was not conceived as a revenue spinner, but is more passion than business, as he’s excited to promote a lifestyle that he has grown to love. The cafe is a place where Ashish is hoping to build a common platform for the various cycling clubs in Chennai — there’s an entire wall where the jerseys of six reputed clubs are framed and proudly displayed.
The team jerseys displayed at Ciclo Cafe. / Photo: M. Vedhan / The Hindu
The cafe’s other speciality is the cleaning and repair services it offers bikers, who can have a snack while getting their rides fixed. And it’s not just pro-bikers — the cafe offers all customers a chance to rent cycles at the nominal rate of Rs. 200 a day to try their hand at cycling. With other Ciclos set to open in Gurgaon and Hyderabad, this time with shower and locker facilities, Ashish is hoping the bicycle cafe culture catches on all over.
Suresh Kumar likes to believe he called the cycling craze way back in 2006. Having grown up watching his father run Balaji Cycles, a 100-sq-foot shop, which launched in 1975, Suresh and his brother expanded the business. In 2012, they opened Pro-Bikers, one of the first high-end stores to sell professional bikes in Chennai. From five bikes a month to about a 100 now, Suresh says sales have peaked in the last four years, which is also why he set up a tech workshop with mechanics trained in Taiwan to service these high-end bikes. Suresh is also one of the founders of the Tamil Nadu Cycling Club (TCC), which began in 2010. They organise about 40 events a year, like endurance races, timed trials and workshops, where all the cycling clubs in the city participate. According to Suresh’s estimate, the cycling community in Chennai is about 10,000 people strong, and growing.
“When I started Chennai’s first biking club in 2009,” says Suhail Ahmed, “there were just 10 of us riding on the ECR.” Called ReaXion Cycling back then, their most popular event used to be a ride from Chennai to Mahabalipuram and back. This casual club soon grew to become an information portal called choosemybike.com that helped people find information about bikes in the market. Suhail now works for TI Cycles, where, he admits, he doesn’t get enough time to ride.
Another big draw for cycling is that, like running, this too is a social experience. It is easier to stay motivated when you’re in a group, and while you may start off concerned about fitness, what you’ll get hooked to is the company. Just ask Divagaran Thiagarajan, who started WCCG (We are Chennai Cycling Group) in 2012, as a neighbourhood cycling group. Today, WCCG has different chapters in different areas in the city, where people in the same neighbourhood ride together. Unlike a racing group or randonneurs, WCCG focusses on getting people together and creating themed rides to keep the regulars excited.
For the love of the race
For Aarthi Srinath, the party starts at 5 a.m. All days, except Mondays, you’ll find her at Madhya Kailash at the crack of dawn, geared up and waiting for her team — the MadRascals — Tamil Nadu’s first amateur cycle racing team. They ride for an hour and a half every day and three hours on weekends. Being the only woman on the team doesn’t deter her. “When people ask me why I do it, I tell them cycling is more than an activity — it’s a lifestyle choice,” says Aarthi. It’s a tough choice, considering the commitment one needs to keep up with the team. While there is only one winner at the end of the race, cycle racing is a team effort. There are positions like sprinter (who keeps up the speed), the climber (who takes care of the elevated bits) and even domestic (teammates who get in formation to protect the finishers from wind resistance). “When you’re in a team, you need to trust each other because often, when you’re riding at high speeds, all you can see of each other are the wheels,” she adds. The rest is intuition.
There’s also a need to be entirely self-sufficient when riding long distances. “You need to learn to fix a flat tyre, a fallen chain — when you’re riding alone, you’ve got to help yourself,” explains Aarthi.
On the fitness front, cycling is a great idea, since you tend to burn close to 850-900 calories on a 50-60 km ride. Also, it’s low-impact with no stress on the knees. For Aarthi though, it’s much more than fitness. It’s the love of the race and the adrenalin rush that keeps her — and many like her — going.
It’s the journey that matters
To win the title of Super Randonneur, as defined by the Audax Club Parisien, Partha Datta had to complete a series of brevets (rides that were 200, 300, 400, and 600 km long, in a fixed time limit) in one single year. He has won that title a number of times — and so have more than 100 others from Chennai as of last year, according to Partha. If cycle racing is a test of speed, then randonneuring is the ultimate test of endurance.
A fixed route, control points at regular intervals and a time limit is all you get when you attempt this sport; you need to have the discipline, stamina and time management to make it to the end point in time. With a minimum of 200 km, and a maximum of 1,000 km (in Chennai) brevets, this is no joyride, and yet more than 153 people completed the ECR Classic brevet held by the Madras Randonneurs on June 28.
What kept Partha going when he started off in 2011, is the fact that every ride he organised and took part in, was making history for randonneuring in India. Then, of course, there was that amazing feeling of completing each brevet. He recalls one brevet where it rained for eight hours straight and he even had to deal with a puncture, but managed to make it in time. Of course, there’s also the fact that he enjoys riding. “I enjoy explaining the concept of randonneuring to the strangers I meet on the road, and they never fail to ask me why I don’t just buy a motorbike,” he laughs.
At 65, Sundar Rajan holds the title of Grand Super Randonneur with great pride — but congratulate him on it, and he’s quick to tell you that it isn’t amazing, and anyone can do it. After a childhood of cycling every day to school and college, Sundar says he got back to it only in 2008, when he moved back to Chennai and decided to adopt a healthier lifestyle. Regular cycling soon became a habit, and he was looking for a challenge when randonneuring came into the picture in 2011. “I am not a speed guy. I can’t race, but I can manage long distances thanks to my stamina.”
“The best part is that randonneuring demands nothing extraordinary of you — if you put your mind to it, and focus, it’s easily done,” explains Sundar, whose daily routine is now cycling to Mahabalipuram and back in five hours every evening.
The book cover of Cycling in Madras. / Illustration By Akshayaa Selvaraj
A century of cycling
Probably the only city to have documented its connection with cycling over a period of 100 years, Chennai seems to have started its affair with the two-wheel ride right after it was invented.
The effort of a cycling club that calls themselves Cycling Yogis, led by Ramanujar Moulana, Cycling in Madras — from 1877 to 1977 documents every possible connection between cycles and the city. “I was always inquisitive about how the cycle, invented in far off Western countries, came to Chennai, and how it ended up in this form,” says Ramanujar. For him, the booklet symbolises the culmination of his two loves — history and cycling. In fact, the Cycling Yogis came together mainly out of Ramanujar’s love for sharing Chennai’s history as he rode along with friends.
Filled with little gems like the fact that the first bicycle in India was assembled in Madras, the booklet is the Yogis’ way of documenting how the city embraced the humble bicycle.
From indispensible when invented, to relegated to secondary status around the time motorbikes were invented, and now, back in vogue again, the bicycle seems to have come a full circle (pun intended) in Chennai.
Popular cycling clubs in Chennai
ReaXion Cycling – Chennai’s first cycle club, started in 2009
Madras Randonneurs – Pioneers of randonneuring in Chennai
MadRascals – Chennai’s only amateur cycle racing team
WCCG – Chennai’s neighbourhood-based cycling group with five chapters
Cycling Yogis – They enjoy cycling to heritage sites and historic locations
G3 – Chennai’s first all-woman cycling club
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> Metroplus / by Elizabeth Mathew / Chennai – August 05th, 2016
Dharun Ayyasamy (19) from Tirupur district who qualified for Rio Olympics.
Dharun lost his father 11 years ago, and has been supported in his sporting endeavours by his mother K. Poongodi, a teacher.
The first lap of this race was difficult, but the track is clear now for Dharun Ayyasamy, a 19-year old lad from a village near Avinashi.
He has qualified for the Rio Olympics to represent India in the 4 X 400 metres relay, and what is more, has found sponsors. But he has had to fight many odds to get here.
Dharun lost his father 11 years ago, and has been supported in his sporting endeavours by his mother K. Poongodi, a teacher in a private school in Kaniyampoondi here.
“Only after Dharun got silver medals in the junior South Asian Federation games in Jharkand a few years ago, did financial support start coming. Till he started winning medals, only my brother Boopathy, my sister Mohana and her husband Sivakumar were extending financial support”, Ms. Poongodi told The Hindu . She fondly recalls the contributions of Sakthi Kumar and J. Alagesan, the school coaches who tutored him on the nuances of athletics, especially running and hurdles.
College gives stipend
A monthly stipend of Rs. 15,000 given by Alva’s College of Arts at Moodabidri in Karnataka, where Dharun is a student of BA (Human Resources) has provided relief, helping the family meet sundry expenses incurred to participate in sports events.
The Olympic qualification has brought in the Union Government, which is taking care of all training costs.
Financial help from private bodies and individuals too has come after the Olympics entry and the media attention that followed. The Tirupur Exporters Association, Rotary Club in Avinashi and some personal contributors have extended financial support to the family.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Tamil Nadu / R. Vimal Kumar / Tirupur – July 23rd, 2016
