Wrestling Association releases calendar for 2011-12

by sportswire4u.blogspot.com (Balbir)

CHANDIGARH, MAY 1

The Chandigarh Wrestling Association will have a busy schedule in May. Besides conducting the sub-junior and junior state championships, the CWA will also organise coaching camps to prepare the Chandigarh wrestlers for Sub-Junior and Junior National Championship this month.

Releasing the calendar for 2011-12, association general secretary Darshan Lal said that the Chandigarh Sub Junior and Junior Boys and Girls  Freestyle and Greeco Roman Style Wrestling Championshipon May 14 and 15.

A 15-day  coaching camp for participation of the state team in the Sub Junior National Wrestling Championship will be held from May 20. The Sub-Junior Nationals will be heldin Kanyakumari. The association will also host a 15-day coaching camp in May for participating of the state team in the Junior Nationals to be held in Jammu and Kashmir.

The CWA will give away cash awards at the annual prize distribution functiion on the occasion of Independence on August 15.

The following is the calendar for 2011-12:

1 Sub-Junior Boys & Girls State Free Style & Greeco Roman Style

Wrestling Championship on May 14.

2 A 15-day coaching camp from May 20 for participating in the Junior National

Wrestling Championship in Kanyakumari.

3 Junior Boys & Girls State Free Style & Greeco Roman Style

Wrestling Championship on May 15.

4 A 15-day coaching camp for participating in the Junior National

Wrestling Championship in  May.

5 Annual Cash Prize Function on the occasion of Independence Day on  August 15.

6 Rural competitions near Chandigarh on the occasion of Guga Madi

Festival in September and October.

7 Dr. M.S. Chopra and Shri P.L. Paul Memorial Wrestling Tournament

in November.

8 Sr. State Wrestling Championship in December.

9 Coaching camp for the participation of teams in the Sr. National

Wrestling Championship in the last week of December.

10 Annual cash prize tournament on the occasion of  Republic Day on  January 26,

2012.

11 Coaching camp to prepare the Chandigarh team for K.D. Yadav

Federation Cup in January, 2012.

Viva Kerala earn a lifeline

by sportswire4u.blogspot.com (Balbir) 

GURGAON, APRIL 30
There were some flashes of brilliance but it wasn’t enough to see Indian Arrows through against Viva Kerala in the I-League match at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium in Gurgaon on Saturday.
Viva Kerala rode on Felix Chimakwou’s 19th minute strike to receive a lifeline in the marathon League. The significance of the strike takes them to 25 points from 24 matches and it may well turn out to be the difference between relegation and survival.
The Arrows stay on 23 points from 23 matches.
Felix beat the off-side trap as he followed an Anil Kumar cross from the left, sneaked in between Arrows’ skipper Raju Gaikwad and Deepak Devrani and placed it past a diving Arrows’ custodian Jagroop Singh.
The Arrows, missing four of their first-line players had not much to boast about in the first half except a Bikramjeet Singh long-ranger in the dying minutes of the first half.
Desmond Bulpin, the Indian Arrows coach said: “We didn’t compete in the first half at all. Off-course it is hard when half of your side is either injured or sick. But I can’t make excuses.”
However, the U-21 boys came back strongly in the second half. With Lalrindika controlling the proceedings from the midfield, Arrows almost scored twice but it was cleared from the goal line on both occasions.
The boys never hesitated in testing the Viva Kerala custodian K Sharath from long. And twice, Sharath had to stretch full to palm away Manandeep and Lanrindika’s raspers.
Arrows had their best chance in the 89th minute when Malsawmfela failed to head it in with Sabeeth hopelessly out of position.
Desmond Bulpin, the Indian Arrows coach wasn’t willing to read much into the defeat. “We had our chances but couldn’t convert them. It cost us dear.” This incidentally, is Indian Arrows’ second defeat at home, having earlier lost to Churchill Brothers.
His rival compatriot, a relieved Viva Kerala coach Unnikrishnan was delighted with the three points. “We badly needed to win. And the boys rose to the occasion. I feel we are safe now.”
Viva defender Bello Rassaq was declared the Man of the Match.
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Arvinderpreet beats Sumit to maintain lead

by sportswire4u.blog.spot.com (Balbir)
CHANDIGARH, APRIL 30
Arvinderpreet Singh of Punjab, with 7 points to his credit, has streched his lead to one point from his nearest rival Kantilal Dave of Rajasthan and Pardeep Arora of Punjab with 6 points each in the 1st Chandigarh below 2200 All India Open Fide Rating Chess Tournamentat St. Xavier’s Senior Secondary School in Sector 44-C, here today.
They are closely followed by Sumit Grover of J & K , Vikas Sharma of Punjab, Ritwan Sauntra of J & K and Intkhab Alam of Punjab with 5.5 points each.
Arvinderpreet Singh defeated  Sumit Grower  of Jammu and Kashmir to maintain his lead at the end of seventh round.Kantilal Dave got the better of Gautam  (5 pts) of Haryana.
Points position after 7th round: 7 pts: Singh Arvinder Preet (Pun), 6 pts: Dave Kantilal (Raj), Pardeep Arora (Pun). 5.5 pts: Sumit Grover (J & K), Intkhab Alam (Pun), Ritwan Sauntra (J & K), Vikas Sharma (Pun). 5 pts: Atul Kumar (J & K), Ajay Virwani (MP), Yogesh Gautam (Har), Swati Mohota (WB), Amit Sharma (Pun), Anil Tiwari (Har), Harinder Pal Singh (Chd), Pardeep Singh Negi (Chd), Vipan Negi (Chd), Ishaan Bansal (Pun), Nitin (Chd). 4.5 pts: Tarun Sharma (Raj), Saxena Arpit (Raj), Goyal Arunima (Chd), Singh Gursher (Pun), Trinav Rattan (Har), Baij Nath Prasad (Chd), Anubhav Tuknayat (Chd), Nagpal Tejas (Chd), Jatinder Kapoor (Del), Simranjeet Kaur (Chd), Akshay Anand (Pun), Sunil Bansal (Chd), Gupta Aakarshan (Pun), Bir Singh Raminder (Pun).
4 pts: Imanjot Singh Deol (Pun), Kishan Chand (HP), Tarini Goyal (Chd), Bhanot Stuti (Har), Kritik Satija (Har), Aditya Prakash Arora (Har), Anil Raina (Chd), Amanpreet (Pun), Kartik Singh (UP), Shamim Ahmad (UP), Nivedan Bhardwaj (Chd), Dilbagh Singh (Pun), Singh Jeet (Pun), Rupesh Kumar (Del), Nishant Srivastava (UP), Jatinder Singh (Chd).
3.5 pts: Anirudh Trehan (Chd), Vipan Kumar (HP),Sachleen Singh (Chd),  Deepansh Rawal (Har), Paawan Jain (Pun), Manjeet Poonia (Har), Deepak (Pun), Manmohan Singh (Chd), Jaskeerat Singh (Chd), Nitin Tyagi (Del), Ashish Sehgal (Har), Manas Jain (Raj), Ranjan Bhattacharya (UP), Pramod Kumar Sharma (UP), Bikramjit Singh (Pun), Shubham Shukla (Pun), Ashok Kumar Shukla (UP). 3 pts:  Rajender Singh (UP), Shweta (Chd), Manish Bhanot (Har), Bhavya Shivnani (Raj), Mangal Prasad (UP),Tarun Shahi (Pun), N S Guleria (HP), Lakshay Bhatia (Chd), Shivinder Chib (J-K), Sahil Gupta (Pun), Kuljeet Singh Khurana (Pun), Aryan (Pun), Archit Thakur (UP), Akhil Mehra (Pun), Shivika Jain (Chd), Vikas (Har), Anindya Trehan (Chd), R D Sharma (Pun), Vidya Sagar Gupta (Pun), Vaibhava Varma (Chd), Rishab Jain (Chd), Dhanwinder Singh Jus (Chd), Amartya Bhattacharya (Chd).
2,5 pts: Ayush Bhai Mehta (MP), Singh Sewa (Pun), Jashan Khurana (Chd), Yogesh Babu (UP), Aditya Partap Singh (Pun), Sarthak Gupta (Pun). 2 pts: Devendera Maurya (Chd), Ankush Lamba (Har), Vohra Abhinandan (Chd), Rakesh Kochar (Chd), Charanjeet Singh (Pun), Trilok Mehta (MP), Virinder Chib  (J & K), Manish Mandal (Chd), Lovish Khera (Pun), Ishaan Singh (Chd), Harman Dang (Pun), Pranav Verma (Chd), Kritika Kapila (Chd), Arushi Kotwal (J & K), Arshjot Kaur (Chd), Anurag Gupta (Chd). 1.5 pts: Karan Pal (Chd), Rohit Narang (Pun). 1 pt:  Kritvir Singh (Del), Mohammad Aijaz Farooqui (Pun), Anandita Singh (Chd), Supreet Singh (Chd), Abhiroop Kaul (Chd), Ankit Sharma (Chd).

Mumbai FC stun Salgaocar; Chirag held

 by sportswire4u.blogspot.com (Balbir)

MARGAON, APRIL 28

League leaders Salgaocar SC suffered a major jolt in their I-League campaign when Mumbai FC defeated them 3-2 to split open the title race at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Margaon on Friday.

Keegan Pereira scored the first for Mumbai FC in the 17^th minute while Noel Wilson doubled the lead in the 32^nd minute. Yusif Yakubu pulled one back for Salgaocar in the 64^th minute only for Nicolas Rodrigues to make it 3-1 five minutes later. Substitute Milagres Gonsalves reduced the margin for the Goan team in the 87^th minute.

The defeat puts Salgaocar on 46 points from 22 matches with East Bengal and Dempo SC breathing down their neck at 44 points from 21 matches each. Mumbai FC now stay at the 5^th spot with 32 points from 22 matches.

Mumbai FC surged ahead with a beauty of a goal as early as the 17^th minute. Keegan Pereira’s left-footer from over 25-yards beat a diving Karanjit Singh and went in.

The second goal came from a solo effort. Noel Wilson was quick to spot Karanjit out of position and lobbed it over to make it two-nil.

Changing over, Salgaocar looked a transformed side. Their barrage of attacks, eventually paid dividends when Yakubu headed in a Milagres Gonsalves cross in the 64^th minute.

Mumbai made it 3-1 in the 69^th. This time, Nicholas Rodrigues dribbled past a couple of defenders and his snap shot proved too good for Karanjit.

Finding no other alternative, Salgaocar went all out in the attack and managed to reduce the margin in the 87th minute when an unmarked Milagres Gonsalves tapped it in. But it came a bit too late.

Referee Dinesh Nair flashed the yellow card to Salgaocar’s Yusuf Yakubu, Ryuji Sueoka and Mumbai FC’s Goutam Debnath and Ebi Sukore.

ONGC rally to hold Chirag: Elsewhere, a brace each from Sunil Chhetri and N D Opara saw ONGC rally from behind to hold Chirag United to a 2-2 draw at the Sahu Maharaj ground in Kohlapur.

Sunil Chhetri put Chirag in the lead in the 41^st minute. Changing over, ONGC restored parity through N D Opara when he converted from the spot in the 50^th minute. In the 76^th minute Chhetri struck again for Chirag and when it seemed all was over for ONGC, Opara equalised in the injury time.

Chirag now stay at the eighth spot on 27 points from 23 matches while ONGC stay in relegation zone – in the 11^th spot with 22 from 24 matches.

Arvinder jumps into sole lead in chess

by sportswire4u.blogspot.com (Balbir)
CHANDIGARH, APRIL 28
Arvinder Preet Singh of Punjab jumped into the sole lead with five points after defeating Tarun Sharma of Rajasthan in the 5th round of the 1st Chandigarh below 2200 All India Open Fide Rating Chess Tournament at St. Xavier’s Senior Secondary School in Sector 44-C here today.
Arvinder is closely followed by Ajay Virwani of Madhya Pradesh, Sumit Grover of J & K and Intkhab Alam of Punjab with 4.5 points apiece.
 Positions after fifth round: 5 points: Arvinder Preet Singh (Punjab).
5 points:  Dave Kantilal  (Raj), Singh Arvinder Preet  (Pun),
4.5 pts: Ajay Virwani (MP),  Sumit Grover  (J & K),  Intikhab Alam (Punjab),
4 pts: Yogesh Gautam  (Har), Vikas Sharma (Pun), Dave Kantilal (Raj), Pardeep Arora (Pun), Saxena Aprit (Raj), Ritwan Sauntra (J&K), Atul Kumar (J-K), Kishan Chand (HP), Pardeep Singh Negi (Chd), Tarini Goyal (Chd), Imanjot Singh Deol (Pun).
 3.5 pts: Anirud Trehan (Chd),  Jatinder Kapoor (Delhi), Swatri Mohota (WB), Jaskeerat Singh (Del), Amit Sharma (Pun), Gursher Singh (Pun), Aakarshan Gupta (Pun), Arunima (Chd), Simranjeet Kaur (Chd), Vipan Kumar (HP).
3 pts: Anil Raina (Chd), Sunil Bansal (Chd), Deepansh Rawal (Har), Sachleen Singh (Chd), Anubhav Tuknayat (Chd), Harinder Pal Singh (Chd), Akshay Anand Pun), Anil Tiwari (Har), Kritik Satija (Har), Mangal Prasad (UP), Vipan Negi (Chd) Ishaan Bansal (Pun).
2.5 pts: Jaskeerat Singh (Chd), Rajender Singh (UP),  Shivinder Chib (J-K), Manjeet Poonia (Har), Tarun Shahi (Pun), Ashok Kumar Shukla (UP), Aditya Prakash Arora (Har), Baij Nath Prasad (Chd), Nagpal Tejas (Chd), Manmohan Singh (Chd), Ranjan Bhattacharya (UP,Ashish Sehgal (Har), Deepak (Pun),
2 pts: Ayush Bhai Mehta (MP), Jashan Khurana (Chd), Dilbagh Singh (Pun), Manish Bhanot (Har), Pramod Kumar Sharma (UP), Anindya Trehan (Chd), Shubham Shukla (Pun), Trilok Mehta (MP), Sewa Singh (Pun), Shivika Jain (Chd), Sahil Gupta (Pun), Rishab Jain (Chd) Manas Jain (Raj), Archit Thakur (UP), Nivedan Bhardwaj (Chd), Nitin Tyagi (Del), Ankush Lamba (Har),  Shweta (Chd), RD Sharma (Pun),  Devendera Maurya (Chd), Bhavya Shivnani (Raj),  Rakesh Kochar (Chd),  Bhavya Shivani.
1.5 pts: Rohit Narang (Pun), Aditya Pratap Singh (Pun), Manish Mandal (Chd), Virinder Chib (J-K), Yogesh Babu (UP), Vikash (Haryana), Vidya Sagar Gupta (Pun), Lakshay Bhatia (Chd), Anurag Gupta (Chd),   Ishaan Singh (Chd), Kritika Kapila (Chd),  Tarun Sharma  (Raj), Imanjot Singh Deol  (Pun),  Pardeep Singh Negi (Chd), 


2 pts:  Jatinder Kapoor  (Del), Saxena Arpit (Raj), Goyal Arunima (Chd),  Sachleen Singh  (Chd),  Vohra Abhinandan  (Chd),  Bir Singh Raminder (Pun), Pawan Jain  (Pun),  Baij Nath Prasad (Chd),  Shweta (Chd),  Anubhav Tuknayat (Chd),  Ankush Lamba  (Har),  Ashok Kumar Shukla (UP),  Ishaan Bansal (Pun),   Shivinder Chib ( J & K),   Akshay Anand (Pun),  Ritwan Sauntra (J & K),  Tarini Goyal  (Chd), Manjeet Poonia (Har), Jaskeerat Singh (Chd),  Tarun Shahi (Pun),  Rakesh Kochar  (Chd), Nagpal Tejas (Chd), Mangal Prasad (UP),  Rupesh Kumar (Del), Trilok Mehta (MP), Pardeep Arora  (Pun), Harinder Pal Singh (Chd), Aditya Prakash Arora (Har), Deepansh Rawal (Har), Kishan Chand  (HP) , Nishant Srivastava (UP),  Bhanot Stuti  (Har),  Dilbagh Singh (Pun), Sunil Bansal  (Chd).              
 1.5 pts: Nitin (Chd),  Simranjeet Kaur (Chd),  Ranjan Bhattacharya (UP),  Anil Raina  (Chd),  Vipan Kumar  (HP),  Bhavya Shivnani (Raj),  Manish Bhanot (Har),  Gupta Aakarshan  (Pun),  Nivedan Bhardwaj (Chd),  Manmohan Singh (Chd),   Kartik Singh ( UP),  N S Guleria (HP).  
 1 pt: Aryan (Pun), Singh Sewa (Pun),  Anindya Trehan (Chd),   Kuljeet Singh (Pun),  
  Shamim Ahmad (UP),  Singh Jeet (Pun),  Ayush Bhai Mehta (MP),  Bikramjit Singh (Pun),  Jashan Khurana (Chd),  Trinav Rattan  (Har).  

Indian challenge ends in India Open Series

 by sportswire4u.blogspot.com (Balbir)
NEW DELHI, APRIL 29
India’s campaign in the Yonex Sunrise India Open Series ended on Friday with Gurusai Datt and Sourav
Verma losing out of their respective quarter final matches. The shock of the day at Siri Fort Indoor
Stadium was the ouster of Former World and Olympic Champion Taufik Hidayat who lost his quarter
final match to world No. 12 Sung Hwan Park. Apart from Taufik’s ouster no other major upset took
place on Friday.
RMV Gurusai Datt was the first of the two Indians to go down this afternoon. Playing against the 8th seed
of the tournament Yun Hu, the Indian youngster went down 21-10, 21-16. Guru did well do reach the
quarter final in his first ever super series defeating one of the tournaments favorite B.Ponsana in the pre
quarter final round. Yun Hu on the other hand had been seeded 8 in the tournament and did not face much
trouble ending Gurusai’s campaign in just 35 minutes.
Sourabh Verma who was up against the formidable World No. 1 of Malaysia, Chong Wei Lee went down
in 25 minutes. Lee dominated the match right from the start and did not give much chance to the Indian
youngster defeating him a straight set 21-7, 21-8. Saurabh was one of the only two Indian players who
reach the quarter final, playing his way up from the qualification round.
However, the shock off the day came in the third match at court No. 1 when the tournaments men’s single
No. 2 seed Taufik Hidayat lost his match against Sung Hwan Park of Korea. The Korean defeated the 29
year old Indonesian in a straight set with the scoreboard reading 21-17, 21-17. Park finally manages to
beat Taufik in their 11th face off after losing in all the 10 matches they have played earlier.
Apart from these all the result came out as per expectation without any other major upset. In men’s single
Peter Gade defeated Takuma Ueda 23-21, 21-10 while Yun Hu defeated Gurusai Datt. Chong Wei Lee
and Sung Hwan Park are the other semi finalist in the Men’s Single.
In women's singles, Japan’s Sayaka Sato continue her good run defeating Jiayuan Chen of Singapore 18-
21, 21-15, 21-15 while the No. 4 seed Pui Yin Yipof Hongkong upset Thailands Ithanon Ratchanok 21-
17, 21-15. The two other semi finalist in the women’s single are the No. 3 seed Youn Joo Bae of Korea
who defeated Jie Yao 21-13, 21-18 and Thailands Porntip Buranaprasertuk who defeated Juan Gu of
Singapore 21-16, 23-21.
Meiliana Jauhari and Greysia Polii of Indonesia along with Mizuki Fujii and Raika Kakiiwa of Japan,
Lok Yan Poon and Ying Suet Tse of Hongkong and the No.1 seeded pair of Miyuki Maeda and Satoko
Suetsuna are the semi finalist in the Women’s double.
In men’s doubles the No. 1 seed pair of Kien Keat Koo and Boon Heong Tan of Malaysia emerged into the semi final along with Angga Pratama and Ryan Agung Saputra of Indonesia. The two other Semi Finalist are the Indonesian pair of Alvent Yulianto Chandra and Hendra Aprida Gunawan and the Japanese pair Hirokatsu Hashimoto and Noriyasu Hirata.
In mix doubles Peng Soon Chan and Liu Ying Goh of Malaysia were the first to make a semi final entry
followed by the three Indonesians pairs of Muhammad Rijal-Debby Susanto, Tantowi Ahmad-Liliyana
Natsir and Fran Kurniawan and Pia Zebadiah Bernadeth.

Nine share lead after third round in Fide rated chess

by sportswire4u.blogspot.com (Balbir)

CHANDIGARH, APRIL 28

Vikas Sharma (Punjab), Yogesh Gautam (Haryana), Sumit Grover (J& K), Kantilal Dave (Rajasthan), Pradeep Singh Negi (Chandigarh), Ajay Virwani (MP), ,Imanjot Deol (Punjab), Arvinderpreet Singh (Punjab) and Tarun Sharma (Rajasthan) were sharing the lead  with three points apiece at the end of third round in the 1^st Chandigarh below 2200 All India Open Fide Rating Chess Tournament at St. Xavier’s Senior Secondary School, Sector 44-C, Chandigarh.

 On the top board top seed Vikas Sharma of Punjab won his game comfortably in round 3 against Arpit Saxena of Rajasthan. On the second board Kantilal Dave won his game against Baijnath Prasad of Chandigarh in 28 moves and in the third board Ajay Virwani of MP won his tough game against Rakesh Kochar of Chandigarh in 45 moves.

Points position at the end of the third round: 3 points:  Dave Kantilal  (Raj), Singh Arvinder Preet  (Pun),  Yogesh Gautam  (Har),  Sumit Grover  (J & K),  Tarun Sharma  (Raj), Imanjot Singh Deol  (Pun),  Ajay Virwani (MP), Pardeep Singh Negi (Chd),  Vikas Sharma (Pun).         

 2.5 pts: Intkhab Alam (Pun),  Atul Kumar (J & K), Swati Mohota (Kolkata), Kritik Satija  (Har),  Amit Sharma (Pun),  Singh Gursher (Pun),  Anirudh Trehan (Chd),   Anil Tiwari (Har),  Vipan Negi (Chd).

2 pts:  Jatinder Kapoor  (Del), Saxena Arpit (Raj), Goyal Arunima (Chd),  Sachleen Singh  (Chd),  Vohra Abhinandan  (Chd),  Bir Singh Raminder (Pun), Pawan Jain  (Pun),          

   Baij Nath Prasad (Chd),  Shweta (Chd),  Anubhav Tuknayat (Chd),  Ankush Lamba  (Har),  Ashok Kumar Shukla (UP),  Ishaan Bansal (Pun),   Shivinder Chib ( J & K),   Akshay Anand (Pun),  Ritwan Sauntra (J & K),  Tarini Goyal  (Chd), Manjeet Poonia (Har), Jaskeerat Singh (Chd),  Tarun Shahi (Pun),  Rakesh Kochar  (Chd), Nagpal Tejas (Chd), Mangal Prasad (UP),  Rupesh Kumar (Del), Trilok Mehta (MP), Pardeep Arora  (Pun), Harinder Pal Singh (Chd), Aditya Prakash Arora (Har), Deepansh Rawal (Har), Kishan Chand  (HP) , Nishant Srivastava (UP),  Bhanot Stuti  (Har),  Dilbagh Singh (Pun), Sunil Bansal  (Chd).               

 1.5 pts: Nitin (Chd),  Simranjeet Kaur (Chd),  Ranjan Bhattacharya (UP),  Anil Raina  (Chd),  Vipan Kumar  (HP),  Bhavya Shivnani (Raj),  Manish Bhanot (Har),   Gupta Aakarshan  (Pun),  Nivedan Bhardwaj (Chd),  Manmohan Singh (Chd),   Kartik Singh ( UP),  N S Guleria (HP).          

 1 pt: Aryan (Pun), Singh Sewa (Pun),  Anindya Trehan (Chd),   Kuljeet Singh (Pun),  Shamim Ahmad (UP),  Singh Jeet (Pun),  Ayush Bhai Mehta (MP),  Bikramjit Singh (Pun),  Jashan Khurana (Chd),  Trinav Rattan  (Har).  

Gurusai Datt and Saurabh Verma hold spotlight

 by sportswire4.blogspot.com (Balbir)
CHANDIGARH, APRIL 28
India on Thurday at the Siri Fort indoor complex found two new heroes in the name of Gurusai Datt and Saurabh Verma. Defeating higher rank opponents, they both have qualified for the quarter finals of the men’s singles event in the Yonex Sunrise India Open Super Series. They are the only two Indians left in the competition, carrying the hope of millions after Jwala-Aswini followed Saina.
After a disappointing Wednesday which saw large number of Indian badminton players losing their first round
matches including the No. 1 seed Saina Nehwal, the Indian contingent once again failed on Thursday. Even the women’s double pair of Jwala and Ashwini on whom the whole nation was banking went down along with 6 other Indian Badminton players.
However the Indian men’s singles today showed their grit and determination, winning matches against some higher opponents. Saurabh Verma and Gurusai Datt won their respective matches to proceed into the quarter-final of the event while P. Kashyap went down fighting against World No. 3 Taufik Hidayat.
Leading the Indian winning contingent today was Saurabh Verma who defeated the tournament’s 7th seed Kenichi
Tago 21-19, 18-21, 21-11 in a hard fought battle. Reaching the quarter-finals, making his way up from the
qualifications round, Saurabh in the process defeated qualification round No. 1 seed Chun Seang Tan followed by fellow compatriot Nigel Dsa. In the first round on Wednesday, the 20-year-old defeated the World No. 37 in straight sets. Saurabh will be up against World No.1 Chong Wei Lee who defeated Hyun Il Lee today.
Gurusai Datt, another Indian player who also played up through the qualifying round had a tough match today
and eventually manages a win in the third set against Yuhan Tan of Belgium with a score of 21-13 14-21 21-13.
Gurusai yesterday defeated the No.4 seed B.Ponsana and is having a good chance to make his way even to the semi-final as he will be up against the 8th seed Yun Hu of Hongkong.P. Kashyap was up against the formidable world No. 3, Taufik Hidayat. Kashyap however went down fighting to the Indonesian 21-17 21-19. The mix double pair of Akshay Dewalkar and Pradnya Gadre were the first to go down
today morning to the 5th seed Peng Soon Chan and Liu Ying Goh of Malaysia. The Malaysian duo faced a tough fight from the unseeded Indians and finally managed to wrap up the match in the 48 minute with a score of 21-18 22-24 21-12.
The disappointment grew in the second session when the women’s double pair Jwala-Ashwini went down to the former world No. 1 Malaysian pair Eei Hui Chin and Pei Tty Wong 22-20 21-18. This was the fourth time the Indian pair faced them and unfortunately on all the four occasions they landed up on the wrong side of the result.
With this lost, only Sourav Verma and Gurusai Datt remains in the competition. The less known women pair of India Pradnya Gadre and Jyotshna Polavarapu also went down fighting to the No. 1 seed Miyuki Maeda and Satoko Suetsuna 21-8 21-16.
The other Indian players who went down today are Pranav Chopra-Prajakta Sawant in mix doubles. They lost to the Indonesians pair of Muhammad Rijal and Debby Susanto 21-11 19-21 21-13. In men’s doubles Attri Manu and Jishnu Sanyal lost to another Malaysian pairs Kien Keat Koo and Boon Heong Tan 21-9 21-14 while the seeded pair Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas lost to Indonesia’s Yohanes Rendy Sugiarto and Afiat Yuris Wirawan in a straight set with the scoreline reading 21-19 21-12.

Riya and Riddhi win in contrasting styles

by sportswire4u.blogspot.com (Balbir)

AMBAL CITY, APRIL 28 
Sultan Singh of Punjab and Kartikey of Delhi set up title clash in the boys singles in the AITA Talent Tennis Series being held at the Ambala Lawn Tennis Academy courts in Ambala City today.
Sultan Singh ended the challenge of Abhinav Mahajan, also of Punjab 6-1, 6-2 and Kartikey  ousted  Rishab Sharda  of Chandigarh 6-3, 6-0 in the semi-final matches.
Riddhi of Delhi will cross swords with Riya of Uttar Pradesh in the final for the girls singles crown. They recorded victories in contrasting styles in the semi-final contests. Riddhi had a smooth sailing against Tanya of Chandigarh whom she beat in straight sets 6-1, 6-2. However, Riya struggled to prevail over a never-say-die Aarushi of Chandigarh. The first set was extended to tie-breaker before Riya won at 7-6 (4). Aarushi then hit back by taking the second set by 6-4. Riya clinched the decider and the match by 6-4.
Results: Boys singles (semi-finals): Sultan Singh (Punjab)  bt  Abhinav Mahajan (Punjab) 6-1, 6-2,Kartikey (Delhi)  bt  Rishab Sharda (Chandigarh) 6-3, 6-0.
Girls singles (semi-finals):  Riddhi (Delhi) bt Tanya (Chandigarh) 6-1, 6-2, Riya (UP.) bt  Aarushi (Chandigarh) 7-6 (4),4-6, 6-4.
Boys doubles (semi-finals): Sultan/Kartikey bt Rishab/Atishay 6-3, 6-2, Kabir/Abhinav  bt  Viksit/Harpreet 6-0, 6-2.

21-member squad for Asian Wrestling

by sportswire4u.blogspot.com (Balbir)

CHANDIGARH, APRIL 28 

The Wrestling Federation of India has selected a 21-member team, including seven women, to participate in the Senior Asian Wrestling Championship being held at Tashkent (Uzbekistan) from May 19 to 22. The wrestlers were picked up by the WFI Selection Committee during selection trials at NIS, Patiala and STC, Sonepat on April 23 and 24, respectively.
The team (men): Freestyle: Rahul Aware (55 kg), Rajneesh (60 kg), .Parveen Rana (66 kg), Deepak (74 kg), Naresh Kumar (84 kg), Mausam Khatri (96 kg), Naveen Mor (120 kg).
Greco-Roman: Rajender Kumar (55 kg), Anil (60 kg), Sandeep Yadav (66 kg), Rajesh Kumar (74 kg), Mahipal Singh (84 kg), Amit Kumar (96 kg), Rishi Pal (120 kg).
Women (freestyle): Priyanka Singh (48 kg), Babita Kumari (51 kg), Geeta (55 kg), Alka Tomar (59 kg), Sakshi Malik (63 kg), Navjot Kaur (67 kg) and Gursharan Preet Kaur (72 kg).

Smooth sailing for seeds in Fide Rating Chess

by sportswire4u.blogspot.com (Balbir)
CHANDIGARH, APRIL 27
Most of the seeded players have won their first round games comfortably in the 1st Chandigarh below 2200 All India Open Fide Rating Chess Tournament being hosted by the Chandigarh Chess Academy at St. Xavier’s Senior Secondary School in Sector 44-C here today.
As many as 117 players, including 48 international ranked, are participating in the meet. Anurag Aggarwal, President of The Corporate Gurus, a school of business, was the chief guest at the opening ceremony.
Position after first round: 1 point: Vikas Sharma (Pun), Dave Kantilal  (Raj), Ajay Virwani (MP),  Ritwan Sauntra  (J & K),   Swati Mohota (Kolkata),  Singh Arvinder Preet (Pun), Sumit Grover  (J & K),  Yogesh Gautam (Har),  Jatinder Kapoor (Del), Atul Kumar  (J & K ),   Intkhab Alam (Pun),  Baij Nath Prasad (Chd),    Saxena Arpit (Raj),  Nitin (Chd), Tarun Sharma (Raj),  Anil Raina  (Chd),  Singh Gursher (Pun),  Bir Singh Raminder (State Bank of Patiala),  Anil Tiwari (Har),  Rakesh Kochar (Chd), Pardeep Singh Negi (Chd), Tarini Goyal (Chd), Shamim Ahmad  (UP), Goyal Arunima (Chd),  Imanjot Singh Deol (Pun),  Singh Sewa (Pun),  Trinav Rattan (Har),  Shweta (Chd),  Harinder Pal Singh (Chd),  Anubhav Tuknayat (Chd),  Manjeet Poonia  (Har),  Jaskeerat Singh  (Chd),  Sachleen Singh (Chd),  Nagpal Tejas (Chd),   Bhanot Stuti (Har), Shivika Jain (Chd),  Aditya P Arora (Har),  Akshay Anand   (Pun),  Amanpreet (Pun),  Anindya Trehan (Chd),   Anirudh Trehan (Chd),  Anurag Gupta (Chd),  Aryan (Pun),  Kuljeet Singh  (Pun),  Lakshay Bhatia (Chd),  Pawan Jain (Pun), Shivinder Chib (J & K),  Shubham Shukla (Pun), Tarun Shahi (Pun), Trilok Mehta   (MP),  Vipan Negi  (Chd).     
 .5 pt: Vohra Abhinandan (Chd),  Manmohan Singh (Chd), Gupta Aakarshan (Pun), Singh Jeet (Pun), Simranjeet Kaur (Chd), Ranjan Bhattacharya (UP),  Kritik Satija (Har),  Amartya Bhattacharya (Chd), Amit Sharma (Pun), Bikramjit Singh (Pun), Kartik Singh  (UP),   Kishan Chand (HP), Manish Bhanot (Har),  N S Guleria (HP), Nivedan Bharowaj (Chd),  Rajender Singh (UP), Vikash (Haryana),   Vipan Kumar (HP).   

Gulgul Singh to lead Ludhiana girls

 by sportswire4u.blogspot.com (Balbir)
CHANDIGARH, APRIL 27
Gulgul Singh will lead the Ludhiana district girls team in the 12th Youth Punjab Basketball Championship to be held at Abohar from April 28 to May 1.
Other members of the team are: Gagandeep Kaur, Sweta, Simarpeet Kaur (Doraha), Karanjeet Kaur, Navparkash Preet Kaur,
Pooja, Varinderdeep Kaur, Simarpreet Kaur (Dhakha), Gurpreet Kaur, Kirandeep Kaur, Inderpreet Kaur. Coach : Devinder Pal Singh. (Dhakha)
 Ludhiana boys team:  Lovneet Singh, Kushmeet Singh, Moneypal Singh, Arjun Parshad, Sameer Sen, Manmeet Singh, Jagdeep Singh Riar,  R. Bhardwaj, Akash, Arsadeep Singh, Gurpreet Singh, Dildar Singh. Coach: Dr. Subramanian.
Sixteen teams in the boys section and 13 in the girls category are taking part in the tournament. The teams have been divided into four groups and top team from each group will qualify for league phase.

Haryana athletics trials at Nidani on May 8

by sportswire4u.blogspot.com (Balbir)
CHANDIGARH, APRIL 26 
The eighth National Youth Athletics Championship will be held at Ranchi from May 27 to 29 and the National Senior Inter-State Championship will be conducted at Chennai from June 27 to 29.  The Haryana athletes will participate in these championships.
The Haryana State Athletic Association will hold selection trials at CBSM Sports School, Nidani (Jind) on May 8 for  boys and girls, according to association working secretary Raj Kumar Mittan. The selected players will represent Haryana in the National Youth Athletic Championship. 
 Mittan further informed that the selection of the Indian Youth Athletics team for 7th IAAF World Youth Championships will be held at Lille-Metropole (France) from July 6 to 10 will be held during the National Youth Athletics Championship. Interested athletes may contact  the concerned district secretaries. The athletes should bring original date of birth certificate issued from the Education Board (only certificate of 10th class is valid)/certificate issued from Municipal Committee/CMO. (The Open school certificate will not be entertained). Only athletes born between January 1994 to December 1995 are eligible to participate in the selection trails.
For registration, the athletes should contact  Jaswant Singh, athletics coach, CBSM, Sports  School Nidani at the athletics ground of CBSM Sports School, Nidani at 8 a m.

Bhaichung Bhutia in new role as a defender

If you knew Bhaichung Bhutia could play only as a striker, you are on the wrong track. Don’t raise your eyebrows if you see your idol playing as a defender; that too for United Sikkim in the final phase of the 2nd Division of the I-League.

As Sikkim United took the field against Sporting Clube de Goa in their first match of the final phase, the crowd was surprised to see Bhaichung taking position as a stopper-back. But the professional that he has been all throughout, Bhaichung adjusted fast and looked at ease as he kept the Sporting attacks at bay, much to the appreciation of the crowd.

“I’m comfortable in my new role – as a defender,” Bhaichung said. “I need to reach peak fitness at the earliest. And I didn’t do badly either. I was able to keep the two rival foreign strikers quiet,” Bhaichung boasted. Indeed he did during his 80-minute stay on the ground after which he was substituted.

Bhaichung paired with India International, N S  Manju in the heart of defence and the duo complimented each other very well. And words of praise flew in from Manju.

“It’s quite exciting to play with Bhaichung and mind you, he has a great sense of anticipation.” Manju said.

Even as the match ended one-all, United’s coach Stanley Rosario sounded happy over Bhaichung’s performance. “He needs to be applauded. After playing as a striker for more than 17 years in the top tier, the manner in which he played like a matured defender deserves praise.”

It may be recalled that Bhaichung had played as a withdrawal forward during his early days with East Bengal.

Principal Sangha elected president of PU Sports Committee

by sportswire4u.blogspot.com (Balbir)
CHANDIGARH, APRIL 26
Principal Dr. S.S. Sangha of Dashmesh Girls College of Education, Badal (Muktsar) has been elected present at the general body meeting of Panjab University Sports Committee held here.
Principal Dr.(Ms.) Meera Modi of Dev Samaj College for Women, Sector-45, Chandigarh and Ms. Parkash Kaur Grewal of SDP College for Women, Ludhiana were elected senior vice-president and vice-president, respectively.
 Other members of the executive committee elected were: Principal Dr. B.B. Sharma (DAV College,  Abohar), Principal Dr. Jasbir Singh (Guru Nanak College,  Moga), Principal Dr. Preet Mohinder Singh (BAM Kh. College, Garhshankar), Principal Dr. Gurdip Sharma (GGD SD College, Hariana, Hoshiarpur), Principal Dr. Jasvir Kaur (GTB Kh. College for Women, Dasuya), Principal Dr. Jatinder Kaur (Mata Ganga Kh. College for Girls, Kottan , Distt. Ludhiana),  Principal Dr. Khushwinder Kumar (BCM College of Education, Ludhiana), Dr. Sandeep Sawhney (Doraha College of Education, Doraha),  Principal Mrs. Narinder Kaur Sandhu ( Ramgarhia Girls College, Miller Ganj, Ludhiana), Principal Mrs. Kuldeep Kaur  (Shri Ram College, Dalla, Jagraon),  Principal Dr. (Mrs.) Varinder Kaur Thind (Khalsa College for Women, Civil Lines, Ludhiana),  Principal Dr. (Mrs.) Paramjit Kaur Tiwana (  Guru Gobind Singh Khalsa College for Women, Jhar Sahib, Ludhiana), Dr. Amanendra Mann (Lecturer in Physical Education DAV College, Chandigarh), Dr. Kewal Singh (Lecturer in Physical Education Khalsa College, Garhdiwala), Paramjit Singh   Lecturer in Physical Education, Chandigarh College of Architecture), Dr. Jagdish Bains Lecturer in Physical Education MCM DAV College for Women, Chandigarh), Mrs. Jaswinder Kaur Dhaliwal (Lecturer in Physical Education Guru Nanak Girls College,  Model Town, Ludhiana) and Mrs. Suman Sharma (Lecturer in Physical Education GGD SD College, Chandigarh).
 Ex-officio memebers are: The Registrar,  P.U., Chandigarh, The Dean College Development Council, P.U., Chandigarh,  The Finance and Development Officer,   P.U., Chandigarh, Dr. C.S. Grewal,Secretary-cum-University Director of Phy. Edu. Directorate of Sports, P.U., Chd, Dr. Vishav Mohini, Dy. Secretary-cum-Dy. Directress Sports, Directorate of Sports, P.U., Chd. and Dr. Rakesh Malik  Asstt. Secretary-cum-Asstt. Director of Phy. Edu.Directorate of Sports, P.U., Chd.).

Mumbai FC hold Chirag United goalless

 by sportswire4u.blogspot.com (Balbir)

KOLHAPUR, APRIL 25

Mumbai FC and Chirag United shared points when they played a goalless draw in the I-League at the Sahu Maharaj ground in Kolhapur on Monday. The result takes Mumbai FC to 29 points from 21 ties (6^th in the table) while Chirag move to 26 points from as many.

In fact it was a tale of missed opportunities. Both teams had their chances but were not able to convert them. However, it won’t be off the mark to say Mumbai FC did enjoy the better of the exchanges. Manager Henry Picardo sounded disappointed but felt, “a draw is at least better than a draw.”

“We missed chances like anything and we need to work on it. In football, you need to convert. But if you can’t, one will have to pay the price.”

Mumbai’s striker Henry Ezeh could have sealed it for his team but muffed from close in the 40^th and the 78^th minute. Chirag also had their chances but inept shooting on part of their strikers didn’t help them.

“Henry is missing a lot of chances. It’s a worrying factor for us. The weather was also a bit too hot and humid,” added Picardo.  

Mumbai FC travel to Goa to for their next match against Salgaocar, while Chirag will be locking horns with ONGC in Kohlapur on the same day.

All set for Yonex Sunrise India Open Super Series

 by sportswire4u.blogspot.com (Balbir)

NEW DELHI, APRIL 25

After the World Badminton Championship and the Commonwealth Games, Siri Fort Indoor Complex is all set to add another feather to its cap when it hosts the first Super Series in India. The Yonex Sunrise India Open Super Series, starting April 26 to  May 1 will have nearly 220 players coming from 16 countries participating. The $200,000 event will have the top 32 players in both men’s and women’s single and doubles which will be telecast live in India and about 20 countries abroad.

 The Super Series is a series of 12 tournaments with high standard of organization and presentation held throughout Europe and Asia in one calendar year. At the end of the year, a Super Series Final is held at one fix venue which comprises only the top 8 players of the world according to their Super Series ranking. So players accumulate points in these Super Series to make it to the Super Series Final.

 The BWF introduced the BWF World Super Series format to showcase badminton at a higher level of presentation and competitiveness, to increase television coverage for the sport and to increase the star quality and popularity of the top players in the world through increased television coverage.

 The Yonex Sunrise India Open Super Series 2011 is the fourth stop in the OSIM BWF World Super Series. With Indian Badminton players doing well at the world stage in recent years and the commitment and organizational skills shown in hosting some major events has help India Open achieved the status of Super Series. India has been granted the right to host a super series for a period of three years beginning 2011 to 2013.

 Yonex-Sunrise, which sponsored India Open since 2008, will continue to carry its role forward of being the title and official equipment sponsors’ for this event also. For the 2011-2013 Super Series season, OSIM, a global leader in branded well being and healthy lifestyle products, is the global Series Title Sponsor.

 Players from various countries have already started arriving to participate and vie for glory in this tournament which promises to deliver another grand sporting entertainment to the sports loving people of the country.

 India’s challenge in this tournament will be spearheaded by the World No. 4 Saina Nehwal along with Commonwealth Games Gold medalists Jwala Gutta, and Ashwini Ponnappa. P Kashyap another Commonwealth Games medalist will spearhead the men’s challenge.

  World’s top participating players in this Super Series are: Men’s Singles: Lee Chong Wei (MAS) World No. 1, Taufik Hidayat (INA) World No.3 and former World Champion/Olympic Champion 2004, Peter Gade (DEN) World No.5 and former World champion and many others in men’s singles.

Women’s Singles: Top seed in this event Saina Nehwal World No 4 and title winner of Commonwealth Games, Tine Baun (DEN) world no 5, Youn Joo Bae (KOR) world no 10.

Mens Doubles: Kien Keat Koo/ Boon Heong (MAS) world no 3 and Septano Bona/ Ahsan Mohammad (INA) and Hendra Aprida Gunawan/ Yulianto Chandra (INA)

Womens Doubles: Suetsuna Satoko/ Maeda Miyuki (JPN) world no3, Fujii Mizuki/ Kakiiwa Reika (JPN) world no.4, Voravichitchaikul Kunchala / Aroonkesorn Duanganong (THA) world no 5, Polii Gresia/ZMelieana Jauhari(INA) world no8, Yao Lei/ Sari Shinta Mulia (SIN) world no 9.

Mixed Double: Prapakamol Sudket/ Thoungthongkam Saralee (THA) world no 2, Anugritayawon Songphon/Voravichitchaikul Kunchala (THA) world no 11 and Jwala Gutta/ V Diju (IND).

ONGC sink Mohun Bagan; Pune FC triumph

by sportswire4u.blogspot.com (Balbir)

CHANDIGARH, APRIL 24

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation continued their good run in the I-League with a 2-1 win against Mohun Bagan at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata. This is their 3rd consecutive victory. With this win, ONGC now move to 21 points from 23 matches while Bagan stay on 27 points from 22 matches.

 However, it was Mohun Bagan who took the lead in the third minute, courtesy a stunning shot from right-back Surkumar Singh, a lead which Bagan managed to hold on till the interval.  

Changing over, fortunes fluctuated. In the 50th minute, ONGC’s Robin Gurung hit the post and after a series of raids, ONGC restored parity in the 79th minute. A Sangram Mukherjee blunder helped Kailash Patel tap in from close. The Bagan custodian preferred to dribble past Kailash and eventually paid the price.

More was in store as five minutes later, Kailash controlled Jatin Bisht’s cross and placed it to perfection past Sangram.

An elated Kailash, later declared the Man-of-the-Match said, “In an earlier match, I had scored a brace against HAL which had also earned me the Man-of-the-Match award. And that I could repeat it against Bagan is even more satisfying.”

HAL go down: Elsewhere in Bangalore, Pune FC defeated HAL 2-1. Lester Fernandes put Pune FC in the lead in the 42nd minute only for Keita Mandjov to double it 10 minutes later. RC Prakash reduced the margin in the 63^rd minute. The win takes Pune FC to 29 points from 22 matches while HAL stay at the bottom of the table with 20 points from 23 matches.

JCT win: In another match, Jagatjit Cotton Textiles received a lifeline when they accounted for Indian Arrows 2-0. Badru and Satkar Singh scored one apiece. JCT move to 20 points from 21 matches while Indian Arrows stay on 23 from 22.

Sahib Parminder wins Endurance Meet

by sportswire4u.blogspot.com (Balbir)
PATIALA, APRIL 24
The Horse sports  will get the recognition from the Punjab Olympics Association  as well the Indian Olympic Association. Rajya Sabha M.P and POA president Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa gave away the prizes to the winners.
Speaking on the occasion Dhindsa said that Horse Sports would get affiliation by the POA and case would be forwarded to Indian Olympics Association. After getting affiliation this sport would be played at national level as well as and other international games, he added.
Dhindsa said that he will ask Punjab Government to introduce Horse Sport in the schools sports curriculum.
 The First Endurance Meet  concluded today with a total of 30 riders taking part in the  30 km ride - the first of it's kind in Punjab. The
meet held at took place villages Kaddu Malla, Trora, Paharpur and Fatehpur situated on Patiala -Sangrur road.
Against National standards of  average distance covered  in an hour hovering around  16 kms an hour, the winner  Sahib Parminder Singh’s clocking  timings with 18.38  kms  an hour, was considerd heartening by the 'The Horse Sport and Breeders Society of Punjab,
The Ride started at 5.30 in the morning after the complete veterinary check by the doctors.
Endurance winners: 1 Sahib Parminder Singh, 2 Kiranjit Singh, 3 Hakam Singh, 4 Kewal  Singh, 5 Gurjit Singh, 6 Harpinder Singh.

Convincing win for Dempo; Churchill held

 by sportswire4u.blogspot.com (Balbir)
CHANDIGARH, APRIL 23

Roberto Silva’s brilliance helped Dempo score a convincing 3-1 victory over Salgaocar SC in a crucial I-League match at the Nehru Stadium in Margao. The result takes Dempo to 44 points from 41 matches, two behind league-leaders Salgaocar. It’s now a three-way race for the title as East Bengal also on 44 points, now stay second by virtue of a better goal-difference.

Desperate for a victory, Dempo surged into the lead as early as the 4^th minute.        Following a corner, Clifford Miranda floated the ball into the box and Ogba Kalu’s shot was deflected into the goal by Climax Lawrence.

Stung by the reverse, Salgaocar restored parity in the 31^st minute when Yusif Yakubu’s angular drive hit the far post before finding the net.

Dempo who played a waiting game stitched many a promising move with Roberto Silva and Ranty Martins combining well, much to the frustration of the Dempo midfield.

And it bore fruit in the 43^rd minute, when Ranty put them into the lead, placing it beyond rival custodian Karanjit Singh.

In the second half, Salgaocar went all out for the equaliser but the Dempo defence held fort. They eventually sealed the fate of the match in the 85^th minute off a counter-attack. Kalu Ogba fed Roberto down the middle and he placed it perfectly past an onrushing Singh.

Air India hold Churchill: In another match, Air India held Churchill Brothers two-all at the Sahu Maharaj ground in Kolhapur.

Air India took the lead through Okorogor Praise in the 15^th minute but only for Odafe Onyeka Okolie to pull it back within two minutes. Changing over, Jeevan Balan put Churchill in the lead in the 48^th but Praise struck in injury-time to help Air India garner a point.

Churchill now stay on 44 points from 43 matches while Air India move to 21 points from 23.

AIFF drops charges against Houghton, accepts his resignation

 by sportswire4u.blogspot.com (Balbir)
CHANDIGARH, APRIL23
The All Inda Fooball Federation has withdrawn all charges against chief coach Robert Douglas Houghton. However Houghton has tendered his resignation and the federation has accepted  it.
The AIFF has perused the reply filed by  Robert Douglas Houghton to the show cause notice issued to him on March 23 this year. The AIFF has also conducted internal investigations through an inquiry committee and a report has been submitted to the AIFF. 
Based on the report of the inquiry committee, the AIFF feels that in the absence of any definitive and concrete evidence the allegations against Houghton cannot be sustained and therefore the AIFF agrees to withdraw all charges and allegations made against him. However, Houghton, for his personal reasons, does not wish to continue working in India and in his position as the head coach of the Indian football team.  Houghton has therefore tendered his resignation. His resignation is accepted by the AIFF.
The parties have mutually agreed to terminate the employment contract of Houghton.  AIFF thanked Houghton for his services to the Indian football team for the last about five years and  Houghton expressed his gratitude to the AIFF for having given him an opportunity to coach the Indian football team and wished the Indian team all the very best for its future endeavours.

East Bengal keep alive their chances

by sportswire4u.blogspot.cpm (Balbir)

KOLKATA, APRIL 23

East Bengal kept their title hopes alive when they defeated Viva Kerala 3-0 in an I-League match at the Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata. Rahim Nabi, Penn Orji and Sushil Singh scored one apiece for the winners.

The win takes East Bengal to 44 points from 21 matches, just 2 points behind league leaders Salgaocar SC. Viva Kerala on the other hand languish at the 10th position with 22 points.

The first goal came in the 18th minute. Right back Rahim Nabi’s down-the-middle run split the rival defence and he finished it with a stunning shot to bulge the far corner of the net.

Hardly had the celebrations died down, East Bengal scored the second two minutes later. This time, Penn side-stepped two defenders and made it two-nil with his left-footer.

Sushil Singh pierced the final nail in the coffin in the 42^nd minute, heading it in from close.

Rahim Nabi was adjudged Man-of-the-Match.

An elated East Bengal coach Trevor Morgan said, "We are praying for Dempo’s victory tomorrow. If they beat Salgaocar, it will only brighten our chances.”

Asian Tour heavyweights set for Ballantine's championship

 by sportswire4u.blogspot.com (Balbir)

SEOUL, APRIL 22

A star-studded field featuring the finest players from the Asian Tour will tee off at the €2.2 million (approximately US$2.8 million) Ballantine’s Championship next week.

 The stellar line-up includes three-time Asian Tour Order of Merit champion Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand and India’s Arjun Atwal, who made history by becoming the first Indian to win on the US PGA Tour at the Wyndham Championship last year.

 Reigning Asian Tour number one Noh Seung-yul and Asia’s first Major champion Y.E. Yang, an honorary member of the Asian Tour, will carry Korea’s challenge at the Blackstone Resort in Seoul.

 Thongchai is no stranger to success at the Ballantine’s Championship, having won the championship in 2009.  The 41-year-old, who served in the Royal Thai Army as a paratrooper before turning professional at the age of 30, also holds the most number of victories on the Asian Tour with 13 titles.

 Having won an unprecedented three Order of Merit triumphs in 2001, 2004 and 2009, Thongchai is presently the most successful golfer in Asia. He is also the leader of the career earnings ranking with over US$4 million in winnings since breaking into the scene in 1999.

 Thongchai has shown that he is the man for the big occasion and will undoubtedly be among the leading contenders for the prized title. In 12 seasons on the Asian Tour, the Thai star has finished outside the top-10 of the merit list only twice to cement his reputation as one of the most consistent performers on the region’s elite circuit.

 Atwal, a former Asian Tour number one in 2003, will also be looking for more success following his PGA Tour triumph where he was also the first Monday qualifier to win a tournament in 24 years.

 The 38-year-old Indian who is now based in Florida will return to Asia with an eye on the chance to add another title to his seven Asian Tour wins.

 Other Asian Tour stars in the exciting line-up of heavyweights include Chinese Taipei’s Lin Wen-tang, who finished second on the Order of Merit in 2008, India’s Jeev Milkha Singh, a six-time Asian Tour winner and Singapore’s Mardan Mamat who enjoyed a tied-sixth finish at the Ballantine’s Championship last year.

 Defending champion Marcus Fraser, who promptly took up an Asian Tour membership to expand his playing opportunities following his win at the Ballantine’s Championship last year, will also be part of the world-class field that includes England’s Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter and American Dustin Johnson, who will be making his first competitive appearance in Korea.

 The 2011 Ballantine’s Championship will once again be co-sanctioned by the European Tour, Asian Tour and Korea PGA.

 Blackstone Golf Club, in Icheon, just south of Seoul, will host the event for at least the next three years. It is the first time that the exclusive venue – which opened only in 2009 and has just 300 members – has staged a professional tournament.

First Punjab Endurance Meet on April 24

by sportswire4u.blogspot.com (Balbir)

CHANDIGARH, APRIL 21

For the first time in the history, Punjab will open new facets for horse riders through the equestrian meets  that will be organised  by the efforts of the Horse Sports and Breeders Society Punjab (HSBSP).

 Sumrinder Singh Sira, Assistant Prof. Department of Business Management, Punjabi University, Patiala and horse breeder, in a press conference here told that the HSBSP is introducing Horse Sports with a view to broad base the ambit of various sports disciplines and with an objective of roping in and harnessing young and upcoming talent, to provide the much needed motivation for the young riders' prospective integration with the national level sporting mainstream, and to eventually win medals at the national and international meets.

 Sumrinder also said that besides enhancing the health and welfare of horses in the state, this event would also add to tourism attraction of the state in the forthcoming times.

 The First Punjab Endurance Meet will be held on April 24 at village Fatehpur, Tehsil and District Patiala that will have an introductory ride of 30 kms which would be run over two laps of 15 km each, with a veterinarian check  prior to start, one after the first lap and the third immediately after finishing the second lap.

 Col. Sarpartap Singh, an International Equestrian Judge told that this step was taken to with an aim to preserve and look for the welfare of the indigenous horse breeds of India. To uplift the standards of upkeep and to introduce awareness amongst various breeders related to all aspects of horse health care.

 He also told that 50-60 horses are expected to participate in the meet. Horses from Rajasthan and Haryana are also expected to participate. Prize money of Rs.21,000, Rs.11,000 and Rs.5,000 will be awarded to participants who would bag the first, second and third position respectively. He also told the media persons that serious efforts are being made to get this game included in the Commonwealth Games in future.

 In an answer to a question, Col Singh said that the society formed has no liasion with either any defence force or the government.

 Surminder told that such meets would be held twice a year. The next meet will be held in October where rides of 40 km, 60 km and 80 km would be included. He said that for a rider to be eligible to participate, he should be able to qualify the 40 km ride.

 Free fodder for horses, free food for the riders and the ones accompanying them will be provided in the present meet, he added.

 Prominent and founder members Gagandeep Ahuja, Vice president,  Kamalbir Singh Dhindsa, horse breeder and Equestrian promoter and Manu Sharma, eminent Equine photographer of international repute were also present in the conference.

 It is hoped that such an endeavor will introduce to the new generation of riders; the skills associated with horsemanship and acquaint & expose them to the modern day equestrian sports, thus preparing them to eventually compete at the national and international levels.

Punjab Open Prize Money Badminton

by sportswire4u.blogspot.com (Balbir)
CHANDIGARH, APRIL 20 
The first Lining Punjab State Open Prize Money Badminton Championship for boys and girls in the age group of under-15 and under-17 will be held at Sangrur from April 23 to , according to Punjab Badminton Association secretary Rajinder Singh Kalsi.
Kartar Singh has been appointed as chief referee and Rajiv Verma as his deputy. Matches will start on 23 at 8 a.m.  Venu Parsad, Commissioner, Excise  and Taxation will be the chief guest on concluding function.

 AITA Talent Series in Ambala

AMBALA CITY: The Ambala Lawn Tennis Association will host  AITA Talent Series  for U-14 at the ALT Academy courts here from April 23. The matches will be held under the banner of Haryana Tennis Association.
Sign in for qualifing round is on April 22 in ALT Academy. Boys and girls from Punjab , Haryana . Delhi, Kolkatta , Uttrakhand , UP and Rajasthan will be seen in action, 

AIFF may act tough on Sunil Chhetri

 by sportswire4u.blogspot.com (Balbir)

 NEW DELHI, APRIL 20

The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has taken strong exception to Sunil Chhetri’s remarks against the National Federation on the issue of National team coach Bob Houghton on twitter.  

Reacting strongly to Sunil’s tweet that ‘it ll be a shame if he has to leave,’ AIFF General Secretary Kushal Das said: “The AIFF is extremely perturbed and concerned that National Team players are making such unnecessary comments relating to AIFF’s functioning and on the issue of coach Bob Houghton as well.”

“The matter will certainly be discussed at AIFF’s next Executive Committee meeting and action may be taken, if necessary.”

On Tuesday, Sunil’s tweet read: ‘thinking and analysing everyt. that bob has done for us,infact football in india, can't thank him enough!it ll be a shame if he has to leave.N even worse,we charge him for racism, havnt seen a gentleman like him,leave behind d world class coaching n vast knowledge...sorry bob!

 Sunil was one among the seven players who had signed a memorandum accusing former Team India manager Pradip Chowdhury, and was then issued a warning by the AIFF prior to the AFC Asian Cup earlier this year.

Das stressed, “The AIFF is also in the process of strengthening the Code of Conduct for the players as well as the officials and it would be implemented very soon.”

Punjab Youth Basketball from April 28

by sportswire4u.blogspot.com (Balbir)
CHANDIGARH, APRIL 18
The Punjab Basketball Championship for youth boys and girls will be held at Abohar from April 28 to May 1. Player born on or after 1-1-1995 are eligible to participate in the championship. Players for coaching camp for the Youth National Basketball Championship for boys and girls to be held at Nagpur from May 26 to  June 2 will be selected during the championship.
More than 35 teams are expected to participate in the championship. Entries close with PBA secretary general Teja Singh Dhaliwal Secretary General Punjab P.B.A on or before April 25 2011 at Ludhiana. Organizing committee under the chairmanship of Varinder Singh Brar S.P Abohar has been constituted.

WFI officials call on Sports Minister Ajay Maken

by sportswire4u.blogspot.com (Balbir)
CHANDIGARH, APRIL 18
The newly elected senior office bearers of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) accompanied by a large number of current and former wrestling starts met the  Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Ajay Maken to seek the support of Ministry for implementation of various projects for the development of wrestling and for getting medals at the next London Olympic Games in 2012.
WFI president Dushyant Sharma, Secretary General Raj Singh and treasurer Prem Nath are all well known  former international wrestlers and qualified international technical officials. They were accompanied amongst other by World champion Sushil Kumar and a number of Arjuna Awardees and Droncharya Awardees including Satpal, Ramesh Kumar, Yogeshwar Dutt, Rajiv Tomar, Narsingh Yadav, Capt. Chandroop and Maha Singh Rao.
The Minister expressed his happiness and satisfactory at the fact that all senior office bearers of the federation are distinguished wrestlers and assured full support of the Ministry to the WFI. The delegation later met Secretary (Sports) Sindhushree Khullar.

Sandeep Agarwal, Pawan Saluja book ticket to Audi quattro Cup National final

by sportswire4u.blogspot.com (Balbir)

NEW DELHI, APRIL 18

 Sandeep Agarwal and PAwan Saluja won a hard fought battle to emerge victorious in the Delhi leg of the Audi quattro Cup 2011 hosted by Audi Delhi at the prestigious Delhi Golf Club here on Monday. By the virtue of their victory, the duo qualified for the National final to be held later this year.

 Rajneesh Akhoury and Jeevesh Vaid were the runners-up. The latter also qualified on the basis of a second place finish. Missing the bus was the team of Rohit Nath and JC Pegu who finished third.

 Presented by Audi Finance, the 11^th and the last leg of the saw more than 100 golfers teeing off in the one-day event, which saw the top two teams qualify for the National final. In the various skills competition held alongside the main event, GS Nanda won the “Straightest Drive” prize on Hole No.10 while Sandeep Agarwal won the ‘Closest to the Pin” award on Hole No. 5. Jeevesh Vaid emerged as the winner in the “Longest Drive” contest held on Hole no. 14.  The “Maximum Pars” competition was won by the team of Vikram Kapoor and PK Singh.

 The winning and the runner-up team from each of these legs qualify for the National final and the winners of the National final will travel to Mission Hills in Schenzen, China for the World Finals.

24 attend AFC Certificate Course

 

by sportswire4u.blogspot.com (Balbir)
CHANDIGARH, APRIL 18
The Asian Football Confederation conducted  a Certificate course in football coaching at National Institute of Sports in  Patiala from April 1 to 16 .Mr.Gabriel E Joseph, Director Coaching from All India Football Federation and Dr.Birbal Singh, instructor from AFC conducted the course. As many as 24 attended the course.
The following attended the course :- Inder Parkash Nagi (football coach SAI),K.Zosalgliana (Mizoram), J.R.V.Ravi ( Services ), Manzoor Ahmed Dar ( J&K ),Paramjit Kaur,Danny Lalduhawma,Amla Yacoob Yusuf, S.Santhanam,Paritosh, Pradeep Kumar, Karan Singh, Shiraz Khalis, Bharat Singh Gurjar, Ram Chander Sarangdevot,Vikram Bisht, S.Gobikrishnan, Sandeep Gaud, Harpreet,
Sukhdeep, Meetkamal Swarnkar, Bishal Tamang, S,Ramesh, Pardeep Singh ( all diploma trainees at NIS Patiala ).

Darshan Lal elected WFI joint secretary with record number of votes

by sportswire4u.blogspot.com (Balbir)
CHANDIGARH, APRIL 18
 Dushyant Sharma  of Jammu and Kashmir defeated Padamshree Kartar Singh of Punjab by 41 votes to 34 for the post of presdent in the annual general body meeting of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) held in New Delhi recently.
Raj Singh of Delhi was electe general secretary after beating ID Nanavati. While Raj Singh secured 43 votes, Nanavati garnered  32 votes. Prem Nath emerged winner in a three-corner contest to be declared elected as treasurer. His rivals were N Phony and Gian Singh.
Hamza-Bin-Omer has been elected the new senior vice-president after beating Jasram. BS Landke defeated RK Hooda for the post of vice-president.
Darshan Lal Sharma, secretary of the Chandigarh Wrestling Association, made history by polling  a record number 70 votes out of total 75 to be elected joint secretary. Two votes were declared invalid. Darshan Lal, wrestling coach of the Chandigarh Sports Department was a given a rousing welcome by the wrestling fans on his return to Chandigarh.

Vishnu faces Dubail and Bhambri meets Mesters in semis

by sportswire4u.blogspot.com (Balbir)

 CHANDIGARH, APRIL 14 

Top seed Vishnu Vardhan of India will cross swords with third seed Julien Dubail of Belgium and second seed Yuki Bhambri of India will take the measure of fourth seed Marc Fornell Mestres of Spain in the men's singles semi-final of the Union Bank ITF Men’s Futures US$-10,000 Tennis Tournament at the Sector 10 Tennis Stadium here tomorrow.. 

        In the quarterfinal matches played here today, top seed Vishnu Vardhan of India disposed of Murad Inoyatov of Uzbekistan in straight sets 6-1, 6-4. After going down tamely in the first set at 6-1, Murad put up a stiff resistance in the second set before losing 6-4.  In the second q-final match third seed Dubail Julien of Belgium snuffed out the challenge of  Hsin Han Lee of Taipei in straight sets 6-2, 6-2. The third q-final clash between Yuki Bhambri of India and Rohan Gajjar of India could not be completed as Rohan Gajjar retired after pulling his groin in the fist^t set when he was trailing 3-0 enabling Yuki Bhambri enter the semi-finals.

            The fourth q-final fixture was keenly contested between fourth seed Marc Fornell of Spain and qualifier Ashutosh Singh of India. Having come through the qualifying round Ashutosh Singh matched his opponent from Spain stroke by stroke and clinched the first set in a tie breaker 6-7(8). Fornell then came back strongly in the second set and was able to get past Ashutosh Singh at 7-6(5) through a tie breaker. Fornell however had a lot of reserve stamina which ultimately help him to overwhelm Ashutosh Singh 6-2 in the final set. The battle for supremacy lasted 3 hours and 5 minutes.

Indian pair of Divij Saran and Vishnu Vardhan  will face Hsin Han Lee of Taipie and Bumpei Sato of Japan in the men's doubles final to be played tomorrow at 10 a.m.

     Results: Men’s singles (q-finals): Vishnu Vardhan (IND) bt Murad Inoyatov (UZB) 6-1, 6-4, Jullen Duball (BEL) bt Hsin Han Lee (TPE)  6-2, 6-2, Ashutosh Singh (IND) bt Marc Fornell Mestres (ESP) 6-7(8), 7-6(5), 6-2, Yuki Bhambri (IND) w/o Rohan Gajjar (IND) 3-0, Ret.  

Men’s doubles (semi-finals):   Divij Saran (IND) and Vishnu Vardhan (IND) bt Fumiaki Kita (JPN) and Junn Mitsuhashi (JPN) 7-5, 6-2, 2.      Hsin Han Lee (TPE) and Bumpei Sato (JPN) bt Srirambalaji Narayanaswamy (IND) and Ashutosh Singh (IND) 6-4, 6-4.

Rashid grabs first round lead at Surya Nepal Masters

by sportswire4u.blogspot.com (Balbir)

KATHMANDU, APRIL 14

 Young Rashid Khan of India cannot forget his first trip to Nepal when he represented India in the International Amateur Championship of the Surya Nepal Masters couple of years ago. After being indisposed, Rashid put up an average show then. However, in the 18^th edition of Surya Nepal Masters, the 20-year-old now playing his first season on the professional circuit, showed why he is highly rated as he shot a 7-under 65 to grab the first day’s lead in the Nepalese Rs 4 Million prize money event being held at the picturesque Gokarna Forest Resort here on Thursday.

“I loved the first time when I was here for the Surya Nepal Masters in 2008. However, I was disappointed with my show then and wanted to make amends as I really like the course,” said Rashid who was leading by a stroke from Mandeo Singh Pathania who shot a blemish-free round of 66. 

Sri Lankan Mithun Perera and Harendra Gupta of India were two shots further behind to be tied for third spot at 68. Nepalese professionals Shiva Ram Shreshta and Toran Bikram Shahi  and former Indian Open winner Feroz Ali opened with a score of three-under par 69 to be tied for the fifth place. Former winner of Surya Nepal Masters Shamim Khan was tied for eighth spot along with Nepalese amateur Samundri Giri at 70.

Rashid who had established his supremacy as an amateur has grasped the professional ropes pretty quickly climbing to the No.5 position on the PGTI Order of Merit. A birdie on the opening hole set the tone for the day as he saved three more strokes on the 3^rd, 8^th and 9^th to take the turn at 4-under. The pro from Delhi Golf Club showing some good golf course management, eagled the par-5 11^th after teeing off with a 3-iron and using the same club for his second. This was followed by a 15-footer for an eagle. The frail-looking lad made consecutive birdies on the 15^th and 16^th before three-putting on the 17^th for the only mistake of the day.

“My hitting was extremely good today. I had learnt a lot of lessons on my previous visit and my aim to keep the ball in play. I am happy that I managed to do so,” said Rashid who missed a solitary green.

Mandeo Singh Pathania, known for his long driving, went for the green on the par-4 ninth green. However, his tee shot landed on the 10^th tee from where he chipped to a feet on the double tiered green for his sixth birdie of the day. In fact it summed up his flawless opening round of 6-under 66.

Beginning from the tenth, made a solitary birdie on the par-5 12^th on his onward journey, although he flirted with birdies on at least four holes. He opened with a birdie on his return journey and made a hat-trick of birdies starting from the third. Despite a strong gale, the physically fit Mandeo managed to keep the ball in play making pars before signing off with a birdie on the ninth.

“I just love this course. My ball striking was phenomenal,” said Mandeo who did not miss a single green. “It is good to begin with a low score and I hope to sustain my form,” said the 28-year-old pro from Jaypee Greens.

Top scores after 18 holes: 65 Rashid Khan (IND), 66 Mandeo Pathania (IND), 68 Mithun Perera (SL), 68 Harendra Gupta (IND), 69 Toran Shahi (NEP), 69 Shiva Ram Shreshta (NEP), 69 Feroz Ali (IND), 70 Shamim Khan, 70 Samundri Giri (A) (Nep), 71 Rabi Khadka (NEP), 71 Arjun Singh Chaudhary (IND), 71 Raju Ali Mollah (IND), 71 Arshdeep Tiwana (IND), 71 Gurbaaz Mann (IND), 71 Sanjay Kumar (NEP), 71 Tashi Tsering (A) (NEP).