ISHPREET CHADHA IS CHAMP M
SPORTS
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MUMBAI | TUESDAY, JULY 16, 2013
UMBAI: State junior and sub junior champion Ishpreet Singh Chadha overcame Zubin Leninwala of Indian Snooker Academy to clinch the title, in the NSCI-BSAM All India Under25 Snooker Challenge 1, at the National Sports Club of India, Worli. Chadha, who had shocked title favourite Laxman Rawat in the semifinals, romped to a 59-10, 48-53, 6252, 65-48, 65-35 win in the best-of-seven frames championship round. Leninwala frittered away the many advantages he had from the start including substantial leads and paid the price for missed opportunities. On the other hand, Chadha, not at his best, seized his chances and dominated what could have been a close contest had Leninwala remained on cue. After bagging the third frame narrowly, Chadha, who trains under twice Asian champion Yasin Mer- blue and firing a pink cannon that chant, recovered from a 20-point was the shot of the day. Leninwala had the crucial fifth deficit in the crucial fourth and surged to a 3-1 lead after potting the frame within his grasp that would
blemishes. It paved the way for Chadha to surge ahead with impressive potting and positioning until a break of 25, which was significant and put him well ahead, ended prematurely but was good enough to seal victory. “It was a well-earned victory especially after all the hard work. All the credit goes to my coach Yasin Merchant and my mother Bobby,” said a delighted Chadha. “Zubin was not at his best and I just capitalized on my chances by playing my normal game.”
have set the stage for an exciting finish. But after holding on to a slender lead, he missed a simple red in the centre pocket, one of his many
Chadha to play for Bombay Gym: Bombay Gymkhana has rewarded Ishpreet Singh Chadha with playing membership for a period of five years after the young cueist became the state junior billiards and snooker champion and sub junior snooker champion, recently. Chadha will now represent Bombay Gymkhana from the Malabar Hill Club-BSAM All India Under-25 Snooker Challenge 3 from August 1.
MDFA fetes double Olympian Narayan
Bradley Tellis excels UMBAI: Contributions by hefor Millwall FC roes are often forgotten. But M Indian football great and double UMBAI: Millwall Football Olympian S.S. Narayan, fondly Club scored a comfortable M known as ‘Babu’, among the football 3-1 over Somland SC in a keen Premier Division encounter of the 10th Bandra West Football League played on the Dr. Norman Lewis Supari Talao municipal grounds and conducted by the Bandra West Football Association. Young Bradley Tellis was the star of the day bulging the net with a crisp volley in the fifth minute of play and assisted in his side’s other two goals which were scored by Sumit Ravindran and Pritam Mahadik. Danny Samuel got the consolation goal for Somland FC. Results - Premier Division: Millwall FC 3 (Bradley Tellis, Sumit Ravindran, Pritam Mahadik) beat Somland FC 1 (Danny Samuel); Companeroes SC 1 (Wren D’Abreo) beat Friends FC 0; Bandra Packers 1 (Ranzie Kallicharan) beat Carmelites FC 0.
fraternity was finally honoured by the Mumbai District Football Association (MDFA) at a ceremony recently. Narayan had represented India at the 1956 Melbourne and 1960 Rome Games and 1958 Tokyo Asian Games. The stalwart had also played for Maharashtra from 1955 to 1964 and had also represented major Bombay clubs like Caltex and Tatas. MDFA Chairman Ashish Shelar, MLC and BJP President of the Mumbai unit, felicitated the 79-year-old former Indian goalkeeper. Shelar also feted other internationals, including Marto Gracias, Santosh Kashyap, Steven Dias, former India hockey Olympians Gurbux Singh, Joaquim Carvalho and MM Somaya. Narayan was disheartened that his and the other international players’ achievements were not
MDFA Chairman Ashish Shelar, MLC and BJP President of the Mumbai unit, felicitates the 79-year-old former Indian goalkeeper S S Narayan.
I need to take the initiative with Pradnya: Ashwini M
UMBAI: She played second fiddle to senior partner Jwala Gutta during their successful combination, but shuttler Ashwini Ponnappa now has a role reversal to enact in her fledgling women’s doubles partnership with the inexperienced Pradnya Gadre. “Jwala is a very confident player, a very good player at the net. She was the dominant player and the guiding force in our partnership. Pradnya too is a fine player at the net but she is inexperienced. Its my duty to take the initiative and guide her,“ said the 23-year-old Ashwini. Ashwini had created waves during her partnership with Jwala by winning the gold in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi and a first-ever bronze medal for India in the World Championships the next year before parting ways and team-
SHUTTLE SERVICE: Ashwini Ponnappa giving tips to a school girl.
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ing up with Pradnya. The doubles specialist from Bangalore was here to conduct a clinic at the Jamnabai Narsee School in suburban Vile Parle in connection with the ‘Shuttle Experess’ initiative of the upcoming Indian Badminton League. Ashwini said her immediate focus is to improve her rankings in both women’s doubles and mixed doubles, where she teams up with Tarun Kona. “My partnership with Tarun and Pradnya is growing and we are getting better with every event. With the World Championship coming up, our aim is to improve our rankings,” she said. Currently Ashwini and Pradnya are ranked 27th in the world, two better than her ranking in the mixed doubles with Tarun.
recognised and respected earlier. “I am not asking for anything. But it is sad when your own state (Maharashtra) and the state association WIFA (West India Football Association) do not recognise our efforts,” said Narayan in a sad tone. “After doing so much for Maharashtra, by doing well in the National competition and winning many trophies, we did not get our due,” he further stated. Shelar was proud to be among so many great players. “I’m not exactly a sporting person. But I’m honoured to be felicitating these great players, including Narayan,” he said. He later stated that he would take it up with the concerned authorities to ensure that Narayan and the other players get their due recognition. The tall lanky Narayan was also unhappy with the slide in the fortunes of Mumbai football. He mentioned during his playing days, spectators, in large numbers, thronged the Cooperage ground to watch the matches.
Air India ‘B’ score narrow win
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UMBAI: Air India ‘B’ pulled off an exciting 5-4 win against Central Railway Mumbai Division in a well-contested Senior Division match, of the Mumbai Hockey Association Ltd. (MHAL) League – 2012-13, at the MHAL Stadium, Churchgate on Monday. The Air India team, comprising of former Olympians and internationals, scored through a goal each from Anil Aldrin, Ashish Gonsalves, Davinder Singh, Simon D’Souza and Cornelius D’Costa. Central Railway putting up a good fight managed to get their goals from an own goal and one each through S.S. Rana, Prakash Ghumre and Vinay Pal. Results– at MHAL ground, Churchgate Senior Div: Air India ‘B’ 5 (Anil Aldrin, Ashish Gonsalves, Davinder Singh, Simon D’Souza, Cornelius D’Costa) beat Central Railway Mumbai Division 4 (own goal, S.S. Rana, Prakash Ghumre, inay Pal).
Junior Sushrut bags triple crown; Sonal wins
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UMBAI: Lanky junior Sushrut Karmarkar after scoring a sensational upset semifinal win over top seed Arjit Bose (21-17, 21-9), went on to defeat second seeded Amit Kshatriya to bag the men’s singles title in the Li-NINGJVPGC Suburban District badminton championships, hosted by Juhu Vile Parle Gymkhana Club here late last night. The collegian triumphed 21-15, 21-18. Sushrut ended with a triple crown, as earlier he had won the boys under-19 singles title and followed it by capturing the under19 doubles title with Likhit Bangera as his partner. Sonal More, the women’s top seed, thrashed lefthanded Pooja Devlekar 21-16, 21-16 in the final. Kalpita Sawant justified her top billing in the girls under15 and under-17 singles by capturing both the titles. So too top seeded Sai Dinesh Reddy, who proved too good in both the under-15 and under-17 singles finals. He did not give any chance to his respective rivals, Krish Raheja and Akshan Shetty and beat Krish 21-15, 21-13 (under 17) and Akshan 21-7, 21-7 (under-15) final. Results of all the finals: MEN’S SINGLES: Sushrut Karmarkar bt Amit Kshatriya 21-15, 21-18. WOMEN’S SINGLES: Sonal More bt Pooja Devlekar 21-16, 21-16. VETER AN SINGLE S: Rajiv Sampat bt Shaukat Noormohammed 21-10, 21-15. GIRLS: (U-17 SINGLES): Kalpita Sawant bt Nivedita Rao 16-21, 21-14, 21-9. (U-15 single): Kalpita Sawant bt Simran Singhi 21-17, 21-13. (U-13 SINGLES): Simran Singhi bt Janhavi Jagtap 21-13, 21-11.( U-10 singles): Hrisha Dubey bt Mahek Nayak 21-8, 21-3. BOYS: (U-19 singles): Sushrut Karmarkar bt Likhit Bangera 21-9, 2115.(U-17 singles): Sai Dinesh Reddy bt Krish Raheja 21-15, 21-13.(U-15 SINGLES): Sai Dinesh Reddy bt Akshan Ahetty 21-7, 21-7. (U-13 SINGLES): Varun Dave bt Pranav Jain 21-19, 17-21, 21-9. (U-10 SINGLES): Atharva Joshi bt Vivek Nekat 20-22, 21-16, 21-17.