Indian sports News- December 5th
December 5, 2019, Bangalore
Bytes: TNPL Fixing, Cricket South Africa, BWF Awards, South Asian Games, BWF Awards, Praggnanandhaa Elo ratings, Taekwondo, NAtionals Women’s, Big Bout Indian Boxing League, ISL- BFC wins against Odisha FC, I-League- East Bengal draws against RKFC, Australian Open wildcard playoff, NBA
YoGems makes sure that you won’t miss a thing in the field of sports, so here is a quick recap to all the happenings from the last 24 hours:
Cricket:
TNPL- Days after Board of Control for Cricket in India president Sourav Ganguly said that two Tamil Nadu Premier League franchises were suspended due to allegations of corruption, the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association on Friday denied Ganguly’s claims, stating that TNPL franchises were still intact, according to a report by The Indian Express. However, the TNCA has asked franchise Tuti Patriots to change their ownership by removing two co-owners. The TNCA suggested Tuti Patriots should expel their two co-owners after the state association’s inquiry committee reportedly found connection between the co-owners and bookies. Selvakumar, the other co-owner of Tuti Patriots, will now have the full authority of the franchise.
Cricket SA- South African cricket faces a crucial weekend ahead of separate meetings of Cricket South Africa’s board and the country’s players’ association – less than three weeks before the start of a Test series against England. CSA will hold a special board meeting on Saturday following a week of drama and controversy sparked by the withdrawal of media accreditation of five leading journalists. According to a media statement, “important decisions will be made” at the meeting. It is not known whether one of the decisions will be to finalise the appointment of a director of cricket. Former Test captain Graeme Smith announced on November 14 that he had withdrawn his interest in taking the job because he was not confident that he would have the freedom to act in the way he wanted.
Badminton:
BWF Awards- The Indian men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty has been nominated for the ‘Most Improved Player of the Year’ award by the Badminton World Federation after a stellar season during which the duo picked up some memorable wins. The young combination had a breakthrough season, claiming their first Super 500 title at Thailand Open before reaching the finals of French Open Super 750 event this year. The other nominees in the category include Canada’s women’s singles player Michelle Li, Korean women’s doubles pairing of Kim So Yeong and Kong Hee Yong and Indonesian mixed doubles combination of Praveen Jordan and Melati Daeva Oktavianti. The prestigious awards recognise the achievements of the elite badminton players and pairs in six categories, including two in Para badminton. India’s para badminton player Pramod Bhagat, who has bagged 11 gold, three silver and four bronze medals this year, was nominated in the ‘Male Para Badminton Player of the Year’ award. Olympic silver-medallist PV Sindhu, however, didn’t find a place in the list of nominees for ‘Female Player of the Year’ as she didn’t win any title barring the world championship gold this year.
Chess:
Praggnanandhaa Elo ratings- At the London Chess Classic, India’s R Praggnanandhaa has crossed the Elo rating of 2600 at the age of 14 years, three months and 26 days. In the process, he has become the youngest Indian ever to cross 2600 and the second youngest in the world. Praggnanandhaa, who is also India’s second-youngest Grandmaster, broke Nihal Sarin’s record (he was 14 years and 10 months at the time) of the youngest Indian to cross 2600. The youngest to ever reach the 2600-rating mark is USA’s John Burke who rose to 2601 in September 2015 when he was 14 years and two months old. The reigning World Youth champion (Under-18) is participating in the open category of the London Chess Classic which began on November 29 and he went past the 2600 Elo rating mark when he won his seventh-round game against GM Jules Moussard (2600) to move to 2602. After Round 7, Praggnanandhaa leads with 6.5 points and India’s Aravindh Chithambaram is in second place with 6 points. They play each other in Round 8.
Boxing:
Nationals- Sonia Chahal, 2018 World Championships silver medallist in 57kg and youth world champion Jyoti Gulia (51kg) overcome stiff challenge from their respective opponents to reach the quarter-finals of the 4th Elite Women’s National Boxing Championships at the Mundayad Indoor Stadium, Kannur, Kerala on Wednesday. Chahal, who won the 57kg gold in 2016 and the bronze in 2017, endured some stiff resistance from All India Police’s Sandhyarani Devi but carved out a 4-1 victory. Gulia, representing Railways had a much tougher time in the ring. India Open silver medallist Monika from Chandigarh forced the youth world champion to dig deep to register a 3-2 victory. Cologne World Cup gold medallist Meenakumari Devi, who is also the defending champion in 54kg, did not need to exert much effort as she was declared the winner by RSC (Referee Stop Contest) in Round 3 against UP’s Kanika Chaudhary. Pwilao Basumatary also made an impressive start to her gold medal quest in 64kg against Delhi’s Aarti Rawal. The Assam pugilist, representing Railways, emerged the winner by RSC in Round 3. In the 48kg category, Monika landed a flurry of punchesto record a commanding 5-0 win over Himachal Pradesh’s Jyotika Bisht.
Big Bout Indian Boxing League- Gujarat Giants made their intentions clear in no uncertain terms, posting a commanding 5-2 victory over Odisha Warriors in the Big Bout Indian Boxing League at the Gautam Buddha University Indoor Stadium in Greater Noida tonight. They made light of Duryodhan Singh Negi’s reverse in the opening bout and paraded their might. With a confident and efficient Ashish Kumar setting the ball rolling in the second bout of the evening, Gujarat Giants’ big guns Sarita Devi (women’s 60kg), southpaw Mohammed Husamuddin (57kg) and skipper Amit Pangal (51kg) ensured that the team would claim an early win in their opening league match. For Odisha Warriors, it was their second successive loss. Gujarat Giants won the toss and opted to block the Youth Women’s 57kg bout that would have seen Jyoti Kanwar go up against Odisha Warriors’ Jasmine. The option of blocking one of the bouts allows teams to bring strategy into play. Gujarat Giants were aware that Jasmine had picked up one of the two victories for Odisha Warriors in their 2-5 loss to Punjab Panthers on Monday.
Football:
ISL- Bengaluru FC extended their unbeaten start in the ongoing Indian Super League to seven games with a narrow 1-0 win against Odisha FC at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Pune on Wednesday. Centre-back Juanan (36’) scored his first goal of the season to secure Bengaluru’s third win of the season and take them to the top of the table. After seven matches, Carles Cuadrat’s side has 13 points while Odisha are sixth with six points. The teams were off the blocks in quick time and Gurpreet Singh Sandhu was called into action within minutes. Nandhakumar Sekar latched onto a pass from the deep, cut in from the left to shift the ball to his right foot and attempted a ferocious strike that looked destined for the bottom right corner but a vital fingertip save by the Bengaluru goalkeeper kept the shot out. Bengaluru, who were denied a second goal by the post from a good Dimas free-kick, looked to be the fitter team in the final minutes as they stood firm and defended well to prevent a late show.
I-League- Marcos de la Espada’s 75th-minute strike helped Kolkata giants East Bengal hold Real Kashmir FC to a 1-1 draw in their I-League encounter in Kalyani, West Bengal on Wednesday. Although East Bengal enjoyed 64 percent possession over the course of the match, Real Kashmir held their nerves to earn a point from the game. After Gnohere Krizo put the Kashmir-based side in the driver’s seat in the 33rd minute, De La Espada heeled in the equaliser in the 75th minute to provide East Bengal supporters with some much-needed respite. From the start, the hosts looked fluent, passing the ball swiftly and going forward with intent. They won the first free-kick of the match but a poor delivery by Juan Mera Gonzales was easily cleared by the RKFC defence line. East Bengal did well to earn the point but would be disappointed for failing to win at home. With their arch-rivals Mohun Bagan also beginning the competition with a draw, the much-fancied Kolkata side would need to pull up their socks in the upcoming games.
Taekwondo:
South Asian Games- India dominated the taekwondo events of the 13th South Asian Games by clinching six medals, including three gold in Kathmandu on Wednesday. Latika Bhandari (under 53kg), Jarnel Singh (under 74kg) and Rudali Barua (over 73kg) won a gold each on day three of competitions. Saurav and Gangjot clinched a silver medal in the men’s under 63kg and women’s 62kg events respectively, while Chaitanya Inamdar bagged a bronze in the men’s over 86kg category. On Tuesday, the taekwondo players had won one gold and three bronze medals.
Tennis:
AO Open wildcard playoff- India’s Sasi Kumar Mukund advanced to the quarter-finals of the Asia-Oceania Australian Open wild card play-off in Zhuhai, China on Wednesday, beating compatriot Sidharth Rawat 6-3, 6-2. Rawat, who had qualified for the main draw with a fighting 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 win over Arjun Kadhe, could not maintain the momentum against seventh seed Mukund. The Indian will play Yun-seong Chung for a place in the semi-final, after the Korean beat fourth seed Denis Istomin. Ramkumar Ramanathan is the other Indian in the main draw. He is seeded third and drawn to play Ze Zhang of China on Thursday in singles. He is also playing doubles with Kadhe and the third-seeded Indian pair were given a bye in the first round. At the ongoing $25K ITF event in Solapur, India No 1 and second seed Ankita Raina advanced to the second round with a comprehensive 6-3, 6-0 win over Valeriya Strakhova. The other Indians to reach the second round were Vaidehi Chaudhari who beat Steffi Carruthers 6-4, 6-2, JenniferLuikham who beat Anna Morgina 6-4, 6-1 and Riya Bhatia defeated Saumya Vig 6-3, 6-0. The other Indians in action went down in their openers. Berfu Cengiz defeated Mahak Jain 6-3, 6-2, Daria Mishina beat Mihika Yadav 6-3, 7-5, third seed Yue Yuan beat Pranjala Yadlapalli 6-4, 6-4, fifth seed Naiktha Bains beat Ramya Natarajan 6-0, 6-4, Katie Boulter beat Rutuja Bhosale 6-4, 6-1 and fourth seed Ulrikke Eikeri defeated wild card Akanksha Dileep Nitture 6-0, 6-0.
Basketball:
NBA- Giannis Antetokounmpo’s 35 points propelled the Milwaukee Bucks to a 13th straight NBA victory on Wednesday, a hard-fought 127-103 win over the Pistons in Detroit. Antetokounmpo, the reigning NBA Most Valuable Player, powered through a contentious encounter, pulling down six rebounds and handing out nine assists as the Bucks continued their domination of the Pistons. The Bucks improved to 19-3 – tied for best record in the league with the Western Conference-leading Los Angeles Lakers, who beat the Utah Jazz 121-96 in Salt Lake City. Milwaukee, whose eight wins over Detroit last season included a first-round playoff sweep, have now notched two wins this season over the Pistons. The Bucks led by 11 at halftime, and by 20 after three quarters as the Pistons proved unable to mount a challenge. Khris Middleton added 17 points for Milwaukee and Eric Bledsoe chipped in 15. Andre Drummond led Detroit with 23 points, 14 rebounds and five assists.
