Indian sports News- November 9th

November 9, 2019

Bytes: Future tour programme, Syed Mushtaq Ali, Nike probe, IndvsBan decider, Nic Maddinson, Run for Unity, Para Athletics WC, Wrestling Senior National, Volleyball Pro League, Golf- Hero WPG, Shooting-IOA, Hockey WC Venue decided, Basketball- LA Lakers

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:
Tour program- The BCCI has got a shot in the arm after England and Wales Cricket Board officially intimated International Cricket Council that it will not support the global body’s bid to have a flagship event every year from 2023 to 2031. With the Indian board having already opposed the proposed move, and with Cricket Australia also having done the same, it is understood that the ICC may now face severe roadblocks on the issue with the ‘Big Three’ of world cricket in agreement among themselves. “ECB is not in a position to support the current proposal for ICC events from 2023-2031,” ECB chairman Colin Graves wrote in an email to ICC Chief Executive Manu Sawhney. The ICC in its last meeting in Dubai had proposed that in the next Futures Tours and Programme cycle for the eight year period between 2023 and 2031, there would be two 50 over World Cups, four T20 World Cup and two more multi-nation tournaments to make it eight events in eight years. Graves broadly made three specific points as to why ECB will not be able to support the move. First, their own bilateral engagements will be compromised; second, concern about workload and health of their players; and third, an extra ICC event in a particular year will take sheen off the ICC World Test Championship final.

IndvsBan- India will be eyeing their first T20 International series win at home this season when they take on Bangladesh in the decisive third game here on Sunday, with the hope that their fringe players contribute significantly to a victory. In the absence of some senior players, including skipper Virat Kohli, India’s primary objective of the T20 series was to identify the core of players for the T20 World Cup next year. Not much was achieved on that front in the first two games barring the successful comeback of leggie Yuzvendra Chahal, who once again proved his wicket-taking ability in the middle overs. After Chahal and Co. restricted Bangladesh to 153 for six in Rajkot, skipper Rohit Sharma blew the opposition away with a sublime 85 to level the series 1-1. Washington Sundar, who has been preferred to chinaman Kuldeep Yadav, has kept things tight but has not been as threatening as Chahal. Pacer Khaleel Ahmed leaked runs in both the games, increasing the possibility of Shardul Thakur partnering Deepak Chahar on Sunday.

Syed Mushtaq Ali- Karnataka won their 15th T20 match on the trot for an Indian record when they humbled Uttarakhand by nine wickets in a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy Group A match, here on Friday. Opener Rohan Kadam and in-form Devdutt Padikkal struck unbeaten half centuries to set up Karnataka’s victory while chasing a 133-run target. Kadam’s unbeaten 67 came from 55 balls and was studded with six boundaries and three sixes while Padikkal needed 33 deliveries for his unbeaten 53. The duo added 108 runs for the unconquered second wicket to take Karnataka home in 15.4 overs after the other opener Ravikumar Samarth was out for seven off Pradeep Chamoli. Earlier, electing to bat first, Uttarakhand could only score 132 for six in their allotted 20 overs with captain Tanmay Srivastava top-scoring with 39. The win saw defending champions Karnataka not only create an Indian record for most T20 wins in a row (15 wins), but also moved to second spot in the overall world list, joint with Otago, New Zealand. Sialkot Stallions had won 25 games on the trot in Pakistan’s National T20 Cup between 2006 and 2010, according to ESPNCricinfo.

Nic Maddinson- Nic Maddinson on Saturday pulled out of Australia A’s clash against Pakistan in Perth on mental health grounds, all-but ruling him out of contention for a berth in the Test squad. The middle-order batsman’s decision comes barely a week after Glenn Maxwell withdrew from Australia’s T20I team to deal with similar issues. Cameron Bancroft will replace Maddinson for the three-day match against Pakistan at Perth Stadium on Monday. “Nic has made the right decision and we are all behind him,” said Australia A coach Graeme Hick.

Athletics:
Run for Unity- Several trainers hired by the Sports Authority of Gujarat to prepare young talents at the school level on Friday alleged 19 of them were sacked for being absent during the ‘Run For Unity’ event held on October 31. The sacking, they claimed, came despite some of them missing out on the event due to illness and pregnancy. “Our services have been terminated just because we could not attend Run for Unity event at our respective places,” said Hansraj Chauhan, a fencing trainer stationed at a school in Banaskantha. He said all 19 trainers would make a representation to SAG officials at Gandhinagar on Monday against the decision. The notification, dated November 7, was addressed to four private agencies which were roped in under the ‘In- School’ scheme of SAG to provide trainers to prepare school students in different sports such as Badminton, Athletics, Fencing, Volleyball and Basketball. It said SAG Director General CV Som has given assent. Som could not be contacted for comments. The notification, under the heading ‘In-School Run for Unity Absent Trainers detail’ has a list of 19 trainers whose services were terminated. These include one Mohammad Imran Shaikh, an athletics trainer stationed at a school in Gandhidham, Kutch. In the remark section against his name, SAG noted “Absent [Own Marriage].” Payal Antala, a badminton trainer from Navsari was sacked as she was absent because of “Emergency Medical Leave Pregnancy.”

Para athletics WC- Indian duo of Sandeep Chaudhary and Sumit created world records on the way to their gold and silver medals respectively in the F64 javelin event of the World Para Athletics Championships in Dubai on Friday. Sandeep hurled the javelin to a distance of 66.18m to better his own world record of 65.80m in F44 category, while Sumit sent the spear to a distance of 62.88m to clinch the silver and better his own F64 world record of 60.45m. Both Indian para athletes were competing together in a combined event and set world records for their respective categories. (F44 and F64 categories were clubbed into one combined event in this World Championships. The world records are, however, counted according to the classification of the athletes.) Roman Novak of Ukraine, a F44 athlete, took the bronze with a best throw of 57.36m. The F44 category athletes have leg amputations or reduced function in one or both legs, and they compete without a prosthesis. The F64 category athletes have limb deficiency and leg length difference, and they compete with prosthesis.

Nike probe- Nike says it is investigating claims by former runner Mary Cain that she suffered physical and mental abuse as a member of the Nike Oregon Project headed by disgraced coach Alberto Salazar. Cain, 23, was a high school prodigy who was tipped for middle-distance greatness. She qualified for the 2013 World Championships and made the final of the 1,500m there at the age of 17. In an op-ed for The New York Times published on Thursday, Cain wrote that she suffered suicidal thoughts and began cutting herself as a result of the methods employed by Salazar and the Oregon Project staff. Under pressure upon her arrival with the team in Eugene, Oregon, to become “thinner and thinner and thinner,” Cain said she eventually stopped menstruating for three years and broke five bones because of osteoporosis. “These are deeply troubling allegations which have not been raised by Mary or her parents before,” Nike said in a statement on Friday. Nike shut down the Oregon Project in October when Salazar was banned for four years for an array of doping offenses that included trafficking in testosterone, tampering with the doping control process and administering illicit infusions of the fat-burning substance L-carnitine. Salazar has denied wrongdoing and vowed to appeal the ban.

Wrestling:
Senior National Championship- Wrestlers from Uttar Pradesh are likely to miss the Senior National Championships scheduled later this month in Jalandhar as the senior State Championships in the northern state were cancelled ahead of the verdict in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute case. A five-member Constitution bench of the Supreme Court had on October 16 concluded a marathon 40-day hearing in the dispute, and reserved its verdict in the case. The verdict is expected on Saturday. The Union Home Ministry had on Thursday asked all states, particularly Uttar Pradesh, to increase security ahead of the verdict. The 65th senior Uttar Pradesh men’s freestyle and Greco-Roman championships and the 22nd women’s wrestling state championships were scheduled to be held in Bulandshahr from November 21 to November 24. However, the district administration refused to give security clearance to the tournament. “The district association approached the administration but they refused citing the Ayodhya case,” Uttar Pradesh Wrestling Association General Secretary Prem Kumar Mishra told Scroll.in. “We cannot take the risk of conducting such a tournament where hundreds of wrestlers and crowd come. The administration would have taken action against us.” Around 600 wrestlers were expected to take part in the championships, which would have acted as the trials for selecting the team for National Championship scheduled to be held in Jalandhar from November 28 to December 1.

Volleyball:
Pro League- The second season of the Pro Volleyball League will kick off from February 7 next year, Volleyball Federation of India (VFI) said on Friday. After a series of meetings involving VFI, Baseline Ventures India Pvt Ltd and world governing body (FIVB), it was announced that the second season will be longer than Season 1 and will feature a total of 22 matches with the final of the league to be played on March 1. “The RuPay Pro Volleyball League is turning out to be a real game-changer. The league has given new aspirations to the young volleyball players of the country and provided an opportunity for our volleyball players to rub shoulders with some of the best in the world,” said VFI president S Vasudevan. Talking about FIVB’s plans for the sport in the country, FIVB General Director, Fabio Azevedo said, “The development of the national league is key in preparation of the top national team players on the road to Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Golf:
India roundup- Ridhima Dilawari lifted her fourth title of the season when she emerged winner at the 14th leg of the Women’s Pro Golf Tour at the Noida Golf Course on Friday. Dilawari carded a one-over 73 after a pair of bogeys towards the end but still won by six shots ahead of Tvesa Malik and Amadeep Drall, who were tied second. Dilawari, who totalled three-under 213, is now the top winner this season while Malik has three wins. Malik (70) was the only player to shoot under par in the final round and tied with Drall (73) for second place at 219. Diksha Dagar, who shot 78 on second day, carded 73 on the final day to finish fourth at 220 and Gaurika Bishnoi ended a none-too-happy week with a 75 and was fifth at 223. Astha Madan (73) and Saaniya Sharma (76) were sixth and seventh respectively, while Ananya Datar (75) and Smriti Mehra (81) were Tied-eighth at 234. Ishvari Prasanna (78) and Siddhi Kapoor (79) were Tied-tenth at 235. Starting with a huge six-shot lead, Dilawari was very steady through the front nine with eight pars followed by a birdie on ninth. A birdie on 11th meant she was two-under for the day. Her first bogey of the day came on 12th, which was followed by four pars and finally two bogeys. Malik, nine behind at the start, bogeyed third and seventh before back-to-back birdies ensured she was even for the front nine. A birdie on 13th and another on 18th meant she finished at 2 under 70. \Drall bogeyed the Par-3 16th and Par-4 18th and fell into a tie for second. Dagar parred the first 12 holes before dropping shots on 13th and 15th. Her solitary birdie of the day came on the Par-3 16th. Bishnoi stayed on top of the Hero Order of Merit, while Drall and Dilawari moved up one place each to become second and third. Neha Tripathi, second at the start of the week, slipped to fourth after finishing 15th.

Shooting:
IOA- Commonwealth Games Federation President Louise Martin will arrive in New Delhi on November 13 for a meeting with Indian Olympic Association’s top officials, who have proposed a boycott of the 2022 Birmingham CWG for shooting’s exclusion from the roster. CGF CEO David Grevemberg and Media and Communications Manger Tom Degun will accompany Martin for the two-day visit to India. The meeting was agreed upon following Indian Olympic Association’s proposal to the Sports Ministry in July to boycott 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games. The meeting between the top brasses of the CGF and the IOA will be held on November 14. The IOA delegation will be led by its president Narinder Batra and will also have secretary general Rajeev Mehta. The CGF chief and the CEO will meet Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju later on the same day. The CGF delegation will also visit some venues of the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games and have a meeting with the IOA Athletes Commission. The visiting top officials of the CGF will hold a press conference on November 14, along with Batra and Mehta.

Hockey:
WC venue- India are set to host the men’s Hockey World Cup for the fourth time and the second successive edition after the 2018 tournament was played in Bhubaneshwar in November-December 2018. On the occasion of its last meeting of the year in Lausanne, the Executive Board of the International Hockey Federation has selected India to host the 2023 FIH Hockey Men’s World Cup (13-29 January 2023) and Spain and the Netherlands to co-host the 2022 FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup (1-17 July 2022). The venues will be announced by the host nations, the federation informed in the press release. The competition format of the 2023 FIH Hockey Men’s World Cup will be the same as in 2018, which received an overwhelming response at the Kalinga Stadium in Odisha. India was among the three nations who have presented their bids to host the next edition of the men’s World cup. India, who have hosted the men’s World Cup thrice before, will now host back-to-back tournaments. Belgium and Malaysia were the other two nations who have also sent their bidding dossier to conduct the men’s event. The schedule of the 2022 FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup will be as follows:

• Preliminary Phase:
• 2 Preliminary phase pools in the Netherlands (including the Dutch team)
• 2 Preliminary phase pools in Spain (including the Spanish team)
• Quarter-Finals:
• 2 crossover matches and 2 quarter-finals in the Netherlands
• 2 crossover matches and 2 quarter-finals in Spain
• Final phase in Spain:
• Semi-finals
• Match for 3rd place
• Final

Basketball:
NBA- Anthony Davis and LeBron James combined for 51 points as the Los Angeles Lakers won their seventh straight game with a 95-80 victory over the Miami Heat. Davis finished with a team-leading 26 points and eight rebounds and James scored 12 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter for the Lakers who are also 4-0 at home. James had his streak of triple doubles snapped at three games as he finished with six assists and four rebounds. “I just wanted to be aggressive and see if I could make it count,” said James, who registered his 1,000th career double double. His three triple doubles in the previous three contests made him the first to do it since Magic Johnson accomplished the feat 32 years ago. James previously led the Heat to two NBA titles before leaving to rejoin the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2014.

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