Indian Sports News- October 11th
October 11, 2019
Bytes: Sandesh Jhinghan, Wrestling pay dispute, Pro Kabaddi League, Formula One- Japan GP, Virat Kohli 200, IPL, Shanghai Masters, Mens Boxing Nationals, Women’s World Championship, Billiards, Italian Open- Subhankar Sharma
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:
Wrestling:
Pay dispute- Wrestling Federation of India’s problems with the coaching staff seem to have compounded further with Frenchman Fanel Carp, who was working with Rio Olympics bronze medallist Sakshi Malik and Pooja Dhanda, leaving the country over pay dispute, according to a report. Carp was roped in to work with the two wrestlers earlier this year but left home a week ago after not getting any clarity on his payment structure and tenure, the Tribunereported on Friday. The report added that Carp was offered a coaching contract in June when he was visiting India and was asked to complete the visa formalities to join the team. However, the Frenchman was with the squad during the training stints in Europe and a few international tournaments and felt that he should have been paid since June. He was paid a salary only for August and September. Both Malik and Dhanda failed to win a medal at the wrestling world championships in NurSultan last month but the latter did reach the semi-finals and came within a whisker of a second medal at the event. Earlier this month, the Wrestling Federation had sackedfreestyle coach Hossein Karimi claiming the Iranian brought himself a VIP culture with him which cannot be followed in the country.
Cricket:
IndvsSA- On another day of many milestones , Virat Kohli reached his seventh double century in the longest format as he dominated a hapless South Africa bowling attack in the second Test being played in Pune. Kohli reached the landmark immediately after tea and in the process, crossed the run-tally of Sir Don Bradman and reached 7,000 Test runs as well. At tea, Kohli reached 194 in his 50th Test as captain with India on 473/4 on day two of the second Test on Friday. Kohli had put on 97 for the fifth wicket with Ravindra Jadeja who was on 25. The skipper started the day on 63, surviving hostile fast bowling from Kagiso Rabada and Vernon Philander. He brought up his hundred before lunch with a delightful straight drive for a boundary off Philander and has hit 28 fours so far. His 178-run stand with overnight partner Ajinkya Rahane – who made 58 before becoming spinner Keshav Maharaj’s 100th Test victim in the only wicket to fall Friday – took the attack to the opposition bowlers.
IPL- Former India captain and coach Anil Kumble on Friday was appointed as the head coach of Indian Premier League franchise Kings XI Punjab. At the board meeting of the franchise and co-owner Ness Wadia made it clear that they wanted Kumble as the director and coach of the team. “Kumble is our choice to coach Kings XI. The world knows about his cricketing and coaching abilities. He’s very calm, cool and collected person. He comes with a lot of experience in the IPL, having worked with two other franchises in the past, and also with the Indian team. We’re pretty sure that under his leadership, Kings XI will do very well,” Wadia was quoted as saying by The Times of India. KXIP have also brought West Indies great Courtney Walsh on board as talent scout. Former India spinner Sunil Joshi and Kumble’s longtime national and state teammate will be the assistant coach of the Punjab franchise. South African great Jonty Rhodes is set to be the team’s fielding coach and former Australian captain George Bailey will coach the batsmen.
Football:
ACL Tear- Defender Sandesh Jhingan was on Thursday ruled out of India’s Group E Fifa World Cup qualifier against Bangladesh to be played at the Saltlake Stadium here on October 15. It was initially thought that the Kerala Blasters FC centre back, who made an impact in India’s gallant goalless draw against Qatar last month, sustained just an ankle injury during a friendly match against North East United in Guwahati on Wednesday. Defender Sandesh Jhingan was on Thursday ruled out of India’s Group E Fifa World Cup qualifier against Bangladesh to be played at the Saltlake Stadium here on October 15. It was initially thought that the Kerala Blasters FC centre back, who made an impact in India’s gallant goalless draw against Qatar last month, sustained just an ankle injury during a friendly match against North East United in Guwahati on Wednesday. But MRI tests on Thursday showed that he needs surgery as he has suffered an anterior cruciate ligament tear. This means that the defender could be out for as many as six months and will miss World Cup qualifying matches against Bangladesh (October 15), Afghanistan (November 14), Oman (November 19) and possibly even Qatar (March 26). The Blue Tigers team will reach Kolkata on Sunday.
Tennis:
Shanghai Masters- World No 1 Novak Djokovic was stunned in the Shanghai Masters quarter-finals by young Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas in three sets on Friday. He will now play another rising star in his Saturday semi-final match when he takes on US Open finalist, 23-year-old Daniil Medvedev. The seventh-ranked Tsitsipas recovered from losing the opening three games in just seven minutes to shock the reigning champion 3-6, 7-5, 6-3. He sealed the deal with a gleeful smash and held both arms aloft. Tsitsipas has now defeated the top-ranked Serbian twice in their three matches – further proof that the 21-year-old is a serious contender at the top of men’s tennis. After a dreadful start, he found his feet in the second set, winning on a tie break, then went 3-1 up in the decider when Djokovic planted his forehand wide on the third break point. The other match is between Austria’s Dominic Thiem, who beat Tsitsipas to the China Open title on Sunday, and Italy’s Matteo Berrettini. US Open champion Rafael Nadal is not in Shanghai because of a wrist injury.
Motorsports:
Formula One- The Japanese Grand Prix’s entire Saturday track programme, including qualifying, has been cancelled as Typhoon Hagibis bears down on the Suzuka circuit, race organisers announced Friday. Qualifying will be rescheduled to 10am local time (0100 GMT) Sunday, with the race taking place at 2:10pm (0510 GMT) as originally planned, providing the weather improves. The Suzuka circuit will be closed, with no public or media allowed in for safety reasons as Hagibis, packing heavy rain and winds in excess of 200 kilometres (125 miles) per hour is expected to make landfall on Saturday. “As a result of the predicted impact of Typhoon Hagibis on the Formula One Japanese Grand Prix, Mobilityland and the Japanese Automobile Federation have decided to cancel all activities scheduled to take place on Saturday,” said a statement by motorsport’s governing body FIA. The decision means the teams and drivers will just have Friday’s two practice sessions in which to prepare for Sunday morning’s qualifying session because Saturday’s third session will not be rescheduled.
Boxing:
World Championships- India’s most decorated women’s boxer MC Mary Kom assured herself of an eighth Women’s World Boxing Championships medal and her first in the 51kg category when she upset Rio Olympics bronze medallist Ingrit Valencia Victoria of Colombia by a unanimous 5-0 decision in Ulan-Ude on Thursday. Debutants Manju Rani (48kg) and Jamuna Boro (54kg) also joined her in the semi-finals later in the day, while another seasoned boxer Lovlina Borgohain also ensured a medal for herself in what was a near-perfect day for India in the Russian city. The wins ensured that India equalled their last edition’s performance in terms of number of medals won. And Mary Kom surpassed herself as the most successful boxer in the Women’s World Championship history by securing an unprecedented eighth medal. Rani stunned top seed and last edition’s bronze-medallist Kim Hyang Mi of South Korea 4-1, while Boro, an Assam Rifles employee, got the better of Germany’s Ursula Gottlob by a similar margin after draining showdowns. Borgohain, on the other hand, pulled off a facile 4-1 triumph over Poland’s sixth-seeded Karolina Koszewska. However, two-time bronze-medallist Kavita Chahal (+81kg) bowed out after a 0-5 loss to Belarus’ Katsiaryna Kavaleva. Entering into this edition, Mary Kom had six gold and a silver in her kitty but this is the first time, she has secured a world medal in the 51kg category. She had finished a quarter-finalist in this division in the past.
Men’s Nationals- Services continued its domination at the national level and defended their title as Mohammad Hussamuddin (57kg) and PL Prasad (52kg) won gold medals on the last day of fourth Elite Men’s National Boxing Championships at the Baddi University of Emerging Sciences and Technology in Himachal Pradesh on Thursday. Shiva Thapa (63kg) also emerged as the champion in his category. Services won nine medals including six gold, two silver and one bronze to top the points table with 62 points while Railways and Haryana finished second and third with 37 and 30 points respectively. In one of the highly-anticipated bouts of the day, Railways’ Sachin Siwach took on Hussamuddin of Services in the 57 kg final. The bout started with the latter conceding more punches as the five-feet nine-inch Sachin took advantage of his height. The next two rounds saw Hussamuddin making a comeback as he dodged a lot of punches and adopted an attacking strategy mixed with counter-attacking punches to fetch a 3-2 split verdict in his favour. In 63 kg final, Assam’s Shiva Thapa grabbed the gold medal after defeating Services’ Akash 4-1. Shiva started slowly and took some time to gauge his opponent’s strategy but once he settled in, he dominated the proceedings and controlled the bout. A total of 308 boxers from 39 steams participated in the tournament.
Athletics:
Marathon- As he prepares for more assaults on the peaks of marathon running, Eliud Kipchoge stays true to an austere lifestyle despite his fame and fortune. The Kenyan superstar, who holds the marathon world record and is reigning Olympic champion, hopes to become the first man to run the 42.195 kilometres in under two hours on Saturday in Vienna. Despite his status and wealth, the 2018 world athlete of the year leads a monastic existence at a spartan running camp in Kenya’s Rift Valley. With the 30 or so runners living at the camp, Kipchoge sets off at dawn for the first of two daily training sessions. The rest of his time is spent resting, reading and eating, with a focus on simple Kenyan food staples. Kipchoge, 34, went close to breaking the two-hour barrier when he was 25 seconds too slow in another staged run, at Italy’s Monza race circuit in 2017.
Golf:
Italian Open- Indian golfer Shubhankar Sharma made a superb start with a five-under 66 to lie tied third on the first day of the Italian Open in Rome on Thursday. Shubhankar is trailing Finn Tapio Pulkkanen (64) and Rory Sabbatini (65). He is currently sharing the third place with Kurt Kitayama, Joost Luiten, Bernd Wiesberger and Justin Rose. Shubhankar, who has been playing well but not being able to sustain his level for a full week, had four birdies, an eagle and a bogey on his card. It was Shubhankar’s third card of 66 in last six week starts besides four 67s and two 68s. Yet each week he has been undone by one poor round that has seen him drop on the leaderboard. His best since the tied sixth at Hong Kong in late November last year, was tied 17th at BMW PGA, where he was in line for a top-five before falling because of a disappointing 76 in the final round. India’s other two stars in the field – Gaganjeet Bhullar and SSP Chawrasia – were placed way down in 110th place following cards of three-over 74 each. Luiten, a six time winner on the European Tour, is one place above Kitayama on the rankings after another consistent season with a Rolex Series top three in Abu Dhabi and a World Golf Championships top-10 in Mexico.
Billiards:
World Championship- Defending world billiards champion in the long-up format, Sourav Kothari, on Thursday, knocked out Pankaj Advani in the pre-quarterfinals of the World Championship in Melbourne. In one of his most commanding performances, Kothari amassed huge breaks of 407, 295 and 170 in a display of relentless scoring to register a comfortable 1047-663 win over Advani in a match stretched to two hours and 30 minutes. In his second visit to the table itself, Kothari made his intentions clear by immaculate display of the top of the table play by making a 295 break. Advani, when he got a chance, made a light contribution before handing over the charge back to Kothari who amid huge uproar made a mammoth break of 407 displaying deft touch at the top of the table. Kothari will take on Robert Hall of England in the quarter-finals on Friday.
Kabaddi:
Pro Kabaddi League- Haryana Steelers fought hard against U Mumba before going down 33-39 in the Pro Kabaddi at Greater Noida on Thursday. Kuldeep Singh and Sunil set the ball rolling for the Haryana Steelers with a couple of tackle points in the opening minutes of the match before Vinay pulled off a fantastic raid in the 4th minute to help Haryana take the lead at 4-3. However, U Mumba picked up some crucial points and took a three-point lead at 9-6 in the 11th minute. The Haryana Steelers fought back through raid points by Vinay and Naveen as they leveled the match at 9-9. U Mumba were leading at 15-14 in the dying minutes of the first half, but Ravi Kumar carried out an excellent tackle just before the whistle to level the scores again at the break.
