Indian sports News- October 21st
October 21, 2019
Bytes: Vijay Hazare, BCB, Andy Murray wins ATP Title, World Deaf Championship, World Military Games, Dubai and Egypt International, Golf-Jeev Milkha, Airtel Delhi Half Marathon
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:
Vijay Hazare- Opener KL Rahul continued his good form as his stroke-filled 90 guided Karnataka to the semi-finals as Shikhar Dhawan’s failure proved costly with Delhi exiting from another quarter-finals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy in Bengaluru on Sunday. While Karnataka cruised to an eight-wicket victory over Puducherry, Delhi lost by six wickets to Gujarat via VJD Method in another last eight clash. Put into bat, Puducherry crawled to 207/9 with VMM Marimuthu top scoring with an unbeaten 58. The Karnataka bowlers led by the vastly experienced Abhimanyu Mithun (2/35) ran through the Pondicherry top and middle order before Mariumuthu and Sagar Trivedi (54) tried to rally their innings.
BCB- Bangladesh’s tour of India, scheduled to begin on November 3, is in doubt as their players are set to go on strike, according to a report by ESPNcricinfo. The Bangladeshi cricketers called for a press conference on Monday to take a stand against the country’s cricket board. The players, led by veteran Shakib Al Hasan, have announced that they will not participate in any cricketing activities unless a 11-point demand made by them is not met by the Bangladesh Cricket Board. Bangladesh are scheduled to play three T20 Internationals and two Test matches in India.
Rajasthan Royals- Indian Premier League franchise Rajasthan Royals appointed Australia’s Andrew McDonald as the new head coach for a tenure of three years on Monday. The former Australian all-rounder has earlier coached Leicestershire, Victoria and the Melbourne Renegades. McDonald has been a part of the IPL in the past, having played for Delhi Daredevils in the 2009 season, before being signed up by Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2012–13. He was later appointed as the bowling coach of RCB.
IPL- The Indian Premier League is set to become a bit longer, according to a report in The Indian Express. The next edition of the T20 tournament is likely to run from April 1 to May 30. The duration of the IPL could increase as the Board of Control for Cricket in India is considering more night matches. According to the report, the BCCI wants each team to play just one day game in a season. This will mean very few double-headers on the weekends. With regards to the duration of the league, the board is said to have devised a few options with the broadcasters and will update the franchises in the coming months. The IPL has a two-month window as of now and the BCCI is keen to utilise the time in the best way possible. There are two factors the BCCI is considering as it deliberates this change. Firstly, there are franchises like Mumbai Indians who have argued that early starts to matches or day games attract lesser crowds. The argument is that people can only come to stadiums after finishing office hours. A decision on this matter is expected to be taken when the IPL Governing Council meets in the coming months.
Tennis:
Antwerp- Andy Murray said he was “very proud” after earning his first ATP title since March 2017 on Sunday with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory over fellow three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka in the Antwerp final. Former world No 1 Murray, who contemplated retirement earlier this year before undergoing career-saving hip surgery, fought back from a set and 3-1 down to claim his 46th career title. Murray became the lowest-ranked ATP champion since No 355 Pablo Andujar triumphed at the 2018 Marrakech Open. “I’ve really enjoyed my week here. The atmosphere the last few days has been amazing,” said Murray. “I’m very proud of the win this week.”
World Deaf Championship- India’s Prithvi Sekhar did not drop as he became the men’s singles champion in the World Deaf Tennis Championship in Antalya, Turkey, while Riya Bhatia reached the women’s singles final of the $25000 ITF tournament in Lagos, Nigeria. The 26-year-old, who trains under Sureshkumar Sonachalam in Chennai, defeated Czech Republic’s Jaroslav Smedek 6-4, 6-3 in the men’s singles final. Unseeded in the singles competition, Prithvi had defeated four seeded players in the competition including top seed Gabor Mathe of Hungary in the semi-finals. Earlier, he had won the men’s doubles bronze medal partnering Prashanth Dasharath Harsambhavi. The duo defeated third seed Mario Kargl and Jurgen Scheutz of Austria 6-3, 6-0 in the bronze medal play-off.
Football:
ISL- Two-time champions ATK scored a memorable first goal of the sixth season of Indian Super League but that was not enough to provide them with any joy in the opening match at the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium in Kochi on Sunday as Kerala Blasters won 2-1. Carl McHugh had put ATK ahead with an absolute stunner in only the sixth minute of the game but the hosts, egged on by a vociferous crowd, hit back with two goals from new signing Bartholomew Ogbeche in the first half for a 2-1 victory. The result sees Kerala get the better of ATK in their ISL opener once again, having recorded a 2-0 win last season in Kolkata. The game got off to an electrifying start with the visitors stunning the packed crowd early in the game. ATK capitalised on a free-kick given for a foul on Jayesh Rane by Jeakson Singh. The set-piece into the box was cushioned back for McHugh by Agustin García Iniguez at the far post. The Irishman went on to slam a brilliant first-time volley with his left foot that gave Bilal Khan in the Kerala goal no chance whatsoever. Shortly after, Krishna saw another shot from close-range blocked away by substitute Mario Arques. But Eelco Schattorie’s team held their nerves and fashioned a few chances of their own. Ultimately, they saw off the game quite comfortably to start their campaign on a winning note.
Boxing:
World Military Games- Indian boxers Duryodhan Singh Negi and Jaideep advanced to the pre-quarterfinals of their respective weight categories in the World Military Games in Wuhan on Sunday. Negi (69kg), a former national champion, beat Hikal Mohamed of Egypt 5-0 in his round of 32 bout while Jaideep (75kg) also won by an identical margin against Nabah Ahmad of Qatar. On Saturday, Asian champion Amit Panghal won his opening bout in the men’s flyweight (52kg) category as the boxers gave India a good start in the Games. India is being represented by 54 athletes in nine sports – Archery, boxing, diving, modern pentathlon, shooting, track and field, gymnastics and tennis – in the Games. India won six medals in the 2015 edition, which was held in South Korea.
Badminton:
Egypt and Dubai International- Kuhoo Garg and Dhruv Rawat put up a brilliant effort to win the mixed doubles title at the Egypt International 2019 in Cairo on Sunday. Unseeded Garg and Rawat held their nerves for a tight 21-16, 22-20 victory over the third seeds Utkarsh Arora and Karishma Wadkar in an all-Indian final. Garg and Rawat showed excellent understanding as they had accounted for the second seeds Ahmed Salah and Hadia Hosny 21-16 21-15 of Egypt in the second round and then followed it up with a comeback 16-21 21-16 21-9 win over fourth seeds Koceila Mammeri and Linda Mazri of Algeria in the semi-finals. Garg, however, failed to have double delight as she later went down in the women’s doubles final with Sanyogita Ghorpade. The two gave their all before bowing out narrowly, 16-21 21-19 19-21 to third seeds Simran Singhi and Ritika Thaker. Meanwhile, at the Dubai International Challenge, Rituparna Das succumbed to a 21-23, 17-21 defeat in 36 minutes to Japan’s World No. 208 Mako Urushizaki. The World No. 144 was looking for her first BWF title of the year.
Golf:
Jeev Milkha Tourney- Chandigarh’s Ajeetesh Sandhu pipped Delhi’s Rashid Khan for the title in a photo-finish on the final day of the Jeev Milkha Singh Invitational tournament in Chandigarh on Sunday. Sandhu, playing at his home course, made a spectacular comeback in regulation play before coming through in a marathon playoff that lasted four extra holes at the Chandigarh Golf Club. It was a classical contest for the ages that saw Sandhu collect the winning cheque worth Rs. 24,24,750 that catapulted him from 48th to second position in the Tata Steel PGTI Order of Merit. Rashid extended his lead to over Rs 34 lakhs in the PGTI’s money list despite his heart-breaking loss. Khan’s PGTI earnings for 2019 now stand at a whopping Rs. 61,21,653. Sandhu (66-69-67-66) and Khan (71-64-67-66), the joint leaders after round three, headed for the playoff on Sunday after ending up with identical totals of 20-under-268 in regulation play. It turned out to be the lowest winning score at the Chandigarh Golf Club, improving on Rahil Gangjee’s 13-under-275 at the PGTI Players Championship in 2013. Karandeep Kochhar of Chandigarh took third place at 17-under-271 after a flawless 68 in round four. Abhijit Singh Chadha, another local lad, matched the course record score of eight-under-64 to take a share of 15th place at seven-under-281. Chadha’s sizzling round featured an eagle, seven birdies and a bogey.
Athletics:
Delhi Half Marathon- Defending champions Andamlak Belihu and Tsehay Gemechu retained their respective men’s and women’s titles at the 15th Delhi Half Marathon in New Delhi on October 20. Ethiopia’s Belihu clocked a timing of 59:10 to defend his title, while Gemechu broke her event record and also produced her personal best with an impressive 66:00. Belihu, who had won the prestigious IAAF Gold Label Race last year with a time of 59 minute 18 seconds, finished ahead of fellow Ethopian Solomon Berihu, who clocked 59:17. Kenya’s Kibiwott Kandie finished third with a timing of 59:33. Belihu missed the course record by just four seconds, which was set by Ethiopia’s Guye Adola (59.06), in the 2014 edition. “I know I missed the course record. So I am a bit disappointed but overall it was a good race. So I am happy,” said Belihu. In the women’s race, Ethiopia’s Yelamzerf Yehualaw clocked 1:06:01 to grab the second place, while Zeineba Yimer clocked 1:06:57 for the third place. Gemechu, who had scored a personal best of 66:50 to set a course record last year, said: “I broke the course record and I am happy that i could achieve it. I was tired after doha. But I wanted to win in Delhi. I am very happy. It is also my personal best.”
