Indian sports News- September 26th
September 26, 2019
Bytes: Vijay Hazare Trophy, Rahul Dravid in front of BCCI ethics officer, TNCA chief selected, India to play SL instead Zimbabwe, Korean Open, Pro Kabaddi League, Asian age group swimming Championship, SAFF Under-18 SFs, Jaipur Open Golf, Pankaj Advani wins Snooker worlds
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:
IndvsZim replacement- The Board of Control for Cricket in India and Sri Lanka Cricket have agreed to play a three-match T20 International series during the month of January 2020. This decision is in the wake of Zimbabwe’s suspension by ICC, as the African side was meant to tour India in that time. The BCCI invited Sri Lanka to participate in the three-match series instead and the invitation has been accepted by the Island nation. The suspension of Zimbabwe Cricket by the International Cricket Council had cast doubts on the limited-overs tour to India in January next year but the BCCI will wait till October to consider a back-up plan. The ICC Board had decided that ZC, an ICC Full Member, is in breach of Article 2.4 (c) and (d) of its constitution which imposes an obligation on members to provide a process for free and democratic elections. Zimbabwe most recently played in the tri-nation Twenty20 tournament in Bangladesh, an event not organised by the ICC.
Vijay Hazare- Skipper Dinesh Karthik led from the front as Tamil Nadu thrashed Services by a whooping 212 runs in their Elite Group C game of the Vijay Hazare trophy in Jaipur on Wednesday. This is Tamil Nadu’s second successive win after they had opened their campaign by defeating Rajasthan on Tuesday. Put into bat at the Sawai Mansingh stadium, Tamil Nadu posted a healthy 294/8 as Karthik top-scored with 95. And later, their bowlers produced a splendid show to bundle out Services for a paltry 82.
Brief scores: Tamil Nadu 294/8 (Dinesh Karthik 95, C Hari Nishaanth 73, Rajat Paliwal 2/26) beat Services 82 (Nakul Verma 20, Rahul Singh Gehlot 17, K Vignesh 5/41) by 212 runs. Points: Tamil Nadu: 4; Services 0.
Railways 289/6 in 50 overs beat Bihar 155/6 in 43 overs by 84 runs (VJD method). Points: Railways: 4; Bihar: 0.
Tripura 268/8 in 50 overs beat Madhya Pradesh 86/6 in 20 overs by 104 runs (VJD method). Points: Tripura 4; MP 0.
Ethics officer- Former India captain Rahul Dravid would depose before BCCI Ethics Officer DK Jain on Thursday to explain the conflict of interest allegations against him. Dravid is currently the Director of National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru, besides being a vice-president in the India Cements group, which owns the IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings.
The 46-year-old former batting mainstay was the head coach of the India A and Under-19 teams before being handed the NCA role, which includes monitoring the progress of these two sides as well. The complaint against Dravid, by Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association (MPCA) life member Sanjeev Gupta, alleging that there is conflict in interest in Dravid’s role as NCA head and being an India Cements employee. Dravid has already given a reply and defended himself saying he has taken a leave of absence from employers India Cements and he has nothing to do with the Chennai Super Kings. Similarly, BCCI employee Mayank Parikh has been asked to depose before the Ethics Officer on Thursday. The BCCI Ethics Officer would give his judgement based on the hearing on Thursday.
TNCA- Rupa Gurunath, daughter of former Board of Control for Cricket in India chief N Srinivasan, was on Thursday elected unopposed as president of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association, making her the first woman to head a state unit of the Indian cricket board. Rupa is the wife of Gurunath Meiyappan, who is serving a life ban from the sport for his involvement in the 2013 Indian Premier League spot-fixing scandal. Rupa was elected at the TNCA’s 87th Annual General Meeting in Chennai.
As the filing of nominations came to a close on Wednesday evening, Rupa’s was the only nomination filed for the post of president, whose election was announced on the floor of the house as per TNCA norms. The TNCA’s Executive meeting on Sunday decided to hold the elections on Thursday.
Badminton:
Korea Open- Parupalli Kashyap overcame a second game reversal to beat Malaysia’s Daren Liew 21-17, 11-21, 21-12 and reach the quarter-finals of the Korea Open Super 500 badminton tournament in Incheon on Thursday. The world No 30, who was promoted from the qualifiers following a spate of withdrawals, is the only Indian left in the tournament after all others lost in the opening round on Wednesday. Kashyap kept pace with Liew in the opening game during the first few points and then raced to a 16-11 lead by clinching nine of the 12 points from 7-8 down. The Malaysian managed to close the gap at 16-15 and there was just a point separating the two before the Indian claimed three straight points to pocket the first game. He will now face the winner of the match between eighth seed Anthony Ginting of Indonesia and former world No 2 Jan O Jorgensen of Denmark.
Judo:
Dope Test- Brazil’s Olympic judo champion Rafaela Silva was stripped of her Pan American Games gold medal on Wednesday after failing a drugs test, officials said. She tested positive for the banned substance fenoterol, which is used to treat asthma. However, the 27-year-old has already insisted she is innocent.
“I am clean and I will continue to train and fight to prove my innocence,” Silva told a news conference last Friday. “I tested positive for fenoterol … but I did not use this substance, I am not asthmatic.” Fenoterol is on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s list of banned substances. Silva, who won Brazil’s first gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics, tested positive on August 9 during the Pan American Games in Lima where she won the 57-kilogram category.
Football:
SAFF U-18- Gurkirat Singh’s brace helped India thump Sri Lanka 3-0 and move to the semi-finals of the Saff U-18 Championship on Wednesday. Gurkirat’s brace alongside Aman Chetri’s strike proved to be the difference between the two sides in India’s last league match. The Indian team started the match on an attacking note but despite holding possession they could do little in front of the goal with Sri Lanka heaping bodies in defence. The two sides remained goalless at the half time break. The Indian team started the second half with much vigour but once again complacency in front of goal cost them chances. In the 65th minute, Gurkirat found the back of the net with a cross coming in through the flanks. India were held to a goalless draw by Bangladesh in their opening match.
League Cup- Manchester United survived a League Cup scare against third tier Rochdale as they won 5-3 on penalties, while West Ham suffered a shock 4-0 defeat at Oxford on Wednesday. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s struggling side were held to a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford after 16-year-old Luke Matheson scored a 76th minute equaliser following Mason Greenwood’s opener for United eight minutes earlier. With United in danger of a humiliating exit, they held their nerve in the shoot-out, winning 5-3 as Daniel James converted the decisive kick after Sergio Romero saved Rochdale’s second penalty from Jimmy Keohane. Although United avoided the embarrassment of losing to a team 17th in League One, the sloppy manner of their performance will raise fresh questions about Solskjaer’s ability to inspire his side. At the Kassam Stadium, third tier Oxford reached the fourth round for the first time in 22 years thanks to a stunning victory against West Ham. Frank Lampard got a first home win as Chelsea boss under his belt as his youthful side thumped fourth division Grimsby 7-1.
Kabaddi:
PKL- Home side Jaipur Pink Panthers resembled the side of the start of the season as they crushed Puneri Paltan 43-34 at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Wednesday to snap a nine-game winless streak and revive their hopes of making the playoffs this season. Deepak Niwas Hooda (12 points) and Deepak Narwal (11 points) picked up Super 10s for the Jaipur side who dominated in all departments to clinch a victory that helped then close the gap on sixth-placed UP Yoddha to just one point. Captain Hooda led from the front as the home side dominated the early minutes of the match. Thankfully for the Pink Panthers, the return of Deepak Narwal and Nilesh Salunke to line-up meant there was enough back up in the raiding department.
In another match of the day, Maninder Singh scored 17 points as Bengal Warriors edged Telugu Titans 40-39, a victory that catapulted them to top of the table in the earlier Pro Kabaddi game on Wednesday. Siddharth Desai scored 15 points for Titans but their defence had no answers to Maninder. With the loss, their hopes of making the top six are all but over. The first half was evenly-matched as Maninder Singh was dominant in his raids for the Warriors while Rajnish looked lively in the early minutes for the Titans.
On Thursday, Dabang Delhi would look to regain their position at the top of the table with a win over Patna Pirates who would be looking for full points too to stay alive in the hunt for the playoffs.
Swimming:
Asian Age Group Championship- Virdhawal Khade clinched India’s seventh gold medal at the 10th Asian Age Group Championship but failed to make the Olympic ‘A’ cut in the men’s 50m freestyle event, in Bengaluru on Wednesday. Khade clocked 22.59 secs to finish ahead of Khurshidjon Tursunov (22.96) of Uzbekistan and Iranian Gharehhassanloo Benyamin (23.23). The gold medal winning feat was, however, not enough for the 2010 Asian Games bronze medallist to make the Olympic A qualification mark, set at 22.01 secs. “I am quite disappointed with my timing. I was fully prepared for this meet, I got off to a great start but somehow my timing with the technique was not put to the mark,” Khade said. Earlier, this month during the senior nationals, Khade had clocked 22.44 secs in the same event. Sajan Prakaah won his second silver in the men’s 100m butterfly category with a timing of 54.42 secs. The gold went to Wongcharoen Navaphat (54.06) of Thailand while Mhah Qali Abbas (55.10) of Kuwait bagged the bronze. In the morning session, India’s mixed freestyle relay team comprising the quartet of Srihari Natraj, Khade, Maana Patel and Shivani Kataria clinched bronze with a timing of 3:42.56. Thailand (3:39.17) and Uzbekistan (3:41.73) bagged gold and silver respectively.
Golf:
Jaipur Open- Bengaluru’s Syed Saqib Ahmed fired a blistering nine-under-61 in round two to take a three-shot lead at the Tata Steel Jaipur Open in Jaipur on Wednesday. Saqib ended the day with a total of 15-under-125 at the Rambagh Golf Club. Saqib thus equaled Vikrant Chopra’s record for the lowest score after two rounds at a PGTI event. Noida-based Vikrant had also achieved the feat at the Rambagh Golf Club during the inaugural Jaipur Open in 2017. Round one leader Abhinav Lohan of the DLF Golf & Country Club, Gurugram, who had previously shot a 61 on Tuesday, came up with a 67 on day two to drop to second place at 12-under-128. The halfway cut went at two-under-138 on a day that saw a light drizzle accompanied with wind in the afternoon session. Fifty-three professionals made the cut. Defending champion Aman Raj of Patna was placed tied 19th at six-under-134 while PGTI Order of Merit leader Rashid Khan occupied tied 40th place at three-under-137. Indian star Jyoti Randhawa withdrew from the tournament due to a neck injury. All the Jaipur-based golfers in the field failed to make the cut.
Snooker:
IBSF World Snooker- The Indian duo of Pankaj Advani and Aditya Mehta overcame a tough Thai team to emerge world champions in the IBSF World Snooker Team event on Wednesday, PTI reported. This takes Advani’s world title tally to 23 while Aditya claimed his maiden at a time when his future is being doubted due to health issues. For Advani, this win has ensured that his name is now there every IBSF world title on offer. He had won the world billiards event last week. A great start to the final was kick-started by Mehta as he drew first blood winning the opener 65-31. However, Advani couldn’t get the Indian momentum going as he lost the second 9-69. The doubles tie went India’s way thanks to a handy 55 break from Mehta. After a couple of tight frames, India were 3-2 up and needed just two frames in the best-of-nine final to win the coveted title. Advani took over in the second doubles frame and took India one frame away with the aid of a 52 break. Advani returns home for a week before heading out to Australia for the long format of the World Billiards Championship in the first week of October.
