Indian sports News- September 27th
September 27, 2019
Bytes: COA-TNCA, Asian Age group Championship, Korea Open, Wrestling rankings, SAFF Under-18, Calcutta Football League, Gokulam Kerala FC, Qatar 2022 WC, WBBL, 2ND IndvsSA suspended, Jaipur Open, Digital Partnership-Facebook, Pro Kabaddi League, Vijay Hazare Trophy
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:
Badminton:
Korea Open- India’s Parupalli Kashyap qualified for the men’s singles semi-finals of the Korea Open Super 500 badminton tournament in Incheon on Friday. The 33-year-old defeated Jan O Jorgensen of Denmark 24-22, 21-8 and will now face world champion Kento Momota for a spot in the final. Kashyap is the only Indian player remaining in the tournament and he put in a brilliant effort on Friday. The first game of the quarter-final saw both players remain neck and neck for the most part. Jorgensen seemed set to take the opener after leading 11-8 at the mid-game interval. The Danish player even had two game points but couldn’t close it out. The credit must go to Kashyap, though, as he hung in there and showed nerves of steel at the end of the first game. In the second game, it was all Kashyap as he closed out the match without any hiccups. It has been an incredible run by the Indian after being promoted into the main draw from the qualifiers. He will have his task cut out against world No 1 Momota in the semi-finals.
Wrestling:
Rankings- World Championship silver medallist wrestler Deepak Punia has jumped to world number one position in 86kg but Bajrang Punia lost the top rank in the 65kg category in the latest rankings issued by the international federation United World Wrestling. Competing in his maiden senior World Championship, Deepak won a silver after an ankle injury forced him to pull out of the final against Iran’s Hassan Yazdani. The 20-year-old now has 82 points, four more than world champion Yazdani. This year, Deepak had won a silver at Yasar Dogu and bronze medals at Asian Championship and at Sassari tournaments. Bajrang Punia, however, slipped one place to number two in the new rankings. He went into the World Championship as world number one but a bronze-medal finish in Nursultan cost him the top place.
In 57kg, world bronze medallist Ravi Dahiya has entered the top-five ranks. He is ranked fifth with 39 points while Rahul Aware’s bronze medal has pushed him to world number two in 61 kg.
Meanwhile, in women’s rankings Vinesh Phogat, who also won a bronze in Nursultan, has jumped to number two in 53 kg category, gaining four places after her stupendous show last week. In 50kg, Seema Bisla has dropped a rung to number three while Pooja Dhanda is ranked five in 59 kg, two places behind compatriot Manju Kumari.
Football:
CFL- East Bengal remained in the title hunt with a 3-2 win over 10-man Mohammedan Sporting in the Calcutta Football League at the Saltlake Stadium in Kolkata on Thursday. East Bengal took the lead in the 12th minute through Pintu Mahata who sent in a thundering header into the net from a low cross by Kamalpreet Singh from the right wing. An own goal by Borja Gomez scored in the 24th minute restored parity for Mohammedan Sporting who were reduced to 10 players in the 44th minute after Mohammedan defender Saiful Rahman handled the ball inside the box.
Arthur Kouassi pulled one back for Mohammedan in the 83rd minute. East Bengal restored their lead at the stroke of half time with Jaime Santos Colado (45th) converting from the spot, while Marcos De La Espada (59th) sealed three points for the Red & Golds who climbed to the top of the table with 20 points from 10 matches. They now have to win their last match against Calcutta Customs and hope Peerless drop points in either of their two remaining matches. The Black Panthers finished their Calcutta Premier Division ‘A’ campaign on 19 points from 11 matches.
SAFF Under-18- India are keen on sustaining the momentum gained from the 3-0 win over Sri Lanka as they take on the Maldives in the semi-final of the Saff U-18 Championships in Kathmandu on Friday. India, who were held to a goalless draw by Bangladesh, bounced back against the Lankans in their last group league match, but they had to wait till stoppage time to seal the victory as they scored two goals in added time. “It was a matter of getting into our playing style which we have been practicing in training sessions – keeping the ball, good positioning, build-ups, high intensity, penetrations and the ability to create good chances. I am sure we will only get better as the tournament progresses,” head coach Floyd Pinto stated.
Gokulam Kerala- Gokulam Kerala FC have signed Trinidad and Tobago national team player Nathaniel Garcia for the upcoming I-League season. The 26-year-old mid-fielder last played for Point Fortin Civic FC. In 2017, Garcia left Central FC and joined Point Fortin Civic FC and will now be playing in Gokulam Kerala FC. Garcia is the third player from Trinidad and Tobago to join Gokulam Kerala FC, after Marcus Joseph and Andre Ettienne. Gokulam Kerala FC stunned Mohun Bagan 2-1 to lift the 129th Durand Cup in their debut appearance in August.
Qatar WC- A top Qatari World Cup official has said that transgender and gay fans would be welcomed to the 2022 tournament but stressed that visitors would have to respect Qatari customs. Homosexual acts are banned in Qatar but the law around transgender people is unclear and the issue is seldom addressed in public life or by the authorities. “I would like to assure any fan, of any gender, (sexual) orientation, religion, race to rest assured that Qatar is one of the most safe countries in the world – and they’ll all be welcome here,” said chief executive of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Nasser al-Khater. He was responding to media questions on Wednesday about the position of transgender fans who might want to attend the World Cup but are unclear what legal and human rights protections they will have.
Cricket:
IndvsSA- The second T20 International between India and South Africa women’s teams was washed out in Surat on Thursday without a ball being bowled. Persistent rain meant even the toss could not take place. The game was supposed to start at 7 pm local time and after inspecting the conditions at 8 pm, the umpires decided to call off the game. India lead the five-match series 1-0. The hosts managed to defend 130 in the series opener with spinner Deepti Sharma producing a match-winning effort, ending with phenomenal figures of three for eight in four overs including three maidens. The third T20 will be played here on September 29.
COA- The Committee of Administrators has deemed Tamil Nadu Cricket Association’s new constitution as “non compliant” on 21 counts as per Lodha Committee’s recommendations and asked them to take corrective measures by October 4 if they have to participate in the Board of Control for Cricket in India AGM on October 23. The TNCA on Thursday elected former BCCI president N Srinivasan’s daughter Rupa Gurunath as the board’s first woman president as the powers rested with the former. It is being speculated that the newly-elected TNCA executive body, in its upcoming meeting will elect N Srinivasan as its representative at the BCCI AGM in Mumbai. Srinivasan is 73 years old and as per the amended BCCI constitution, is ineligible for any role in Indian cricket setup. The CoA believes that TNCA is “mischievously misinterpreting” the Supreme Court’s order on September 20 where it stated that “disqualification is confined to office bearers only”. However the CoA on Thursday wrote to TNCA “that various amendments have been made by TNCA in the Amended Constitution on a deliberate misinterpretation of the order dated 20th September, 2019.”
Digital Partnership- The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Thursday announced a partnership with Facebook which will become the exclusive digital content rights partner for ICC global events in the Indian sub-continent. Facebook, a popular social media platform, will also carry post-match recaps throughout the rest of the world through to 2023. Facebook will carry a range of digital content across four years including match recaps, in-play key moments and other match and feature content. Ajit Mohan, VP and Managing Director Facebook India said, “We are excited to partner with the ICC to bring the most exciting moments in cricket to Facebook Watch and to chart the next stage of technology-led transformation in cricket.
WBBL- No Indian cricketer will be a part of the Women’s Big Bash League this year. Star Indian cricketers Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues were expected to participate in the T20 tournament in Australia but India will tour West Indies during the same time which will make the WBBL participation unlikely. India tour of West Indies falls on the same dates – October 18 to December 8. The Indian team, which is currently taking on South Africa at home in a T20 International series, will play its last match against the Proteas on October 14, before departing for the Caribbean on October 23 for a month, ESPNcricinfo reported. The Indian players don’t want to increase their workload with the WBBL and are keen to remain fresh for the all-important tour of Australia in January next year. The tour will be followed by the T20 World Cup which will be played Down Under in February-March. India’s T20I skipper Kaur, who has been a part of the Sydney Thunder since 2016-17, has not been given a contract extension due to her unavailability. Mandhana, who has played for the Brisbane heat in 2016-17, will not be able to play a second successive season for the Hobart Hurricanes. Rodrigues, who was in stellar form in the England’s Super League and the T20 Challenge at home in May, won’t be making her WBBL debut this year.
Vijay Hazare Trophy- Karnataka thrashed Jharkhand by 123 runs in their Elite Group A match of Vijay Hazare Trophy here on Thursday, PTI reported. After the first two days of the Bengaluru leg were washed out, the home team, sent in to bat by Jharkhand, made 285/9 in 50 overs, riding on Pavan Deshpande’s 70 (59 balls, 7 fours, 1 six) and half-centuries from captain Manish Pandey (52, 44 balls) and Devdutt Padikkal (58, 83 balls, 7 fours). Jharkhand was bowled out for 162 in 37.5 overs as all-rounder K Gowtham finished with 5/43 from 7.5 overs. Opener KL Rahul, who was part of the India T20 team that tied the T20 series 1-1 with South Africa and has been dropped from the Test squad, made 29 from 51 balls with a lone four. The 76-run partnership between Pandey and Deshpande in a little over 12 overs gave the Karnataka innings the momentum after a sluggish run-rate till then.
Brief scores: Karnataka 285/9 in 50 overs (Pavan Deshpande 70, Manish Pandey 52, Rahul Shukla 4/43, Anand Singh 4/52) beat Jharkhand 162 in 37.5 overs (Saurabh Tiwary 43, K Gowtham 5/46, Shreyas Gopal 2/39) by 123 runs.
PakvsSL- Karachi hosts a one-day international for the first time in 10 years when Pakistan take on a depleted Sri Lanka on Friday, furthering the country’s revival in international cricket. “History will be made on Friday when Karachi will host the first ODI,” said Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed. “We must thank the Sri Lankan team for touring us.” Teams have been reluctant to visit the cricket-mad country since a militant attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore in 2009. Although no players were killed in the attack, several were injured and eight people died. The attack forced Pakistan to play their “home” Tests and most of their short-form games in the United Arab Emirates with Zimbabwe becoming the first team to return to Pakistan in 2015. That tour was followed by a Twenty20 series by a World XI in 2017, a one-off T20 match against Sri Lanka that same year, and the West Indies for a Twenty20 series in Karachi in 2018.
Kabaddi:
Pro Kabaddi League- Dabang Delhi produced a stellar comeback to beat a faltering Patna Pirates side 43-39 in the Pro Kabaddi match at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Thursday. A five-point raid from Dabang Delhi raider Vijay turned the contest on its head as Patna Pirates relinquished a position of strength to slip to a damaging defeat despite raider Pardeep Narwal notching up 19 points in the encounter. Naveen Kumar and Vijay secured Super 10s for the Delhi side who moved back on to the top of the points table after the victory.
Considering the quality of raiders on both sides of the mat, it wasn’t surprising to see both the defences take a cautious approach in the early minutes of the encounter. However, it didn’t stop Pardeep and Naveen from picking up points. Chandan Ranjit, Delhi’s secondary raider, picked up important points in the background, and the pressure finally told when in the 11th minute when Vijay pulled off a stellar block on Patna’s Pardeep Narwal to hand the ascendancy to the Delhi side. Delhi then clinched the all-important all-out with two minutes left in the match to pull open a lead which their defenders helped maintain.
Chess:
Youth Chess Championship- Six world crowns will be at stake when the prestigious World Youth Chess Championship gets under way in Mumbai on October 1. As many as 66 countries and 56 title-holders, including three Grandmasters, will be seen in action over the next fortnight. Six out of the 450+ participants, including 145 from India, are also world champions.
India’s sensation and once the world’s second youngest Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa (now the second youngest Indian GM) will be the star attraction, in what is the biggest chess tournament ever held in India. Sargsyan Shant (Armenia) and Iniyan P (India) will be the other GMs in fray. The six titles up for grabs are in the Under-14, Under-16 and Under-18 categories for both boys and girls, it was announced at a press conference.
Hockey:
IndvsBel- Mandeep Singh and Akashdeep Singh scored in the second half to guide the Indian men’s hockey team to a superb 2-0 win over Belgium in the opening game of the three-match series in Antwerp on Thursday. Mandeep and Akashdeep sounded the board in the 39th and 54th minute respectively to seal the match in India’s favour. In a gritty first quarter, India were the ones who took the initiative early, forcing Loic van Doren into a save from the first Penalty Corner of the game. Soon it was India’s turn to defend and Krishan Pathak, who started the game in the goal was up to the task, pulling off a smart save off a Belgium Penalty Corner to ensure the teams went into the break locked in a stalemate. India rushed off the blocks in the second quarter and had a succession of Penalty Corners within the first minute of the period. The Belgium defense was at hand though denying them an opener. Despite controlling a large amount of possession, India found it difficult to find a breakthrough. The teams went into half-time without troubling the scorers. The second game will be played on September 28. After the three-game series, India will play two games against Spain to complete the tour.
Golf:
Jaipur Open- Bengaluru’s Syed Saqib Ahmed carded a stoic two-under-68 to lead by one shot after the third round of the Jaipur Open at the Rambagh Golf Club in Jaipur on Thursday. While Saqib took his total to 17-under-193, Dharma returned a gutsy five-under-65 to aggregate 16-under-194. Gurugram-based rookie Priyanshu Singh’s round of 63 placed him third at 14-under-196. Chandigarh’s Abhijit Singh Chadha, an Asian Tour regular, fired the day’s best score, a flawless 62, to be in tied seventh place at 12-under-198. Saqib, who had equalled the week’s lowest score of 61 on day two, entered the third round with an overnight three-shot lead. On Thursday, he sank three birdies including a chip-in on the sixth. With his lead increasing to four shots at the turn, Saqib seemed to be on course to take total control on day three. However, Saqib couldn’t push ahead on the back-nine as the birdies dried up for him. The 25-year-old, who won his only event on the PGTI in February 2018, ended up dropping a bogey on the 17th to close the day with just a one-shot advantage. Ludhiana’s Pukhraj Singh Gill (66), Kolkata’s Divyanshu Bajaj (67) and Gurugram-based Abhinav Lohan (69), were all in tied fourth at 13-under-197. Defending champion Aman Raj (65) of Patna was placed tied 10th at 11-under-199 while PGTI Order of Merit leader Rashid Khan (65) of Delhi occupied tied 23rd place at eight-under-202.
Swimming:
Asian Age group Championship- Kushagra Rawat triumphed in 400m freestyle to bag his fourth gold medal while Srihari Nataraj created a new meet record on his way to gold in 100m backstroke at the Asian Age Group Championship, here on Thursday. Kushagra clocked 3:55.81s to finish ahead of Taipei’s Chang Cheng Li Wei (3:56.82) and Abbas Omar (4:01.52) of Syria. “The Championships has been good for me so far. I am swimming the 4x200m freestyle relay on Friday and I am confident the Indian team will win the race and I will get my fifth gold medal. I am happy with my timing though I feel I could have done better in 400m and 800m freestyle,” he said.
