Sher, who along with two other Indian winners C Muniyappa (2009) and Vijay Kumar (2002), launched the Indian Open trophy for the 50th edition of the tournament, said Indian golf has come a long way since then.

The first Indian professional golfer to win the prestigious Indian Open, Ali Sher on Monday walked down memory lane, ruminating about his early playing days when golf was considered a “boring” game for the “oldies” and clubs used to made of “wood”.

Sher, who along with two other Indian winners C Muniyappa (2009) and Vijay Kumar (2002), launched the Indian Open trophy for the 50th edition of the tournament, said Indian golf has come a long way since then.

“It has been 50 years and it is great for the Indian golfers. I remember, it was PG Sethi who was the first amateur to win the title in 1965. There was a big gap after that, before I won it in 1991,” Sher said.

“At that time, golf was not so popular. It was considered a boring game for the oldies. But slowly there was awareness and now for the past five years, the youngsters are playing well and with Indians winning now, there is an awareness for golf in India.”

The diminutive Indian had broken the foreign stranglehold in 1991 when he first shot a 67 to take the lead with the help of a hole-in-one on the 184-yard seventh on the second day and then finished with a dramatic birdie on the final hole to trigger a revolution in Indian golf.

A caddie at the Delhi Golf Club, Sher had scripted a story which only grew more memorable when he repeated his feat in 1993, beating another Indian Feroz Ali by one stroke.

“I used to go with my father to the club and got interested. There were no clubs at that time, we used to make clubs and drivers with wood and play with the stick. Now there are metal drivers. Now getting equipment has also become easy, balls are of very good quality,” continued Sher, who has the best score of nine-under.”

source: http://www.sports.ndtv.com / NDTV Sports / Sports Home> Golf> News / Press Trust of India / Monday – October 21st, 2013

MCA psychologist Bavre put the wayward Mumbai teenager back on track by changing his perspective about both sport and life;15-year-old smashes ton against South Africa U-19.

A little over a year ago, Mumbai wonderkid Sarfaraz Khan’s career was in a limbo. The teenager was expelled from the BCCI’s batting academy on grounds of indiscipline.

Consequently, his confidence took a beating and it seemed his prodigious talent would go down the drain.

However, things changed after a well-wisher advised the 15-year-old’s father, Naushad Khan, to take him to Mughda Bavre, a psychologist associated with the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA). Bavre has counselled every Mumbai player right from the U-14 to the U-25 level for nearly a decade.

And Sarfaraz’s interaction with the soft-spoken woman would change his very approach to life, not just cricket. A national swimmer in the 1990s, Bavre also won the prestigious Shiv Chhatrapati Award before completing her Masters in counselling psychology from Mumbai University.

In other words, she very well knows the kind of pressure a sportsperson goes through.

More on Bavre and her therapeutic sessions with Sarfaraz, but here’s proof of the effect it has had on the boy.

On Wednesday, Sarfaraz smashed his way to a stroke-filled 101 (66 balls, 17×4, 1×6) as India Under-19 defeated South Africa Under-19 by four wickets and more 10 overs to spare in a quadrangular series match in Visakhapatnam.

Sarfaraz shared a 159-run stand for the fifth wicket with Ricky Bhui (94 not out, 95 balls, 12×4, 3×6) as the hosts chased down 271 with ease. At 93/4, India Under-19 were in a spot of bother, but the boys played counter-attacking cricket for the better part of their stand which lasted 19.5 overs.

“I am glad he is back at his best,” an elated Bavre told dna on Wednesday. “When I first spoke to him in 2012, he had self-confidence issues. But I guess I handled him well,” Bavre added.

So what were the sessions about? “I told him the importance of being level-headed and humble. I cited examples of cricketers who fell by the wayside. But Sarfaraz was sure he didn’t want to go into oblivion. I just helped him get his priorities right,” Bavre said.

After the first session, Sarfaraz wondered why he didn’t meet “Mughda aunty” earlier. “I can’t thank her enough,” father Naushad admitted. “She just changed my son’s attitude to life. No more aaltu-faltu (nonsense) business for him. He’s doubly focused on his game and fitness now.”

Bavre has but one regret. “I want him to focus on his studies. The other boys used to taunt him. I have also told his father to ensure Sarfaraz attends school regularly. What does one do after retirement? You have to be educated.”

source: http://www.dnaindia.com / DNA / Home> Sports> Report / by Derek Abraham / Place:Mumbai, Agency:DNA / Thursday – September 26, 2013

Armaan Jaffer modelled himself on his uncle Wasim. For, the India Test opener was his “second” idol. First being the legendary batsman, Sachin Tendulkar.

However, the 15-year-old is close to realising one of his biggest dreams — playing with his uncle and Tendulkar. Armaan was yesterday selected amongst the 30 probables for Mumbai Ranji Trophy team.

While Mumbai stalwart Jaffer holds the record for most centuries (32) and runs (9155) in Ranji Trophy, his nephew Armaan holds the record for highest score in inter-school cricket.

‘It’s unbelievable’
Armaan was literally short of words on being asked to describe his feelings. “I don’t know what to say. It is just unbelievable. My father (Kalim) always had a dream that Wasimbhai and I play together. I am happy to fulfill it,” Armaan told MiD DAY.

Armaan first shot to limelight when he scored a magnificent 498 for his school Rizvi Springfield in the Giles Shield (U-14) final in 2010. Earlier this year, Armaan entered the records books once again after slamming 473 in the Harris Shield (U-16) final against VN Sule Guruji, surpassing Sarfaraz Khan’s 439. Sarfaraz, who made it to the India U-19 squad a few days ago, was also included in the Mumbai Ranji probables.

Incidentally, Wasim also held the same record once when he scored 403 in a Harris Shield match. Armaan did not expect a Ranji call-up this year. “I am thrilled to imagine that I will be practicing with Sachin Sir, Wasim bhai, Ajit Sir, etc.

I did not expect it (selection in 30 probables) to happen this year. I am pleasantly surprised. Now, that I am in the probables, I will work harder to get selected in the playing XI,” he signed off.

Mumbai’s probables: Sachin Tendulkar, Ajit Agarkar, Wasim Jaffer, Armaan Jaffer, Zaheer Khan, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Abhishek Nayar, Suryakumar Yadav, Iqbal Abdulla, Aditya Tare, Hiken Shah, Kshemal Waingankar, Kaustubh Pawar, Siddhesh Lad, Vishal Dabholkar, Ramesh Powar, Dhawal Kulkarni, Javed Khan, Shardul Thakur, Saurabh Netrawalkar, Akhil Herwadkar, Sarfaraz Khan, Balwinder Singh Sandhu (Jr.), Sagar Kerkar, Sufiyan Shaikh, Sarvesh Damle, Atul Singh, Pratik Dabholkar and Avishkar Salvi.

source: http://www.mid-day.com / Mid- Day / Home> Sports> Cricket / by Harit n. Joshi / Mumbai – June 26th, 2013

It is a long journey from the hardscrabble fields of Amroha in Uttar Pradesh to the lush green of the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, but for India’s latest pace sensation Mohammed Shami, it has been a rewarding one even if it took seven years.

Last Friday, the wiry Bengal lad blew the West Indies away to set up India’s innings and 51-run win in the first Test with a fiery five-wicket haul. His match figures of nine wickets for 118 runs were also the best by an Indian fast bowler ever, no mean feat considering where he comes from.

“There’s virtually no cricket back there (in Amroha). There was nothing. But my family backed me, they took me to the stadium in Moradabad, and from there I came to Kolkata… I played from Kolkata (for Bengal), and here I am today,” says Shami.

Coach Badruddin Siddique is generally credited with bringing the gifted but erratic lad to everyone’s notice in Kolkata, where he went though a series of clubs — Town Cricket Club and later Dalhousie Cricket Club — before finally finding a home in Mohun Bagan. “His father, a farmer from Moradabad, brought him to me when he was just 15 or 16. Shami used to reverse the ball even then,” Siddique recalls.

From early on, Shami’s family were the rock his cricket was founded on. “I’m thankful to my family for backing me despite my background and the place I come from. So all the credit goes to my family. Most of all I want to dedicate my debut performance to them,” he says.

Having impressed at the club level, he was soon in the Bengal under-23 team and was good enough to make his Ranji Trophy debut for his adopted state in 2010 against Assam. Three years later, he has all but cemented his place in Team India.

UP’s loss clearly has been Bengal’s — and India’s — gain. Shami also made a strong showing against Australia in the recent one-day international series that India won 3-2, despite bowlers on either side being slaughtered. These displays prompted Team India coach Duncan Fletcher and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni to go for form instead of experience, and they handed Shami and middle order batsman Rohit Sharma their maiden India caps.

The rest, as they say, is history with both debutants playing match-winnings roles. In Shami’s case, what stood out was his control — at good pace — of swing.

The origins of this ability lie back in Moradabad, where Shami used to ask tournament organisers for old balls to carry away with him and used to practice with them.

 ON THE BALL / W.V. RAMAN Column

The remarkable feature about Mohammad Shami’s career, thus far, has been his ability to perform at various levels whenever opportunities came his way.

There is a charm that is unique to the Eden Gardens and it was rather fitting that Sachin Tendulkar played the penultimate Test of his illustrious career at that venue. There was a plethora of activities orgainsed by the officials of the CAB to make the Test extremely memorable for “Sochin” (the way Bengalis pronounce Tendulkar’s first name), but once again the game proved that it was the master of all. A debatable decision decreed that the cricket lovers in the ‘City of Joy’ did not get to see the Little Master for long at the crease. Not surprisingly, however, the spotlight remained on Tendulkar and the Test match at Eden will be remembered by locals for long while. A couple of debutants, too, will never forget it, probably right through their lives.

Though the deeds of batsmen are generally recognised and remembered for obvious reasons, it will not be an exaggeration to say that Mohammad Shami made a lasting impression with his outstanding ability to bowl straight, quick and swing the ball prodigiously. Of course, Rohit Sharma did make for pleasant viewing, but for a bowler to make one and all sit up and take notice on a placid track takes some doing. The young bowler’s story is perhaps something out of a movie script, but there is only reality when it comes to his inherent talent. I had the pleasure of seeing him during my stint with the Bengal team and as the saying goes the first impression was the best, which has now proved right. He was in the shadows of Ashoke Dinda, but it was obvious that he was quicker than his senior colleague. This prompted me to convince the Bengal selectors to pick him at the earliest possible opportunity (2010-11) and since then the young, strong lad has only spiralled upward.

The remarkable feature about Shami’s career thus far has been his ability to perform at various levels whenever opportunities came his way. Normally, some players stutter a wee bit when they get to a higher level, especially pacers as they don’t really get seamer-friendly tracks in the sub-continent. But that did not deter Shami from picking up wickets on a consistent basis. If the ascent to the Duleep Trophy and India-A level was smooth enough, the start to his ODI career was smoother. Bowling three maidens in an ODI even on the most conducive of tracks is not done every other day in cricket. Of course, he did get carted for a few in the recent ODIs but when the stage is dominated thoroughly by batsmen it will be reasonable and prudent not to dissect the bowler.

The Test debut was a dream for Shami in every manner, but the young lad was self-effacing in his interaction with the media, which is rare in current day where youngsters deem it fit to display their attitude at every possible occasion. The journey will definitely not be so smooth always, but one thing is for sure, the ability to reverse the ball is rare and if Shami can preserve that facet of his game, I am certain that he will go on to be very successful. At a time when Zaheer Khan, another good exponent of reverse swing, is not in the radar, Team India desperately needed someone to bring in this critical element to the table. Besides, the frequent injuries have also resulted in India fielding bowlers on the basis of them being fit than on efficacy. Shami is naturally fit and can bowl long spells but I will be more than pleased if he can translate his words into action — his acceptance of wanting to train harder than he has done so far. Well, hopefully he will sustain his hunger and attitude in the years to come as India is in dire need of a strike bowler.

source: http://www.sportstaronnet.com / Sport Star ( The Hindu) /  Vol. 36, No.47 – November 23rd, 2013 / by W. V. Raman, Column .

Eight records took a tumble on the opening day of the 32nd Bharathiar University inter-collegiate athletic meet at the Nehru Stadium here on Wednesday.

S.N. Mohammed Salahuddin of PSG College of Arts and Science accounted for one of them with a new meet record in men’s triple jump.

Son of former international Mohammed Nizamuddin, the 19-year-old junior national gold medallist came up with a big leap of 15.72m in his sixth and final attempt.

His effort erased his existing meet mark of 15.44m set last year.

He also bettered his personal best of 15.71m set in the Asian athletics championship in Pune this year.

R. Saravana Kumar (20km walk, STC-Pollachi), R. Muralidharan (hammer throw, PSGCAS), R. Ghana Sowndaran (high jump, Sri Krishna CAS), S. Jeeva Kumar (800m, Dr. NGP), R. Poongodi (half marathon, Gobi CAS), K. Subhashini (shot put, Nirmala) and S. Padmavathi (800m, Dr. NGP) were the other record-breakers of the day.

The athletes were also taken by surprise with the presence of NADA. Although it is a routine affair in an inter-varsity meet, it is the first time that a measure of this order has been introduced by the Bharathiar University at its meet.

This comes in the wake of a couple of students found carrying syringes and performance-enhancing drugs in one of its competitions held recently. It is probably the first time a university has come up with such an effort in the country.

The results: Men: 100m: 1. R. Suresh (Dr. NGP) 11.4s; 2. A. Ajesh (Dr. NGP); 3. A.S. Shek Allavdeen (Sree Saraswathi Thyagaraja). 800m: 1. S. Jeeva Kumar (Dr. NGP) 1:55.0s (NMR); 2. Karthi (PSGCAS); 3. P. Karthikeyan (Sri Krishna). 5000m: 1. N. Senthil Kumar (Sri Krishna) 15:54.7s; 2. Siva Sakthi (Gobi CAS); 3. B. Venkateshwaran (PSG CAS). 20km walk: 1. R. Saravana Kumar (STC, Pollachi) 1:43.31s; 2. M. Jeyasuriya (PSGCAS); 3. S. Nagendran (GAC, Ooty).

Half marathon: 1. M. Deenathayalan (Dr. NGP) 1:13.07s; 2. S. Vairavanthan (STC); 3. T. Dhayalan (Bharathiar). Hammer throw: 1. R. Muralidharan (PSG CAS) 43.70m (NMR); 2. R. Hariharan (Dr. NGP); 3. R. Dharaniraj (PSGCAS). Shot put: 1. R. Vishnuvardhan (Sree Saraswathi Thyagaraja) 12.41m; 2. T.S. Gowtham (PSGCAS); 3. R. Hariharan (Dr. NGP). High jump: 1. R. Ghana Sowndaran (Sri Krishna) 2.06m (NMR); 2. A. Khassan Khan (BACAS); 3. T. Maradona (Dr. NGP). Triple jump: 1. Mohammed Salahuddin (PSG CAS) 15.72m (NMR); 2. Mohammed Shefil (Dr. NGP); 3. A. Khassan Khan.

Women: 100m: 1. A. Manju Sri (Nirmala) 14.01s; 2. T. Sownderya (PSGRK); 3. M. Cladis Anclo (PKR). 800m: 1. S. Padmavathi (Dr. NGP) 2:21.4s (NMR); 2. Parameshwari (PKR); 3. P. Vinosha (Nirmala). 5km walk: 1. S. Sowmya Sri (Dr. NGP) 32:13s; 2. S. Vidya (Dr. NGP); 3. M. Banu Priya (Gobi CAS).

Half marathon: 1. R. Poongodi (Gobi CAS) 1:23.57s (NMR); 2. R. Sangeetha (Sri Krishna); 3. P. Uma (Nirmala). Hammer throw: 1. J. Karthika (PSGRK) 45.22m; 2. P. Madhupriya (Nirmala); 3. S. Ponmani (Nirmala). 5000m: 1. E. Vasanthamani (Gobi CAS) 19:30.9s; 2. D. Gayathri (Gobi CAS); 3. A. Tamilarasi (PSGRK). Triple jump: 1. M.A. Siva Anbarasi (PSGRK) 11.99m; 2. R. Neethu Krishna (Nirmala); 3. M. Keerthana (PKR). Shot put: 1. K. Subashini (Nirmala) 11.10m (NMR); 2. G. Divya (Nirmala); 3. S. Ponni (PKR). — Special Correspondent

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Sport / by Special Correspondent / Coimbatore – October 10th, 2013

India finished on top of the table with 52 medals at the second South Asian Junior Athletics Championships though they shared the honours on the second and concluding day with Sri Lanka on Tuesday.

The hosts secured 20 gold, an equal number of silver, a dozen bronze medals. The Indians got more medals but one gold lesser than the inaugural edition held at Colombo in 2007.

Sri Lanka, who shared with India the 16 gold on offer today, improved their previous performance by winning 10 gold, 10 silver and 14 bronze medals (total 34) to finish second. Bangladesh were third with three bronze while Pakistan were fourth with a lone bronze medal.

Other participating nations Afghanistan, Maldives and Nepal could not win any medal.

As expected, Indian sprinter Archana Suseentran and distance runner P U Chitra completed a double by pocketing the gold in 200m (24.32 secs) and 3000m (9:51.13) respectively.

Supun Viraj Randeniya of Sri Lanka delivered the best performance of the day while winning boys’ 110m hurdles in 13.64 secs that bettered the previous meet mark (14.62s).

There were five other meet marks on the last of day of competitions. Pazhanivel Anburaja, who showed initial hiccups in long jump, went on to win the title with a notable 7.41m leap on his fourth round.

Half-miler Jessy Joseph, a prodigy of lndian athletics legend P T Usha, clocked an impressive 2:08.38 to win gold. Meghana Shetty in 100m hurdles (14.54s) and Sachin Kumar in discus throw (54.44m) were the other Indians who bettered meet marks.

Lankan sprinter Himasha Eashan posted a meet mark in 200m as he clocked 21.44 secs.

Sri Lankan athletes made a clean sweep of medals in all the four relay races.

Meanwhile, Sri Lankan capital Colombo was chosen to host the next edition of the SAF Junior Athletics Championships in 2015.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Sport / by PTI – Ranchi / November 13th, 2013