Dr Cyrus Poonawalla holding the SM Shah Trophy presented to him by the late trainer’s son Kaleem Shah (in light blue chequered blazer). PIC: RS GUPTA
The Royal Western India Turf Club mostly prefers to stick to its traditional format when framing its year-long horse-racing programme. But the turf club’s management does make occasional concessions as it did when springing a pleasant surprise with the inclusion of a race in memory SM Shah on Sunday. Late SM Shah, incidentally, was veteran SS Shah’selder brother who passed away earlier this year.
The younger generation probably may not have heard much about Majeed Shah but old-timers would certainly recollect him as a hard-working and celebrated trainer who carved a place in the heart of the ardent horse-racing fans during an era, which was dominated by the likes of ALJ Talib, Aziz Mahmoud, DP Pandole, Dady Adenwalla and Major VM Lad. He held sway for over two decades before moving permanently to Bangalore in the late 70‘s.
Shah saddled three Indian Derby winners: Nijinsky (1967), Our Select (1968) and Bright Hanovar (1971). He also trained other prominent winners like Hard Held, Bade Miya, Beandaz and Bakhtawar. Apart from MD Mehta and Laxmi P Lala, Shah was patronised by late Mary Homi Wadia aka Fearless Nadia and Mehmood, the actor par excellence and a superstar in his own right who brought glamour to the game with his presence at the racecourse.
Fitting finale
The race framed in memory of the late trainer who spent two decades in Western India was not in RWITC’s prospectus but Shah’s eldest son Kaleem, an American citizen now, helped RWITC pay a perfect tribute to his father. Not only did he sponsor a glittering gold trophy worth a lakh of rupees for the winner but, in a noble gesture, also gave away twenty thousand rupees each to the grooms of five best turned out horses during the day.
By the way, Kaleem, contrary to his father’s wish, ventured into owning horses in USA by purchasing his first thoroughbred in 1996 and gradually increased his bloodstock to become one of the big owners. Kaleem’s famous win till date has been with Bayern who won the Breeders’ Cup Classic, worth US$ 5 million, in 2014. Bayern was saddled by one of USA’s top horse-trainer Bob Baffert.
Returning to the running of the SM Shah Trophy, call it providence if you like; it was won by the filly Priceless Art, owned by none other than Cyrus Poonawalla. It was only fitting that the trophy was presented by one passionate racehorse owner-breeder to another.
Chivalrous gesture
On a day of festivities when the entire Shah clan was in attendance at Mahalaxmi to witness the race, what came as a dampener was that most race-goers were unaware of the significance of the event. The RWITC replayed a video clip which showed some of India’s senior professionals paying tribute to one of their colleagues and that was it.
No effort was made to highlight Majeed Shah’s achievements as a professional or his son’s feat as a race-horse owner in the United States. It was Kaleem’s sobriety that neither did he demand attention from the club’s administration nor the club’s officials.
However, it was Cyrus Poonawalla’s chivalry that saved RWITC some blushes as the former was only too happy to accompany Kaleem for most of the time till the day’s races were over.
source: http://www.punemirror.indiatimes.com / Pune Mirror / Home> Columns / by Usman Rangeela, Columnist, Pune Mirror / December 27th, 2017
Anisa Sayyed held on to her status as one of the premier pistol shooters in the country winning the women’s 25m air pistol gold in the 61st National shootingchampionships at the National Games shooting range here on Tuesday.
The Haryana shooter, who was third with a score of 576 in qualification, behind Heena Sidhu (581) and Rani Sarnobat (578), was in great form shooting a consistent 33 in the final to erase the National record of 28 set by Annu Raj Singh in Brisbane earlier this year.
Shital Shivaji Thorat (Maharashtra) came second with 30 points pushing Rani (28) to third.
Maharashtra emerged first in the team event with a total of 1714 points ahead of ONGC (1707) and Haryana (1700).
In the junior women’s section, Chinki Yadav (Madhya Pradesh) took the top spot with a National record bettering performance of 31, a good seven points clear of the old record, leaving Gauri Sheoran (Haryana, 28) and Saee Ashok Godbole (Maharashtra, 20) in second and third places.
Haryana took the gold in the junior women’s team event with 1686 points ahead of Tamil Nadu (1652) and Maharashtra (1641).
On Monday, Swapnil Suresh Kusale (Railway) overhauled the existing National record as he collared the gold medal in the men’s 50m rifle 3-position.The Railway shooter, who had finished fourth in qualification, was a good four points clear of second-placed Satyendra Singh (Army) at the end of the final, totalling 457.0 as against 452.8 returned by the Army gunman as he obliterated the existing record of 456.1, established by Sanjeev Rajput in 2013.
Olympian Chain Singh, who has had a disappointing tournament, was forced to settle for the bronze with 439.8 ahead of Anil Sheoran (Uttar Pradesh), the leader of the qualifying field with a total of 1166.0 over the three positions. Chain Singh was second at that stage with 1164.0, while Surendra Singh Rathod and Swapnil had an identical card of 1163.0.
In the team event, the Army Marksmanship Unit was head and shoulders above the rest, finishing on top with 3472.0 points. Indian Air Force was second with 3458.0 and Indian Navy third at 3443.0.
In the junior category, Nishant Dalal (Haryana) was bang on target as he took gold with a new National record to boot. The Haryanvi shooter, who was hardly challenged in the final, finished with 446.7 erasing the existing mark of 442.1, set by Subhankar Pramanick in Pune last year.
Fateh Singh Dhillon (Punjab) took silver with 443.1 after Harshit Banjwa (Madhya Pradesh) was forced to settle for the third spot with 432.2.
In the 25m centre fire pistol, Anish Bhanwala (Haryana) and Yogesh Singh (Indian Navy) had an identical tally of 582.0 over three rounds each of rapid and precision, but in the countback luck was to favour the Haryana youngster, who last week had won the 25m rapid fire pistol. Anhand Jawanda (Punjab) followed the leaders in third position, two points behind.
Haryana also took the top of the podium in the team event with a total of 1734.0 and was followed by Indian Navy (1725.0) and Punjab (1719.0) in that order.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Sport> Other Sports / by A. Vinod / Thiruvananthapuram – December 26th, 2017
India Women 80-3 (Raj 34no) beat Sri Lanka Women 76 (Sultana 4-4) by 7 wickets First One-Day International, Visakhapatnam
Gouher Sultana returned figures of four for four as India Women dismissed Sri Lanka Women for 76 on their way to a seven-wicket win in the first One-Day International in Visakhapatnam.
Sultana took her career-best figures, Rajeshwari Gaekwad took two for 11 and Jhulan Goswami two for 16 as Sri Lanka were bundled out in just 39.3 overs.
Yasoda Mendis, who had been Sri Lanka’s mainstay as they beat India ‘A’ in a warm-up game, top scored with 17 and was the only player to reach double figures.
India opted to pack their team with slow bowlers and the tactic paid off with pacer Goswami opening alongside Nagarajan Niranjana (1-35) before turning to Sultana, Gaekwad and Sneh Rana (1-7), who picked off wickets in quick succession.
Sri Lanka were reduced to 65 for nine in the 29th over before last-wicket pair Udeshika Prabodhani (3 not out in 39 balls) and Chandima Gunaratne (6 in 33) resisted for more than 10 overs until Gaekwad ended the innings with Gunaratne’s wicket.
India also found it difficult to score quickly with openers Karuna Jain (6 in 42 balls) and Smriti Mandhana (13 in 31) struggling before falling to Gunaratne and Sri Lanka captain Shashikala Siriwardene respectively.
Anagha Deshpande then made 23 in 54 to get the innings moving again after they had slumped to 25 for two and after she was stumped off Oshadi Runasinghe, India finished off the match thanks to Mithali Raj’s unbeaten 34 and Harmanpreet Kaur’s one not out.
76 is Sri Lanka’s 11th lowest total in ODIs, second lowest score against India and lowest overall score in India.
Sultana’s four for four is the ninth best bowling analysis for India in an ODI and the fourth best by an Indian bowler on home soil.
The second game is in two days.
source: http://www.cricketworld.com / Cricket World / Home> Series> Series Arichive> Series Archive 2013-14 / by John Pennington / Sunday – January 19th, 2014
S K Shravanthi Naidu will be the captain of Hyderabad Senior women’s T20 team.
The championship will be held at Mumbai from January 13 to 17. (Representational Image)
Hyderabad:
The following is the Hyderabad senior women’s T20 team for the All India Senior Women’s T-20 Championship (Elite Group ‘B’) to be held at Mumbai from January 13 to 17.
The team:
S.K. Shravanthi Naidu (captain), Ananya Upendran (vice-captain), Gouher Sultana, Pranathi Reddy, D. Ramya, Himani Yadav, Rachna S. Kumar, Vanka Pooja, Nishat Fatma (wicket-keeper), G. K. Shravya (wicket-keeper), Sneha More, V.M. Kavya, Trisha G., K. Anitha, Mamtha Kanojia, Srinidhi. Stand byes: Laxmi Prasanna, Chitra Maheshwari, P. Monica. Support staff: Anuradha Nirmal Kumar (manager), B. Mahander Kumar and Savita Nirala (coaches), Harsha Gangwal (physio), Keerthana (trainer).
Gundappa Viswanath’s masterful stroke of 137 on debut against Bill Lawry’s Australia persuaded Irfan Sait to choose cricket over football.
Irfan Sait, Director of Karnataka Institute of Cricket (KIOC) Photo Courtesy: Irfan Sait Instagram Account
This is not the tale of a cricketer who rose through struggles to make it big for India. This is about a man who took an unthinkable path in his life, coaching, unearthing the best talents. This is about Irfan Sait, a coach who has been thanked endlessly by several cricketers.
Who is Irfan Sait? Without Irfan, cricket would not have a Mayank Agarwal piling on centuries in Ranji Trophy and sitting atop of the leading run-scorers list; or Manish Pandey, first Indian to score an IPL century; or Robin Uthappa, second Indian to win an IPL Orange Cap (after Sachin Tendulkar), and more.
It was Irfan who had once cajoled the father of Nooshin Al Khadeer to switch her daughter from hockey to cricket. It was Irfan who persuaded Swami-ji to permit Karu Jain to play cricket. It was Irfan who assured a 12-year old Veda Krishnamurthy’s parents to send her from Kadur to Bengaluru. It was Irfan who ensured Vanitha VR shifted her focus from academics to cricket.
***
But years before that, Irfan was awestruck by Gundappa Viswanath, whose masterful 137 on debut against Bill Lawry’s Australia that rung the bells of cricket in his mind. Even then, the transition from a football-playing boy to Director of Karnataka Institute of Cricket (KIOC) has not been an easy one.
With a unique distinction of completing the Levels I, II and III coaching courses from India, Australia and England, Irfan throws light on his passion for cricket, on discovering talents like Manish and Mayank, and women’s cricket in an exclusive interview with CricketCountry:
CricketCountry (CC): What drove your interest towards cricket despite you being a football addict?
Irfan Sait (IS): It was Gundappa Viswanath. His century on his debut created an impact on me. I was 8 years of age when my teacher announced about his century. Actually it made no sense [to me] as I knew nothing about cricket. But I was aware it was a huge event, which was my first inspiration. From thereon, like most of us in India, I treated cricket as important as water.
CC: When in college and playing cricket at Chennai, you were not selected for the Tamil Nadu Colts team. Could you narrate that incident?
IS: I was playing for a club in Chennai. I had done very well in the league stage. When I went for the selection, they said I was not a domicile of Madras. I did not take it personally. Since they did not want me, I backed off.
Swastic Union Cricket Club (1), winners of the KSCA Group I–I / Image Deccan Chronicle
CC: Tell us more about Swastic Union Cricket Club (SUCC), where you were first a captain and are now the coach. What has been the journey like?
IS: I must thank Mr YB Patel, former Karnataka captain, my godfather in Karnataka cricket and was the secretary of SUCC. He was the one who pushed me. He encouraged me a lot and provided me all the support I was seeking.
There were times when the club played without a proper XI. Only 7-8 players were present. I took charge and signed up some young boys, captaining them. Then, we were at the sixth division. Today we have reached the first division. I am happy we are doing extremely well.
CC: You also formed the Banni-Mantap Cricket Club in Mysuru…
IS: I started with a set of my childhood friends along with whom I used to play cricket. Although it was not an official club, we participated in various competitions and did very well. Some played at university level and some played zonal cricket in Mysore. Those were the most difficult days when nobody had the provisions to buy anything. We bought one kit that was used by everyone. We also did not have a proper pitch in place. But the cricket was great.
CC: With little experience of running local cricket clubs and teams, what led to the launch of KIOC?
IS: Had there been no difficulties, we would not have enjoyed this journey. We went through those times, which is why it looks so flowery today. I started off with the blessings of my mother and a few cricketers. Some, like the coaches and ground-staff, are still with me. The people who had restricted me from offering the ground for the academy then, support me today.
There have been times where I had no money to pay the coaches. I had to borrow, sometimes on interests, in order to pay the coaches. Since cricket was my pleasure and passion, I had to drain off my retail outlet which was a fashion garment store called Fashion Street.
There was trouble from both ends. My focus and attention was on cricket, so my business was drowning. Many a time were the funds of the business used for the academy. That was when I had to make a choice and I went with my passion — cricket. Although it was a risky proposition, cricket is something I love and enjoy.
CC: Manish Pandey has been mentored by you for 20 years. How did you spot him?
IS: There was a time when I had announced discounted price for children from the army. The word spread across like wildfire. Manish Pandey’s father, an army man, brought his 8-year-old kid along to the academy. From the very first year we knew Manish was very special. The thing I really pride over is that in the very first function that we had, we chose Manish as the most promising cricketer. He used to enjoy his batting and I remember he never used to get out at all in the Under-8 and Under-10 matches. He is god-gifted and also had the knack of taking singles.
One day, I was umpiring the U-8 match where Manish was batting. He took a run off every delivery and won the game with ease. During a seniors match when the rest of batsmen were struggling, Manish went on to score an unbeaten 155 to make our Jawans Cricket Club win. These are fond memories that I have shared with Manish.
Irfan Sait with Karnataka’s leading run-scorer in ongoing Ranji season – Mayank Agarwal Photo Courtesy: Irfan Sait
CC: How did Mayank Agarwal’s journey begin in KIOC?
IS: In KIOC, Mayank came in as a 15-year old. He used to devote several hours to net practice. There was a time when he ran into an electric pole during a training session and sustained a deep cut under his eye. An important league match was to take place a week after. I suggested him to take rest but he was determined to continue playing. His right eye had stitches but he went on to score a hundred. This boy was different. He was hungry to get runs.
The Nivarana Cup is an inter-academy tournament in Bengaluru. In that, he scored a double-hundred in a T20 game. Like always, I sent out a press note and mentioned about the double-hundred. That was something they could not believe. A senior journalist told me, ‘it could have been a 30-yard ground.’ I wrote back to him saying, ‘This was the semi-final; 12 teams had played, which meant 144 players participated in the tournament. Nobody has scored a hundred on the same ground and this boy scored a double-century. Please give some credit.’ This was noticed by everyone.
Unfortunately for him, during the U-19 days, Mayank worked hard but could not score as heavily as anticipated. There were times he came back depressed on not getting runs. Luckily, I had an international coach with me during that phase. Ross Edwards helped him with the training. Even Mohammad Azharuddin had asked to tell the boys to enjoy their batting. When I conveyed that piece of advice to Mayank, it turned around his fortunes. He was then selected for the India A team that travelled to Australia. That was when he got 161 on his debut.
CC: Mayank has piled on runs for Karnataka in the ongoing Ranji season. Do you see him in the Indian squad soon?
IS: I felt Mayank should have been part of the limited-overs series against Sri Lanka. This was the right moment. Considering his red-hot form, he is doing what no one else has ever done. Unfortunately the selectors showed a blind eye. I was told that the selectors emphasised on his India A performance. His performance has not been so good in India A games. Now when he is doing so well, Mayank should have been there.
Of course, all others are also doing well. I think this would have been the right time for him to get a break. I pray hard that he gets it very soon. As a cricket coach and as someone who follows cricket intensely, it is not the just the number of runs but the way he is going about. His performance has been magnificent and nobody has done such thing in the past. I do not see anyone even coming close to this.
CC: In an interview with CricketCountry, Mamatha Maben had mentioned there were times you have shelled out money from your own pocket to organise women’s matches. Could you take us through that phase?
IS: There were times when women cricketers needed mutual and logistics support. I happily extended help from my end. For a long time women’s cricket has been treated very shabbily, but I knew these cricketers had the capacity in them to represent the country and get glory. They did very well. In 2005, they reached the final of the World Cup. And when I sit back and think about these moments, I feel I had done the right thing.
There was a time when women’s cricket had not merged with BCCI. Mamatha and Pramila Bhatt, who was the captain then, wanted to practice in the men’s stadium. There was a coterie opposing them. That was a very tough time. Somehow, I got the support of C Nagaraj, who knew this behaviour was against the state and the country.
CC: Veda Krishnamurthy and Vanitha VR have mentioned how you have pushed their families to allow them participate in cricket. They have credited you during their interviews with CricketCountry. How do you feel on them achieving greater heights today?
IS: Well, that is a feeling that I cannot describe in words. This is the happiness, satisfaction and pleasure that I get which no money can buy. At the same time, anytime they face any problem or a setback, we as coaches die a thousand deaths. We have developed so much of attachment that we are living a life through them. To sit back and think there are five international women cricketers from KIOC is a wonderful feeling. They in turn value the kind of support they received from KIOC.
Irfan Sait assured Veda’s parents to send her to Bengaluru from Kadur Photo Courtesy: Irfan Sait’s Twitter Account
CC: Veda is playing in WBBL for the first time. Is there a special message you would like to convey to her?
IS: I want to tell her that we are living our life through her and enjoying her game more through her successes. She has already given us so much pleasure and happiness. Now I wish her the very best and I am sure she will come back with flying colours. She has been in touch and I know she is the one who carries women’s cricket on her shoulders. She is bringing a lot of glory not only to women’s cricket but to Karnataka and India.
CC: Tell us more about Sindhu Ashok and her journey from India Women to USA Women.
IS: She started off her cricketing career as a 10-year-old with us. She got very few chances initially. I had to work really hard to keep her interest in the game. She was also a very bright student. So she would indulge into education as well.
I realised that Sidhu was very strong-minded. She was mentally strong and had a good cricketing mind. Her education background also helped. She was playing for juniors and was leading Karnataka. That was when we built a good rapport. She knew what I was expecting from her.
Since then I backed her constantly not only for the junior tournament but the rest of her playing days in India. She set a record to her name getting six victims behind the stumps during the tournament. Thanks to her ’keeping and the support she extended from behind the stumps, the bowlers got more and more confident.
Then I realised that she could be instrumental in building the career of so many bowlers. There was this match during the U-19 days. Mumbai were dismissed for a paltry 55. Sindhu once again had 6 victims and fast bowlers Pooja Shah and Anuradha took 4 wickets each, courtesy Sindhu.
She was equally good at studies, which handed her a job in USA. Eventually she got married. She struggled for her visa initially, but her cricketing abilities handed her a Green Card. For me it was a very proud moment. At the age of 10 I realised she had the potential in her and she proved me right. Now that she will be leading USA in the World Cup qualifiers, it means a lot.
CC: BCCI have come up with an A team to boost the confidence of the budding women cricketers. Do you feel there should be more of such competitions in the future?
IS: Where women cricketers are concerned, the shelf life is small. Most of them do not consider it as a full-time profession. They quit the sport either to get married or to pursue academics. It is definitely good to have India A team system. It actually helps to keep women’s cricket alive.
If we can have fun tournaments (like Australia and England have Milo Cup and Quick Cricket respectively), there will more girls participating. One should also introduce inter-school competitions. Nevertheless, India are catching up on women’s cricket. Thanks to World Cup, there is so much enthusiasm. We have never seen so many girls register in our academy.
In terms of IPL, why not? Provided there is proper system in place. IPL has its downside as well. Everyone wants to be play only for the slam-bang game. We need to have these A tours and junior competitions to help women’s cricket get recognised more. There should be more awareness of the girls doing the right job by opting to play cricket.
CC: How does a day at KIOC begin? What are the special sessions that you provide to the youngsters?
IS: The day begins much before sunrise. I arrive at the academy before 6. There have been times when Manish has laughed at me and said, ‘Sir, main aapse pehele aaya. (Sir, I came before you).’ There are others as well who come in the dark and do some running. The first session begins at 6.30. We have a motivational chat for 2-3 minutes. Then we have a group session that ends at 8.30. We have breakfast before starting on one-on-one coaching from 9.30. It goes on till lunch.
We now have a full day program where we have boys from all over the country. They undergo fitness programmes from 9.30 to 10.30. From 10.40 to noon they have fielding sessions and from 12.30 to 3 they have net sessions.
After tea, we have a massive group session from 4 to 6. It is attended by almost 500-600 kids every evening. After sunset, every Monday to Thursday, we have one-on-one coaching from 6.30 to 9.
On Friday and Saturday nights we have gatherings of young boys who undergo weekend sessions. On Saturdays and Sundays we have 6 sessions in a day. Every session has about 250-300 kids turning up from morning to night. This is how our week runs. We work 365 days. We have not taken a break in 21 years.
CC: How do you spot upcoming talents?
IS: Our USP lies in giving the boys plenty of match practices. We now enrol boys and girls from the age of 5. Earlier, we started enrolling kids from the age of 7. Now we realise that young kids want to be part of this sport.
For the kids ranging from age group of 5 to 8, we focus on fun and enjoyment. We ask them to understand the process. The only sign we look for is whether the kids enjoy themselves. We just want them to be happy and have some fun and go back.
From age 8, we start conducting U-10 tournaments within our academy. Since we have many kids, we organise our own tournaments. These kids start performing and playing from that age. Mayank Agarwal, Manish Pandey and all were spotted at a very young age. Ganesh Satish from Vidarbha as well was very talented at the age of 8. Robin Uthappa was special right since the age of 10. When we see kids enjoying, we encourage them. When they perform well, we give them more opportunities. Our entire staff and admin talk to the kids with a smile and encourage them. We make them believe that we are doing something different.
CC: Is coaching more challenging than playing cricket?
IS: The most challenging aspect is to retain the interest of the kids, especially when they are not doing well. To make them believe they can is the biggest challenge. Sometimes it hurts when our trainee works hard but does not do well. When you have a great bonding with the trainee and they come back teary-eyed, it is a horrendous feeling. The challenge is to ensure they are happy and enjoying the process.
Shruti Hariharan, a singer, loves music, food, cricket and writes about the game. She can be followed on Twitter at @Shruti_2890
source: http://www.cricketcountry.com / CricketCountry.com / Home> Features> Interview / by Shruti Hariharan / December 21st, 2017
Ameer Khan keeps reaping medals from the track, though he cannot listen to the loud cheers from the gallery. Despite being hearing and speech impaired by birth, Ameer Khan has won 3 medals including a gold in 400-meter relay in the sports meet for differently abled persons held in Ranchi.
Ameer Khan is the son of Idukki Karuppupalam native Konnarath Abdul Raheem and Shereefa. He started showing interest in sports since he was in class 7. He became a national athlete with his hard work and training.
As a result, he won a gold, a silver and a bronze medal in the sports meet in Ranchi. Since he cannot speak, it was Ameer’s sports trainer who informed his parents about his achievement. His entire family and friends were thrilled on knowing his victory.
Ameer Khan is a BCom student in an institution for hearing impaired at Valiyaparamba in Malappuram.
He has two sisters, the elder one Raseena Raheem has completed engineering and the younger one Ajmiya Raheem is a student of BCom. The only income of the family is Abdul Raheem’s small scale business. He is educating his children by taking educational loan.
Many associations have decided to give grand receptions for Ameer Khan when he comes home during Christmas vacation.
Sergeant Shahzar Rizvi has won a gold medal in 10 mtrs Pistol for India at recently conducted Commonwealth Shooting Championship held at Gold Coast, Australia.
Sergeant Deepak Kumar won Bronze medal in 10 mtrs Air Rifle at the same event.
Both are outstanding Sportsman in shooting and they have performed consistently well in their career as well.
Sergeant Rizvi had also won Gold and Silver medal in 2014 & 2015 in the Senior National Shooting Championship respectively.
AB/ MKR\
source: http://www.pib.nic.in / Press Information Bureau, Government of India, Ministry of Defence / November 09th, 2017
Indian pistol shooters today pulled off a clean sweep in the 10m air pistol event at the Commonwealth Shooting Championship with Shahzar Rizvi, Omkar Singh and Jitu Rai winning gold, silver and bronze medals respectively.
In the 10m women’s air rifle event, Pooja Ghatkar bagged a gold while her countrymate Anjum Moudgil won the silver medal. The bronze in this event went to Martina Lindsay Veloso of Singapore.
India had a productive second day at the range winning as many as five medals, including two gold, two silver and one bronze medal.
Earlier, Heena Sidhu claimed the 10m air pistol gold, while Deepak Kumar fetched a silver in the 10m air rifle event to give India a fine start at the Championships yesterday.
Sidhu shot a combined score of 626.2 (386+240.8) to claim the top honours.
This was Sidhu’s second successive international gold after she, along with Jitu Rai, claimed the top position in the 10m air pistol mixed team event in the ISSF World Cup Finals in Delhi earlier this month.
source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com / Business Line / Home> News> Sports / PTI / November 01st, 2017
Shahbaz Adil Khan, the 2011 6-Red champion, underlined the importance of the Nationals for cueists as he makes a comeback of sorts to competitive snooker.
These days, Shahbaz Adil Khan, is keener to play snooker. – R. VENKATNARAYAN
For Shahbaz Adil Khan, the 2011 6-Red champion, it can be frustrating to play the qualifying rounds here at the National 6-Red championship .
However, it isn’t his dip in form that has kept him away from competitive snooker. He had to take time off to complete his MBBS degree. The skilful cueist from Kolkata thanked sponsor Bharat Petroleum for backing him even during his period of lull. “I can’t thank Bharat Petroleum enough. They are my backbone. Even [though in] last two years I haven’t performed enough, they backed me and they are like ‘we know you will do well’.”
Having taken up the sport more as a leisure, he learnt the finer points watching videos and playing. “It helps when [you] get to play with the likes of Sourav Kothari and Brijesh Damani,” he said.
Snooker ‘watchable’
Regular practice, he said, was key to his success. But these days, he is keener on playing the “more interesting” snooker. “Of late, I am playing more snooker. It seems more interesting. Compared to billiards it is more fast and more watchable. Billiards is boring to watch. In fact, there aren’t many billiards tournament compared to snooker.”
Now back in the grind once again, he feels the game in India is growing quickly. “We have a lot of players now taking up the sport and a lot of them are very good.”
Nationals ‘good for you and the game’
He underlined the importance of the National championships. “The Nationals are a stepping stone for each and every player. If you make it to the final, you get a chance to play in the Asian championship. Everyone wants to play and win a medal for India. And that is what keeps all of going. A win here and we can go on to make a mark in the international level. There are many players who are good and playing them in the Nationals can only be good for you and for the game.”
However, it may receive more patronage and incentive if it is made an Olympic sport. “It is very annoying [that it isn’t part of the Olympics],” he said. “Especially considering that a lot of Indians are playing so well, that it isn’t even being a part of Asian game is sad.”
“We need to be seen more. More television audience will help,” he added. “In that aspect, 6-red is perfect. And not just in term of television viewing. Not only does it give a chance to everyone, it also tests the most skilful of players. You could pot five of the red balls and yet your opponent can take the game away from you,” he said, adding “even the worst player can turn the tables on good player.”
“That’s where I will have to doff a hat to Pankaj [Advani] for his consistency. He has won so many of the 6-red tournaments apart form winning the ones in traditional format,” he says.
Shahbaz’s plans to go professional “is way too long.” “I have to concentrate on the Nationals now, and take it step by step. For now I am here and I hope to do well,” he said.
source: http://www.sportstarlive.com / Sport Star / Home> More Sports / by R. Venkatnarayanan / Chennai – December 17th, 2017
