Veteran sports administrator and patron Haji Jaffer passed away here on Sunday.
He was 88.
Jaffer, an advocate by profession, was associated with cue sports and racing in a big way in Bangalore. He played a key role in the development of the Karnataka State Billiards Association and was its patron from 1991.
He also served the Bangalore Turf Club as the assistant judge and as first judge, besides making his mark as a commentator. Billiards fraternity benefitted immensely from the presence of Jaffer, who after joining the brigade of M Chenniappan, the founder of the KSBA, worked tirelessly to promote the sport.
It was Jaffer who mooted the idea of Women’s Nationals, successfully conducting the first edition in 1989. Jaffer, who was also the vice-president of the Billiards and Snooker Federation of India, also worked for the inclusion of cue sports in the Asian Games.
He leaves behind two daughters and a son. The KSBA has condoled his demise.
Maintaining her rich vein of form in the current season, Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza and her partner Cara Black successfully defended their Tokyo Open title. Photo: AFP/ File
Tokyo:
Maintaining her rich vein of form in the current season, Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza and her Zimbabwean partner Cara Black today bagged the women’s doubles title at the WTA Toray Pacific Open with a 6-2 7-5 victory over Spain’s Garbine Muguruza and Carla Suarez Navarro.
With the win, Sania and Cara have successfully defended their Tokyo Open title, which is a USD 1 million event.
For Sania, it will be icing on the cake after her US Open mixed doubles triumph with Brazilian partner Bruno Soares. She would now spearhead the nation’s challenge at the Incheon Asian Games in what will be a depleted tennis contingent in the absence of Leander Paes, Rohan Bopanna and Somdev Devvarman.
Sania, will either pair with left-handed Divij Sharan or big-serving Saketh Myneni in the mixed doubles event, where India have a genuine chance of winning a medal.
In the final today, Sania-Cara pair took just an hour and 15 minutes to dispose off the Spanish challenge as their opponents were no match for them. The Indo-Zimbabwean pair had a greater percentage (73%) of points won on first serve while they broke their opponents seven times in the match.
Sharmila, Kareena, Saba and Soha watch from the balcony as Pataudi is taken for burial on Friday. Picture by Rajesh Kumar
Pataudi :
Clouds of dust shrouded the grounds of the palace here obscuring the view of the women who looked from the balcony as Mansur Ali Khan of Pataudi was carried to the burial ground at the far end of the garden.
Moments earlier, when his body was on a cot in the chandeliered but sparse central hall of Pataudi Palace, some 70km from Delhi, the women had been led upstairs by Sharmila Tagore after a sermon by a maulana.
“Nothing in the world is against His (Allah’s) wishes,” the bearded cleric told a quiet audience of women seated on the floor and men standing around the hall.
Sharmila greeted visitors, not quite the distraught widow in public, and occasionally looked to Saif to enquire if the visitors would not be intimidated by the crowd outside. Saif looked to Mohammad Saad Bin Jung, his cousin and Tiger Pataudi’s nephew, a former Ranji Trophy batsman for Hyderabad himself, who was overseeing arrangements.
“And, so, friends,” the maulana continued, “it is with such knowledge that we today grieve for a dear departed. Nawabsaheb never did anything just for himself alone or to show off; but what he did brought honour to his country and himself; the achievements were his but they made others happy. But everyone has to leave the world one day and when we go, we go empty-handed.”
Sermon over, the maulana and the ulema who were reading passages from the Quran, seated by the body of Mansur Ali Khan, left the building. It was closer to the appointed hour for the final namaaz and the burial. There is a belief that those who are buried after the Friday namaaz have lived fruitful lives.
The footfalls that kicked so much dust over the Pataudi Palace grounds this afternoon were of the celebrity and the “subjects”. In Pataudi, where the market was closed in honour of the man, they still refer to him as “Nawabsaheb”.
The estate sprawls over 10 acres. The gates are rarely opened to the public.
Sirajul from Basgaon recalls he was among a crowd that had gathered to see the Nawabsaheb when he was appearing at a court near here after being charged with killing a black buck in 2005.
The palace, a white mansion longer than it is wider, has high-ceilinged halls. It is run as a “non-hotel hotel” by a well-known Delhi-based chain. The gates warn explicitly that “non-residents are not allowed”. Its managers clearly did not imagine the scene here today after the death of the nawab who bore the name of this urbanised village.
There is but one portrait of Mansur Ali Khan in royal regalia — on a wall in a corridor you step across to enter the central hall. Otherwise, the black-and-white photographs are of his father, Iftikhar Ali Khan, and his (Iftikhar’s) brother Major General “nawabzada” Sher Ali Khan, who moved to Pakistan (and whose son, Isfandiyar Ali, a cousin of Mansur Ali Khan, is among its military top brass today).
The yellowing photographs show them as members of the Oxford cricket and hockey teams. Also in the corridor is a large canvas of the city of Bhopal seen from the fort. The late India captain’s mother was “Begum of Bhopal”.
A black-and-white frame captures Mansur Ali Khan with Frank Worrell, the West Indian captain, and Richie Benaud, the Australian, in a pub, presumably in England. They are having a great laugh. Pataudi holds a cigarette between his fore and middle fingers. The other two are nursing mugs of beer.
If the photograph was taken after Pataudi had met with the accident in England that injured his eye, it does not show. For here the eyes are intense and dark and sharp. Doctors at the Gangaram Hospital, where he died on Thursday of a lung ailment, said they had “harvested” his one good eye because he had told his family he wanted to donate it.
As the maulana finished his sermon and left, the Haryana police commandos let in a larger crowd.
Kareena Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan’s girlfriend, who had now got up from the floor because she had just received a phone call, walked up to Saif. The actor told the nearest police officer to clear the way and took Kareena and his mother along to the entrance.
They received Karisma, Kareena’s sister, and Malaika Arora, even as a shout went up from the crowd outside because of the fleeting glance they afforded. Sarod player Amjad Ali Khan and filmmaker Muzaffar Ali stepped out to placate the crowd.
Sharmila embraced Karisma and Malaika and guided them up a flight of stairs to the first floor after a glimpse of the body.
Mansur Ali Khan spent a long time in hospital. His face was unshaven and his mop of hair had fallen back as he faced the ceiling, eyes shut and unseeing. Only the face was exposed. A white cotton sheet covered the body so used to jackets and sherwanis of the finest cut. Wreaths rested on the floor around his cot.
Kapil Dev, who was also in Vasant Vihar, accompanied the body and the family to Pataudi. He was probably the best-known cricketer among the mourners, who included Abbas Ali Baig, Ajay Jadeja and Atul Wassan.
Pataudi’s body was lowered into the grave a little after 2.30pm on the grounds of his palace. The grave next to his is his father’s. The grave next to his father’s is his mother’s.
After the burial, Tiger Pataudi’s grave was unmarked but for little patterns in the sand formed by the thousands of fists emptying over them.
The sand added to the clouds of dust through which you could see the white-shrouded figures of the women in the balcony: Sharmila, his begum, their daughters Soha and Saba and their son’s girlfriend, Kareena, stood frozen and stared at the crowds around the grave in unspoken companionship.
source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph – Calcutta / Front Page> Story / by Sujan Dutta / Pataudi – September 23rd, 2011
Sania Mirza speaks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while her mother, Naseema, looks on, during a courtesy visit on Friday. Photograph: PIB
Indian tennis star Sania Mirza called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday after her victory in the US Open mixed doubles last week.
Sania met the Prime Minister in a courtesy visit. She was accompanied by her mother Naseema Mirza.
“Indian tennis player and winner of the 2014 US Open Mixed Doubles Event, Ms Sania Mirza, called on the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today,” a PIB release said.
Partnering Bruno Soares of Brazil, Sania clinched her third mixed doubles Grand Slam title last week.
Modi had also congratulated Sania just after her victory.
“Congratulations to Sania Mirza for the victory in the US Open Mixed Doubles Finals. We are very proud of the achievement @MirzaSania,” the PMO had tweeted.
On Wednesday, Sania met Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao in Hyderabad. She is the brand ambassador of the newly-formed state.
Former National tennis champion Shaikh Jafreen (in the hearing impaired category) was in for a pleasant surprise at the Sania Mirza Tennis Academy in Hyderabad on Friday morning when the three-time Grand Slam winner Sania Mirza walked across to present a cheque of Rs. 5 lakhs to the former to help her prepare for the major events lined up over the next few months.
The 17-year-old Jafreen shifted her base to Hyderabad at the initiative of Sania Mirza and joined the SMTA last year. Ever since, she has been given free coaching and also being mentored personally by the star tennis player.
Only on Thursday, Telangana State Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhara Rao presented a cheque of Rs. 1 crore to Sania, who is brand ambassador of the State Government, as incentive for winning the US Open mixed doubles title.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Miscellaneous> Others / by Special Correspondent / Hyderabad – September 13th, 2014
Mysore’s J Mamatha of Income-Tax and Dr. Sainath hogged the limelight by winning the women’s singles and 60plus men’s singles titles respectively in the Gulbarga State Ranking TT Tournament played at Gulbarga recently.
V. Nagaraju of Govt. FGC, Siddarthanagar, Mysore, who was adjudged as Mr. Mysore University in the Best Physique competition 2014-15 seen with the title and along with the guests at the University Gymnasium Hall here on Wednesday.
Mysore :
V. Nagaraju of Govt. First Grade College, Siddarthnagar, Mysore excelled with his body show to win the coveted ‘Mr. Mysore University 2014-15′ Best Physique title during the Mysore University Inter-Collegiate competitions 2014-15 held at the University Gymnasium here on Wednesday.
He also won the gold in the men’s 60kg category and excelled in the body show in the title round.
The results Best Physique (Men):
Category 60kg: 1. V. Nagaraju, Govt. FGC, Sidharthanagar, Mysore; 2. S. Suchith Vishwakavi Kuvempu FGC, Mysore; 3. M. Girish, Govt. FGC, Nanjangud.
65 Kg: 1. S. Harisha, D Banumaiah College, Mysore; 2. N Prasanna, SBRR Mahajana FGC, Mysore; 3. Anhilash Mohith, Vidya Vikas FGC, Mysore.
Newly-elected Hyderabad Cricket Association joint-secretary R. Vijayanand (left), president Arshad Ayub (centre) and secretary K. John Manoj flash the victory sign after sweeping the elections at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium at Uppal on Sunday
Hyderabad:
The Arshad Ayub-John Manoj panel swept the Hyderabad Cricket Association elections, winning all 10 office-bearers’ posts by handsome margins on Sunday. While each of the winners polled more than 100 votes, none from the ruling group could cross double digits. Counting of votes for the 12 Executive Committee member posts was still on at the time of this edition going to bed.
In a 208-ballot battle after nine votes were rendered invalid, Arshad defeated G. Vinod 133-75 for the presidential chair. John Manoj was elected secretary. He beat acting secretary S. Venkateshwaran 119-89.R. Devraj dislodged Naresh Sharma from the treasurer’s post with a 115-93 verdict while R. Vijayanand and sitting member Purushottam Agarwal were elected joint secretaries, having polled 144 and 135 votes respectively. The two were involved in a tie (106 votes each) which was broken by a draw of lots by outgoing president Arshad Ayub in the previous elections in 2012.
As many as eight sitting members lost their seats this time around. Among the prominent losers are president and former state minister G. Vinod, his brother and Member of Parliament G. Vivekanand and BCCI cricket operations manager and former secretary M. V. Sridhar. M. Narender Goud (148 votes), Surender Agarwal (142), Prakash Chand Jain (123), Syed Moizuddin (123) and P. Yadagiri (122) are the five vice presidents.
Selection panels to be revamped
Soaking in the heady win, Arshad reiterated his group’s pre-poll promise of cricket first. “Development of the game will be our main focus,” he said.Arshad also said the selection panels appointed by the previous committee much after their tenure in office was over, would be revamped. “We will change the committees and bring in fresh faces,” he said.
Asked about the unhealthy financial situation in the Association, Arshad said: “We will have to make do with it… will cut short on expenditure and try and invest more in infrastructure.”John Manoj vowed to do his best. “I will work to the best of my ability and will ensure all matters pertaining to cricket will be decided at EC meetings,” the newly-elected secretary said.
The office-bearers
President: Arshad Ayub
Vice-presidents: M. Narender Goud, Surender K. Agarwal, Prakash Chand Jain, Syed Moizuddin, P. Yadagiri
Secretary: K. John Manoj
Joint secretaries: R. Vijayanand, Purushottam Agarwal
Indian tennis star Sania Mirza with her family members on arrival at the Hyderabad airport after winning the US Open mixed doubles title on Sunday. Photo: V.V. Subrahmanyam / The Hindu
Chief Minister K. Chandrase-khar Rao has complimented tennis ace and State brand ambassador Sania Mirza on winning the US Open mixed doubles title. In a statement, the Chief Minister said he was happy for Ms. Mirza upon her winning the grand slam after being appointed brand ambassador.
On Mr. Rao’s directive, State Government officials welcomed Ms. Mirza at the airport here on Sunday, on her return from the US. They presented her a bouquet on behalf of the Chief Minister.
A beaming Sania Miza, who won the US Open mixed doubles title, being greeted by her jubilant mother Nasima Mirza on reaching her home in Hyderabad on Sunday. Photo: V.V. Subrahmanyam / The Hindu
Speaking on the occasion, Ms. Mirza said she felt proud to win the title as the brand ambassador of Telangana. She thanked the State government for cooperating in her preparation for the grand slam and said she dedicated her title to the people of Telangana.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Andhra Pradesh / by Special Correspondent / Hyderabad – September 07th, 2014
Left teary-eyed after her Indianness was put into question just weeks back, tennis star Sania Mirza dedicated her US Open title to the country and the new state of Telangana, where her appointment as brand ambassador triggered a political furore.
Last night, the first-time combination of Sania and Brazil’s Bruno Soares clicked brilliantly as they secured a close win in the final to win the mixed doubles trophy.
“I am very happy, it’s great to win it with Bruno. For the first time we played together, it’s been great two weeks.
I dedicate this victory to everybody in India, my country, and to the state of Telangana and all people of Telangana,” Sania said from New York after winning the final.
“I am extremely ecstatic, it’s a dream come true, hopefully many more will come,” said the 27-year-old.
Sania’s third career Grand Slam came barely a month after she was branded ‘daughter-in-law’ of Pakistan by a BJP leader due to her marriage with cricketer Shoaib Malik. The comment was triggered by the Telangana government’s decision to appoint her brand ambassador of the newly-created state.
The Hyderabadi was forced to issue a statement to assert her roots and was seen breaking down on news channels while trying to do so.
Asked if the controversy played on her mind during the US Open campaign, Sania said she believes in moving forward and remains focussed on her game after stepping into the court.
“I don’t think we should focus on the negatives,” said Sania, who is first Indian female player and only the third from the country after Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes to have won Grand Slam titles.
Sania and Bruno were cruising in the Match Tie break and had five championship points after securing a comfortable 9-4 lead but a flurry of errors threatened to devastate their hopes.
Local hope Abigail Spears and Santiago Gonzalez made it 9-9 and looked like snatching it away from the Indo-Brazilian top seeds.
“We all had our hearts in our mouths at that point but we just tried to be positive and do whatever we could, help each other out and come out on top,” Sania said recalling the crunch moment.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Sport / by PTI / September 06th, 2014
