Harikrishna and Harika bag a silver each in the 13 Asian Continental Blitz chess championship

It was a splendid silver-lining from the Hyderabad duo of Super GM Pentyala Harikrishna and GM Dronavalli Harika, who bagged a silver each in the just-concluded 13 Asian Continental Blitz chess championship in Sharjah.

Chinese player Yu Yangyi emerged champion while Harikrishna, who was leading until the eighth round, finished second because of his loss to Vietnam player Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son in the eighth round.

However, Harikrishna informed The Hindu that his win against Indian teammate GM Vidit Gujarati in the next round helped him finish second.

For someone who featured in four World Cups in 2002, 2004, 2005 and 2011 with a third-round appearance in the knock-out format being his best performance, this BPCL officer believes that it is high time he comes up with a special performance in the 14 or 12 player Grand Prix Series.

“Yes, this result after being rated (ELO 2726) the next best player from India after five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand (ELO 2785) is something special. But for that loss in the eighth round, the result would have been better,” Hari said from Sharjah.

“Well, this is not the end of it all. The journey, step by step, has to go on to reach the pinnacle and the World Blitz championship in June this year should be another major test for my preparations,” he said.

For her part, Harika (ELO 2507) is pleased with her silver medal. “Playing Blitz is far more difficult for the simple reason that the reaction time is very quick. It is nevertheless exciting,” says the 23-year-old GM from Hyderabad, who is now ranked World no. 14.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by V. V. Subrahmanya  / Hyderabad – April 21st, 2014

Municipal Commissioner Hari Kiran on Thursday said that every archer taking part in the Mini National archery championship should strive hard to realise the dream of late Indian coach Cherukuri Lenin, who wished to make India an archery powerhouse.

Speaking at the inaugural function of the sixth Lenin & Volga memorial Mini National (under-14) archery championship at IGMC stadium here, Mr. Kiran said that Vijayawada made a mark in the Indian archery by producing several world class archers and the credit should go to Lenin. “The VMC-Volga Archery Academy at Gunadala has become a breeding ground for quality archers in all age groups,” he added.

He appreciated the commitment of academy chairman Cherukuri Satyanarayana for promoting archery with devotion despite the untimely death of both his son and daughter.

Sage words

Archery Association of India general secretary Anil Kamineni said that India was placed third in the world rankings. “The Mini National is like a nursery and the future stars of Indian archery are identified here”. He also advised the young archers to enjoy their shooting and not bother about the results. “While releasing the arrows your mind should free of stress. Archery is more of a mind game”.

Champion archers from Vijayawada such as Ch. Jignas, Ritul Chatterjee, Jyothi Surekha and Jyoshna were spotted in earlier mini-nationals. “They gradually made their mark in the senior age groups and went on represent India in several Asian and world events,” said Volga Archery Academy chairman Ch. Satyanarayana.

The cynosure of the inaugural function was Lenin’s little sister Shivani, who, with her tiny bow and arrow, won many hearts.

AAI observer C. Pramod and several Andhra Pradesh archery administrators took part in the function in which Bhargavi and Alekhya, both corporation school students, performed a classical dance.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Vijayawada / by Staff Reporter / Vijayawada – April 11th, 2014

Narender Revalli, who worked as sports reporter in The New Indian Express, passed away on Wednesday morning after a brief illness. He was 49. He is survived by wife Usha Ramani, three brothers and two sisters.

Starting his career in a Karimnagar tabloid, he worked in several newspapers including TNIE. He also participated in several sports debates and was a sports analyst for television programmes.

Eminent journalists paid floral tributes to him at his residence.

The Electronic Media Sports Journalists Association and the APSJA and Press Club of Hyderabad would jointly hold a condolence meeting on Saturday at 3.30 pm on the Press Club premises at Somajiguda.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Express News Service – Hyderabad / April 03rd, 2014

At 57, Nandlal Shivlal Yadav has every reason to smile at his critics! For, he is now, literally, the ‘in-charge president’ (in his capacity as the senior-most vice-president from South Zone) of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) taking care of day-to-day affairs while batting great Sunil Gavaskar as the BCCI interim president will look after the IPL-7 subjects after the Supreme Court orders on Friday. “It is a huge responsibility and I will try my best to live up to the expectations,” says Shivlal.

The previous highest post held by a Hyderabadi was by late Ghulam Ahmed as secretary of BCCI and Dr. M.V. Sridhar, GM (operations) BCCI. For this genteel Hyderabadi, there are quite a few firsts to be proud of. He happens to be the first player-president of the all-powerful BCCI, the first Hyderabadi to hold that prestigious post. Interestingly, the HCA here has an in-charge secretary in S. Venkateswaran even as his ‘mentor’ Shivlal is all set to hold the reins of BCCI till September this year.

Former India left-arm spinner and now Hyderabad coach Sunil B. Joshi puts it aptly: “When a cricketer becomes the president of BCCI, it always gives the cricketing fraternity a special feeling. I am sure Shiv bhai will do a great job given his experience and expertise.” A protégé of former HCA secretary and president M. Ranga Reddy, it was during Shivlal’s secretaryship the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium has come up. And with it, no doubt, large-scale allegations of misappropriation of funds too. In fact, an ACB enquiry is on and taking a final shape too. For the record, this very knowledgeable Hyderabadi was the EC member of the HCA between 1990-92, joint secretary from 1992-2000 and then secretary from 2000-08 and since then till now he continues to be the Vice-president.

But, the plain fact that Shivlal continues to be the ‘king maker’ in HCA to any group vying to grab power is a tribute to his efficacy in holding his flock together “He has the uncanny knack to be a decisive factor in any election,” feels former secretary D. S. Chalapathi. Interestingly, Shivlal made his Test debut under Sunil Gavaskar’s captaincy.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by V. V. Subrahmanyam / Hyderabad – March 28th, 2014

Bag medals at All India Railway Boxing Championship

Boxing, hitherto regarded as a macho sport, is gaining popularity among women in Visakhapatnam. There are quite a few boxers in the city who have proved their mettle at national and international competitions and bagged gold, silver, and bronze medals and brought laurels to the city.

Four women boxers of Waltair Division, two from the city and one each from Uttarakhand and Manipur, have bagged medals at the 68th Men and 7th Women All India Railway Boxing Championship-2014 that concluded on March 8 at Agra.

The girls exuded confidence as they recalled how the sport helped them in securing a job and in their career.

Monica Saum of Uttarakhand draws inspiration from her father, an Army boxer.

Though her brother is doing MBBS, she took up boxing just to prove that girls are second to none in any field.

“Women need to be encouraged to take up this sport,” she says and advises girls to come out of their shells. Apart from being a means of self-defence, medals will give them an advantage over others in securing jobs.

She already has five gold medals – four at the junior-level and one at the senior-level – besides a silver medal at the Asian Championship in Mongolia.

N. Swapna Priya of Vizag, who won a gold medal at Agra, developed a passion for the sport after watching it at the Afro Asia Games. She got a job in the Railways in 2007 under the sports quota and there was no looking back for her ever since. Punyavathi of Vizag won a silver medal in the Agra championships.

Sarjubala of Manipur, who won a bronze at Agra, had bagged two gold medals in the Chennai Nationals and two gold and two silver medals at the junior-level in the past.

Ch. Adinarayana and Sundu Rao bagged silver medals, while M. Venkatesh bagged a bronze at Agra. Sundu Rao plans to open a boxing club at the Railway Stadium to train aspirants from the city.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Visakhapatnam / by B. Madhu Gopal / Visakhapatnam – March 14th, 2014