Category Archives: Sports

P.V. Sindhu becomes first Indian to win Badminton World Championships gold

Amazing Feats, Inspiration / Positive News and Features, Leaders, Records, All, Sports, World Opinion
India’s Pusarla Sindhu in action during her final women’s singles match.   | Photo Credit: Reuters

The Badminton Association of India has announced a cash reward of ₹20 lakh for Sindhu and ₹5 lakh for B. Sai Praneeth who won a bronze in the BWF World Championship,

P.V. Sindhu on Sunday became the first Indian to win a Badminton World Championships gold by beating familiar rival Nozomi Okuhara of Japan in a lop-sided final here on Sunday.

The Indian won 21-7 21-7 in the summit clash that lasted just 38 minutes.

Two years after being robbed off the gold by Okuhara in an epic 110-minute final at Glasgow that went down as one of the greatest battles in badminton history, Sindhu finally exorcised the ghost of that heart-wrenching loss with a completely dominating win over the same opponent.

It was Sindhu’s fifth World Championships medal — joint most for a woman singles player with former Olympics and world champion Zhang Ning of China — to go with the two successive silvers and a couple of bronze medals.

Sindhu has also won an Olympic silver in 2016 Rio Games, a silver at Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, an Asian Games silver at Jakarta and the BWF World Tour Finals last year.

The fifth seeded Indian, who enjoyed a 8-7 head-to-head lead over third seeded Okuhara ahead of Sunday’s contest, was simply unstoppable as she dished out an attacking game right from the start to race to 8-1 lead.

The Indian targeted the deep corners and unleashed her big smashes to gather points at will.

A precise net shot helped Okuhara to snap Sindhu’s run of straight eight points but the Sindhu quickly got the control back when Okuhara went wide and then unleashed two good-looking smashes to enter the break with a massive 11-2 lead.

Okuhara tried to step up the pace but an alert Sindhu was up to the task. The Indian targeted Okuhara’s forehand corner to take two more points.

Sindhu used her height to produce those attacking clears which Okuhara could not negotiate. At 16-2, Sindhu committed a couple of unforced errors before again taking control of the match.

Sindhu eventually grabbed as many as 13 game points when Okuhara went long and she sealed the first game with a body blow which her rival sent out.

In the second game, Sindhu continued her rampaging form, grabbing two quick points before Okuhara earned a point with a cross court smash.

Okuhara had no answer to Sindhu’s razor sharp returns. The latter made Okuhara run to the deep corners with her acute angled returns and then swiftly followed them at the net to make life difficult for her opponent.

Okuhara seemed clueless as she ended up hitting the nets or missing the lines to allow Sindhu grab 11-4 lead at the interval.

At 16-4, Sindhu made a couple of rare errors when she hit long but that did not matter as she pounced on a weak return from Okuhara and sent it to the backline and then left her rival stranded with another powerful smash.

Sindhu grabbed the match point when Okuhara went long again and sealed the title when another superb return before throwing her hands in the air in celebration.

With Sindhu’s gold and Praneeth’s bronze in this edition, Indian shuttlers also continued the six-year streak of winning at least one medal in the prestigious event.

Watch | P.V. Sindhu’s journey to victory

BAI announces cash reward for Sindhu, Praneeth

Badminton Association of India on Sunday announced a cash reward of Rs 20 lakh and Rs 5 lakh for PV Sindhu and Sai Praneeth for their historic feats in the World Championships in Basel, Switzerland.

“BAI President @himantabiswa announces cash award of ₹20 lakh for World Champion @Pvsindhu1 and ₹5 lakh for @saiprneeth92 for their historic performance at the #bwfworldchampionship2019,” tweeted BAI.

While Sindhu became the first Indian to win a World Championships gold, Praneeth ended a 36-year wait after Prakash Padukone’s feat to secure a bronze for the country in men’s singles.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Sport> Other Sports / by PTI / Basel – August 25th, 2019

Harimohan Paruvu’s biography on Dr MV Sridhar highlights the winning attitude

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Sports
Harimohan Paruvu   | Photo Credit: WSubrahmanyam

In the biography of ‘Doc’ MV Sridhar, Harimohan Paruvu captures the essence of why the late cricketer was loved and respected by all

Former cricketer Harimohan Paruvu was in a dilemna when Dr M Pushpa came to him with a request to write a biography on her late son, the former Hyderabad cricket captain and cricket administrator, Dr MV Sridhar. Harimmohan was not keen on writing biographies, but when she said, ‘Youngsters could learn from his life and be inspired,’ he saw reason enough to take it up.

The book The Renaissance Man – ‘Doc’ MV Sridhar released recently, narrates the life story of the late cricketer.

Interspersed with photographs and anecdotes, the book focusses on the man and the way he excelled in different roles —as a doctor, a Hyderabad first-class cricketer, corporate executive and cricket administrator.

Being his junior, Harimohan Paruvu had known Sridhar from his school days. “I knew a lot of his schoolmates and teachers too but when I interviewed 64 people for the book, several new facets were revealed to me — his passion, his humility, his focus, concentration, his intelligence. So many people had been so deeply impacted by him,” he shares.

Chronologically divided into different chapters, the book narrates his childhood, schooling at All Saint’s High School, his jazz years, getting high runs for Hyderabad, family bond, corporate stint, cricket administration and BCCI stories. His medical college days not only make for a fascinating chapter but were also arguably the ‘best phase in Sridhar’s life, full of fun and friends’. When Sridhar entered a room, people’s faces would light up; he would make everyone laugh with his jokes.

Being a cricketer had been Sridhar’s dream, but his grandfather was keen that he study medicine; Sridhar accepted the decision without any protest. “Without complaining or cribbing, he studied medicine and the best thing was he focussed only on studies for five years,” says Harimohan. The author recalls how he was surprised to learn of Sridhar’s dancing skills. “He was in the singing team; He was not a trained dancer but had a great sense of rhythm. He would write scripts and stage plays in college and excelled in all of these.

With a foreword written by VVS Laxman, the book documents interesting facets of his life. He was a Hyderabad Ranji cricketer, doctor and turned into a corporate when he joined Satyam and then finally became a cricket administrator. Sridhar’s mother shares how people would enquire about the hospital he was working for.

People recall that Sridhar had always been a team player who kept his problems to himself. At the same time, he wouldn’t talk about any of the problems he faced or worries he had; he would only become thoughtful and take responsibility for it. His way of handling a crisis was just to move ahead, taking along everyone in the team — whether in the corporate company he worked in, or in the cricket team he captained. He had a tremendous ability to understand people, without judgement. He was the glue that held people together”

Most of Sridhar’s friends discuss how he pushed them out of their comfort zone to excel, but was always around when they needed help. In the last chapter ‘A star returns to the Pavilion’, Dr Pushpa pens her shock and pain on her son’s death. “We picked up his best qualities and constructed his life so that others can imbibe them,” explains Harimohan.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Life & Style> Biography / by Neerja Murthy / August 19th, 2019

Former NCC cadet from State scales Mt. Everest

Records, All, Sports, Travel, World Opinion
Tukaram Amgoth  

He took the challenging South Col route to the summit

Tukaram Amgoth, a former NCC cadet and hailing from Telangana State, scaled Mount Everest from the most challenging South Col route on May 22 after he had started his climb from Nepal on April 6.

Mr. Amgoth of 2 (T) Bn NCC, Secunderabad Group, had been a cadet from 2015 to 2017 and had attended basic mountaineering course at Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, Uttarkashi through the NCC and secured ‘A’ grade. He was further selected in advance mountaineering course at Jawahar Institute of Mountaineering & Sports, Jammu and secured best technique award from the institution.

In 2016, Brigadier Abbay (Commandant, High Altitude Warfare School) had encouraged him to scale Mt. Everest from the South Col route and from then on he made up his mind to scale Mt Everest. Cadet Amgoth had scaled Mt Norbo (17,145 ft) in June 2016 scaled on Telangana Formation Day and hoisted Telangana Flag.

In June 2017 he had scaled Mt Rudragaira Peak (19,091 ft) on Telangana Formation Day in adverse climatic conditions. In the same year on July 2017 he has also scaled Mt Stok Kangri (20,187 ft) along with four other friends who had sponsored him.

Thereafter, he scaled the highest mountain peak of Africa Mt Kilimanjaro (19,340 ft) in July 2018 and hoisted the National flag. He was also honoured by President Ramnath Kovind and Governor of AP & Telangana State E.S.L Narasimhan, a press release said.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Telangana / by Special Correspondent / Hyderabad – May 24th, 2019

Ready to defy all odds in the ascent to glory

Records, All, Sports, Travel

Everest expedition team includes a diabetic and a former auto driver

Scaling the Mount Everest is no mean feat, even for a seasoned mountaineer, but that is no deterrent for Hyderabad-based entrepreneur Nitin Somalaraju, who just might have to push his limits a tad more than the others, given his medical history.

Nitin, 28, who has scaled Mera Peak (6476 meters), and Stok Kangri (6154 meters) in 2017 and 2018 respectively, aspires to become the first diabetic to conquer the world’s tallest peak.

Since he is diabetic, he is prone to develop edema (swelling caused by excess fluid trapped in body tissues) and frost bite in frigid temperatures. “I took precautions to prevent frost bite and edema and did not suffer from either when I scaled those two mountains. I consider mountaineering a high endurance activity. Unlike other endurance sports where people feel fatigued as they reach the end of an activity, one needs to become stronger when they are about to climb a mountain,” Nitin said, adding that he wants to spread message on the importance of maintaining a physically active lifestyle.

Another youth who stands out in the group is G. Thirupathi Reddy (23), who until a few years ago, drove an autorickshaw along with his father in Yellakonda village of Vikarabad district to earn livelihood, and pursue academics on the side.

In 2015, when he read about ace mountainer Malli Masthan Babu’s death during an expedition, he started harbouring aspirations of becoming a mountaineer. He joined Rock Climbing School, Bhongir, and scaled mountains in Africa and Australia. Since those feats, he has set his sights on Mt. Everest.

Since the expedition will cost ₹ 29 lakh per head, he managed to get ₹ 18 lakhs from BDL employees social organisation Winners Foundation which collected the amount from donors while Transcend Adventures has chipped in with ₹4 lakh. His father Gopal Reddy mortgaged their only property — a one-acre agriculture land — and secured ₹5 lakh for the purpose.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Staff Reporter / Hyderabad – April 02nd, 2019

Mountain climber Malavath Poorna scales Cartensz Pyramid in Indonesia

Education, Nature, Records, All, Sports, World Opinion

Malavath Poorna, the youngest girl to summit Mount Everest when she was just 13 years old, has added another feather in her cap.


Malavath Poorna. (Photo | Twitter@indianeagle)

Hyderabad :

Malavath Poorna, the youngest girl to summit Mount Everest when she was just 13 years old, has added another feather in her cap.  Now at 18, she has scaled another major peak the Cartensz Pyramid which stands at a height of  4884m in Indonesia.

As part of her 7-Summits Challenge, which is about scaling the seven tallest mountains, one in each continent, Poorna has scaled five peaks with her latest addition. Now, Poorna is just two peaks away from achieving her goal.

But scaling Cartensz Pyramid had a different set of challenges when compared to Himalayan and other ice-capped peaks. This peak is located in dense jungles of Indonesia and getting to the base camp is a big challenge. After reaching the base camp, a lot of rock-climbing skills are needed to get to the summit.

In order to train for this climb, the teenager trained at Rock Climbing School, Bhongir, (RCSB), under the guidance of chief instructor Parmesh Kumar Singh.  She trained specifically in the techniques that would be required in not only climbing, but also descending from this peak in Indonesia. After her intense training and preparation for the climb, Poorna left Hyderabad for Indonesia on March 17. 

“It was very windy but I had maintained my composure throughout. I reached the summit in the early hours of March 22. It was a very satisfying climb. My entire team and I had a safe summit and have now descended back to the base camp. We will reach Hyderabad on March 27,” she said over phone. 

Poorna is currently pursuing her under graduation in the Telangana Social Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society (TSWREIS) for Women, in Tadwai, Kamareddy.  RS Praveen Kumar, secretary, TSWREIS, lauding Poorna’s feat said, “We always believed that she has the spark within and no mountain is too high for her. I hope she continues to be successful in her future expeditions,” he said.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Express News Service / March 26th, 2019

Teen mountaineer on a new high

Amazing Feats, Inspiration / Positive News and Features, Records, All, Sports, World Opinion

Malavath Poorna after conquering the 6,962-metre Mt. Aconcagua, the highest peak of South America, on Friday

Poorna becomes youngest tribal girl to scale world’s four highest peaks

Malavath Poorna has added another feather to her snow-capped hat. She has become the world’s youngest tribal woman to scale four highest mountain peaks across four continents.

The 18-year-old successfully climbed Mt. Aconcagua, the highest peak in Southern and Western Hemisphere on February 15. “I cannot even describe how difficult the climb was; it was much tougher than Mount Everest but I was determined to go ahead with the mission,” Poorna said, speaking from Mt. Aconcagua.

Before this, she had scaled Mt. Everest (Asia), Mt. Kilimanjaro (Africa) and Mt. Elbrus (Europe).

‘Sky’s the limit’

The sky should be the limit for girls hailing from marginalised communities, she asserted. “We can achieve great goals in life,” she said. Poorna was a student of Telangana’s Social Welfare Residential Educational Institutions. She is currently pursuing her undergraduate studies at Telangana Social Welfare Residential Degree College for Women in Kamareddy.

“My goal is to make Telangana and India proud by becoming the youngest tribal woman in the world to scale the seven highest peaks across all seven continents. Now, I have set my sights on scaling Mt. Denali in North America, Vinson Massif in Antarctica) and Mt. Kosciuszko in Australia,” she declared.

Sekhar Babu, director of Transcend Adventures, had sponsored Poorna’s Aconcagua expedition.

Reacting to Poorna’s latest achievement, TSWREIS secretary R.S. Praveen Kumar said, “What makes her feat unique is that she hails from a poor tribal community and her parents, Laxmi and Devidas, work as agricultural labourers in Pakala village of Nizamabad district. Poorna has become a role model and source of inspiration for millions of girls from marginalised communities throughout the world.”

Poorna also participated in the 70th United Nations General Assembly in New York in September, 2015, to speak on equal rights for girls. In 2017, Bollywood actor-filmmaker Rahul Bose released a film on the young mountaineer that he titled ‘Poorna: Courage Has No Limit’.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Special Correspondent / Hyderabad – February 16th, 2019

Telangana sailors give their all

Records, All, Sports

Sailors who won big at Youth National Sailing Championship with coach Suheim Sehikh.  

Win two gold, two silver and six bronze in Youth National Sailing Championship

Telangana sailors put up an impressive show winning two gold, two silver and six bronze in the Youth National Sailing Championship, said coach Suheim Sehikh.

Jaikiran Bolli, a product of a social welfare school in Telangana, chose to defend his bronze rather than try for a gold that was within a striking distance on the final day of medal race, the coach said. And, Mahboobie of Marredpally Government School had a confirmed silver well before the final race, he added.

“Mahboobie could have bagged a gold, but she received a black flag that disqualified her in the penultimate race, dashing all hopes of a gold or a silver. She had to settle for a bronze in her last-ever appearance at a sub-junior regatta before moving on to the Olympic Class Laser this year,” the coach said.

“The stars of the junior fleet were Ravali Parandi and Vaishnavi Veeravamsham, both from Udbhav School, Rasoolpura here, who bagged two golds and two silvers respectively at the nationals and the international,” Mr. Suheim said. “Ravali was not even a favourite before the nationals and was seeded well below seventh in the Telangana fleet. With the two-meter swell and winds and current, we did not expect this diminutive 12-year-old of just 29 kg to strike gold,” the proud coach said.

“The best part is that five of our trainees are now ranked in the top 10 boys in the national fleet, thanks to the huge support of Yacht Club of Hyderabad,” he said.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Telangana / by V.V. Subrahmanyam / Hyderabad – January 10th, 2019

Bhavan’s bag a double in handball championship

Records, All, Sports

Bhavan’s Sri Aurobindo Junior College, Sainikpuri, boys and girls teams that won the inter-college handball titles.

Hyderabad:

Bhavan’s Sri Aurobindo Junior College, Sainikpuri bagged a double in the 64th HDSGF inter-college handball championship.

Bhavan’s outplayed Railway Junior College 11-6 in the final to clinch the boys title.

However, in the girls final, Bhavan’s faced stiff resistance from Kasturba Gandhi Junior College before the match ended in a five-all draw. Both the teams were Sudhakar, District Youth Sports Officer, Hyderabad District, and P.Ramu, Bhavans junior college ,Physical Director, were guests on the day.

source: http://www.telanganatoday.com / Telangana Today / Home> Sport> Other Sports / by Telangana Today, Sports Bureau

Trisha powers Hyderabad women to big win

Sports

G Trisha continued struck 52 and took 5 for 17 as Hyderabad thrashed Rajasthan by 78 runs.

Hyderabad:

G Trisha continued her impressive form. The young all-rounder struck 52 and took 5 for 17 as Hyderabad thrashed Rajasthan by 78 runs in the Elite Group C women’s National one-day championship league match at Nimpur in Cuttack on Sunday. This was Hyderabad’s second successive win after beating hosts Odisha on Saturday.

In Sunday’s match, Hyderabad put up a good score of 207 for 5 in 50 overs. Apart from Trisha’s 84-ball knock, veteran Mamata Kanojia slammed 88 (9×4, 1×6). Trisha and Mamata added 107 runs for the second wicket.

Rajasthan were done in by Trisha and were bowled out for 129 in 49.1 overs. Trisha returned with figures of 10-4-17-5.

Brief scores: Hyderabad 207/5 in 50 overs (G Trisha 52, Mamata Kanojia 88, Vanka Pooja 25 n.o.) bt Rajasthan 129 in 49.1 overs (AD Garg 61, G Trisha 5/17).

source: http://www.telanganatoday.com / Telangana Today / Home> Sport> Cricket / by Sports Bureau, Telangana Today / December 02nd, 2018

City carrom star pockets U.S. Open Grand Slam trophy

Records, All, Sports, World Opinion

R.D. Dinesh Babu and his mother Bharani with the trophy at his residence in the city on Saturday.

Defeats 14-times U.S. champion R. Saravanan Babu in the final

Forty-three-year-old R.D. Dinesh Babu could not have presented a better gift to his ageing mother, Bharani, than the U.S. Open Grand Slam Carrom Championship trophy.

Dinesh, who won the 2016 edition held in the U.S., was not in the best frame of mind as his mother has been unwell.

But the Hyderabadi gave his best. He said his first phone call on winning the U.S. Open title to his mother was like an energy booster. And, understandably, her joy knew no bounds!

He defeated 14-times U.S. champion R. Saravanan Babu (25-10, 25-10) in the final.

“After the disappointment of losing in the semifinal from a winning position against Radhakrishnan in last year’s edition, I am glad I could pull it off this time around,” says Dinesh in a chat with The Hindu on his return.

“It was not easy to win the final as the opponent had the support of the local crowd and it was like India playing in Sharjah. I had to stay calm and focussed to get the better of him. He played much better than what the scoreline suggests,” says Dinesh.

“I never give up. Self-discipline and self-belief coupled with hard work are my strong points,” says the senior accountant in AG’s Office.

“And I owe a lot to my coach Madanraj sir and to all the fellow players and other officials,” he adds.

Dinesh, who lost to the then world champion Yogesh Pardesi in the 2008 Senior Nationals, is now offered to play in the North American Premier League that features six or eight teams with one foreign player permitted to play for them.

World championship
“My ultimate goal is to win the world championship next year. I know it will not be easy, but I will put in efforts needed to realise this goal,” signs off Dinesh, who dedicates this win to his family.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States / by V.V. Subrahmanyam / Hyderabad – November 10th, 2018