Goal-keeper Srinikhita with Collector Ronald Rose at Sangareddy in Medak district on Wednesday.— PHOTO: Mohd. Arif
The dream of Danturi Srinikhita, a girl from Nyamatabad in Nyalakal mandal, who had made it to football training programme at New Jersey in USA, has come true.
Collector Ronald Rose, who met the girl on Wednesday, had recommended her name to A. Dinakar Babu, the Managing Director of Youth Advancement and Tourism.
Mr. Dinakar promised to provide her seat in the sports school, according the wish of Srinikhita.
The Collector promised to present her a cash award in addition to allocating seats to her brothers – Venakatapathi Raju and Rama Raju – in residential school. “Srinikhita deserves all this help,” said Mr. Ronald. She was a dropout from school, but Magic Bus, an NGO working with children, changed her life forever. It recognised her talent in football and helped her hone skills as a goal-keeper. A story about Srinikhita was published in these columns on July 4, 2015, which caught the attention of district administration.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Telangana / Staff Reporter / Sangareddy – December 03rd, 2015
Sindhu produced a dominating game to notch up a 21-9 21-23 21-14 win against sixth seed Mitani in a women’s singles match.
Two-time defending champion P. V. Sindhu completed a hat-trick of women’s singles title at the $ 120,000 Macau Open Grand Prix Gold after defeating Japan’s Minatsu Mitani in the finals here today.
Sindhu produced a dominating game to notch up a 21-9 21-23 21-14 win against sixth seed Mitani in a women’s singles match that lasted an hour and six minutes here.
World No. 12 Indian dished out some superb strokes and acute angled returns to bamboozle the Japanese, besides making some sound judgements at the baseline to get across Mitani, who struggled to keep the shuttle inside the court. Sindhu dominated the proceedings right from the start as she rode on the errors of Mitani to reach 11-5 at the break.
Mitani came up with an aggressive rally and sealed it with a down the line smash but she failed to curb her errors and most of her returns went wide and long to allow Sindhu lead 17-6 in a jiffy.
Sindhu, on the other hand, was mostly accurate with her smashes and drops as she lead 19—9. The Indian came up with some acute angled returns to trouble Mitani and reached the game point with a smash. The Japanese then went wide to hand over the first game to Sindhu.
After the change of sides, Sindhu once again started on a confident note but she also began missing the lines and Mitani lead 4—2. The Indian checked her unforced errors and came up with stunning smashes to wrest the lead and move to 7—4.
Sindhu made a few wrong judgements at the baseline and also found the net to allow Mitani to surge ahead. At 10—9, Mitani produced her first winner —— a cross court smash —— which left a stretched Sindhu stranded to go into the break with two—point lead.
Mitani started off with a service fault but the Japanese came up with accurate placements which caught Sindhu off guard. But the Indian kept breathing down her neck and clawed back at 16—16.
The duo moved neck—and—neck till 19—19 when Sindhu made an important line judgement to move to match point. But she sent the shuttle long next. A delicate net point once again gave Sindhu a 21—20 match point but Mitani saved again. Sindhu next hit long to give the game point to Mitani, who grabbed the opportunity after the Indian netted following a long engrossing rally.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Sport> Other Sports / PTI / Macau – November 29th, 2015
Telangana boys and girls’ handball teams bagged the championship trophies at 61st national under-19 tournaments that concluded here on Tuesday. The competitions were held at Rangashaipeta Government Junior College in Warangal from October 16.
In girls’ category Delhi team stood at second place while Gujarat and Haryana teams secured third and fourth places. Similarly in boys’ category, Delhi team secured second place while teams from Haryana and Uttar Pradesh stood at third and fourth places respectively.
Deputy Chief Minister Kadiam Srihari gave away the trophies at the valedictory. He said that the State Government accords equal importance to studies and sports.
District Collector Vakati Karuna, who was the tournament chairperson, congratulated the winners, runners up and participants for putting up their best and taking part in the even with a sportive spirit.
The event organising secretary Barupati Gopi informed that said a total of 26 teams from 26 states took part in the championship which witnessed presence of about 1,300 players and 110 officials. Warangal District School Games Federation hosted the championship after a gap of 30 years and for the first time in Telangana state.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Telangana / by Gollapudi Srinivasa Rao / Warangal – October 21st, 2015
Winners of the Begum Sugra Humayun Mirza Mini Olympiad for girls.
A good start to the initiative to promote sports among girls from less-privileged society
The Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar Award seems to have spurred Sports Coaching Foundation founder-general secretary K. Sai Baba to extend his passion to promote sports amongst the less-privileged to new domains. He has decided to go in and around Hyderabad and promote the sporting culture, especially in schools where girls rarely get an opportunity to train, leave alone compete in the meets.
Sports meet
The Begum Sugra Humayun Mirza Mini Girls Olympiad organised last weekend was one such initiative as part of the ‘Build India Through Sports’ programme which saw about 500 to 600 girls from the Government and the aided schools between IV and 1Xth standard compete in a sports meet.
Winning or losing was not the focus in this which was essentially aimed to let these girls free from the shackles and venture on to the sports fields, showcase their skills as competitions were held in running, skipping, basketball, kho kho, kabaddi and karate.
“We are delighted with the kind of response for this meet. And we are planning to hold these kind of events for the less privileged with regularity. We are an NGO and we did this thanks to the support of LIC. We don’t look at monetary benefits. On the contrary, we spend from our own side,” said Sai Baba.
Former Chief Secretary to State Government Gopala Krishna, who gave away the prizes appreciated the efforts of SCF. “Sports in India need not be all about big achievers. Unless we give a platform for these age groups at the school level, how can we produce more champions,” he said.
For SCF, which is into its silver jubilee year, this is yet another significant milestone.
“We have requested many schools to make optimum use of our facilities. Hope, there will be good response,” signs off Sai Baba.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> Metroplus / by V.V. Subrahmanyam / October 07th, 2015
Adilabad Additional Superintendent of Police G.R. Radhika at a tent on her way to the summit of the Kun mountain in Jammu and Kashmir. – Photo: By Arrangement
Adilabad Additional Superintendent of Police G.R. Radhika performed the feat on September 7 after a gruelling climb for over 10 days.
As any mountaineer would do, G.R. Radhika, the frail-looking police officer in Adilabad District of Telangana also swears by Sir Edmund Hillary’s belief, “It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.” And her concurrence with the legendary mountaineer does matter as she has become the first Indian woman to conquer the 7,077-metre Kun mountain, the twin of Nun, located in the inhospitable Zanskar range of Himalayas in Jammu and Kashmir.
Adilabad Additional Superintendent of Police performed the feat on September 7 after a gruelling climb for over 10 days. The Indian Mountaineering Foundation subsequently declared her to be holding the record for an Indian woman.
“I am a bit of a risk taker,” reveals Ms.Radhika about her personality which evidently craves for challenges that go beyond the ordinary ones faced by women. “I was brought up more like a boy than a girl,” says the younger one of the two children of a teacher couple as she tries to reason out her craving for adventure.
She likes to accept challenges which is why she quit her earlier job as an English language lecturer and took up policing. Despite her inclination, there was nothing to write home about in her 8 years as a cop until the opportunity to climb the rugged mountain came her way.
It was in 2012 that this mother of two children belonging to Anantapur District in the Rayalaseema region of Andhra Pradesh, her birth place and Kadapa, where she grew up, got to know about mountaineering as a sport. One of her friends suggested she get trained in mountain climbing after she successfully completed the difficult pilgrimage to Mount Kailash and Mansarovar in the Himalayas, Radhika recalls.
This set in motion her as yet short yet illustrious association with the sport. She finished her basic and advanced mountaineering courses which was, among other things, a confidence-building exercise.
“As part of the course I climbed the 5,980 mtr high Golep Kangri peak, also in the harsh Zanskar range in 2013,” Radhika states. “The following year, I scaled the 6,443 mtr high mount Menthosa in Himachal Pradesh which was all technical climbing,” she adds.
The policewoman enrolled herself for the Kun expedition with a recognised mountaineering outfit and set off towards it in the latter half of August. The team consisted of 7 muntaineers, some of them much experienced.
“Five of them dropped out on our way to the peak,” Radhika remembers trying to drive home the point about the difficulty quotient which even had her lose 4 kg of her weight. “Kun is considered more difficult because of its numerous crevasses and the ‘walls’ which meant a vertical climb of even 300 mtr at some place with a load of 6 kg,” she shrugs off a shudder as recent memories came flooding back.
Having seen her team mates back out did not diminish the gutsy woman’s enthusiasm in any way though she swears that it was only will power that kept her driving towards the peak. “The peak was visible but seemed ever so far thanks to he fatigue,” she recalls of her final effort.
“It took a few seconds for the feeling of victory to register,” she observes of the moment when she made it to the top. “I felt happy when it was confirmed that I was the first Indian woman to achieve the feat,” she adds, a wide grin breaking on her face.
Radhika is seriously contemplating making an attempt at scaling Mount Everest. “I have not decided as yet but I am definitely inclined to do so,” she asserts.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Telangana / by S. Harpal Singh / Adilabad – October 04th, 2015
Adilabad Additional SP G R Radhika atop Mount Kun in Zanskar Range of Jammu and Kashmir along with her fellow mountaineers
Hyderabad :
Battling all odds, including high winds, hostile climate, sub zero temperature, deep and treacherous crevices and roughly half the oxygen content in the air, a woman police officer has conquered 7,077 metres high Mount Kun in Zanskar Range of Kashmir recently. G R Radhika, working as additional superintendent of police (Admin) in Adilabad district, achieved the rare feat, on September 7 to become the first woman police officer to conquer Mount Kun.
The Additional SP, Adilabad, G R Radhika, who climbed 7,077 meters peak of Mount Kun in Zanskar Range of Kashmir on September 7.
Radhika, a lecturer-turned-police officer, had attended a special training programme on mountaineering, organised by former additional director general of police (ADGP), Rajiv Trivedi, who is now principal secretary for Home in Telangana. Mount Kun had a special place in Radhika’s mind and she had dreamt of climbing the snow-clad peak umpteen times. After much efforts Radhika tasted success in her second attempt.
“I felt on top of the world, when I reached the peak. It was a challenging task, but once I got there I felt sky is not the limit if we have the determination. I was part of an eight-member team including foreigners, that reached the top of the peak on September 7. I would like to thank all my colleagues in Telangana Police, particularly Rajiv Trivedi who facilitated me to get trained in mountaineering. It was an unforgettable moment,” said Radhika, while sharing her moments of glory and joy standing atop the peak. The Nun and Kun are the highest twin peaks in the Zanskar Range.
Now that she has conquered Mount Kun, Radhika now aspires to reach the summit of Mount Everest. “I will start preparing to climb Everest and will undergo training for the same. Mountaineering is not an easy task. Climbing Mount Kun itself was a tough task. We reached Kargil on August 23. From there, we started climbing under the guidance of an Indian Air Force officer who is an expert in mountaineering. Finally, we reached the peak at 7,077 metres Kun on September 7,” Radhika reminisced.
Director General of Police (DGP) Anurag Sharma congratulated Radhika stating that the personnel of state police department have been excelling in the national sports arena and the achievement of Radhika has added glory to the state police.
The woman police officer is also a philanthropist. Adilabad SP Tarun Joshi and Radhika have adopted villages as part of Telangana government’s pet scheme Grama Jyothi. While the SP adopted Devapur in Talamadugu mandal, ASP G R Radhika adopted Ponnari in Tamsi mandal.
Principal secretary Rajiv Trivedi told Express that he had recommended Radhika for the basic mountaineering course at Jawahar Institute of Mountaineering and Winter Sports, Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir last year when he was additional DGP, Sports.
After the course, Radhika went on a week-long expedition to Golep Kangri peak to test her skills and successfully scaled the peak, which is 5,980 metres high. “If Radhika thinks she is equipped, she must scale Mount Everest,” Trivedi opined.
Inspector General of Police (IGP), TSSP, who is in-charge of Sports, V V Srinivasa Rao said that the police department would provide equipment for trekking to Radhika who currently hires the equipment by spending Rs 30,000 to 40,000 for few days.
Extending financial help to Radhika, the police department would sanction special causal leave to the police officer for her mountaineering venture.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Telangana / by Mouli Mareedu / September 14th, 2015
Recognition from the government has come only now, thanks to the Arjuna Award, says Anup Kumar Yama.– File Photo
For more than two decades, he has been into a sport which was invariably treated with disdain by the powers that be.
The 31-year-old skater’s record speaks for itself – winner of the 2013 World championship gold, two bronze medals in the 2010 Asian Games, the first-ever Indian to win a medal (bronze) in the 2012 World championship in inline artistic category and most recently, the prestigious Arjuna Award (only the second roller-skater ever to get this).
In an interview with V.V. SUBRAHMANYAM , Anup Kumar Yama talks about his passion for roller-skating.
How did it feel to receive the Arjuna Award after having missed out on it last year?
Well, it is a simple case of better late than never. I’m glad that I am in the elite group of outstanding sportspersons who got this prestigious Award.
What does this Award mean to you and to the sport?
Personally, it definitely has an aura and a huge sense of pride too. For the sport, I just hope it gets the desired fillip. Except for one rink at Indira Park, the couple of other rinks are makeshift ones wherein even now, hundreds of youngsters try to hone their skills. We badly need a couple of rinks of international standard in the city to start with.
How difficult is it for a skater to be a champion compared to the more glamorous sports?
Yes, you have to be lucky to have parents like mine (Veeresh Yama and Jaya Yama) who have to constantly keep the morale of the kid high, irrespective of the results. The kid should enjoy the sport, basically. Not think of laurels and the consequences when one is just starting out.
Did you get recognition for all your feats?
If you look at my own career, I have taken part in many Asian and World Championships and won a gold in the latter too. But recognition from the Government has come only now, thanks to this Arjuna Award. Even in terms of financial support, the whole perspective has to change. For instance, I got cash incentives only for the two Asiad bronze medals I won and nothing for all the other achievements. This is sad and you can imagine the plight of the average middle-class athlete.
If you are given the option, what will be the first move to popularise the sport?
It is time we focus on creating an indoor stadium in Secunderabad where none exists right now. This is sad, considering the rich sporting history of this part of the State capital. If you remember, I started skating in the corridors of the then MCH office corridors.
What is next for you?
I sincerely believe that this Arjuna Award should spur me to win gold again for India in the next week’s World Championship. I am targeting the Winter Olympics Ice Figure Skating 2018.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Telangana / September 08th, 2015
Chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Saturday congratulated Hyderabad- based Indian lawn tennis player Sania Mirza for receiving Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award.
The Chief Minister wished her all the best, expressed the hope that in future she would get many more such awards nationally and internationally, an official release from the CMO said.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Telangana / by Express News Service / August 30th, 2015
Pakala village is looking to achieve cent per cent construction of Individual Sanitary Lavatories
Collector Yogitha Rana appointed mountaineer Malavath Poorna, who scaled Mount Everest, as brand ambassador for the Individual Sanitary Lavatories scheme in her native village – Pakala of Sirikonda mandal.
Declaring this at the Grama Sabha conducted as part of the implementation of Grama Jyothi programme at the village on Monday, she said residents should consider roads, schools, government offices and property as their own.
The Collector adopted the village for the execution of the Grama Jyothi programme.
She made it clear that if people wanted the government to do everything, a positive change would never come about in villages.
It is everyone’s responsibility to keep villages clean and green. Appealing to the villagers not to send their children to work and instead send them to schools, she said education would bring about a great change.
Explaining the intention of the Grama Jyothi, the Collector said that seven committees on sanitation-safe drinking water supply, healthcare-nutrition, education, social security-poverty alleviation, harnessing natural resources, agriculture and basic infrastructure development would be constituted to supervise the implementation of works.
She said that 40,000 saplings should be planted in the village and cent per cent ISLs be built within 30 days.
The village Sarpanch, Lakshmi, presided over the meeting.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Telangana / by Special Correspondent / Nizamabad – August 18th, 2015
In the day Saina Nehwal regained the top ranking in the world of badminton, the ace shuttler also signed up a new sports marketing firm to manage her portfolio. The contract with IOS Sports & Entertainment promises her Rs 25 crore in the next two years.
New Delhi :
On the day Saina Nehwal regained the top ranking in the world of badminton, the ace shuttler also signed up a new sports marketing firm to manage her portfolio. The contract with IOS Sports & Entertainment promises her Rs 25 crore in the next two years.
The 25-year-old currently earns between Rs 5 crore and Rs 7 crore a year from around 10 endorsement deals, some of which are for digital ads. She endorses brands such as Herbalife, Star Sports, Godrej No Marks, Emami, Sahara, Indian Overseas Bank, Iodex and Commune Builder .
Nehwal is among the highest paid woman athletes in India currently. Boxer Mary Kom earns Rs 4 crore-Rs 6 crore a year from endorsements and appearances. The shuttler moved up a place to No. 1 in the women’s singles category of the Badminton World Federation rankings released on Thursday, overtaking Carolina Marin despite losing to the Spaniard in the World Championship final last week.
Neerav Tomar, managing director and chief executive of IOS Sports, said his firm has been working with Nehwal for the past few years but only on one-off deals. “Now we have signed up to work exclusively with her. She is the world No. 1 now and she needs a bit of management and backing now,” Tomar said.
So far, Saina was managing her endorsement deals herself. IOS Sports had recently signed a three-year, Rs 35-crore contract with Suresh Raina, ending the cricketer’s association with Rhiti Sports Management owned by a friend of India ODI captain MS Dhoni.
The company also manages non-cricket sports persons such as boxers Mary Kom and Vijender Singh, wrestlers Sushil Kumar and Yogeshwar Dutt, shooters Gagan Narang and Heena Sidhu and archer Deepika Kumari.
With her at the top of the rankings again, Nehwal’s brand value is likely to improve and so will her ability to charge higher. She currently charges around Rs 75 lakh a year per brand endorsement and Tomar expects this to jump to around Rs 1.25 crore.
Tomar said the deal with her to get Rs 25 crore in two years would depend on her performance at the 2015 Rio Olympics as well as her ability to maintain her No. 1 ranking for as long as possible in this two year period. “We want to grow both her portfolio and pricing,” he said
source: http://www.economictimes.indiatimes.com / The Economic Times / ET Home> Industry> Services> Advertising / by Ravi Teja Sharma, ET Bureau / August 21st, 2015
