Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao announced cash incentives of Rs. 50 lakh each for the gold medallists, Rs. 25 lakh each for silver medallists and Rs. 15 lakh for bronze medallists in the recent Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

Badminton coaches Pullela Gopichand and S.M. Arif will also get Rs. 50 lakh each for their contribution to the success story. It was a pleasant surprise for all the CWG medallists when they met the Chief Minister at his chambers in the Secretariat on Wednesday.

Sports City
The Chief Minister also told the delegates that the government would develop an excellent Sports City around Hyderabad shortly. “Design and development of the Sports City should be planned by using the local Telangana talent. The facility will also host national and international events once in two months,” he said.

Mr. Rao accepted a suggestion to allot the existing sports infrastructure to talented sportspersons to develop academies. He promised to give a new direction to sports by ensuring that all deserving players get the desired support on all fronts. “We will take every step to make Hyderabad the final destination for sports,” he said.

CWG gold medallist Parupally Kashyap, silver medallist Jwala Gutta, bronze medallists P.V. Sindhu, R.M.V. Guru Sai Dutt (all from badminton), Gagan Narang (silver & bronze in shooting), gymnast Aruna Reddy (no medal) were among those present along with India’s chief national coach Pullela Gopichand and champion Saina Nehwal.

Later, Gutta Jwala said that the Chief Minister was very positive during his interaction and promised to extend all support to the sports fraternity. She also welcomed the appointment of tennis star Sania Mirza as brand ambassador of Telangana.

“I see nothing wrong in this. I am really proud that a woman sportsperson from Hyderabad has been chosen as one,” she said. Jwala Gutta was also game to meet A.P. Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and would not say ‘no’ if offered the brand ambassador role.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Special Correspondent / Hyderabad – August 06th, 2014

At 31, former Hyderabad cricketer Aarti Nalge is achieving what she could not as a player – be a part of the Mithali Raj-led Indian team for the next month’s England tour. This time, she’s in the team as its video analyst.

“Having played cricket at some level, I am aware of the expectations and especially what the coaches look for at the end of the day’s play. My job is to be ready to give them the video clips backed by complete statistics about a player’s performance any time,” explains this former national cricketer.

Illustrious lineage
Her father is the well-known curator for the Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) Datta Nalge. He was earlier at the Gymkhana Grounds and is now taking care of the pitch inside the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium, Uppal.

“My father is a huge source of inspiration and his support always matters to me,” says Aarti, who owes the role switch to BCCI president in-charge N. Shivlal Yadav and General Manager (Operations) M.V. Sridhar.

Sheer passion for the game made her quit well-paying jobs at Genpact and Bank of America. “I love cricket and can’t be away from it,” Aarti says. “I am also grateful to captain Mithali, the support staff and the BCCI for their faith in me,” she adds.

The team will play a Test match and three One-dayers. Aarti’s previous engagements include the recent Sri Lanka One-Day series in Visakhapatnam and the T-20 World Cup in Bangladesh.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Telangana / by V.V. Subrahmanyam / Hyderabad – July 23rd, 2014

The fact that some boys are from the economically underprivileged section shows that the sport is gradually losing its elite tag. Suheim Sheik, president of the Yacht Club of Hyderabad, has been coaching schoolchildren, some of who come from poor families and these boys seem have taken to the sport like a duck to water.

Although Hyderabad is located far away from the coastline, thanks to the presence of the Hussainsagar lake, the city has produced several talented sailors who have fetched medals for India in international competitions.

The most noteworthy among them are Arjuna awardees – C.S Pradipak and Rajesh Choudhary (originally from Bihar but learnt sailing on the Hussainsagar waters), and A.A. Basith, who represented India at the Munich Olympics.

Fortunately the flow of talent still continues and now there are a bunch of youngsters who are looking to follow in the footsteps of these achievers. The fact that some of the boys are from the economically underprivileged section of society shows that the sport is gradually losing its elite tag.

Suheim Sheik, president of the Yacht Club of Hyderabad, has been coaching schoolchildren, some of who come from poor families and these boys seem have taken to the sport like a duck to water.

Nikhil Kumar, whose mother is in the fish selling business, showed so much promise that he was sent for an advanced level coaching course conducted by Polish coach Marek Nostitz Kackowski in Hong Kong.

Ragi Rajnikanth is another young lad with tremendous potential. He has bagged the bronze in Topper class national championships twice. “Hussainsagar lake is a very good sailing venue in many ways,” says Lt. Col. M.P. Jaggi (retd), a former sailor.

“The lake has the requisite length and breadth to lay a full sized course. Two internationals were conducted here – the Four Square International in 1990 and the Asia Pacific Laser Regatta in 1991. Moreover, it is located in the middle of the city, which means less hassle in the transportation of boats, sailors and maintenance crew. Also, it allows more people to view the events. All these factors give Hyderabad an advantage and we are hopeful that this city will produce more top level sailors,” he says.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Abijit Sen Gupta / Hyderabad – July 18th, 2014

Playing with senior players has helped paddler Hari Krishna chalk up victories

V.S. Hari Krishna preferred to punch above his weight right from an early age. Unlike several children who fake their dates of birth to play against younger rivals, he showed a penchant to take on tougher, if not older, opponents.

Such an approach stood him in good stead as the 14-year-old, who should be playing in the junior category, clinched the youth boys (under 21 years) title of the St. Paul’s Stag Table Tennis Academy state ranking tournament recently. All those training sessions at the aforementioned academy with former international G. Jitender and Shreyas Jagirdar, another senior player, had paid off.

Hari attributes his recent success to the 45-day national camp held at Lucknow in summer, where he learnt new techniques from the German coach Peter Angel. “This outing gave me a lot of experience and confidence,” says the youngster.

Setting out in the sport as an eight-year-old, the class X student of Gitanjali Devashray built up an impressive body of achievement. In March, he clinched a bronze double in the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Global Junior Circuit tournament at Panaji, Goa. After claiming the cadet singles bronze, he joined hands with another Hyderabad lad, Snehit Fidel Rohit, to corner the doubles bronze.

“It was a dream come true to wear India colours and play before the home crowd,” the teenager said of the Goa experience. Hari finished fifth in the Table Tennis Federation of India’s (TTFI) 2013 sub-junior boys rankings. In the singles of the said section, he claimed bronze at the National ranking championship at Ajmer in December last year.

With Chinese paddler Zhang Jike for role model, Hari embarked on the table tennis journey under the tutelage of Maduri Venugopal and is currently coached by Ibrahim Khan and P. Nagender Reddy.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus / by A. Joseph Anthony / Hyderabad – July 16th, 2014