N. Bhaavitha is gearing up for the sub juniors level, having sailed through the cadets category

Nagulapalli Bhaavitha inherited the ping pong genes from her table tennis player father Ravikanth. Before long, the duo roped in her five cousins to the game as well. She has since left all of them far behind, becoming Telangana state cadet girls champion two years in a row. “I used to play the game at the university level with my good friend Maduri Venugopal. So it was only natural that I entrusted my daughter to his coaching at Gujarati Seva Mandal,” says Ravikanth.

Starting off as a seven year old, Bhaavitha showed early promise. In 2013, she clinched the mini cadets girls crown at the Anandnagar Welfare Association (AWA) state ranking tournament. In the Secunderabad Public School tournament, she was the individual cadet champion and paired with Devyani for the team title as well.

The 12-year-old acknowledges the support she gets from class teacher ‘Sudip maam’ and ‘Principal Kasturi Chatterjee maam’ at Gitanjali Devashray School in Secunderabad. Although she travels quite a lot for the game including to the zonal events across the country, Bhaavitha has not slackened in studies.

In 2014 after finishing runner up in the St. Paul’s ranking championship, she went on to win the state ranking tournaments at Khammam in September, the Darga Pentappa memorial in October and the AWA event also in October.

The following year turned out to be even better, as she reached the rounds of 16 and eight in the national zonal championships.

Bhaavitha made sure she won the St. Paul’s title that had eluded her and then emerged cadet girls winner in the Mahavir Institute of Engineering & Technology, the AWA and Mahabubnagar state ranking tournaments culminating in the final triumph at the Nalgonda State championship. She had won the state cadet crown a stunning seven times !

Bhaavitha’s ambition is to follow in the footsteps of her academy mates and role models Nikhat Banu and Varuni Jaiswal and achieve at the international level. She’s keen to emulate their forehand topspin driven game as well.

Now that she’s through with the cadets category, the sprightly lass is gearing up for the next level, the sub-juniors. While others in school are enjoying their holidays, she’s sweating it out in the morning and evening in long practice sessions.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus / b A. Joseph Anthony / Hyderabad – March 16th, 2016

Hyderabad :

Married in 1966, PR Man Singh, 78, and Manju, 73 agree that their marriage is a journey of love and happiness. “We are yet to decide on our golden jubilee celebrations. Our 25th anniversary was celebrated in a small way but this time it might be different,’’ says Manju.

With a smile on his face, Man Singh, former secretary of Hyderabad Cricket Association and manager of the 1983 Indian team that won one-day World Cup, begins his story.“It has been a long journey. In three months it will be 50 years of us being together. I’m from Hyderabad and she’s from Ferozepur in Punjab. The alliance was made through common friends. My mother showed me a photograph of hers, after I finished playing my first Ranji Trophy match in Cochin, Kerala. My elder sister and brother in law were posted in Punjab and they had contacted my parents in my absence. Then subsequently, me and my parents went to Delhi. That is where we met first.”

When Man was late for the meeting

Manju recalls their first meeting like it was yesterday. “I kept my head down. I never questioned my parents when they came with the proposal. I had to take leave as I was working, teaching English and Social Studies. I did my B.Ed. They came late, I was so annoyed with my mother and told her that it was a waste of time and my leave. We were not conservative. We are more of a traditional family where we obeyed our elders,” she says. Man interrupts with a justification. ‘The train was late. Then we had to visit our cousin’s house.” Manju says, “It was very late. 10:30 in the night and we had a small ceremony.”

The backbone

Manju says she knew that her husband was passionate about cricket. “I was also in active sports and represented Delhi in Guides. I had taken mountaineering and sailing training,’’ she tells us. But that is not it. She is the one who is responsible for the family’s well being. “She took care of the house and children at a time when my role in cricket administration was at its peak. I hardly spent time at home and could not pay attention to the children. This museum is her creation. I used to bring my mementoes and left them scattered. Manju took all the pains to collect them and keep them safe. She was patient with me,” he appreciates.

Man Singh also took forward his father’s liquor business. But that wasn’t a smooth journey. “We faced a financial crunch during prohibition. We wanted to set up another business, but that too didn’t work out. But we didn’t complain. At that moment without Manju, I couldn’t have managed my business.

Dealing with differences

Manju points out that they never had any arguments. “If I don’t like anything I just keep quiet. A little later, we would talk and discuss what we should have done. I don’t remember any argument as such,” she says.

The victory

“There was hardly any way to communicate when I was in London,” recalls Man. June 22, 1983, was the day we beat England in the semi-finals. “In all this excitement, I forgot that it was our wedding anniversary. Late in the evening, her elder brother, who stays in England, called me and said, “what the hell, you did not wish Manju on your wedding anniversary and she is very upset.” I said listen you call her up and tell that this is the biggest gift I’m giving her on her wedding anniversary,” he laughs. Manju steps in and says, “When India won the World Cup, there were non-stop telephone calls, congratulating me. We celebrated it in a big way at home. We don’t talk much about cricket at home, but that win was more than something to celebrate,” she beams, proudly.

Museum and his dream

It is not just the name of his house, The Pavilion, but the cricket is written all over it. On the second floor, is a huge room filled with Man’s cricket memorabilia that Manju set up with utmost care. “We built this floor exclusively and was inaugurated by Sachin Tendulkar.When we constructed this house, these mementoes were in the cellar and whenever there was a big rain during monsoon, the rooms would be flooded. That is when we decided to shift upstairs. But I always dreamt of a museum. I’m happy that my dream came true. I’m indebted to my wife, son Vikram and daughter Aarati,” says Man.

Big players and party time

Manju is also a great host, shares Man. From Clive Lloyd, Vivian Richards, Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev to Sachin Tendulkar, the entire Pakistan and West Indies team made a visit to her house. “She plans meticulously and takes care of the guests with best of the cuisines,” he beams.

Manju tells us that players like Kapil Dev, Vengsarkar, Shastri are comfortable at their place. “I remember one of my friends had a crush on West Indies batsman Alvin Kallicharan. She would make a number of calls. These are all sweet memories. Many would be eager to attend the parties as they could meet the star players,” shares Manju.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by N. Jagannath Das / March 12th, 2016

The remarkable success story of Hyderabadis in beach volleyball continues! While the city has only one lake, Hussainsagar, to boast about, over the years it has been the spikers from the city who have been dominating the senior beach volleyball nationals. And this time around, it was the combine effort of Sara Ravinder Reddy and P. Krishna Chaitanya who ensured the rich legacy continues, by winning the title in Kozhikode on Saturday.

For the duo, who started playing together since February last year when it clinched the silver in the last National Games, Ravinder and Chaitanya are quite elated with their latest feat. Now, the focus shifts to the Olympics qualification. With Chaitanya already taking part in the first-leg of the trials held in India and finishing third, he, along with Ravinder, will now go to Thailand for the next leg of qualification for the 2016 Rio Games.

“It has been a wonderful experience and a great feeling to be the national champions. The fact that we could beat the heat and the tough opposition to win the quarters, semis and the final – all scheduled on the final day – in one day is proof of our grit, determination and skill,” remarked 35-year-old Ravinder, a postal assistant in the Postal Department.

Interestingly, Chaitanya is still searching for a job and is optimistic of getting one in a public sector undertaking.

These spikers with the indefatigable spirit to take on the best despite adversity – training at the Musheerabad playground on a makeshift sand court daily. Then, before the Calicut nationals, Ravinder and Chaitanya trained at Film Nagar Club for a couple of days to fine-tune their skills. “We need sponsorship and more and more tournaments to make it more popular,” insist both the champion spikers. “Since we have quite a few Asian-level events, we hope some corporate groups will help us,” say the newly-crowned National champions.

23-year-old Chaitanya reminds that though the Volleyball Federation of India is doing its bit, the sport and the players need greater support to dream big.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by V.V.Subrahmanyam / Hyderabad – March 07th, 2016

City badminton official Kunta Pani Rao will be a referee for the BWF Super Series

For Kunta Pani Rao, the affable badminton official for the last four decades, the recently-concluded Badminton Asia team championship in Hyderabad was one more assignment that enhanced his value and contribution for the successful conduct of the event as the Badminton World Federation (BWF) referee.

This 64-year-old soft-spoken person has now been nominated as one of the three BWF referees for the BWF Super Series in Delhi next month.

“Yes, it has been a long journey which began first as a Sports Authority of India coach. Those days, the salary was less, no pension and Provident Fund benefits and the threat of being transferred also was there. Just then I got the job in the State Bank of India which I took up to spend more time in badminton,” recalls Pani Rao.

Interestingly, when Pani Rao officiated for the first time ever in the Junior National, he saw Madhumita Bist (now India’s women’s coach) win the title in the early 1970s. “Things have changed – in some issues for the good. But, the job basically remains the same. To be a good and respected umpire or referee, you have to know the game better and not just thrive on the technicalities,” reminds the veteran official who owes his growth to former BAI secretary Ahmed Hussain and to the current BAI secretary (tournaments) K.Ch. Punnaiah Choudhary.

This Hyderabadi, who officiated in the 1986 Seoul Asian Games, has turned an international umpire in 1994 and having crossed the superannuation age of 55, is now a qualified BWF referee which means he can do the job till he turns 65.

“Essentially, the referee is the overall in-charge of the tournament, responsible for the posting of umpires, finalising the schedule and resolving any on-court disputes,” reminds Pani Rao. “Every official is under scrutiny for the Badminton Asia Confederation makes a critical assessment of every technical official and allots the next assignment accordingly,” he points out.

Pani Rao welcomes the instant review system in place when a player opts for a video review of any point in dispute. “This vastly reduces the scope for errors by line judges. But again, it is available only on one court, instead it could be extended to other courts as well for better results,” he feels.

Pani Rao is a big fan of the Indian badminton legend Prakash Padukone. “Prakash is a gentleman to the core. I was officiating in Vijayawada when Syed Modi shocked him in the Senior National final in 1981. I vividly remember Prakash, then All England champion, had come two days late for that event. He was not well in fact and found it difficult to adjust to the conditions there,” recalls Phani Rao.

What next? “Once I retire from the BWF role next year, I would love to take up coaching which I enjoy a lot. I was mostly the State coach in those days and played my bit in the evolution of many champions like Manoj Kumar, Gopichand and Chetan Anand,” he signs off.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus / by V.V.Subrahmanyam / Hyderabad – December 24th, 2016