Archives for February 2019

Nasheman News :  A day after leading the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to their maiden Inter-State Inter-Zonal title, Lakshya Sen carried his impeccable form to make a winning start at the 83rd senior National badminton championships here on Tuesday.

The Asian junior champion, seeded 14th at India’s biggest domestic event, needed 28 minutes to dismiss Rahul Patel 21-13, 21-13 on his way to the third round.

Sen, who will face Vipul Saini next, had reached the semi-finals in the previous edition and is looking to improve on that.

Former two-time champion Sourabh Verma of PSPB also began his campaign on a positive note with a commanding 21-10, 21-8 demolition of Jayapragasham VS.

The first day of the Nationals witnessed as many as 250 matches played on 9 different courts. 

The hosts had a lot to cheer about on Day 1 as five singles shuttlers from Assam won their opening round matches. Iman Sonowal set up a clash with Sourabh Verma after outplaying Jammu and Kashmir’s Raghav Dogra 21-9, 21-3.

Assam’s Orijit Chaliha lost to Mithun Manjunath 21-11;21-9 in the second round; earlier Orijit emerged a winner 21-14, 21-18 over Gujarat’s Vishal Dave while Rituporna Bora defeated West Bengal’s Anirban Mandal 21-5, 21-18.

In women’s singles, Megha Bora Morchana had it easy against Nagaland’s Ekumyala whom she beat 21-9, 21-14. Suzen Burhagohain advanced when Goa’s Yasmin Syed retired, trailing 2-3.

Among other matches, 2018 Ghana International winner Harsheel Dani won a blockbuster battle between two of India’s rising stars when he prevailed over former World Junior Championships silver medallist Siril Verma 23-21, 21-17 to reach the third round.

Men’s singles top seed Arintap Dasgupta completely outclassed Anay Shirpurkar 21-8, 21-5 while fifth seed Rahul Yadav Chittaboina needed 32 minutes to show the door to Karan Choudhary 21-17, 21-8. Sixth seed Aryamann Tandon blitzed past Bidyasagar Salam 21-6, 21-6 en route to Round 3.

Mixed doubles seventh seeds Manu Attri and Maneesha K hardly broke sweat in their 21-5, 21-6 destruction of Mohit Tiwari and Smirti Nagarkoti. Jammu and Kashmir’s Dogra and Rupal Anand notched up a fine 21-12, 21-15 victory over Sikkim’s Rewash Rai and Tashi Choden Gurung.

Shlok Ramchandran, who played a brilliant role in guiding the AAI to their Inter-Zonal triumph, hardly faced any hassle in his mixed doubles opener in partnership with Mithula UK. The two teamed up to beat Akshit Mahajan and Anupama Upadhyaya 21-12, 21-19 en route to the third round.

The preliminaries will continue till Wednesday and will decide who all get to meet the top eight singles seeds who will begin their challenge directly from the pre-quarters. 

Similarly, in doubles, the top four teams have been exempted from playing until the quarters.

The seeds will be placed after the Super Draw is conducted on Thursday. 

Saina Nehwal and P.V. Sindhu will be the top attractions in women’s singles. In the absence of defending champion H.S. Prannoy and former winner Kidambi Srikanth, BWF World Tour Finals semi-finalist Sameer Verma will be the biggest name in men’s singles.

Madrid, Feb 12 (IANS) The Union of European Football Associations on Tuesday said all UEFA Champions League and Europa League matches this week will observe a minute of silence to pay tribute to late Argentine forward Emiliano Sala.

“On behalf of everyone at UEFA, I would like to express my sincerest condolences to the family and loved ones of Emiliano Sala for their loss,” said UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin.

Sala went missing on January 21 after a small plane he was on crashed while flying over the English Channel on its way from Ligue 1 team Nantes to English Premier League side Cardiff City. But Sala’s death could not be confirmedthe until February 7, reports Efe news.

“I am deeply saddened that his life was so cruelly taken away at such a young age and I urge supporters across the continent to pay their respects to his memory over the coming days,” he said.

Clubs participating in this week’s games will wear black armbands in honour of Sala.

On February 7, the United Kingdom’s government agency investigating civil aircraft accidents said a body had been retrieved from wreckage of a plane identified as the one in which Sala was travelling.

“The body brought to Portland Port today (Thursday, February 7) has been formally identified by HM Coroner for Dorset as that of professional footballer Emiliano Sala,” police in southwestern England said.

Following the announcement, Nantes said that Sala who scored 48 goals over 144 first tier French football matches would have a special place in the history of the club.

Sala and pilot David Ibbotson were the only two occupants of the aircraft that lost contact with air traffic controllers some 24 kilometers (15 miles) north of the Channel Island of Guernsey at 8.23 pm on January 21.

The player was travelling from the French city of Nantes, where he had bid a final farewell to his former teammates, to Cardiff in south Wales, where he was to join the local team and begin the next stage of his career in the English Premier League.

Nasheman News :  India A women’s hockey team defeated France A 2-0 in the third match at the Padma Shri Mohammad Shahid Synthetic Hockey Stadium here on Tuesday.

The hosts were helped by goals from local girl Mumtaz Khan (42nd minute) and Sharmila Devi (60th), with both scoring two well-crafted field goals to give their team another victory in the four-match series.

The match saw the visitors dominate in the opening minutes, but the Indian defence made sure that they did not score the first goal. 

With two goal-less quarters having passed, it was the Indian women who broke the deadlock in the 42nd minute. Lucknow’s very own young striker Mumtaz Khan registered her name on the score-sheet as she produced a very calm finish under pressure to give her team a 1-0 lead.

The French had several chances, but could not get past India’s goalkeeper Bichu Devi Kharibam. 

Some reflex saves from the Indian shot-stopper meant that India took their lead into the last quarter. 

The eventful last quarter saw both teams vie for the next goal, but eventually it was the hosts who were successful, scoring another field goal in the last minute of the match to extend their lead to 2-0, and take the third Match.

[Nasheman news] LondonEngland football great, goalkeeper Gordon Banks, whose safe pair of hands helped the Three Lions to their only World Cup final victory in 1966, has died at the age of 81, his family said on Tuesday.

One of the all-time-great keepers alongside the likes of Russia’s Lev Yashin, Banks’ split-second, acrobatic block to deny Pelé’s rocketing header in the 1970 World Cup in Mexico by scooping the bouncing ball over the crossbar is still widely regarded as one of the best saves ever made.

“Gordon Banks, the goalkeeper who made the save of the century against Pelé, has died,” mourned Spain’s sports newspaper As, reports Efe news.

In an interview following the game, which Brazil went on to win 1-0, Banks said Brazil’s famous number 10 approached him and said: “I thought that was a goal,” to which he replied: “You and me both.” 

He said he could be seen laughing as he took his position for the ensuing corner as fellow England great, and captain at the time, Bobby Moore turned and said: “You’re getting old, Banksy, you used to hold onto them.” 

Tributes from the world of football rolled in for the late goalkeeper.

“We’re deeply saddened to hear that Gordon Banks, our World Cup-winning goalkeeper has passed away,” England’s national team wrote on Twitter adding: “Our thoughts are with Gordon’s friends, family and supporters at this difficult time.” 

Gary Lineker, another England legend who played for the national team between 1984 and 1992 said: “England’s World Cup winner was one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time and such a lovely, lovely man.” 

Banks of England, as he came to be known, had spells at English clubs Leicester City and Stoke City before his career was cut short when he lost the sight in one eye in a car crash in 1972, just two years after his famous save in Guadalajara. 

He had attempted to overtake another car on a sharp bend when he collided with an oncoming vehicle and ended up in a roadside ditch. He required hundreds of stitches to his face but would never regain binocular vision. 

Despite attempts to resume his career, he retired from professional soccer in the United Kingdom and later went on to have spells in the North American Soccer League. 

Banks had a brief managerial career at Telford United. 

In 2015, it was announced the former goalkeeper was undergoing treatment for kidney cancer.

[Nasheman news] New Delhi Two cricket World Cup wins in 44 years, yet the flame carried in the hearts and minds of savants in India burns. As a top tier team, India once again is in search of the Golden Fleece.

Workload management of the stars will be on top of the mind when the selectors meet in Mumbai on Friday to pick the squad for the white ball series against Australia. 

The Indian team is set to play two T20Is and five ODIs against the Aussies in what is set to be the last set of international games that the boys get before going into the 2019 World Cup in England, starting on May 30. The only practice they will get after this is in the Indian Premier League. 

The Selection committee will look at keeping the right balance as they would not only wish to give the senior guys ample rest before going into the showpiece event, but also wouldn’t want to give the Australians the upper hand in what will be the last series before the World Cup. India has been playing incessantly overseas and the fast bowling wolf pack has had no real rest. 

BCCi sources said: “Workload management of the senior players will definitely be the main area of discussion as we all know that the Indians have been on the road and the selectors and team management have made a conscious effort to ensure that the players get ample rest between games and series. Like you saw, regular skipper Virat Kohli was rested for the back end of the New Zealand series. You might see Rohit Sharma rested for some games here.

“But it is also important to note that the Indians would want to keep the foot on the pedal and ensure that they don’t give the Australians any momentum going into the World Cup. A good series against India would mean a confidence booster for the team. So, there has to be a balance so that the composition of the team is not affected,” he explained.

While Rishabh Pant is almost certain to get more game time, it will be interesting to see if someone like Ajinkya Rahane gets one last go to seal a place in the World Cup squad. In the bowling department too, Jasprit Bumrah is almost certain to make a comeback after a well-earned rest during the New Zealand series.

In fact, head coach Ravi Shastri has already made it clear that players will be monitored even during the IPL.

“We’ve been in touch with the BCCI and CoA in this regard. We have certain plans in place and we’ll be looking to follow them. Usually, the two months of IPL are seen as relatively free months for me and I can just sit down and enjoy the cricket, watch out for new, young talents that keep emerging. But this IPL will be about monitoring the players, keeping the World Cup in mind,” he said in a recent interview.

[Nasheman news] Tokyo The organizers of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games on Tuesday said that they were confident that the new venues would be completed in time for test competitions to be held later this year, despite problems in many projects.

The organizers on Tuesday showed the progress made in the construction of the new sports facilities in the Tokyo Bay area to reporters and evaluated the status of the work — with less than a year and a half to go before the Olympics, reports Efe news.

One of the biggest projects is the new Aquatics Center, which has been embroiled in a scandal about the falsification of technical data related to its anti-earthquake systems by a Japanese company.

The arena would have to replace or repair 32 such units used in its structure, which are mandatory according to Japanese law, after the company KYP admitted to using irregular material in its seismic protection systems.

Takahiro Otani, the head of planning and development of the venues, told Efe in a statement that this unexpected change would not affect the original schedule, which aims to complete the Aquatics Center by February 2020 and host test competitions in April.

He added that earthquake protection was “100 percent guaranteed” in this facility, which would have a capacity of 15,000 and host the Olympic competitions in swimming, synchronized swimming and diving.

Around 55 percent construction is complete for the Aquatics Center, which means that the work is progressing at a slower rate than the other projects due to its enormous size: 65,000 square meters, two Olympic-size swimming pools and another one for diving.

Other facilities which have witnessed delays include the new Ariake Tennis Park, where the organizers had to find a new construction company after the first contractor went bankrupt.

Work is progressing as per schedule for the 15,000-capacity Ariake Arena stadium, which will host volleyball, and the Olympics Gymnastics Center – with a capacity of 12,000 – as well as the venues for kayaking, canoeing and archery.

All these facilities are located on artificial islands in the Tokyo Bay, the area with the biggest concentration of Olympic venues, where the 18,000-capacity Olympic Village is also being constructed.

The organizers said that all the venues will be ready in time for a series of test competitions before the Games, to be held in three rounds: the first this summer, the second between October 2019 and February 2020 and the third in spring 2020.

The second Summer Olympics in the Japanese capital – 56 years after the Tokyo 1964 Games – will be held between July 24 and August 9, 2020, while the Paralympic Games will start on August 25 and finish on September 6.