Nasheman News :  The Kerala government has floated the Champions Boat League (CBL) for making state’s hugely popular boat races into a world-class experience for tourists and creating an international sporting atmosphere for participating clubs and their oarsmen, state Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran said on Sunday.

The CBL will start on August 10 with the prestigious Nehru Trophy Boat Race in Alappuzha and end with the President’s Trophy Boat Race in Kollam on November 1, with 12 races during the intervening weekends.

Held on the format of the IPL, all races will be held in the afternoon between 2.30 p.m. and 5 p.m.

The winner of the CBL will get a cash prize of Rs 25 lakh, while those finishing second and third receive Rs 15 lakh and Rs 10 lakh respectively.

The state Tourism Department said that they are now looking for entities that have the required expertise for managing, executing and promoting CBL for the next five years.

Surendran said the CBL will have nine teams.

“We want the CBL to be a world-class tourism product capable of attracting thousands of tourists. Further, the league championship will help boat clubs financially. The players become more skilled. That will inspire a whole new generation of them,” he said.

The CBL will be held in the Alappuzha, Kottayam, Kollam, Ernakulam, Thrissur and Malappuram districts.

The Nehru Trophy will be the qualifying boat race for selection of the CBL’s teams.

[Nasheman news] Ahmedabad Golfer Ridhima Dilawari rallied from a three-shot deficit to a three-shot win as Gaurika Bishnoi slipped on the final day of the fourth leg of the Hero womens Pro Tour at the Kalhaar Blues and Greens here on Friday.

Ridhima carded a second successive one-over 73, to end the week at two-over 218, while Gaurika, who crashed to seven-over 79, had four runner-up finishes last season, before adding one more at 221.

It was a winning start for Ridhima, who was making her first appearance on the Tour this season.

Ridhima became the fourth winner this season, following Neha Tripathi, Gursimar Badwal and Tvesa Malik in the previous three legs. It was also Ridhima’s third title on the Hero WPG Tour, following two in 2018, once each as an amateur and a pro.

Neha (75) was third despite a double bogey finish, while Amandeep Drall (79), runner-up in the last two legs, also had a disappointing final round and was fourth. 

On a rather tough scoring day, Gurimsar (77), winner the week before, was Tied-fifth with Suchitra Ramesh (79).

Ananya Datar and Afshan Fatima were Tied-seventh, while Siddhi Kapoor and Smriti Mehra completed the Top-10.

Neha is on top of the Order of Merit with Rs 3,46,400 and she is a mere Rs 2,400 ahead of Amandeep, who has Rs 3,44,000. 

Gursimar is third with Rs 3,06,400 and Gaurika is fourth with Rs 2,36,800. Siddhi Kapoor, with Rs 2,10,400 is fifth while Ridhima, who was playing her first event this season, took home Rs 1,44,000.

[Nasheman news] Kochi Kerala Blasters FC notched up only their second win of the current Indian Super League season after a comprehensive 3-0 victory over Chennaiyin FC here on Friday.

Matej Poplatnik scored a brace (23rd, 55th minutes) to put Kerala Blasters in the driving seat and young midfielder Sahal Abdul Samad finished things off in the 71st minute to score his first ever ISL goal and end his team’s 14-game winless run. 

Chennaiyin on the other hand saw their nightmare season continue after their 12th loss of the season. They are rooted to the bottom spot with eight points from 16 games, while Kerala have climbed to the eighth spot. 

The visitors never really got going and were on the backfoot right from the start. Chennaiyin custodian Karanjit Singh was called into action twice early in the game as Kerala imposed themselves. Slavisa Stojanovic’s shot from the edge of the box was saved by Karanjit and he had to be alert to block the follow-up effort from Poplatnik as well. 

But Kerala did make their early dominance count by taking the lead in the 23rd minute. Courage Pekuson’s low cross into the box could only be deflected towards Poplatnik by Karanjit and the striker gleefully headed home into an empty net. 

John Gregory’s side could not gain a foothold into the match and looked woefully out of rhythm in the attacking third. As the half wore on, Kerala could have doubled their lead as Karanjit was forced into two fine saves from Pekuson and Seiminlen Doungel’s efforts. 

The story remained pretty much the same in the second half as well and the second goal came 10 minutes later. Len Doungel initiated a quick counter-attack and fed Sahal down the right wing. The midfielder squared a pass into the box which was not dealt with at all by the Chennaiyin defenders. Stojanovic got to it and found Poplatnik who lashed a shot home. 

That goal was a blow Chennaiyin FC never recovered from. It did not help that Christopher Herd, who was injured in the build-up to Kerala’s goal, had to be substituted. 

The home team continued to call the shots and soon got the third in the 71st minute. Again, Samad started the attack with a run from inside his own half. The Chennaiyin defenders stood him off and could not clear the ball after Samad’s attempted one-two with Doungel did not come off. Sahal carried on his run to latch on to the loose ball and lift a finish over the onrushing Karanjit. 

Chennaiyin did push forward a bit in order to notch a consolation goal but Kerala saw them off with consummate ease.

Nasheman News : Two-time champion P.V. Sindhu began her quest for a third title with a win at the Yonex-Sunrise 83rd Senior National Badminton Championships here on Thursday.

The top seed beat Nagpur’s rising star Malvika Bansod 21-11, 21-13 to progress into the quarter-finals.

Harsheel Dani, meanwhile, caused the upset of the day by showing the door to the fourth seed and last edition’s semi-finalist Subhankar Dey 21-15, 21-17 in 43 minutes. 

Eighty three world ranking spots separate the 22-year-old and Dey but that hardly mattered as the 131st ranked Dani produced a barrage of attacking shots to knock out the World No.48 Dey.

In one of the most-awaited men’s doubles matches of the day, second seeds Chirag Shetty and Pranaav Jerry Chopra edged veterans V Diju and Rupesh Kumar KT 21-8, 18-21, 22-20 in a clash of generations to enter the semi-finals.

Dhruv Kapila and Krishna Prasad Garaga, one of the most promising men’s doubles pairs, beat Deep Rambhiya and Pratik Ranade 21-17, 21-14 to set up a meeting with the top seeds Arjun MR and Shlok Ramchandran, who took care of Saurabh Sharma and Rohan Kapoor 21-11, 21-18.

Kuhoo Garg and Anoushka Parikh notched up a commanding 21-10, 21-13 victory over Agna Anto and Sneha Santhilal in women’s doubles. Manu Attri and Maneesha K, meanwhile, knocked out the second seeds Saurabh Sharma and Anoushka Parikh 21-10, 21-16 to enter the mixed doubles semi-finals.

Sindhu overcame a slow start to find her rhythm. After lagging behind the Khelo India Games runner-up 0-4, the World No. 6 settled into the match and stormed ahead to 11-7. A flurry of unforced errors under pressure from Bansod absolutely did not help the youngster as the first game went to her highly accomplished opponent.

Bansod could not do much damage to Sindhu in the second game too. Her errors put the Rio Olympic silver medallist at an 11-4 advantage before the 2011 and 2013 champion wrapped up the match to set up a quarter-final showdown with Riya Mookerjee, a 21-11, 17-21, 21-18 winner over Kanika Kanwal.

The Round of 16 singles and the quarter-final matches in doubles started from Thursday on completion of the preliminaries on Day 2 of the Nationals. The top eight singles seeds and the top four doubles seeds had been exempted from playing until the pre-quarters and the quarters respectively.

In the other Round of 16 singles clashes, Asian junior champion Lakshya Sen hardly broke sweat in his 21-11, 21-8 demolition of Ansal Yadav. Top seed and 2015 champion Sameer Verma, meanwhile, had to retire hurt after winning the first game 21-16 and trailing 1-8 against Aryamann Tandon.

Sourabh Verma, a two-time winner, faced no hassles in his 21-8, 21-15 win over Kartik Jindal. Bodhit Joshi and Kaushal Dharmamer both had to work hard for three games before advancing to the last eight.

In women’s singles, Assam’s wonder kid Ashmita Chaliha, seeded fourth at this tournament, needed three games to prevail over Vaidehi Choudhari 21-13, 15-21, 21-12. Third seed Shriyanshi Pardeshi blew away Deepshikha Singh 21-3, 21-7 while junior national champion Aakarshi Kashyap stunned former winner Rituparna Das 21-18, 21-12.

Maharashtra girl Neha Pandit continued her heroics with a 21-14, 21-13 victory over 2018 Tata Open quarter-finalist Anura Prabhudesai and her statemate Vaishnavi Bhale got the better of Sai Uttejitha Rao Chukka 21-13, 21-15.

While the top-seeded doubles teams in each section all safely made it to the semi-finals, Manu Attri and K. Maneesha knocked out second seeds Saurabh Sharma and Anoushka Parikh 21-10, 21-16 in mixed doubles.

Nasheman News : Putting India and England as favourites to win the forthcoming ICC World Cup, batting great V.V.S. Laxman on Wednesday said Virat Kohli and Co. are peaking at the right time after their historic ODI series triumphs in Australia and New Zealand.

“It’s all about peaking at the right time which is so important. The World Cup is a long format so every player should be at his best physically and mentally if India has to win the World Cup. They start as favourites. For me, India and England start as favourites,” Laxman told reporters on the sidelines of Bengal’s Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament preparations here.

The 44-year old is a batting consultant of the Bengal team as a part of Cricket Association of Bengal’s Vision 2020 programme.

The World Cup kicks off in England from May 30 with India taking on South Africa in their opening game on June 5 in Southampton.

The Indian team edged Australia 2-1 in the three-match series and then went on to thump New Zealand by a healthy margin of 4-1 in the 50-over format.

India will now take on Australia at home in five ODIs and two T20s starting February 24.

“I think brilliant. The way they played, I would like to congratulate the entire team,” Laxman said.

“The way they played right from the Australia series to the New Zealand series… and it’s not only one or two players who have put their hand up. Everyone has contributed. So it’s great to see bowling and batting departments contribute,” he added.

Talking about the Bengal team which failed to make the final at home last season after finishing third in the Super League Group B of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, Laxman said: “The preparation has been really good. We had a lot of match simulation. In T20 cricket, better than nets is match simulation. It has been a very realistic practice. We played a couple of games too.”

The 2011 champions Bengal open their domestic T20 campaign against Mizoram in their group D fixture at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack on February 21.

Laxman was part of a three-day camp which took place at the Eden Gardens and concluded at the Jadavpur University Campus ground here on Wednesday.

Laxman, who has been with the team led by Manoj Tiwary since 2014, said he was disappointed with Bengal failing to qualify for the knock-out stages of the Ranji Trophy, adding the team has the potential to win the tournament.

“I am disappointed that they did not qualify but the potential of the side is to go on and win the Ranji Trophy,” he said.

Laxman also backed Bengal coach and former India opener Arun Lal, saying his presence in the dressing room will make the players mentally strong.

“Arun has always been someone who is mentally tough and he will inspire the team. He is a great asset to the team.”

Laxman also hoped that the BCCI look into playing U-23 CK Nayudu Trophy final in neutral venues with the summit clash game this time between Punjab and Bengal ending in just two days. Punjab edged past Bengal by one wicket to clinch the title.

“That is something that the BCCI has to work out. The wicket could have been better. It was spinner friendly. You want U-23 finals to go the distance as it gives an opportunity for the youngsters to showcase their talent. But youngsters should also know how to play in different conditions,” he concluded. 

Nasheman News :  Former champion Rituparna Das of PSPB and top seed Riya Mookerjee of the Railways put on a brilliant display to book their berths in the pre-quarterfinals of the 83rd Senior National Badminton Championships here on Wednesday.

Also winning on Day 2 of India’s biggest domestic badminton event was former champion Sourabh Verma and 2017 runner-up Lakshya Sen, both of whom made it to the pre-quarters.

World No.57 Das, who was crowned the champion in 2017, needed only 24 minutes to breeze past Namita Pathania 21-10, 21-7. 

Riya, placed 114th in the world, staved off some stiff resistance from the ninth-seeded Gayatri Gopichand to win 21-17, 21-17.

The 14th seeded Sen continued his fine run from the Inter-Zonal competition with yet another facile 21-10, 21-10 victory over Bengal’s top seed Arintap Dasgupta. 

Verma, the winner of the Nationals in 2011 and 2017, was equally dominant in his 21-13, 21-14 triumph over Munawer Mohammed.

Harsheel Dani of Maharashtra was made to work hard by Kartikey. The World No.131 fought back from a game down to register a 16-21, 21-18, 21-8 win in 56 minutes.

Sixth seed Aryamann Tandon beat Madhya Pradesh’s Priyanshu Rajawat 21-15, 21-10 while fifth seed Rahul Yadav from Telangana emerged a 21-12, 21-11 winner over Jaswanth D.

In the women’s singles, 14th seeded Malvika Bansod caused an upset by ousting the seventh-seeded Shikha Gautam 21-11, 21-16 in a fourth-round encounter that lasted 33 minutes.

Fourth seed Vaidehi Choudhari faced no hassles in her 21-17, 21-13 dismissal of Kerala’s Aadya Variyath.

Maharashtra’s sixth-seeded rising star Vaishnavi Bhale too progressed, courtesy of a 21-19, 21-9 win over the 10th seeded Reshma Karthik. 

Maharashtra had a double delight on Day 2 of the Senior Nationals as the 15th seeded Neha Pandit showed her admirable fighting spirit in her 21-18, 20-22, 21-16 upset win over third seed Bhavya Rishi.

Eighth seed Shruti Mundada and unseeded Deepshikha Singh advanced when their respective opponents, Vrushali Gummadi and Deepali Gupta, retired.

Seasoned campaigners Manu Attri and Maneesha K, seeded seventh at this tournament, showed the door to the mixed doubles top seeds Utkarsh Arora and Karishma Wadkar 21-19, 21-18 on their way to the quarter-finals.

Shlok Ramchandran and Mithula UK also joined them by prevailing over Sanjai Srivatsa D and Kavipriya S 21-17, 21-13.

The veteran men’s doubles team of V Diju and Rupesh Kumar KT also kept their impressive run going. Kumar, former South Asian Games gold medallist, and Diju, a former World No. 6 in mixed doubles, required just 20 minutes to dispatch Prince Chaturvedi and Sangram Chutia 21-15, 21-11 en route to the pre quarter-finals.

The top shuttlers, led by Saina Nehwal and P.V.Sindhu, will begin their challenge from Thursday. 

The top eight seeds in singles have been directly placed in the pre-quarters while the top four seeds in doubles will start from the quarters.

Nasheman News :  Expressing confidence ahead of the 2019 shooting World Cup, to be held at the Dr Karni Singh shooting range here from February 20, Commonwealth Games 2014 gold medallist Apurvi Chandela hopes the prestigious event will fetch India a number of Olympic quotas.

Shooters from around the world will be eyeing the 16 quota places on offer at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in eight events for men and women.

Speaking to media, Apurvi, who has already bagged an Olympic quota for India last year after finishing fourth at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup 2018 in Changwon, South Korea, said that as Indian shooters will be competing on their home turf this time, they will enjoy home advantage while simultaneously battling increased expectations.

“The advantage would be that we are getting a chance to train here (India). But of course it is the match day which matters the most,” the 26-year-old said.

“The other countries are also strong including us (India). So, we will try to do well and I hope more quotas come for the country for the 2020 Olympics,” she added.

Commenting on how home conditions will help her, Apurvi said: “I compete in the 10 metre air rifle event, which is held indoors. So conditions won’t matter much for me. But yes, it will matter in the 50 metres event because of the wind factor.

“But the way we are practising, I believe everything will be good for India,” she added.

The Jaipur-born shooter, who paired with Ravi Kumar for the 10 metre air rifle mixed team event and won a bronze medal at the 2018 Asian Games, also said her personal target will be to deliver her best and bring more medals for the country.

With the Tokyo Olympics nearly a year away, Apurvi said that as a team India looks strong with a mixture of youth and experience.

The ace shooter, however, said she won’t change her strategy or technique in the World Cup but might opt for a new kit in the Olympics.

“I haven’t changed my style or technique. I have been shooting consistently and getting good results and so I am satisfied,” she said.

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.