Bengal fumble in final
Calcutta: Bengal women lost to Kerala in the 14th National Youth Volleyball Championship final, at the SAI courts, here on Monday.
The Bengal team failed to reproduce the kind of verve they showed during the semi-final victory against Haryana, on Sunday. They lost to the Kerala 12-25, 20-25, 16-25.
Bengal had their task cut out as the Kerala team towered over them. Moreover, their libero proved to be the weakest link as she failed to cover much ground.
Bengal did provide some resistance in the second and third games, but failed to sustain the pressure. At one stage in the second game, Bengal were leading 15-10, but Kerala worked their way back to win the game 25-20. In the third game, Kerala broke Bengal’s serve and then held their own for 13 consecutive points. By then, it was all too late!
Having stood third in last year’s tournament, Monday’s result is definitely a step forward. A fact acknowledged by Bengal captain Kamalika Debnath.
Kamalika said, “Our defence failed us. But they were too good. One must remember that they’re much older than us”.
“We hope to win next year’s meet.” added the 1st year Arts student.
Juhi Shaw, playing as a setter for the team, impressed with her performance. The class 11 student displayed tremendous innovation on court and is definitely one to watch out for in the future.
She seemed gracious, even in defeat, when she said, “It’s sad. But I’m happy to be playing in the final…”
In the men’s category, Kerala failed to capitalise, in the closely fought encounter, after clinching the first game 25-15. UP fought their way back early in the second game as they churned out winners from audacious angles.
That their first serve was lethal, helped. Moreover, UP’s libero positioned himself in brilliant areas to negate all that the Kerala setters and attackers had to offer.
Results
Men’s final: Uttar Pradesh bt Kerala 15-25, 25-20, 25-23, 25-21. Third place play-off: Tamil Nadu bt Karnataka 20-25, 25-20, 17-25, 25-21, 15-10.
Women’s final: Kerala bt Bengal 25-12, 25-20, 25-16. Third place play-off: Tamil Nadu bt Haryana 25-23, 25-11, 25-22.
IN THE CITY
Chowbagha in last four
CMO High School thrashed St James School 10-0 in a Mayors Cup match, at Mohammedan Sporting ground, on Monday.
Faizal Khan scored four while Man of the Match Asif Hossain netted a brace as their team set up a semi-final clash with Chowbagha High School, on Tuesday. In the other match of the day, Man of the Match Balaram Naskar and Shanu Bodhak netted hat-tricks as Chowbagha defeated Narkeldanga DVS 8-0.
BHA league
Edison Guria netted the winner as Ranganathpur Union beat Kolkata Union Sporting 1-0 in a BHA league match, on Monday.
In another match, Xaverians were held to a goalless draw by Entally AC.
IN THE CITY
Negi takes 5 wickets
BSNL defeated Services by 10 runs in a third-round match of the India Post Cup on Tuesday.
Summarised scores
BSNL 239/8 in 40 overs (B S Tomar 86). Services 229 in 38.5 overs (NS Negi 5/30). BSNL won by 10 runs
CAG 285/3 in 37.1 overs (Prinnan Dutta 111). India Post 279/7 in 40 overs (Partha Sarathi Bhattacharya 128, Dhruv Raval 101). CAG won by 6 runs.
Easy for BDSA
Burdwan District Sports Association (BDSA) won the CAB under-14 inter district tournament, defeating Nadia District Sports Association by 10 wickets.
Brief scores
Nadia District Sports Association 61. BDSA 62/0. (Debjati Mishra 3/2). BDSA won by 10 wickets.
Bengal win
Bengal defeated Bihar 25-10, 25-09, 25-11 in a Youth National Volleyball Championship match.
Hockey league
Samrat Adhikary was on target as Behala S.A. held Presidency Muslim HS 1-1 in a Bengal Hockey Association (BHA) league match on Tuesday. Athar Imam scored for Presidency Muslim.
EB are ‘psyched’ up
Calcutta: East Bengal’s shock loss against Prayag United in their last I-League match has not only affected their case on the points table, it has also pegged them back mentally.
In an effort to win back the lost confidence ahead of Saturday’s Derby clash against eternal rivals Mohun Bagan, the red and gold brigade have sought the help of a psychologist — Soumitra Chatterjee. On Thursday, the players had an one-and-a-half hour long session with Chatterjee.
“The main purpose of the session was to boost our sagging morale… He told us inspirational stories and asked us to forget about the past and concentrate on the present,” a senior player said after the session.
“We were a bit disheartened after our loss to Prayag United in the last match… So, the club officials arranged a session with the psychologist. He asked us to believe in our abilities and remain confident before the big match,” the player added.
Saturday’s Derby clash would be the third in the season. Bagan have got the better of Trevor James Morgan’s team on the last two occasions. East Bengal, therefore, are desperate for a win. “We are not thinking about revenge. But, we will play our hearts out. We are desperate to win,” Sanju Pradhan said after Thursday’s practice session.
On being asked how the side is shaping up before the Derby, Sanju said: “We were playing well till we conceded a silly goal in the waning moments of the match (against United). We thought we will not discuss the topic with Gurpreet (Singh Sandhu, the ’keeper) since he is a young player… He will under unnecessary pressure if we make it an issue.”
Morgan sounded more cautious as he said: “We will be careful this time… If we lose against Bagan and Dempo win (their match), there will be a nine-point difference between the two sides.”
East Bengal are currently trailing leaders Dempo with 34 points from 18 matches. Bagan are in the third place with 33 points after playing the same number of matches.
Bagan coach Prasanta Banerjee said that his side is ready for the big match. “We have an absolutely fit side… A win will boost our chances in the I-League,” Prasanta said. But Bagan may miss the services of Syed Rahim Nabi. He hurt his hamstring last week in the match against Pailan Arrows.
IN THE CITY
A win for Manipur
Manipur beat Meghalaya by six wickets in the final of the U-22 tournament for Associate and affiliate States of the BCCI at the Eden Gardens. The victory helped Manipur to move into the U-22 Plate division next season.
Brief scores: Meghalaya 233 in 50 overs (Raju Biswa 140; J.G. Thounaojam 3/33, W.R. Nunglettam 3/31). Manipur 236/4 in 48 overs (R.I. Usham 79, R.S. Ngangom 45, M.I. Ngangbam 42; R. Biswa 3/45). Manipur won by six wickets
Tennis tourney
Top seed PC Vignesh entered the semi-finals of the men’s singles category in the AITA Open Tennis Championship at the Central Excise Athletic Club. He beat Tejas Chaukulkar 7-5, 7-6 (1).
Other winners: quarter finals: singles: men’s: Siddharth Rawat, Saurav Sukul, Shahbaaz Khan. Women’s: S. Vaishnavi Reddy, Shweta Raina, Treta Bhattacharya, Ankita Raina
Revenue meet
Income Tax Calcutta beat Chennai Customs 3-2 via a penalty shootout in football at the 44th All India Central Revenue Sports Meet on Thursday. South Zone were the overall champions in the meet. Debashree Majumder of Income Tax Calcutta, who won three gold medals, was the best athlete. P. Francis Sagayaraj of South Zone and Krishna Kumar Rane of West Zone were jointly named best athletes among men.
Baksha victory
Baksha B.N. Vidyalaya won the Calcutta Zonal League of Tata Tea Jaago Re Inter Milan Soccer Stars competition by defeating Aharampur Sahara Boys School 1-0.
Badminton
An eight-member junior badminton team will participate in the 36th Junior National Badminton Championships, which will be held at Jaipur from Saturday.
Boys: Trinankur Nag, Pallab Bose, Shouvik Ghosh, Rajdeep Mitra; Girls: Rituparna Das, Sanchali Dasgupta, Anuriya Das, Adrija Biswas, Coach: Baidya Nath Das
Hockey
Howrah Union thrashed Calcutta Union Sporting Club 5-0 in a group B match of the first division Calcutta Hockey League.
IN THE CITY
IFA clarifies its PLS role
The Indian Football Association (IFA) has clarified to the All India Football Federation (AIFF) that it is conducting the Premier League Soccer (PLS) in association with the Celebrity Management Group (CMG).
IFA secretary Utpal Ganguli said: “The AIFF has sent us a letter yesterday (Tuesday), seeking the details regarding PLS. Today, we replied that we are organising the tournament and CMG is just helping us.”
Meanwhile, the AIFF, who fears that the I-League will get diluted once a tournament where the likes of Fabio Cannavaro and Hernan Crespo will ply their trade, has called an Emergency Committee meeting in the second week of this month to discuss the PLS issue.
Vincent hurt
Kayne Vincent, Prayag United SC’s hero in their last match against East Bengal, was ruled out for the next two matches due to a stress fracture in his ankle. The striker will now miss the side’s vital away matches against Salgaocar & Pune FC. Midfielder Jayanta Sen will also be out of the action for four weeks due to a hamstring injury.
Tennis tourney
Saketh Myneni and local girl Shivika Burman received the top billing in the men’s and women’s singles event respectively in the Indian Jute National Grass Court Tennis Championships, which will be held at the South Club from February 6-11.
Marquis wins
Christopher Marquis defeated fifth seed Abhijit Tiwari in the pre-quarter finals of the Central Excise AITA Open Grasscourt Tennis Championship being played at the club courts, on Wednesday.
Other winners: Singles (pre-quarter finals):
Men: PC Vignesh, Tejas Chaukalkar, Ajay Selvaraj, Shahbaaz Khan, Siddharth Rawat, Suraj Beniwal, Saurav Sukul.
Women: Ankita Raina, Sansitha Nandakumar, Shweta Rana, Nehel Sahni, Amrita Mukherjee, Treta Bhattacharya, Riya Bhatia, S Vaishnavi Peddy Reddy
Revenue meet
South Zone beat East Zone 25-17, 26-24, 25-19 in the volleyball final of the 44th All-India Central Revenue Sports Meet at the SAI Complex. In basketball, South Zone beat North Zone.
In chess, Prakriti Naskar of East Zone emerged champion.
West and East won the men’s and women’s titles, respectively, in table tennis.
Run to send girl to class – Half Marathon from Red Road on Sunday
Aavirash Mitra, a Class XI student of La Martiniere for Boys, will put on his running shoes this Sunday so that some less fortunate youngster can go to school.
Thousands of Calcuttans are gearing up to forsake their Sunday nap to join the Amity Calcutta Half Marathon 2012, The Royal Bengal Run, in association with The Telegraph, on February 5.
The 14km run (see map above) will start from Red Road at 7am and participants will return to the same spot at the end.
With over 7,500 registrations already received and more pouring in from companies, NGOs, schools and colleges, the event is tipped to beat last year’s success run. “Last year, we had over 8,000 participants and this year we are expecting a footfall of over 15,000 with people registering online as well as through campaigns in malls and forms available at NIIT and Amity,” says Ankita Chakravarty Bhattacharya, the associate dean, Amity, Calcutta.
“The likes of Tata Interactive Services and BPCL and over 20 NGOs like Hope Foundation and Smile Foundation have made bulk bookings. More are looking to join hands with us. Colleges like Scottish Church, St. Xavier’s and Loreto are also taking part,” the Amity dean said.
With the registration fee only Rs 100 and no age limit for participants, the aim, feels Ankita, is to “reunite Calcuttans from all walks, across all ages to spread awareness for an important cause”.
It is for this cause — highlighting the importance of empowering and educating needy girl children through Amitasha, a chain of schools for the underprivileged — that Aavirash and his friend Darpan will join the run. “We were told about the Half Marathon by our principal. It is not an easy distance, but the fact that every Rs 100 will make a difference to a needy person’s life will make it easier. I know a lot of students from my school are also gearing up,” Aavirash said.
Non-athletes and non-participants can take part in the Dream Run — a 4km stretch that will ensure easy participation for even the most unfit enthusiast!
Veteran footballer Prasun Banerjee, who will be running alongside Maidan mates past (Manas Bhattacharya) and present (Mehtab Hossain), said: “Calcutta supports cricket, football, hockey and every other sport. We should support the marathon with equal enthusiasm. The cause is excellent and I feel every Calcuttan should take part. I am proud to be a part of it.”
EB fans see red and go on a rampage
Calcutta: Kingfisher East Bengal fans went berserk after their team’s 0-1 loss to Prayag United, at the Salt Lake Stadium, on Tuesday. ‘Disappointed’ over not being able to vandalise the swanky team bus, the crowd vented their ire on the exhibition venue that was on inside the stadium complex.
They broke the flower pots, hurled whatever they could lay their hands on, as the delegates and private securitymen scurried for cover.
The crowd was obviously upset by the way East Bengal conceded the goal in injury-time and waited for ‘villain’ Gurpreet Singh Sandhu.
Gurpreet though got coach Trevor James Morgan’s backing at the post-match media conference. “I take full responsibility for the bungle. I asked him to move upfront. But strangely no defender saw Gurpreet moving up.
“I screamed and screamed but they never bothered to listen. Our defenders should have been there to thwart Vincent.
“They are saying that they never saw Gurpreet moving up. How can you miss someone who is seven feet tall?” Morgan said.
Morgan said his defenders were playing “Sunday football”. “It was shambolic defending. My defenders were playing Sunday football. It’s frustrating.”
Morgan said he would persist with Gurpreet. “Why not? He will play against Mohun Bagan on Saturday” he shot back.
Prayag United coach Shankar Sen praised his team’s discipline and never-say-die attitude.
“Hats off to my players. They played splendidly. We are back in the reckoning for the title, Sen said.
“Our strength is our reserve bench. Monday morning we came to know Denson (Devadas) and Arnab (Mondal) would not be available.
“But I had faith in my reserve bench. And look how (Mohammed) Rafique and others performed.”
And man of the moment Kayne Vincent was over the moon. “Most memorable goal of my career. Never ran 90 yards and scored a goal. I think I was lucky today,” Vincent said.
He added that first thing that came to his mind after he got the ball was never to lose it.
“I told myself ‘I am not going to lose this ball… Come what may. Had I missed this goal, I do not know what I would have done to myself.”
Odafe brace in Bagan win
Kochi: Striker Okolie Odafe scored twice to help McDowell Mohun Bagan beat Chirag United 3-1 in the 18th round I-League encounter at the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium here on Tuesday.
Odafe scored both the goals from penalty in 35th and 84th minute, while Jose Ramirez Barreto scored in the 86th minute. Anil Kumar scored the solitary goal for United in 47th minute.
Bagan were playing without Sunil Chhetri and Syed Rahim Nabi but Odafe and Barreto proved enough to rattle the home side.
The home side started on a positive note with Anil and David Sunday, who played in the front in absence of Ajayan. But their dominance lasted only for first 30 minutes as Mohun Bagan took control of the game soon after.
Odafe made no mistake in converting a penalty to give his side the lead. The scoreline remained unchanged till the half-time.
United equalised after the break when Anil Kumar scored from Asif’s lofted pass.
The home side upped their game after scoring the goal and managed to create a couple of chances.
But Odafe again gave mariners the lead, when Jimshad U handled the ball on the goalline, prompting referee Rowan to show the second red card and award a penalty.
Barreto increased the margin for the visitors in the 86th minute.
Odafe was adjudged man of the match. Mohun Bagan now have 33 points from 18 matches, one point behind East Bengal and four behind table-topper Dempo. United remained on 11 points from 17 matches.
IN THE CITY
Saha for Duleep
Wriddhiman Saha, who kept wickets for India in the Adelaide Test, will join the East Zone squad for the Duleep Trophy semi-final against North, to be held at the Kotla from February 4-7. Saha is expected to lead the team.
Benaud to sign
Participants at the Frank Worrell Day blood donation camp this year, to be held on Friday, will get certificates signed by the legendary Richie Benaud. The day is also observed as Cricket Association of Bengal’s Foundation Day.
U-22 final
The final of the BCCI Associate Members Under-22 tournament between Manipur and Meghalaya will be played at the Eden, on Thursday.
Three named
Sandipan Das, Aloke Pratap Singh and Ravi Kant Singh have been named in the India under-19 probables list for the tour of Australia.
Saurav shines
Second Seed Saurav Sukul outclassed Vikram Naidu BS 6-0, 6-1, while Rupesh Roy blanked Vishwanath Savadi of Karnataka 6-0, 6-0 in the first round of the Central Excise Grass Court Tennis Championship, at the club courts, on Tuesday.
Seventh seed Amrita Mukherjee beat Victoria Chahal of National Tennis Academy 2-6, 6-2, 6-0.
Other Winners (1st round)
Men’s (1st Round): Rakshay Thakkar, Sagar Manjanna, Tejas Chaukalkar, Ajay Selvaraj, Farid Alam, Shahbaaz Khan, Siddharth Rawat, Saurabh Singh, Abhijeet Tiwari.
Women’s: Ankita Raina, Shreya Pasricha, Sadgi Rajani, Sansitha Nandakumar, Shweta Rana, R Vijayalakshmi, Shruti Archita, Nehel Sahni, Amrita Mukherjee, Sahan Shetty, Treta Bhattacharya, Namita Bal, Riya Bhatia, Vaniya Dangwal, S Vaishnavi Reddy.
