Mumbai arrive for State c’ship

 

By Paritosh Pramanik

Last year’s runners-up Mumbai district football team has arrived in the city for the Western India Football Association’s Maharashtra State Inter-District Football Championship for Senior Men which will be held from April 25.

The eight-team competition will be hosted by Nagpur District Football Association.

Nagpur are the defending champions. They had piped Mumbai by a solitary goal scored by Fahad Junaid.

The other six teams, including, Kolhapur, Amravati, Chandrapur, Pune, Raigad and Aurangabad, will be reaching the city by Thursday evening. All the teams have been put at Krida Prabodhini Hostel in Divisional Sports Complex, Mankapur.

Top eight teams are divided into two groups of four each for this league-cum-knock-out tournament.

‘The Hitavada’ had published the eigth participating teams in its ‘CityLine’ issue dated 

April 16.

Winners from the zonal meets of the inter-district competition and last year’s State championship’s four semi-finalists have formed the eight teams for the meet. Last year’s semi-finalists were Nagpur, Pune, Mumbai and Kolhapur. 

According to WIFA, Group A consists of defending champions Nagpur, Kolhapur, Amravati and Chandrapur while Group B comprises Mumbai, Raigad, Pune and Aurangabad.

With the temperature hoverning over 43 degree Celcisus. the organisers have decided to hold matches in morning and evening sessions.

The league matches will be played on two grounds — South East Central Railways ground in Motibagh and NDFA’s Dr Ambedkar Football Stadium in Suyog Nagar.

Daily, two morning matches will be played at SECR Stadium while the evening matches will be played at Dr Ambedkar Stadium under the lights.

The semi-finals will be played on Monday while the third place match and the final will be played on April 29, Tuesday.

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Nagpur district team named

Nagpur District Football Association has announced its team for the WIFA Maharashtra State Inter-District Football Championship for Senior Men which will be held in the city from Friday.

The team: Mohd Faizal, Deepesh Burrewar, Azam Khan, Aditya Chandne, Rishabh Kanojiya, Stanley Peter, Gaurav Saire, Geet Harinkhede, Yash Shukla, Rananjoy Banik, Aryan Banerjee, Abdullah Ansari, Md Rehan, Shadab Ansari, Md Owais Ashraf, Md Huzaif, Sahil Meshram, Md Mustajab Ashraf, Md Rizwan, Md Sohail, Ghulam Imran, Kamran Ansar.

GROUP A

NAGPUR

KOLHAPUR

AMRAVATI

CHANDRAPUR

GROUP B

MUMBAI

RAIGAD

PUNE

AURANGABAD

City’s Aakib finds place in Hockey India Probables

By Paritosh Pramanik

CITY’S talented hockey player Aakib Rahim, who plays for Indian Navy and Services Sports Control Board (SSCB), has been selected as one of the 54 players for the Hockey India Senior Men’s National Coaching Camp.

The camp is scheduled to be held at Sports Authority of India (SAI) Centre in Bengaluru from April 25.

The players are informed to reach the venue on April 24 and report to chief coach Craig Fulton. 

Aakib, son of Arif and Noorjha, thus became the second male player after his cousin brother Syed Niyaz Rahim, to be selected in the core group of Hockey India. 

Niyaz, the current captain of Indian Railways’ hockey team, was also one of the probables for India team a few years ago.

Hockey runs in Rahim family’s blood. Aakib’s father was also a renowned hockey player and had represented Nagpur  City Police and Maharashtra Police in various tournaments. His two brothers, Asif and Sakib too have played hockey at State level.

But Aakib went a notch further after he decided to leave his home turf Nagpur for better prospects.

With hockey continuously declining in the city due to bickering among the officials, several players decided to part their ways with Vidarbha Hockey Association.

Aakib, too, did the same. 

The midfielder, after starting his career with New Police Boys hockey team in Nagpur, decided to move to Hockey Maharashtra fold in 2014.

Aakib said that he will have to work hard to secure a berth in the 18-member team.

“It’s a great opportunity for me to get picked in the 54 core probables. I will have to work much harder to stay with the final 18,” Aakib told ‘The Hitavada’ from New Delhi, where he is training with the Indian Navy team.

The 28-year-old playmaker then tried his luck with Hockey Maharashtra and succeeded in winning gold in the nationals in 2020.

As luck would have it, Aakib was roped in by the Indian Navy and he showed his skills in departmental nationals. Aakib also won national games bronze and inter-department bronze medals in the last five years.

Aakib, a former St John’s High School and Sindhu Mahavidyalaya student, has also clinched gold medal for Services team at Jhansi Nationals.

Aakib had in the past also helped the Navy team win the title at Senior Nehru Hockey Tournament in 2022.

Aakib also represented Mohun Bagan that won the Kolkata Premier League in 2023.

With Aakib in the core probables, the number of city players increased to three. Another midfielder Himanshi Gawande is part of the Junior India set-up and is waiting for her selection in the national team.

The 54-member core group will be pruned down to 40 by April 30 to make new core group of senior men for future coaching camps and international tournaments, it has been learnt.

Chennai Lions will be the team to beat, says CIty’s Jennifer

 

By Paritosh Pramanik

She had trained hard for this day. She always wanted to be part of the Ultimate Table Tennis and her dream came true when she was picked by Chennai Lions for the sixth season of the league which commences at Ahmedabad from May 19.

Playing her maiden Ultimate Table Tennis League will be a challenge but Nagpur’s international table tennis player Jennifer Varghese has trained hard and says that she would learn a lot from the world’s best during the competition.

She feels that Chennai Lions, the 2019 champions, will be one of the strongest sides during the sixth season with players like China’s Fan Siqi and Kazakh’s Kirill Gerassimenko in their ranks.

Jennifer, after performing exceedingly well for India in the past couple of years was expecting to be picked by one of the franchises and she is grateful to be part of Chennai Lions.

“To be honest, I was hopeful but didn’t take anything for granted. Getting selected for a prestigious team like Chennai Lions is a dream come true. I’ve been training really hard, and to see that effort being recognised feels amazing. I’m grateful for this opportunity and excited to be part of such a strong squad,” Jennifer told ‘The Hitavada’ in an exclusive interview.

The 16-year-old Jennifer, who made a resounding entry to the senior level when she won the women’s singles bronze medal during the Senior National Ranking Table Tennis tournament in Goa recently, is confident that Chennai Lions is a balanced side with youth and experience. She said that her team has the capability to beat any side in the competition.

“We have a really balanced and talented team. With top players like Fan Siqi, Kirill Gerassimenko, and some of India’s best like Payas Jain and Sudhanshu Grover, we have depth and experience. I’d say we are definitely one of the strongest teams this season, and we’re all hungry to perform and win,” Jennifer, who was picked for her base value of two lakh, confidently said.

With some big names on her side, Jennifer is confident that China’s Fan would be the difference for her team but with Payas and Sudhanshu also giant-killers, anybody could be the gamechanger. “Every member of the team brings something special to the table. But I think Fan Siqi’s consistency and aggressive style will be a big asset. Also, players like Payas and Sudhanshu can turn matches around on any given day. Honestly, anyone in our squad can be a gamechanger,” declared Jennifer who recently won an Under-19 gold for the country in and an U-17 bronze at the WTT Havirov tournament in Czech Republic.

Jennifer said the Season 6 of UTT would be tough as top international paddlers will be in action and her side will have to produce its A-game to reach the top. “UTT always brings in top international and Indian talent, so every match is going to be a challenge. Teams are getting more competitive each season. We’ll be up against some of the best, and that’s what makes it exciting. We’ll have to bring our A-game every time.”

The Nagpur lass said it would be an incredible experience to play alongside top world class players and she would learn a lot from the stalwarts. “Playing alongside and against world class players in such a professional set-up is an incredible learning experience. It’ll help me grow not just technically and tactically, but also mentally. I’ll get to understand different styles of play, deal with pressure situations, and become a more complete player,” Jennifer signed off.

 The league will feature eight teams — Ahmedabad SG Pipers, Chennai Lions, Dabang Delhi TTC, Goa Challengers TTC, Jaipur Patriots, Kolkata ThunderBlades, U Mumba TT and PBG Pune Jaguars. Top four ranked sides will make it to the semi-finals.

Jennifer picked by Chennai Lions for UTT Season 6

 

By Paritosh Pramanik

CITY’S talented India paddler Jennifer Varghese has been picked by Chennai Lions for the Ultimate Table Tennis’ sixth season.

This will be for the first time that Jennifer will be playing the Ultimate Table Tennis after the Chennai franchise showed faith in her.

Jennifer has been on a medal winning spree this season. In last three months, she has won a few international gold medals for India and it was a matter of time that franchises lay their hands on the rising talent of the country. The Chennai Lions side looks formidable on paper after they shell out 19.7 lakh tokens on China’s Fan Siqi making her the highest valued paddler of the season.

The other team members include Kazakh’s Kirill Gerassimenko, Indian Payas Jain, Sudhanshu Grover and Nikhat Banu. Jennifer was picked at a token price of two lakh. Jennifer has recently won a gold medal for the country in Under-19 and a bronze in Under-17 age category at the WTT Havirov tournament in Czech Republic. 

Earlier in the year, Jennifer and her partner R Balamurugan secured the yellow metal in the Under-19 mixex doubels at the WTT Youth Contender held in Vadodara.

 The tournament will feature eight teams — Ahmedabad SG Pipers, Chennai Lions, Dabang Delhi TTC, Goa Challengers TTC, Jaipur Patriots, Kolkata ThunderBlades, U Mumba TT and PBG Pune Jaguars with top four ranked sides making it to the semi-finals.

VCA proposes amendments to Constitution

The nine proposed articles, to be amended, will now be sent to Supreme Court for final approval

By Paritosh Pramanik

VIDARBHA Cricket Association (VCA), one of the richest associations of the country, has proposed to amend its Constitution after 668 life members voted in favour of the changes put forth by the Constitution Amendment Committee.

The Constitution Amendment Committee comprised VCA President Justice Vinay M Deshpande (Former Judge of the Bombay High Court), Senior Counsel former chief of the association Adv Anand Jaiswal, Adv Anand Deshpande and Adv Harish Thakur.

There are as many as nine articles proposed to be amended. All were accepted by the members of the association during a Special General Meeting held last month.

The proposed amendment to the Constitution, which will be put before the Supreme Court for its final approval, will give more responsibility to a bigger executive committee.

The proposed amendment will also increase the representation of former cricketers as life members as their quota has been proposed to be increased from 20 per cent to 30 per cent.

As per the present Constitution in the players’ quota, only those who have represented the association as a playing member of its Ranji Trophy team, and have retired from First-Class cricket can be a life member.

But now, with BCCI organising several more tournaments, VCA has proposed to add white-ball games as well and those who have represented the association as a playing member of its Vijay Hazare Trophy and Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy apart from Ranji Trophy tournaments organised by the BCCI, can apply and get membership.

The panel has proposed to delete the 20 per cent quota of preference for membership to deceased members’ wards.

Similarly, the 20 per cent quota for officials, umpires has also been proposed to be deleted.

Instead, it has been proposed to secure membership to 30 per cent for persons who have rendered services to the association.

“This will help the association in getting services of those game lovers who wish to give their services to the association,” VCA CEO Farokh Dastoor told ‘The Hitavada.’

The panel also proposed to delete Article No 4 of the Constitution relating to the election of honorary life members.

In another major change, the panel proposed to increase the size of the executive committee and do away with the election of selectors.

As proposed, the executive committee shall comprise 11 members and the elected body will nominate nine selectors (three each for senior men, junior men and women teams).

“There might be some players who do not wish to contest elections but are keen to give their services and do coaching after they retire. Hence, it has been proposed to do away with the election of selectors and the new elected body would nominate them,” explained Dastoor.

The panel also proposed that if a member is elected as an office-bearer or association’s nominee/representative to the BCCI prior to attaining the age of 70, he shall not be disqualified from completing his term as an office-bearer, or the association’s nominee/representative to the BCCI on account of crossing the age of 70 years if he has not completed his total eligible term of 9 years.

“For example, if an ‘X’ member attains the age of 69 years, he can be elected on the body and can complete his tenure of three years even if he crosses the 70-year age limit. But those who are 70 years of age would not be able to contest,” clarified VCA CEO.

The panel also proposed to do away with the Standing Committees. “All the sub-committees will be appointed by the executive committee so that distribution of work will be streamlined.”

The panel also proposed to appoint an Election Officer either a former member of the State Election Commission or a retired High Court Judge. In case such an officer is not available, any other former State Election Commissioner or Retired Judge of the High Court, preferably from a neighbouring State may be appointed as the Election Officer.

“It was difficult to find a member of the State Election Commission hence we proposed to add a former High Court judge, preferably from Maharashtra,” said Dastoor.

In another major amendment, the panel proposed to increase the impress advance at the disposal of the secretary from Rs 10,000 to Rs 50,000 to enable him to meet incidental and emergent payments.

The imprest advance amount has also been increased from Rs 50,000 to Rs 5 lakh with the sanction of the Executive Committee for any specified period not exceeding two months and for a specific purpose.

“If there is an urgency to purchase any equipment, the Secretary will be permitted to spend up to Rs 50,000. 

“Similarly, the amount can be increased to Rs 5 lakh for which he will have to submit the accounts within two months,” revealed Dastoor.

VCA’s Vidarbha Pro T20 League by May end

Salient Features

Six men and three eves’ teams to fight for maiden coveted title

Tournament to be played in single round-robin league format followed by semis and final

VPTL may start on May 26 or 27, final on June 15

Winners in men’s category to get Rs 35 lakh and runners-up Rs 25 lakh

Men’s matches to be played at Jamtha Stadium

Women matches likely at Civil Lines Stadium

Prashant Vaidya named Chairman of Governing Council of VPTL

Franchises owners to be named soon

Men teams already selected by VCA for first year

n From second year, players would be selected through draft system

Team coaches to be from Vidarbha only

Teams can opt for mentor who could be a foreign international

Bollywood stars for opening ceremony

Matches to be telecast live on DD and JioStar OTT

Free entry for spectators, barring opening ceremony, at Jamtha

Special Correspondent

THE wait for a T20 league of Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) is over.

Immediately after Indian Premier League gets its 18th winner, VCA will conduct the much-awaited Vidarbha Pro T20 League (VPTL) for men and women.

Addressing a press conference at VCA Civil Lines’ Bilimoria Pavilion, CEO Farokh Dastoor declared VCA’s franchise-based T20 tournament which will start immediately after IPL which concludes on May 25. “To ensure that VPTL is conducted in utmost professionalism and excellence, Arivaa Sports Private Limited, the firm which successfully conducted Bengal Pro T20 League, has been entrusted the exclusive rights to manage VPTL,” informed Dastoor.

“Six men teams have already been selected by VCA. This being the first year, VCA wanted to give balanced teams to all the six stake-holders. The players are picked on the basis of their performance. There will be marquee player in each team as well,” declared Abhishek Mujumdar, founder and Director of Arivaa Sports Private Limited. “From second season, a draft-system will be introduced to pick the players.” he added.

“The league will feature six men teams, owned and operated by leading business houses, competing in single round-robin formed. Top four teams will play the semi-finals followed by the mega final. 

“Daily two matches will be played at Jamtha (morning and evening sessions). The winning team of the maiden season will get Rs 35 lakh while the runners-up team will have to be content with Rs 25 lakh,” informed Prashant Vaidya, former India pacer and Chairman of VCA’s Cricket Development and Administration Committee (CADC). The matches will be telecast live (on DD Sports) and on (JioStar) OTT platform.

“To promote women’s cricket, three of the six franchises will also be awarded eves’ teams,” stated Mujumdar.

“The tournament will be played on the lines of IPL and aims to provide world-class platform for emerging and established talents of Vidarbha,” added Mujumdar. Women’s matches will also be held simultaneously, most probably at VCA Civil Lines ground.

VCA will soon be uploading all details and the process to apply for franchise rights on its website (vca.co.in) and the team owners will be announced soon.

“Each franchise will have to pay Rs 3 crore for rights. The lock-in period will be of three years,” informed Mujumdar.

On the occasion, the logo of VPTL was also unveiled by former VCA President Adwait Manohar and Prashant Vaidya.

The press conference was attended by Secretary Sanjay Badkas, Treasurer CA Arjun Phatak, Vice-President Dr Avinash Deshmukh and others.

Dissolve present NDUHA body: Thakre

 By Paritosh Pramanik

Nagpur District Unified Hockey Association (NDUHA) President Pramod Thakre has demanded to dissolve the current executive body and has sought fresh and proper
elections.
Thakre’s remarks came a day after ‘The Hitavada’ in its ‘CityLine’ issue published how NDUHA’s executive bodies were ‘illegally’ elected without following any proper election procedures and the alleged ‘dictatorial’ way of functioning by Secretary Parvez Qureshi.
Thakre, who was appointed as the President in 2022, came down heavily upon Secretary Qureshi and acknowledged “each and every word” of what Pramod Jain stated to this newspaper.
“I am really sorry to say, but that is what is happening at present in NDUHA. I support what Jain has said. There has hardly been any meeting called by the Secretary (Qureshi) since 2022. He is taking all the decisions without the consent of the members. Even the President (Thakre himself) is kept in the dark,” said the NDUHA chief.
Thakre alleged that Qureshi is the only person in contact with Hockey Maharashtra and attends meetings of the association without informing the NDUHA executive committee. “When Manoj Bhore (Sr Vice-President of Hockey Maharashtra) visited Nagpur, I was never informed and only Qureshi and Anil Daral (Treasurer) met him,” Thakre claimed.
To clear the messy affair in NDUHA, Thakre demanded fresh elections of the association. “I want this present 17-member executive committee dissolved and fresh elections are held as per rules and regulations of the constitutions. Then only the pride of the association can be restored.
“I have called a meeting on Saturday and will decide future course of action,” Thakre informed.
Thakre also said that despite reminding, the Secretary did not take efforts to register the present body with the Charity Commissioner’s Office.
“I asked him several times to get this body registered with the Charity Commissioner’s Office but to no avail.
“When I joined this body, all I wanted was to see hockey grow in the district. But that purpose has been defeated. Not conducting a single tournament in three years is a
failure of the entire executive committee,” Thakre admitted.
Thakre also revealed that it was Jain who should have been elected as Vice-President of Hockey Maharashtra and not Qureshi.
“It was Jain who should have got that (Hockey Maharashtra Vice-President’s)  post as he was the former secretary and looking at his seniority in hockey administration. But Qureshi sidelined him and ‘grabbed’ the post,” alleged Thakre.
“I think we should start afresh with a new EC body and start organising tournaments, which is our main job,” concluded Thakre.