District Associations support VHA

 

 

 Hockey Mah secy Manoj Bhore forcing them to part ways with VHA, allege secretaries

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I am following HI guidelines: Bhore

HOCKEY Maharashtra Secretary Manoj Bhore said he is only following the guidelines of Hockey India and has nothing to do with VHA politics. Speaking to ‘The Hitavada’ from Pune Bhore said, “I am only following the rules laid down by Hockey India. It is not Hockey Maharashtra but Hockey India that disaffiliated Vidarbha Hockey Association.
“I want all the players of State to be benifitted. Hockey India wants all the players to get registered. With court cases going on, players of Vidarbha will be deprived of participating in selection trials and playing nationals. Hence I asked all the district associations to get their players registered with Hockey Maharashtra,” explained Bhore.
“Let the court decide about the future of Vidarbha Hockey Association. But till then the players should not suffer,” he added.
Bhore also said that district bodies are burdened with more work than the State bodies now.
“The district associations will now have to  work much harder. They will have to submit their annual report of work done in development of hockey in their region.
“Reports of all the tournaments conducted, seminars held, umpires clinics organised will have to be reported to the State association,” he said. “It will not be easy to run a district association,” he mentioned.

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Jain revives Nag District Unified HA, approaches Hockey Mah for affiliation

Principal Correspondent

PRAMOD Jain, joint secretary of Vidarbha Hockey Association (VHA) has “revived” The Nagpur District Unified Hockey Assocaition (NDUHA) and has approached Hockey Maharashtra for affiliation.
Sensing opportunity after Hockey India disaffiliated VHA citing one-state-one-unit criteria, Jain, who also claimed to be the secretary of VHA after the executive committee “suspended” VHA President BC Bhartia and Secterary Vinod Gawai a couple of years ago, quitely revived NDUHA which was earlier controlled by TN Sidhra, now VHA Administrator.
Later, Mamta Trivedi was made its president and Salim Baig was the secretary. But the body (NDUHA) was always on papers. During the Kehar Singh’s (Mumbai) regime in Hockey Maharashtra, NDUHA had got affiliation with Maharashtra body but that is still challenged by Bhore’s present body as they were ousted when the present body took over.
According to the request letter submitted to Hockey Maharashtra in July, body is headed by Shoeb Pervez (President), Jain as Secretary and Anil Daral as its Treasurer. Dr Shams Khan late Arif Khan, Mamta Trivedi Noel Joseph and Sunil Madne are Vice-Presidents while Parvez Qureshi is the Joint Secretary.  The committee members include late Dharamraj Kanojiya, Kunal Patil, Javed Rana, Ramesh Mandal, Nandini Shripetwar, Nalini Khandelwar, Devesh Swami and Rakesh Rana.
“Yes we have applied for affiliation with Hockey Maharashtra. VHA has been disaffiliated by Hockey India. Players of our region would suffer significantly. Hence we decided to revive NDUHA which is a registered body since 2007,” said Jain.
On allegations that he is insisting other district associations to join Hockey Mahrashtra, Jain said, “I never talked with anybody from any other district. Yes, Manoj Bhore (Maharashtra secretary) asked me for numbers of district associations which were registered with VHA then (before TN Sidhra was appointed Administrator)
and I passed those names,” clarified Jain.

 

 

Sai selected for AITA’s high performance training camp

 

 

By Paritosh Pramanik

Sai Rajesh Bhoyar, a talented tennis prodigy from Nagpur, has been selected for High Performance Training Camp (HPTC) for U-18 girls organised by All India Tennis Association (AITA). The camp is being held in association with Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS) and Sports Authority of India (SAI) in New Delhi from February 2.
The camp will be held at at RK Khanna Tennis Stadium.
AITA has selected top 17 girls from all over India based upon their past performances and National Rankings.
Sai, like other players, lost most opportunities in 2020 due to COVID-19 lockdown. She finished 2020 at sixth spot in All India National Rankings in U-16 category.  After winning a bronze medal in Khelo India Youth Games at Gawahati in January 2020, Sai had to wait nearly for a year to step in for some serious tennis activity.
“AITA are endeavouring to bring life back into tennis, through a noble and player friendly project styled - “Roadmap for return to Tennis - Core players” and setting up High Performance Training Camps (HPTC) for elite junior players at RK Khanna Tennis Stadium, New Delhi,” informed Sai’s father Rajesh Bhoyar.
“The aim of this project is to mark the return to tennis of Indian players and to prepare for competitive tennis. The project will have a 16-19 days high-performance camp with prime focus on physical conditioning, providing opportunity to play against and with best players and providing high intensity of an in built tournament. This will prepare Indian players for international tournaments which have now started slowly and steadily,” he added.
Director of the entire HPTC project will be Zeeshan Ali, who is also the national coach.
Zeeshan, a former Indian Davis Cup player who also competed at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, will be incharge of the training camp
“He will be designing the flow of HPTC in each group, with focus on core objective of development of the players. A team of well experienced physical fitness trainers will assist with the camp. A detailed performance evaluation of each and every player will be done and reported back to AITA and players within 10 days of camp being over.
During the last week, AITA will also conduct an invitational championship for the players of the camp.
Sai will have to stay in the bio-bubble at RK Khanna Tennis Stadium and will have to follow all Standard Operating Procedures.

NDFA’s leagues to start in Feb

 Matches will be held at newly-constructed Bharat Ratna Dr BR Ambedkar Stadium in Suyog Nagar

 

 

 Principal Correspondent

FINALLY there will be some football action in the city.
After a couple of futsal meets organised by different organisations, The Nagpur District Football Association (NDFA) has decided to kick-start the season with pending leagues of 2019 which were abruptly halted due to coronavirus.
The COVID-19 pandemic had stopped all the sporting activities in March, 2020. After getting green signal from the authorities, NDFA will be resuming the competitions at their newly-constructed Bharat Ratna Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Football Stadium in Suyog Nagar.
The association had planned to start the leagues in the month of May when Maharashtra Government had removed Nagpur from ‘Red Zone’.
But with coronavirus cases on the rise, authorities had denied permission to any kind of sporting activities in the State.
Later in September with the ease in restrictions, and phase wise unlocking of the State hopes rekindle but sporting bodies still had to wait further. A couple of months later, the government permitted outdoor activities as well as training and practice, but not actual competitions.
However, the long wait was finally over when a few days ago, government allowed associations to hold competitions and seminars.
The NDFA immediately decided to conduct its pending leagues of last season. The Senior and First Division Leagues will be held in the month of February at the lush green ground.
The Senior Division comprise 23 teams. They are Veer FC, Hansraj, Gauhar FC, Nagpur Star, Mavrick FC, Birsa Munda, Eagle B, Bezonbagh, Yuva FC, Green Flag, Young Boys, Ansari, Al Fateh, Rahul Academy, Young Ansar, Shakti, Mecosabagh, Big Ben, Bhankheda, Al Aziz.
The First Division teams are: Uday Sporting, Amma FC, Young Haider, Maverick, Orange City, Ansari, Yuva FC, Sportian and Deputy Director of Sports and Youth Services (DDSYS).
The association has asked clubs to complete formalities at the NDFA’s Suyog Nagar office from 5 pm to, 7 pm.
Details can be obtained from NDFA Secretary Iqbal Kashmiri.

Laying of RTMNU synthetic track delayed again

Online work tender to be floated again

By Paritosh Pramanik

THE wait for second synthetic track in city is becoming longer. The track, which is supposed to come up at Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University (RTMNU) Sports Complex off Amravati Road, will take much longer. Nagpur has one synthetic track at Divisional Sports Complex, Mankapur.
The Public Works Department (PWD), which will be doing the construction work of the track, will be floating work tender once again. The earlier tender has to be scrapped due to “some discrepancies”.
“The tender will have to be floated once again as the earlier tender was not fulfilling our parameters,” said Dr Sharad Suryawanshi, Director, Department of Physical Education and Sports, RTMNU while talking with ‘The Hitavada’.
The process of laying of synthetic track at RTMNU ground started way back in 2017 but due to lackadaisical approach from concerned departments, model code of conduct and lately coronavirus pandemic, it is being stretched for three years. It may be mentioned here that RTMNU has already deposited Rs 8 crore 60 lakh with PWD.
“I don’t think PWD would float online tenders in coming days. I think it will take another month or two,” said a peeved Dr Suryawanshi.
“The earlier tender was scrapped around four months back. The tender was not as per our parameters. We want specialised company to lay the synthetic track. There were a few who have constructed badminton courts, halls but not athletic tracks. We want experienced, specialised company to do the track work,” remarked Dr Suryawanshi.
Certain changes are also been done in the synthetic track plan. Though there will be eight lanes as per the original plan, RTMNU has decided to construct separate lane and pit for long jump and triple jump.
“This was not in the earlier plan. But now we have decided to lay separate lane for long jump and triple jump. This will be done near the Hostel building gallery. We have space on that side and we decided not to disturb the 8-lane track and create a separate one for jumping events,” Dr Suryawanshi informed.
Similarly, the university has dropped the plan of converting the football ground which has lawn into artificial turf.
“It was decided to replace the lawn turf of football field into artificial turf. But that plan also has been changed. We will continue with the same lawn turf but a fresh one would be laid. Special attention will be given to the work so that ground mud would not make way to the synthetic track. We may go for blocking tiles on the side of the track. The drainage system will also be renovated and slope from all sides of the playfield will be maintained,” Dr Suryawanshi elaborated.
The university is also planning to create space for throwing events like hammer throw and javelin throw.
“We have marked the area behind football goal posts for throwing events. We will have to create chain-cage for these events. If all goes well the hammer and javelin throw area will also be designated,” Dr Suryawanshi signed off.

Gurumurthy Pillay no more

 

 

Principal Correspondent

Nov 23, 2020
GurumurthY Shivlingam Pillay,  former international hockey umpire and Technical Director and resident of Sadar, passed away on Monday. He was 83. PIllay, who also played international hockey matches against visiting Japan and East Germany teams in 1960, leaves behind wife Geeta, son Yogesh, daughter-in-law Komal, daughter Bhuneshwari Mudliar, son-in-law Venkatesh Mudliar and host of relatives to mourn the loss.
The last rites were performed same day at Mankapur Ghat.
Pillay officiated matches in London (England) in the four-nation hockey tournament in 1985. The tournament comprised teams from India, The Netherlands, England and USSR.
A no-nonsense man, Pillay, who served as the incharge secretary of Vidarbha Hockey Association for more than three decades, was instrumental in conducting Baidyanath Hockey League continuously for decades. He was the man because of whom the VHA ground was saved from encroachment. As a player Pillay, a VHA life member, represented Vidarbha in many a national meets held all over the country. Pillay, who served Central Railways, Nagpur till his retirement, was also part of the Central Railways Headquarters hockey team in 1964.
He also has the credit of officiating matches between India and Pakistan in 1998-99.
Pillay dedicated his life to hockey and produced several hockey umpires from entire Vidarbha.

City loses braveheart of hockey

 

International hockey umpire Gurumurthy Pillay no more

November 24, 2020

By Paritosh Pramanik

Mornings at Vidarbha Hockey Association ground off Amravati Road won't be same again.
The Sun would rise as usual but the morning rays will miss kissing the ‘Son of Soil’ Gurumurthy Pillay on the ‘field’.
Guru Anna, as he was fondly called in hockey circles all over the country, peacefully left for heavenly abode on early Monday (Nov 23, 2020) morning at a city hospital.
It was ‘final whistle’ for Guru Anna at the ripe age of 83. The Almighty ‘blew the final hooter’ for the ‘Braveheart of Vidarbha’.
Guru Anna lived for hockey in true sense. In 2004, he fought the pain of losing his son Rakesh to Tsunami only to serve the game. He decided not to go in search of his son, who was swept away by Tsunami, to Chennai and stayed back in Nagpur to overlook the preparations of West Zone and All India Inter-University Hockey competition of which he was Technical Director. (Even after 16 years, his son has not yet returned home.)
Guru Anna could not hold back his tears when this scribe touched the most painful topic on January 8, 2005, when he was busy giving final touches to the VHA field for the West Zone meet which was a few days away.
“It’s God wish (taking away his son). We are all his puppets. What would have I done at Chennai. God willing my son would be back soon… hockey has given me everything and today it’s time I pay it back. This is God’s wish. I am sure he is still alive and will come back soon,” a tearful Guru Anna had said as he minutely watched fixing the goalpost. The All India tournament went past smoothly and Guru Anna earned praise for his organisational skills which he did singlehandedly.
Guru Anna was a guru (teacher) for umpires of the city. It was only because of Guru Anna, after SL Narwaria, Nagpur’s former hockey players took to umpiring and won accolades. Pramod Jain, Ravi Francis, Rajesh Bihari, Sunil Madne late Dharamraj Kanojiya, to name a few, were products of Guru Anna who was always there to help them, day or night. Guru Anna’s ‘classes’ would continue till late night in Sadar until the umpires had received satisfying answers.
The adage ‘age is just a number’ aptly suited Guru Anna. Looking at his fitness and health none would believe that the former India player, who played against visiting Japan and East Germany teams in 1968, had crossed the age of 80.
Since decades, not a single day would pass without Guru Anna visiting the VHA ground in the morning as well as in evenings. Occasionally, he would miss the evening sessions, but never the mornings.
Taking his seat at the corner of approach road of the ground, Guru Anna could be seen reading newspaper thoroughly. In between, he used to glance through his glares and watch players dribble during their morning practice sessions.
It used to be an interesting morning session with Guru Anna as he had bagful of anecdotes from his playing to umpiring days. “While umpiring, you have to be extra smart, more than players,” Guru Anna used to say.
Guru Anna was not keeping well for past couple of weeks after he suffered a fall at his Sadar residence. “He was doing well after that fall at home. But for last few days he was not keeping well. He got weak as he was not taking his daily meals properly,” his daughter Bhuneshwari Mudliar told ‘The Hitavada’.
“Yesterday only Dad said he wanted to go to VHA ground and I was prepared to take him in the morning. But he felt uneasiness on Sunday night and we took him to the hospital. Early morning he passed away,” his son Yogesh informed.
An excellent midfielder, Guru Anna played for Vidarbha and Central Railways headquarters for more than two decades. After he decided to quit competitive hockey, Guru Anna decided to take the whistle and learn the tricks of the trade of hockey umpire. He succeeded in that too and went on to officiate as umpire at scores of Indian Hockey Federation organised nationals. Later, he was tasked with the job of Technical Official. That job too was handled with precision. With experience, Guru Anna was elevated as Technical Director and was handed several top-notch competitions of the country which included Senior, Junior Nationals across the country, Bombay Gold Cup, Aga Khan Gold Cup, Murugappa Gold Cup and many more.
Guru Anna had a knack of handling any situation. Once, while handling the technical table during a match of a local league tournament at VHA ground, one departmental team which was trailing against a club side, claimed bad light and asked to stop the game.
Some 10 odd minutes were left on the clock and the light was good enough to complete the match. But the team did not budge. Guru Anna then decided to stop the match that evening and said that the remaining part would be played next morning at the given time. He also ordered that if any team does not reach on time, the match would be awarded to the team present on the field. The next morning, the departmental team failed to reach on time and the match was awarded to the club side.
“I was sure these indisciplined guys would not reach on time, hence I gave them morning time,” Guru Anna had reasoned.
The mornings won’t be same again.
Rest in Peace Guru Anna!

23 wins in 3 hours: GM Sadhwani records another podium finish at world level

By Paritosh Pramanik
October 15, 2020
AT AN age when teenagers find it difficult to sit idle at one place for even a few minutes, Grandmaster Raunak Sadhwani, all of 14 years, carved out stupendous performance in just three hours in
the online chess at international level.
In yet another amazing performance, Nagpur’s only Grandmaster Sadhwani, finished second best in the Arena 960 blitz online chess tournament which was held on lichess.org platform.
Starting with a loss and some inconsistent performance initially, chess prodigy of city Sadhwani recorded whopping 23 wins out of 32 in three hours to claim second spot in the competition which saw around 465 Grandmasters and International Masters participate from around the globe.
The Chess 960 Titled Arena Championship was organised exclusively for titled masters which had three minutes time control.
Sadhwani, who is being rated highly by none other than Grandmaster and former world champion Viswanathan Anand, continued to topple some of the higher rated Grandmasters. He also managed to hold eventual champion Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan along with some other Grandmasters.
Sadhwani, India’s fourth youngest Grandmaster and Maharashtra’s youngest sportsperson to win Shiv Chhatrapati award, played cleverly which helped him fetch a winning percentage of 72 per cent. He finished with an excellent performance rating of 2521 with 23 wins from 32 boards in the competition garnering 81 points.
His domination was such that Sadhwani, during the middle of the competition, registered 19 victories and four draws.
After starting with a defeat, Sadhwani, recorded a win but lost his third round match. He regained composure and recorded another win but lost his fifth round match. He then registered two back to back wins but couldn’t maintained the winning run.
A quick learner he is, Sadhwani then eked out some splendid performances as he registered six wins on the trot to bounce back in contention of a podium finish.
Two draws with a win in between saw Sadhwani taking control of the game. From then on there was no looking back as the talented GM blasted his way to top of the table with 11 successive wins.
“There was nothing I thought at that time, I just played chess, without thinking about results,” Sadhwani told ‘The Hitavada’ on his slow start to the competition when he bounced back with 11 successive victories after recording not so favourable results.
“I am happy with my performance. Playing with world’s top and strong opponents and finishing on the podium always feels great. 960 is my favourite version in chess. I enjoy playing it,” is how Sadhwani summed up his brilliant performance.

Hockey GK Chikte applies for KIC at his sports academy

By Paritosh Pramanik

October 14, 2020

INDIA goalkeeper Akash Chikte is planning to promote and develop hockey culture in his native Yavatmal district.
Born and brought up in Lohara Village of Yavatmal, Chikte, who has started an academy “Akash Chikte Sports Academy” a few years ago, has applied for the Khelo India Hockey Centre at his academy.
The decision to apply for government-backed Khelo India Centre grant will further boost the promotion of the game in Yavatmal.
In the month of June, the Ministry for Youth Affairs and Sports decided to establish 1000 Khelo India Centres (KIC) at district level across the country with the help of sporting champions, who will be remunerated for providing their expertise. The centres will either be run by a past champion or have them as a coach.
“As we strive to make India a sporting superpower, one of the things we have to ensure is that sports become a viable career option for youngsters,” Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju had then said.
According to government’s rules, the first category of athletes who will be considered for the grant are those who have represented India at recognised international competitions under a recognised NSF or association.
Taking advantage of this Chikte, who has represented India in quite a few international events and has helped the country win gold medal as well, decided to apply for the centre at his academy.
Chikte has represented India in over 40 international matches and is a recipient of five international medals including the winning best goalkeeper award at Men’s Asia Cup-2017.
Chikte, who is also a Shiv Chhatrapati award winner, the highest sports award of Maharashtra Government, through his application, stated that Yavatmal has produced more than 50 players who
have participated in national championships.
“At present, there are around 50 players, boys and girls, regularly training at my academy. I think a Khelo India Hockey Centre would definitely help players of the region. This will also be helpful for Maharashtra and will definitely produce players who would one day represent the country,” Chikte, who was part of the silver medal winning Indian team at Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in 2016, told ‘The Hitavada.’
Chikte won gold medal at the Dhaka 10th Asia Cup held in Bangladesh in 2017. He won bronze medal for India in the World Hockey League held at Bhubaneshwar in 2017.
To be eligible for grant under the scheme, the former athlete will be required to personally impart full-time training to athletes at the centre. Organisations which have been promoting sports for at least five years will also be eligible to establish a KIC, provided they recruit past champions as coaches.
The grant to each KIC will be extended for remuneration of the past champion athlete as coach, support staff, purchase of equipment, sports kits, consumable, participation in competition and events. The process of identifying new KICs will be carried out by the sports department of the respective State and Union Territory in liaison with District Collectors and the proposal will be forwarded to the SAI’s regional centre for further evaluation.
“I want more and more players from our region reach international level and play for the country. There is abundance of talent in our players. A full fledged Khelo India hockey centre will only help in boosting the performance and skills of the players,” said Chikte, who had represented Vidarbha and had also played at Nagpur in his initial days. 

GM Dhopade to give online training to beginners

By Paritosh Pramanik
Oct 10, 2020

ENCOURAGED by the huge success to his online chess course, head coach of Chess Pathshala Grandmaster Swapnil Dhopade has decided to move a step further and train budding chess players around the world.
The first Grandmaster of Vidarbha Dhopade has decided to introduce a course exclusively for the beginners.
Earlier this year Dhopade, who has created many a chess champions, had planned to start chess academies at Amravati, Yavatmal and Wani. But due to COVID-19 pandemic he could not start them. However, Dhopade and his team decided to promote chess online and make future champions.
“Now we are concentrating in providing online coaching,” Dhopade told ‘The Hitavada’.
Informing about his new course for the beginners, Dhopade said the course has been divided in three levels which will be of 25 days each.
“The first level will be for students who have learnt rules of the game.
“This is the best course to start with assuming that the players know how to play chess.
“Through this first level, the player will learn the basic mates, captures, defence and tactics. The last part of this level will be test sessions which will evaluate the learning of the player,” he explained.
“The second level will see players learn principles of opening, introduction to various chess openings, basic endgames, a complete opening repertoire from white side and also from the black side.
“This level will also culminate with test sessions,” he added.
“In the last and third level of course, a player will be taught common tactical themes of the game, basic knight endgames, bishop endgames and practical pawn endgames,” said Dhopade who works as Office Superintendent with Central Railways at Nagpur.
“The beginners will also he taught about common mating patterns and will also have playing and analysing sessions with the coach. This level will also end with test sessions,” he added.
The course is getting good response and over 30 players have already enrolled with Chess Pathshala. Not only from India, budding players from the United States, United Kingdom, Norway, UAE and Bangladesh have also joined the course.
The coaches who are working with Chess Pathshala are the ones who are trained by Dhopade himself.
“The coaches are trained by me and they are well versed with the training material,” informed Dhopade who won the GM title in 2015. Dhopade has worked with players like GM Raunak Sadhwani, Sankalp Gupta of Nagpur. Dhopade, who decided to stop playing competitive chess and took coaching three years ago, was coach of Indian women team at the Asian Nations Cup and at Batumi Olympiad 2018.
“I want to produce champions from rural India and specially Maharashtra. There is a lot of potential. They only need the correct guidance.
“That’s what I am trying to do,” Dhopade concluded.

Sadhwani’s Armenia Eagles win Chess Pro League crown

 

 

Sept 28, 2020
 

By Paritosh Pramanik

IT WAS well past Sunday midnight. Citizens had resigned to their cosy beds after enjoying the high-voltage run-fest in the IPL game between Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab. However, there was one Nagpurian who still had his ‘Champagne on Ice’. The celebration was kept on hold.
Fourteen-year-old Raunak Sadhwani, concentration personified, was glued to his computer well past midnight playing the final of Chess Pro League, representing Armenia Eagles.
Minutes past 1 am, Nagpur’s only chess Grandmaster Raunak Sadhwani jumped from his chair and pumped his fist, not once but on several occasions. This continued for a few seconds, as could be seen in the 46-second video tweeted by chess.com.
After three hours of online battle, Armenia Eagles stunned strong contenders and defending champions St Louis Archbishops 9.5-6.5 to win the chess.com organised online Chess Pro League title.
Armenia Eagles, comprising GM Praham Maghsoodloo, GM Haik Martirosyan, GM Tigran Petrosyan and GM Sadhwani, shocked mighty St Louis Archbishops, who had top rated United States players including World No 2 Fabiano Caruana, World No 8 Wesley So, World No 14 Dominguez Perez Lenier and Junior No 2 Xiong Jeffery, to clinch the crown.
Sadhwani had done his bit by playing two draws in the final. He split points against Lenier. In the next game he was going neck and neck with Caruana but made a mistake in a time scramble and then lost to Wesley.
But in his last game, as instructed by team manager, Sadhwani managed to hold world junior champion Jeffery. His performance and a point from two draws helped his side stay ahead of their rivals. Other favourable results meant Armenia Eagles won the summit clash with a difference of three points.
The winners got richer by USD 20,000 which would be equally distributed among the team members.
In the whole PCL 2020 season Raunak performed with a whopping rating performance of 2700+ which in itself is an achievement.
“Overall I played very well with a whopping performance of 2700 + against world’s best players. Armenia Eagles Manager showed strong faith in my game and I proved myself and met their expectations,” Sadhwani told ‘The Hitavada’ after the exciting title win.
Sadhwani said, he played to a strategy planned by the team management.
“Team manager (Artak) instructed me to play solid and so I played accordingly. I drew my last game against Junior World No 2 and World Junior Champion Xiong Jeffery. The team strategy worked well and finally we outplayed super strong St Louis Archbishops,” said Sadhwani.
On his personal performance in the competition which had world’s best participating Sadhwani said, “Overall I played very well with a whopping performance of 2700+ against world’s best players,” added the student of Centre Point School, Katol Road.
Sadhwani thanked the Armenia Eagles management for selecting him despite having several top players at their disposal.
“I was given a golden opportunity by Armenian team. They have so many strong players but still they gave me the chance. Coach Zaven trusted my abilities. I learnt how to handle pressure while playing against these strong guns. I want to work more and stretch my game to a much higher level. That’s what my next goal is,” revealed Sadhwani, who according to reports, is the only Indian player qualified for this grand event.
Despite winning the online title, Sadhwani said he prefers on board tournaments.
“Of course, I like over the board tournaments more but this type of online leagues are also very good. What else one wants during this pandemic situation? At least I have my opponents and I have to prepare against them, the same I do in my on board tournaments,” explained the fourth youngest Grandmaster of India.
“Overall, it was a very good experience which will definitely be useful for me in this type of future events,” concluded Sadhwani who is ninth youngest Grandmaster of world.

Grandmaster Sadhwani takes Armenia Eagles into Chess Pro League final

 

 

By Paritosh Pramanik
 

Sept 27, 2020

FOURTH youngest Grandmaster of India and first from Nagpur, Raunak Sadhwani once again proved why he is being rated so high by the chess legends of the world.
The ninth youngest Grandmaster of the world Sadhwani helped his side Armenia Eagles storm into the final of the Pro Chess League 2020, being held online on Chess.com.
The Pro Chess League 2020 was suppose to be held at Norway but due to COVID-19 pandemic , organisers decided  to  hold it online.
Sadhwani is the only Indian playing in the prestigious competition. The meet carries total prize money of 40,000 dollars. The winners will be richer by 20,000 dollars.
Sadhwani played some splendid chess and defeated top rated players of the world to take his side to the final. The summit clash will be held on Sunday.
In the semi-final played on Friday night, Armenia Eagles defeated Canada Chessbrahs 9-7 to book date with mighty St Louis Archbishops who ousted China Pandas 11-5 in the other last four battle.
GM Sadhwani registered wins over World No 10 and Dutch No 1 Anish Giri. He managed to hold World No 6 Alexander Grischuk, Croatian No 1 Ivan Saric and Norway’s No 2 Aryan Tari. He collected 2.5 points out of possible four that helped Armenia Eagles edge out Canadian team in the all play all knock-out competition. The tournament has a time control of 10 minutes with increment of two seconds.
Sadhwani’s team comprised GM Parham Maghsoodloo of Iran, GM Haik Martirosyan and GM Tigran Petrosian both of Armenia. The Canada Chessbrahs consisted of GM Alexander Grischuk of Russia, GM Anish Giri of the Netherlands, GM Ivan Saric of Croatia and GM Aryan Tari of Norway.
The 14-year-old Sadhwani was happy with his performance and was satisfied with his contribution, which helped his team reach final.
“I played some very high quality chess. I am very happy with my contribution to my team by scoring 2.5/4 points against some elite players. This result has boosted my confidence and it feels great that my hard work is paying off,” Sadhwani told ‘The Hitavada’.
“I want to thank Armenian team for giving me this wonderful opportunity and showed strong faith in my game,” he added.
Sadhwani was confident of a good show in the final. “I am very excited to play the final on Sunday against the strong St Louis Archbishops team which has some very talented and world famous players.” The team comprises World No 2 Fabiano Caruana, World No 8 Wesley So, World No 14 Dominguez Perez, Leneir and Junior No 2 Xiong Jeffery, all from the United States.

 

Chander does city proud

The former VHA, Maharashtra hockey player completes B.Sc in sports science, a four-year degree course from Chennai to become first Sports and Exercise Scientist from Nagpur



Principal Correspondent

NAGPUR’S Chander Rajesh Nagrurkar did the city proud by achieving a Bachelors degree (B.Sc) in Sports and Exercise Sciences, earlier this month.
The degree course is believed to give a new dimension in approach to training, physical fitness and health of sportspersons as well as help them in quick recovery of injuries with the help of such scientists.
Nagrurkar, who has represented Vidarbha and Maharashtra in a couple of hockey nationals, is son of Rajesh, a certified football referee of Nagpur District Football Association. Rajesh is working with Maharshtra Police Department and is presently posted at Buldana.
Chander did the course from reputed Sri Ramchandra College of Allied Health Sciences which is part of Sri Ramchandra Institute of Higher Education and Research (Deemed to be University) Porur in Chennai. 
The course is a project of Cape Town and Chander will be receiving his certificate (degree) from the South African firm.
The 22-year-old Chander cleared all eight semesters in one attempt and probably became city’s first Sports and Exercise Scientist.
Chander said the course helps sportspersons in taking balanced nutrition, exercises, psychology, injury management, rehab counselling. 
“Just like we need physiologist for physical training, sports psychologist to make a sportsperson mentally strong, dieticians to look after proper nutritious food for a sportsperson, through this course, there would be a single person taking care of all these aspects of a sportsperson,” explained Chander.
During his four-year course, Chander got a chance to work with and international players like Indian footballers Jeje Lalpekhlua, Halicharan Narzary, The Netherlands U-19 cricketer Aryan Kumar, Indian rower and Asian Rowing Championship (Thailand, 2019) silver medalist Tarun Gutta, Indian hockey camper Niyaz Rahim among others.
“I worked on the injuries on some of these players and also on their performance building during my internship,” informed Chander, who scored nine out of 10 Grade Points with a Grade Point Average of 8.42 which comes to A+ grade.
It is worth mentioning that Chander scored A+ Grades in subjects like Applied Sports and Exercise Nutrition (Practicals), Applied Physiology (Practicals), Applied Sports and Exercise Psychology, Health Care Biotechnology, Performance Analysis, Technology and Innovation, Clinical Postings-IV, Projects-Part II and Internship-II.
Chander is further planning to do MBA in sports management from University of Massachusetts, Boston, USA.
“It is tough but not impossible. I am not preparing for Toefl, GMAT so that I can get admission in University of Massachusetts, Boston, USA. I want to do MBA and M.sc in Sports Management, which is a dual masters course of two years,” concluded Chander.

COVID-19 delays laying of RTMNU’s synthetic track

By Paritosh Pramanik

IN NORMAL circumstances Nagpur athletes by now would have had two synthetic tracks to train in the city. 
But the deadly coronavirus pandemic has changed the entire scenario. The nation-wide lockdown imposed to break the chain of spreading of virus in March had halted all sporting activities around the world.
Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University would have had its own synthetic track by now but due COVID-19 pandemic, it seems that it would take another year, or even more.
At present there is one synthetic track at Divisional Sports Complex in Mankapur.
The task of laying the synthetic track at RTMNU’s sports complex, beside Law College, has been assigned to Public Works Department (PWD). After floating tenders pre-bid meetings were also held between the concerned departments of RTMNU and PWD. But due to lockdown, all plans have gone haywire. 
This is for the second time that the work of laying synthetic track has been delayed. 
Earlier, it was delayed due to model code of conduct imposed in the country last year due to general elections.
“The coronavirus has changed the entire scenario. Had the situation been normal, we would have almost completed the laying of synthetic track. But it’s not in our hand,” lamented Dr Sharad Suryawanshi, Director, Department of Physical Education and Sports, RTMNU.
“This is a very peculiar situation. We are waiting for the work to start since last year. We have also deposited Rs 8 crore to PWD. Pre-bids meetings were also held with them. But COVID-19 has put brakes on the developmental works,” Dr Suryawanshi told ‘The Hitavada’.
“Still we are in contact with PWD. We are taking follow-up atleast once in two weeks. It’s up to them to start the work,” said Dr Suryawanshi, who is also a former international athlete. The trac would have eight lanes instead of 10 due to paucity of space. 
“We will also be constructing two long jump pits at two corners of the area. Similarly, two high mast poles will also be added to the present six towers. We have observed that at curves there is less light. Hence we decided to add two more towers,” said Suryawanshi.
Once the work starts, it won’t take much time to lay the synthetic track as the base is already there. “With the present cinder track, we won’t require much of levelling. The base is already ready. This will definitely save our money and time as well. Even the drainage facility is also in place,” informed Dr Suryawanshi, who is also Secretary of Nagpur District Athletics Association.
To save the track from mud which would seep in from football ground, RTMNU has decided to replace lawn turf with artificial grass.
“We don’t want to get the track damaged due to mud of football field. We will be replacing the lawn ground with artificial grass,” added Dr Suryawanshi.
The synthetic track will also be protected with chain-fence.
“It is important that the track is protected from spectators as well as from stray cattle, dogs. We will be constructing chain-fencing around the track. This will stop spectators enchroaching the finish line and disturbing the runners,” said Dr Suryawanshi.

After VHA, Mumbai Hockey Assn too wants participation in HI nationals

Former Olympians write to Rijiju, Batra to save players future

Principal Correspondent

THE clamour to save their existence has started to grow among hockey associations of Maharashtra. After Vidarbha Hockey Association (VHA) knocked High Court’s door for their survival with Hockey India, several Mumbai-based legendary Olympians, too, have come forward to save Mumbai Hockey Association and its players’ future.
Hockey India’s decision to disassociate several associations including VHA, Mumbai, Bhopal, Coorg Hockey, Bengaluru Hockey Association, Hockey Patiala has not gown down well with these age-old hockey bodies.
VHA has already filed a writ petition in Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court. VHA has sought separate status and has prayed to let its players play under VHA banner in Hockey India nationals on the lines of Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA), but citing Indian Olympic Association norms, Hockey India - apex body of hockey- refused to grant this concession.
Meanwhile, in a positive development, VHA’s attempt has started getting support from other associations. On Thursday, several Olympians came forward in an attempt to save careers of hockey players of Mumbai and have appealed to Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju to save Mumbai hockey as the team won’t be able to take part in the nationals.
According to a report in PTI news agency, The Mumbai Hockey Association Limited has decided against legally contesting Hockey India’s move to withdraw their associate membership and recognise Hockey Maharashtra as the state’s sole representative body for the sport. 
Twelve former India players – Dhanraj Pillay, MM Somaya, Joaquim Carvalho, Mervyn Fernandes, Marcellus Gomes, Balbir Singh Grewal, Gurubax Singh Grewal, Viren Rasquinha, Iqbaljit Singh, Eliza Nelson, Selma D’Silva and Margaret Toscano – have together written a mail to Rijiju, IOA chief Narendra Batra, its secretary Rajeev Mehta and HI president Mushtaq Ahmad – seeking their intervention to save hockey in the mega polis, the reports states.
“In summary we would like to say that there are two significant drawbacks of not permitting a separate Mumbai team to participate in the National Hockey Championship. Indian hockey talent pool would get weakened,” the agency report stated.
“With fewer players from the city of Mumbai representing Maharashtra in the nationals, there would be less opportunities to showcase their talent. Many deserving players would not get spotted by national selectors,” the report quoted former players as saying.
“With Hockey Maharashtra being based out of Pune and fewer players from Mumbai getting National colours, job opportunities for hockey players in Mumbai would reduce. Employers would consider discontinuing sponsorship of hockey teams. This will destabilise the hockey ecosystem in Mumbai,” the players further wrote.
Same is the case with Vidarbha players who too would go unnoticed after their Associate Membership is withdrawn.
The former players also suggested to amend Hockey India and IOA constitution. “If needed an amendment in constitution should be urgently considered by IOA/HI to save hockey in Mumbai as well as in other high potential centres,” the report states.
Just like VHA, the former Olympians, in the mail, also cited the example of BCCI, which has allowed Mumbai Cricket Association to field a separate team in the Ranji Trophy, the national domestic competition.

No relief to VHA from HC

VHA can participate in tournaments of Hockey Maharashtra

Staff Reporter

NAGPUR bench of Bombay High Court on Tuesday refused to grant any relief to Vidarbha Hockey Association (VHA) and turned down its demand to allow VHA team to participate in national tournaments directly.
The Hockey India once again reiterated that it was bound to follow One State One Unit and the VHA would have to participate through Hockey Maharashtra. As a result, the status of VHA as an affiliate unit of Hockey India has come to an end with effect from July 1, as of now.
A division bench consisting of Justice Ravi Deshpande and Justice Amit Borkar while admitting the matter for final hearing, made it clear that its earlier attempt to solve the issue without going into merits of the matter had not yielded any result. The High Court had asked the Hockey India whether it would allow VHA team to participate in the national level tournaments, but the apex body refused to make any exception in favour of VHA.
The Hockey India in its pursis made it clear that VHA can be permitted to participate in the sports activities to be conducted by Hockey Maharashtra under its banner. However, Hockey India categorically stated that in the activities to be conducted by Hockey India, the VHA cannot be permitted to participate except through Hockey Maharashtra. 
Hockey India also clarified that from 2021 only recognised State unit would be allowed and only Public Sector Undertakings/departments would be allowed to directly participate in national units as Associate Member.
The VHA had sought separate status on the lines of Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA), but citing Indian Olympic Association norms, Hockey India-apex body of Hockey-refused to grant this concession. In a detailed pursis filed before the High Court, the Hockey India counsel Adv Shreerang Bhandarkar informed that affiliation of VHA would be withdrawn from July 1 and henceforth Hockey Maharashtra would be the only registered unit for Maharashtra.  The stance taken by Hockey India to recognise only Hockey Maharashtra as a single unit for the State will reduce opportunity for players from Vidarbha at national level, the VHA apprehended.
VHA counsel Adv Anand Parchure once again urged the High Court to restrain Hockey India, but the request was firmly turned down. VHA claimed that the association wanted to maintain a separate existence of VHA in the interest of players and was not interested in any financial aid and voting rights. Hockey India made it clear that players from this region can be part of the State unit or PSUs or departments enjoying Associate Member status during national championships.
Hockey India had decided to disaffiliate VHA from July 1. VHA claimed that it was in existence since 1959 and applying one state one unit norm of Justice (retd) R M Lodha committee report applied to Cricket Boards would be unfair and unjust to VHA, which was not interested in getting voting right at all. On January 6, 2020, Hockey India had asked VHA and several other Associate Units to merge with their State bodies by June 30, 2020, citing Indian Olympic Association’s One State One Unit diktat. VHA was asked to merge with Hockey Maharashtra which is a Permanent Member of HI.