RTMNU to change inter-college sports competitions’ format

 

 By Paritosh Pramanik

FROM next academic session (2021-22), the inter-college competitions organised by the Department of Physical Education and Sports, Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University, will be held at Divisional level.
Five divisions will be created and colleges affiliated with RTMNU will play each other in their division before making it to the quarter-finals. From quarter-finals, matches will be played at Nagpur.
Talking with ‘The Hitavada’, Dr Sharad Suryawanshi, Director, Department of Physical Education and Sports, RTMNU said the proposal was passed in the Senate Committee meeting recently.
“The proposal to change the format of competition was put up by Senate Member Pravin Randiwe during the meeting. It was passed looking at the positives behind the move,” said Dr Suryawanshi.
“From next season, we will be having divisional level inter-college competitions. This will increase participation and even performance of the players,” reasoned Dr Suryawanshi.
The move will help those colleges situated in the deep pockets of districts, who were reluctant to send their teams due to long distance travel and extra burden on their pockets because of high-rising transport fares.
“There are many colleges in rural areas who have good players but they don’t send them as the travelling cost is too high. We will be starting inter-college competitions at division level. A group of college from a district will be clubbed and will form a division. This will help players play in their nearby area only and not travel to Nagpur. Once they make it to quarters, then only they will have to come to Nagpur for their remaining matches. The quarter-finals will be between these divisions,” explained Dr Suryawanshi.
But not all events will be played in this format. Only those sports with large number of participation will play in this format.
“Events like cricket (with have over 165 teams), chess (over 2000 participants), football (over 50 teams), badminton (over 150 participants), volleyball (over 120 teams) and not to forget kabaddi, kho-kho and athletics will be played in division format. This will help players from hinterlands to show their talent and give competition to others,” added Dr Suryawanshi.

Alfiya in Indian team for Youth World Boxing Championship

 

 

Principal Correspondent

India’s rising boxer and Asian junior champion Alfiya Akram Pathan has once again stamped her authority in country’s junior circuit when she was selected in the Indian youth boxing team which will take part in Youth World Boxing Championship at Poland from April 10 to 24.
According to reports, Nagpur’s Alfiya thrashed Punjab’s mighty pugilist Komal Jora Singh hands down to emerge victorious in the selection trials at the National Boxing Academy in Rohtak in 81+ kgs weight category.
A total of four boxers were called for trials out of which two gave walkover. Alfiya played final bout against Komal and won by unanimous decision  of 7-0 from five judges and two selectors. The left-handed pugilist punched her opponent to the floor to win the one-sided bout. As per Boxing Federation of India’s selection criteria, the winning boxers from all categories are automatically picked in the Indian squad. Alfiya’s selection was declared by Maharashtra Boxing Association Secretary Rakesh Tiwari and Nagpur City Boxing Association Secretary Poras Kotwal.
Alfiya, daughter of Assistant Sub-Inspector at City Police Headquarters Akram Pathan, is ranked India Number 1 in junior category.
The 2019 Asian Junior Girls Champion Alfiya showed superb agility and fitness to notch up an easy victory. Last month, Alfiya had won gold medal for India in the 30th Adriatic Pearl Tournament in Budva, Montenegro.
This competition at Poland will be important as far as Alfiya’s graduation to senior level is concerned.
This will be the stepping stone in Alfiya’s career when she would make the cut at the senior level in the years to come.
 Jay Kowli, President,   Maharashtra Boxing Association,  Rakesh Tiwari, Secretary , Maharashtra Boxing Association, Dayashankar  Tiwari, President, Nagpur City Boxing Association, Arun Bute, Secretary, Nagpur City Boxing Association, President Sajjad Husain, Secretary, Porus Kotwal and coach Ganesh Purohit  congratulated Alfiya.

RTMNU plans to build India’s best indoor sports complex

 

 

By Paritosh Pramanik

IF ALL goes well, Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University (RTMNU) will have India’s best indoor sports complex in coming years.
Recently, Sports Ministry had asked RTMNU to return its Rs 1.2 crore grant for not utilising it for indoor sports complex. The proposed complex was supposed to come up first at RTMNU’s Sports Stadium in Ravi Nagar. Due to objection from several quarters it was shifted to Campus area. Later, the venue was shifted back to behind Subhedar Hall. But, RTMNU failed to start the construction work. Not even the bhoomipujan was done. Taking a tough stand, Ministry for Youth Services, Government of India after issuing show-cause notice twice, cancelled their grant and had asked RTMNU to return the money.
Learning a harsh lesson, RTMNU has decided to construct indoor sports complex beside basketball courts once again. According to sources, the proposal has also been passed in the Senate meeting recently.
In January this year, RTMNU formed a committee headed by former Board of Studies Chairman Babanrao Taywade. The committee has already started working on the project. A couple of meetings were also held in this connection.
The other committee members include Director of Physical Education and Sports, RTMNU Dr Sharad Suryawanshi, who is also the secretary of the committee, former mayor Kundatai Vijaykar, Management Council member Vishnu Changde, former India cricketer Prashant Vaidya, Arjuna Awardee Vijay Munishwar, Senate Member Adv Manmohan Bajpayee, former Director of Physical Education and Sports Dr Dhananjay Welukar, Maharashtra Netball President Vipin Kamdar, former handball player Viral Kamdar and Sanjay Bhende.
The said land, which is to the left of entrance gate of the Sports Stadium in Ravi Nagar, is sufficient enough to construct India’s best indoor stadium. “At present Manipal Indoor Sports Complex is the best in the country. We want to construct indoor stadium much better than Manipal University Indoor Sports Complex,” Dr Suryawanshi, told ‘The Hitavada’.
“Dr Babanrao Taywade along with other members will be meeting Union Minister Nitin Gadkari regarding this project. I am sure Gadkari will help us,” hoped Dr Suryawanshi.
“The area is sufficient for our dream project. It is approximately 90 metres in length and 40 metres in width. There is another 60 metres of unused land at the back side,” mentioned Dr Suryawanshi.
“A team will be visiting Manipal Indoor Sports Complex soon. A report will be submitted then and on the same lines the Indoor Sports Complex will be constructed,” said Dr Suryawanshi.
The indoor complex will have shooting range, basketball courts, badminton, table tennis, gymnastic halls, wrestling rings, handball area plus gymnasiums. As per the proposal, there will also be ample space for other indoor events like judo, karate, yoga etc. “It will be a multi-storied building,” revealed Dr Suryawanshi.
“During the meeting held in February, RTMNU Vice-Chancellor Dr Subhash Chaudhari, who was also present, gave green signal for the project,” Dr Suryawanshi said.
“The project would cost around Rs 35-40 crore. RTMNU will contribute around Rs 5-8 crore. We will try to generate money through CSR. We can also get grant from Khelo India Sports Infrastructure Development Scheme.
“Even the State Government can help us. This session they have helped Aurangabad University. Next year we will submit our proposal,” informed Dr Suryawanshi.
“During the Senate meeting Dr Smita Wanjari informed that RTMNU which would be celebrating its centenary year in 2023-24 and due to Dr Abhijit Wanjari’s efforts we (RTMNU) will be getting Rs 50 crore from State Government. We can also get some funds from this money for sports complex,” hoped the former international athlete.

City’s Niyaz helps Ahli-Sidab club win hockey title in Oman

 

 By Paritosh Pramanik

CITY'S talented hockey player Niyaz Rahim has once again proved that he belongs to the top league as he helped his club clinch the 50th edition of the coveted His Majesty’s Cup Hockey Championship in Muscat, Oman, recently.
Playing for Oman’s domestic heavyweight Ahli-Sidab club, who has won a record 12 titles, Niyaz displayed his skills and agility to win accolades from one and all.
In the summit clash Niyaz’s Ahli-Sidab, who were runners-up last season, stunned arch-rivals Bausher by three goals to nil to lift the trophy after a gap of two years. Playing as a foreign recruit, Niyaz, who has led Indian Railways for record five times to the podium, has India player Affan Yusuf as his team-mate apart from players from other countries.
“It was a good tournament. We had lost the final last time but this year we were determined to clinch it,” Niyaz told ‘The Hitavada’ after returning to Nagpur from Oman.
“Hockey is still at a nascent stage in Oman. They are still learning the basics. They mostly rely on foreign players. But they are a fast learner. My club had players from Pakistan and Bangladesh too,” said Niyaz who was also India probable and is still in Hockey India’s scheme of things.
Niyaz spent more than two weeks in Oman first spending quarantine period in his hotel room and then playing around 6-8 matches for his club. “After completing my quarantine period, I played a few league matches and after winning most of those games we entered knock-out round. In semis, we beat 11-time winner Seeb Club 6-3,” informed Niyaz, who works with Southern Railways.
“The final was like a ‘clasico’. Both the clubs have won the title for record 11 times. It was a battle for reputation. We fought hard and managed to get early lead. That helped us in taking control of the game at Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex (SQSC),” said Niyaz of the final game.
On the development of hockey in the football-mad country Oman, Niyaz said, “they are doing a lot to promote and polularise the game. Still, there is a long way to go. They have now roped in former Indian women hockey coach CV Kumar. He will be of a great help for Oman. I am sure Oman would be challenging top countries in years to come. The players are very hard working there. They have stamina and speed. What they need is tactical and technical knowledge of the game. Once they learn that, they would be a team to beat,” hoped the midfielder.
On his personal experience Niyaz said, “It was an excellent tour. This was for the second time I was playing in Oman. Every time you play such leagues it helps you learn something new. I would like to thank Hockey India and my employer Indian Railways for granting me permission to play in Oman. I would love to play again there,” Niyaz signed off.

Hockey Mah Secy Bhore, VHA Admin Sidhra hold informal meeting at VHA

 

 

By Paritosh Pramanik

IN AN attempt to break the ice, Hockey Maharashtra Secretary Manoj Bhore met Vidarbha Hockey Association Administrator Triloki Nath Sidhra at VHA office on Tuesday afternoon.
The informal meeting holds significance as VHA is contesting a case in the High Court against Hockey India’s decision to disaffiliate the hockey governing body of Vidarbha stating one-state-one-unit diktat of Indian Olympic Association.
Hockey Maharashtra is also party to the case. The meeting between Bhore and Sidhra was held for over an hour with several members from Amravati also accompanying the latter.
According to sources, Bhore has offered to help VHA in getting Khelo India tournaments.
“Yes there was an offer and he (Bhore) said that he can help VHA in organising Khelo India tournaments. I said you can hold tournaments now also under your banner (Hockey Maharashtra),” claimed Sidhra.
“I only want VHA teams to participate in Hockey India nationals and get their certificates which would help them in getting jobs in various departments. If they wish to conduct Under-12, Under-14 tournaments at VHA, I am ready to permit Hockey Maharashtra to organise them under its banner. VHA will always support growth of hockey,” said Sidhra.

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Players’ career should
not suffer: Bhore
HOCKEY Maharashtra Secretary Manoj Bhore once again felt that career of budding hockey players should not be ruined due to pending court cases and adamant behaviour of authorities.
“I want players to play hockey. Their careers should not suffer. Year 2020 was washed away by coronavirus. Now, VHA players won’t be able to participate in sub-junior nationals of Hockey India to be held later this month. The officials, whosoever they are, won’t get affected by this. It’s the players who will be the biggest losers.
“It feels bad that Vidarbha players are not allowed to play nationals. What I feel is all should sit across the table and sort out the differences and find solution so that players get a chance to participate,” elaborated Bhore.
“I am receiving calls from several hockey players of Vidarbha to sort out this situation and let them play and attend the trials. But I am helpless. I would suggest them to request Mr Sidhra to find solution. Players should approach Sidhra and request him for an amicable way out,” added Bhore.
“What if VHA loses (in court). The players won’t be allowed to participate in nationals this year. There is no district body in Nagpur. It will take time for them (whoever gets affiliation) to get registered with Hockey Maharashtra.  They will have to show their activities, which is nil at present in Nagpur. Who would suffer? Only the players,” reasoned Bhore.

Women of substance

 

 

By Paritosh Pramanik

FEMALE sportspersons from Nagpur have done the city proud on many occasions. They have kept city’s flag flying high at national and international levels. Time and again players like shuttlers Malvika Bansod, Nikkita Joseph, boxer Alfiya Pathan, athletes Jyoti Chavan, Prachi Godbole, yoga player Dhanashree Lekurwale, to name a few, have carved a niche for themselves.
‘The Hitavada’ remembers the golden performances of these lasses who have recently won accolades at national and international levels.
Malvika Bansod has started the year on a dream note. After missing most of year out of court due to COVID-19, the ever improving shuttler claimed Uganda International title a couple of weeks ago. That title win gave her enough points to zoom up in the BWF rankings. The left-handed badminton player jumped 20 points from 150 to reach at 130th rank in world badminton. In the final at the Uganda International Series held at Kampala, Malvika had registered an exciting come-from-behind title victory over compatriot Anupama Upadhyaya of Haryana. She lost the opening game 17-21 but bounced back superbly to take the next two games 25-23, 21-10 clinch the title. The title win gave Malvika 2,500 points which took her overall tally to 13,460. The Uganda title victory was city shuttler’s third women’s singles crown in BWF organised tournaments.
Another rising shuttler of city Nikkita is climbing the ladder with her astounding performances. In the latest BAI rankings the talented shuttler has reached her career-best ranking in the U-17 girls doubles category. Making a positive move upwards, 15-year-old Nikkita is ranked a creditable fourth in doubles in Under-17 age category in the country. Not only doubles, she is at the 14th position in the singles category. She is the only shuttler from Nagpur to be ranked in both singles and doubles categories.
Nikkita and her partner Asawari Khandekar performed well in last year’s Sub-junior National’s held in Odisha.
On the basis of that performance, Badminton Association of India published the rankings for singles top 18 players and top nine players in doubles categories. Nikkita, a Class 10 student of Modern School, Koradi, is coached by experienced Badminton World Federation-certified coach Chetak Khedikar at Annasaheb Gundewar College and Divisional Sports Complex, Mankapur Stadium.
In the boxing circuit, left-handed pugilist of the city, Alfiya Pathan is punching much above her weight and making strides at international level. Daughter of Akram Pathan, Alfiya has won a bagful of medals in her short career and is proclaimed as next big star of Indian boxing.
Nagpur’s pride and a devoted boxer Alfiya lived up to the expectations winning first gold medal for India in the 30th Adriatic Pearl Tournament in Budva, Montenegro a few days back. This was after she was ranked as No 1 female boxer in her age group in the Boxing Federation of India’s rankings.
The 2019 Asian Junior Girls Champion Alfiya, who turned 18 on February 18, showed superb form and fitness and notched up an easy 5-0 win against Daria Kozorev of Moldova in the 81+kg category to win first gold medal for India. Alfiya was in complete control throughout the match and made the opponent work hard with her swift movement and precise punches. She has been training with NIS boxing coach Ganesh Purohit in the city and under India coaches at Khelo India camp in Rohtak.
“She is a very dedicated and devoted player. She never comes up with any excuses for training and is always there...raring to go. Apart from that she is very intelligent and has a very good grasping power. You don’t need to tell her the same thing again and again,” her coach Purohit had told ‘The Hitavada’ after her medal winning performance.
Another city’s shining light is international yoga player Dhanashree Lekurwale who is holding the beacon high since she was just seven.
With more than two dozen gold medals at national and international level, Dhanashree is determined to change Nagpur into a yoga city. She has been insisting the citizens to take yoga for a better and fit life.
Athlete Jyoti Chavan won a gold medal on Sunday in the Delhi Half Marathon to keep Nagpur’s rich history in long distance running intact. Similarly, Prachi Godbole won silver in full marathon in the same event to add icing on the cake. At state and zonal level, girl athletes are performing well winning medals in almost all the meets.
Runners like international athlete Nikita Raut, budding Bhavyashree Mahalle and Mitali Bhoyar are winning yellow metals in zonal as well as other important events.

District Associations support VHA

 

 

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

--------------

 

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.