Scope of this thread

*New Sport Facilities U/C

* Up gradation of existing Sports Infra

*Karnataka Sports/athletes laurels

http://www.deccanheraldepaper.com/pdf/2011/08/11/20110811q_003100002.jpg

Girish Koushik jumps to second spot in world junior chess

Hari Hara Nandanan, TNN Aug 10, 2011, 01.41am IST

CHENNAI: Fourteen-year-old Girish Koushik is turning out to be the find of the world junior for India. The Mysore boy played a waiting game against second seed Sanan Sjugirov of Russia in the seventh round in the open section of the world junior chess championship and jumped to second position with six points.

Sixteen-year-old Vidit Santosh Gujrathi played an exciting game with black against fourth seed Alexander Shimanov of Russia and pocketed a point that would enhance his chances of gaining a GM norm from the event.

For Girish Koushik, a ninth standard student of St Thomas school, Mysore, it has been a dream run so far. He has not yet earned his first International Master norm but it looks as if he is in a hurry to get the GM norm straight. He has so far beaten three top GMs, Sjugirov, SP Sethuraman and Vasil Durarbeyli (Azerbaijan). However, his seventh-round win over Sjugirov is something special, though he says "all are equal".

Playing on the third board, Girish waited patiently in the Ruy Lopez game. Sjugirov, with already a loss in the first six rounds, went after black early. The Russian started pushing his pawns in an attempt to win and lost two of them. Girish forced the exchange of white's strong bishop and then in a rook and bishop ending, the Russian had no play after 53 moves. "He lost the game after he exchanged the dark-coloured bishop," said Girish.

Vidit finished off the game against Shimanov in just two hours. The Nasik boy adopted the Razogin variation in Nimzo Indian Defence. The Indian sacrificed a pawn in the opening and got good queenside attack.

Vidit brought the rook to the queen-bishop file on move 13 and since then enjoyed a winning position. Ten moves later, he combined his rook, queen and knight to unleash a mating attack on the long-castled white king. "This was the best game that I have played so far in this championship," said Vidit.

For a change, leader Axel Rombaldoni of Italy dropped a half point No. 7 seed Ter-Sahakyan Samvel of Armenia on the top board. He continued to lead with 6.5 points. "I can't go on winning, he (Samvel) played well," Rombaldoni, who was slightly better before he pushed a pawn in the king-rook file and then handed the same to the Armenian. "However, it is not enough to press for a win," he added.

TOI (http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-08-10/chess/29867818_1_world-junior-chess-cori-t-deysi-gm-norm)

Girish A Koushik

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Mysore boy Girish A Koushik won the under-14 title in the Asian Youth Chess Championships held at Subic City in the Philippines which concluded on May 21, seen with three Gold Medals.after his arrival in Bangalore on May 24, 2011.

Defending champions return with 69 medals; Maharashtra second

Sangvekar shines as Karnataka retain title (http://www.deccanherald.com/content/182572/sangvekar-shines-karnataka-retain-title.html)

From Josey Samuel, Bhopal, Aug 9, DHNS:
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Saurabh Sangvekar nailed his fifth individual title on Tuesday, with a National record in the 800M freestyle, as Karnataka remained champions for one more year in the 38th Junior National Aquatic Championship that concluded at the Prakash Taran Pushkar pool here.

Defending champions Karnataka tallied 528 points (24 gold, 17 silver, 28 bronze) to beat back the challenge of Maharashtra, who garnered 468 points (26 gold, 12 silver, 13 bronze). Tamil Nadu swimmers put up a valiant effort but had to be satisfied with third place with 19 gold, 22 silver and 13 bronze medals.

Saurabh stormed to victory in the 16-lap event, clocking 8:24.97, bettering the old mark by a good 18 seconds. The 17-year-old erased State-mate AP Gagan’s two-year-old mark of 8:43.60. Soon after, Saurabh, who trains under National coach Pradeep Kumar at the Basavangudi Aquatic Centre, touched the tape in 57.94 to pocked the 100 butterfly gold.

Saurabh’s five gold medals and two National records -- 800 and 200 freestyle -- got him the best swimmer award in the Group I boys category. Karnataka’s Group I boys’ 4x100M medley relay team obliterated the National mark. The quartet of Pranam B, Akash Rohit, Saurabh and Ajay A posted 4:07.71 to rewrite the previous mark of 4:08.35 created by Delhi in 2006.

The State Group II boys’ quartet of Pushpanand H, Likith SP, Md Yaqoob Saleem and Nikhil Rajaram timed 4:30.13 to bag the corresponding title. Akash Rohit took home his fourth gold when he timed 2:30.46 to win the Group I boys’ 200M breaststroke. In the corresponding Group II event, Likith SP clocked 2:39.11 to complete a double.

In the water polo competitions, Karnataka girls clinched bronze. The State lasses routed Bengal 7-1 in their last league match to register their second win from four matches.

Results:
Boys: Group I: 800M: Saurabh Sangvekar (Kar) 8:24.97, 1. National Record (Old: Gagan AP, 8:43.60, Karnataka, 2009); Sanu Debnath (WB) 8:46.23, 2; Ajay A (Kar) 9:01.40, 3.
200M breaststroke: Akash Rohit (Kar) 2:30.46, 1; Neil Contractor (Guj) 2:32.56, 2; Arun S (Ker) 2:36.71, 3.
100M butterfly: Saurabh Sangvekar (Kar) 57.94,1; Jaywant Vijay Kumar (TN) 58.73, 2; Rahul Chokshi (Guj) 58.76, 3.
4x100M medley relay: Karnataka (Pranam B, Akash Rohit, Ajay A, Saurabh Sangvekar) 04:07.71. NR (Old: 4:08.35, Delhi, 2006); Gujarat (Sjay Shah, Neil, Rahul, Raj B) 4:20.07) 2; Kerala (Turbu, Arun, Visakh, Ananthakrishnan) 4:20.14, 3.
Group II: 1500M freestyle: Vedant Rao (Mah) 17:44.04, 1; Md Yaqoob Saleem (Kar) 17:51.70, 2; Anand A S (Ker) 17:57.29, 3.
200M breaststroke: Likith SP (Kar) 2:39.11, 1; Vikrant (Har) 2:42.18, 2; Viraj Prabhu (Mah) 2:48.82, 3.
100M butterfly: Supriya Mondal (WB) 1:01.43, 1; SK Adarsh Narayan (TN) 1:03.02, 2; Nikhil Rajaram (Kar) 1:03.85, 3.
4x100M medley relay: Karnataka (Pushpanand H, Likith SP, Md Yaqoob Saleem, Nikhil Rajaram) 4:30.13, 1; Tamil Nadu (Sethu, Kumaresh, Adarsh, Sriniram) 4:32.24, 2; Bengal (Akash, Suvik, Kushal, Supriya) 4:34.04, 3.
Girls: Group I: 100M freestyle: Jyotsna Pansare (Mah) 1:00.33, 1; R Sushmitha (TN) 1:01.42, 2; Pratima Kollali (Kar) 1:01.69, 3.
200M breaststroke: M Raghavi (TN) 2:46.96, 1. NR (Old: 2:47.08, Tejaswini V, Karnataka, 2006); Gauri Desai (Mah) 2:53.43, 2; Priyanka Priydrshini (Del) 2:55.37, 3.
400M individual medley: Kanchi Desai (Mah) 5:14.46, 1. NR (Old: 5:17.89, Tejaswini V, Karnataka, 2006); Ananya Panigrahi (Mah) 5:24.93, 2; Bhoomi R Motwani (Kar) 5:28.33, 3.
4x100M medley relay: Maharashtra (Ananya P, Gauri, Kanchi, Jyotsna) 4:42.55, 1. NR (Old: 4:49.82, Karnataka, 2010); Tamil Nadu (Sushmitha, Raghavi, Anusha, Kavya) 4:46.79, 2. BMR; Delhi (Ruhaab, Priyanka, Anjali, Vasundhara) 5:00.85, 3.
Group II: 100M freestyle: Shivani Kataria (Har) 1:01.54, 1; Rhea Castelino (AP) 1:03.25, 2; Avantika Chavan (Mah) 1:03.42, 3.
200M breaststroke: AV Jayaveena (TN) 2:54.90. NR (Old: 2:55.37, Poorva Shetye, Maharashtra, 2007); Monique Gandhi (Mah) 2:58.61, 2; Charu Hamsini DA (Kar) 3:03.19, 3.
400M individual medley: Aakanksha Vora (Mah) 5:26.17, 1; Kritika C (Chg) 5:38.47, 2; Charu Hamsini DA (Kar) 5:51.44, 3.
4x100M medley relay: Maharashtra (Avantika, Monique, Aakanksha, Aakanksha C) 4:55.99, 1; Tamil Nadu (Aarthi, Jayaveena, Samyuktha, Sherlyn) 5:03.27, 2; Karnataka (Sahithya Alva, Charu Hamsini, Malavika V, Simran Deepak) 5:03.99, 3.
Special awards:
Overall championship: Karnataka (528 points).
Team championship: Boys: Group I: Karnataka (187). Group II: Maharashtra (124).
Girls: Group I: Maharashtra (140). Group II: Maharashtra (152).
Best swimmer awards: Boys: Group I: Saurabh Sangvekar (Kar, 35). Group II: Vedant Rao (Mah, 29).
Girls: Group I: Jyotsna Pansare (Mah, 33). Group II: Aakanksha Vora (Mah, 35).
Water polo: Boys, final: Maharashtra bt Bengal 8-2. Third place playoff: Kerala bt Punjab 11-3.
Girls (league): Karnataka: 7 (Anarghya Prasad 3, Mrudula V 3, Uttara K 1) bt Bengal: 1 (Sumitra Kujur) 1; Kerala bt Maharashtra 3-2.
Standings: Kerala, 1; Maharashtra, 2; Karnataka, 3.

Karnataka regains overall championship (http://www.thehindu.com/sport/other-sports/article2340249.ece)

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Best Swimmers: (from left) Jyotsna Pansare, Akanksha Vora, Saurabh Sangvekar and Vedant Rao proudly display their trophies on Tuesday. Photo: A.M Faruqu

We beat our traditional Rivals in pool that is Maharashtra again to retain the overall championship :cheers:

World-class swimming pool to open soon, says Shukla (http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/article2332675.ece)


“The construction of the international-standard swimming pool in Bidar city is almost over. It will be opened in one or two months,” said Deputy Commissioner Sameer Shukla here on Saturday.

Annual cost

He said the swimming pool had been built at a cost of Rs. 2 crore and it would cost Rs. 12 lakh annually to maintain it.

Mr. Shukla said life membership would cost Rs. 1 lakh and a 10-year membership would cost Rs. 25,000. The annual membership fee would be Rs. 6,000 and the monthly user fee, Rs. 600.

Not more than 100 people would get life memberships. Ten-year membership and annual membership would be restricted to 150 and 200 respectively. He said that those who were not members could use the pool by paying Rs. 50 an hour on weekdays and Rs. 75 an hour on weekends and holidays.

He said that membership forms were available with the Department of Youth Services and Sports office in Bidar city and the District Urban Development Cell in the Deputy Commissioner's office in the city.

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Belgaum boys skate into record books

June 7, 2011 By Naushad Bijapur DC Belgaum



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They skated into world records with ease.

Twenty four Belgaum boys, all below 18, joined 56 other skaters from around the country to set new records in non-stop speed skating at an international event here on Monday.

Beating the earlier world record of 24 hours, 14 minutes and 3 seconds for speed skating over 410 kms set by the skaters of Singapore Roller Sports , the young Indian skaters seemed to fly over 560 kms in 17 hours.

They also set a new record of speed skating for 31 hours non-stop beginning 11.25 am on Sunday. International skating referees Mayne Chow from Hongkong and Pablow and Marcello from Brazil who represented the Federation of International Roller Sports, certified the new records, which were also taken note of by representatives of Limca Book of Records, Ramakrishna and Murthy.

“The Singapore skaters skated 410 km in 24 hours when creating the earlier record . The Indian skaters broke it without any hassles," Jyoti Chindak, president of Shivganga Roller Skating Club of Belgaum, said.

The Indian team continued skating even after breaking one world record and created another by skating over 720 kms in 31 hours. Eleven-year-old Nikhil Chindak from Belgaum, best known for his limbo-skating , said he was not at all tired through both events.

Several of the other boys from various parts of the country who took part in the world class performance, are highly talented skaters as well with several achievements to their credit.

DC (http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/sport/local-sports/belgaum-boys-skate-record-books-861)

Belgaum skaters cover 720 km in 31 hours

Staff Correspondent

http://www.hindu.com/2011/06/07/images/2011060758020201.jpg
Collective effort:The 78 skaters with their coaches and officials of the Shivaganga Roller Skating Club after creating a new record by skating non-stop for 31 hours covering 720 km at the club's rink in Belgaum on Monday.
Belgaum: The Shivaganga Roller Skating Club's rink here on Monday evening reverberated with cheers with young Indian skaters establishing a new world record in the “Continuous Speed Skating Marathon”.

The new record was set at sharp 6.30 p.m. local time after covering 720 km in 31 hours although these skaters had broken the world record a couple of hours earlier during the day, announced A.D. Sharma, Chief Referee and Senior Skating Coach, Department of Sports, Government of Haryana, Sharma in the presence of international referees Wayne Chow from Hong Kong.

Surender Kapoor from New Delhi and Amita Sood from Haryana were the two other referees for the event. Officials of the Limca Book of Records and India Book of Records were present to record the event.

The previous record in this category – 410 km in 24 hours was established in Singapore in 2009, he said.

In all, 78 skaters from Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan, and Karnataka, including 22 from Belgaum city alone, participated in the challenging feat accomplished under rainy conditions. Guest international skaters Pablo Navarro and Marcelo Campos from Brazil were all there to lend moral support towards achieving the goal.

It was at sharp 11.30 a.m. on Sunday that skaters in groups of 7 or 8 took off for the challenging task, with each group rolling non-stop for at least half an hour.

As the clock clicked 6.30 p.m. on Monday, the distance covered was 720 km (3,600 laps of 200 m long ring) in 31 hours and under rainy weather conditions.

The organisers had decided to conduct the event for 30 hours. But extended only an hour longer when the skaters wished to skate for a few more hours to set a tall figure before anyone could break the record. President of the host club Jyoti Chindak and Secretary Ramesh Chindak congratulated all the skaters and the team coach Sunil Dhage from Pune for providing special training to the skaters and thanked all those who directly and indirectly supported the club to achieve glory to the city, Karnataka and India.

It was at the same rink that Indian skaters had established a world record in non-stop inline-hockey skating on June 16, 2010.

The Hindu (http://www.hindu.com/2011/06/07/stories/2011060758020200.htm)

:banana2:

Longest Limbo Skating-world record set by Aniket Chindak

[Jan 3] BELGAUM, INDIA--A six-year-old Indian boy, Aniket Ramesh Chindak has set a new world record for the longest limbo-skating by squeezing himself under a row of 57 four-wheel drive cars in 45 seconds.

Aniket decided to take up limbo skating two years ago after seeing it on television.

He had been roller skating since he was 18 months old, and wanted a new challenge. "It took three months before I could get my body in the right position," he said. "Since then I have skated under lots of cars and have never hurt myself."

http://www.worldrecordsacademy.org/sports/img/Aniket-Chindak/4.jpg



Aniket said: "The hardest thing is to go fast enough before I bend down. That's how you can skate under so many cars at once."

A celebrity in his home-town Belgaum in Southern Karnataka state, Aniket has an extraordinary ability to perform what is known as 'limbo-skating ' .

His family says he started roller skating from the age of 18 months and has since received many trophies and awards for his skating skills.

Now he is training four hours a day, and skating 60 miles a week in pursuit of the new challenge: he plans to break his world record of 57 cars in 45 seconds with a 100-car skate in New Delhi.

"In the future I am planning to do skating-dancing, skating-singing, and football and hockey skating too, and I want to win many prizes." Aniket said telling AP Television of his future plans.

His parents say they are not unduly worried about Aniket's safety in performing such feats and encourage him to carry on with his practice .

"He himself is so motivated and prepared for small scratches and injuries that even when he falls, he tells me 'no mummy, lets do it once again. We will do it," said Jyoti Chindak, his mother.

Aniket has got inspiration from his mother Mrs Jyoti Ramesh Chindak. As she has also made a record in Biggest Rangoli of Indian Tradition.

The record was covered by ZEE TV of Shabhash India.

Aniket has been inspired by his mother especially and his elder brothet Mr Anand Chindak who supported him to achieve this great success.

Aniket is taking training from Belgaum Roller Skating Academy by his Coach Suryakant Hindalgekar and Suhas Sir.

All the family members supported him a lot in all the activities.He is also been encouraged by his family,friends and relatives and has achived a Great Success.

Limbo-skating is something of a craze in India. Last September, three-year-old Krishna Kunwar Gahlo of Udaipur skated under a bus with a clearance height of 11in, and in October, five-year-old Uttam Gahlot, also from Udaipur, rolled under a car with a clearance height of just 6.75in, which his coach claimed to be a record in the boys' category.

In the United States, seven-year-old Zoey Beda earned the nickname Roller Limbo Princess when she succeeded in skating as low as 7in, while in 1999, six-year-old Xue Wang of Beijing performed the splits under a bar set at 5.75in.

Aniket's father Ramesh says his son is skating for more 60 miles twice a week to get in perfect condition for his record attempt.

"It took him a while to condition his body to hold the correct position – now his battle is to get the speed and control necessary for 100 cars," he said. "He wants to set a world record no one can beat for a long time."


A date hasn't yet been set for when Aniket Chindak hopes to break the record, plans are though for some time early 2008.

But for now, the Aniket is skating 60 miles twice-a week to prepare for the new world record he is determined to set.

ANIKETs AWARDS:
1. He was awarded for BAL KALASHREE PURASKAR Award
2. Belgaum Rollers Skating Academy Championship Award.
3. S.K. Five Star Rolling Skating Championship Award at Kolhapur 4. Enter School Roller Skating Championship Award.
5. Enter School District Championship Award [100 Mtrs].
6. Lions Club of Saheli Award.
7. Rotary Club of Kolhapur Sunrise Skating Championship Award. 8. Belgaum Dist Roller Skating Association.

ANIKETs ACHIEVEMENTS
* He had been for a rally Belgaum to Bangalore [540km.].
* He also made a Non-Stop Skating for 5 hours to encourage the Indian Cricket Team while 20-20 Final Cricket Match between India Vs Pakistan. He skated Continuously from the beginning till the match wons.
* He has also skated from Belgaum to Kolhapur [120 km] to surprise his Coach on GURU POORNIMA DAY.The coach was too happy to see him coming skating from his place to take Blessings of his GURU on that special day.

SPECIAL PERFORAMCE IN SKATING
He also Performs Dance with Skating.
Also he plays hockey with Skating.


Source (http://www.worldrecordsacademy.org/sports/longest_limbo_skating_world_record_set_by_Aniket_Chindak_80106.htm)

Hats off to Belgaum skaters :cheers:

Hassan Indoor stadium

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For More info Click here (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=71412131&postcount=41)

World Badminton Championships: Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa enter last 4 to make history



http://media2.intoday.in/indiatoday/images/stories/jwala-ashwini-398_081311101743.jpg

Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa created history when they came back from behind to defeat the Indonesian combine of Vita Marissa and Nadya Melati 17- 21, 21- 10, 21- 17 to enter the semi-finals of the World Badminton Championships in Wembley, London on Friday.

In the process, they became the first Indian pair to enter the semi-finals of the worlds. In the last four clash they will take on the fifth seeded Chinese pair of Qing Ting and Zhao Yunlei.

But it was the end of the road for Saina Nehwal who went down tamely to Chinese third seed Wang Xin 15-21, 10-21. This was the third time that the Indian ace lost in the quarter-final stage of the World Championships.

Jwala and Ashwini were slow off the blocks and failed to negotiate the bullet like smashes of the Indonesian pair. The Indian duo lost the opener in 18 minutes.

After the pep talk from coach Gopi Chand, the Indian pair changed their tactics. They kept the shuttle low and denied Vita and Nadya the chance to attack.

In their haste to finish off the points, the Indonesians made a host of errors to lose the second game 10-21.

The decider was a close affair with Jwala and Ashwini holding their nerves to win 21-17.

Saina was too slow in her quarter-final against Wang. The Chinese used her powerful smashes to tame the Indian. The Hyderabadi's was unable to control the net.

"I was simply off form today," she said.

Source (http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/story/jwala-ashwini-enter-last-4-to-make-history/1/147961.html)

Kodagina hudugi Ashwini ponappa :cheers: Wish both of them good luck

Halappa to miss Asian Champions Trophy

BANGALORE: Skipper Arjun Halappa will not figure in the selection trials over the weekend for the Asian Champions Trophy tournament.

Out with a groin injury for more than a month now, the midfielder said it was disappointing he wouldn't be able to figure in the trials as well as the continental tournament. But he has no choice as he will be on rehab for the next three weeks and will take around six weeks to regain full fitness.

There is a cloud of doubt over Vikramkanth and Kothajit, who are down with fever while frontliner Tushar Khandker, who is nursing an ankle injury, may find himself out of the trials, giving chief coach Michael Nobbs the challenge of finding apt replacements in the 18-member squad.

Nobbs will rely on the counsel of his exercise physiologist David John, even if it has to be over the telephone, to pick the best of the 48 that have assembled at the Sports Authority of India, South Centre. John was expected to land in India on Friday but his departure from Australia may be delayed until next week, it is learnt.

The selection assumes significance as it is Nobbs' first. It is natural than anybody in charge of a squad will have his own priorities and strategies with some players fitting into his scheme of things better than the others.

Nobbs will look for a blend of youth and experience but whether he has set his sights on any young gun in particular remains to be seen. The Australian is keen on blooding youngsters so that they get to play at least 10-20 international matches prior to the Olympic qualifiers next year.

In the present scenario, fitness is the key factor which may shatter the hopes of a few senior players, particularly those who chose to break the camp rules and their fitness routines and head to Mumbai for the World Series Hockey launch last month. John had said then that it would be an uphill task for those players to catch up with the others.

The silver lining here is that the Asian Champions Trophy, to be held in Ordos, China from September 3-11, is the first of the tournaments where India would be testing their talent, giving a ray of hope to those keen on a comeback. As Nobbs said: "The Ordos test is a good one to see where we stand competitively. If we do well, then we are heading in the right track, if we don't do well then we know what needs to be done."

Apparently, Nobbs' line of thinking will become even more clear once his core group of around 29-31 players will be decided in the next two days along with the 18 for Ordos.

Among the selectors, Col Balbir Singh, Harbinder Singh, BP Govinda, AB Subbaiah and government observer Dilip Tirkey will watch the trials at SAI.

The venue was decided after the players opined that the SAI turf is not as unplayable as it has been made out to be. Incidentally, the travel time to the MEG turf, which is a clean 20km away from SAI, and the hellish journey, too has contributed to the decision.

TOI (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/more-sports/hockey/Halappa-to-miss-Asian-Champions-Trophy/articleshow/9581715.cms)

President’s XI score over Vidarbha

KSCA teams set up title tilt


Bangalore, August 13, DHNS:

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It will be an all home affair in the final of the Shafi Darashah Trophy, with KSCA XI and KSCA President’s XI set to lock horns in the 50-over-a-side title round on Monday at the Chinnaswamy stadium.

In the Group B, President’s XI and Punjab Cricket Association ended up nine points, but the former entered the final by virtue of the number of outright win. In the last set of matches, President’s XI defeated Vidarbha CA, while Punjab could only manage a draw against Baroda.

At the RSI grounds on Saturday, KSCA XI didn’t waste much time in apply finishing touches to the Colts’ first innings.

The Colts could add only six runs to their overnight 264 for eight. Left-arm spinner Suchith J completed an astounding nine-wicket haul (9/98), giving the marching orders to Abhishesk Jagan and HS Sharath. The Colts’ tally of 270 gave KSCA XI a 213-run first-innings lead. They could have enforced the follow-on in search of an outright win, but having already assured themselves a berth in the final, KSCA XI preferred to bat a second time to give some practice for their batsmen ahead of the final.

KSCA XI made 240 for six in 71 overs before both teams agreed to end the proceedings at the tea interval. Stuart Binny, Shreyas Gopal and Aman Raj led KSCA XI’s charge with well-made fifties, and Shreyas was impressive in particular.

Composed fifty

The right-hander seemed set for a big score in the first innings, but failed to kick on. However, he made amends on the day with a composed fifty.

Shreyas (65, 130b, 5x4) attached a heavy price on his wicket, and avoided all the frills. The biggest threat for the KSCA XI batsmen was Sunil Raju’s off-spin as he troubled batsmen with awkward bounce.

But Shreyas came right behind the ball to nullify the rising deliveries and rolled his wrist to keep the ball down, away from the grasp of the close-in fielders. He had an equally strong-minded partner in Aman Raj (56 n.o., 99b, 4x4) as the duo realised 93 runs for the stubborn sixth wicket.

Left-arm spinner SK Moinuddin, who has been vastly impressive in this tournament, ended the alliance, forcing Shreyas to edge one to Pavan Deshpande. Binny (53, 55b, 6x4, 2x6) was all fire and brimstone as usual, mullering the red cherry to the fence with brute force. However, the entertainment came to an end when he slashed Moinuddin to Zeeshan Ali at covers.

Brief scores: At RSI Grounds: KSCA XI: 483/6 decl in 175 overs and 240/6 in 71 overs (Stuart Binny 53, Shreyas Gopal 65, Aman Raj 56 n.o.; Sunil N Raju 3-71, SK Moinuddin 2-46) drew KSCA Colts: 270 all out in 88 overs (Karun Nair 64, Pawan Deshpande 57, Abrar Kazi 58; Suchith J 9-98).

At Chinnaswamy Stadium: Rajasthan CA: 277 all out in 105.5 overs and 121 all out in 47.5 overs (Afroz Khan 40; Arav Dave 5-39, Kamlesh Mankwana 2-20) lt to Saurashtra CA: 459 all out in 132.2 overs.

At PES, Mandya: Vidarbha CA: 347 all out in 92.5 overs and 340/9 decl in 73.4 overs (Akshay Kolar 39, Anup Fulpar 55, Ravi Jangid 91, Shalabh Srivastava 81; NC Aiyappa 4-55, Aditya B Sagar 2-48) lt to KSCA President’s XI: 385 all out in 189.4 overs and 300/9 in 57.4 overs (Bharath Chipli 54, Kunal Kapoor 38, KL Rahul 95, Rajoo Bhatkal 32; Sumit Ruikar 6-126).

At Gangotri Glades, Mysore: Punjab CA: 527 all out in 155.4 overs and 86/0 in 16 overs (Amitoze Singh 33 n.o., Sarabjeet Singh 53 n.o.) drew Baroda CA: 385 all out in 133.1 overs (Kedar Devdhar 49, Murtuja Vohra 51).

DHNS (http://www.deccanherald.com/content/183553/ksca-teams-set-up-title.html)

Shafi Darashah trophy has three teams from Karnataka,so no surprise to see karnataka teams in the finals.

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Rain will make K-1000 tougher: Gill

BANGALORE: Karnataka-1000 rally is always known to be a tough rally to compete in, thanks to the tricky tracks that test the mettle of drivers.

With heavy rain lashing the state for the past few days, the track has become muddy and slushy this time too and the drivers will feel the heat when the 37th edition of the premier rally event -- fourth round of the Indian National Rally Championship (INRC) -- begins at Siddlaghatta, about 70 km from , on Saturday.

Almost all the drivers are wary about the rain and changing weather conditions.

Leading Indian driver Gaurav Gill, driving a Mitsubishi Cedia, gave an idea about the things to expect in the next two days when he observed that the rally will witness high speed action if it does not rain. "It is very tough to drive in these conditions," he said after the reconnaissance on Friday morning.

Gaurav and Musa Sherif (Team MRF) are leading the table with 74 points, thanks to their top-of-the-podium finish in the first round at Nashik. Though they did not finish the second round in Chennai due to a mechanical problem, the duo came back brilliantly to claim the top honours in the third round in Coimbatore.

"It will be a disadvantage for the first three cars due to water logging in some parts of the track. Other cars will find it a bit easy once we clear the water. So it is going to be tough for the car as well as the driver," Gill said.

However, he allayed fears about the technical problems that did him in Chennai. "Electrical and mechanical problems have been resolved and I hope to finish on top once again," he said.

His MRF team-mate Amittrajit Ghosh (co-driver Ashwin Naik), who is in the second spot with 44 points, too expressed his apprehensions about the track. "I think the clay stage will be the toughest one. So our aim is to get the stage and we are not concentrating on the championship now," he said.

Team MRF has fielded four teams with Arjun Balu (co-driver Sujith Kumar) and Lohitt Urs (PVS Murthy) being the other teams from the Tyre Major's stable. Last year's K-1000 winner Arjun Rao Aroor (co-driver Satish Kumar) has moved out from Team MRF and is competing as a privateer in Group N+ category.

The three Special Stages -- clay (13.02km), blackberry (9.2 km) and Blueberry (13.63km) -- will be run twice on Saturday and once on Sunday for a total distance of about 110 km.

The spectator-friendly two-km super special stages will be held at Clarke Exotica on Sunday afternoon.

Times of India (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/more-sports/racing/Rain-will-make-K-1000-tougher-Gill/articleshow/9667365.cms)

Lohit Urs is from Mysore...I support him :cheers:

Sadananda Gowda outlines game plan for sports (http://www.dnaindia.com/bangalore/report_sadananda-gowda-outlines-game-plan-for-sports_1578127)

Chief minister DV Sadananda Gowda on Saturday pledged more financial and administrative support to develop sports infrastructure in Karnataka, in addition to fresh financial outlay for developing the existing sport facilities.

Inaugurating the full-fledged indoor sports pavilion, which was built at a cost of Rs3 crore, Gowda said, “My dream is to have such a magnificent facility in every taluk. For now, we will begin with 16 taluks. The government has also decided to go for a synthetic, 400-metre athletic track in four districts, including Mangalore, Udupi, Haveri, and Hosadurga. Udupi will also get a swimming pool like the one used in Olympics.

This will be constructed at a cost of Rs3 crore. The government has passed Rs40 crore for developing sports infrastructure in the state, for fiscal year 2011-12.”

Gowda also pointed out that the government has rewarded Rs1.9 crore to 33 athletes for their outstanding performance in Commonwealth and Asian Games.

Gowda inaugurated the sports facility by playing a game of badminton with national champions Anup Sridhar and U Vimal Kumar.

‘Rs. 108 crore set aside to improve sports facilities'

Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda said on Saturday that the Government had allotted Rs. 108 crore to improve infrastructural facilities for sports in the State in the present fiscal.

He was speaking after inaugurating the indoor stadium and laying foundation stone for a swimming pool. He also inaugurated a four-day State-level junior badminton championship.

Mr. Gowda said the Government would construct stadiums in 22 districts of the State. It would construct taluk-level stadiums of 118 taluks. Synthetic tracks were being laid in Hosadurga, Mangalore, Mysore and Shimoga at a cost of Rs. 40 crore.

An amount of Rs. 10 crore had been allotted for the Academy of Sports Excellence for developing sportspersons of top quality.

He said the indoor stadium inaugurated here on Saturday was constructed at a cost of Rs. 3 crore.

An amount of Rs. 36 lakh would be allotted immediately for providing other facilities at the indoor stadium. The Government was committed to the construction of a synthetic track at the Mahatma Gandhi District Stadium in Udupi at a cost of Rs. 4 crore. An amount of Rs. one crore for this synthetic track would be released soon, he said.

Mr. Gowda said though he had become the Chief Minister of the State, he still felt like he was Udupi MP. “I was trying to solve the problems of Udupi district as your MP. Now as Chief Minister, I will strive more for the development of this region. It is the soil of Udupi and the blessings of Lord Krishna that I have become the Chief Minister”, he said.

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Cool :cool:

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It will train sportspersons for the 2016 Olympics
Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda on Monday said the Government would soon set up a sports academy for excellence to train sportspersons from the State for the 2016 Olympics.

Presenting the 2010 Ekalavya Award for 12 sportspersons and Lifetime Achievement Award for two persons at the Banquet Hall of the Vidhana Soudha, Mr. Gowda said a high-level committee had been appointed to prepare the State's sports policy.

He said the construction of synthetic athletic track in Hosadurga, Shimoga, Mangalore, and Mysore was in progress. The Chief Minister said the Government had spent Rs. 5 crore released by the Union Government under the Bharat Sports Yuva and Khel Abhiyan scheme to create better facilities for sportspersons .

He said that two sports schools had been set up at the State level and 23 schools had been built at the district level. He said that five sports hostels had also been built.

Chandrakanth Bellad, MLA, andcChairman, Karnataka Border Area Development Authority; I.R. Perumal, Principal Secretary, Sports and Youth Affairs; K. Govindaraju, chairman, Karnataka Olympics Committee, and K. Girish Patel, vice-chairman, Karnataka Sports Authority, were present.
http://www.thehindu.com/template/1-0-1/gfx/logo-footer.gif (http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/article2410225.ece)

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MLA TO START HOCKEY ACADEMY

Madikeri September 21, 2011

MLA Appachu Ranjan said that a Hockey Academy should be started in Kodagu and he will urge the Chief Minister to open one.

Appachu Ranjan was speaking after felicitating International hockey player S.V.Sunil at Somwarpet yesterday and announced that Sunil would be allotted land by the government at Somwarpet or at Kushalnagar. He said that India is not in dearth of hockey players, but it lacks recognition.

Accepting felicitation from the Journalists association and Press Trust, Sunil said that his link with the Blue Star Sports club Somwarpet has given him a push in his sports life. He said that his main aim now is to win in the next Olympics.

http://www.shakthidaily.com/2011/Sep/21.html

Hockey stadium to come up in Bidar

MLA Rahim Khan has said that the district administration will soon transfer land to the Department of Youth Services and Sports for building a hockey stadium.

He was speaking on Saturday after inaugurating the divisional-level Dasara sports meet at the Nehru stadium.

Mr. Khan said that he would urge the Government to promote sports activities in the district and encourage sportspersons. Bidar had several football clubs during the regime of the Nizam of Hyderabad. “It is said that one such club had once defeated the Nizam's Football Club. We have to revive this tradition,” he said.

Deputy Commissioner Sameer Shukla called upon the youth to inculcate sportsman spirit and not to worry about the result. District Physical Education Officer Deshappa said that 1,470 sportspersons from six districts of Gulbarga division would participate in the Dasara sports meet.

In addition to the Nehru Stadium, sports events are being held at police grounds, Veterinary College, GND Engineering College and Deputy Commissioner's club grounds.

Assistant Director of the Department of Youth Services and Sports H.G. Bharashetty, District Physical Education Teachers' Association president Shivaraj Kanaji and others were present.

The Hindu (http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/article2486022.ece)

Karnataka top gun gets a pleasant surprise



The world has come a full circle for S Aravind in less than a week. Last Friday, the RCB left-arm pacer was trying to get over the disappointment of a last-ball loss to the Warriors despite bowling just one bad delivery out of six in the final over. On Thursday, he found himself in the India ODI


squad for the first time.
The man himself was surprised by the sudden elevation. "I wasn't expecting the call this year, especially after I missed the Emerging Players tournament due to injury. After I recovered I was hoping to do well this season and was looking for a call next year," Aravind said.

Royal Challengers bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad called Aravind "the find of this year's IPL". Aravind's 21 wickets from 13 matches in the IPL, which made him the third highest wicket-taker of the league, must have weighed heavily on the selectors' mind, but his performances for Karnataka in domestic cricket has been steadily improving as well.

"Last season, he was the bowler we turned to for wickets," said Sanath Kumar, who coached the state till last season. "He can move the ball both ways, has got good variations and is mentally very strong."

Source (http://www.hindustantimes.com/Karnataka-top-gun-gets-a-pleasant-surprise/Article1-751713.aspx)

INTL. CRICKET STADIUM IN CITY

District Administration to allocate 30 acres to KSCA
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Caption: District In-Charge Minister S.A. Ramdas, KSCA Secretary Javagal Srinath and KSCA (Mysore) Chairman Ashvini Ranjan discussing at Srinath's residence in Kuvempunagar this morning.

Mysore, Oct. 2 (KK&KMC)- Mysore City — already a popular tourist destination of South India — will henceforth be recognised worldwide in the field of sports too, once the international cricket stadium planned by Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) becomes a reality.

KSCA had sought a 30-acre plot of land for the international stadium and the district administration has already identified three locations close to the city, of which KSCA will be choosing one, said District In-Charge Minister S.A. Ramdas, speaking to Star of Mysore this morning, at the Kuvempunagar residence of former international cricketer and KSCA Secretary Javagal Srinath.

Ramdas said a meeting of officials and KSCA office-bearers will be held in Bangalore on Oct. 13, where the matter will be finalised. It will be attended by KSCA Chairman Anil Kumble.

Cricket Academy for Mysore

Srinath told SOM that Mysore will also be getting a Cricket Academy soon, along with Shimoga and Hubli. At present, the Academy's activities will be held at Gangothri Glades of Mysore University and SJCE Stadium. KSCA has obtained the two venues on lease for 30 years, he added.

After equalling the Junior National record, Karnataka’s Sharan eyes greater glory

Looking for the next big step

Deepak Vikraman


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When one’s father is a National-level shooter, it will not come as a surprise if the son follows in the same path. And if the mother is an accomplished performer in the same sport, entry to the world of guns becomes inevitable.

Sharan Susheel Gyanchand aka GS Sharan has followed in his parents’ footsteps to the shooting arena and along with it, has created quite a few waves, equalling the Junior National trap record in September. The Karnataka lad came on par with the mark set by his idol Manavjit Singh Sandhu with a score of 119/125 in the Masters Trap Junior shooting championships in Delhi, underlining his talent and desire to go far in the sport.

“I’m of course happy to have equalled the record, but psychologically it did not feel that great,” said Sharan, keen to take the next step in a sport that calls for a sharp eye and quicksilver reflexes. “I had already shot the same score (in the Junior selection trials in April), but it was not counted as it was just a selection trial. Also I could and probably should have gone one better. I missed a couple of very makeable shots in the final parts and if I had done better there I could have easily got a score of around 121 or so.”

Sharan was brought up with guns and armour around him and a drive to the shooting range was as routine as the one to the grocery store. “I have always had guns around me. Right from when I was a kid, because my dad and mum were shooters, I grew up with different kinds of guns. So I would play around with them everytime along with my dad,” recalled the eighteen-year-old, whose father Susheel Gyanchand and mother Nanda HS were accomplished shooters at the National level.

Susheel won laurels in skeet while Nanda was a former record holder in women’s trap but it took time for Sharan to take the plunge. “Initially, I never really thought about taking it up as a serious sport. Only after 2008 did I consider it seriously and decided to pursue it as a career.”

Sharan has been hugely influenced by former world champion Sandhu, who has been instrumental in building the young Karnataka shooter’s career right from the beginning. “I’m just thrilled to have a share of the record that is held by Manav. He is the reason why I took up shooting seriously and he is my role model. He has taught me so much about the sport. Manav has been brilliant for my career so far. I always wanted to shoot with a shotgun. And since Manav’s event is trap, it was an easy decision for me to take it up as well,” added the teenager.

Sharan, whose parents hail from Gulbarga, also holds the Asian Junior team record, set in the Junior World Championships in Slovenia in 2009, with team-mates Kynan Chenai and Rayyan Rizvi.

“My aim is to break into the Senior fold now. Maybe by January-February, I can do that. I know it is going to be hard, but I really want to give myself a shot at qualifying for the London Olympics. In the Masters for instance, I finished first in the Juniors but my score would have fetched me the second spot in the Senior category as well. But because I had not signed up for the Seniors, it was not counted. So I’m confident of being able to compete at that level.”

If you thought the Shree Bhagwan Mahaveer Jain College student is only lethal with a gun in his hand, think again! Sharan also has a blackbelt in karate. “Karate was a sport I took up when I was in second standard. It was a way of maintaining my physical fitness and discipline. I don’t really enter competitions for karate anymore, my sole focus is shooting. But yeah, having a blackbelt is pretty nice though.”

Shooting is a sport that has always been in the forefront when it comes to winning medals for India in multi-discipline events. Sharan is confident that he can be the next big thing in the range. “I just hope to garner as many medals I can for the country and maybe with that bring this sport into sharper focus.”

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Karnataka registers 8-wicket over TN in SZ T-20 match

Chennai,Oct 18 (PTI)

Karnataka skipper Robin Uthappa made a 29-ball 59 after Stuart Binny claimed three for 14 to score a eight wicket win with 19 balls to spare over Tamil Nadu in the South Zone T-20 cricket match for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy here today.

Karnataka now leads the point table with 12 points. Put in to bat, Tamil Nadu mustered 131 for nine in 20 overs with K. Dinesh Karthik (52-- 33b, 4 x 4, 3 x 6) and K.Shrivasudevadas (30 not out--18b, 3 x 4, 1 x 6) batting well. For Karnataka, Stuart Binny (three for 14) and K.P.Appanna (two for 27) were the main wicket-takers.

In reply, Robin Uthappa top scored with 59 (29b—7x4, 3x6) and put on 77 runs in 46 balls for the first wicket with Mayanlk Agarwal (15). Then, Bharath Chipli’s unbeaten 38 (29b, 7x4) and his stand of 58 runs in 54 balls for the unfinished third wicket with Ganesh Satish (18not out) enabled Karnataka to make 135 for two in 16.5 overs.

In the match between Goa and Hyderabad, the former opted to bat first and were all out for130 in 19.2 overs. Goa’s Abhiushek Raut (31) and V.Vasanth Saravanan (26—3x4) were the main scorers, while Hyderabad Syed Ahmed Quadri (3 for 25), Ashish Reddy (2 for 19) and Amol Shine (2 for 17) were the chief wicket takers.

In reply, first wicket pair of T.Suman (45—n4x4, 1x6) and Captain D.B.Ravi Teja (68 not out—49b, 10x4, 1x6) put on 103 in 79 balls to help Hyderabad make 131 for one in 17.2 overs and achieve a nine wicket win and 16 balls to spare.

The match between Kerala and Andhra was declared as drawn as a downpour rendered the pitch and outfield water logged and the teams were awarded two points each.Kerala has tallied six from three matches and Andhra two from as many matches.

Kerala won the toss and chose to field and after 3.1 overs Andhra were 18 no loss and at that stage the match was suspended due to heavy rain. After three inspections the umpires decided to call off the match.

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Richest domestic golf event

Bangalore,Oct 28, DHNS:

In another effort to reach out to the masses and inject more passion into the sport, the Professional Golf Tour of India on Friday announced the Louis Philippe Cup -- an innovative City-based event also aimed at encouraging team competition.

“In India, we don’t have too many team events,” said Padamjit Sandhu, director of PGTI, while unveiling the richest domestic event scheduled to be held at the Karnataka Golf Association from March 5-10 next year. “Most events are individual events and the following is also very limited.

“We generally only see the golfers slugging it out all alone. They hardly to get a chance to represent their city, unlike in cricket or football. This format is unique and should change the dynamics of the sport in time to come. When Rishi (Narain) came to me with the concept, I was really excited and we decided to go ahead with it.”

The Louis Philippe Cup will have eight city teams -- Bangalore, Delhi, Chennai, Gurgaon, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chandigarh and Lucknow. Each team will have three professionals -- two from the top-16 of the PGTI Order of Merit List 2011 get automatic qualification to their respective cities while one pro based in the city will be picked by franchise.

Following pro-am events on March 5 and 6, the pros will be involved in regular strokeplay competition on March 7 and 8. The top four teams will then advance to the semifinals on March 9. The semis and the final will be played in matchplay format.

Some of the top pros who have confirmed their participation for the Rs 1.14 crore event are Anirban Lahiri, Jyoti Randhawa, Shiv Kapur, Himmat Rai, Gaganjeet Bhullar, Sujjan Singh and Rashid Khan.

While the winning team will take home a cool Rs 36 lakh, the runners-up collect Rs 24 lakh, third-placed team Rs 18 lakh and the fourth-placed Rs 12 lakh. The other four teams will earn Rs 6 lakh each.

DKCA gets land for turf wickets

MANGALORE: Even as this cricket-crazy coastal city grapples without proper infrastructure to promote the game, there is a ray of hope for cricket buffs. This comes in the form of 3-1/2 acres of land leased out to Dakshina Kannada Cricket Association by Sahyadri Institute of Technology and Management at Adyar, where DKCA plans to set up nine wickets, including six turf and two practice wickets, and one centre turf pitch.

Srikanth Rai, president, DKCA, told reporters on the sidelines of unveiling the Chaminda Vaas Benefit T20 Cricket Cup 2011 on Saturday that the association with support from the parent body - the Karnataka State Cricket Association would develop these wickets by January 2012. "The turf wickets should be ready by January," he said, adding that the available land would permit for a playing surface of around 55-yards all around.

Although not the size of an international playing arena, Rai said it's good enough to host the zonal age-group matches. "The non-availability of a turf wicket is hurting the prospects of our talented youngsters, who need enough exposure at this (turf) level to make their natural career progression," he said, adding that the nearest available turf wicket is at Manipal in Udupi district and that too with the management of a private university there.

Noting that the wickets would be under the control of the KSCA-DKCA Cricket Academy, Dr Rai, said, "Javagal Srinath, secretary, KSCA, has assured DKCA that the parent body would provide all support to organize cricket coaching camps for the youngsters here. DKCA has not given up hopes on constructing an international standards stadium at Bangra Kuloor near here."

Mangalore needs one good stadium

KSCA signs deal with technology giants

Dell support for State association

Bangalore, Oct 31, DHNS:
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Given how intricately technology and cricket have come to be inter-linked, it is in the fitness of things that a technological giant should associate itself with a cricket association.

The initially year-long partnership between Dell and the Karnataka State Cricket Association was formally announced at the Chinnaswamy stadium on Monday evening. Dell will support all cricket-related activities of the KSCA for that one-year period, and all teams representing the State at national tournaments will sport the Dell logo on their apparel.

“It’s a momentous occasion,” said KSCA president Anil Kumble. “It’s great for us that a multi-national company is supporting the KSCA. There is a lot of synergy in our plans. We are desirous of taking the game beyond Bangalore and to other parts of the State, which is also what Dell’s idea is.

“Technology is important in sport,” the former India skipper continued. “I am really glad that KSCA is the catalyst, and I hope this is the beginning of a long association. Our Ranji Trophy team will be the first to sport the Dell logo when their campaign begins next week.

“I would like our team to be the number one side in the country. I am sure they will do well this season and improve on their impressive performances of the last two seasons.”

P Krishnakumar, the executive director, marketing consumer and SMB Dell India, said he didn’t need a powerpoint presentation from the KSCA to be convinced that this tie-up would be mutually beneficial.

“When I met Srinath, he showed me around the KSCA and said, ‘Our idea is to replicate what we have here in different parts of the State’. That clinched it for me,” Krishnakumar revealed.

“Technology is a great platform to help people build aspirations. The idea of KSCA going to schools and colleges to not only promote crickt but also bring about the professional dimenstion into cricket appealed to us.

“We basically had two areas of convergence -- trying to reach out to the smaller market, and the fact that there can’t be two better role models than Kumble and Srinath when it comes to blending education and sport,” he added.

KSCA secretary Srinath said, “Our commonality starts from reaching out to the students. Technology is a great leveller, and in that regard, Dell and we are on the same page. You can’t do without technology, it has invaded all spheres of life and sport is no exception.”

The former India paceman also said the association between Dell and the KSCA would cover to all State sides, as well as to league, college and school cricket conducted by the KSCA.

Dell will pick up the expenditure incurred by the KSCA on cricketing activities during the next year, an amount expected to be in the range of Rs 1.5 crore.

Later, the R Vinay Kumar-led Ranji squad walked on to the dais, clad in white t-shirts sporting the Dell logo. "We want to do well. If we stick to the basics, we can win the trophy," Vinay said.

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/201555/dell-support-state-association.html

Richest domestic golf event

Bangalore is the best golfing destination in india for its climate :cheers:

Smashing serves


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Despite star players giving it a miss, the Karnataka Badminton league holds promise

Ashwini Ponnappa commanded a price. The Commonwealth Games gold medallist (in the women's doubles alongside Jwala Gutta) has star value and provided the glamour quotient to the inaugural edition of the Karnataka Badminton League (KBL). She fetched a whopping Rs 2.5 lakh for her appearance in the first week of the league, which runs from November 5 to 19.

“She has a star value and will keep the rest of the team motivated. That is why we bid for her,” says Vishal Vincent Tony of the Aratt Fighters, the franchisee that successfully bid for Ashwini. “Her presence in the team, even if it is only going to be for the league stages (Ashwini leaves for the Hong Kong Super Series on November 12) should do wonders to the morale of youngsters in the team. She is only participating in the mixed doubles category. We have also bagged Jacqueline Rose Kunnath, who commanded the second highest bid of Rs 1.06 lakh to play the women's singles, there is no reason why we cannot do well,” says Vincent.

Beside the two women stars, Rohan Castellino was picked to provide the thrust in the men's singles.

If Aratt Fighters spent huge sums on women players, franchisees such as Fly Power Warriors and Li Ning Lions did not invest on big names and instead opted for a balanced team. “This being the inaugural year, there was a lot of apprehension and uncertainty. We chose a couple of young guns to deliver for us and hopefully they will,” says Choudhary, a member of the Fly Power Warriors, for whom Rajas Jawalkar and Sindhu Bharadwaj will lead the singles challenge in the men's and women's categories respectively.

P. Kumar of Kumar Sports, owner of the Li Ning Lions, said: “Li Ning is the leading shuttle-cock manufacturer in China and is making its presence felt in the Indian market. This league could provide the perfect platform. We are happy with the team.”

Agarwal and Bhandari joined hands to form the AB Chargers and picked the top ranked men's singles player, Mohit Kamath, alongside women's player Mahima Aggarwal and doubles specialist Vineeth Manuel. “There were some hiccups but overall, I am quite satisfied,” says Bhandari after the players auction that lasted nearly six hours.

With Aditya Prakash and Prakash Jolly going to White Peacock and K2 Smashers respectively, one felt the Hennur Banaswadi Cosmopolitan Club (HB Challengers) were the ones to lose out, with just Rishiket Yeligar and B.S. Phalgun leading the challenge in the men's singles. But Srinivasan (Secretary) and Krishna Kumar (coach), who once formed a strong doubles combination with George Thomas in the '90s, felt the players would deliver. “We win some and lose some. It is a learning curve for us. We will be better equipped next time,” says Manjesh, who represented the K2 Smashers.

“There were too many caps,” was the general feeling and the phenomena resulted in active players like Poorvisha Ram and Ruth Misha going unsold. On the flip side were the withdrawal of the eighth team, Team Victor, from the fray and some internationally renowned names like Aravind Bhat and Anup Sridhar giving the league a miss for varied reasons.

After Prakash Padukone she is the next star Karnataka badminton player :cheers:

Shoddy work shatters swimmers’ dreams

The international standard swimming pool at the Sir M Vivesvaraya Stadium, a matter of pride for the residents of the district, is slowly turning to be a matter of shame.

The pool was lauded to be of international standard and the only one of its kind in the district. Both the Union and State ministers who were present during the inauguration mouthed platitudes about the pool. The pool constructed bearly seven months ago, is now said to be of substandard work.

The swimmers at the pool said that tiles laid inside the pool and around the pool were broken. “The moment one steps on the tiles one feels as though it is about to break. Instead of repairing the tiles they have been covered by a cloth,” a swimmer said.

Bearly six months after the inauguration, the district administration handed over the maintenance of the pool to a private contractor.

The pool, constructed at a cost of Rs 1.80 crore, is quite popular with the residents of the district as many people irrespective of age and gender come here to learn swimming every day.

read more (http://www.deccanherald.com/content/203019/shoddy-work-shatters-swimmers-dreams.html)

This lady hockey umpire from Kodagu is going places

http://i1196.photobucket.com/albums/aa414/KodaguCommunity/a.jpg

Anupama Puchimanda is the first Indian woman hockey umpire to officiate in the Junior World Cup, Commonwealth and Asian Games. She is also the first international woman umpire from Karnataka. Hailing from Kodagu, Anupama was an attacking mid-fielder during her playing days and has represented Karnataka in the sub-junior, senior women's National hockey championships. She has also played for Mangalore University at the All-India Inter-University Championships.

After passing the Karnataka State Hockey Association umpiring exam, she officiated for the first time at the Cheppudira family hockey tournament in 2000. Anupama hasn’t looked back since. She is the first woman hockey umpire from India to officiate in 75 international matches.

Anupama officiated in the recently concluded Lanco International Super Series 9s hockey match in Perth, Australia. Asked about the experience in the tournament which was experimented as a bold and fascinating format, she says the game was very fast. The tournament featured international teams, with Australia, India, Pakistan, New Zealand, and Malaysia competing in the men’s and women’s competition.

Fitness, concentration, match preparation, reading the game, positioning and clarity are important in umpiring, Anupama says, adding her role models in umpiring are Satinder Kumar (India) and John Wright (South Africa) in the men’s version and Carolina De Funente (Argentina) and Marelize De Klerk (South Africa) in the women’s.

What is her advice to girls who would want to take up hockey umpiring? If you like umpiring, just go for it, says the 31-year-old Anupama who dreams of officiating in the Olympics one day.

In a cricket-crazy India, it requires a lot of passion and conviction to purse a passion like hockey umpiring. KodaguCommunity.com wishes Anupama all the best and hopes to see her officiating matches in the Olympics in the years to come.

http://www.kodagucommunity.com/

SJCE grounds

City to boast of three turf wickets shortly

N Niranjan Nikam, Mysore, Nov 9, DHNS:

http://www.deccanherald.com/images/editor_images1/2011/11/09/turf.jpg

There was a time when there was not a single turf wicket in the city.

All the matches were played on matting wickets. But shortly the heritage city will boast of three turf wickets including the the picturesque Gangothri Glades in Manasagangothri campus which already has one.

The one that the current team of Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) led by president Anil Kumble and secretary Javagal Srinath is really proud of is the new turf wicket coming up in the Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering campus.

Tucked amidst lot of trees and looking like it is perched on a hilltop, the work on the ground is going on at a brisk pace.

KSCA grounds and pitches committee chairman Vijay Bharadwaj who was in the city on Tuesday to watch the opening match of the Under-19 Vijay Merchant trophy cricket tournament told Deccan Herald that it was due to the initiative of Srinath and the keen interest shown by Suttur seer Sri Shivarathri Deshikendra swami who handed over the land to the KSCA to develop that the work was taken up in the sprawling JCE campus.

Nearly 100 people are working on the ground daily. Even though the work began later than expected, it is now going on and Bhardwaj hopes that it will be completed by the end of December and they can hold a top class match in January 2012.

KSCA initiative

“The KSCA has taken up work on 19 turf wickets in the State in the last three months and the one that has come up recently is at the BGS International School in Kumbalgod,” he said.

The work on the Rs 50 lakh turf wicket at JCE is 60 per cent complete. “Tenders have been called separately for each work and hence the laying of turf is taken up by one contractor, the pitch at the centre is being done by another one. We are going to call for tender shortly for the construction of the pavilion.

There are two practice pitches also getting ready,” said Bhardwaj.

The ground at JCE is 72 yards from the centre of the pitch which is as big as the one at the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore. The groundsman who was laying the grass said that it was Bermuda grass transported from Bangalore.

The third turf wicket that the KSCA has in its position is the one that is being developed at the Bharatiya Note Mudran Limited ground.

“This pitch is also a very beautiful one and once it is fully match ready, lot of cricket will be played here also. In fact the teams who have come to play the under-19 Vinoo Mankad cricket tournament are using this as practice pitch,” said Bharadwaj.

The Gangothri Glades cricket ground will also get a makeover with underground sprinklers going to be installed once the pitch at the JCE campus gets ready, he said.

KSCA Mysore Zone convenor S Vijayprakash said that the work on the ground at JCE campus should have begun in June this year itself after an MoU was signed between KSCA and the JSS institutions. However, the contractor who was entrusted with the work did not start it on time. Otherwise the matches could have been played by December itself.

However, he was all praise for the director of Bharatiya Note Mudran S Madhav Rao

DHNS (http://www.deccanherald.com/content/203679/city-boast-three-turf-wickets.html)

:banana:

http://www.deccanheraldepaper.com/pdf/2011/11/11/20111111a_018100005.jpg

Appanna leads Karnataka to easy win

Group A
KP Appanna produced the best first-class bowling performance of his fledgling career as Karnataka overwhelmed Railways by an innings and 51 runs at the Karnail Singh Stadium in Delhi. The 22-year-old left-arm spinner took 6 for 68 in the second innings to go with 5 for 39 in the first, giving him a career best 11 for 107 in the match. Railways had started the day on 33 for 2, still 180 runs behind. Their extended that to 66 for 2 before Appanna had Sanjay Bangar out lbw. A few overs later, Appanna ended Shivakant Shukla's determined vigil, the opener having grafted to 34 in a shade under three hours. At that stage, the visitors were 87 for 4 and the rest of the batsmen succumbed at regular intervals as Railways collapsed for 162.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ranji-trophy-elite-2011/content/story/540242.html

Poncha the cynosure as defending champs look for another title


Karnataka set to call shots

From Josey Samuel, Ranchi, Nov 15, DHNS:
http://www.deccanherald.com/images/editor_images1/2011/11/15/poncha-250.jpg
Year after year for almost two decades, under favourable and unfavourable conditions, Karnataka swimmers have dominated the National arena with aplomb.

Come Wednesday, the reigning champions, seeking to extend their phenomenal run, will kick off their campaign once agains as hot favourites when the 65th Senior National aquatic championships begin here at the Veer Budhu Bhagat Aquatic Stadium.

From Thiruvananthapuram to Jaipur and from Goa to Kolkata, the State swimmers have left their inedible mark for the last 18 summers since 1993. And in the last edition in Jaipur, they took the title with 264 points, a narrow 28 points ahead of arch-rivals Maharashtra. The championship in the Pink City wasn’t that easy at all as the swimmers had to battle wet weather and a pool with filthy rain water caused due to lack of proper drainage system.

Karnataka also had to cope with Rehan Poncha, who completed a hat-trick of best swimmer award two years back in Thiruvananthapuram, opting to swim only two events as the 25-year-old Olympian flew to Delhi to receive the Arjuna Award from President Pratibha Patil.

“I am keen to make it big this time,” said Poncha, who has competed in every Nationals since 1999.

Karnataka’s arch-rivals Maharashtra, though not as strong as in the previous years, are still a formidable force to reckon with. The absence of Olympian Virdhawal Khade, who pulled out to focus on his training programme for the London Games where he will swim in the 100M freestyle, will be the major blow to Maharashtreans, who were further weakened by the exodus of Saurabh Sangvekar and Surabhi Tipre, the duo shifting its loyalty to Karnataka.

“Considering the quality of swimmers in our squad, we should be able to retain the title,” said Karnataka coach Nihar Ameen on the eve of the championship. Apart from Poncha, who will take the pool in the 200M and 400M individual medley, 200M backstroke, 200M butterfly, Aaron D’Souza (100 and 200 free, 100 and 200 fly), backstroker Rohit R Havaldar and long distance freestyle swimmers Gagan AP and Sangvekar hold the key to State’s chances.

If the women swimmers, long-distance swimmer Surabhi, backstroker Fariha Zaman and Pooja R Alva, join the party then Karnataka have a bright chance of retaining the crown.
The holders, however, can surely expect tough competitions from Olympian breaststroker Sandeep Sejwal from Railways, Delhiite Richa Mishra – the winners of best swimmer awards in the men’s and women’s sections last year in Jaipur — and Maharashtra’s Poorva Shetye. Sejwal, who has already qualified for the London meet in the 100 and 200 events, is a clear favourite to take home the title in his events.

The battle for supremacy between two seasoned campaigners Gagan, who might lose out a race or two due to his degree exams, and Mandar A Divase along with promising youngster Sangvekar in the 400, 800 and 1500 freestyle events could be a treat to watch.

In water polo, the Karnataka women’s team will have to overcome Police, Kerala and Maharashtra, all tough outfits, to better their silver-medal effort in the last edition while the State men will have their task cut out against Railways, Services and Police before hoping for a medal.

In diving, Karnataka’s medal prospects rest with Karishma Mohite and Nammi Divya Theja.

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/205101/karnataka-set-call-shots.html

Hubli’s time to shine as venue for cricket matches

HUBLI: If everything goes according to Karnataka State Cricket Association's plan, Hubli stands to boast of an international cricket stadium within a few months. With the renovation at Raj Nagar stadium set to be over in a matter of weeks, it will be the first to have a top class cricket stadium in the North Karnataka region.

The stadium is expected to host the KPL matches, which will be held in February 2012.

The renovation is carried out in around 15 acres of land in Raj Nagar, which is situated on the outskirts of the city. KSCA took the ground under contract from the government.

Stadium renovation has been taken up by KSCA. The renovation comes at a budget of Rs 65 lakh with the ground itself using up Rs 10 lakh of the amount. Workers have already replaced the old grass and levelled the ground. Raj Nagar cricket stadium is bigger than Chinnaswamy cricket stadium in Bangalore. The former has a length of 80 feet and width of 100 feet. It consists of eight pitches, out field, pavilions, players' dressing rooms, administrative office room, gym and dormitory.

The work on the stadium was delayed because the government sports department did not spare any funds. Work finally began in June, 2011.

KSCA managing committee member and Dharwad zone convener M B Bhusad told the Times of India that a tender was called over the weeks for building two floors which consists of toilets, players' rooms and office rooms.

"We are expecting work to finish soon and that KPL matches will be held on this ground," he said. "We are preparing some more pitches for cricket practice by students from academies even if we didn't get any fund from the sports departments," he said.

TOI (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hubli/Hublis-time-to-shine-as-venue-for-cricket-matches/articleshow/10737583.cms)

Any updates?

National Aquatics: Aaron shines as four marks are sunk


Four national records were broken as Karnataka'sAaron Agnel D'Souza clinched three gold medals and ace swimmer Richa Mishra added one, taking her tally to four, in the 65th Senior National Aquatic Championships in Ranchi, on Friday.


D'Souza, who on Thursday won the 200 metre freestyle gold, erased Tamil Nadu swimmer M B Balakrishnan's 2010 mark of 00:27:46s, clocking 00:27:23 in the 50 metre backstroke.

Putting up another good performance in the 100 metres butterfly, D'Souza clinched gold, clocking 00:56:02s.

"I did back-to-back two events and the competition was stiff. I am happy that I won both the events," the 19-year-old D'Souza said.

Seventeen-year-old Saurabh Sangvekar (04:01:35s) of Karnataka broke the 400 metres men's freestyle record, surpassing the previous best, set by Police team's Mandar Divese's 04:02:20s in 2009.

Divese settled for silver, clocking 04:05:34s, while Gujarat's Sujay Shah took bronze in 04:09:55s.

Sangvekar and D'Souza later combined with Rohit Havaldar and Rehan Poncha to erase the national record in the 4x200 metre freestyle relay, pushing the RSPB's quartet of Sarma S P Nair, G Mohan, Praveen Tokas and Sajan Prakash to second spot.

The Karnataka relay team clocked 07:58:36s, wiping out its own record of 08:02:56s achieved last year.

SSCB's P S Madhu, Sojjo Joseph, Saneesh Gopal and M Shibu took the bronze medal, clocking 08:23:45s.

A confident Richa Mishra broke yet another record, this time in the women's 400 metres freestyle, erasing her own 2009 record of 04:28:97s, clocking 04:25:76s.

Assam's Fariha Zaman won the women's 50 metre backstroke in 00:32:13s, falling behind her own record of 00:31:22s, set in 2008.

Karnataka's Pooja R Alva pocketed her second gold, winning the women's 100 metres butterfly, clocking 01:04:20s.

Maharashtra's [ Images ] Aditi Dhumatkar (01:05:93) and Rujuta Bhatt (01:07:36) won silver and bronze medals respectively.


http://www.rediff.com/sports/report/national-aquatics-aaron-dsouza-richa-mishra-shine/20111118.htm

Lohit Urs notches up first win


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MOMENT TO CHERISH: Lohit Urs (left) and P.V. Srinivasa Murthy of Team MRF, who won the overall title in the Coffee Day Rally on Sunday.
Team MRF's Lohit Urs (co-driver P.V. Srinivasa Murthy) notched up his first win of the year with triumph at the Coffee Day Rally, the fifth round of the Speed Indian National Rally Championship, at Chikmagalur on Sunday.

The Mysore driver finished over a minute ahead of Amittrajit Ghosh (Ashwin Naik), with overnight leader Gaurav Gill (Musa Sherif) nursing his car home in third with gearbox trouble, as Team MRF reigned over the podium.

The result pushed Lohit up to 91 points in the championship standings, but he continues to remain in second, well behind Gill's tally of 136. In the 2000cc N category, Team Kadur's Karna Kadur (Somonnita Ghosh) came from behind to pip overnight leader Rahul Kantharaj (Vivek Bhatt), finishing in a time of 1:32:12.2s. Team Overdrive's Sirish Chandran (Nikhil Vittal Pai) finished third after being hit by a 10-second penalty (but for which he would have emerged runner-up). The day also witnessed the retirement of veteran Arjun Balu from the INRC, after a 17-year-stint with MRF.

Provisional final classification:Overall: 1. Lohit Urs & P.V. Srinivasa Murthy (Team MRF) 1:27:11.8 seconds; 2. Amittrajit Ghosh & Ashwin Naik (MRF) 1:28:19.5; 3. Gaurav Gill & Musa Sherif (MRF) 1:28:33.8.2000cc (N): 1. Karna Kadur & Somonnita Ghosh 1:32:12.2; 2. Rahul Kantharaj & Vivek Bhatt 1:32:28.7; 3. Sirish Chandran & Nikhil Pai (Team Overdrive) 1:32:33.9.1600 cc: 1. C.G. Balaram & C.G. Raghuram 1:42:02.6; 2. Mohammed Ismail & B. Dannanjay 1:44:12.4; 3. Aniruddha Rangnekar & Anoop Kumar 1:46:47.0.1400cc: 1. B. Raghunandan & Adhiraju 1:39:32.9; 2. Hrishikesh Thackeresey & Ninad Mirajgaonkar 1:41:24.4; 3. Pramod Raman & K.N. Harish 1:41:36.2.Gypsy Class: 1. Shafeeq Ur Rehman & K.P. Ajith 1:40: 44.8; 2. Amartej Buwal & Nakul Mendiratta 1:41:46.5; 3. Philip Thomas & John Philip 1:45:49.5.

WSH will be a success despite HI-IHF stand-off: Suniel Shetty (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/hockey/WSH-will-be-a-success-despite-HI-IHF-stand-off-Suniel-Shetty/articleshow/10844351.cms)


NEW DELHI: Bollywood on Wednesday became part of the World Series Hockey (WSH) as the Bangalore franchise, moments after being acquired by Zentrum Group, appointed cine star Suniel Shetty as the team's mentor.

The franchise has been named as 'Karnataka Lions'. The action hero straightway exuded confidence that the multi city-based league would see the light of the day despite the long-standing dispute between Hockey India and Indian Hockey Federation.

"Everything is being taken care of as the WSH management is looking into the issue and the organisers are in constant touch with the authorities concerned. I hope that this issue will be a minor one and we overcome all the glitches. I hope for the success of the tournament," Shetty said.

"All are looking forward to playing in this tournament. The management is doing its bit and we are hoping for positive results. Everyone is tirelessly working on resolving the issue. We hope that this stand-off comes to an end soon," added Shetty.

WSH is a lucrative league jointly organised by the IHF and Nimbus Sports. IHF is not affiliated to the International Hockey Federation (FIH) and the world body recognises HI as the national federation for the sport in India.

FIH had also threatened to bar players from national selection if they take part in WSH.

Tye team has been acquired by Sporting Ace, a part of the Zentrum Group, which is a global player in the field of energy, chemicals, education, sports, information technology, consulting, media and outsourcing.

Shetty, who has been actively associated with organising several sporting and celebrity events in India, said the sport needs better infrastructure and its due share of promotion.

"Hockey needs infrastructure in the country, players need better salary and exposure, and this is what I believe WSH will do, promising an alternate career to kids who do not make it to the national team necessarily," the 50-year-old said.

The actor said his role as a mentor will be to spread the awareness of the game and promote the cash-rich event.

"This association is a dream come true for me. Being part of hockey which is your national game, it's a real honour. According to me if you are supporting hockey you are also supporting other sports and hoping that they also reach the same platform, at least close to what cricket is today.

"As a mentor, I will be building the team, building the infrastructure in Karnataka itself to develop the sport. It's a great opportunity for the youngsters to show their talent and skill," he added.

Asked about the future of the series as the Premier Hockey League (PHL), launched a couple of years ago, died a premature death, Shetty said, "From PHL, there's a lot that we have learnt. We have to make sure that we don't repeat the mistakes committed by the PHL organiers."

Shetty said it's the right time to organise the league despite the fast-approaching Olympic qualifiers.

"The more they play the better they will be. I believe the tournament is happening and because it's happening we are supporting it. I think it will help the Indian players in their preparation for the Olympic qualifiers."

Asked about what prompted him to join the WSH, Shetty said, "Because everybody is part of the IPL, all actors are promoting cricket so I decided to promote hockey."

The WSH will be held from December 17, 2011 to January 22, 2012 and will involve 200 leading players - Indian and international - who will showcase their talent in 61 matches.

Players are being allocated to the teams based on the internationally accepted and practiced 'draft' system.

The inaugural edition of the league will comprise eight teams out of Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Pune, Bhopal, Punjab, Ranchi and Rourkela.


Suniel Shetty chief mentor of WSH's Bangalore franchise (http://sports.ndtv.com/othersports/hockey/item/181368-suniel-shetty-chief-mentor-of-wshs-bangalore-franchise)


http://sports.ndtv.com/images/stories/suniel-shetty300.jpg
New Delhi: Bollywood actor Suniel Shetty is going to be the chief mentor of Bangalore franchise of World Series Hockey, Karnataka Lions, that has been acquired by Sporting Ace Pvt Ltd.

"Sporting Ace Pvt Ltd is part of the rapidly growing Zentrum Group and has acclaimed Bollywood action hero Suniel Shetty as the chief mentor," WSH said in a statement.

"Zentrum Group is a global player in the field of energy, chemicals, education, sports, information technology, consulting, media, and outsourcing and works extensively with the world's leading corporate houses, governments, and institutions."

Shetty, an avid sports enthusiast, has also been the brand ambassador for Indian hockey.

"I am extremely proud to spearhead the Karnataka Lions in World Series Hockey. I have been the brand ambassador for Indian hockey and felt it was about time I took a more active role in creating a global platform for our hockey players to excel," Shetty said.

Sagar Pol Chowdhury, managing director, Sporting Ace Pvt Ltd said the Bangalore franchise will be much more than just a profitable venture.

"We are committed to invest in sports and the newly formed entity Sporting Ace will look at promoting multiple sports and help build necessary infrastructure. WSH is the first and most important step in that direction."

This is the second of the eight city based franchise to be announced by WSH.

Chennai Cheetahs, the first franchise to be named, are owned by Chennai Sports Organisers, backed by LT Nanwani, the director and promoter of Jubilee Granites mining company.

The WSH will be held from December 17 to January 22 and will involve 200 leading players - Indian and international - who will showcase their talent in 61 matches. It will be a multi-city franchise-based League with players being allocated to the teams based on the internationally accepted and practiced 'draft' system.

KSBA all set for world tourney (http://www.deccanherald.com/content/206913/ksba-all-set-world-tourney.html)

Bangalore, Nov 23, DHNS:

Come Monday, the Karnataka State Billiards Association will be the place to be for all the cue sports afficionados, as it plays host to the prestigious IBSF World Snooker Championship for the second time in its colourful history.

Hailed as the mecca of cue sports in the country for its world-class facilities, brilliant organisational skills and unquestionable hospitality, the KSBA has burnt the midnight oil in order to get the six-day event up and running at a very short notice.

“We are immensely delighted to stage the World Snooker Championship after a gap of 24 years,” said MC Uthappa, president of KSBA, after launching the logo along with KSBA secretary R Vijaya Prasad and Billiards and Snooker Federation of India secretary S Balasubramaniam here on Wednesday.

“What gives us more joy is that, this time around, all the matches will be held at the KSBA itself. Last time, due to lack of facilities, we had to stage the event somewhere else. As you all are aware, we’ve hosted nine international events and we are completely geared up for this one,” said Uthappa.

Sixty-four cueists from 42 countries, including eight from India, will vie for the top-prize in the $16,000 event that promises plenty of action. Five cueists each have been pooled into 16 groups with the group-topper getting a direct entry into the round of 32. Second and third-placed players from each of the 16 groups will then compete in the knock-out round of 48 with the winner advancing to the round of 32, to be held on Thursday followed by the pre-quarterfinals. The quarterfinals and semifinals will be held on Friday with the final -- broken into two sessions -- scheduled for Saturday.

“As you can see, work on the new tables has began and all will be ready by Friday. Sixteen tables will be used for matches and four have been set for practice. Arrangements have also been made with a few clubs so that players could practice.”
When asked if the event will shown live on television, Balasubramaniam said talks are on but nothing is confirmed.

Indians in participation: Pankaj Advani, Manan Chandra, Yasin Merchant, Alok Kumar, Lalrina Renthlei, IH Manudev, Anuj Uppal, Kamal Chawla.

Shimoga gears up to host Ranji Trophy match (http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/article2693600.ece)

Karnataka and U.P. to battle it out starting December 21

The cricket ground on the campus of the Jawaharlal Nehru National College of Engineering (JNNCE) here will host the Ranji Trophy match between Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh from December 21 to 24, convener of the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) and the former test player Vijay Bharadwaj has said.

“As part of its efforts to promote cricket in non-Bangalore centres, the KSCA is organising significant matches in moffusil centres,” he said at a press conference here on Tuesday.

The Ranji Trophy matches in Mysore evoked a good response. He was hoping for a similar enthusiastic response for the match between Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh in Shimoga. The cricket stadium being developed by the KSCA in Hubli will be ready to host matches next year, he said.

The cricket ground at JNNCE is on a par with international ones. The pitch played well during the national-level under-19 matches held recently. The venue has a good outfield and the dressing room is also spacious. Observers from the Board of Control for Cricket in India who visited the venue during the under-19 matches recommended hosting the Ranji Trophy matches here, Mr. Bharadwaj said.

Ready to roll

Preparations for the match are in full swing at the JNNCE grounds. Entry is free for the match.

KSCA convener for the Shimoga zone D.R. Nagaraj, functionaries Narayan Raju, Sukumar Patel, D.S. Arun, and principal of JNNCE Srinivasa Rao Kunte were present.


The cricket ground at JNNCE is on a par with international ones
By keeping big matches in non-Bangalore centres, KSCA hopes to promote the sport


I have been to this ground,it is very pretty :cheers:

http://www.deccanheraldepaper.com/pdf/2011/12/10/20111210a_003102006.jpg

Mangala stadium new look Mangalore

http://img856.imageshack.us/img856/589/mangala.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/856/mangala.jpg/)
-- Udayavani

http://www.deccanheraldepaper.com/pdf/2011/12/18/20111218a_003103007.jpg

Cricket stadium on 60 acres of land (http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/article2748738.ece)

The Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) has decided to earmark 60 acres of land for a cricket stadium of international standards at Shataveri Gapala Gowda Nagar here.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the authority presided over by its Chairman L. Nagendra here on Saturday.

“Details of the plans such as who will construct the stadium are yet to be worked out,” MUDA commissioner C.G. Betsurmath said. Mr. Betsurmath said that a proposal would be sent to the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) to construct the stadium.

Medical Education Minister and Mysore district in-charge S.A. Ramdas had earlier mooted the idea of constructing a cricket stadium in Mysore.

PPP initiative

Mr. Betsurmath said the Jawahar Bal Bhavan would be developed on a public-private-partnership basis (PPP) initiative. “The MUDA will provide the necessary support to develop the bhavan,” he said.

He said the MUDA had decided to increase the seating capacity at the Bannimantap where the annul Dasara torchlight parade would be held. “The current seating capacity is 22,000.

We plan to increase it to around 30,000 as many who wish to view the annual torchlight parade are forced to return owing to lack of seating,” Mr. Betsurmath said. Sources said the MUDA decided to allot land for the construction of a pumphouse at Vijayanagar Fourth Stage to facilitate the Kabini drinking water scheme.

http://img853.imageshack.us/img853/6334/dsc00865ax.jpg

http://img862.imageshack.us/img862/1372/dsc00868s.jpg

Mangala Stadium is all set to get full-fledged synthetic turf

Delhi-based firm is given three months to complete the work, says DC

The Mangala Stadium, presently getting a facelift for the National Youth Festival, is all set to get a full-fledged synthetic track with the district administration favourably responding to demands from the athletes to provide facilities on either side of the track.

Earlier, tender had been called for providing facilities at only one side of the track. The Rs. 3.15-crore project, awarded through tender, had been bagged by the Delhi-based sports infrastructure company Syncotts International.

The Dakshina Kannada Athletics Association had made a strong case for providing various facilities on either side within the tracks (‘D' area in sports parlance). The original tender had a provision for sports facilities only on one ‘D'. The Dakshina Kannada District Athletics Association had made a strong case for facilities on either side.

Deputy Commissioner N.S. Channappa Gowda, who heads the Stadium Committee, told The Hindu on Tuesday that the administration would negotiate with the Delhi-based company to set up facilities on either D at an additional estimated cost of Rs. 40 lakh to Rs. 45 lakh. He said the company, which was expected to begin work on January 7, had been given three months to complete it. It would be given additional 15 days to provide the facilities on either side, he said.

A good stadium, which was recognised by Indian Athletics Federation, should have facilities for pole vault, javelin throw, hammer throw, discuss throw, and shot put and steeple chase events in the D area. The markings and provisions were done in such a way that any of these events could be conducted on either of the D areas, according to District Sports School Athletics Coach Vasanthkumar.

He told The Hindu that this would enable the stadium to conduct sporting events on a larger scale. In the absence of facilities on either side, the organisers would be forced to hold events one after another. Modern synthetics tracks were built in such a way that the vault boxes for pole vault were provided on either side and cages for throw events (hammer throw and discuss throw) could be moved from one D area to another D area.

In places where there were no separate hockey and football grounds, the stadiums with synthetic tracks would be used to play the games, Mr. Vasanthkumar said.

“In most places, recognised hockey and football matches are played on synthetic tracks laid for athletics,” he said.

Association secretary Arun Rao has said on an earlier occasion that athletes practising on cinder track here had trouble performing on synthetic tracks when they participate in national events – which were nowadays essentially held on synthetic tracks – because of the extra bounce. “Some athletes experience muscle-tightening”, according to him.

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Mangalore Stadium

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‘Cricket stadium may come up at Baikampady or Pilikula' (http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/article2810182.ece)


Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly N. Yogish Bhat, Mangalore South MLA, said on Tuesday that a cricket stadium may come up at Baikampady or Pilikula here.

He was speaking at the inauguration of Mangalore United Cricket Academy, an initiative of Mangalore United team of Karnataka Premium League (KPL).

Mr. Bhat said that Pilikula Golf Course had 70 acres of land. Of that, 30 to 35 acres could be used for a modern cricket stadium. The rest of the land could be used for building a “sports city” with facilities for various sports and games.

He said that a proposal to construct a golf course of international standards at Tannirbavi would come up before the next Cabinet meeting. “A Cabinet note to this effect is ready. It might be cleared in the next Cabinet meeting,'' he said.

Mr. Bhat said the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) had acquired 900 acres of land near Baikampady for a project by Nagarjuna company. But the land remained vacant now. A sports city, an eco-tourism project and an industrial hub could come up on that land.

A sports city with a cricket stadium and other facilities could be built on 250 acres, the eco-tourism project on 250 acres and the remaining land could be allotted to small industries, he said.

He appealed to sports lovers and sports bodies in the city to arrive at a consensus on the choice of land for building a cricket stadium. “I will pursue it with the government at all levels to ensure that it became a reality in 2012,'' he said.

Oscar Fernandes, MP, said that he would contribute funds from the MPs Area Development Fund for the cricket stadium.

President of the academy B.A. Mohiuddin Bava said that the academy had been set up for grooming talents in cricket. There was a need for a modern cricket stadium in the city. Mangalore did not have a turf pitch, he said.

B.M. Farooq, Chief Executive Officer, Mangalore United team, said that he recently held a meeting with the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) in Bangalore. The association indicated that the third edition of KPL would start from June.

The association, with its honorary president Anil Kumble and honorary secretary Javgal Srinath, stated that a match of the third edition would be played in Manipal, he said.

I would support Pilikula :cheers:

New lights at KSHA

Bangalore, Jan 21, 2012 DHNS:

The Karnataka State Hockey Association has upgraded the floodlights at its stadium here to FIH standards, paving the way for the conduct of international matches at night.

“The KSHA has spent one crore rupees to get this done,” said KSHA secretary K Krishnamurthy. “For a long time, the biggest setback for us was the lack of proper lights. If one wants to host international matches under lights, they must be at least 1200 lux.

“After a lot of discussions, we decided to go ahead with the plan. It did cost us a lot, but we should be in a position to host international matches. With the World Series Hockey coming up, the fans have a lot to look forward to.”

A total of 10 towers have been erected -- five on each side with each boasting of ten 200KW bulbs, taking the total capacity to 1300 lux. Most of the work has been completed with just light fittings on one tower left. While the light bulbs are manufactured by GE, the installation work has been done by Saptharishi, Hyderabad.

“We switched on just half of the lights today on a trial basis. The entire work will be complete in a week’s time. A complete check will be done during the Kodava Samaj hockey tournament next month.”

Synthetic track

Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly N. Yogish Bhat inaugurated the work on synthetic track at the Mangala Stadium here on Friday. The Rs. 3.15-crore work contract has been given to New Delhi-based M/s. Syntax International. — Staff Correspondent

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^^Fantastic shimoga is getting good sports facilities :cheers:

PROVIDING SYNTHETIC HOCKEY SURFACE TO HOCKEY GROUND IN CHAMUNDI VIHAR STADIUM, MYSORE.

Tenders released by MUDA

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Tender Details (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=88096799&postcount=3128)

Construction of 400 mtrs Synthetic Athletic Track at Hosadurga taluk Stadium, Chitradurga District, Karnataka.

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Hunt for talent gains pace

Mysore, Feb 3,2012, DHNS:
Going international

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With initiatives by Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) to encourage youth to take up cricket, the city can now be hopeful of producing talented players for the international-level, writes Manish
Reading poetry and watching cricket were the sum of my world and the two are not so far apart as many aesthetes might believe - Sir Donald Bradman, Australian cricketer.

To watch a ball struck from the blade of a batsman whiz through the green outfield or the bails being knocked off the stumps by an excellent delivery at the Gangothri Glades Stadium at Manasagangothri is sufficient enough to inspire youngsters to take up the game of cricket.

Pace bowler

However, in the recent past, youngsters from the city and neighbouring rural areas have failed to make a mark at the international scene. While Mysore has produced one of the best pace bowlers in the form of Javagal Srinath, who shouldered the responsibility of guiding the Indian fast bowling attack, it has been unable to produce any other exceptional cricketer.

Several former cricketers attribute this to the fading interest in youth as they progress from school towards college. Even though several cricket clubs and colleges in the city actively participate in league matches as well as inter-university tournaments, the results have been far from satisfactory.

According to sources at KSCA, the Karnataka State Cricket Academy (KSCA) has now planned to start a training academy in the city to encourage school and college students to take up cricket.
In addition to Mysore, the academy would be opened in Shimoga, Hubli and Bangalore in the first phase.

Openings academies at Raichur and Mangalore would be taken up in the second phase.
A visit to the Gangothri Glades Stadium in the city shows the preparations being made by KSCA staff. The stadium would have eight practise pitches including a concrete pitch. Work has begun on the project.

Turf wickets

Apart from the pitches at Gangothri Glades, turf wickets are being developed at Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering and grounds at the Reserve Bank of India.

Also players can take the help of experienced trainers from Bangalore, who would visit the academy. The school-level tournament held last year threw-up quite a few talented players, with several of them impressing with their splendid performance.

While the state capital arguably enjoys the best of facilities, setting-up academies in various parts of the state including Mysore would help augment the quality and quantity of players.

Mysore varsity to trek adventurous path! (http://www.deccanherald.com/content/225129/mysore-varsity-trek-adventurous-path.html)

Sreekantswamy B, Mysore, Feb 6, 2012, DHNS:

http://www.deccanherald.com/images/editor_images1/2012/02/06/kodagy-mysore-adventure-pat.jpg
Adventure sports to be introduced for degree students; UGC funding under 11th plan
Here is a piece of good news for adventure buffs among students at the University of Mysore.

For the first time in the history of its inception, the varsity is introducing adventure sports to cater to the interest of students from the next academic year. Various activities planned will be included in extra-curricular activities.

Sources told Deccan Herald adventure sports is being introduced for degree students complying with the guidelines of the University Grants Commission (UGC). The UGC has sponsored Rs 50 lakh to take up the activity under Eleventh Five Year Plan.

Accordingly, tenders have been invited to create the facilities — a majority being purchase of equipment. The activities planned under three wings include parasailing, terrestrial and water sports. Buoyant — a separate make-shift platform to facilitate parasailing will be created. Tents, pegging device for trekking and power boat will also be purchased among several other articles marked to complete the set up. If all goes well, Kukkarahalli lake will be the platform for water related sports with power boat being the main attraction. Wall climbing is also included.

To make it convenient, especially to encourage all those students interested to take part in the activities, the adventure sports will be organised during vacation — either mid-term or summer or any other suitable schedule. A nominal fee will also be charged towards maintenance cost.
As adventure sports is also new for the varsity, the department of physical education which will be drawing out programmes, has decided to hire an experienced person in the field to conduct the activities without any hassles.

Hope for more

It’s just a beginning and the implementation of the project may augur well to add more under the banner of adventure sports, the source said.

Till now, the only time for adventure sports in Mysore was during Dasara, with the organisers holding parasailing, jet-skiing, banana ride, hot air balloon riding among other events to name a few.


Guys it would be awesome..

:banana:

Work on synthetic track yet to begin (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mysore/Work-on-synthetic-track-yet-to-begin/articleshow/11866239.cms)

MYSORE: District in-charge and medical education minister S A Ramdas, said the foundation stone for the synthetic track at Chamundivihar Stadium will be laid on November 1.

During the state-level Dasara sports meet in October, Ramdas has promised the participants that work on the synthetic track at Chamundivihar stadium will commence from November 1. However, even after three months, the work is yet to commence.

It has become a habit for the chief guests, especially ministers, to make false promises. Most of the ministers like former district in-charge minister Shobha Karandlaje, sports minister Goolihatti D Shekar and now Ramdas, during their speeches, used to assure the athletes that the synthetic track would be laid before the next state-level Dasara athletic meet.

But the girls of the sports hostel are fed up with the attitude of these ministers and authorities. This is the only senior women's sports hostel in Karnataka but it lacks basic facilities for its sportspersons.

On Friday, these girls came out and protested against inadequate facilities and demanded sports-kits and other basic facilities including quality food.

Bharathi, assistant commissioner and Appachu Ranjan, deputy director, department of youth services, after an hour-long discussion assured the sportspersons that they would be provided with sports-kits on February 17 and another sports-kit under the zilla panchayat by the end of February.

^^When is the work starting?

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3rd turf wicket for Mysore

Another turf wicket for city

MYSORE: The JSS-KSCA cricket grounds at Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering campus is set for inauguration. Among the 14 grounds proposed by Karnataka State Cricket Association across Karnataka, JSS-KSCA one is the first to be inaugurated on Sunday. Shivarathri Deshikendra Swami will grace the occasion, while former captain and KSCA president Anil Kumble will preside over the event at 9am.The JSS Institution, along with KSCA, has evolved the project with a vision to promote the game and also to develop infrastructure. This will give an opportunity to youngsters of Mysore zone to play on an international-standard surface.

KSCA president Kumble and secretary Javagal Srinath have put in their best effort to provide good infrastructure facilities to aspiring cricketers. The grounds is located on nearly four-acre land with five turf wickets at the centre and three turf wickets for practice apart from two concrete wickets besides the ground. Though the city has three turf wickets -- Gangotri Glades, Infosys, Bharatiya Note Mudranalaya - only the former is easily accessible for cricketers. The non-availability of more turf wickets was hurting the prospects of talented youngsters. Practice on turf wicket helps aspiring cricketers perform better in tournaments as most of the tournaments are played on turf wickets. "Our motive is to provide good facilities to cricketers, 80% of cricket should be played in turf wickets," said Srinath. According to Srinath, three grounds in Bangalore, two each in Shimoga and Hubli, and one each in Belgaum, Chikmagalur and Hassan will come up in the next six months. "The facility at JSS-KSCA grounds is of international standards..." said Srinath, promising to conduct Subbaiah Pillai Trophy and many state-level tournaments there. As of now, KSCA has spent nearly Rs 70 lakh for constructing the same. Former Indian all-rounder Roger Binny said true wicket is need of the hour. "Pitches should be ideal for both batsman and bowler.

In India, most of them are batsmen-friendly. That's the reason we suffer when we play outside," he added.The memorandum of understanding between KSCA and JSS Institution was signed on June 2011 for 10 years. More infrastructure will be added to the grounds in a phased manner. League matches will be played on turf wickets, and aspiring cricketers in and around Mysore would gain good experience. Speaking on the pitch, for which Mexican-type grass has been used, Srinath said: "It is our endeavor to make it one of the fastest pitches. We brought clay from Chamarajanagar (the one which was used for preparing Gangotri Glades)," he added. He also said the nature of the wicket will be known after a year.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Cricket academy set to become a reality by June

MANGALORE: Come June, the first cricket academy in this part of the state will become a reality on three acres of land belonging to Sahyadri Institute of Technology and Management ( SITAM) at Adyar on the outskirts of the city.

The work of laying six turf wickets has already been completed and the cricket academy, managed by Dakshina Kannada Cricket Association (DKCA) in association with Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), will be functional once the grass sowing process is completed. Srikanth Rai, president, DKCA told STOI that the training for the first batch would commence at Nehru Maidan in the city in April.

"The full-fledged cricket academy will be made functional at Adyar once the works of turf wickets and other facilities are completed," he said.The cricket academy would boost the spirit of cricketers in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts, he said. "We would choose only those youths, who have cricketing talent in them and have the capacity to build a noteworthy future in cricket. There will be separate batches for under-14, 16, 19 and 25 age-group categories.

The selection of candidates for training will be purely based on their performance and they will be given best training to shape them into best cricketers. Coaches from Bangalore will be invited to train cricketers in our academy," he said adding that lack of a full-fledged academy should not hurt the prospects of talented youngsters in the region.Earlier, KSCA secretary Javagal Srinath during his visit to the city last year had assured DKCA that the parent body would provide all support to organize cricket coaching camps for the youngsters here. At present, the nearest available turf wicket in the region is at Manipal in Udupi district, and is managed by a private university.

Cricket academy set to become a reality by June

MANGALORE: Come June, the first cricket academy in this part of the state will become a reality on three acres of land belonging to Sahyadri Institute of Technology and Management ( SITAM) at Adyar on the outskirts of the city.

The work of laying six turf wickets has already been completed and the cricket academy, managed by Dakshina Kannada Cricket Association (DKCA) in association with Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), will be functional once the grass sowing process is completed. Srikanth Rai, president, DKCA told STOI that the training for the first batch would commence at Nehru Maidan in the city in April.


Mysore,Hubli-Dharwad and Mangalore need a nice stadium :cheers: Karnataka has produced some good cricketers,need to bring this game close to the hinterland.

‘Turf wicket on SJCE campus is of international standards'

Secretary of the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) Javagal Srinath said here on Saturday that the new turf wicket, being laid on the Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering (SJCE) campus here would help groom budding cricketers to play the game at higher levels. The turf wicket would be inaugurated on Sunday.

He was interacting with presspersons after showing them around the newly laid turf on the college campus. “The turf is on a par with international standards,” Mr. Srinath said.

The KSCA was developing 14 cricket grounds across the State, including this one, and almost all of them would be operational within six months, he said. The five-pitch, new facility here has a practice pitch (comprising six pitches) located adjacently, including two concrete pitches.

Mr. Srinath said that a huge sum was being invested by the KSCA to develop the grounds in the State, including three in Bangalore, two in Shimoga, one each in Hubli, Belgaum, Mangalore, Chikmagalur and Hassan.

Explaining the finer points of making the pitch involving different stages such as cutting and levelling the field, preparing the pitch with clay and soil procured from Chamarajanagar, installation of pop-up sprinkler systems on the ground, water storage facility and grass mowing, among others, Mr. Srinath said the newly laid outfield and the pitch would stabilise only after a monsoon. He lauded the JSS Institutions for joining hands with the KSCA to develop infrastructure at the SJCE.

Mexican grass was being used to make the grounds. Efforts would be made to make this one of the fastest pitches in the country. The preparation had cost the KSCA around Rs. 70 lakh, including equipment such as rollers of different weights, grass mowers and grass cutters. The KSCA expected to utilise the grounds for at least 220 days a year, he said.

The former India cricketer Roger Binny, who was present, endorsed the views of Mr. Srinath and said the new turf wicket here would provide a first-hand experience to young cricketers, helping them get a feel of international pitches.

He announced that coaching camps would be organised in 27 districts of the State from April 10 to May 23 to encourage aspiring cricketers. The inaugural match would be played here on Sunday involving the State under-14 and under-16 players.

KSCA president Anil Kumble and Shivaratri Deshikendra Swamy would be present.

SJCE cricket ground Mysore-- Third truf wicket in Mysore

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^^

Gulf Dirt Track National Championship - Mangalore (Photo: Hemanth Kumar)

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Synthetic track by May end: DC


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The Hindu Work on Synthetic Track laying in Mangala Stadium in progress in Mangalore on March 19, 2012. Photo: R.Eswarraj
Mangala Stadium will get a full-fledged synthetic track by May end, Deputy Commissioner N.S. Channappa Gowda said here after reviewing the progress of the work on Monday.

Mr. Gowda told The Hindu that he was hopeful of ensuring that facilities to hold competitions on either side within the track (called D areas) would be created. The tender that had already been awarded was for the creation of facilities only in one D area. Mr. Gowda said the district administration had apprised the Government of the need to create facilities on both sides.

Sportspersons, sporting bodies, and coaches have said that major tournaments could be held only if facilities were created on either side as this would allow holding of multiple events simultaneously.

The tender for the Rs. 3.15 crore synthetic track has been awarded to the lowest bidder – Delhi-based sports infrastructure company Syncotts International, which has been given four months to complete the work. The creation of additional facilities to allow competitions on either side is expected to cost Rs. 40 lakh. Mr. Gowda said that the sports infrastructure company would be asked to place orders for synthetic material (which have to be imported) for facilities in the second D area too, after securing in-principle approval from the Government. He agreed that the administration would have to bear additional financial burden if it had to import in two consignments.

According to an official release, Mr. Gowda said that the two committees — one for supervision and another to ensure compliance to technical standards — have been formed to ensure quality in laying the synthetic track. In addition, the firm would get money only after the International Athletics Federation certified the quality of work, he said.

Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly N. Yogish Bhat, who presided over the review meeting, said that he would take up the matter of providing facilities in the second D area with the Department of Sports and Youth Affairs, according to the release.

Mr. Bhat urged the district administration to develop a swimming pool in Emmekere Lake which was being developed.

Mr. Gowda earlier asked the officials concerned to submit reports regarding the proposals to set up a sports hostel in Kadri and an indoor stadium on a 1.5-acre land in Shakthinagar. Commissioner of Mangalore Urban Development Authority Ajit Kumar Hegde said a report on the proposal to develop a sports ground in Bangra-Kuloor areas would be prepared.

Mangala Stadium Committee members said there was an agreement with the Corporation Bank to meet the expenses of maintenance of the stadium. Mr. Gowda said he would hold further discussions with the bank's Chairman and Managing Director. About Rs. 40 lakh had been released for developing a stadium at Swaraj Maidan in Moodbidri, the official release said.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Mangalore/article3016466.ece

‘Committees in place to supervise synthetic track’ (http://www.deccanherald.com/content/235798/committees-place-supervise-synthetic-track.html)

Mangalore, Mar 19, 2012, DHNS :

Track may be inaugurated by May, 2012
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A technical and monitoring committee has been constituted to look into the work on synthetic track at Mangala stadium, said Deputy Commissioner Dr N S Channappa Gowda.

Speaking at a review meeting, he said the Committee will ensure that quality work will be done during the laying of synthetic track. It is proposed to complete the work by April end and inaugurate the track by first week of May.

The DC said that the money for the contractors will be released only after International Athletic Federation certifies it.

He also directed the officials to submit a technical report for the construction of sports hostel in the land available near Kadri ITI and for the construction of indoor stadium in 1.5 acre land at Shakthinagara.

Department of Youth Service and Sports Assistant Director Parshwanath said that the government has released Rs 3.09 crore and the work is under progress.

Assembly Deputy Speaker N Yogish Bhat said that there is a need for another swimming pool in the city. As Yemmekere is being developed, a swimming pool can be built beside it, Bhat suggested.

Mangalore Urban Development Authority Chairman Ajith Kumar Hegde said that he will submit a report on developing a maidan at Bangra Kuloor area. Technical Executive Engineer Manjunath said that a sum of Rs 40 lakh has been released for building stadium at Swaraj Maidan in Moodbidri.

Tender has been invited and measure will be taken to build the stadium.

The meeting also decided to install gate for Karavali Utsav Maidan and to construct toilets in the utsav maidan.

Synthetic track laying will be completed by April


MANGALORE: Deputy commissioner N S Channappa Gowda on Monday said that two (supervisory and technical) committees had been set up to ensure that the ongoing work of laying synthetic track at Mangala stadium here is completed within the stipulated time frame.

Taking stock of the progress achieved in this regard on Monday, DC said it was decided to complete the work by April and to inaugurate the facility in May.It was decided at the meeting to include Raju Velu of Bhadravathi as a member of the committee set up to supervise the work. DC said the district administration would release the funds to the contractor only after the Indian Amateur Athletics Federation approves the quality of work. At present, civil works in preparation for laying the track like laying an asphalt base is on.

The state government has released Rs 3.09 crore for the project, the tendered cost of which is Rs 3.15 crore. The department of youth affairs and sports has sought an additional Rs 45 lakh for incorporating additional facilities requested by local sportspersons' fraternity. N Yogish Bhat, deputy speaker of the state assembly said talks were on with the directorate of youth affairs and sports to provide the additional facilities suggested by the sportspersons.Yogish Bhat also broached the idea of a second public swimming pool for the city. Noting that Yemmekere area of the city was developing rapidly, he said it would provide the idyllic setting for setting up a swimming pool there.

"The local environment there too is conducive for promoting this proposal," he added.DC directed the department to submit a proposal for setting up a sports hostel near ITI, Kadri Hill and indoor stadium in Shaktinagar.Ajit Kumar Hegde, commissioner, Mangalore Urban Development Authority ( MUDA) said the authority would examine the proposal of developing a ground for sports at Bangra Kuloor and submit a report. When the issue of an informal agreement with Corporation Bank on meeting stadium maintenance expenses was brought to the attention of the DC, Channappa Gowda said he would take it up with Ajai Kumar, chairman and managing director of the bank.

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:banana:

Nehru Stadium to be upgraded (http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/article3019277.ece)

Proposal seeking Rs. 3.5 cr. submitted to government
Vice-president of the Karnataka State Sports Authority Girish Patel has said that sporting amenities at Nehru Stadium here will be upgraded.

He told presspersons on Tuesday that it had been planned to construct a viewers' gallery, drainage, develop the basket ball court, and install a cow guard.

A proposal seeking Rs. 3.5 crore had been submitted to the government, he said.

Work on laying a synthetic track at the stadium at a cost of Rs. 3.09 crore had commenced.

A proposal had been submitted to the government seeking Rs. 1.4 crore more for the track work, Mr. Patel said.

Non-sporting activities would not be allowed at the stadium after completion of work on synthetic track, he said.

A walkway would be built on the periphery of the stadium, he said.

He said that a district sports complex would come up at Swamy Vivekananda Extension in the city on 4.21 acres of land.

Project

The proposed project would be implemented at a cost of Rs. 10.64 crore. The government had released Rs. 5 crore for the purpose. A swimming pool of international standards and an indoor stadium would be constructed here.

He said that indoor stadiums would be constructed in all taluk headquarters in the district. Work on an indoor stadium had commenced on Kanaka Mantap ground in Bhadravathi at a cost of Rs. 80 lakh. The government had agreed to release Rs. 25 lakh in the first phase, Mr. Patel said

It had been planned to construct wrestling centres at Gandhi Bazaar in the city, Harnahalli, Ayanur, Kalmane and Holehonnur villages. Work on the same had begun at Kalmane village, he said.

He said that the government had been urged to appoint coaches for all stadiums in the State at the earliest.

President of the Shimoga City Municipal Council S.N. Channabasappa, president of the Shimoga Urban Development Authority Dattatri, and BJP leaders Jnaneshwar and Nataraj were present.

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Mysore to have chess academy by next month

An academy to train budding chess players and provide them with a sound footing in the game will start functioning from the second week of April.

Called Professional Chess Academy, it was an initiative by Mysoresport.com, Saanvi Technologies, Mysore District Chess Association and the SBRR Mahajana Educational Institutions.

Renowned chess player and International Master M.S. Thejkumar would be in charge of the academy, supported by the former State champion Y.G. Vijendra.

Reckoned to be a popular game in the city, Mysore has produced outstanding players, many of whom have represented the State and the country in different age groups and levels from time to time. The initiative was expected to shore up facilities for scientific training at an early age for budding players from Mysore and help shape their careers.

C.K. Muralidharan, a sports journalist and one of the promoters of the academy, said chess as a game was improving by leaps and bounds and there was a need for technological help in improving their game.

“Though Mysore has a large following for chess, evident from the number of participants in tournaments held locally, there is no professional training institution like the ones in Bangalore and Mangalore,” he said.

The academy would function six days a week throughout the year, coaching chess players in the boys and girls sections in different age categories.

Coaching would be imparted for beginners, middle-level and advanced-level players, and fortnightly tournaments would be conducted by the academy for all levels to give them the much-needed exposure.

The academy would have audio-visual programmes and would be equipped with a full-fledged chess library and computers loaded with the latest chess software. There will also be regular classes in meditation, yoga, sports medicine and sports physiology. For details, call Mr. Muralidharan on 98452-31243.


M.S. Thejkumar to be in charge

Coaching to be imparted at different levels

Kodagu to get another synthetic hockey surface (http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/article3268461.ece)

Kodagu is poised to get the second synthetic hockey playing surface at Ammathi in Virajpet taluk, said A.B. Subbaiah, the former Olympian and Secretary of Hockey Karnataka, on Saturday.

Mr. Subbaiah told presspersons that Hockey India had promised Hockey Karnataka that it would provide another synthetic playing surface in Kodagu. The first synthetic turf is in Madikeri.

Mr. Subbaiah said that the State government had promised to provide financial assistance to lay a synthetic hockey playing surface at Ponnampet as well (it would be the third if it materialises).

The promise was made by Hockey India secretary Narendra Batra following a request by Iychetira K. Anil, whose family is conducting the 16th edition of the Kodava Hockey Festival in Kodagu from April 21, Mr. Subbaiah said. Mr. Batra would make a formal announcement in this regard after participating in the Iychetira Kodava Hockey Festival scheduled to take place at Ammathi, Mr. Subbaiah said. Hockey India was providing synthetic playing surfaces in 32 selected locations in the country, including Ammathi, with a view to giving a fillip to the national game in rural areas, he added.

Chief coach of Indian hockey team Michael Nobbs would attend the inaugural function of the Iychetira Hockey Festival. An exhibition match would be played between the Indian hockey team and Coorg 11 on the inaugural day. The foundation would give Rs. 50,000 to each of the selected player as scholarship to pursue the game, Mr. Anil said.

The State government had promised to provide Rs. 30 lakh to Iychetira Hockey Festival. More than 200 Kodava families had registered teams, Mr. Anil said.

Hubli KSCA circket ground

Pics Courtsey Dr Yaqoob


KSCA Stadium Rajnagar - HUBLI


If everything goes according to Karnataka State Cricket Association's plan, Hubli stands to boast of an international cricket stadium within a few months. With the renovation at Raj Nagar stadium set to be over in a matter of weeks, it will be the first to have a top class cricket stadium in the North Karnataka region with more than 50,000 capacity.
The renovation is carried out in around 15 acres of land in Raj Nagar, which is situated on the outskirts of the city. KSCA took the ground under contract from the government.
Stadium renovation has been taken up by KSCA. The renovation comes at a budget of Rs 65 lakh with the ground itself using up Rs 10 lakh of the amount. Workers have already replaced the old grass and levelled the ground. Raj Nagar cricket stadium is bigger than Chinnaswamy cricket stadium in Bangalore. The former has a length of 80 feet and width of 100 feet.
It consists of
• eight pitches
• out field
• pavilions
• players' dressing rooms
• administrative office room
• gymasium and
• dormitory.
The work on the stadium was delayed because the government sports department did not spare any funds. Work finally began in June, 2011.


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Mangala devi stadium Mangalore

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KSCA to create infrastructure to promote cricket

Chairman of the Karnataka State Cricket Academy and the former cricketer G.R. Vishwanath has said that the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) was working towards reaching every district of the State, and for the purpose, it was conducting cricket coaching camps simultaneously in 26 districts.

Speaking to presspersons after formally inaugurating the KSCA Summer Cricket Coaching Camp at the KSCA Stadium at Rajnagar in Hubli on Monday, Mr. Vishwanath said that in addition to conducting such camps, KSCA was also working on creating the required cricket infrastructure at district centres. “In some places, the work on stadiums has already begun”, he said.

Mr. Vishwanath said that the plan was to provide coaching throughout the year to talented young cricketers from districts and to provide international opportunities to the youths from rural areas.

To a query, he said that there was no dearth of talented cricketers from north Karnataka region and all talented cricketers would be provided equal opportunities.

To another query on the changes in the cricketing arena, Mr. Vishwanath said that a talented cricketer would maintain his form no matter what form of cricket he plays and his cricketing skills would help him in doing it.

He said he would advise the coaches not to discourage young cricketers but instead help them improve their skills by encouraging them.

Source:http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/article3298736.ece

Mangala stadium,Mangalore

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Dharwad district sports hostel to get its own building soon

Residents of the district sports hostel run by the Department of Youth Services and Sports here have reason to cheer, for the hostel will soon get a building of its own.

The condition of the district sports hostel housed in the Guru Bhavan building here is pathetic. The building, which is old and dilapidated, is not suitable for a sports hostel, and there has been a demand to shift the hostel to some other location. Even the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) had asked the district sports officials to vacate the building.

Proposal approved

Deputy Commissioner Darpan Jain told The Hindu that the government had approved a Rs. 1.15-crore proposal submitted by the district administration and released Rs. 40 lakh as the first instalment. The district Nirmiti Kendra would take up the construction, which was expected to begin in a few days.

Mr. Jain said the new building would come up on the government land adjacent to the district indoor stadium here.

He said there was an urgent need to shift the sports hostel from its existing location, as it was not suitable for budding sportspersons. Mr. Jain said the strength of the sports hostel was 50.

The construction and furnishing of the ground floor would be taken up in the first phase.

This included six dormitories — three each for boys and girls, a central court yard, rooms and other basic amenities, he said.

Source : http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper...cle3337997.ece

Dump yard will be converted into cricket oval in Udupi

M Naveen Kumar, Udupi, Apr 19, 2012, DHNS :

Work expected to be complete in a year

Beedinagudde dump yard, which had been an eyesore for many years, is finally getting new identity.

View of levelled land at Beedinagudde to lay cricket oval.City Municipal Council of Udupi has received the work order to build a cricket oval at a cost of Rs 6.5 crore on the same land which once housed the dump yard.

Accordingly the contractors have already started the work of shifting the waste stocked on this land and leveling the land. The completion of the project will take another year and with the completion local players will have a ground to hone their skills.

Earlier, 4.5 acre government land was used at Beedinagudde as dump yard. However, when the Beedinagudde area saw progress and many houses came up in the area, the dump yard became a problem for the local residents.

The entire 4.5 acre land was full of waste and many times loads of waste was dumped on the roadside causing inconvenience to the people. Soon local residents living near Sharada Mantapa, Olakadu, Chitpady and nearby areas started demanding shifting of the dump yard.

Three years ago a waste processing unit was set up at Karwal in Alevoor and steps were taken to shift the dump yard to this new premises. However, the waste continued to remain at Beedinagudde despite the processing unit coming up at Karwal.

With the proposal for cricket oval receiving approval, the people of the region are beaming smiles because this time they are sure that the waste will be cleared from the spot and this monsoon they do not have to suffer with mucky, dirty water flowing into their courtyards.

The project of Rs 6.5 crore will be taken up in two phases. In the first phase, the oval will be laid at a cost of Rs 3.5 crore and the contractors (civil and waste clearance) have been asked to complete the work in a year. The Council had said that the work should be completed by April, 2013.

The Council is yet to take decision with regard to usage of funds for second phase. However, in the second phase stage construction, gallery etc will be taken up.

“The contractors have been given one year time to complete the work and in this one year we have not included monsoon months,” said Municipal Commissioner Gokuldas Nayak.

Council President Kiran Kumar said that the project has received Rs 2.5 crore under CM’s Small and Medium Cities Development Funds. A sum of Rs one crore was pooled in from CMC Amrutha Mahothsava funds,” he said adding that the oval can be used by all sports lovers and it will not be restricted only to cricketers.

Further, he said that since the region lacks a good venue for large scale stage programmes, the ground can be used to host any programme with huge gathering.

The local sports enthusiasts say that they used to bank on Mahatma Gandhi District stadium for playing and practicing various games including cricket but after athletic track was laid there, the scope for playing cricket was gone. “With the cricket ground we feel cricket as a game will see fillip in the district,” says an athlete.

However, many feel that the ground should be used only for sports purpose and not for any other purpose.

DHNS

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Mangalore: Synthetic Track to be Ready by November - Yogish Bhat (http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=137255)

Pics: Brijesh Garodi
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore (BG)

Mangalore, May 7: State legislative assembly deputy speaker Yogish Bhat and district deputy commissioner Dr Chennappa Gowda along with other officials visited Mangala Stadium and inspected the progress in works on the new synthetic track and renovation works being carried out from the last few months.

The engineer and the contractor in charge of the work explained to Bhat and DC the progress and also briefed on the pending works. The two later had a discussion with the officials.




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Speaking to mediapersons, Bhat said that the cost for the total renovation is estimated to be at around 3.75 crore. "This track is an international standardized synthetic track. The renovation work is under progress and will take still another 4 to 5 months to complete and is likely to be inaugurated on November 1, that is on the auspicious day of Kannada Rajyotsava," he said.

"The officials are taking each and every matter seriously and are working day and night to make this stadium the best one and give it an international standard and look," he said.

The DC said that the track which was planned on the basis of one dimension is now designed for two- dimensional tracks. The cost has also been sanctioned and the works are being carried out on war footing, he said.

"There is no compromise on quality, even of drainage system so as to ensure that there is no stagnant water on the tracks which would lead to damage," said.

He also urged the officials to keep a track of the total number of water tankers being used to strengthen the concrete foundation of the track so that the track is strengthened according to international standards.

They later paid a visit to the new walking track being laid in Mangala Stadium along its borders, mainly designed for senior citizens as they find it difficult to get their daily exercise inside the stadium especially when there are sports meets or training sessions.

Officials H Parshwanath, Manjunath, Thejomaya, Raju Velu and others were also part of the inspection team.

ITF Futures from May 28

In a move that will help Indian players earn a lot of points and exposure, Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association (KSLTA) today announced a schedule of 10 USD 10,000 ITF Futures tournament, to be played across the state from May 28.

The first three ITF Men's Futures USD 10,0000 will be held at Mandya (May 28 to June 3), Mysore (June 4 to June 10) and Bangalore (June 11 to june 17), All India Tennis Association (AITA) Vice President Karti Chidambaram told reporters here.

The next two Futures will be held at Bidar (September 10 to September 16) and Gulbarga (September 17 to October 14), he said.

The next three ITF Futures will be held at Davanagere (October 15 to October 21), Dharwad (October 22 to October 28) and Belgaum (October 29 to December 2), Chidambaram said.
The last two ITF Women's USD 10,000 will be held at Manipal (December 3 to December 9) and Mangalore/Shimoga (December 10 onwards), Chidambaram said.

Indian players would not benefit from ATP tournaments as only one Indian Somdev Devvarman gets a chance to play in them, Chidambaram said.

"Indian players will not benefit from ATP tournaments. While we are proud to showcase an ATP tournament, we would like to have tournaments benefitting our players. So it is important to have Futures," he said.

10 weeks of Tennis tournament lined up by KSLTA

Bangalore, May 8 : Karnataka will witness ten weeks of tennis between May and December with the state Lawn Tennis Association and (KSLTA) hosting International Tour competitions.

Addressing a press conference here last night, KSLTA Secretary Sundar Raju said the 10 world ranking events in the country includes six ITF and four WTA tourneys.

Tournaments would be held in district headquarters cities of --Mandya, Mysore, Davanagere, Belgaum, Dharwad, Gulbarga, Udupi and Shimoga.

All India Tennis Association (AITA) Vice President Karti Chidambaram, who was also present, said the first three ITF Men's Futures USD 10,000 will be held at Mandya from (May 28 to June 3), Mysore (June 4 to June 10) and Bangalore (June 11 to June 17).

http://www.newkerala.com/news/newsplus/worldnews-17293.html#.T6oJeVLEw4I

Irregularities in synthetic track work alleged

Secretary of the Shimoga District Olympics Association Shashi K.S. has alleged irregularities in the construction of a synthetic track at Nehru Stadium in the city.

A portion of the drainage being constructed along the synthetic track collapsed recently owing to heavy rain. The drainage had breached at many places which indicates that the work is of poor quality, Mr. Shashi has said in a press release.

When it rains, water leaks from the roof of the indoor stadium constructed at a cost of Rs. 8.5 crore. Sports lovers in the city recently expressed concern over the poor quality of synthetic track work. K.S. Eshwarappa, MLA, and vice-president of the Karnataka State Sports Authority Girish Patel had promised that the quality of work would be monitored. But nothing has been done to ensure quality work, he has said.

The synthetic track should be redesigned with help from experts.

Awarding sub-contracts should be avoided to maintain quality of work. The elected representatives and officials concerned should monitor the work, he has said

Cricket stadium that rocks

Ashok Kheny to build an all-weather stadium which will also have an integrated sports academy

Bangalore will have Indias largest state-of-the-art cricket stadium-cum rock concert venue.

In the first major infrastructure project to take off after Bangalore-Mysore expressway from Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise,the Rs 1,000-crore multipurpose stadium will come up on more than 150 acres on the citys outskirts.
While a hanging rooftop will enable automatic opening and closing of the roof to ensure events in any weather conditions,floor shifting facility in the stadium is designed to transform the cricket stadium into a rock concert venue.With this,we want Bangalore to be a world-class destination when it comes to sports, said Ashok Kheny,managing director,NICE.
The work will begin in October and is expected to be completed in two years.

THE VENUE

The project will come up on the BMIC stretch connecting Bangalore and Mysore.The cricket stadium-cum-rock show venue will be spread over 15 acres and the rest will be used for an integrated sports academy,which will teach the less-taught sports.These will include water sports (rowing and sailing),basketball and football.More than 50 disciplines of sports will be taught.
Technology makes it unique.We are using cranes as in suspension bridges on the stadiums rooftop.The roof will be hanging from suspension bridges, said Kheny.The venue can also be used for exhibitions and auctions.
The sports complex is designed on the lines of the basketball stadium in University of Arizona and a football stadium in Germany.However,the ones coming up in Bangalore will be four times larger.
The stadium is expected to accommodate 60,000 cricket fans and more than a lakh music fans.http://lite.epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/BGMIR/2012/05/15/4/Img/Pc0040800.jpg
Source: http://lite.epaper.timesofindia.com/getpage.aspx?pageid=4&pagesize=&edid=&edlabel=BGMIR&mydateHid=15-05-2012&pubname=&edname=&publabel=MM

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Mangalore Cricket ground,Mudipu Infosys

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Infosys, Mangalore

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8147/7324669220_19a7de5900_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ananthasubramanian/7324669220/)
Infosys, Mangalore cricket ground (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ananthasubramanian/7324669220/) by Ananthasubramanian (http://www.flickr.com/people/ananthasubramanian/), on Flickr

Foundation stone for new district sports hostel

Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Jagadish Shettar will lay the foundation stone of the new district sports hostel here on Saturday.

The new building will come up at a cost of Rs. 1.12 crore and accommodate 50. Hubli-Dharwad West MLA Chandrakant Bellad will preside over the function, said a press release. — Staff Correspondent

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/article3534744.ece

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KSCA launches new academy in Bangalore

The Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) has formally launched its academy in Bangalore, the first of a series of centres it plans to set up across the state. Its USP will rest on two principles: avoiding the traditional focus on age-group representation, and decentralising its coaching structure away from Bangalore and to other towns in Karnataka.

Javagal Srinath, the former India fast bowler and current KSCA secretary, said around 360 teenage cricketers from around Karnataka had been picked for the first batch of the Royal Challengers KSCA academy, which is sponsored by the UB group, owners of the Bangalore IPL franchise. The academy hub will be at a 33-acre property in Alur, on the outskirts of Bangalore, where the KSCA has developed three grounds.

One of the main aims of the academy was to enhance the talent pool available in the state, Srinath said. "We are trying to invest at least three years in each student we pick. What used to happen until now was that those who don't make it after the age-group selection vanish (they are no longer in the system). The dearth of prominent cricketers from Karnataka in the past 14-16 years, for me, is because of the overemphasis on representation."

A little over a decade ago, the Indian team regularly featured three or four Karnataka players, but since then cricketers from the state, such as Robin Uthappa and fast bowlers Vinay Kumar and Abhimanyu Mithun, have struggled to become permanent members of the national team.

Srinath said the academy, which will function throughout the year, will provide coaching and cricket facilities even to those who don't make the state teams at the age-group level. "The boy has to be patient - and so must the parents, who are the biggest stakeholders. All they should worry about is whether the players' skills are being developed."

Convincing students and their parents to stick with the game is one way to increase the available talent; providing top-quality infrastructure to the smaller cities in the state is another. Satellite academies are coming up in six other cities: Mysore, Shimoga, Mangalore, Tumkur, Hubli and Raichur. The Mysore branch will be inaugurated later this week.

"I come from Mysore and I always had this grouse that the infrastructure in Mysore is not as good as it is in Bangalore," Srinath said. "The lack of infrastructure gave me a false belief that my talent was not as good as those that are playing in Bangalore but now nobody in the smaller towns can complain about it."

The move to set up satellite academies is an addition to other attempts to spread the game in the state. The Karnataka Premier League, a Twenty20 league that featured teams from eight different zones in the state, has had two seasons in 2009 and 2010. Last year, a Ranji Trophy match was held in Shimoga for the first time in 32 years.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/india/content/story/568913.html

Good work Javagal Srinath,Instrumentation engineer SJCE Mysore :cheers:

Any updates on Vijaynagar sport complex,Mysore?

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Ugly concrete structure :bash:

Mysore gets intl standard cricket academy


Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) is planning to set-up an international standard residential cricket academy at Alur near Bangalore, said KSCA president Anil Kumble.

He was speaking at the inauguration of Royal Challengers (RC) - KSCA Academy at Gangothri Glades stadium here on Sunday.

Revealing that it would probably be the first of its kind in the world, Kumble said KSCA was planning to convert one of existing three grounds in Bangalore into an indoor facility.

Speaking about the RC-KSCA Academy opened in the city, he said, “We don’t expect players practising here at the academy to make it to the state or national team in the next one year

It needs a gestation period, but dedication of players is important.” He said a gym and other facilities would be added shortly.

New pavilion

The academy has been provided with eight turf wickets and one concrete wicket. Also a new pavilion is being constructed at Gangothri Glades, which includes dressing rooms for participating teams, rooms for umpires and referees.

RC-KSCA Academy has selected 60 students from Mysore, Mandya, Chamarajanagar and K R Nagar. Four qualified coaches would impart training to the players during the next three years. Practise sessions would be held for four days and the remaining two days would be for balancing studies and playing matches.

KSCA secretary Javagal Srinath said cricket is a professional sport and players should lay emphasis on learning the technical nuances of the game. He said earlier cricket training was restricted to only Bangalore, but now KSCA has plans to make it available for players across the state, he added.

RC-KSCA Academy chairman G R Vishwanath said the practise wickets are ‘absolutely brilliant’ in the city. He urged the selected players of the academy to make the most of the opportunity.

University of Mysore vice-chancellor Prof V G Talawar inaugurated the RC-KSCA Academy. UoM director of physical education department C Krishna and KSCA Mysore zone convenor Vijayaprakash were present.http://www.deccanherald.com/content/259636/mysore-gets-intl-standard-cricket.html

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PROVIDING SYNTHETIC HOCKEY SURFACE TO HOCKEY GROUND IN CHAMUNDI VIHAR STADIUM, MYSORE.

Tenders released by MUDA

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Tender Details (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=88096799&postcount=3128)

Much-awaited hockey astro turf work begins @ CHAMUNDI VIHAR STADUM
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Source:- Vartha Bhavan, Mysore

:banana:

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Belgaum boy Niranjan Navalgund won two medals from five international chess events held in Greece during July-August this year. Though he missed his maiden International Norm by half a point, Navalgund succeeded in getting the medals in his age group and gained 56 Elo points to his International FIDE Rating. More than 200 players from 28 countries participated in these tournaments.

According to a release issued here on Wednesday, Niranjan — trained by international chess trainer K. Visveswaran of Chennai — was on Greece tour from July 6 to August 2. He participated in three classical Swiss tournaments and two Blitz Team events. In the first event — the 4th International Open Chess Tournament-2012 held at Rethymno — Niranjan bagged bronze medal by scoring 5/9 points.

He won a silver medal at the Under-18 5th Open Chess Tournament of Paleochora, organised by the Municipality of Kandanos, Selino, Greece, from July 16 to 23. In the team events, he represented Rockstar Team & Extras and won second and first place respectively.

He also participated in the Kavala Open Chess Championship held at Kavala, Greece, from July 25 to August 2 and gained 58 Elo points.



The Hindu (http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/article3810096.ece?textsize=large&test=1)

The rally was organized to portray the cause of 'Save The Girl Child Campaign' and covered a distance of nearly 2000 kms passing through states like Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan.

Speaking on the occasion the President congratulated the Academy for taking up the unique responsibility of building awareness on an important subject relating to the girl child, on the occasion of Independence Day.

He stated that the bias against the girl child prevalent in some sections of the society in India was totally unacceptable in any civilized society.

He said that he was glad that the children, who participated in the rally and were only within 15 years of age, had undertaken the strenuous and hazardous challenge to raise consciousness of the people against the abuse and violence of the girl child.

Consisting of over 20 students, the almost 16 day skating rally was flagged off from Rani Chennamma Circle, Belgaum, Karnataka on August 15, 2012 and reached Vijay Chowk, Delhi Thursday. The rally consisted of students who have won State and National Awards in skating.




India Blooms (http://www.indiablooms.com/NewsDetailsPage/2012/newsDetails010912d.php)

DNA (http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_bias-against-girl-child-unacceptable-pranab-mukherjee_1735252)

IBN (http://ibnlive.in.com/news/bias-against-girl-child-unacceptable-pranab/287281-37-64.html)

Business Standards (http://www.business-standard.com/generalnews/news/bias-against-girl-child-unacceptable-prez/50636/)



:banana: :cheers:

Mysoreans to get a world-class swimming pool in the city


MYSORE: Swimmers in the city can have a pool of international standards within a year. Chief minister Jagadish Shettar launched the works on the new swimming pool on Wednesday. It will come up on 4-acre land near Chamundi Vihar stadium here.

Youth services and sports officer Suresh K said Mysoreans have been dreaming of a world-class swimming pool for many years now.

The city has only one public swimming pool at Saraswathipuram, which is crowded during all seasons. Giving details on the new pool, the officer said: "We are planning to construct an aquatic complex comprising four swimming pools. It will have practice pool (25metres), children's pool (15metres), diving pool (12metres) and competition pool. The competition pool will be of 50x25 sqm, meeting international standards.

Swimmers will be allowed to use first three pools, while the last one will be dedicated for competitions. Children's pool will not be deep for obvious reasons. Apart from this, the aquatic complex will have hi-tech water refining plants, change rooms, washrooms and facilities for lockers and parking. Mysore Nirmithi Kendra has taken up the work. In the first phase of work, competition and practice pools will get ready. In the second phase, children's and diving pools will be completed. The government has released Rs 80 lakh of the Rs 3.50 crore meant for the complex.

Each pool can accommodate around 36 swimmers at a time. Entry fee will be fixed on daily and monthly basis.

"The works will begin in three weeks, and the project will be completed within a year," said Satish, junior engineer at Mysore Nirmithi Kendra.

TOI (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mysore/Mysoreans-to-get-a-world-class-swimming-pool-in-the-city/articleshow/16234099.cms)

:banana:

New swimming pool only if government ensures fund: DC (http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Mangalore/article3854038.ece)

Deputy Commissioner N.S. Channappa Gowda said here on Sunday that a proposal to construct a new swimming pool in the city at an estimated cost of Rs. 3 crore would be taken up only after the State Government ensured required funding.

Mr. Gowda told The Hindu on Sunday that the Assistant Director of Youth Services and Sports, Dakshina Kannada should submit a proposal to the Government asking for the use of about Rs. 3 crore, which was the amount remaining of the fund allocated for National Youth Festival held in the city, for constructing a new swimming pool. “Once this is approved, we can start further process,” he said.

Minister for Youth Services and Sports Appachu Ranjan told reporters here on Saturday that a swimming pool of an international standard will be built in Mangalore at a cost of Rs. 3 crore.

He inspected the site proposed for the swimming pool along with Deputy Speaker N. Yogish Bhat, who mooted the proposal.

Mr. Bhat said a new swimming pool was necessary as the existing one does not meet the standards needed for holding national swimming competitions. Mr. Bhat said a part of Vanita Vana (a park) in Hat Hill can be used for building the new swimming pool.

“Presently the park is not being used much. The new swimming pool can become a part of the park,” he said.

Mr. Bhat said about Rs. 3 crore, which was the amount remaining out of the funds released for the National Youth Festival, can be used for having the new swimming pool. “The State Government has to divert this fund. With the Minister agreeing for the proposal, I hope the government will divert the fund,” he said. Mr. Bhat took Mr. Ranjan to the site proposed for the new swimming pool on Saturday.

V. Ramakrishna Rao from Jai Hind Swimming Club told The Hindu that the proposal for an additional swimming pool for the city has been pending for the long time. He said the existing swimming pool, which has 15 meters width, does not have eight lanes necessary to hold a national event.

“We can only hold diving events, but not the heats of swimming events. We cannot conduct water polo matches here.”

Moreover, Mr. Rao said there has been increase in the number of people using the swimming pool.

He said 150 swimmers, who are participating in various swimming competitions, hardly get time for practice. “It is difficult for them to get time between 6 a.m. and 7a.m. when others also come to the pool. The 7.30 p.m. to 9.30 p.m. earmarked by the management is too odd for practice. Only those staying near the swimming pool can practice,” said Mr. Rao, who has been coaching for nearly three decades.

Former National Swimming Coach M.R. Mohite, who has trained many swimmers from the region, said with a new swimming pool there can be more national swimming events here that will give good exposure for the swimmers of the region. “There are many talented swimmers in the region. More swimming events will improve the standard of swimmers from the region,” he said.

International standard swimming pools have already come up in places such as Bidar, Gulbarga and Bagalkot, said Mr. Mohite, who is has been involved in designing many swimming pools in the State.

He presently works as the Deputy Director of Youth Services and Sports in Bangalore.

Look how readily govt approved a new swimming pool for Mysore.. But why is this stepmother treatment for Mangalore..

Karnataka lift Buchi Babu title

Karnataka completed a three-wicket win over Kerala to clinch the 2012 Buchi Babu Tournament in Chennai on Monday.

After Kerala made 137 in 61.2 overs on Sunday, Karnataka chased down the target in 33.3 overs with three wickets to spare despite KR Sreejith's impressive four-wicket haul.

On day one, Robert Fernandez top-scored with 43 after openers Abhishek Hegde (3 off 10) and VA Jagadeesh (10 off 23) were dismissed cheaply.

Raiphi Vincent Gomez (19 off 53) and Akshay Kodoth (25 off 64) contributed with valuable runs before KP Apanna (5-35) wiped out the tail to clinch a five-wicket haul.

Karnataka started in blistering fashion with KB Pawan (32 off 62) and K Gautham (22 off 28) adding 57 runs with their opening stand.

Sreejith managed to get Kerala the breakthrough in the 12th over, but Robin Uthappa smashed 32 off 26 to take Karnataka closer to victory.

S Anish dealt a double blow by ousting Uthappa and Manish Pandey in the 21st over. Amit Verma (2 off 4) too failed to get runs on the board.

But CM Gautham delivered with a vital 27-run knock to ensure the Kerala thrashing.

Now, ‘bowling machine’ coaching in Mangalore (http://www.coastaldigest.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=44669:now-bowling-machine-coaching-in-mangalore&catid=57:news-stories&Itemid=68)

Mangalore, September 8: There is good news for Mangalore’s cricket aficionados and aspirants looking forward to learn the game, especially children. The coastal city has got its first bowling machine which would be up for use during coaching sessions.

The machine will be used from the upcoming coaching programme beginning on September 16 at St Aloysius Centenary Grounds under the joint auspices of Cricket India Academy and Cricket Australia, Samuel Jayaraj, Cricket Coach, Mangala Sports Pvt Ltd said.

“The machine was procured four years ago from Mumbai for about Rs. 2 and a half lakh. But it had not been used so far as we needed apt surfaces to put it to use as well. Now we also have three Astro Turf artificial pitches besides mat wickets. The Astro Turf wickets will also be the first ones to be used in Mangalore”, he reveals.

The bowling machine is likely to enhance the overall learning experience in coaching camps, Mr. Jayaraj says. “They help in serving deliveries to the practicing batsman just the way we intend to. There are controls to manipulate the speeds of the deliveries being bowled and also the bounce and lengths”, he says.

The machine procured for Mangalore has been manufactured by an international company called ‘Jugs’. ‘Jugs’ bowling machines can simulate in-swing, out-swing, fast rising deliveries and even slow spin. Bowling speeds in the machine range from 32-167 kph (20-104 mph). That these machines are portable and easy to operate, they help a great deal in cricket coaching. Bowling machines are even used for fielding drills and catching practices owing to their 360 degree movements.

Sports Reporter Share · print (http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-sports/itf-gulbarga-open-from-today/article3930858.ece?css=print) · T+ (http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-sports/itf-gulbarga-open-from-today/article3930858.ece#)


The $10,000 ITF Gulbarga Open will commence on Monday, marking the return of international tennis to the city after a gap of five years.
This is also the first time Gulbarga is hosting a women’s ITF event, after two men’s events were held here in 2002 and 2007.
Hong Kong’s Venise Chan, ranked 371, has been given the top billing, while 384-ranked Emily Smith of Great Britain is seeded second.
The Indian interest will centre around third seed Kyra Shroff, whose ranking of 531 is the best in the country after Sania Mirza.
Promising junior player Spurti Shivalingaiah of Karnataka, former National champion and Olympian Rushmi Chakravarthy, Vaishnavi Reddy and Sai Samhita are the wild cards entrants.
Matches will be held at the Chandrashekar Patil Stadium and will provide the many Indians in the fray a chance to pick up valuable ranking points.
The results:
Qualifying (final round): Risa Hasegawa (Jpn) bt Natalia Khanejio (Ind) 6-1, 6-4.
Oleksandra Korashvili (Ukr) bt Anushka Bhargava (Ind) 6-1, 6-4.
Hae-Sung Kim (Kor) bt Arantxa Andrady (Ind) 6-3, 6-0.
Misa Kinoshita (Jpn) bt Vaniya Dangwal (Ind) 6-2, 6-0.
Shalaka Manjunath (Ind) bt Adnya Naik (Ind) 6-0, 6-3.
Riya Bhatia (Ind) bt Sanae Ohta (Jpn) 6-2, 6-4.
Ching-Wen HSU (Tpe) bt Chia Hsien Yang (Tpe) 6-4, 7-6.
Vishal, Akarsh triumph
At Bangalore, P. Vishal Reddy and Akarsh V. Gaonkar won the under-10 and under-8 singles titles, respectively, in the Bulldog Tennis Academy tournament for children at the Academy courts here on Sunday.
All matches were played only on tie-breaker points, with the first to reach seven points with a minimum difference of two being declared the winner.
The results:
U-10: Final: P. Vishal Reddy bt Shyam Kolegudu 7-0, 7-3.
Semifinals: P. Vishal Reddy bt Nitin Girish 7-0, 7-2.
Shyam Kolegudu bt Arnav Devoneni 9-6, 7-5.
U-8: Final: Akarsh V. Gaonkar bt P. Arjun 7-5, 7-3.
Semifinals: Akarsh V. Gaonkar bt Aarav Chandrasekar 5-7, 7-3, 7-5.
P. Arjun bt Pranav Heggere 9-7, 7-2.

TENNIS
Spirited Prerna crowned queen

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Gulbarga: Unseeded Prerna Bhambri capped her superb run with the singles title,defeating China's Zi Yang 6-2,6-2 in the final of the $10,000 ITF Gulbarga Open womens futures tennis championship at the Dr Chandrashekar Patil stadium here on Saturday.
What made the contest quite lop-sided was Prerna's cool temperament and fine all-court game.Zi,who had her moments in the second set,was erratic on many other occasions and could hardly get a hold over the final,which lasted for over an hour.
Prerna got off to a shaky start when she was forced to two deuces but was quick to regain her rhythm.She broke the Chinese in the fourth game with deep,resolute returns and neat volleys before claiming the first set 6-2.
The Indian kept up the momentum in the second set,by breaking Zi in the second game but suffered a slump in form in the next game when she was forced to five deuces.Though Prerna held serve,Zi broke her in the fifth and seventh games to bring the deficit down to 2-5.
But an unfazed Prerna,who was cheered by around 3,000 spectators,kept her cool to crack her rival in the eighth game to emerge champion.
It was a good day for me.I had decided to play my best game as I had nothing to lose.Zi played well and pushed me to play better.Overall,this week at Gulbarga has been lucky for me.I thank the organizers KSLTA for the wonderful tournament and the people of Gulbarga who came in such huge numbers which was very encouraging for me, said Prerna,who took home $1,568 and 12 points.Zi got $980.
Union labour minister Mallikarjun Kharge gave away the trophies.
http://mobilepaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/TOIBG/2012/09/30/24/Img/Pc02410S.jpg
CHAMP: Prerna Bhambri

Tempers flair as Air India beat Karnataka 3-2 to reach final

http://cms.mumbaimirror.com/portalfiles/29/7/201210/Image/oct02/s14_1a.jpg
Karnataka captain Raghunath argues with the umpire during their semis agains AI ‘C’mon boys, we won the game. No need to be disappointed. Hold your heads up and walk,” the Karnataka captain Raghunath was trying to pacify his angry team-mates. Karnataka, who dominated the game, had just lost the match 2-3 to Air India and tempers were running high in the dug-out.

Why say win when they actually lost? Because they were angry with the referee Ripudaman Sharma, who in their minds awarded a wrong penalty stroke and also, later, sent out their captain for an ugly scrap.

The Karnataka players felt cheated; even as a player was trying to describe what happened, another butted in to say angrily, “they (the media) would have watched what happened. They should know.”

Let’s first come to the penalty stroke awarded in the 50th minute. Until then, Karnataka were all over Air India and they were up 2-0, courtesy two lovely field goals — the one by Nitin Thimmaiah was a beauty for he moved in from the left, dribbling past four defenders before crashing his signature reverse flick into the goal — but it was all to go pear shaped.

It happened in a blur as Vikram Kanth tried to stop Shivendra Singh; the sticks met each other, and the referee Ripudaman Sharma thought Vikram was deliberately trying to prevent a strike and gave a stroke.

“I didn’t prevent him from striking,” Vikram said later. “My stick was down; I never lifted it up and hit the other to stop him. My stick was always down then.” Whatever was the truth of the matter, and it’s difficult to say without the benefit of TV replays, the deed was done and Arjun Halappa duly slotted in the goal.

Soon another stroke came Air India’s way, this time without any controversy as the ball hit Bipin Bopaiah’s legs right at the goal mouth. Again Halappa shot it in.

Things got ugly at this point. Around the center pitch, Karnataka’s captain Raghunath rammed into Sommanna Pradhan. Raghunath even turned around and stared down at Sommanna when Halappa stepped in and shoved Raghunath away to trigger chaos and anger. Shouts, verbal slings followed and just when it threatened to get really ugly, the referees stepped in to send both Raghunath and Halappa out of the arena.

“He (Raghunath) is an international player and he was trying to intimidate young Somanna. That’s not the way to behave. He was trying to hit Somanna; the stick was raised,” Halappa told Mirror later. Raghunath’s version? “Somanna was in a sitting position, I was running and there was no way I could have stopped myself at that point and I had to run into him. I never fouled.”

Smart tactics

Air India used these moments of frustration in the Karnataka camp to start attacking in the last 15 minutes and it paid off right at the end. Right at the end of the stoppage time, they earned a penalty corner. In fact even as the players took position the whistle blew; there would be no play after that shot was taken.

Vinaya rammed the shot hard and it rebounded back to him off the cross post and this time he netted it and ran away in celebration. Game over. “You saw what happened, we deserved to win but were cheated,” said the Karnataka players.

“We didn’t play a great game but in the end result is what matters,” Air India’s Halappa said. And that’s that. It's a pity that a game which showcased some great skills, especially from the Karnataka team, had to come to a bitter end but that’s the way it rolls sometimes.

In the other semi-final played yesterday Punjab beat favourites Haryana 4-1 to enter the final.

http://www.punemirror.in/article/7/2012100220121002092719828ccdc3f50/Tempers-flair-as-Air-India-beat-Karnataka-32-to-reach-final.html

Bastards Air India,cheating people on air and off the air also.

http://www.deccanheraldepaper.com/pdf/2012/10/14/20121014a_003104005.jpg


Hubli Raj nagar cricket stadium

http://img641.imageshack.us/img641/6177/dsc05783e.jpg

Courtesy Prashanthr on SSC I

Guys

KSCA has made Alur its cricketing hub,why not hubli?

Check the alur grounds

http://ksca.co.in/files/large/alur-ground.jpg

THE THREE GROUNDS AT ALUR WILL BECOME THE HUB OF ALL CRICKET ACTIVITY IN KARNATAKA

http://ksca.co.in/


It is on the outskirts of bangalore

Shahriar Nafees, the Bangladesh A team captain, praised the facilities at the Alur Cricket Ground, located on the outskirts of Bangalore, claiming that it could soon become a “world-class facility”.


KSCA's new facilities draw praise from Bangladesh 'A' skipper

BANGALORE: The Anil Kumble & Javagal Srinath led committee at the Karnataka State Cricket Association has taken up the task of creating more and better infrastructure across the state in right earnest ever since they took over in 2010. This year's ongoing Shafi Darashah tournament has turned out as the right moment to showcase these new facilities, especially their completely owned grounds at Alur.

And in the Bangladesh 'A' team, currently in Bangalore to compete in the invitation tournament, they seem to have found very appreciative fans of the new facilities.

Speaking at the end of a day's play, Bangladesh 'A' skipper Shahriar Nafees said his team was mesmerized by the conditions they came across when they walked into the Alur Cricket Ground. He said, "Given this was our first trip to Bangalore, we didn't know what to expect - in terms of conditions or facilities. However, we were pleasantly surprised when we landed up at the Alur grounds this morning; it is an awesome place to play cricket. First of all, the weather is very pleasant, the ground has a very good feel to it, the outfield is lush green and the pitch offered swing and good bounce for the fast bowlers.

"We understand that there are plans for the construction of a pavilion, gymnasium and swimming pool. Once all of that infrastructure comes up, Alur will no doubt be a world-class facility." The facility has three grounds in all, with only one being used for this tournament.

Talking about the goals his team had laid down to accomplish from participating in the tournament, the Bangladesh 'A' skipper said his team knew the competition was going to be very intense. He said, "We follow the Ranji Trophy back home and we knew before we started that the competition was going to be really intense. Ranji Trophy winners Rajasthan, Mumbai, Baroda and Karnataka are very strong teams in Indian cricket, and we knew we had our task cut out."

For the visitors, it was always going to be a great opportunity. "Playing in the Shafi Darashah gives us the opportunity to play against strong teams and in very good conditions. This tournament offers us a chance to test ourselves against some very good teams and players, and in the process improve our cricket skills," said a grateful Nafees.

For the KSCA this is only the beginning. As it this tournament also saw the BGS ground in Bangalore and SJCE in Mysore being added as new venues but in the near future, more such facilities will be ready for use in districts such as Mangalore, Hubli and so on.

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-07-30/top-stories/32941369_1_facilities-ranji-trophy-grounds

http://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/601525_4198176266410_567762366_n.jpg

TENDER


Installation of synthetic Hockey Turf at Somwarpet Taluka Stadium, Koorg District.

Karnataka look to break 13 year jinx

One of the strongest teams in the domestic circuit, Karnataka, the six time winners of the Ranji trophy have hit a slippery rope over the past few seasons. It has been 13 seasons since the talented bunch of cricketers from the state have laid their hands on the coveted trophy. It is the start of a new season and 2012-13 promises another roller coaster ride for a team that is brimming with talent but has failed to put the final touches on it in the big games. Will this time be any different for Karnataka?

Strengths

One of the biggest suppliers of talent to the Indian team, Karnataka has hit a trough in recent times. Robin Uthappa, R Vinay Kumar, Abhimanyu Mithun have all had fleeting moments with the national squad only to be left out in the lurch later. The upcoming season gives the players another opportunity to impress the national selection panel with some solid performances. The experience of the above three and the youthful exuberance of the rest of the team make Karnataka as one of the teams to watch out for.

Known for their aggressive brand of cricket, Karnataka have a batting order that few other teams can match. If Uthappa provides the fire at the top, the talented and perhaps the best bat of this line-up, Manish Pandey provides the class. Add the doggedness of Amit Verma and KB Pavan and you have a batting unit that can match up to the best in the business.

If the batting unit wears a classy look, the bowling is more than adequate. Vinay Kumar has been the lynchpin of this bowling unit while Abhimanyu Mithun has come up leaps and bounds since his debut. In an exclusive chat with Cricbuzz, Mithun said that he is hopeful of performing well in the upcoming season with the ultimate aim of making it back into the Indian team.

"I have worked on my bowling, I have developed some new variations, I want to do well in the upcoming season, I know that if I do well and pick up a heap of wickets, I will be helping Karnataka annex the Ranji Trophy as well as making a strong case for myself for selection to the Indian team."

Stuart Binny has emerged as one of the more talented all-rounders after a highly productive 2011-12 season. While the spinners pale in comparison with their pace counterparts, you would feel that they are destined to lay their hands on the trophy.

Weakness

Despite all the talent, Karnataka are prone to a rush of blood which has cost them many knock-out games, be it the freeze towards the end of a spectacular chase against Mumbai in the 2010 finals, the collapse in the semi-finals against Baroda, admittedly on a dodgy surface in 2011 and the first innings collapse against Haryana in the 2012 quarter-finals.

With the season pretty long, the lack of depth in the bowling line-up might cause a hindrance or two. While Appanna is yet to make the slot vacated by Sunil Joshi his own, the support staff looks threadbare with Sunil Raju and Syed Moinuddin yet to establish themselves.

Star Player

On his day, he can demoralize any bowling line-up with his sheer range of stroke-play, unfortunately though, those days has been few and far between for Uthappa. One of the most powerful strikers of the ball, Uthappa can set things rolling for his team, transferring all the pressure onto the rival bowlers. Having relinquished captaincy to R Vinay Kumar at the end of the 2009-10 season, Uthappa has enjoyed a couple of good years piling up more than 500 runs with the bat. With Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir struggling at the top of the order for Team India, the likes of Uthappa will know that a good show with the bat will enhance their credentials.

One to watch out for

Having been very consistent right from his debut, one expected Manish Pandey to break into the big league during the 2011-12 season. He started off well with a career best knock of 218 in the Duleep Trophy and was looking in great touch during the league phase before a hernia operation laid him low for the rest of the season. With the retirement of the seniors in the Indian middle order, the fight for places have well and truly begun, Pandey would not like to be left far behind.

Pre-season form

Karnataka have been razor sharp in their preparations for the premier domestic event. They had three entries in the KSCA Shafi Darashah tournament, and KSCA President's XI romped to a title triumph with ease. The win was no fluke, as the team went on to annex the prestigious Buchi Babu trophy in Chennai and made it to the semi-finals of the Moin-ud-Dowla cup in Hyderabad as well. All in all, the preparations going into the premier league tournament has been solid.

Captain's call

Into his 3rd season as the captain of the Karnataka Ranji team, Vinay Kumar exuded confidence that his team can put up a sterling show.

"We are lucky that we have a good fast bowling culture in Karnataka with the likes of Javagal Srinath, Venkatesh Prasad and David Johnson. I am basically a 'mentor' for the pacers. Mithun, Sreenath Aravind and the youngsters are maturing very well. It is a joy to bowl along with them. I want to perform well in the Ranji trophy and I am very confident that I can make my comeback to the national team," the skipper said in a chat with Cricbuzz.

Final Word

The preparations for the tournament has been done and dusted with, the only thing that remains to be seen is if Karnataka can produce the kind of form that has seen them emerge victorious in the recent past. Will Karnataka get 7th time lucky or will they fall on the wayside? The next few weeks will decide it.

http://cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/53166/karnataka-look-to-break-13-year-jinx

6sXURxUbkTw

Courtesy: tv9kannadanews @ youtube.

Mysore and Hubli new pavilion

New Pavilion - Gangothri Glades, Mysore

http://sphotos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/535633_301246416643591_1134936491_n.jpg

http://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/148434_393493827393434_1704529992_n.jpg
http://www.facebook.com/nammamysore

for more pics:- http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1413344&page=98

Yes.. Pavilion looks similar to one at hubli, take a look :happy:
http://i1165.photobucket.com/albums/q585/prashanth06r/paper1_zpsc215c5b6.jpg

Gangothri Glades Cricket Ground

http://sphotos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/61653_303574593077440_1691088341_n.jpg
http://www.facebook.com/nammamysore

X post

post Cricket related devlopments

cricket stadium design for KSCA at Belgaum

http://www.thedesignfirm.in/architecture/public/kscabelgum/img_1.jpg

http://www.thedesignfirm.in/architecture/public/kscabelgum/img_3.jpg

http://www.thedesignfirm.in/architecture/public/kscabelgum/img_2.jpg

http://www.thedesignfirm.in/public_kscabelgum.html

http://www.thedesignfirm.in/architecture/public/kscabelgum/img_4.jpg

^^ Nice one..
But We already have sports related thread:
Karnataka Sports Infrastructure : News & Updates (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1432007)

cricket stadium design for KSCA at Hubli
http://www.thedesignfirm.in/architecture/public/kscahubli/img_1.jpg

http://www.thedesignfirm.in/architecture/public/kscahubli/img_3.jpg

http://www.thedesignfirm.in/architecture/public/kscahubli/img_4.jpg

http://www.thedesignfirm.in/architecture/public/kscahubli/img_2.jpg

http://www.thedesignfirm.in/architecture/public/kscahubli/img_7.jpg

^^ Nice one..
We already have sports related thread: SEE HERE (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1432007)


oops !!

^^ Nice one..
But We already have sports related thread:
Karnataka Sports Infrastructure : News & Updates (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1432007)


now renamed as KSCA devlopments is it ok :?

now renamed as KSCA devlopments is it ok :?

You cannot rename a thread.. But Don't worry, i will ask moderators to merge this thread with Karnataka sports infrastructure thread.. They'll do it.

http://www.thedesignfirm.in/architecture/public/kscabelgum/img_4.jpg

status is still presentation

cricket stadium design for KSCA at Hubli
http://www.thedesignfirm.in/architecture/public/kscahubli/img_1.jpg

http://www.thedesignfirm.in/architecture/public/kscahubli/img_3.jpg

http://www.thedesignfirm.in/architecture/public/kscahubli/img_4.jpg

http://www.thedesignfirm.in/architecture/public/kscahubli/img_2.jpg

http://www.thedesignfirm.in/architecture/public/kscahubli/img_7.jpg

status is still presentation

More turf wickets for Mysore, says Srinath

The pavilion at the Gangotri Glades ground on the Manasagangotri campus will be inaugurated on Sunday.

The new facility, which will have a dressing room, was developed by the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA).

KSCA general secretary and former Indian cricketer Javagal Srinath told presspersons here on Saturday that the ground had been systematically developed into an international turf wicket to facilitate first-class matches.

Mr. Srinath said more turf wickets would be developed in the city to ensure that all league matches were conducted on turf wickets.

He said there were plans afoot for similar wickets and pavilions in all six zonal centres. The facility in Shimoga and Hubli-Dharward would be inaugurated by December-end, he said. On the progress of the proposed cricket stadium here, Mr. Srinath said talks were under way with the government to procure land. He said the work on the KSCA project near Alur, close to Bangalore, where a cricket complex with three grounds had been proposed, was likely to commence within six months.

•Pavilion at Gangotri Glades ground to open today

•KSCA project near Alur to begin in six months



http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/more-turf-wickets-for-mysore-says-srinath/article4180389.ece

PROVIDING GOOD INFRASTRUCTURE IS OUR PRIORITY: JAVAGAL SRINATH





http://www.starofmysore.com/image.asp?slno=34409&type=news
Caption: International cricketers & Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) President Anil Kumble and Secretary Javagal Srinath are seen with Mysore Varsity VC Prof. V.G. Talwar, KSCA Mysore Zonal Committee Convenor S. Vijayprakash, Treasurer Thallam Venkatesh, SJCE Principal Dr. B.G. Sangameshwara and Varsity Physical Education Department Director Dr. C. Krishna at the newly constructed pavilon at Gangotri Glades of Mysore University prior to its inauguration this morning.

Mysore, Dec 9- Brushing aside allegations against the present Managing Committee of Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), its Secretary Javagal Srinath has come out with fitting answers to all critics.

Addressing a press meet at the newly constructed pavilion at Gangotri Glades of Mys-ore University yesterday, Sri-nath said the present Managing Committee was committed to provide good facilities to all zones coming under KSCA.

Srinath said that though development activities began late, around 70% of works were completed within a span of 14 months. "We do agree that the works were taken up late. This was because we had to prepare for World Cup and other matches. The works were taken up in June 2011 and currently, around 70% of works have been executed," said Srinath.

Speaking about the new initiatives taken up by KSCA, Srinath said the Association was developing cricketing infrastructure at all 6 zones coming under its jurisdiction. This apart, facilities were also being provided at Hassan, Chikmagalur and Belgaum districts to help budding cricketers.

"It is not that we are supporting cricketers only from Bangalore. We are also committed to support cricketers from mofussil areas. Any cricketer from Bangalore or mofussil will be absorbed, depending on their talent," said Srinath.

"Among the facilities coming up in State are three cricket grounds at Alur in Bangalore. KSCA plans to shift its Academy to Alur. Apart from the main turf wickets, the ground also has 20 practice wickets, which is the first in India. Cricket grounds are also being developed at Hassan, Mangalore, Chikka-magalur, Hubli and Rai-chur," he said.

Speaking about cricket infrastructure in Mysore, Sri-nath said the KSCA has developed grounds at SJCE in Mysore and its grass is of superior quality. This apart, currently the matches are being played at RBI, Gangothri Glades and PES (Mandya).

"There is a need for two more grounds in Mysore," the KSCA Secretary said.

On Umpires

KSCA Secretary Javagal Srinath said the Association had come up with a plan to improve umpiring standards in the State.

"We have planned to take on contract 25 best umpires in the State. Depending upon their skills, they can grow up to the level of becoming international umpires. A.V. Jayaprakash, who has the experience of officiating international matches, will look into this," added Srinath.

He said that there was a need for an alternative stadium in State apart from Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. Now that MUDA has reserved a land for the purpose, it would take some more time for the land to be formally handed over to KSCA.

Speaking about KPL, Srinath said the teams including main sponsor were not interested to continue relationship with KSCA.

KSCA Mysore Zonal Committee Chairman Ashwini Ranjan and Convenor Vijayprakash were present on the occasion.

So Mysore will get a full fledged stadium after bangalore :banana:

ITF event at Dharwad

Dharwad is set to host its first international tennis tournament since 2006, as the ITF Futures tour moves to the city from Davangere.

The $10,000 ITF Dharwad Open will commence on Monday at the Dharwad District Tennis Association courts.

Sanam Singh, who won the Davangere Open, will compete as the second seed, while Sriram Balaji has been given top billing.

THE HINDU

Mangalore, Dec 10: The Royal Challengers Karnataka State Cricket Association Academy (RC KSCA) was launched at Sahyadri College Campus, here, on Monday December 10.

Chief guest Dr Shantharam Shetty, vice-chancellor of Nitte University launched the academy along with the other dignitaries. He also laid the foundation stone for the proposed pavilion in the campus.

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Anil Kumble, KSCA president, Javagal Srinath, secretary, SM Kirmani, director, Shashi Kiran Shetty, managing director of All Cargo Global Logistics, Mumbai, Dayanand Pai, chairman of Bangalore based Century Group, T Venkatesh, treasurer of KSCA, Srikanth, convener, Russel Adams, vice president, Manish Karbikar, police commissioner, Prakash, district commissioner were the guests of honour.

Prior to launching of the academy, a press meet was held where the officials of KSCA addressed the media.

Addressing the media, Anil Kumble said that the academy endeavours to make people play cricket across Karnataka. The academy aims at developing cricket from the basic roots by providing infrastructure facilities, he said. This kind of academy is the first of its kind in the city, where the people have excelled in every field except cricket, he added.

Adding to this he said that the academy also desires to develop a cricket stadium of international standard where Ranji tournament can be held.

Javagal Srinath in his address briefed about the objectives and infrastructural facilities of KSCA.

The main objective of the academy is to promote cricket within Karnataka and organize tournaments across the state.

The KSCA Academy has been launched in various places like Alur (10 kms from Bangalore), Gangotri ground in Mysore, Hassan, Shimoga, Hubli, Dharwad, Raichur. Apart from this it will also be launched in Chikmangalur and Belgaum in the coming months, he said.

“The headquarters of the KSCA academy in Alur has 20 practicing nets”, he added.

“The main motto of the academy is to provide best infrastructure facilities like turf wickets, lush green outfields to aspiring cricketers”, said Srinath.

Apart from this, he said that either in the month of April, May or June, a summer coaching camp will be held in 31 districts where best players will be selected. Around 1,600 cricketers are expected to participate in the camp. 50 players are already selected and are practicing at Nehru Maidan.

“The curriculum will consist of year long training and skills development through a four-day per week training programme where matches will be played in the last two days. During exams, activities for the trainees will cease. More priority will be given to studies for which there is no substitution. Technology will play a growing role especially with the introduction of the CVBC method, that is, cognitive video-based coaching initiated by the KSCA”, said Srinath.

The launching of cricket academy was followed by a stage programme.

Speaking on the occasion, Shanthram Shetty lauded the efforts of the academy for taking the initiative. “The district has high potential. Providing infrastructure facilities helps in developing a cricketer to perfection”, he added.

Shashi Kiran Shetty lauded the academy and Sahyadri College for promoting cricket among younger generation and assured his support.

Manjunath Bhandary, chairman of Sahyadri group of institution said that it is a privilege to the start the academy in this institution. “The launch will bring out great talents”, he said.

Russel Adams asked the youngsters to make optimum use of the opportunity. “Have passion, right attitude towards cricket and you will see the change in the coming years”, he said.

Dayanand Pai welcomed the gathering while T Venkatesh delivered the vote of thanks.

K Jashwanth, assistant director of KSCA, PV Shashikanth, head coach, Venkatesh, assistant commissioner, Ananth Venugopal, Dr Mahabala Marla, P V Mohan, Moihdeen Bava, Harish Gowda, Nataraj Hegde among others were present.

http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=157929

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http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=157937

Karnataka wins Against Delhi in ranji match held at chinaswamy stadium

Karnataka look to make most of Mysore greentop

Karnataka are coming into the game on the back of an emphatic win at home over Delhi. © Wisden India
Having resurrected a campaign that appeared headed nowhere, Karnataka will approach their Ranji Trophy clash against Vidarbha with a confidence that has been conspicuous by its absence for most of this season.

The come-from-behind win against Delhi in Bangalore earlier this week – Karnataka won the battle of the former champions by 159 runs despite conceding a 66-run deficit – has lifted the sagging spirits of a team hitherto let down by the diffidence of its batting unit, replete with attacking batsmen who strangely tried to bat out of character for the first four matches.

A serious talking-to by Anil Kumble, both in his capacity as president of the Karnataka State Cricket Association and as former skipper, followed up by a public lashing from J Arun Kumar, another former captain who is now the batting coach of the state team, worked wonders against Delhi. Robin Uthappa led the charge with a sparkling, typically positive 81 in the second innings as Karnataka piled up 475 for 9 declared, giving their bowling pack a cushion of 410 with which to attack the opposition.

That excellent batting display, characterised by half-centuries from Uthappa, KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Stuart Binny, CM Gautam and Abhimanyu Mithun, has emboldened Karnataka to again lay out a surface full of live grass at the Gangotri Glades, where they will host Vidarbha from Saturday (December 15). With 11 points from five games, Karnataka lie sixth in the Group B table, a point and two spots behind Vidarbha, who began the season promisingly with an outright win in Rohtak against Haryana but have since earned just six points from their last four matches.

Karnataka believe another full complement of points in Mysore will give their quest for a place in the quarterfinals a serious boost, what with a home match against Haryana and an away encounter against Maharashtra to follow. They are also aware that at least for the Haryana game, in Hubli next round, they will be without R Vinay Kumar, their inspirational captain who will be away on national duty, and therefore will be desperate to impose themselves on their opponents in conditions that will suit their four-pronged seam attack of Vinay, Mithun, Stuart Binny and HS Sharath – who has had a dream first season.

Historically, the Glades has produced pitches that have been pacer-friendly for the first day and a half or so before flattening out into a beautiful batting strip. For Karnataka to make any inroads, they will need to bowl first, get Vidarbha out cheaply and themselves pile up a big score quickly enough to allow their bowlers to get on top of their opponents. Easier said than done, of course.

And particularly so because Vidarbha themselves, unlike in the past, boast a wealth of batting experience. Sairaj Bahutule, the skipper, returns after missing the last two games with a groin injury, while in Shiv Sundar Das and Hemang Badani, they have two other top-order batsmen with experience of Test match cricket. It is this trio that will hold the key to Vidarbha’s batting fortunes, though it is well worth recalling that it was Faiz Fazal who played the lead role in making a patient 143 as Vidarbha overhauled Tamil Nadu’s 443 for 8 declared two games back in Nagpur.

Vidarbha, finding themselves rubbing shoulders with the big boys following the revamping of the Ranji structure, will desperately miss Ranjit Paradkar, who stood in as captain in Bahutule’s absence but sustained a finger fracture in the last game which necessitated surgery. However, Fazal (401 runs) has been in excellent touch at the top of the tree, and has the experience and the expertise to defy the Karnataka pacers.

Vidarbha’s bowling has tended to revolve hugely around Shrikant Wagh, the left-arm paceman, and Sandeep Singh, who both have 16 wickets to their name. Sandeep took four wickets in each innings in Vidarbha’s only outright win to date, while Wagh has been consistently among the wickets. Wagh and Sandeep will run into a hugely talented and formidable Karnataka line-up which runs deep; it will be a test as much of their skills in helpful conditions as their character.

Teams (from):
Karnataka: Robin Uthappa, KL Rahul, Ganesh Satish, Manish Pandey, Kunal Kapoor, Stuart Binny, CM Gautam (wk), R Vinay Kumar (capt), Abhimanyu Mithun, HS Sharath, KP Appanna, Amit Verma, Ronit More, Karun Nair, K Gowtham.

Vidarbha: Faiz Fazal, Shiv Sundar Das, Shalabh Shrivastava, Hemang Badani, Apoorva Wankhede, Sairaj Bahutule (capt), Amol Ubarhande (wk), Ravi Thakur, Gaurav Upadhyay, Shrikant Wagh, Sandip Singh, Amol Jungade, Sumit Ruyikar, Akshay Wakhare, Akshay Kolhar.

http://www.wisdenindia.com/preview/karnataka-mysore-greentop/40131

Rahul and Gautam crack centuries

Mysore, Dec 15 (PTI) Unbeaten centuries by Lokesh Rahul and Murlidharen Gautam helped Karnataka pile up 308 for two against Vidarbha on the opening day of the their four-day Group-B Ranji Trophy match here today.

Rahul was unbeaten on 145 and Gautam was batting on 129 at stumps.

Rahul batted cautiously and built a 44-run partnership for the first wicket with Robin Uthappa, who was first to go after scoring 24 runs from 4 balls with three boundaries.

RANJI DAY 2: GAUTHAM SCORES A DOUBLE TON




http://www.starofmysore.com/image.asp?slno=34507&type=news
Karnataka’s C.M. Gautham and Manish Pandey put on a 50-run partnership on Day 2 of Ranji Trophy Group B match against Vidarbha being played at Gangothri Glades. Picture right shows a section of the jam-packed gallery.

C.M. Gautham still at crease, K.L. Rahul at 150 runs, Karnataka 459/4 at lunch

Mysore, Dec 16

- Karnataka's wicket-keeper C.M. Gautham completed a well made double century on day 2 of Ranji Trophy Group B match being played against Vidarbha team at Gangothri Glades. Gautham scored 200 runs in 335 balls and 17 boundaries. He, along with vice captain Stuart Binny, have put on a century run stand for the 5th wicket till now.

Earlier, continuing with their overnight score of 308/2 Kar-nataka’s batsmen continued to take on Vidarbha with both K.L. Rahul and Gautham completing their 150 runs. Rahul and C.M.Gautham batted briskly to add more runs to their team score. While Rahul fell after completing his 150 runs to Ravi Thakur by edging a ball to Hemang Badani the first slip, Gautham continued his good form and was still at the crease with a personal score of 177 not out at lunch. Both, Rahul and Gautham put on a 272 run partnership for third wicket in 472 balls.

Manish Pandey, who replaced Rahul, hit a quick half century before exiting. Pandey, trying a ball from Faiz Fazal over the cover region, was out for a brilliant running catch by Shrikanth Wagh. Though, Vidarbha’s captain Sairaj Bahutule tried different bowling combinations to restrict Karnataka, nothing worked for him as both Binny and Gautham continued brisk batting. Latest score at drinks break: Karnataka were 532/4 in 140 overs with Gautham batting on 212 and Stuart Binny batting on 73.

Today being a Sunday, the galleries were almost full with spectators and cricket-lovers watching the match and the weather too was pleasantly cloudy, make it a perfect treat for the weekend.

Tenders


Construction of 400 mts Synthetic athletic track at RN Shetty District Stadium, Dharwad, Dharwad District




Construction of 400 mtrs Synthetic athletic running track at Mahatma Gandi District Stadium, Udupi, Udupi District, Karnataka State


https://eproc.karnataka.gov.in/eprocurement/common/eproc_tenders_list.seam

Belgaum: The third day of ITF Belgaum Open at the VTU Tennis complex saw the biggest upset when a determined Portugese teenager Andre Gasper Murta knocked out the winner of last two weeks at Davangere & Dharwad and second seed Sanam Singh. Murta beat Singh in straight sets 7-6 (6), 6-3 in 1 hr 42 min.

Sanam started off confidently breaking Murta in the first & third games. Being up 3-0, Sanam failed to hold on to his service game. In the 5th game, Sanam again failed to capitalize on the breakpoint on Gasper’s serve and allowed his opponent to get back into the set. Gasper won 4 games in a row being down 0-3 to take a lead at 4-3. Sanam held his serve and broke Gasper in the 9th game to go up 5-4. It was trade of breaks again which pushed the set into a ti break.
Sanam let go two set pints being up 6-4 in the tie break and allowed Gasper to take the set.

In the second set, Gasper broke Sanam twice in the 3rd and 9th game to take the set and match. Having lost the first set, Sanam showed signs of tiredness physically and mentally to stay and
fight back in the second. This was probably a result of him winning the last 2 weeks and playing maximum matches. A strapped right hand also didn’t help his cause. He said “I had a great
two weeks in Karnataka and couldn’t have asked for more. Gasper played well today and I congratulate him for the victory. I now would take a few days off probably in Goa and head to
Chennai for the ATP tour.”

Gasper’s opponent in the quarter finals would be 8th seeded Dutch Jeroen Benard who ousted Abhijeet Tiwari in straight sets.

In other matches, the top seed Sriram Balaji survived a scare when another teenager Mohit Mayur Jayaprakash took the first set in a tie break. Balaji won the next at ease with the score reading 6-7 (2), 6-1, 6-1. Balaji set up a quarter final face off against another Dutch Colin Van Beem who had taken out the 5th seed Russian sergei Kroitouk in the first round. Van Beem crushed Rohan Gide 6-0, 6-3 in another second round match today.

German qualifier Torsten Wietoska who has been enjoying a great run so far in Karnataka circuit, had some anxious moments when Jatin Dahiya won the first set. Torsten wuickly got his act together to take the next 2 sets and the match at 5-7, 6-1, 6-1.

Indian teenager and Dharwad finalist Ramkumar Ramanathan wasted chances to beat the 3rd seeded Greek Theodoros Angelinos when the latter had the upper hand finally at 4-6, 7-6
(1), 6-4. It was a case of Ramanathan beating himself more than his opponent. It was lack of experience on his part and probably goes back with a good lesson learnt.

Results:

Singles (2nd round)

1. Andre Gasper Murta (Por) bt S-2 Sanam Singh 7-6 (6), 6-3

2. S-3 Theodoros Angelinos (Gre) bt Ramkumar Ramanathan 4-6, 7-6 (1), 6-4

3. S-6 Michael shabaz (USA) bt Luca Margaroli (Sui) 6-3, 6-4

4. S-8 Jeroen Benard (Ned) bt Abijeet Tiwari 6-4, 6-4

5. S-1 Sriram Balaji bt Mohit Mayur Jayaprakash 6-7 (2), 6-1, 6-1

6. Torsten Wietoska (Ger) bt Jatin Dahiya 5-7, 6-1, 6-1

7. Ashwin Vijayraghavan bt Suraj Prabodh 6-4, 6-4

8. Colin Van Been (Ned) bt Suraj Prabodh 6-4, 6-2

Doubles (Quarterfinals)

1. S-1 Vijaysundar Prashanth / Arun Prakash Rajagopalan bt Kunal anand / Ronak Manuja
6-4, 3-6 [10-7]

2. Amrit Narasimhan (USA) / Michael Shabaz (USA) bt Theodoros Angelinos (Gre) / Sanam
Singh 5-7, 6-4 [10-6]

3. S-2 Sergei Krotiouk (Rus) / Luca Margaroli (Sui) bt Jatin Dahiya / Sahahbaz Khan 6-4, 6-4

4. Rupesh Roy / Vive Shokeen bt Sriram Balaji / S-3 Vignesh Peranamallur / sriram Balaji 7-
6 (3) 6-3


DC (http://www.deccanchronicle.com/121219/sports-tennis/article/sanam-singh-knocked-out-itf-belgaum-open)

New venue to welcome Ranji stars

A new venue and a refreshing ambience will welcome Karnataka and Haryana when they lock horns in their Group ‘B’ Ranji Trophy match here from Saturday.

Rajnagar Stadium, that has come up on a 15-acre plot in the outskirts of the city, bears the look of an international cricket field but this was Hubli’s helipad for a long time. The Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation decided to use the plot as a cemetery but the Karnataka State Cricket Association showed interest in the then barren piece of land and bagged the plot on lease from the HDMC in 2005.
“We started work in 2005 and it was very hard work because this area was the extension of a hill,” said a KSCA official on Wednesday.“It took us nearly a year to excavate all the rocks and we had to bring in red soil because what was there was like white chalk. In 2007, we completed all the basic work but for some reason we hadto stop work on it for sometime.”
“When the new KSCA committee was chosen we returned to work on the ground and we completed it a few months ago,” he added.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India officials inspected the venuerecently and gave it their thumbs-up, and as a result, the facility is now ready for its first big test. Several league matches have beenconducted here but nothing like afour-day Ranji Trophy match. Thatwould be a cause for concern as the wicket on offer has been relaid recently and could hold a few surprises.
Hubli last played host to a Ranji Trophy match back in 1992 when Karnataka, comprising debutant Sunil Joshi, took on Hyderabad at the Nehru stadium. The match was called off after two days of play due to a curfew as result of the demolition of the Babri Masjid on December 6.
“So far five Ranji matches have been played in Hubli. A couple of matches were played in the early 70s and then in the 80s — all on matted wickets. The first match on turf in Hubli was the Karnataka-Hyderabad match at the Nehru stadium,” said the official.

Deccan Herald (http://www.deccanherald.com/content/299635/venue-welcome-ranji-stars.html)

Belgaum: Top seed Sriram Balaji pushed his way into semifinals of the ITF Belgaum Open at the VTU Tennis complex today at Belgaum. Giving him company in the semifinals are Portugese giant
killer Andre Gasper Murta who had knocked out second seed Sanam Singh yesterday, 6 th seed Michael Shabaz & Sriram Balaji played nearly flauless Tennis to beat the Dutch player Colin Van Been 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 in 2.34 hr.

Sriram broke Van Beem in the 4th game to take a lead of 4-1 but the Dutch broke back in the 7th game to level out the breaks. Another break in the 10th game gave Sriram the first set 6-4 in 52 min. It took Van Beem just one break in the 11th game of the second set to take the second set at 7-5 in 55 min.

The third set looked like a repeat of the first set when Sriram broke Van Beem in the 2 nd & 4th games to go up 4-0. Balaji dropped his serve in the 5th game but that wasn’t enough for the Dutch to get back into the match. Balaji served 6 aces in the match against 2 of Colin Beem but what was more significant was the number of doubles faults. Sriram had 6 but the Dutch had 8 to his credit which was the main reason for him to lose serves at crucial time.

6th Seed Michael Shabaz played consistently to oust the 3rd seed Theodoros Angelinos from Greece 6-4, 6-4 in another quarter final match. Shabaz attacked Angelinos’s backhand effectively to push him back to open up the court. Shabaz had a high percentage of first serves which made it more difficult for the 3rd seed. In a match that had very few rallies, Shabaz broke Angelinos in the 9th games of each set to take the match 6-4, 6-4 in 71 minutes.

It was another good day at office for the Portugese teenager who had upset second seed Sanam Singh yesterday. He took out the 8th seed Jeroen Benard of Netherlands in straight sets 7-5, 6-3 to advance to the semifinals.

German qualifier Torsten Wietoska who has been enjoying a great run so far in Karnataka circuit, again played some good Tennis and continued to topple seeds to make his third successive semifinals in as many weeks. He beat 7th seed Indian Ashwin Vijaraghavan 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 in a match that lasted 2.30 hr. A match that saw many disputes on line calls, and an irritated Wietoska needed to get his mind back to break Vijayraghavan in the 12th game of the third set to take the match.

American Michael Shabaz would face Sriram Balaji in the Semifinals. After reaching two successive semifinals in Davangere & Dharwad, Would Torsten Wietoska reach the finals. It needs to be seen as he tomorrow faces a determined Portugese teenager Andre Gasper Murta who incidentally also is his practice partner this week.

Results

Singles Quarter Finals

1. Andre Gasper Murta (Por) bt S-8 Jeroen Benard (Ned)

2. S-6 Michael shabaz (USA) bt S-3 Theodoros Angelinos (Gre)

3. S-1 Sriram Balaji bt Colin Van Been (Ned)

4. Torsten Wietoska (Ger) bt Ashwin Vijayraghavan 6-4, 3-6, 7-5.



DC (http://www.deccanchronicle.com/121220/sports-tennis/article/sriram-balaji-cruises-semis)

:cheers:

Belgaum, Dec 21, 2012, DHNS:
Sixth-seeded American Michael Shabaz and German qualifier Torsten Wietoska will lock horns for the crown in the ITF Belgaum open at the VTU Tennis complex here on Sunday.

In the semifinals played on Saturday, Shabaz scalped top seed Sriram Balaji 6-2, 7-5 while Wietoska continued his dream run, ousting Portuguese giant-killer Andre Gasper Murta 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-5) to make the final.

The first set between Balaji and Shabaz was an one-sided affair with the American clinching it 6-2 after earning breaks in the third and ninth games. Balaji could hold his serve only twice as his rival wrapped the set in just 35 minutes.

The second set began in similar fashion with Shabaz breaking Balaji in the very first game. Balaji had a golden opportunity to draw level in the sixth game when when he had Shabaz 0-40 down but the US player came up with four aces to hold the game. Balaji finally managed to pull one back by breaking Shabaz in the ninth game but subsequently dished out a poor game to surrender the set and match.

In the second match of the day, Wietoska continued his fine run to reach his first final in three weeks, stopping Murta in two tie-break sets. A match that saw hard hitting shots and long rallies lasted 125 minutes.

Wietoska, who came thro*ugh the qualifying rounds, had earlier reached semifinals at Davangere when he lost to eventual winner Sanam Singh and at Dharwad when he lost a close match to Ramkumar Ramanathan.

Amrit-Shabaz triumph

Meanwhile, Shabaz paired up with compatriot Amrit Nara*simhan to lift their second successive doubles title in as many weeks by beating top-seeded Indian combination of Arunprakash Rajagopalan and Vijaysundar Prashanth 7-6 (7-3), 7-5.

Results (Singles semifinals, prefix denotes seeding): Torsten Wietoska (Ger) bt Andre Gasper Murta (Por) 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5); 6-Michael Shabaz (USA) bt 1-Sriram Balaji (Ind) 6-2, 7-5.

Doubles final: Amrit Narasimhan (USA) / Michael Shabaz (USA) bt S-1 Arunprakash Rajagopalan / Vijaysunder Prashant (Ind) 7-6 (3), 7-5.



DEccan Herald (http://www.deccanherald.com/content/300054/shabaz-line-grand-double.html) :cheers:

KSCA Stadium, Hubli ---- Outfield

http://www.espncricinfo.com/db/PICTURES/CMS/152700/152765.jpg

Source: ESPN Cricinfo.

^^ Pavilion :cheers:

http://www.espncricinfo.com/db/PICTURES/CMS/152700/152763.jpg

Source: ESPN Cricinfo.

Hubli readies itself for the big day

The Ranji Trophy is coming to this city in north Karnataka for the first time in two decades.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/db/PICTURES/CMS/152700/152763.jpg

The new Karnataka State Cricket Association ground in the north Karnataka city of Hubli sneaks up on you. One minute you are in a tree-lined locality with low-rise apartment complexes and old houses which are small but still have gardens in front, and the next you are entering the stadium's gate looking at the bustling volunteers, workers and policemen who are putting things in place for the biggest day in Hubli cricket after two decades - a first-class game.
The last time a first-class match was played in the city was back in 1992-93 when former India left-arm spinner Sunil Joshi, the most famous cricketer from this region, made his debut. That game was called off midway due to curfew after the destruction ofthe Babri Masjid.
That game was played at the Nehru Stadium, which didn't have much grass on the outfield. In contrast, the new ground has a lush green outfield - one of the larger ones in India with a radius of around 90 metres -a quaint brick pavilion , and looks well-equipped for first-class cricket with temporary stands that the organisers hope will accommodate about 12,000 spectators.
"Since 2002 we have been planning for a stadium in Hubli," says a proud Baba Bhusad, the KSCA convenor for the area, and one of the key persons behind the development of the new stadium. "There have been plentyof challenges along the way. The first one was getting the land." It was in 2005, with Brijesh Patel incharge of the KSCA, that the land was acquired on a 30-year lease.
"Then came the redevelopment of the ground, which has been going on for more than a year now," Bhusad says. Three thousand truckloads of soil were lugged in to convert the rocky surface to something more suitable for cricket. "When it comes to fielding, kids here are not used to sliding and diving, but they needn't worry now withthe outfield we have here."
And the latest challenge has beento get the stadium match-ready."The landscaping has been in progress for over 20 days," Shivanand Gunjal, a KSCA organiser, says, "and the KSCA curator Narayan Raju has been helping us with the pitch for the past few months."
Everywhere you look, there are last-minute arrangements in progress. Dozens of policemen are being shouted instructions by their boss a day before the chief minister arrives to inaugurate the pavilion, several men are tending to the garden atthe entrance, excavators are shifting away construction debris, hundreds of chairs are being placed in the stands, a new refrigerator arrives prompting discussion over where it needs to be kept in the pavilion, the outfield is tended to make sure it's smooth, and the wiring needed for television cameras is being put in place.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/db/PICTURES/CMS/152700/152765.jpg

The stadium falls in line with the Anil Kumble-led KSCA administration's drive to spread cricket in Karnataka, decentralising it from the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. "The new stadium will give cricket in the region major impetus," Bhusad says. "In our time, we needed to go to Bangalore if we wanted to play on turf pitches since there were only matting wickets here." Now, the stadium has ten turf pitches as part of the Royal Challengers KSCA academy which opened this July.
Last year, the KSCA held a match in the central Karnataka town of Shimoga, and this time they have allotted matches to Mysore and Hubli. A double-century from CM Gautam in Mysore gave the hometeam three points and kept them firmly in the quarter-final race.
In Hubli, they are up against the team that knocked them out last year , Haryana. Stand-in Karnataka captain Stuart Binny said that defeat still rankled, and that the team discussed the game in the pre-training huddle in the morning. Despite the absence of regular captain Vinay Kumar (calf-muscle injury) and fast bowler Abhimanyu Mithun (on national duty) Karnataka will start favourites against a side whose inconsistent batting has made more than 300 only once this season.
They can count on one factor in Hubli that they usually don't get back in Bangalore - a vociferous crowd cheering them on.

ESPN Cricinfo (http://www.espncricinfo.com/ranji-trophy-2012/content/story/598097.html)

Outfield radius-- 90 meters:cheers:
Comparatively larger compared to Indian standards:)

Hubli Sports Ground latest Images.


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Mishra, Yadav fight back for Haryana

The Report by Siddarth Ravindran in Hubli
December 22, 2012


Haryana 293 for 7 (Mishra 86*, Yadav 64*, Sunny 56) v Karnataka


Hubli and its 31 degrees sunshine provided Haryana a stark contrast from the chilly, foggy north Indian towns where they have played most of the season, but for the first two sessions against Karnataka their batting floundered just as it has so often over the past two months. The several thousand fans who turned up to see the first first-class match in Hubli for a couple of decades would have returned home a happier lot had it not been for Amit Mishra and Jayant Yadav's 125-run eighth-wicket stand that lifted Haryana to 293 for 7.

It wasn't a tailenders-chancing-their-arm sort of association. Yadav showed he's no No. 9 with a couple of classy drives just before tea that kickstarted the partnership. Mishra, who had made a vital half-century in Haryana's only win of the season, also played an innings a specialist batsman would be proud of. He confidently pulled the quicker bowlers through midwicket, paddle-swept the spinners to the vacant fine leg and played the cut regularly, both the conventional one towards point and a defter late one towards third man. The one genuine chance for Karnataka, playing without Vinay Kumar (injured) and Abhimanyu Mithun (on national duty), was when Mishra nicked to gully 15 minutes before close but Robin Uthappa shelled it.

Before the two came together, it was all Karnataka, who chose to bowl on a pitch that looked green but wasn't particularly venomous. The highlight of the morning session was SL Akshay comprehensively bowling the opener Rahul Dewan. The full ball broke the off stump in two and left one part reclining several yards away from the rest of the stumps. That dramatic sight elicited one of the biggest cheers of the day from the crowd.

Akshay also bowled Abhimanyu Khod, in a less spectacular manner, and by lunch, despite Sunny Singh being put down at gully on 0, Haryana were 102 for 3. They survived a nervy period going into the break: Manish Pandey nearly caught Nitin Saini short with a throw from mid-on, Saini then fended a short ball that did not carry to gully and a loud caught-behind appeal was turned down.

Soon after lunch, Haryana were down to 112 for 5 as Saini and Rahul Dalal both edged to the wicketkeeper. Sunny had worked his way to a half-century after an anxious start but threw it away by chipping a catch to midwicket. Joginder Sharma, one of the handful of names in the match known to most of the crowd, also fell cheaply, but just when Karnataka were thinking of wrapping up the innings quickly, Mishra and Yadav resisted to make it an even day.

Siddarth Ravindran is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

http://www.indiaeveryday.in/karnataka/fullnews-karnataka-v-haryana-ranji-trophy-2012-13-hubli-1st-day-1156-4861565.htm

Amidst much fanfare, Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar unveiled the Platinum Jubilee Pavilion at the KSCA ground in Rajnagar on Saturday morning.

Ahead of Karnataka’s Group ‘B’ Ranji Trophy match against Haryana, Shettar was taken around the facility by KSCA president Anil Kumble, RC-KSCA Chairman GR Vishwanath, Director Syed Kirmani and managing committee members. Shettar was shown around the newly-opened Royal Challengers KSCA Academy (RC-KSCA) at the facility before being ushered in to catch a glimpse of the pitch and the outfield.

“This was a dream that we had for a very long time,” said Shettar. “I am glad it finally came true. This is a beautiful stadium. The people of North Karnataka and the KSCA should be very proud of what they have achieved. I hope that sometime in the future, international cricket comes to Hubli. That’s another dream that we should work towards bringing it to fruition.”

Former India skipper Kumble, who’s administration was instrumental in making this dream a reality, hoped to inspire an entire generation of cricketers from Hubli.

“Our plan is to inspire youngsters with this academy and this stadium,” said the ace leg-spinner. “All along, all they have done is seen these quality players playing on TV but now they can come and watch them in action. That will help more players come out of Hubli and North Karnataka.”

The KSCA, meanwhile, honoured some of the most notable names to come out of North Karnataka such as Sunil Joshi, Avinash Vaidya and Somashekar Shiriguppi with a mementos and shawls during the lunch break.

Felicitated members: Rajesh Kamat, Suresh Shanbal, Avinash Vaidya, Sunil Joshi, Somashekar Shirguppi, Anand Katti.

Life members: Bharat Khimji, Sunil Kothari.

Institutional members: Cricket Club of Karnataka (Dharwad), Hubli Sports Club (Hubli), BDK Sports Foundation (Hubli), Karnataka Star Sports Club (Hubli), The Union Gymkhana Limited (Belgaum), Belgaum Sports Club (Belgaum).


Deccan Herald (http://www.deccanherald.com/content/300247/shettar-unveils-hubli-facilities.html)

Belgaum, Dec 22, 2012, DHNS :


Michael Shabaz ended German qualifier Torsten Wietoska run in the final to clinch the ITF Belgaum Open at the VTU Tennis Complex here on Saturday.

Though Shabaz ran away with the opening set while blanking his opponent in just 30 minutes, Wietoska put up an admirable fight in the second before the American wrapped up the match 6-0, 7-6 (3).

Long rallies and some hard hitting by both the players made for an interesting first set, though Shabaz never let go the grip.

Having learnt a lesson or two, Torsten started playing much better in the second set.
Torsten looked to get the set with a splendid down the line pass on his backhand to go up 15-0 on the 12th game on Shabaz’s serve being up 6-5. But Shabaz came up with big serves to win the next three points and followed up with volleys to keep the game.

In the tie-break, Torsten broke Shabaz in the very first point but let go the lead in the next. At 3-3 in the tie break, Shabaz got more aggressive and subdued Torsten a bit to take the set and the match in 1 hr 20 min.

Having bagged the second title of the year, Shabaz said: “This is heartening for me as I have come back after a long duration of sickness. Wietoska played well and pushed me to play better and I wish him the best for his future. The three weeks in Karnataka have been good for me to end with this title at Belgaum.”

It was also the end of a three week ITF Futures circuit in Karnataka.



Deccan Herald (http://www.deccanherald.com/content/300241/shabaz-lands-spoils-belgaum.html)

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Dec. 21, 2012




BELGAUM, India - - Former University of Memphis men's tennis player Amrit Narasimhan made it two in a row by teaming with Michael Shabaz to win the doubles event at the ITF India F17 event in Belgaum. The win is the second straight for the tandem and gives Narasimhan another professional doubles point.

En route the tournament title, the doubles team eliminated three of the top four seeds. They opened the tournament with a 5-7, 6-4, 10-2 win in the first round. They then downed the No. 4 seeded team, 5-7, 6-4, 10-6 in the quarterfinals. They had a little shorter match in the semifinal, downing the No. 2 seeded tandem, 6-3, 7-6 (4). The finals match was a nearly two-hour affair, but Narasimhan and Shabaz won, 7-6 (3), 7-5 to give each player their second professional doubles title on the ITF Pro Circuit.

The University of Memphis men's tennis team will kick off its spring dual season by hosting Michigan State as its first team dual meet, Jan. 18, at 6 p.m. at The Racquet Club of Memphis.




http://www.gotigersgo.com/sports/m-tennis/spec-rel/122112aaa.html

Belgaum to get indoor stadium of international standard

BELGAUM: The Belgaum City Corporation is all set to construct an international standard indoor stadium on a 7-acre of land at a cost of Rs 16.5 crore at the Vaccine Depot here.

The stadium will have indoor games, including basketball, volleyball, shuttle badminton and table tennis. At present, there is no well-equipped indoor stadium here.

The proposal to invite tenders for the construction of the stadium has also been approved and the tender process will begin in a month.

There are quite a few indoor halls in Belgaum city which is being used for shuttle badminton. But there is no multipurpose indoor stadium.

"The proposed indoor stadium will promote sports in a long way in Belgaum. We have talented sportspersons and with the proposed infrastructure, it will enable them to practice much better. Through this we can also develop sports culture," said H Basavaraj, deputy director, department of youth service and sports, Belgaum district.

TOI (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hubli/Belgaum-to-get-indoor-stadium-of-international-standard/articleshow/17919567.cms)

North Karnataka gets a boost (http://www.deccanherald.com/content/310870/north-karnataka-gets-boost.html)

Bangalore, Feb 8, 2013, DHNS:

To promote sporting activities in north Karnataka, the government will build a sports complex in Dharwad, Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar announced during the budget presentation for the year 2013-14 here on Friday.

In the budget, the government has announced plans to construct a couple of stadiums in the rural areas to provide quality infrastructure and coaching to talented youth. The government has earmarked Rs 140 crore for Youth Services Department with the bulk of it going towards infrastructure development.

The sports complex in Dharwad is to be developed in 55 acres of land while the government will spend Rs 7.5 crore to renovate the existing swimming pools in Hubli and Dharwad.

Apart from that, an indoor stadium will be constructed in Hubli at a cost of Rs 10 crore and a stadium will be developed in Ayanoor, Shimoga Taluk.

The government had spent Rs 109 crore for the development of taluk and district stadiums, swimming pools, synthetic tracks and turfs during the past five years. While the construction of Bijapur, Chitradurga and Haveri District stadiums have been completed, work is in progress in other 14 taluk stadiums.

Bangalore, Feb 12, 2013, DHNS

Canara Bank produced an efficient second-half performance to register a come-from-behind 3-2 victory over Maratha Light Infantry (MLI), Belgaum in the KSHA-Ozonegroup Super Division hockey league (Phase I) here on Tuesday.

Ronald Kiran (45th), Mangra Bengra (47th) and Bipin Bopaiah (50th) scored for Canara in the second session after Nilesh Wadakar (18th) had given MLI the lead. Ajay Lakra’s 58th-minute goal gave the Belgaum side a glimmer of hope but the bankmen averted further damage to emerge victors.

MLI started the match with probing moves in the first 20 minutes, troubling the Canara defence which had former India captain Bharat Chetri manning the goal. Krishna Patil, leading the Infantrymen, was at the centre of all their forays along with Sravan Kumar.
It was, however, Wadakar who put MLI ahead sounding the board running in from the left in the 18th minute.

The bankmen failed to convert two penalty corners that came their way in the first half.
Canara got their act together after the interval as they appeared a lot more aggressive in their approach. Kiran came up with the equaliser in the 45th minute, firing a low shot inside a crowded D off a John Verghese pass.

Bengra consolidated their position in the 47th minute tapping in a ball that had ricocheted off MLI goalkeeper Nityanand Kumar off a penalty corner shot. The complexion of the game changed completely when Bopaiah slammed a powerful shot coming in from the left in the 50th minute as Canara took the driver’s seat.

Lakra’s drag-flick in the 58th minute kept MLI alive in the contest but the Canara Bank defence stood firm to come away with three points.

Results: DYSS ‘A’: 1 (Sheshe Gowd 65th) bt MEG ‘A’: 0; Canara Bank: 3 (Ronald Kiran 45th, Mangra Bengra 47th, Bipin Bopaiah 50th) bt MLI, Belgaum: 2 (Nilesh Wadakar 18th, Ajay Lakra 58th).



Deccan Herald (http://www.deccanherald.com/content/311691/canara-bank-rally-past-mli.html)

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http://www.deccanheraldepaper.com/pdf/2013/02/23/20130223a_002105005.jpg

Synthetic track in Mangalore

Thanks for the update.

Next in line are Mysore / Dharwad / Gulbarga / Udupi stadiums, not in any specific order...

Thanks for the update.

Next in line are Mysore / Dharwad / Gulbarga / Udupi stadiums, not in any specific order...

Work on synthetic turf for hockey field is underway in mysore.

Karthik to lead South Zone, Sreesanth ignored


Chennai, Mar 5: Dinesh Karthik will lead South Zone in the Deodhar Trophy One Day tournament to be held in Guwahati from March 10 to 13.
R Vinay Kumar will be Karthik's deputy in the 15-man squad dominated by Karnataka players. There are six from Karnataka, three from Kerala, two each from Tamil Nadu, Hyderabad and Andhra.
Paceman S Sreesanth who returned to action after injury break, played in the South Zone tournament in Goa but he was not picked for Deodhar Trophy.
South Zone squad: Dinesh Karthik (captain), R Vinay Kumar, Robin Uthappa, KL Rahul, Sachin Baby, Stuart Binny, CM Gautam (wicketkeeper), B Aparajith, Abhimanyu Mithun, B Sudhakar, K Srikar Bharat, S Sandeep Warrier, Ashish Reddy, GH Vihari, Sanju S Viswanathan.

http://www.thatscricket.com/news/2013/03/05/karthik-lead-south-zone-sreesanth-ignored-066354.html


Karnatakans back into action after a long time.Hope to see them make it to national team playing for India.

http://www.deccanheraldepaper.com/pdf/2013/03/06/20130306a_002105004.jpg

International standard cricket ground in Belgaum

BELGAUM: The international standard cricket infrastructure, which is coming up at Autonagar will be completed by the end of October this year.

The ground is been constructed by Karnataka State Cricket Association at Autonagar on 16 acre land. In 2007, KSCA commenced its work to build an international standard ground but the work was going in snail pace but now for the past few weeks the work has picked up its momentum and it is expected to be completed by the end of October this year.

The outfield will consist of Bermuda grass; the lush green outfield, will have eight-turf wickets at the centre apart from six-practicing wicket including a concrete wicket. KSCA have developed a cricket ground to provide opportunity to youngsters of Belgaum to play on an international standard ground. Once the ground comes up lot of matches will be played on this ground apart from this, KSCA will also come out with academy for U-16 and U-19 boys.

"The international standard cricket ground will be completed by the end of October this year; it will be constructed on the lines of international standard cricket ground at Hubli. Already more than Rs 1 crore have been spent and it may cross more than Rs 2 crore before it is completed," added Bababushad, convenor of Hubli Zone.

Due to various administration problems, the work was delayed but now, the work has picked its momentum and will be completed at the earliest, added Bababushad.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/top-stories/International-standard-cricket-ground-in-Belgaum/articleshow/18907926.cms

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Udupi: MLA Bhat Performs Bhoomi Pooja at Mahatma Gandhi Stadium, Ajjarkad (http://www.mangalorean.com/news.php?newstype=broadcast&broadcastid=384710)

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Udupi: Udupi MLA Raghupathi Bhat conducted the Bhoomi Puja for a synthetic track that will be laid at Mahathma Gandhi Staidum Ajjarkad Udupi here on Tuesday March 19, 2013.

Speaking on the occasion Raghuapthi Bhat said that the government is committed towards encouraging the sports and the youth. The state government has released 3.64 Lakhs for a total of 400 meters of synthetic track.The track is expected to be ready by 4 months. He assured that expert teams would supervise the quality maintenance of the track. The construction of a cricket ground and an open air theatre at Beedinagudde is also on progress, he said. Bhat also urged the Sports ministry to provide Rs. 3.5 crore for swimming pool which is already announced for the district.

Udupi Zilla Panchayath President Upendra Nayak, Deputy Commissioner of Udupi distirct Dr. M T Reju, State Coir Board Chairman Sheela K Shetty, Udupi City Muncipality Commissioner Gokuldas Nayak, State Youth and Sport Authority Joint Director Appachu, Udupi Athletic Association President Balakrishna Hegde, Vice President Ranga Pai, International level athlete Rohit Kumar Kateel and others

Mysore to get a booster dose of sports infra

MYSORE: Finally, Mysore gets its due. After having shared the responsibility of hosting the National Games in 1997 with Bangalore, which had the state government upgrading its sports infrastructure, the city has received its first major funding for sports.

The Chamundi Vihar Stadium, which hosted a few events of the National Games and has since been ignored, will now evolve into a modern multi-purpose sports complex complete with a hockey turf, an athletics track, swimming pools, a sports hostel and other facilities.

All the facilities are expected to come up at a cost of Rs 12.53 crore. While Rs 3.15 cr will be spent on the synthetic track, Rs 1.41 cr on the girls sports hostel, Rs 3.62 cr on hi-tech swimming pools, Rs 1 cr on wooden flooring, Rs 2.82 cr on hockey turf and Rs 50 lakh will be spent on the wrestling akhadas.

``The upgradation of existing running track will enhance athletes' performance in bad weather (as opposed to running in what turns into mud) and improves their results over other surfaces. It also provides a more consistent surface for competition even under optimum weather. Such tracks have become the standard for most elite competitions,'' said Suresh K, director, Department of Youth Services and Sports.

According to the plan, 8 line tracks will be laid. The tracks will have drainages. Giving details of the plans, he said that the hockey ground will have a surface of synthetic fibres or astro turf made to look like natural grass.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city

Laser tek Indoor stadium plan shifted to Dharmanath circle again from Vaccine Depot


http://allaboutbelgaum.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/indoorstadium_belgaum.jpg

BELGAUM: In a meeting chaired by the district incharge minister Umesh Katti on Tuesday, he has directed that the Indoor stadium along with Laser tek park be built at the spot first identified near Dharmanath Circle. It was earlier reported that the same plan was shifted to Vaccine depot, but the minister made it clear that Vaccine depot was not a spot for such activity and land near Dharmanath circle of 8 acres is the most ideal.
EOI’s were called for in August 2010 and the was estimated to be Rs.16.5 crores.
The stadium will have indoor games, including basketball, volleyball, shuttle badminton and table tennis courts with some other facilities including a laser tek park.
The stadium will be built on 2 lakh 60 thousand sq foot with an indoor stadium of 35 thousand sq.feet area. A swimming pool has also been planned in the same premises.

http://allaboutbelgaum.com/infrastructure/laser-tek-indoor-stadium-plan-shifted-to-dharmanath-circle-again/

'Marena' sports complex (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mangalore/Marena-sports-complex/articleshow/19234855.cms)

UDUPI: Marena, a sports complex with state-of-the-art facilities, at Manipal University was inaugurated by Union human resource development minister M M PallamRaju on Tuesday.

Addressing the gathering at the event the union minister said that private institutions in the country are playing a vital role in boosting higher education. Enrollment rate in the higher education currently stands at 18.8% and it is expected to touch 30% by 2020,'' he added.

He added that easy access and equity in higher education should be the objective of all the education institutions. Terming the younger population as "demographically divideded,' Raju said loan facilities for poor students should be made easily available at private institutions.

Later at an interactive session, he said that there is a need for quality education and foreign universities which are expected to come to India will concentrate on this aspect. However, we have put forth a condition that those universities should be in the world's top 100 list. The bill regarding this is before the standing committee of MPs,'' he said.

Dr K Ramnarayan, vice-chancellor of Manipal University, Dr H S Ballal, pro-chancellor, Dr Ramdas M Pai, chancellor and others were present.

About Marena:

The indoor sports arena include a gymnasium, a synthetic jogging track, sauna and steam baths, four squash courts, a basketball court, five badminton courts, a playing area for futsal (five sided soccer), a cricket bowling machine and five enclosure for recreation games. The entire complex is air conditioned. The entrance to the complex is at ground level '0' and floor plans goes like plus one level, minus one level, minus two level, minus three level, minus four level, minus five level and minus six level which is the parking area. This sports complex can is used for recreation, fitness and even by sports enthusiasts. The university combo card is necessary to enter the complex.

RC-KSCA academy opens in Shimoga


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Shimoga, Mar 30: The RC-KSCA Academy in Shimoga was inaugurated on Friday (March 29) at the KSCA Ground Navule by academy chairman GR Viswanath and director Syed Kirmani. Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) Secretary Javagal Srinath and K Jeshwant, Assistant Director, RC-KSCA Academy were also present on the occasion. The state of the art academy centre will nurture talent from Shimoga zone, vibrant in its cricket culture, along the same lines as other academy centres set up across Karnataka, a media release from KSCA said. Speaking after inauguration, Vishwanath said: "The RC-KSCA Academy centre in Shimoga a good development for young boys from Shimoga Zone who will get all the facilities like other centres. They should consider themselves lucky to have these facilities early and good coaches to help them develop well." "The facilities provided at the Shimoga RC-KSCA Academy centre are international class and will help the boys give off their best to achieve higher honours for Karnataka state and to go even further," Kirmani said.

Read more at: http://www.thatscricket.com/news/2013/03/30/rc-ksca-academy-opens-shimoga-066916.html

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Udayavani

Deepak: Making rapid strides

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The boy from Hubli, Deepak Beijawad, is making rapid strides and is showing great promise in hockey as defender and drag-flicker. The Karnataka captain is surely India material in the future.

No wonder Deepak has V R Raghunath and Jugraj Singh as his heroes. From the Sports School in Hubli, Deepak joined the Sports Authority of India’s Sports Hostel in Bangalore. After turning out for them in many tournaments, he caught the eye of the state selectors. Having done well at the junior levels, Deepak got into the senior side as well and has been going great guns for the past three seasons. His crowning glory came when he was made the captain of the Karnataka team for the ongoing 64th Rangaswamy Cup national hockey championships.

Karnataka is on top of the league table and owe that position in large measure to Deepak’s defending and goal-scoring ability. He has scored a brace of goals in all games Karnataka has played, giving a tough time to the opposition with his hard tackle and clearance. Endowed with good stamina, Deepak can last a game quite easily. So forwards cannot just sweep him off his feet, he will chase and tackle them to the very end.

No sooner Karnataka are awarded a penalty corner, Deepak rushes in for it. He provides a lot of variety in his efforts. The low or high scoop, the hard shot, indirect conversions have all been a feature of his attempts and goalkeepers have been kept guessing as they have conceded goals galore.

“I was always interested in playing hockey. I went for selections for the Sports School in Hubli and got selected. From there I got into selected for the Sports Hostel and right now I am with them,” said Deepak.

“I watched players like Raghunath and Jugraj Singh play and take short corners. I always wanted to emulate them. They have been my heroes. My coach Prabhakar has guided me through in the Sports Hostel and in the state team Ramesh Parameshwaran has been guiding me. I have improved a lot under their guidance,” said Deepak.

“He is an attack-minded defender who likes to move up like Pargat Singh would do. That is good for the team. But he has to concentrate on his recovery as defending is his first responsibility. He has a lot of talent and is very hard working and committed. I am sure Deepak will rise very high in the game,” said Ramesh Parameshwaran.

The 64th national championships has surely provided a platform for the emergence of a hidden talent and Deepak has made great use of it to parade his wares. An India call-up is not very far away for him.


http://newindianexpress.com/cities/bangalore/Deepak-Making-rapid-strides/2013/05/16/article1591628.ece

Hockey: Karnataka lift Rangaswamy Cup

Karnataka created history by winning their maiden Rangaswamy Cup, the symbol of supremacy in the Indian Hockey Federation's senior National men's hockey championship after defeating Uttar Pradesh 3-1 in the final here Thursday.

After going into breather tied 1-1, Karnataka stepped up the pace on resumption and pumped in two more goals even as Uttar Pradesh fought till the end.

The star of Karnataka's victory was penalty corner specialist Deepak Beijawad who scored twice in the second-half in the 38th and 57th minutes as the hosts, playing their first final since 1968 when they had finished runner-up, emerged deserving winners.

Earlier, in the first half, Umesh K.R. put Karnataka ahead with a third minute strike, but Imran Kumar put Uttar Pradesh on level terms in the 10th minute.

The teams went into half-time locked 1-1 as the match looked set for a thrilling finish. However, Beijawad's twin conversions sealed the final as Karnataka received a cash prize of Rs. 1 lakh while UP were presented Rs.50,000.

Defending champions Mumbai finished third after edging out Punjab 5-4 in the penalty shootout as the teams finished the regulation period and extra-time locked 2-2. Upendra Pillay (12th) and Vikram Singh (47th) scored for Mumbai while Sanjeev Kumar (23rd, 35th) struck both Punjab goals.

Special awards:

Best goalkeeper: Sudhir Dixit (Mumbai); Best defender: Deepak Beijawad; Best half back: Nagasrini Y (Karnataka); Best forward: Satwinder Singh (Punjab); Top scorer: Victo Singh (Mumbai) 12 goals; Player of the championship: Diwakar Ram.

http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/hockey-karnataka-lift-rangaswamy-cup-113051601135_1.html