Tennis: Vishnu Vardhan wins 2011 Noida futures

Prior post 4/22/11
Prior post 4/21/11
Prior post 4/20/11

Vishnu Vardhan who is currently India's No. 3 tennis player defeated Young Jun Kim of Korea in a three set match. Like yesterday's Semi-final today's final was also a very tough match to win for Vishnu, the score was 7-5, 3-6, 7-6(13) and it was a grueling three hour match in the Indian heat. Vishnu relied on his serve to keep himself afloat from losing the game, and as he plays more games he is learning and improving his tennis.

This is the third futures title won by Vishnu, this win will provide him with 27 ATP points and will propel him to be the No. 2 tennis player for India. This will give him the opportunity to play more at the Challenger tournaments and face players much highly ranked and more skilled than him. He will play in the Chennai Futures tournament next and head off to play a challenger in Uzbekistan.

The draw sheet

Boxing: Updates

8 fought in the Serbian invitational, 3 made it to the Semis:
Shiva Thapa (bantamweight 56 kgs), Paramjeet Samota (heavyweight 91kgs+), and Manpreet Singh (cruiser weight 91 kgs) managed to make it to the Semi-finals of the Serbian Invitational boxing tourney.

India sends 16 women's boxers to the Youth and Junior world championships:

Youth Women's World Championship:
1) S. Sarjubala Devi
2) Sanasri Brahma
3) Pwilao Basumatary
4) Anjali Machahari
5) Poonam Chahal
6) Minu Basumatary
7) Heena Tokas
8) Alary Bord

Juniors Women's World Championship:
1) Lalenkawli
2) Chanchan Devi
3) Nikhat Zareen
4) Lalfakzuali
5) Pinki Kachari
6) Neeraj Bala
7) Marathamma
8) Laxmi Wagh

Football: Bob Houghton vs. All-India Football Federation

This is a battle that has been brewing in the background for a few months now and as much as I tried avoiding to report on Indian sports drama it has turned out to be impossible to ignore this topic. This is the end of the road for the Indian national football coach. From a reasonable point of view Bob Houghton did a good job as the head coach of Indian football, but that isn't good enough for the AIFF.

After being hired in 2006, Houghton guided the Indian team to winning the Nehru Cup in 2007 by beating Syria, a team that was ranked 40 spots higher than India in the FIFA rankings. In 2008, he led the team into winning the AFC Challenge Cup by beating Tajikistan in the finals. As a result of winning the AFC Challenge Cup, India got an automatic entry into the AFC Asia Cup, a feat that was achieved after 28 years. Under his tenure, India managed to win the 2009 Nehru Cup as well.

Here is a clip of India's 2011 Asia Cup goals:

There were some barely negative aspects of what happened under his tenure. India got trashed in the Asia Cup, something that was excepted considering that we were placed in the toughest group and pitted against Australia (ranked 2nd in the tourney), South Korea (ranked 3rd in the tourney), and Bahrain. There were many who criticized Houghton for sticking to his old Brigade of players rather than bringing in the young guns who would have brought speed and energy to the team. We'll never know if his instincts were correct, but I would like to think so after taking a look at his Resume.

His biggest mistake was that he butted his head against the all powerful, all corrupt, and all political: AIFF. That's what the word is in the Indian footballing world, for all I know the AIFF could be angels sent from heaven.

Houghton criticized the AIFF in public with out any reservations. He criticized them for their lack of vision and professionalism, he did it without any fear and regard for the consequences, so he is paying for it. The AIFF accused him of racism and is trashing his contract that technically should have continued until 2013. Link to an article on his racism allegations

Lets take a moment to say cheers to this man and thank him for the service he has provided for Indian Football. The Indian football fans and the national team will certainly miss his leadership.

P.S: I was told that creating the Indian Arrows was also his idea.

Tennis: 2011 Noida futures tournament Semi-finals

Prior post 4/21/11
Prior post 4/20/11

As I predicted in my last post, Vishnu Vardhan won against Karan Rastogi in the Semifinals of the Noida futures. Judging by the score 6-7, 6-1, 7-6 one can tell it was a very tough match for both players. Rastogi started off the game by winning a very close contested first set, Vardhan collected himself from the first set loss and came back strong in the second and third set to win the match.

This is not the first time Vishnu Vardhan has done this, he has a tendency to lose the first set and come back strong to win the matches. Vishnu has one of the strongest serves among all the Indians. He uses his power on the serve to his advantage and gets himself out of tough situations. Karan Rastogi, after having a good 2010 season, has been struggling with him form lately. Hopefully he will recover himself from this loss and re-gain his form.

In the other semi-final, Young-Jun Kim of Korea easily defeated Danai Udomchoke with a score of 6-1, 6-1. Based on the scores, Young-Jun Kim will be less tired compared to Vishnu Vardhan for the final bout. Lets wish Vishnu well and that he will recover before the final and give a good fight.

The draw sheet

The winner of this tournament will receive 27 ranking points while the loser will receive 10. If Vishnu Vardhan wins the final he will help himself to the rank of approximately 300, and if he loses he will place around 330. Vishnu is currently ranked 368 in the world.

Football: U-15 boys national team, Dallas Cup Quarter-Finals

Prior post 4/21/11
Prior post 4/20/11

The team was competing in a local US tournament called The Dallas Cup where they are playing against very good U-15 club teams from around the world.

Here is the points table for the tournament: Dallas Cup points table

Update:
I would like to sadly inform you all that the Indian U-15 team was ousted from the tournament quarterfinals. It was a hard fought match that stayed close until the end of the game, but they lost with a final score of 3-4 against FC Golden State. Alen Deory, Jimmy Maibam and Muana Lalram were the goal scorers in the game for India.

This is not at all a bad result, building a team to win tournaments such as the Dallas cup is a long term process and the players (as young as they are) who are away from home will have a tough time to compete. They should be appreciated for their effort and watch them progress into very good players by the time they play for the national team.

Current Team: 
Anis Kaithara, Hanan Javed Nellikavil, Siddharth Mukhi, Sanga Vanlal Duat, Jimmy Singh Maibam, Utam Rai, Alen Deory, Muana Lalram, Myron Mendes, Agiapal Singh, Supratim Bhattarcharjee,Mohammad Sajid Dhot, Harmanjot Singh, Germanpreet Singh, Nitin Jyal, Myron Mendes.

Remember them, may be someday you can boast of the fact that you knew about these kids before everyone else. After the Indian Arrows these kids are certainly the ones who will carry the Mantle.

The next tournament for them will be the AFC U-16 Championship qualifiers in September of this year. We'll definitely hear about them again.

Tennis: An Interview with Somdev

Some facts about Somdev Devvarman:
1) Current Rank: 71 (best Indian ranking since Ramesh Krishnan)
2) Won 2 NCAA singles titles consecutively (only 3 people did that in history)
3) He brought India back into the Davis cup world group after 11 years

Here is a clip of him playing against Rafael Nadal:

Excerpts from the Interview:

What have been the finer adjustments in your game this year?
It (2010) was a good year but I have always felt that I had a lot more in my game, that I could really take it forward and play better tennis. Towards the end of 2010, I tried to translate much of that to my game, so I focused on getting stronger, fitter and run down every ball. Once that is in place, I could stop worrying about much else. I worked upon my serve, quite a bit on coming forward and finishing points on the net, and also improving my forehand.

What is the one thing you’d like to improve right now in your game?
I have been serving better, but it’s been on and off. I want to make it more consistent and make it a weapon to reckon with, something I can rely on and trouble opponents with more consistently.

Many top international players have been known to skip the Davis Cup. With your singles career now taking off well, do you also face this dilemma?
Not yet luckily. Davis Cup has always been a priority for me. I have not been playing a long while in Davis Cup; only for the past two years. I take a lot of pride in playing for India and I don’t foresee any problems in my playing for my country.

You’ve played both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal this year. Comparing the two, who do you think is more beatable and stands a better chance of pushing the limit?
If you look at the scoreline, it’s pretty simple to guess (Federer won 6-3, 6-3, Nadal won 7-5, 6-4). But both are great players, and have humbled a lot of other good tennis players. A lot depends on the day, if you show up and feel ready to play, then I think you have a good chance.

Interview conducted by livemint.com: The Complete Interview

Tennis: 2011 Noida futures tournament (Update)

Prior post on 4/20/11

We were hoping there would be an all Indian semi-final at Noida futures, but that wish only came half true. Karan Rastogi (World rank: 321) and Vishnu Vardhan (World rank: 368) are the two Indians left in the draw, while Ranjeet Murugesan (World rank: 555) and Vijayant Malik (World rank: 770) bowed out in the quarter-finals.

In the Semifinals, Karan Rastogi and Vishnu Vardhan will play against each other while Danai Udomchoke of Thailand (World rank: 277) will face off against Young-Jun Kim of Korea (World rank: 407).

Even though Karan is ranked higher compared to Vishnu, it is hard to predict who will win. Vishnu won a futures tournament last week by beating Yuki Bhambri (a.k.a the future of Indian tennis) in the finals, he should be high in confidence and motivated to win his 3rd futures title of his career. Lets see if the much experienced Karan will give him that privilege. 

My tennis instincts tell me that Vishnu Vardhan is going to win because he is a Hyderabadi. Stay tuned to see if my instincts ACTUALLY work.

The link to the Draw

I'll keep you all updated....

Football: U-15 boys national team, Dallas Cup (Update)

Prior post on 4/20/11

They are competing in a local US tournament called The Dallas Cup where they are playing against very good U-15 club teams from around the world.

Here is the points table for the tournament: Dallas Cup points table

Update: India is in the playoffs!!
Yesterday, the U-15 national team has beaten Socker's U-15 Cup with a score of 1-0. Before yesterday, the India U-15 national team was 3rd in the points table and it looked very unlikely that they would advance to the play offs. They surprised many by beating a very strong Socker's U-15 who were (before India beat them) the favorites to win the Group G.

India has leapfrogged themselves to be the best in the group. Guess what? We made the play offs! And we will be facing FC Golden State in the quarter finals match. If we win that we will be facing an undefeated Eintracht Frankfurt.

Here is a promo for the Dallas cup:

I'll keep you all updated on what happens in the play-offs.

Women's Basketball: Geethu A. Jose to try out in the WNBA

Will she be the first Indian in the WNBA? The 25 year old from Kerala is currently the captain of the Indian women's basketball team. She towers at 6'2'' and is a prolific scorer who averaged 22 points per game at the 2009 FIBA Asia Women's Basketball Championships.

“I have waited a long time for this opportunity – I can’t believe that it’s finally here,” said Jose. “It has been my dream to play at the highest level – the WNBA. It does not matter which team gives me the opportunity there – I just want to compete.”              

It turns out that Jose was actually invited to try out for WNBA teams last year but was unable to take advantage. This time, she will.

The Indian Basketball Federation’s (BFI) Harish Sharma said: “This is an incredible opportunity for Geethu Anna Jose.

“We are delighted for her and everyone who supports basketball in India will hope and pray for her success with the tryouts.

“She was offered the same opportunity last year, but due to complications she couldn’t make it – we are glad that this time, her dream is one step closer to being realised.”

“This has been one major step for us at BFI in promoting Indian players throughout the world,” Sharma said.

“We will be looking to support such opportunities for other basketball players in India as well – the more players that proper outside of India, the more prosperity they will be bringing to the game of basketball in India.”

 Source: http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fc/news/lateNews/p/cp/eid/eventid/langid/1/lid/newsid/46322/rid/roundid/sid/arti.html

Tennis: 2011 Noida futures tournament

There is an ITF men's Futures tournament taking place in Noida, India. The tourney is currently in the quarterfinals stage, and 4 out of the 8 players left are Indian! Karan Rastogi (World rank: 321), Vishnu Vardhan (World rank: 368), Ranjeet Murugesan (World rank: 555), Vijayant Malik (World rank: 770) are still fighting in the tournament.

Lets hope that this will be an All-Indian semi-finals! Link to the 2011 Noida Futures Main Draw

Will keep you updated on the results...

Football: India U-15 national team

IMG-Reliance has invested in India's U-15 national team by giving them scholarships to train in the US and compete against better players. This would give these youngsters a much needed exposure to take their abilities to a different level.

Here is a clip of the kind of training they are receiving:

They are competing in a local US tournament called The Dallas Cup where they are competing against very good U-15 club teams.

Here is the points table for the tournament: Dallas Cup points table

Our team lost against Santa Clara Sporting club (1-2), won against TSF Academy Grey (5-2), and to survive the group stage and go to the play offs of the tournament they will have to beat Socker's U-15 Cup on April 20th. I will provide you with the updates as the tournament continues.

As a treat, here is a footage of a goal scored by India against TSF Academy:

Bhutia wants better football pitches in India

Blaming poor quality of infrastructure for the miserable state of Indian football, Bhutia on Friday said that quality grounds were essential to luring youngsters.

"Indian youth watch and follow European leagues. It's clear that they love football but they should be playing the sport more. And we don't have good grounds for that," Bhutia, co-owner of second division side United Sikkim Football Club, told Sunday MiD DAY.

"There aren't enough football stadiums in the country. And the quality of the existing stadiums isn't up to the mark."

Bhutia explained that Indian football could compete with lucrative European leagues for television viewership but the bad playing conditions were an impediment.

"Poor pitches affect the game and the quality of football drops. A good pitch ensures a good quality game and people want to watch good quality football," Bhutia said.

"Even if teams like Arsenal and Real Madrid are made to play on a bad ground, their quality will reduce immensely.

"That's why people prefer to watch the English Premier League on TV rather than Indian football," added Bhutia.

Bhutia believed the football loving youth of India deserve better.

"We need to back talented players and the least we can do is give them good infrastructure. Who knows, one of them can become the next Cristiano Ronaldo!"

Source:  http://www.mid-day.com/sports/2011/apr/170411-Baichung-Bhutia-Indian-football.htm

Indian Arrows: The future

Over the past few decades India has been dubbed as a sleeping giant of world football. The reasons vary for why India under achieves and depending on whom you ask you will get a different answer. I can give you 101 reasons for why we are not in the top-50 in the world, but I'll focus on the positives today.

This video features the Indian Arrows. They are exclusively an Indian Under-20 team who play in the I-league. The other 13 teams in the I-league do not have any age limit and they can recruit players from other countries. The Arrows are boys among men, by the time they all become full fledged national players they will hopefully raise the bar for Indian football.

For now, enjoy watching this video, I will keep you all updated on the future "happenings" of the Arrows.

Tennis: Somdev ranked 71, Sania ranked 73

Somdev ranks 71st and Sania ranks 73rd in the world

This is probably the first time in Indian tennis history when a men's and women's player is ranked in the top-75 at the same time. Cheers to Somdev and Sania!!

Indian Football History

Most people do not know that India had a relatively rich history in football. The lackluster state of Indian football in the current times gives everyone the impression that Indians are newbies in the football world. The truth is something else. Please watch this video linked above to may be get a glimpse into our unnoticed history.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Part 4:

Part 5:

Part 6:

Part 7: