Ajay Thakur masterminded a memorable triumph against a spirited Iran with a terrific exhibition of raiding in the 2016 Kabaddi World Cup final at the Arena by TransStadia here on Saturday. Outwitted in the first half by rival skipper Meraj Sheykh’s versatile display — he fetched points by kicking with his right leg and stretching his right hand at the opponent — and down 13-18 at half time, India took charge of the final in the second half with Thakur’s sleek raiding skills earning super raid points. Once Thakur won a hand-touch point against Sheykh, India took the lead for the second time in the match and then proceeded to dominate and win 38-29.

Pardeep Narwal, India’s second most successful raider in the league stage, was off-color. Still, substitute Nitin Tomar rose to the occasion, winning super raid points sent out Sheykh Fazel Atrachali at a critical juncture. Eventually, Surjeet’s leg-lock on Sheykh reflected India’s control of the match against an opponent that depended largely on Sheykh and Atrachali, both ProKabaddi League professionals.

It was the third clash between India and Iran in a World Cup final — the previous two were held in 2004 and 2007 in Mumbai, and on both occasions, India triumphed. With the third World Cup being staged after four editions of the ProKabaddi League, there was a lot of hype and hoopla around the event, and there was immense pressure on Anup Kumar’s team to win the title a third time. His team lost the opening league match to the Republic of Korea but hit back strongly in the remaining league matches and showed remarkable composure to turn the tide against Iran in the title match.

Earlier, Sheykh did the star turn demonstrating his cunning maneuvers as a raider. Thanks to the five raid points Sheykh won in the first half, including a super raid execution, Iran led 18-13 at halftime. India took the field with Anup Kumar, Manjit Chillar, Thakur, Pradeep Narwal, Sandeep Narwal, Surjeet, and Surender Nada. After two empty raids from either side, Sandeep Narwal won the home side the first point with a hand touch.

Thakur made it 2-0, but very soon, Iran showed its class by cleverly playing lobby to earn two bonus points and a raid point when Meraj won a team review for a hand touch on Sandeep Narwal. Returning to action, Sandeep Narwal won the first tackle point for India. Still, soon the Iranian skipper’s electrifying display took center-stage as he put his side ahead by six points at the interval. Fazel Atrachali excelled in defense, and four other players earned tackle points.
But eventually, India showed its wherewithal in a sport it has dominated since the 1990 Asian Games.

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With each Olympics and India’s miserable performance in them, one hears enough talk about the lack of sporting culture and the absence of world-class infrastructure as the main reasons for India’s debacle. While the sporting culture part is witnessing a real transformation with many sports gaining importance and health and fitness issues taking center stage, high-quality infrastructure remains a concern.

Though one might point at the large stadiums and other sports-related infrastructure in each city facing huge problems of underutilization, the fact remains that sportspersons have to look beyond India’s shores for accessing training facilities that are expected to make the difference between stepping on the winners’ podium or returning home empty-handed. And who better than the country’s first individual gold medallist to not just talk about moving in the right direction on infrastructure but actually getting down to acting on it. True to his promise post-Rio, Abhinav Bindra has launched a high-performance center in Chandigarh, where athletes can access facilities that are on par with any center in the world.

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With equipment that Bindra himself used for training for the Rio Olympics, the center has opened its doors for any athlete who wants to raise standards to compete with the best and, more importantly, free for any Indian elite athlete. “For the longest time, we’ve lamented about the lack of facilities in our country. This is an attempt to redress the problem, and this will get us on par with the West and actually get us ahead of the curve.

For 22 years of my life, I’ve been searching for a thing like this. Had I found it earlier, I’d have won another Olympic medal”, says Bindra with a laugh. From Ahmedabad comes another interesting development called The Arena from TransStadia, the 2016 Kabaddi World Cup venue, which India just won. A spanking new sports infrastructure project, this multi-purpose venue can house 14 sporting disciplines, making it India’s first and largest integrated convertible multi-sports facility. “The indoor stadium features the patented T-box technology, which enables us to set up seating within minutes.

This model will ensure that we’re not dependent only on renting the facility for sporting activities,” says Udit Sheth, the person behind setting up the country’s first private-public-partnership (PPP) multiuse urban sports infrastructure facility. In fact, if the grapevine is to be believed, the third edition of the IPTL may well be held there a month and a half down the line. “China has 1000 of these high-performance centers.

The USA, too, has them in abundance. It’s only fair our athletes have access to the best facilities to be able to compete with the best”, says Bindra. While the focus for TransStadia is in developing entertainment spaces revolving around sports, what could be of interest to India’s athletes is the sports rehabilitation center housed in a Rs 536-crore complex. Couple this with Bindra’s facility for assessment and training under one roof, and India does seem to be making giant strides in the sports infrastructure realm.

The various sports associations will now have a high-quality sports science, rehabilitation, and elite athlete training center, along with other sporting facilities under one roof,” adds Sheth. Bindra, too, is aiming to do the same. With the SAI top management already having visited Chandigarh last week, it’s expected that come to Tokyo; we will not have to send our athletes to foreign shores for training. While saving money, on the one hand, it will also allow proper mentoring of these athletes, unlike what happened in Rio and is being looked upon as one of the main causes of India’s underwhelming show.

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This is a story about children’s sport. It’s about rugby. It’s about football. And it’s also about tennis and why one darling little girl didn’t get to play her tennis match last Saturday. The huge success of the women’s rugby sevens team in Rio is forcing the sport to rethink the way it’s played here in Australia. From this year, boys and girls can play together in rugby teams and, after puberty, girls can continue to play with boys in exceptional circumstances. I mean, who wouldn’t want Charlotte (Charlie) Caslick on their team?

Australia’s top pediatric exercise physiologist says there is no good reason to separate girls and boys in junior sport.
There is no good reason to separate girls and boys in junior sport, Australia’s top pediatric exercise physiologist says.

Photo: Angela Milne

Children’s sport is changing and must change. The participation rate in some children’s sport has gone down so dramatically that if we want children to play, it needs to be inclusive, fun, and develop fitness. Even netball is now mixed, and primary schools in the ACT are welcoming boys to their teams, And that’s all fine in theory. You’d think that everyone would be on board. But sometimes, it’s hard for people to accept change, and that’s when the kids get hurt.
Saturday morning, thousands and thousands of kids are out playing a sport, and one of them is India Rasheed. She’s nine years old, and her dad Roger is one of the best tennis coaches Australia has ever seen. Remember when Lleyton Hewitt was the world No 1? That was Roger Rasheed’s handiwork.

India was meant to play a match on Saturday, but the parent of her opponent had other views. That parent’s child is a boy. In this particular association – South Australia’s Eastern Districts Tennis Association – boys don’t play girls past the beginner level. That’s an Association decision. But India’s own club, the Burnside Tennis Club, selected her to play anyway. The families at Burnside think the rule about boys playing separately from girls is archaic.

I’ve only got Rasheed’s word for it – and his own very passionate post on his Facebook page. But he says that his daughter was excited to be playing on Saturday. She and her friend, a boy playing his second match ever, partner to win their doubles match. Then, he says, trouble began. His daughter, perfect for her age, was meant to play a boy in a singles match. The parent of that boy was not happy.

She [the parent] decided to take action herself because a girl was playing against the boys; she made phone calls to her club’s officials and aggressively took action in wanting the girl not to be a part of the fixture. Through my discussion with her, it was obvious that she had an agenda; she had zero interest in participation and kids just going out and playing a game of tennis on a Saturday. When I explained to her that this would be a great time to educate your son on why playing a girl is no different and to treat it the same, it continually fell on deaf ears, which was a shame.

His view? “She didn’t want her son to suffer a loss to a female potentially.” Now bear with me. I had a long conversation with Rasheed on Sunday night because I’d read about this and thought, hey, maybe here’s a stage dad. But the fact is that Rasheed had been trying to bring the Eastern Districts Tennis Association up to speed with what’s been happening in sport all over the world. He got nowhere with the president despite tRasheed’svolunteering to help the association make the change – not to benefit his daughter but to benefit all the kids. He was planning to assist with changes in junior pathways.

They just refused to engage in any real dialogue,” he says.

I interviewed a spokeswoman for the club on Sunday and, to be honest, I felt a bit sorry for her. Here she was, dealing with a legend of Australian sport. In all her years of working as a volunteer, she has never had to deal with an inquiry like this before. She says that the club votes on bylaws at the beginning of each year, and perhaps these bylaws could be changed for their area.

It’s hard to change but change they must – all sports must. Here’s why. There is no good reason to separate girls and boys in junior sport. None. Australia’s top pediatric exercise physiologist Geraldine Naughton, a professor at the Australian Catholic University, has been researching this for years. She tells us boys aren’t bigger or stronger until they hit puberty. And that’s about 13. Even then, one in 20 girls will still be able to compete alongside boys and win.
Until then, it’s completely ridiculous to separate the genders when they compete.

But there are sporting associations all over Australia that don’t separate kids from the beginning. This sounds like good sense. After all, we want kids to participate, and there are plenty of sports making headway in this area. The Australian Rugby Union is now following World Rugby’s rules, saying the sport must now be mixed until 13, and girls can play with boys after that in exceptional circumstances (did I already mention Charlie Click?).

The even better news is that the sport is now on offer in many versions across many states. The more, the merrier. And next year, rugby is trialing an “egg” version of grades. If you are in a particular age group, you will play against kids who are the same weight. Schools will be playing against other schools of similar caliber. This is awesome! Having watched teams get spanked 80 to nil, it’s no fun for the players or the spectators.

Naughton, the pediatric exercise professor, is firm: “As a pediatric exercise scientist, I can say there is no difference in speed, power, strength, even upper body power between boys and girls up unto the age of 13 … we cannot find differences between boys and girls based on physical quality. Even after that, there is still 5 percent of girls who can match boys in strength and power.

Boys are fitter at this stage – although video games may be closing the gap – that may be because we expect boys to play a sport—the time we expected girls to play sport too. So no evidence, so, therefore, no excuse. And she says most sports in Australia are pulling their weight. I am so proud of sporting organizations; they are doing their best to be inclusive. I am just so pleased. Heather Reid, ambassador for the Australian ‘women’s Sport and Recreation Association and with decades of experience in football, says, “Common sense should prevail.

It has to go to the heart of the person’s ability, not their gender. In a normal world, not all men are the same size or the same speed, nor all women. Reid has watched the female participation in football soar over decades, and she is thrilled.
As Rasheed says: “My No. 1 priority wasn’t my daughter; I’ve got to look at the big picture.

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Mumbai: To promote gender equality, the Indian team on Saturday sported jerseys with their mothers’ names during the fifth and final ODI against New Zealand in Vizag. The move is part of the Indian team’s sponsorship rights holder and broadcaster Star India’s ‘Nayi Sochi campaign. India’s batsmen Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma wear t-shirts display their mother’s names during the fifth ODI against New Zealand.

To make a powerful statement that can inspire millions and propel change, our cricket team today sported jerseys with their mothers’ names at the final ODI of the India-New Zealand series. Our cricket team will serve as ambassadors of new thinking and use the power and platform of sport to drive meaningful social change,” Star India said in a statement. It expects the symbolic gesture to champion the cause of women in the country, ranked 130th out of 155 nations in the world on gender equality, as per the UN Human Development Report 2015.

This is the first time that a team jersey is being used so disruptively to power social change. We compliment BCCI and the team for such a transformational collaboration. This time around, both the BCCI as well as Star has put their strength together to highlight the cause of women in our country,” Star India chairman and chief executive Uday Shankar said. The World over sports is a tremendous platform for advocacy and social causes.

Our cricketers sporting their mothers’ names make a powerful and emotive statement, and we are thankful to BCCI and the cricket team for partnering with us on this idea. It will support the voice of the emerging women and inspire millions to acknowledge and celebrate the identity and role of women here,” he added. BCCI president Anurag Thakur said, “With this initiative, we endeavor to honor each woman. Our team has sported their mothers’ names on their jerseys for the fifth ODI against New Zealand with the intent to thank all the mothers for their efforts and sacrifices.

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The series against New Zealand at home and earlier one away against the West Indies were both a cakewalk. Neither really offered the sort of resistance that could put the Indian team under the cosh. England, though, is expected to be far tougher opposition. They got the better of India in its own backyard in 2012, winning that set of encounters 2-1. Thus India surely has a few scores to settle in the forthcoming five-Test series.

The selectors, and the BCCI, conscious of the need of the hour, seem to have got the Indian team better prepared and rested than the visitors, who went through a tough series in Bangladesh. They succumbed to the 19-year-old off-spinner Mehedi Hasan, who ran circles around them and picked up 19 wickets from two Tests, in the process inflicting on the Englishmen their first Test defeat in Bangladesh.

Mindful that the England batsmen would continue to struggle against spin, the selection committee headed by MSK Prasad has opted to field an experienced spin attack with Ravichandran Ashwin, who seems to be in the form of his life, as the undoubted leader of the pack. He should be as lethal as Mehedi, if not more, particularly as he has a bagful of tricks and experience. Skipper Virat Kohli who used his spinners wonderfully in the Caribbean and the home series against New Zealand would surely be eager to let Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja loose on the visitors.

Jadeja, in Indian conditions, can be a handful. He bowls his brisk left-arm spin at the right place and has the variations to probe and torment batters. In fact, he would be the ideal foil for Ashwin on Indian pitches. Both are very handy lower middle-order batsmen, which makes them even more useful to the side. For good measure, Kohli also has the services of leg-spinner Amit Mishra to call upon. Mishra has not played too many Tests but is an experienced and wily bowler who could revel in home conditions.

The key to Kohli having three spinners in the playing eleven would probably hinge on the surprise inclusion of Hardik Pandya, whose exploits are almost exclusively confined to limited-overs cricket. It is possible that he could be used as the fifth bowler who could take the shine off the ball and then belt the rival bowlers for some quick runs. In such a scenario, the pitch would obviously have to be heavily loaded in favor of spinners, and thus, just one frontline fast bowler would suffice in the playing eleven. Kohli has a choice between Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, and Umesh Yadav for that role. Bhuvaneshwar Kumar’s injury ruled him out of contention.

The selectors could probably have gone for Yuvraj Singh. The hard-hitting left-hander could have come in handy at number six against the left-arm spinner Zafar Ansari and leg-spinner Adil Rashid. He could have slammed them with the spin or even gone after the off-spinners Moen Ali and Gareth Batty on the relatively small Indian grounds. Yuvraj has been in roaring form in domestic cricket, scoring nearly 600 runs in his last four Ranji Trophy matches, including a mammoth 260 against Baroda.

With his powerful hitting and recent form, Yuvraj would have kept the pressure on the bowlers. Besides, in the right conditions, he could be called pon to roll his arm over. But alas, that was not to be. India vs. England: Few fitness concerns for hosts, but selectors have a routine task for Test series India vs. England: Few fitness concerns for hosts, but selectors have a routine task for Test series

India vs. England: Hardik Pandya gets a maiden call-up, Gautam Gambhir retained for first two Tests India vs. England: Hardik Pandya gets a maiden call-up, Gautam Gambhir retained for first two Tests injuries have opened places in the team, and the selectors have rightly gone for young Karnataka batsman Karun Nair. Karun is an outstanding player of spin bowling, and if conditions are conducive, he could force himself into the playing eleven.

The opening slots have been retained by Murali Vijay and Gautam Gambhir, owing to the continued absence of Rahul. The first two Tests present a great opportunity for them to consolidate their position. Interestingly, the team has been announced only for the first two Tests, at Rajkot (9-13 November) and Vishakapatnam (17-21 November).

The selectors probably expect those injured to be in the mix by the start of the third Test in Mohali (26-30 November), and hence the onus would be on the chosen players to ensure that they deliver the goods right away. The Indian team is spoilt for choice, and that, any day, is better than a paucity of it. The team: Virat Kohli (C), Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Karun Nair, Gautam Gambhir, Wriddhiman Saha, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Amit Mishra, Ishant Sharma, Mohammad Shami, Umesh Yadav, Jayant Yadav.

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PUNE: In 2012, Add Crazy Pune had got its first-ever sports policy. Apart from promoting sports activities in the city, the policy had also promised to protect land earmarked for playgrounds and promote children’s sports development. Four years later, much of that remains only on paper, mostly as the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has yet to appoint a deputy commissioner for sports. Other initiatives under the policy, such as scholarships for national-level players, have failed to take wing.

The policy, which lays out guidelines to construct sports complexes and develop grounds, was drafted in consultation with the city’s sportspersons, coaches, and sports organizations. Since then, it only gathered dust. And this, when corporators are pressing for a new scheme to recruit sportspersons into the PMC. Elected members insist that the administration implements the policy. We have been demanding it for long, but high-ranking officers such as deputy commissioner for sports have not been appointed,” said Vishal Tambe, PMC corporation.

Politics is affecting sports development in the city. The policy was amended many times to accommodate various leaders. The administration should have taken steps to follow the suggestions,” said Avinash Bagwe, former chairman of the committee which drafted the policy. Promoting sports activities at the school, college, and professional levels was key to the policy, said Bagwell, adding these duties can be executed only by an officer with adequate powers. The lack of such an officer has pushed sports onto the backfoot.

As per the policy, sports activity centers will be set up in different parts of the city. The 1987 development plan had reserved 70 hectares of land in various parts of the city for playgrounds. However, the PMC has so far acquired only about 10 hectares of it. Moreover, several plots of land reserved for sports grounds are lying unused. Some of them have even been encroached upon. Stay updated on the go with the Times of India News App. Click here to download it for your device.

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