Sant, Swaroopam reign supreme

INDIAN Express’ Vijay Sant and The Hitavada’s Swaroopam Shrivastav toppled their respective top seeded opponents to claim top honours in the singles category of the 7th Badminton Tournament for Mediapersons which concluded at Subhedar Hall on Saturday.
In the men’s singles final, Sant rallied back brilliantly to beat Ashish Jain of Lokmat 18-21, 21-18, 21-10. With both Sant and Jain, known for their attacking game, match was a treat for the spectators. After losing the first game, Sant made a stunning comeback to pip Jain in the second game. The Indian Express shuttler then went on to secure the third game comfortably.
Swaroopam shocked top seed The Hitavada’s Tanveer Shaikh in straight games to lift women’s crown. Playing for the first time in the tournament Swaroopam dominated the proceedings right from the start. She won 21-11, 21-16.
It was double delight for Sant, who after bagging the men’s crown, went on to grab doubles title.
In a hard-fought doubles final, Sant alongwith Vivek Puradbhat overcame a stiff resistance from Suhas Nayse and Madhav Soman of Times of India to record a 21-16, 20-22, 21-17 win.
Manan Bondekar, Director, Gracelands was the chief guest of prize distribution function. Dr Dhananjay Welukar, Director, Department of Physical Education, RTM Nagpur University, Dr Yeshwant Patil, Co-ordinator PGTD Physical Education and Rakesh Kochar of Gurunanank Engineering College also graced the occasion. Dr Ram Thakur, President, SJAN made introductory remarks. Naresh Shelke, vice-president conducted the proceedings while treasurer Anupam Soni proposed a vote of thanks.
Other Results: Men’s singles (semis): Ashish Jain (Lokmat ) bt Suhas Nayse (ToI) 21-15, 21-7; Vijay Sant (Indian Express) bt Vivek Puradbhat (Indian Express) 21-7, 21-9. Men’s doubles (semi-final): Vijay Sant-Vivek Puradbhat (Indian Express) bt Anupam Soni-Hitesh Limbachia (The Hitavada) 21-8, 21-15. Women’s singles (semis): Tanveer Shaikh (The Hitavada) bt Riddhi Ghiya (The Hitavada) 21-12, 11-21, 22-20; Swaroopam Shrivastav (The Hitavada) bt Rakhi Chavan (Loksatta) 21-14, 20-22,
21-12.

Hitavada’s Tanveer, Riddhi, Swaroopam in SF

THE Hitavada’s Tanveer Shaikh, Riddhi Ghiya and Swaroopam Shrivastav won their respective quarter-finals in contrasting fashion to enter the women’s singles semi-final in the 7th Badminton Tournament for Mediapersons under way at Subhedar Hall on Friday.
The meet is being organised by Sports Journalists’ Association of Nagpur (SJAN) in association with PGTD, Physical Education of RTM Nagpur University. Gracelands has sponsored the tournament while Gurunanak Engineering College is the co-sponsor.
Top seed Tanveer made light work of unseeded Manjushree Joshi of Tarun Bharat. Tanveer dominated the proceedings from the outset to record a 21-7, 21-10 win.
Riddhi held her nerve in crunch situations to overcome stiff resistance from Times of India’s (ToI) Arzoo Gupta. The see-saw match saw fortunes fluctuating by each passing minute. Ultimately, Riddhi won the cliff-hanger 21-18, 19-21, 25-23.
In another quarter-final match, Nishigandha Chafekar conceded her match to Swaroopam after sustaining an injury in the second game. Nishigandha was leading 21-17.
In the men’s doubles, The Hitavada duo of Anupam Soni and Hitesh Limbachia beat Sakal’s Naresh Shelke and Devendra Sadavarti 21-11, 21-14 to enter the semi-finals. Lokmat’s Ashish Jain-Vilas Tijare pair also entered the semi-finals defeating Ranjeet Deshmukh and Manish Sakharwade of ToI 21-11, 21-12. Hitavada’s Nikhil Dixit and Ankeet Ghutke suffered a 21-7, 21-7 defeat at the hands of Suhas Nayse and Madhav Soman of ToI.
In singles, top seed Ashish Jain of Lokmat and Vijay Sant of Indian Express made it to the semi-finals.
The prize distribution function will be held on Saturday at 11.30 pm. Shekhar Jadhao, Chairman, Gracelands, will be the chief guest on the occasion. Navneet Singh Tuli, Director, Gurunanak Engineering College, Dr Yeshwant Patil, co-ordinator, PGTD Physical Education of RTM Nagpur University, Dr Dhananjay Welukar, Director, Department of Physical Education and Sports, RTMNU, will also grace the function.
Other results:
Men’s singles (QF): Suhas Nayse (ToI) bt Hitesh Limbachia (The Hitavada) 21-11, 21-19; Vivek Puradbhat (Indian Express) bt Naresh Shelke (Sakal) 21-14, 21-19.
Men’s doubles (QF): Vijay Sant-Vivek Puradbhat (Indian Express) bt Sunil Warrier-Harshad Pandharipande (ToI) 21-19, 21-17.
Men’s doubles (SF): Suhas Nayse-Madhav Soman (ToI) bt Ashish Jain-Vilas Tijare (Lokmat) 21-18, 21-15.
Women’s singles (QF): Rakhi Chavan (Loksatta) bt Chaitali Deshmukh (ToI) 21-9, 21-9.
Report: The Hitavada

Badminton meet for mediapersons gets under way

IT WAS smooth sailing for The Hitavada shuttlers as third seed Hitesh Limbachia, fourth seed Anupam Soni and Nikhil Dixit recorded easy wins over their respective opponents in the second round of the 7th Badminton Tournament for Mediapersons, which got under way at Subhedar Hall, Amravati road on Thursday.
The meet is being organised by Sports Journalists’ Association of Nagpur (SJAN) in association with PGTD, Physical Education of RTM Nagpur University. Gracelands has sponsored the tournament while Gurunanak Engineering College is the co-sponsor.
While Limbachia defeated BK Khwaja of Indian Express 21-14, Soni had to sweat little to beat Times of India’s Devendra Ganjre 21-13 in the second round. Dixit was in demolition mood as he thrashed Punyanagari’s Milind Mahajan 21-4 in an one-sided encounter. However, It was a bad day in the office for Hitavada’s Ankeet Ghutke who suffered a 21-10 defeat at the hands of Devendra Sadavarti of Sakal. Lokmat’s top seed Ashish Jain of Lokmat lived up to the billing as he beat Tarun Bharat’s Pavan Supatkar 21-4 in the second round. Lokmat’s Vilas Tijare, seeded second got the better of Vikram Harkare of Loksatta 21-16.
In doubles, Dixit-Ghutke duo of The Hitavada registered a 21-16 win over Piyush Patil and Bhaskar Choudhary of Loksatta whereas Sakal’s pair of Naresh Shelke and Devendra Sadavarti beat Hitavada’s Sarang Kunte-Anjaya Anaparti duo 21-4.
Earlier Shekhar Jadhao, Chairman, Gracelands, inaugurated the tournament. Dr Vilas Sapkal, Vice-chancellor of RTM Nagpur University, presided over the function. Dr Yeshwant Patil, Co-ordinator, PGTD Physical Education Dr Ram Thakur, President, SJAN and Rahul Dixit, Secretary, shared the dais. Anupam Soni, Treasurer, SJAN conducted the proceedings while Naresh Shelke, Vice-President, proposed a vote of thanks.
In women singles, Tanveer Shaikh, Riddhi Ghiya Nishigandha Chafekar and Swaroopam Shrivastava (all from The Hitavada) entered quarter-finals.
Results:
Men’s singles (2nd round): Nikhil Dixit (The Hitavada) bt Milind Mahajan (Punyanagari) 21-4; Anupam Soni (The Hitavada) bt Devendra Ganjre (Times of India) 21-13, Hitesh Limbachia (The Hitavada) bt BK Khwaja 21-14; Devendra Sadavarti (Sakal) bt Ankeet Ghutke (The Hitavada) 21-10; Vilas Tijare (Lokmat) bt Vikram Harkare (Loksatta) 21-16; Ashish Jain (Lokmat) bt Pavan Supatkar (Tarun Bharat) 21-4, Suhas Nayse (Times of India) bt Nilanjan Bhowmik (Times of India) 21-3; Vijay Sant (Indian Express) bt Mahesh Bokade (Punyanagari) 21-5; Vivek Puradbhat (Indian Express) bt Amit Khodke (Lokmat) 21-17; Naresh Shelke (Sakal) walk over against Vijay Paratey (Times of India), Madhav Soman (Times of India) walkover against Manoj Muley (Sakal), Manoj Joshi (Loksatta) bt Amit Sampat (Times of India) 21-14; Ranjit Deshmukh (Times of India) bt Bhaskar Choudhary (Loksatta) 21-3; Fakruddin (Times of India) bt Uday Dondolkar (Loksatta) 21-6.
Men’s doubles (2nd round): Ashish Jain-Vilas Tijare (Lokmat) bt Niladri Dey-Fakruddin (Times of India) 21-9; Nikhil Dixit-Ankeet Ghutke (The Hitavada) bt Piyush Patil-Bhaskar Choudhary (Loksatta) 21-16; Naresh Shelke-Devendra Sadavarti (Sakal) bt Sarang Kunte-Anjaya Anaparti 21-4; Vivek Puradbhat-Vijay Sant (Indian Express) bt Nilanjan Bhowmik-Amit Sampat (Times of India) 21-10; Ranjit Deshmukh-Manish Sakharwade (Times of India) bt Tushar Shukla-Devendra Ganjre 21-11.
Women’s singles: Tanveer Shaikh (The Hitavada), Manjusha Joshi (Tarun Bharat), Riddhi Ghiya (The Hitavada), Arzoo Gupta (Times of India), Chaitali Deshmukh (Times of India), Rakhi Chavan (Loksatta), Nishigandha Chafekar (The Hitavada) and Swaroopam Shrivastava (The Hitavada) entered quarter-finals.
(Report: The Hitavada)

Badminton for media employees begins today

The 7th Badminton Tournament for Mediapersons, organised by Sports Journalists’ Association of Nagpur (SJAN) will begin at 8.30 am at Subhedar Hall, Amravati road on Thursday. Gracelands has sponsored the tournament that will be held in association with PGTD, Physical Education of RTM Nagpur University. Gurunanak Engineering College is the co-sponsor of the tournament.
MD of Gracelands, Shekhar Jadhao, will inaugurate the tournament. Vice-Chancellor of RTM Nagpur University Dr Vilas Sapkal will preside over the function. The co-ordinator of PGTD Physical Education Dr Yeshwant Patil and Director of Department of Physical Education and Sports of RTM Nagpur University Dr Dhananjay Welukar will also grace the function.
SSK Naidu will be the chief referee while Vishal Naik will be assistant referee. Shamim Khan and Jayendra Dhole will be the umpires of the meet.
The tournament will be held in three categories, men’s singles, women’s singles and men’s doubles. Attractive prizes will be given to the winners and runners-up.
Lokmat’s Ashish Jain has been given top billing in men’s singles category. The Hitavada’s Tanvir Shaikh is the top seed in the women’s singles category.
Seedings:
Men’s singles: 1. Ashish Jain (Lokmat) 2. Vilas Tijare (Lokmat) 3. Hitesh Limbachia (The Hitavada) 4. Anupam Soni (The Hitavada) 5. Naresh Shelke (Sakal) 6. Manoj Muley (Sakal) 7. Abhishek Kulkarni (Tarun Bharat).
Men’s doubles: 1. Vijay Sant-Vivek Puradbhat (Indian Express) 2. Ashish Jain-Vilas Tijare (Lokmat) 3. Anupam Soni-Hitesh Limbachia (The Hitavada) 4. Suhas Nayse-Madhav Soman (Times of India).
Women’s singles: 1. Tanvir Shaikh 2. Farina Salim 3. Anushree Rotkar 4. Yemon Ganguly (all from The Hitavada).

Badminton for media employees from Feb. 3

Graceland sponsored the annual badminton tournament for media employees of the city will be held from February 3, 2011 to 5 at Subhedar Hall, off Amravati road.
Sports Journalists’ Association of Nagpur (SJAN) in association with Post Graduate Teaching Department for Physical Education, Rashtrasant Tukdoji Maharaj Nagpur University, are organising the event. The categories include men’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s singles. Winners and runners-up in all categories will be awarded attractive prizes, stated a press release issued by Rahul Dixit, Secretary, SJAN.
Last date for entries is February 1, 2011. Entries should be confirmed with sports desks of respective newspapers or Anupam Soni, convenor (9822714965). Entry fee is Rs 20 for singles, Rs 30 for doubles.