Bhaskar’s Vaidya wins singles title

Gendlal Vaidya (R) of Dainik Bhaskar receiving the trophy at

the hands of guests Sameer Meghe (2R) and Anil Ahirkar (2L)

as AICF Vice-President Prabhjit Singh Bachher looks on.

Title winners pose with the guests.

The Hitavada’s Marulklar-Lokhande reign supreme in doubles
Dainik Bhaskar’s Gendlal Vaidya, who upset last year’s winner Paritosh Pramanik of The Hitavada in the pre-quarters, defeated Jeevak Gajbhiye of Deshonnati for the singles title in a match which went down the wire. in the carrom tournament for mediapersons organised by the Sports Journalists’ Association of Nagpur at the Nagpur Union of Working Journalists Hall on Thursday.
In the doubles competition, The Hitavada’s second seeded combination of Ramesh Marulkar and Kartik Lokhande reigned .
Vaidya started the final in a grand style pocketing the first 13-0 in no time. Gajbhiye composed himself and bounced back to claim a keenly-contested second set 5-4 which saw fortunes fluctuating every now and then.
The deciding set was also a treat to watch. The tension of playing the last four boards of the title match was visible on the faces of both players. Vaidya won the first board 8-0, Gajbhiye reduced the margin picking two points in the second board (8-2). Vaidya committed some silly mistakes and Gajbhiye executed some brilliant shots to score seven points in the third board to gain a one-point lead (9-8) going in for the final board of the final match.
Vaidya kept his cool when it mattered the most to score five points to make it 13-9 in his favour. The final score read 13-0, 4-5, 13-9.
In the doubles final, Marulkar (popularly known as Tiger among journalists since he covers the forest beat), who had lost the final last year with Pramanik, extracted revenge upsetting the top seeds Chittaranjan Nagdevte-Shekhar Mahule combination of the Lokmat.
Marulkar teamed up with Kartik Lokhande this time and The Hitavada pair won the first set 14-0 giving no chance whatsoever to their opponents. The top seeds tried their best in the keenly contested second set but lost 5-6 to go down in straight sets. In the hard-liners final, The Hitavada combine of Amol Deokar and Anupam Soni lost to Sakaal’s Nikhil Gotmare and Anand Deshpande 3-11, 6-9. Deokar was at the receiving end in the singles match for the third place as Nagdevte beat him 8-5, 16-2.
Sameer Meghe, Chairman, Tirupati Urban Co-operative Bank Ltd was the chief guest of the prize distribution function. Anil Ahirkar of Anil Kumar Tea Company presided over.
Dr Ram Thakur, President, SJAN delivered the introductory speech.
Prabhjit Singh Bachher, Secretary, Vidarbha Carrom Association and Yashwant Chintaley, former carrom player were felicitated on the
occasion. Bachher, who hails from Akola, was elected as the Vice-President of the Indian Carrom Federation recently. Chintaley has been promoting the game of carrom since decades.
SJAN Vice-President Naresh Shelke conducted the proceedings while Tresurer Kishor Bagde proposed a vote of thanks. Tirupati Urban Co-operative Bank Ltd was the sole sponsors of the event for consecutive second year. Technical support was provided by the Nagpur District Carrom Association.

SJAN's FIRST
PRABHJIT Singh Bachher, Vice-President, Indian Carrom Federation, while replying to his felicitation informed the gathering that the Sports Journalists’ Association of Nagpur (SJAN) became the first association in India to conduct a carrom tournament applying the new rules framed by the International Carrom Federation.

Upsets galore as Deokar storms into SF

Top seed Paritosh Pramanik was stunned by unseeded Gendlal Vaidya.

Ramesh Marulkar and Kartik Lokhande during the doubles match.




Nagpur, Apr 22
Amol Deokar of The Hitavada led the pack of unseeded players into the singles semi-finals as all the top seeds bowed out of the carom meet for mediapersons on the penultimate day at the Patrakar Bhavan Hall on Wednesday.
Ramesh Marulkar and Kartik Lokhande kept The Hiatvada’s flag flying as the duo entered the summit clash of the doubles. The final could well have been an all The Hitavada affair but the combination of Deokar and Anupam Soni threw away the second set after narrowly missing the first one in the other semi-final.
Deokar accounted for two seeds enroute to the singles semis. In the pre-quarter-final, he defeated Sakaal’s fourth seed Anand Deshpande 11-1, 11-1 and then had the better of senior colleague Ramesh Marulkar 9-7, 11-4 in a closely fought quarter-final match.
Gendlal Vaidya of Dainik Bhaskar caused the major upset of the tournament in his maiden entry. He defeated defending champion The Hitavada’s Paritosh Pramanik in a thrilling PQF tie.
Pramanik won the first set 7-7
(1-0) via tie-break but Vaidya bounced back to win the next two 15-4, 12-3 to effect the biggest upset of the day. He had a rather easy outing against an erratic sixth seed Pankaj Najpande of the Lokmat in the quarters winning 10-5, 8-1 in straight sets.
Second seed Pravin Dabli of Vidarbha ki Baat was shown the doors by Jeevak Gajbhiye of Deshonnati. Gajbhiye won 13-5, 12-3. In the pre-quarters, Gajbhiye had beaten Sakaal’s Rajesh Vyawahare in three sets 14-1, 6-7, 8-7.
Chittaranjan Nagdevte of the Lokmat completed the semi-final line-up when he blanked Dilip Thikhile 19-0, 17-0 in a one-sided game.
An in-form Nagdevte defeated third seed Sandip Gadge 13-1, 8-3 in the PQF.
Dabli, earlier in the day, became the first player in the meet to win a set via sudden death. He defeated Dainik Bhaskar’s Sujan Masid
23-0, 8-8 (0-0, tie-break, 1-0 sudden death). When the scores are level at the end of four boards in a set, the game is stretched to a tie-break wherein both the players get three chance to pocket a coin placed in the circle alternatively. If at the end of the tie-break, the scores are still level, the sudden death rule comes into picture. Each player gets a chance one by one.
In the semis, Deokar will take on Vaidya while Gajbhiye plays Nagdevte for a place in the final to be played after the doubles final later in the day.
In the doubles, the top two seeds lived up to their billings. Second seeded combination of Marulkar-Lokhande will play top seeds Nagdevte-Shekhar Mahule for the title. Marulkar-Lokhande defeated Sakaal’s Nikhil Gotmare and Anand Deshpande 9-2, 13-0 while Nagdevte-Mahule had the better of Deokar-Soni 8-6, 14-0 in the semi-finals.
In the doubles quarters, Marulkar-Lokhande beat Tarun Bharat’s Datta Wazalwar-Gadge 6-3, 23-0; Nagdevte-Mahule defeated Dabli-R Nagpure 14-7, 13-6; Deokar-Soni stunned third seeds Lokmat’s Prabhakar Kapshe-Najpande 8-7, 10-8 and Gotmare-Deshpande outplayed Loksatta’s Uday Dindorkar-Ravikant Sane 8-1, 20-0.
The prize distribution function will be held at 12 noon. Sameer Meghe, Chairman, Tirupati Urban Co-operative Bank Ltd, the sole sponsors of the event, will be the chief guest on the occasion.
Ramesh Borkute, bank’s director and Shirish Borkar, President, Nagpur Union of Working Journalists (NUWJ) will be the guests of
honour.
Prabhjit Singh Bachher, Secretary, Vidarbha Carrom Association and Yashwant Chintaley, former carrom player will be felicitated on the occasion for their services rendered in betterment of carrom in the region.
The tournament is being organised by the Sports Journalists’ Association of Nagpur (SJAN) with technical support from the Nagpur District Carrom Association.

Second seed Dabli registers exciting win

Anand Deshpande of Sakaal in action. (pic Sakaal)

Ashish Yawle of Saam TV in action during the carrom tournament organised by SJAN and NUWJ. (Pic Courtesy Sakaal).

Nagpur, Apr 21

Second seed Pravin Dabli rallied brilliantly to score a close win over Sakaal's Nikhil Gotmare in a thrilling contest on the second day of the second carrom tournament for the media employees organised by Sports Journalists’ Association of Nagpur (SJAN) at Nagpur Union of Working Journalists Hall, Panchsheel Square on Tuesday.

After Sakaal’s Gotmare had won the low scoring first set 5-3, Dabli bounced back to pocket the next set 10-0. In the see-saw third and final set, both the players kept their cool but Dabli prevailed 8-6.

The Hitavada’s seasoned campaigner Ramesh Marulkar and greenhorn Amol Deokar won their singles and doubles matches to move up in the .
While both entered the pre-quarter-final rounds in the singles category they made it to the quarters in the doubles event.
Marulkar defeated Lokmat’s Yadu Joshi and then teamed up with Kartik Lokhande to beat Tarun Bharat combine of Roshan Tamboli and Yudhistir Raich. The second seeded pair won 16-0, 23-0.
Deokar blanked Danni Waikar 17-0, 23-0 in the singles and registered his second win of the day when he combined with Anupam Soni to tame Deshonnati pair of Amit Ramteke and Rajesh Praikar 23-0, 11-1.
Except for The Hitavada’s fifth seed Anil Futane and Sakaal’s seventh seed Naresh Shelke all the seeded players had a smooth sailing.
Futane was shocked by Lokmat’s Subhash Sharma 0-23, 0-22 and Shelke was stunned by Jeevak Gajbhiye 0-18, 0-23. However, Sharma will in all probability miss his pre-quarter tie as he has to go outstation to attend a close relative’s marriage.
Defending champion and top seed Paritosh Pramanik of the Hitavada moved into the pre-quarters as Mukesh Hedao didn’t turn up for their second round clash.
In another match which went till the distance Dainik Bhaskar’s Sujan Masid had the better of a fighting Ankeet Ghutke of The Hitavada 6-12, 9-8, 11-0. Ghutke’s blunder in the last board of the second set cost him the match.
Third seed Sandip Gadge beat Shekhar Mahurle 11-0, 12-1 while fourth seed Anand Deshpande had no difficulty in moving past Jugalkishor Dixit 23-0, 7-0.
In other second round singles matches of the day, sixth seed Pankaj Najpande blanked Datta Wazalwar 23-0, 23-0; Gendlal Vaidya beat Prabhakar Kapshe 18-0, 23-0; Aashish Yawle beat Rahul Dixit 17-0, 15-0; C Nagdevte defeated Anupam Soni 18-1, 22-0; Dilip Tikile blanked Kiran Rajderkar 16-0, 26-0; Rajesh Vyawahare beat Girish Thakre.
In the doubles pre-quarters, top seed C Nagdevte-S Mahurle beat Yawle-Waikar 23-4, 23-0; third seeds Prabhakar Kapshe-Najpande defeated Amol Sultane-Sharad Bagde 23-0, 22-0; Dabli-Nagpure beat Pankaj Ganorkar-Vikas Barokar 19-0, 12-0; Wazalwar-Sandip Gadge beat Deepak Labde-R Pethe; Gotmare-Anand Deshpande blanked Ankeet Ghutke-Sachin Gadge 13-0, 20-0; Uday Dindorkar-Ravikant Sane beat Raj Sharma-Abhijit Gade 23-0, 23-0.
The four-day meet sponsored by Tirupati Urban Co-operative Bank is progressing smoothly under the guidance of Vidarbha Carrom Association Co-ordinator Iqbal Mohammad.

Media employees' carrom meet begins

Ramesh Borkute, Director, Tirupati Urban Co-operative Bank makes a strike to mark the opening of the carrom tournament for media employees organised by Sports Journalists’ Association of Nagpur in the Patrakar Bhavan premises on Monday. (Pic courtesy The Hitavada)

NAGPUR, April 20, 2009

The second Carrom Tournament for the Media Employees organised by Sports Journalists’ Association of Nagpur and sponsored by Tirupati Urban Co-operative Bank began at NUWJ Hall, Panchsheel Square on Monday
In the most engrossing match of the first round, Anupam Soni of The Hitavada edged out Swapnil Jain of Lokmat Samachar 4-11, 23-0, 10-4 in three sets.
After losing the first set, Soni rallied brilliantly to win the second without conceding a single point in just three boards out of a maximum four. He maintained his rhythm in the decider to win the tie.
Other games of the opening day were one-sided affairs.
Anil Futane of the Hitavada blanked Deepak Labde of Lokmat in straight sets 17-0, 12-0.
Sujan Masid of Dainik Bhaskar had no difficulty in eliminating Balaji Iyer of Sakal 23-0, 14-0. Gendlal Vaidya also of Dainik Bhaskar thrashed Vilas Tijare of Lokmat 23-1, 23-0 in straight sets.
Jeevak Gajbhiye of Deshonnati got the better of Santosh Singh of Lokmat 18-0, 23-0.
On Tuesday the second round will start at 8.30 a.m. followed by doubles first round at 9.30 a.m.
Earlier, the 4-day event was inaugurated by Ramesh Borkute, Director, Tirupati Urban Co-operative Bank. Yadu Joshi, President, Maharashtra Union of Working Journalists; Pradeep Maitra, President, Tilak Patrkar Bhavan Trust were the guests of honour on the occasion.
Dr Ram Thakur, President, SJAN; SN Narnaware, Chief Referee and Mukund Nagpurkar, Assistant Chief Referee shared the dais.
SJAN treasurer Anupam Soni conducted the proceedings while convenor of the meet Nilesh Deshpande proposed a vote of thanks.
Tirupati Urban Co-operative Bank is the sole sponsors of the tournament.
Results (round one): Gendlal Vaidya bt Vilas Tijare 23-1, 23-0; Anupam Soni bt Swapnil Jain 4-11, 23-0, 10-4; Sujan Masid bt Balaji Iyer 23-0, 14-0; Jeevak Gajbhiye bt Santosh Singh 18-0, 23-0; Anil Futane bt Deepak Labde 17-0, 12-0.

Media employees’ carrom tournament from today

Nagpur, Apr 20
The second carrom tournament for the media employees being organised by Sports Journalists’ Association of Nagpur and sponsored by Tirupati Urban Co-operative Bank will begin on Monday at NUWJ Hall, Panchsheel Square at 9 a.m.
Sameer Meghe, Chairman, Tirupati Urban Co-operative Bank will inaugurate the tournament in the presence of Pradeep Maitra, President Tilak Patrakar Bhavan Trust; Shirish Borkar, President, NUWJ and Yadu Joshi, President, MUWJ.
SN Narnaware is the chief arbiter of the tournament and he is being assisted by Mukund Nagpurkar.
The tournament has evoked good response as 53 in singles and 16 pairs in doubles have registered their entries.
The tournament will be played according to the new rules framed by Carrom Federation of India.
The seedings of the tournament have also been declared. Paritosh Pramanik, last year’s single’s winner has been given top billing in singles while C Nagdeote and S Mahurle have got first seeding in doubles.

Media employees’ carrom tourney with new rules

The 2nd Carrom Tournament for Mediapersons being organised by Sports Journalists’ Association of Nagpur (SJAN) and sponsored by Tirupati Urban Co-operative Bank from April 20 to 23 at Tilak Patrakar Bhavan hall will be played according to the new rules framed by Indian Carrom Federation.According to the new rules, all matches will be decided on the basis of best of three sets of four boards or 23 points (whichever is earlier). A player who reaches 23 points first or leads to conclusion of the fourth board will be the winner of the ‘Set’.Now the game will be called as set. In the third set, sides will be changed after two boards.A maximum of 11 points can be scored in a board. Queen is not required to be covered. Queen will have the value of two points. The player shall be entitled to be credit with the value of the queen, only if he/she wins the board. Loser of the board shall not get any point even if he pockets the queen.The player will not lose the advantage of getting the credit of two points for pocketing queen even if reaches the score of 21 or 22 points. In other words, a player shall get two points for pocketing queen at all stages of the set without any consideration for the score. A player has the right to pocket the queen provided a carrom man of his own has already been pocketed. In case score of both the players at the end of four boards is equal, the set will be decided on the basis of tie-breaker. In tie-breaker both the players will be given three chances alternatively to pocket a carrom man from the same side they are already sitting.

Carrom meet for newspaper staffers from April 20

Sports Journalists’ Association of Nagpur will be organising Carrom Tournament For Newspaper Employees at Tilak Patrakar Bhavan from April 20 to 23. The tournament has been sponsored by Tirupati Urban Co-operative Bank.
The tournament will be held in two categories i.e. men’s singles and doubles. Women’s singles event will depend on the entries. The entry fee for the men’s singles will be Rs 30 and Rs 50 for doubles. The last date of entry is April 17 and it can be confirmed with the sports desk of respective newspapers.
Cash prizes will be given to the winner, runners-up and first runners-up in each categories.
This is the second year of the tournament. Last year Paritosh Pramanik of The Hitavada clinched the title.
In the doubles, Lokmat duo Chittaranjan Nagdevte- Chandu Dasarwar emerged the winner while Paritosh Pramanik- Ramesh Marulkar finished runners-up.
Last year 81 players participated in the tournament. This year the organisors have expected more than 100 entries.
For more details interested persons can contact the coordinator Nilesh Deshpande (9881243198) and Bhaskar Choudhary (9822232987).

Media employees’ carrom meet with new rules

The 2nd Carrom Tournament for Mediapersons being organised by Sports Journalists’ Association of Nagpur (SJAN) and sponsored by Tirupati Urban Co-operative Bank from April 20 to 23 at Tilak Patrakar Bhavan hall will be played according to the new rules framed by Indian Carrom Federation.According to the new rules, all matches will be decided on the basis of best of three sets of four boards or 23 points (whichever is earlier). A player who reaches 23 points first or leads to conclusion of the fourth board will be the winner of the ‘Set’.Now the game will be called as set. In the third set, sides will be changed after two boards.A maximum of 11 points can be scored in a board. Queen is not required to be covered. Queen will have the value of two points. The player shall be entitled to be credit with the value of the queen, only if he/she wins the board. Loser of the board shall not get any point even if he pockets the queen.The player will not lose the advantage of getting the credit of two points for pocketing queen even if reaches the score of 21 or 22 points. In other words, a player shall get two points for pocketing queen at all stages of the set without any consideration for the score. A player has the right to pocket the queen provided a carrom man of his own has already been pocketed. In case score of both the players at the end of four boards is equal, the set will be decided on the basis of tie-breaker. In tie-breaker both the players will be given three chances alternatively to pocket a carrom man from the same side they are already sitting.

Carrom meet for newspaperstaffers from April 20

April 6

Sports Journalists’ Association of Nagpur will be organising Carrom Tournament For Newspaper Employees at Tilak Patrakar Bhavan from April 20 to 23. The tournament has been sponsored by Tirupati Urban Co-operative Bank.
The tournament will be held in two categories i.e. men’s singles and doubles. Women’s singles event will depend on the entries. The entry fee for the men’s singles will be Rs 30 and Rs 50 for doubles. The last date of entry is April 17 and it can be confirmed with the sports desk of respective newspapers.
Cash prizes will be given to the winner, runners-up and first runners-up in each categories.
This is the second year of the tournament. Last year Paritosh Pramanik of The Hitavada clinched the title.
In the doubles, Lokmat duo Chittaranjan Nagdevte- Chandu Dasarwar emerged the winner while Paritosh Pramanik- Ramesh Marulkar finished runners-up.
Last year 81 players participated in the tournament. This year the organisors have expected more than 100 entries.
For more details interested persons can contact the coordinator Nilesh Deshpande (9881243198) and Bhaskar Choudhary (9822232987).

Double delight for Sant

He had to beat the defending champion and last year’s runner-up both if he wanted to lay his hand on the singles trophy. Vijay Sant of Loksatta did more than that with consummate ease not only to pocket the singles title but also win the doubles crown. After missing the last edition Sant made his re-entry into the Badminton Tournament for Mediapersons a memorable one with this double whammy.Sant set the Subhedar Hall wooden courts on fire on Sunday in the tournament organised by Sports Journalists’ Association of Nagpur (SJAN) in co-operation with the Post Graduate Teaching Department of Physical Education, RTM Nagpur University.Sant, who employed deft drop shots and power-packed smashes, tamed defending champion Ashish Jain of Lokmat 21-14, 21-11 in the singles final giving the title favourite no chance of any comeback.Later partnering veteran Vivek Puradbhat, Sant rallied brilliantly to upset the top seeded combination of Jain-Manish Charpe 18-21, 21-17, 21-18 in a thrilling doubles summit clash.Both the singles finalists had straight games wins in their semi-finals. Sant beat a hard-working Suhas Nayse, runner-up of the last edition, 21-11, 21-18 while Jain defeated colleague Vilas Tijare 21-12, 21-17.Meenakshi Menon consoled her Lokmat mates by winning the women’s title. In a closely-fought final, Menon edged past Rakhi Chavan of Loksatta 21-17, 21-18.Earlier in the men’s doubles semi-finals, The Hitavada’s pair of Anupam Soni and Hitesh Limbachia lost to Jain-Charpe 14-21, 6-21 while Sant-Puradbhat had the better of Nayse and Sarabjeet Ahluwalia 21-13, 14-21, 21-13.Krishnarao Pandav, President, Sanmarg Shikshan Sanstha was the chief guest at the prize distribution function. Navneet Singh Tuli, Director, Gurunanak College of Engineering, Dahegaon was the guest of honour. SJAN vice-president Naresh Shelke conducted the proceedings while joint secretary Kishor Bagde proposed a vote of thanks.

Report and pic courtesy The Hitavada

Jain continues his winning run

Soni-Limbachia enter semis
THE Hitavada’s pair of Anupam Soni and Hitesh Limbachia entered the men’s doubles semi-finals of the 5th Badminton Tournament for Mediapersons in progress at the Subhedar Hall.
Soni-Limbachia got the better of Lokmat duo of Pawan Dande and Anand Junankar 21-13, 21-13 in straight games.
They will take top seeds Ashish Jain-Manish Charpe, another Lokmat combination in the semis.
In the other semi-final, Times of India pair of Suhas Nayse and Sarabjit Ahluwalia will play Loksatta’s Vivek Puradbhat-Vijay Sant.
Jain defeated Limbachia in the men’s singles quarter-finals 21-9, 21-7; Sant had the better of Jaideep Hardikar 21-7, 21-6; Tijare edged past Manish Sakharwade 22-20, 21-5 while Suhas Nayse beat Naresh Shelke 21-7, 21-8 to book semi-final berths.
The Hitavada’s Tanveer Shaikh went down fighting to Meenakshi Menon in the women’s singles semi-final while colleague Manjusha Ladke plays Rakhi Chavan in the other semis on Sunday.
The three-day meet ends of Sunday and will be followed by prize distribution. Pro-Vice-Chancellor Dr Gaurishankar Parashar will be the chief guest while Krishnarao Pandav, President, Sanmarg Shikshan Sanstha will preside over. Director, Gurunanak College of Engineering, Dahegaon will be the guest of honour.
The tournament, organised by Sports Journalists’ Association of Nagpur in co-operation with the Post Graduate Teaching Department of Physical Education, RTM Nagpur University, is being sponsored by Sanmarg Shikshan Sanstha which runs Smt Radhikatai Pandav College of Engineering.

Badminton meet gets under way

Girish Pandav (L), treasurer, Sanmarg Shikshan Sanstha plays
a shot to inaugurate the badminton meet. SJAN president
Dr Ram Thakur looks on. (Pic The Hitavada)


The 5th annual badminton tournament for media employees of the city which got under way at the Nagpur University’s Subhedar Hall, off Amravati Road on Friday.
The tournament is being organised by Sports Journalists’ Association of Nagpur (SJAN) in association with the Post Graduate Teaching Department of Physical Education (PGTDPE), Rashtrasant Tukdoji Maharaj Nagpur University.
In the early encounters all the seeded players moved up without any tough fight.

Earlier, the tournament was inaugurated at the hands of Girish Pandav, treasurer, Sanmarg Shikshan Sanstha. Co-ordinator of Post Graduate Teaching Department for Physical Education, Rashtrasant Tukdoji Maharaj Nagpur University Dr Yeshwant Patil was also present on the dais.
SJAN treasurer Anupam conducted the proceedings. President Dr Ram Thakur made the introductory remarks while member Aditi Deodhar proposed a vote of thanks.
Results: Men’s singles (2nd round): Vilas Tijare (Lokmat) bt Vivek Puradbhat (Loksatta) 21-8, Ranjeet Deshmukh (ToI) bt Manoj Joshi 21-9, Vijay Sant (Loksatta) bt Amit Sampat (ToI) 21-12, Harshad Pandharipande (ToI) bt Madhav Soman (ToI) 21-13, Suhas Nayse (ToI) bt Vikram Harkare (Loksatta) 21-1, Piyush Patil (Loksatta) bt Bagish Jha (Lokmat Times) 21-4, Manish Sakharwade (ToI) bt Manoj Mule (Sakal) 21-11, Balaji Ayyar bt Charudutta Kahu (Loksatta) 21-11, Hitesh Limbachia (The Hitavada) bt Daniel Warrior (Saam TV) 21-7, Ashish Jain (Lokmat) bt Nilanjan Bhowmik (ToI) 21-8, Fakruddin (ToI) bt Nitin Totewar (Loksatta) 21-7, Anupam Soni (The Hitavada) bt Devendra Sadavarti (Loksatta) 21-14, Nikhil Dixit (The Hitavada) bt Uday Dindolkar (Loksatta) 21-13.
Men’s doubles (1st round): Naresh Shelke-Manoj Mule (Sakal) bt Amol Deokar-Ankit Ghutke (The Hitavada) 21-9, Nikhil Gotmare-Rajesh Vyavhare (Sakal) bt Rajesh Patil- Ram Bhakre (Loksatta) 21-10, Amit Khodke-Vilas Tijare (Lokmat) bt Samaresh Acharya-Rakesh Roshan (ToI) 21-16, Charudutta Kahu-Vikram Harkare (Loksatta) bt Pankaj Ganorkar-Pawan (Tarun Bharat) 21-18, Ravikant Sane-Manoj Joshi (Loksatta) bt Vikas Barokar-Raj Sharma (Tarun Bharat) 21-5.
Women’s singles (1st round): Rakhi Chavan (Loksatta) bt Farina Salim 21-13, Tanvir Sheikh (The Hitavada) bt Ananya Roy (Lokmat Times) 21-10, Nisha Kar (Lokmat Times) bt Aditi Deodhar (The Hitavada) 21-16.

THE DRAW

Jain gets top billing

Badminton meet for mediapersons from Feb 27

Defending champion Ashish Jain of Lokmat has been seeded top in men’s category in the 6th annual badminton tournament for media employees of the city which will be held from February 27 to March 1. Last year’s runner-up Times of India’s Suhas Nayse has been seeded second in the single’s category.
The tournament will be held at Subhedar Hall, off Amravati road. The annual tournament is being jointly organised by Sports Journalists’ Association of Nagpur (SJAN) and Post Graduate Teaching Department for Physical Education, Rashtrasant Tukdoji Maharaj Nagpur University. Radhikatai Pandav College of Engineering, Umrer road, run by Sanmarg Shikshan Sanstha, has sponsored the event.
Gurunanak College of Engineering, Dahegaon has also joined hands with SJAN in conducting the event.
The categories include men’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s singles and veterans’ (45-plus) singles.
Defending champions Ashish Jain and Manish Charpe of Lokmat are seeded top in the doubles category while the pair of Nayse and Sarabjit Aluwalia (Times of India) has been seeded second.In singles, 60 participants have confirmed their participation. Around 16 women employees from different media (print and electronic) too confirmed their participation. Winners and runners-up in all categories will be awarded attractive prizes.
All the participants are requested to report at the venue at 8 am sharp.
SEEDINGS: (Men’s Singles): 1. Ashish Jain (Lokmat), 2. Suhas Nayse (ToI), 3. Harshad Pandharipande (ToI), 4. Manoj Mule (Sakaal), 5. Vivek Puradbhat (Loksatta), 6. Piyush Patil (Loksatta), 7. Ranjit Deshmukh (ToI), 8. Nikhil Dixit (The Hitavada).
Men's Doubles: 1. Ashish Jain-Manish Charpe (Lokmat), 2. Suhas Nayse-Sarabjit Aluwalia (ToI), 3. Anupam Soni-Hitesh Limbachia (The Hitavada), 4. Harshad Pandharipande-Madhav Soman (ToI).

Badminton tournament for media employees from 27th

The Hitavada, Feb 7
The annual badminton tournament for media employees of the city will be held from February 27 to March 1, 2009, 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. Radhikatai Pandav College of Engineering, Umrer road, run by Sanmarg Shikshan Sanstha, has sponsored the event.The categories include men’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s singles and veterans’ (45-plus) 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 23, 2009. 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.

The Hitavada are champions again

All Pics The Hitavada

An old score was to settle. A loss was to be avenged. A perception was to be changed. As fortunes started fluctuating with each passing over the tension mounted but the belief never diminished. Using their experience, keeping their cool and showing their never-say-die attitude The Hitavada emerged the deserving champions of the 11th Orange City Hospital Cup Inter-Press Cricket T20 Tournament.
By defeating defending champions Lokmat by 20 runs The Hitavada lifted its eighth title in ten finals.
The Men in Blue went through a roller-coaster ride before putting up a competitive 148 for seven in 20 overs. Defending the target against a strong Lokmat batting line-up the bowlers needed to put their hands up. They did. As Lokmat started building partnerships the pendulum swung their way. But Man of the Final Avinash Kahu had a rabbit left in his hat! He used brains to counter Lokmat’s brawn and soon the eighth title came The Hitavada’s way. Lokmat were restricted to 128 for eight in 20 overs. Kahu had figures of 4-0-21-4.
Batting first The Hitavada had a disastrous start losing Kamlesh Waghire and skipper Susheem Kolay with just six on the board. A partnership was needed and Praveen Lokhande (26; 21b, 3x4) forged it with ‘crisis man’ Nikhil Dixit (50; 53b 6x4, 2x6).
Runs were just trickling when left-arm spinner Ashish Budholia came into attack. Dixit and Lokhande launched into him to garner 20 in one over and The Hitavada were on recovery path.
The duo stitched together a stand of 60 in 51 balls for the third wicket. Dixit was his usual cool self never letting go a loose ball. His straight six of Pawan Dhande was sheer delight. Lokhande too kept his calm and picked gaps.
At 66 in 11 overs Lokhande was out but Dixit found Vijay Choure (14; 14b, 2x4) for help. They added 38 for the fourth wicket in 25 balls.
At 104 for 4 in 15 overs an impetus was needed to the innings for a big total. Vice-captain Rahul Dixit joined his elder brother, wielded his willow, and got a quick 18 (10b, 1x4, 1x6). The Dixit brothers’ 31-run stand in just 18 balls provided the momentum to The Hitavada innings.
Lokmat started badly losing in-form Nitin Patoriya for a duck. Amit Khodke (45; 41b, 4x4, 1x6) kept fighting at other end keeping the asking rate under control with Manish Charpe (19). Dhande then joined Khodke for a quick 47-run stand that almost shut the door on The Hitavada.
Stepped in Kahu and the challenge was snuffed out with some excellent fielding and absolutely fantastic catching by Sanjay Chinchole and Hitesh Limbachia.
With an average age of 34 the talk of The Hitavada’s cricket team as a ‘Dad’s Army’ was gaining ground. But the experience that comes with age and playing 10 finals was enough to help them reaffirm their authority on inter-press cricket.
The match was enjoyed live all over Vidarbha on UCN.
Udaybhaskar Nair of Nairsons group was the chief guest at the prize distribution function. The special guests were Dr Anup Marar, Director, Orange City Hospital and Research Institute, Sadanand Fulzele, Secretary, Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Smarak Samiti, Jaswinder Singh Mukar, Deputy General Manager, Tata Indicom, Nagpur, Sanjay Jog, Deputy General Manager (Marketing), Tata Indicom, Deepak Lalwani of Deepak Agencies, and Pradeep Kumar Maitra, President, Tilak Patrakar Bhavan Trust.
Individual prizes were sponsored by Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Limited. Deepak Agencies and Panchavati Builders too supported SJAN in organising the tournament.
Kishor Bagde conducted the function, Dr Ram Thakur made the introductory remarks, Naresh Shelke compered the ceremony while Sandeep Dabhekar proposed a vote of thanks.

SCOREBOARD
THE HITAVADA INNINGS
Kamlesh Waghire run out A Budholia 2
Susheem Kolay lbw S Rahangdale 0
Pravin Lokhande c A Seth b S Mishra 26
Nikhil Dixit c&b S Rahangdale 50
Vijay Choure c A Seth b S Mishra 14
Rahul Dixit c S Mishra b A Khodke 18
Hitesh Limbachia Not Out 12
Sanjay Chinchole c P Dhande b A Khodke 0
Paritosh Pramanik Not Out 1
Extras: (w 22, lb 2, b 1) 25
TOTAL: (Seven wickets, 20 overs) 148.
Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-6, 3-66, 4-104, 5-135, 6-135, 7-140.
Bowling:

Sachin Rahangdale 4-1-6-2
Pawan Dhande 4-0-24-0
Amit Khodke 4-0-24-0
Ashish Bodholia 2-0-31-0
Sharad Mishra 4-0-25-2
Gitesh Wanjari 2-0-28-0
LOKMAT INNINGS
Amit Khodke c S Chinchole v A Kahu 45
Nitin Patoria c P Lokhande b V Choure 0
Manish Charpe v P Lokhande 19
Pawan Dhande c V Choure b A Kahu 23
Sharad Mishra run out A Kahu 7
Aasman Seth c&b A Kahu 18
Ashish Budholia c H Limbachia b A Kahu 2
Ravin Singh run out (K Waghire-P Pramanik) 1
Sachin Rahangdale Not Out 2
Gitesh Wanjari Not Out 3
Extras: b 3, w 4) 7
TOTAL: (8 wickets, 20 overs) 128
Fall of wickets: 1-2, 2-44, 3-92, 4-96, 5-112, 6-121, 7-121, 8-124.
Bowling: Vijay Choure 3-0-24-1
Susheem Kolay 4-0-27-0
Nikhil Dixit 1-0-11-0
Pravin Lokhande 4-0-18-1
Rammurti Nerle 4-0-23-2
Avinash Kahu 4-0-21-4
Result: The Hitavada won by 20 runs.
Man of the final: Avinash Kahu.

Best batsman: Pawan Dhande

Best Bowler: Ravi Daff

Best Fielder: Hitesh Limbachia

Best Wicket-keeper: N Satyan

Best catch: Ajay Kangali

Man of the series: Praveen Lokhande

The Hitavada's victory celebrations!!!!

Pics courtesy S Sudarshan and Anirudhasingh Dinore

Bowlers put The Hitavada in final

Pravin Lokhande (L) took hat-trick for The Hitavada.




A wonderful start, a disastrous middle-order collapse, an excellent fightback by the bowlers and a hat-trick. This was The Hitavada’s story in the second semi-final of the 11th edition of the Orange City Hospital Cup inter-press cricket tournament organised by Sports Journalists’ Association of Nagpur (SJAN) at Dr Ambedkar College ground, Deekshabhoomi on Thursday.
Opting to bat, The Hitavada started brightly via skipper Susheem Kolay (19; 14b, 4x3) and Kamlesh Waghire (21; 15b, 4x3, 6x1). But a double strike by Ajay Kangali to get rid of both openers got Navbharat back in the game. Pravin Lokhande (29; 22b, 4x2, 6x1) and Rahul Dixit (19; 23b, 4x1) did the rebuilding work with a 41-ball 42 runs stand.
A big score was on cards with both the batsmen scoring fluently but Mahesh Sarangi had other ideas. The Navbharat skipper bowled a magical spell and picked up a five-wicket haul to put his team in the driver’s seat. The Hitavada’s middle-order too did not help their cause by committing a mass suicide. From 100 for three The Hitavada were reduced to 106 for nine. Though a couple of boundaries towards the end by Ramamurti Nerle (12) helped them reach 120. Kangali (3-15) and Shrikant Tikle (2-20) were the other wicket-takers.
The Hitavada bowlers started perfectly striking two early blows. Navbharat were not allowed to score freely against a tight line. Sarangi did his bit with 25 but that was not enough as The Hitavada wrapped up their opponents for 93 runs. Lokhande gave The Hitavada a perfect finish by picking up a hat-trick. He registered match figures of 3.3-0-14-4. Nerle (2-17) also bowled well. Vijay Choure, Nikhil Dixit and Kolay scalped a wicket each.
Bhausaheb Gujar, Senior DGM, LIC of India and Sameer Meghe, Chairman, Tirupati Urban Co-operative Bank, were the chief guest of the match.
The Hitavada will take on Lokmat in the final on January 24 at Ambedkar ground from 9 am.


SCOREBOARD
THE HITAVADA INNINGS:
Kamlesh Waghire b Ajay Kangali 21
Susheem Kolay v Ajay Kangali 19
Pravin Lokhande b Mahesh Sarangi 29
Rahul Dixit b Mahesh Sarangi 19
Nikhil Dixit c N Satyan b Shrikant Tikle 06
Sanjay Chinchole b Mahesh Sarangi 04
Hitesh Limbachia st N Satyan b Mahesh Sarangi 00
Vijay Choure c N Satyan b Mahesh Sarangi 00
Paritosh Pramanik st N Satyan b Shrikant Tikle 00
Ramamurti Nerle Not Out 12
Avinash Kahu lbw Ajay Kangali 01
Extras: b 2, lb 1, nb 1, w 5) 9
TOTAL: (All out, 18.1) 120
Fall of wickets: 1-44, 2-45, 3-87, 4-100, 5-102, 6-102, 7-103, 8-104, 9-106.
Bowling:
Manish Shriwas 1-0-19-0
Ramesh Rao 2-0-20-0
Mahesh Sarangi 4-0-24-5
Ajay Kangali 3.1-0-15-3
Ronnele Michael 3-0-19-0
Shrikant Tikle 4-0-20-0
NAVBHARAT INNINGS
N Satyan run out (Pramanik-Lokhande) 09
Arun Narsapurkar c Sanjay Chinchole b Susheem Kolay 04
Ajay Kangali lbw Vijay Choure 04
Mahesh Sarangi c Hitesh Limbachia b Pravin Lokhande 25
Ronnele Michael lbw Ramanurti Nerle 15
Manish Shriwas c Vijay Choure v Avinash Kahu 16
Shrikant Tikle c Hitesh Limbachia b Pravin Lokhande 11
Hemang Rawal b Ramamurti Nerle 01
Madan Ganvir b Pravin Lokhande 00
Shyam Nagarkar Not Out 00
Ramesh Rao b Pravin Lokhande 00
Extras: (b 1, w 6) 7
TOTAL: (All out, 18.3 overs) 93
Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-9, 3-37, 4-47, 5-72, 6-84, 7-86, 8-93, 9-93.
Bowling
Susheem Kolay 3-0-14-1
Vijay Choure 3-0-17-1
Ramamurti Nerle 4-0-17-2
Pravin Lokhande 3.3-0-14-4
Avinash Kahu 3-0-16-1
Nikhil Dixit 2-0-14-0

2nd semis--The Hitavada vs Navbharat- Day in pics

All Pics S Sudarshan

Semi-finals in pictures

(Pics courtesy S Sudarshan, The Hitavada and Sakaal)