FOCUSED: Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan came back strongly after losing the first set to clinch the title at Madurai on Saturday. Photo: S. James / The Hindu

Fourth-seeded Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan of India scored a hard fought 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(4) win over second seed Marc Giner of Spain and clinched the title in the TVS $10,000 ITF men’s Futures tennis tournament at the Madurai Union Club here on Saturday.

The first set went on serve till 3-3. The Spaniard started hitting some powerful winners from the baseline and went up 40-0 on Jeevan’s serve in the seventh game. The Indian saved three break points before Giner won the next two to go 4-3 up.

Missed opportunity

Jeevan had a chance to break back in the 10th game, when Giner was serving 5-4, 30-40. But the second seed staved off the break point with a big serve and followed it up with a couple of forehand winners to take the set 6-4.

Jeevan came back strongly in the second set and broke his opponent in the fourth and sixth games and closed out the set at 6-1. Both the players used their big serves to good effect in the third set.

With no break of serves till the 12th game, the decider moved to the tiebreaker, which the Indian won 7-4.

Jeevan won a cash award of $1300 and 18 ATP points, while the runner-up received $900 and 10 points.

Meanwhile in the doubles final, N. Sriram Balaji and P.C. Vignesh of India defeated Andre Gaspar Murta of Portugal and Matthieu Vierin of Italy 7-6(4), 7-6(5).

Madurai Kamaraj University Vice-Chancellor Kalyani Mathivanan gave away the prizes.

The results (Indians unless mentioned):

Singles: Final: Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan bt Marc Giner (ESP) 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(4).Semifinals: Jeevan bt Vijayant Malik 6-2, 6-3; Giner bt Yannick Vandenbulcke (Bel) 7-6(3), 6-3

Doubles: Final: N. Sriram Balaji & P.C. Vignesh bt Andre Gaspar Murta (Por) & Matthieu Vierin (Ita) 7-6(4), 7-6(5). Semifinals: Sriram & Vignesh bt Rupesh Roy & Vivek Shokeen 6-4, 6-3; Murta & Vierin bt Elwin Antony & Mohammed Fariz 7-5, 6-3.

source: http://www.TheHindu.com / Home> Sports> Tennis / by Principal Correspondent / Madurai, April 29th, 2012

When Narain Karthikeyan became the first Indian to secure a Formula One ride, the news evoked passionate celebrations from a section and nods of joyous approval from the masses.

When fellow Coimbatore native Sureshbabu Janarthanan becomes the first Indian to compete in an International Motorcycling  Federation (FIM) cross-country world championship rally, it won’t generate anywhere as much buzz as Karthikeyan’s entrance into F1. The task that awaits him, however, will be very much as challenging as the one Karthikeyan faced.

The 37-year-old will pilot his Suzuki RMX 450Z off-road bike in the Qatar Sealine cross-country rally, the second round of this year’s championship, next week. The world championship is the most prestigious event in the calendar after the most popular of all cross-country rallies – the Dakar rally.

Pleasant surprise

Having competed in three Raid de Himalayas, Janarthanan was looking to take his motorsport participation to the next level when friend and Dubai-based ace bike tuner Aldrin Samuel, who’s prepared and tuned bikes for many world cross-country rally riders, entered his name for the second round of this season’s championship in Qatar.

“My friend Aldrin entered my name, and only told me about it after my name was approved. I talked with my sponsors and decided to give it a shot,” he told HT over phone from Dubai, where he is currently training for the April 15-21 event.

With his dream of competing in the world championship coming to fruition, he has now set his sights on the ultimate off-road challenge — the Dakar Rally. Even though critics feel it isn’t nearly as challenging since its move from the African deserts to South America, Janarthanan says, “I want to compete in the Dakar Rally, from the time I first did the raid, that’s the goal I’ve set for myself.”

source: http://www.HindustanTimes.com / Motor Sports / by Rohit Bhaskar /’ Hindustan Times / New Delhi, April 13th, 2012

HRT became the final team to reveal their 2012 challenger on Monday afternoon as they took the wraps off the F112 at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya. The new car then made its on-track debut at the Spanish track, with driver Narain Karthikeyan behind the wheel.

“Today was a shakedown of the F112 and I have had the honour to be the first driver to test it,” said Karthikeyan. “The first impressions are quite good; it’s definitely a step up from last year. We couldn’t do any set-up work or stuff like that but everything seems to be working fine and there are no major problems so we can look forward to the season now.

“Everyone has worked hard and the new team management has put everything together in a very short period of time. They’ve done a proper job with the car and I’m sure that it’s a big step forward from last year, so hopefully we can take the competition to the teams we were fighting last year.”

With its debut delayed following a failed crash test, the new Cosworth-powered HRT wasn’t ready in time to participate in last week’s final pre-season test. But once the car had been homologated, the team worked tirelessly to ensure it would complete some track time before the season opener in Australia later this month.

The F112 eventually only arrived at the Barcelona circuit on Monday afternoon and, after some final adjustments by the team’s mechanics, Karthikeyan made it out on track just four hours later. The Indian managed to complete over 10 laps as he carried out system checks.

“I’m very satisfied today as it is a very important day for us because we were able to test some things out with the new car during this filming day,” said team principal Luis Peres-Sala. “I’m very proud of each and every member of this team because everyone has contributed their little bit for this to be possible. Now we have to focus on Australia because we still have a lot ahead.”

Karthikeyan’s team mates Pedro de la Rosa, Dani Clos and Vitantonio Liuzzi were also present at the track to watch the car’s debut, as well as Carlos Gracia, President of the Spanish Motorsports Federation and Salvador Servia, General Director of the Circuit de Catalunya.

“Today has been a very special day because the car saw the light for the first time; Narain did some installation laps and then various times laps without any issues,” added De la Rosa. “This is very important, it might not seem like it, but any sort of mileage before Australia is vital to see that the car is in good conditions. From here it is our job to try and improve it and make it progress.”

The team will now continue their preparations before journeying to Melbourne for the 2012 Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix, which takes place in the Australian city from March 16-18.

For tickets and travel to 2012 Formula One races, click here.
For Formula One and F1 team merchandise, click here.

source: http://www.Formula1.com / March 06th, 2012

It’s been over a decade since 64-year-old Leslie Fernandes wielded a hockey stick. The former goalkeeper, part of the Indian team that won the World Cup in 1975, was playing it again in his mind when he recently watched 12 Anglo-Indian teams from across the country battle it out at a tournament in Chennai.

The ‘Toast to Hockey 2′ tournament, held every two years (this time between February 17-18), is a celebration of the community’s contribution to the national game, and many hope it might just bring the prodigal sons of Indian hockey back to the game. “Most players in the pre-World War II teams, which won three Olympic gold medals, were Anglo-Indians and they made India famous the world over,” says Harry MacLure, editor of Anglos In The Wind’, an international magazine for Anglo Indians.

MacLure, coming from a 500-year-old community with a strong music-sports tradition, had the idea of a hockey tournament for his people in July 2009 to revive interest in it among youngsters. The first tournament was held in Chennai in 2010 with teams from Kolkata, Vishakhapatnam, Trichy, Bangalore and Chennai.

“It was in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that hockey was introduced in British military cantonments. It was popularized by Irish Christian brothers running educational institutions in Mussoorie, Kolkata and Dehra Dun,” says Richard O’Connor, one of the organizers. “Anglo-Indians took to the game and it flourished in the railway colonies.”

Hockey legend Trevor Vanderputt, who came from Australia, remembers playing hockey in the streets. “It was popular in Catholic boarding schools,” says the 80-year-old. As a 17-year-old, Vanderputt worked for a year in the UK, playing for the Indian High Commission in London. “It was entirely an Anglo-Indian team,” he says. In the 1970s, he came to India with a young hockey team from Australia, which included Ric Charlesworth, who went on to become coach of the teams that won the Champions Trophy in Auckland last year, and the Commonwealth Games in 2010 in New Delhi.

The list of Anglo-Indian hockey greats is long. Leslie Claudius featured in the Guinness Book for winning the maximum number of Olympic medals – three gold, one silver – in hockey. He received the Padma Shri in 1971. The 1928 Olympic team had nine Anglo-Indians; the 1932 team eight, and the 1936 team six.

Anglo-Indian women also reigned supreme. “They excelled in all sports and dominated hockey,” says MacLure. The provincial and national championships were swept by Anglo-Indian teams. “The women’s national hockey tournament in Bhopal in 1961 was an all-Anglo-Indian affair,” he says.

But the game went into a decline after India won the Olympic gold in 1980. “Cricket gained popularity, especially after the 1983 World Cup win,” says O’Connor. Children began playing cricket and schools stopped promoting hockey. Many Anglo-Indians migrated to England, Australia and Canada after Independence. “We lost many talented players due to the mass exodus,” says Fernandes. After Partition, brothers Julian, Eric, Cec, Mel and Gordon Pearce migrated to Australia. All went on to become successful international players for their adopted country.

Unemployment and financial insecurity are other factors that led to hockey’s decline. “Government organizations like Railways’ ICF used to offer jobs to players, but that has stopped,” says Adam Sinclair, who played in the 2004 Athens Olympics. “Our youngsters’ desire to make quick money led many of them to opt for call centre jobs, which they land easily as they have a good command over English.”

Alloysius Edwards, who played in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, says nepotism at all levels of selection ruined the game. “This has been a problem with all Indian sports,” he says. The switch to astro turf, too, has hampered hockey’s growth in smaller cities which don’t have it. Then, hockey sticks have become expensive, acting as a deterrent, says Fernandes. But Anglo-Indian hockey clubs are trying to keep the game alive. Thomas Chouke, captain of Anglo Wanderers, a club in Chennai, says hockey is “the first love” in many Anglo-Indian households. “Every family has someone who played the game and we’re proud of our heritage,” he says.

The present tournament finally culminated in true Anglo-Indian style. “After all the friction on the field, we get together to dine and dance and celebrate the spirit of the game,” says Chouke. Play on, hockey boys.

With iputs from Krishna Kanta Chakraborty

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / Home> Sunday TOI> Special Report / by Priya Menon / TNN / February 19th, 2012

On paper, Narain Karthikeyan may have signed for the same HRT F1 team that he drove for last year, thus ensuring the sort of continuity that drivers in the fickle world of Formula One crave for to advance their careers. A closer look reveals there is little about the Spanish team that is the same as the 2011 season.

HRT driver Narain Karthikeyan on a vintage car during the driver’s parade of the Indian Formula One GP at the Buddh International Circuit.

95% of the personnel are new and the team has shifted its base to Spain from Germany but has left its aerodynamics team behind. There will be a new driver in the other F112, not to mention a new team owner and team principal. So, given all this upheaval, along with the fact that HRT F1 will most likely be fighting for the tail-end spots of the race classification again, one can be forgiven for thinking that Karthikeyan is a glutton for punishment.

No playboy
Either that or he has the sort of money that Pedro Diniz, one of F1’s most famous playboys, had to spend on trying to stay in the bottom end of the top rung of global motorsports. The latter certainly isn’t the case, although Karthikeyan is hardly the equivalent of the middle-class Europeans like Lewis Hamilton whose father once worked three jobs to support his son’s motor racing career.

Karthikeyan even raced in the cash-rich world of NASCAR in the United States where even drivers with modest results can eke out a reasonable living.

So, why persist with F1? One need only pick out various incidents in Karthikeyan’s racing career that have singled him out as one of the most exciting racing drivers to watch.

Magic moments
From a Formula Nippon race in Japan, where he managed to overtake a competitor after having his car’s front wing ripped off, to his fantastic record at the British circuit of Brands Hatch, he has done it all. The fearsome Brands Hatch circuit was where former F1 winner Johnny Herbert had a near-fatal crash that sapped him of a lot of his confidence. Such instances were a prelude to his performance at the Indian Grand Prix where he bested Red Bull junior driver Daniel Ricciardo.

Karthikeyan’s real reason for racing is racing itself. And it isn’t racing unless he is driving the ultimate racing car. If that means having to bide his time with a tail-end team, then so be it.

Karthikeyan will have a kindred spirit within the team who will understand the challenges of trying to punch ‘above a car’s weight’. Team principal Luis Perez Sala was himself a driver in the Minardi team in 1988 and 1989 and witnessed a Karthikeyan moment when he saw the then 25-year-old attack the kerbs of the chicanes at Monza.

Ten years later, Sala has seen it fit to give Karthikeyan a chance to produce one of those moments of magic again — moments that may not justify Karthikeyan’s involvement with F1’s heavy-hitters, but at least with the likes of Williams or, maybe, Sahara Force India.

source: http://www.HindustanTimes.com / MOTOR SPORTS / by Vinayak Pande / Hindustan Times / February 05th, 2012