Indian sports wrap, December 9: Sports Minister Mandaviya assures equal treatment for deaf athletes
The Union Sports Minister, Mansukh Mandaviya felicitated the Indian contingent that won 55 medals including eight gold in the Asia-Pacific Deaf Games, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Meeting the athletes, coaches and support staff at his residence, the Minister congratulated them for making a quantum leap in performance, after having won five medals in the last edition in 2015.
“In 2015, we had sent a smaller team and returned with lesser number of medals. But it gives me immense pleasure to state that 68 players competed in seven different disciplines this time and have won 55 medals. I feel proud that a positive change is happening in the country and it is moving forward in the sports sector.” said the Minister.
“The government is taking a number of initiatives to improve sports infrastructure, governance and specialised coaching. When you compete internationally, you don’t win for yourself, the nation also wins with you,” he said.
The Sports Authority of India (SAI) had organised training camps for the contingent in different centres in Delhi, Sonepat and Lucknow. It also took care of the travel and accommodation cost of the entire contingent.
The Indian team won 28 medals in athletics (5 gold, 12 silver, 11 bronze), six medals in badminton (3 silver, 3 bronze), three medals in chess (1 silver, 2 bronze), seven medals in judo (2 gold, 5 bronze), three medals in table tennis (1 silver, 2 bronze) and eight medals in wrestling (1 gold, 1 silver, 6 bronze).
India had finished fifth on the medals table with eight gold, 18 silver and 29 bronze medals.
-Kamesh Srinivasan
ATHLETICS
National Junior Athletics Championship: Kiran betters national record in U18 men’s 110m hurdles
Seventeen-year-old Kiran K. shone brightly as he bettered his own National record in the Under-18 men’s 110m hurdles semifinals in the morning before cruising to the title in the evening in the National junior athletics championships at the Kalinga Stadium here on Monday.
Kiran erased his 13.52 mark (set in the National youth championships in June) by clocking 13.47 in the semifinals, where he almost jogged in the last five meters.
In the final, the Palakkad boy gave another dominating performance. “The morning was pleasant. Later, my body became tight. The weather was humid in the evening. It might have affected my time in the final,” said Kiran, whose time was better than that of the under-20 winner Sandeep Gond.
Pooja, who narrowly missed a new national record due to a lower back issue while attempting 1.85m in high jump overnight, grittily achieved the mark in heptathlon in the morning.
Jay Kumar smashed Amoj Jacob’s seven-year-old under-20 men’s 400m meet record with a time of 46.29. The Delhi lad, who saw off Astik Pradhan’s challenge despite the local favourite clocking his personal best (46.97), missed the national mark by 0.03 second.
The results: Winners only
Under-20:
Under-18:
Under-16:
CHESS
Nine year-old Aarit Kapil becomes youngest Indian to beat a chess Grandmaster
Nine-year-old Delhi boy Aarit Kapil has become the youngest Indian to beat a chess Grandmaster as he emerged victorious against Raset Ziatdinov of the United States in the ninth and penultimate round of the KIIT International open tournament here.
At 9 years, 2 months and 18 days, Aarit is the youngest Indian and third in the world to beat a GM under the classical time control.
The youngest player in the world to beat a GM is Indian-origin Singapore boy Ashwath Kaushik who won against Jacek Stupa of Poland when he was just 8 years and six months old earlier this year.
While the victory places Aarit among the elite young talents, it remains to be seen how he performs in upcoming tournaments. The next challenge awaits him in form of under-13 national championship to be held at Durgapur later this month, followed by his own age group event, the under-9 nationals in Pune.
Meanwhile, Grandmaster Boris Savchenko of Russia won the KIIT tournament, settling for a draw with India’s Sayantan Das in the final round. Savchenko scored 8.5 points out of a possible 10.
-PTI
KHO KHO
Kho Kho World Cup training camp to begin from Tuesday
The training camp for the probables for the World Cup Kho Kho will begin at the Nehru Stadium from Tuesday.
The fitness and conditioning camp will be supervised by head coach Ashwani Sharma. The World Cup is scheduled to be staged at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium from January 13 to 19.
Players from across the country in men’s and women’s sections have been accommodated at the Nehru Stadium and arrangements have been made for their multi-faceted training. Around 16 coaches and support staff will work with the team.
“The training camp will focus on enhancing fitness levels, with specialised training in coordination, technique, pole diving and tapping, dodging and zig zag running. We have engaged a sports psychologist to support the players with mental health resources.
Experts from yoga, meditation, physiology apart from a dietician will also help in tuning the team for best performance,” said the president of the Kho Kho Federation of India (KKFI), Sudhanshu Mittal.
The final team would be selected in due course of time for the World Cup.
-Kamesh Srinivasan
Sportstar