The Hindu : Sport : A big step forward for Saina Nehawal

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Saturday, Sep 09, 2006

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A big step forward for Saina Nehawal

HYDERABAD: For Saina Nehawal, it is a big step forward in her childhood dream to be a world-beater in the world of badminton. The 17-year-old shuttler from Hyderabad has jumped to World No. 30 as per the latest IBF rankings released on Thursday.

Saina, with whom the Laxmi Mittal Sports Foundation has signed a long-term promotion deal, feels that the giant leap from No. 41 a week ago could not have a come at a more appropriate time as she was preparing for the World Championship in Spain later this month.

"I believe that things are certainly looking up for me and I am grateful to Gopi anna (Pullela Gopi Chand) for his commitment and personal interest in ensuring that I get exposure to big events," she remarked in a chat with The Hindu.

Ultimate goal

This Hyderabadi shuttler, who was the youngest Indian to win the Asian Satellite championship a few months ago, also believes that she was a much better and faster player on the court now. "The learning process is a continuous one and I want to keep improving as my ultimate goal is to win the All-England championship," says the Intermediate student of St. Ann's College in Mehdipatnam.

Gopi, the chief national coach, says that Saina has immense talent and it is only a question of one or two big wins hereafter, that should catapult her to a much-higher group. "We are working on a number of areas to see that Saina becomes a more complete player. Her willingness to learn is a big asset and she is a very dedicated trainee," says the 2001 All-England champion.

New meet record

International Fazal Ansari came up with a new meet record as he hurled the javelin to a distance of 77.84 metres on the concluding day of the 56th Services athletic championships at the GMC Balayogi stadium, Gachibowli, on Friday. His team Army Red emerged as the overall champion with 99 points. The chief patron of the championship, Brigadier Pramathesh Raina, Commandant Artillery Centre Hyderabad, gave away the medals.

The results: Javelin: 1. Fazal Ansari (AR) 77.84m (NMR), 2. Jagmohan (Navy), 3. Anna Ram (AR). 50km walk: 1. Jagtar Singh (AR) 4:50:42.0s, 2. Vipin Kumar (Navy), 3. V.K. Singh (AF). Long jump: 1. S. George (Navy) 7.52m, 2. Sanjay Kumar (AR), 3. Alex Thomas (AG). 100m: 1. Shivdhavan (AG) 10.74s, 2. Samiron (AR), 3. Binay Devasia (AG). 800m: 1. Amoul Kumar (AG) 1:53.77s, 2. K.J. Arun (Navy), 3. P. Vinodan (AR). 3,000m steeplechase: 1. Om Prakash (AR) 9:14.52s, 2. Jatinder Singh (AG), 3. Bittu Kumar (AR).

Team championship: 1. Army Red (99 pts), 2. Army Green (82 pts), 3. Indian Navy (62 pts).

Sharath stars for DBHC

Sharath Reddy's hat-trick fashioned Deccan Blues HC 8-0 win over Tarbund XI in the A-2 Division hockey league championship at the Begumpet Police Stadium here on Friday.

Sharath struck in the 13th, 16th and 34th minutes. A brace each by Kripal Singh and Md Azeem and a solo effort by Amanjyoth Singh completed the tally for the winner. In all, Blues earned four penalty-corners.

Sneha's all-round show

Sneha's all-round performance (63 and three for 18), helped MCA Cricket Academy record a comfortable, 55-run win over Geeta Reddy Club in the Ranga Reddy District Women's Cricket Association tournament here.

The scores: GMS School 109 in 20 overs (Sowmya four for 16) bt PMS 93 for five in 20 overs.

LB Nagar Club 82 in 17.5 overs (Sruthi four for 15, Lilly Rose three for 10) lost to MVN School 83 for seven in 15.1 overs.

MCA Cricket Academy 171 for six in 20 overs (Sneha 63, Haritha four for 48) bt Geeta Reddy Club 116 for seven (Sadia four for 15, Sneha three for 18).

MVN School 114 for nine in 20 overs (Laxmi Prasanna four for 8, Vasavi three for 19).

Ramana moves up

Ch.S.S.V. Ramana defeated Wajahat 11-8, 11-6, 11-4, 11-4 in the men's singles second round of the St. Paul's Table Tennis Academy's State-ranking table tennis tournament here on Friday.

The results: second round: Men: Shreyas Jagirdar bt Priyan Agarwal 11-3, 12-10, 11-7, 12-10; Samee Yousuf Khan bt Vinay Kumar 11-3, 11-4, 11-8, 11-7; D. Nagaraju bt V. Vinay 11-7,11-7, 11-6, 11-4; A. Umesh Kumar bt D. Ajay Kumar 11-8, 11-8, 15-17, 8-11, 11-9, 11-7; Manas Reddy bt Shivank Kedia 11-5, 11-7, 11-7, 9-11, 13-11; Ch.S.S.V. Ramana bt Wajahat 11-8, 11-6, 11-8, 11-4; Harsh A. Shah bt J. Nagaraju 11-3, 11-4, 11-7, 11-5; Sai Praneeth bt Gaurav Gampa 11-8, 12-10, 11-4, 11-6; B. Sridhar bt Raj Kumar 5-11, 12-10, 8-11, 9-11, 11-4, 11-4, 11-7; K.M.R.K. Lohit bt C.V. Srikar 11-5, 11-9, 11-9, 11-13, 11-9; G. Jitendra bt Osbert Liu 11-3, 11-6, 11-9, 11-3; K. Vivek Vardhan bt Ashish Paul 11-6, 7-11, 12-10, 5-11, 11-5, 10-12, 11-7; V. Ajay Kumar bt K.V.S. Gopal Krishna 11-7, 11-9, 11-6, 11-6; G. Vishal Kumar Reddy bt Kunal P. Tridev 11-5, 11-4, 11-3, 11-4; Somnath Gosh bt Md. Ibrahim Khan 11-8, 8-11, 11-6, 12-10, 12-14, 12-10; A.V. Anish bt Mallikarjunudu 11-9, 9-11, 15-13, 11-4, 11-8; Surendra bt N. Srinu 11-3, 11-6, 11-3, 11-7; G. Praveen Kumar bt P. Sanjeev Reddy 9-11, 7-11, 11-3, 11-8, 9-11, 11-8, 11-3.

Women: Ch. Praneetha bt Hema Bindu 11-2, 11-3, 11-5, 11-3; Ramneek Kaur bt Saira Banu 13-11, 11-7, 11-5, 11-5, 11-3, 11-7; Anupa Ruth bt Laxmi Krishnan 12-10, 11-5, 11-1, 11-0; Jayashree bt Priyanka 11-4, 11-2, 11-7, 11-9.

Double for KV No. I

Kendriya Vidyalaya No. I (Uppal) bagged a double winning the boys and girls' titles in the KVS Cluster II hockey tournament here.

KV No. I boys defeated KV No. II (Uppal) 3-0 with R. Srikanth, G. Suman Sastry and Ravi Teja scoring. Later, the girls' team from the same school recorded an easy 4-0 win against KV No. II with M. Rekha, G. Bhavana, K. Revathi and M. Rushita scoring.

Ashok, Saritha to lead

M. Ashok and Saritha will lead the Andhra Pradesh boys and girls' teams respectively in the 19th sub-junior National softball championship to be held in Bhubaneshwar from September 10 to 15.

The teams: Boys: M. Ashok (capt), N. Soumith, R. Prem Kumar, D.P. Rajasekhar, Naveen Babu, N. Deepak, K. Ranjit Kumar, Roopesh Kumar, K. Deep, Ramesh, M. Ramesh Babu, P. Allabaksh, Sai Randeep, Affan Ali and Prem Kumar. Coaches: K. Krishna & A.S. Jagadishwar Reddy. Manager: P. Narasimha Reddy.

Girls: Saritha (capt), H. Swapna, N. Sangitha, V. Tirupathi, J. Charisma, Manasa, Prashanthi, P. Meghna, Srilatha, Prashanthi, P. Meghana, Srilatha, Gowthami, S. Tirumala, Padma, T. Mamata, Ch. Subbalaxmi and P. Janaki. Coaches: Suresh Kumar & B. Srinivas. Manageress: K. Annapurna Naidu.

Whittaker Cup sports meet

Wesley Church (Ramkote) will organise Whittaker Cup inter-church sports meet from September 11 to 16 at the Hyderabad YMCA. Competitions will be held in volleyball, basketball, cricket and table tennis. Entries close by September 10 and further particulars can be had on Phone Nos.24751299 \ 99488 95598 \ 94400 48732.

APSACS cricket

Sports Coaching Foundation (Masab Tank) will organise the APSACS floodlit cricket tournament from September 9, according to K. Sai Baba, general secretary SCF. Twenty-three teams including Women's Cricket Club to be led by India captain Mithali Raj will be vying for top honours in the event to be sponsored by AP State Aids Control Society.

FMC Bridge

Fateh Maidan Club will organise its Master Pairs bridge event on September 10 at its premises from 10.00 a.m. Further details can be had on Phone No. 98480 81692.

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