The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : GVK to sponsor Poojashree

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GVK to sponsor Poojashree

HYDERABAD: GVK Group of Industries, which was the first to sponsor Sania Mirza when not many in tennis world had even seen her in action, has come forward to sponsor Poojashree Venkatesh.

G.V. Krishna Reddy, Chairman, GVK Group, said here that like in the case of Sania, when her mother Naseema accompanied the youngster seeking support during the former’s formative years, the Group had decided to wait for Poojashree to prove her mettle.

“Since we are impressed with her growth in the circuit, we have decided to lend financial support to Poojashree also and hope she would produce something special in the future,” Reddy said.

Poojashree, who is already being supported under the GVK scholarship programme for promising tennis players, has achieved yet another significant milestone in her career by getting a direct entry into the junior Australian Open which starts on January 14.

Earlier, Poojashree represented India in the mini and sub-junior Australian Open in 2005 and also in many tournaments in Australia in 2004.

Direct entry

The 17-year-old from Mysore also got a direct entry to the 2007 junior U.S. Open and is currently ranked No.54 in the ITF juniors Category VII.

“Our vision is to produce champions in tennis and we will continue to support any performing player. Exactly for this purpose we have even set up a full-fledged academy in the City,” Reddy said.

Guntur triumphs

Host Guntur defeated Kadapa 2-0 in the final of the 24th Andhra senior inter-district hockey championship that concluded at the Police Parade Grounds at Guntur on Saturday.

Guntur captain Suresh scored the first goal in the 24th minute, converting a penalty corner by nudging the ball which ricocheted off the rival goal keeper’s pads.

In the 49th minute, Prasanna latched on to a brilliant pass from Ajay to score the match winner.

Kadapa failed to convert three penalty corners while Guntur succeeded at one out of four.

District Collector Ali Rafath gave away the prizes.

The result (final):

Guntur 2 (Suresh, Prasanna) bt Kadapa 0.

Manoj Sai sizzles

An all-round performance by Manoj Sai (75 and five for 34) helped GCC XI score a 183- run victory over LEM CC in the Guntur District Cricket Association ‘A’ division league tournament at Loyola Public School grounds at Guntur on Saturday.

The scores:

GCC 294 in five in 35 overs (G.V. Sarath 96, Manoj Sai 75, Nagaraju 41) bt LEM CC 111 in 23 overs (Manoj Sai five for 34).

KCA 130 in 32 overs (Sivakoti 56, Giribabu five for 35) bt GRCC 106 in 19 overs (P.V.S. Krishna four for 17).

All-round display by Gurunath

V. Gurunath put up a splendid all-round show in Simon Blues’s 173-run win over Dynamic CC in the VDCA fifth division clubs cricket league in Visakhapatnam on Saturday.

He scored 41 and picked up six for 25.

This followed his seven-wicket haul for Jolly Rovers against Good Friends in a third division match a few days ago.

Rupesh claimed six wickets for Sarada CC against Vizag Veterans in the fourth division, but his team lost by 59 runs.

The scores:

V div. clubs league: Simon Blues 244 in 39.5 overs (A.V.V. Satyanarayana 70, Gurunath 41) bt Dynamic CC 71 in 16.4 overs (Gurunath six for 25).

III div.: M.F. Khan CC 252 for five in 46 overs (Anil Kumar 71, Gopi Reddy 61, Govinda Ramam 50) bt Sports XI 171 in 32 overs (Gopala Krishna 50).

IV div.: Vizag Veterans 149 in 32 overs (Rupesh six for 18) bt Sarada CC 90 in 28 overs (Ravikumar four for 20).

Big win for Young Stars

Young Stars defeated KBN College by 117 runs in the Krishna District Cricket Association ‘B’ division league tournament for Devineni Venkataramana and Praneetha Memorial Trophy here on Saturday.

The scores: Young Stars 170 in 32.2 overs (Bhaskar 45) bt KBN College 53 in 20 overs.

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