Category Archives: Sports

Bengaluru team conquers English Channel in 14 hours

Records, All, Sports, World Opinion

Bengaluru :

Until six years ago, Rajan Srinivasan, the 47-year-old vice-president of British Telecom, didn’t know how to swim. On Wednesday evening, as he stood at the White Cliffs of Dover, he felt a deep sense of accomplishment. It wasn’t without reason. Srinivasan was part of a team from Bengaluru that crossed the English Channel.

The Swimlife Seagulls, an eight-member team led by coach M Satish Kumar, crossed the 63km distance (they took the longer route because of high tide) in 14 hours and six minutes. What sets the team apart from other swimmers is the diversity. Homemaker Suman Singhi was the lone woman in the team, entrepreneur Tejas M Sati was the youngest at 34 and 67-year-old Mohan Sawkar, a lawyer practising at the Karnataka High Court, was the oldest.

It was Srikaanth Viswanathan, an engineer, who mooted the idea in July last year. And the team began its training soon.

Preparations took them to Kodi Beach in Kundapur and Calangute in Goa. In March this year, they did a trial swim, crossing the 40-km stretch from Khanderi to Gateway of India, Mumbai. The team, which landed in Dover on August 28, initially planned to cross the Channel on September 11, but when the window to accomplish their mission came up on Wednesday, they took up the challenge after three days of practice. They began their arduous journey at 2 am.

“It’s a great feeling to have crossed the Channel,” Satish told TOI from Dover. “It’s special because most of the members initially started swimming for health reasons and to overcome their fears. But through the past year, our goal was crossing the English Channel. We had to overcome many challenges, sea sickness being the biggest. We were not used to the temperature, 14 degrees Celsius. Each of us feels we have accomplished something.”

While the actual distance is 32km, the Seagulls had to cover 63km because of high tide. Each person swam for an hour at a stretch before the next one took over. “It is an over-the-moon feeling,” said an elated Suman. “I began to swim to battle high blood sugar and cholesterol. I never thought I would conquer the Channel and my ailments.”

Still in celebratory mode, the team is game for the challenge one more time.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Bengaluru / by Manuja Veerappa, TNN / September 04th, 2015

IGU South Zone Junior Golf : Pranavi Urs wins ‘Category C’ title

Sports

Mysuru :

City’s Pranavi S. Urs, a student of National Public school and a product of the JWGC, won the ‘Category C’ title in the IGU South Zone Junior Golf Championships 2015 orgnaised by Chikkamagaluru Golf Club in Chikkamagaluru which concluded yesterday. Pranavi returned with a two-day aggregate score of 150 (75+75) to clinch the title.

Another upcoming youngster Aryan Roopa Anand from JWGC, finished second in the Category ‘B’ section with a two-day card of 152 (76+76). He also finished fourth in the ‘Category A & B section’. Disha Kavery of JWGC, Mysuru and a student of Excel Public school, Mysuru, finished third in the ‘Category ‘C’ girls section with a two-day aggregate score of 162 (84+78).

City’s Vidatri K. Urs, a student of National Public School, Mysuru and a product of JWGC emerged as the winner in Category D girls section with a two-day card of 169 (83+86).

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Sports News / August 31st, 2015

State Open U-17 & Girls Chess Tournament : Ojas Kulkarni, Manasa clinch titles

Sports
The winners in the U-17 open and girls Karnataka State Chess Championships conducted by the Mysuru Chess Centre at the Hotel Dasprakash premises seen with the trophies. Standing from left: Khushi M. Hombal, H.R. Manasa, Ojas Kulkarni and P. Shet Prajwal
The winners in the U-17 open and girls Karnataka State Chess Championships conducted by the Mysuru Chess Centre at the Hotel Dasprakash premises seen with the trophies. Standing from left: Khushi M. Hombal, H.R. Manasa, Ojas Kulkarni and P. Shet Prajwal

Mysuru :

Ojas Kul-karni of Bengaluru and H.R. Manasa of Mysuru won the Karnataka State Open U-17 and Girls Chess titles respectively on the concluding day of the Karnataka State U-17 Open & Girls Chess Championships held at Mysuru yesterday.

Ojas Kulkarni (7.5 pts) drew his final and ninth round tie against Ithal H.L. Rajath of Bengaluru (7 pts) to clinch the U-17 Open title.Four players – P. Shet Prajwal (Tumakuru), Likhit Chilukuri (Davanagere), Ithal Rajath (Bengaluru) and Jagadish (Bengaluru) tied with 7 points each and secured places from second to fifth in the final placings.

Mysuru girl Manasa (ELO-1698) won the U-17 Girls title with 6 points. She was tied with Kushi M. Hombal (Shivamogga) with 6 points from seven rounds, but the better progressive tie-break score of 29.5 to the latter’s 26.5 helped her clinch the title.

Final Placings: U-17 Open: Ojas Kulkarni (B’luru-7.5 pts); Shet Prajwal (Tumakuru- 7pts); Likhit Chilukuri (D’gere-7 pts); Ithal Rajath (B’luru-7pts); Jagadish (B’luru-7pts); Varma Shabdhik (DK-6.5 pts); Arjun Adappa (DK-6.5 pts); Sudharshan Bhat (B’luru-6.5 pts); Ajay (Shivamogga-6.5 pts); Jatin (Mys-6pts).

U-17 Girls: Manasa (Mys-6 pts); Khushi Hombal (Shivamogga-6 pts); Spandana (Shivamogga-5.5pts); Shalmika Jain (DK-5 pts); Isha Sharma (B’luru-5); Dhanyatha Corry (B’luru- 5 pts); Akshatha Raju (Mys-5 pts); Supraja (Mys-5pts); Siri Sharma (DK- 5 pts); Sanjana Raghunath (B’luru-5 pts).

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Sports News / August 31st, 2015

A motorcycle expedition for public cause

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Sports, Travel
Deepak Timmoji and Tangachan Androz with the Border Security Force officials during their expedition..— Photo: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Deepak Timmoji and Tangachan Androz with the Border Security Force officials during their expedition..— Photo: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

With the objective of creating public awareness against corruption, communalism and environmental pollution, Deepak Thimmoji, an architect, and Thankachan Andrews, a farmer, had launched an expedition on motorcycle from here in 2012. Based on the video clippings they had captured on the mobile phone and cameras during their expedition, a short film in English language of 57-minute duration, titled ‘Dream Ride’ has been produced.

They had started from Shivamogga on June 8, 2012 on their motorcycles of 500 cc capacity each. In the 44-day journey, the duo travelled 12,000 kilometres. As part of the expedition, they visited 19 States, including Kerala, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa and Daman. During the journey, they interacted with students in educational institutions and with gram panchayat members, focussing on the need to conserve environment and end corruption.

Mr. Andrews told The Hindu that as creation of awareness on environmental pollution was the primary objective of the expedition, they avoided using plastic water bottles. “As the increase in human needs is blamed for the destruction of environment, we kept our needs at minimum leve6l during the expedition. We slept in tents that were set up on the roadside and cooked food on our own,” he said.

Mr. Thimmoji said, the motorcycle expedition also helped them understand the plural culture and rich natural diversity of the nation. The short film would motivate the youths to take up similar adventures, he said.

The film is produced by ByZero productions. Mr. Thimmoji said, the short film would be screened on the campuses of educational institutions and adventure and sports clubs. The DVD of the short film would be released at Kuvempu Rangamandir here on August 21. The programme will commence at 5.30 p.m. A travelogue in Kannada, authored by Mr. Thimmoji covering the experiences during the expedition, would also be released on the occasion.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Karnataka / by Veerendra P.M. / Shivamogga – August 20th, 2015

The grand wheels

Records, All, Sports

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Cars always fascinated Amarnath, a businessman and proud owner of a fleet of classic cars and two wheelers. He grew up watching his father drive around in the most expensive of cars and as a child, he always dreamt of owning one of his own someday. As the years passed by, Amarnath’s interest in cars grew into a passion.

Walk on the sprawling lawns that lead to Amarnath’s bungalow, tucked away in HBR Layout, and the first thing that catches your attention are a row of cars and bikes — all neatly polished and parked in line. The spick and span vehicles are those that have stood the test of time. “I’ve consciously made space for all these cars and bikes to be parked in my compound. There’s enough room and shade to keep them way from the heat to prevent any damage,” he explains, pointing to an enclosure that he has constructed exclusively for the cars to be parked in.

Among the prized possessions in his stable is a 1963 model of Standard Herald that he bought a while ago. Explaining how he stumbled upon it, Amarnath says, “I was always drawn to two-door cars. They are grand and look like an Indian Ferrari.” He then points towards a 1952 model of a Morris Minor, “It was in a pitiable state when I first saw it two years ago. It had to be brought back to life, so I found the perfect restorer in my friend Sripathy, an expert on just about any car. He helped me restore it and bring it to perfect running condition.”

Walk further on and a 1952 model Hillman Minx catches your attention. “That’s my father’s car,” he explains, “My father always wanted to own a Hillman. He didn’t miss the chance to buy it as soon as the opportunity arose.” He also has two Mercedes standing at the far corner. “These are 1973 (yellow) and 1982 (blue) models of compact Mercedes which you now see only in the movies. They are in perfect  condition and we usually drive around in them only on the weekends,” he says.

If you think his collection ends with cars, you’ll be in for a surprise when he shows you a 1970 model of a Bobby Rajdoot. The Bobby moniker was later added after the bike did a little acting stint in the Raj Kapoor movie of the same name. “I first spotted this bike on Gujli Street in Shivajinagar six years ago. A closer examination and I was overjoyed that I had found the Bobby I had been hunting for a long time. I paid Rs 3,000 and bought it almost immediately,” he says. At a time when people focus on making modifications to bikes and cars, to make them look slimmer and swankier, Amarnath intends to retain all his classic beauties in their original shape. “I don’t want to bring in unnecessary modifications and spoil the originality,” he reasons. He also owns a 1972 model of Suvega as well.

Amarnath’s older son Varun has taken after his him and spends a lot of time washing the cars and keeping them clean. “I am proud of our collection and some of my friends come home just to see our cars and I occasionally ride the Bobby Rajdoot as well,” says Varun. Amarnath’s wife Rajashri is also supportive of him every time he adds on to his existing fleet.

(R Amarnath can be reached at ramarnath1969 @gmail.com)

source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> Supplements> MetroLife / by Nina C. George / DHNS – August 18th, 2015

59 years and still kicking

Records, All, Sports
An Independence Day Cup football match being played at Cox Town in Bengaluru on Saturday.— Photo: Sudhakara Jain / The Hindu
An Independence Day Cup football match being played at Cox Town in Bengaluru on Saturday.— Photo: Sudhakara Jain / The Hindu

While other localities hoist flags, Cox Town hosts a football tournament.

Fifty-nine successive years of the world’s favourite sport on east Bengaluru soil. Enthusiasm among spectators is such that they can be seen desperately grabbing seats on trees, walls and on Bengaluru East railway bridge to get the best view of the game. All this is an annual affair on Independence Day.

The Independence Day Cup football tournament final on August 15 is festive occasion for fans in Frazer Town and the rest of Bengaluru. Crowds throng the East Indian Sports Club ground on Moti Masjid Road to watch the game unfold. The roar of the fans surprises pedestrians and motorists passing near Everest cinema hall.

“I’m 42 years old and this is the 32ndyear I’m coming for the final. I used to come as a child to cheer the team wearing the jersey with the brightest colour. Now, I have come to support the home team — Camp Boys Cox Town,” says D.S. Raju, a grocery from MS Nagar. R. Giriraj (59), General Secretary of East Indian Sports Club, had played in the tournament four decades ago when the entry fee was only Rs. 5.

He describes the I-Day football tournament as a sensation among the locals. “Teams from all parts of Bengaluru, Mysuru and even Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh participate. Crowds throng the ground from around Bengaluru on August 15 to witness the two semi-finals and the grand final,” says Giriraj who doubled up as a referee for the ties on Saturday.

The club has been hosting the tournament since 1956. This year, there were 64 entries. Ambedkar Nehrupuram Football Club from Cox Town lifted the cup after a floodlit final game.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / by Petlee Peter / Bengaluru – August 16th, 2015

City’s Karate Master certified by Okinawa Governor

Records, All, Sports, World Opinion

RenshiBF15aug2015

Mysuru :

City’s Karate Master Renshi Johnson became the first Karate Master from city to be trained and evaluated by 32 grandmasters (Red Belts) of four major Okinawa Karate Schools; Goju-Ryu, Isshin-Ryu, Shorin-Ryu and Uechi-Ryu, assigned by the Japan Government and successfully completed the Okinawa Traditional Karate and Kobudo Worldwide Seminar in Naha, Okinawa (Japan).

Governor of Okinawa Prefecture Takeshi Onaga certified Renshi Johnson, felicitated and awarded the certificate on July 18, 2015.

This is the first time a Karate instructor from Mysuru was selected and invited by the Okinawan Governor himself to take part in a worldwide Karate and Kobudo event and was evaluated by the living legends (grandmasters) of Okinawan Karate.

Renshi Johnson, a resident of Roopa Nagar, Bogadi in city, is a 5th Dan Black Belt in Karate and 2nd Dan Black Belt in Kobudo.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Sports News / Sunday – August 09th, 2015

The freedom riders

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Sports, Travel
Above: Last year’s Independence Day ride to Nandi Hills
Above: Last year’s Independence Day ride to Nandi Hills

The city’s bikers will ride to different locations this Independence Day in a quest for freedom, to chase a record, and for a good cause

The wind in your face and the open road ahead – it’s the ultimate symbol of freedom for bikers. It’s what the city’s bikers will be celebrating on August 15. While RD350, along with about 25 clubs from Bengaluru – including Bangalore Jawa Yezdi Club, Avenger Club, Riders of Bangalore, Bikers of India and more – will be taking to Nandi Hills on Saturday morning, Free Spirits Motorcycling Club will be taking to Honur Village, Kolar District. Both have different purposes – the former aims to celebrate the meaning of freedom, while the latter is dedicated to the late Dr APJ Abdul Kalam and is for the benefit of Government Model Higher Primary School or Sarkari Madari Hiriya Prathamika Shalle in Kolar.

Vishal Agarwal (29), Founder of RD350 Club, says this will be their 7th annual Independence Day ride, one they always do in conjunction with clubs across the city. Last year they had 1,000 riders, while this time, they hope to enter the Limca Book of World Records by having 1,200 bikes – the largest number in one place. Each bike will also display an Indian flag – “upright, we follow all the rules,” Agarwal says. They will ride up to the hill together, and have a small function on top, where they will sing the national anthem. Why Nandi Hills? “It’s the best location in Bengaluru for bikers because it offers 40 curves. And the road is great for riding,” he says.

In contrast, Free Spirits Motorcycling Club is a younger affair, started in November 2014, with their first official club ride on April 12, 2015 to Melkote to commemorate the “One Ride” with Royal Enfield, where they had 36 participants including women and children. This time, the school has been chosen because one of their club members hails from the place and suggested the school.

The Nandi Hills ride will have the bikers going in single or double line formation that they will maintain throughout. Agarwal says they advocate safety – riding gear, helmets and shoes, and staying within the speed limit of 50-60 km per hour. “We request people to check air pressure, fill fuel and have their bikes ready a day before. We’ll make two stops and leave the start line in lots of 30 bikers at a time, every 10 minutes,” he says. It is their way, he says, of saluting the freedom fighters – the same idea that led him to launch this ride back in 2009. Then, it was 30 people, but today, he is confident of breaking the record.
Some of their oldest riders are veterans Chakravarty R (84), a regular since five years, and Amit Dutta (55), a veteran member of Jawa Yezdi club. “They will share some of their stories and tell us how the clubs were started and so on. We will then have breakfast, wind up and proceed back group wise,” Agarwal says.

The Kolar ride will have approximately 50 bikes and five cars with 80 plus participants – including family. “Bikers often put their passion for riding on the back burner after the pressures of work and family come along. So the philosophy of our group is one that includes family too – often in the car behind them,” explains Pravan Biddappa, moderator. They will have 20 women, of which five will be riding, 10 senior citizens out of which one rider will be “67 year-young” GV Acharya, a Limca Book World Record holder, and 10 children. It will be mandatory for all riders on the 80 km ride to follow safety and security precautions – both riders and pillion need to wear helmets, riding jackets, boots and knee guards, and not cross the speed limit of 60km/hr.

At the school, they will have breakfast with the children, sponsor 10 benches for the children to sit on, distribute uniforms, bags, water bottles, stationery, chocolates, install a 20 litre water purifier, play games and felicitate five retired schoolteachers.

Free Spirits Motorcycling Club will depart at 7am from ITI Gate after KR Puram hanging bridge, and return by 1 pm. Log on to Free Spirits Motorcycling Club (F.S.M.C) 

The Nandi Hills ride will begin at 6.15 am from Columbia Asia Hospital, Hebbal. Individual groups will return on their own. Contact the local admins of different clubs if you want to participate. 

source: http://www.bangaloremirror.com / Bangalore Mirror / Home> Bangalore> Others / by Sowmya Rajaram, Bangalore Mirror Bureau / August 14th, 2015

Bengaluru girl shines at World Junior Sudoku Championship

Records, All, Sports, World Opinion

A girl, who first started solving Sudoku with her grandfather and father last year, has bagged the silver medal at the inaugural Qianán Water City Cup 2015 World Junior Sudoku Championship held at Beijing, China, recently.

Aditi Sheshadri, a student of Delhi Public School (Bangalore North), says that her interest grew during the school rounds of the Sudoku Champs. “It was a pleasant experience to win the Bengaluru round and get selected for the Indian Under-18 team for the World Junior Sudoku Championship in Beijing,” she says.

Apart from Aditi, the team comprised Shristi Kejriwal (Mahadevi Birla World Academy, Kolkata) and S. Pranav Kamesh (Maharishi Vidya Mandir).

The team won the silver medal while Aditi finished ninth in the individual U-18 category. She was also part of a record-breaking event for the largest multi-Sudoku puzzle consisting of 200 standard grids achieved by Beijing Sudoku Association (China), in which 200 participants from 10 countries took part. She received a certificate of participation from the Guinness World Records in the Officially Amazing category.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / Sudhindra A.B. / Bengaluru – August 11th, 2015

Lohitt Urs to take part in ‘Rally of Coimbatore’

Sports

LohitUrsMPOs06aug2015

Mysuru :

City based rallyist Lohitt V. Urs and G.M. Srikanth of Bengaluru will be taking part in the Rally of Coimbatore commencing today. Lohitt, who is back into stage rallying after a gap of an year, will be driving Mitsubishi Evo VIII, which is a full blown turbocharged, all wheel driven rally car.

Speaking to Star of Mysore, Lohitt said that the rally in Nashik was a warm-up and there was also a delay in getting spares and he had to drive with road tyres. But in this rally, we are prepared better and are confident of a win. “In fact, our aim is to participate in the Asia Cup in December”, he added.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Sports News / Friday – July 31st, 2015