SUNDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2013 (PAGE-2) State sportspersons played 2013 well Surmounting many hurdles, the state PROMISING SHUBAM MAKES NIKITA THAKUR WINS BRONZE STATE HANDBALL TEAM WINS GOLD Budding skater, Nikita Thakur was on a roll in this year’s Gutsy handball player, Neeraj represented India in sportspersons brought glory to the IT TO INDIA U-19 TEAM skating nationals as she claimed bronze medals more than After scoring over 700 runs with 3 International IHF Contingental Trophy and Pattle Cup once. Manvi Jaggi and Ishita Singh also blossomed in skat- International Championship held in Sweden in the year sports sector. Rajesh Dhar sums up the centuries and 4 half-centuries in Cooch ing Nationals organized by different agencies. Behar Under-19 boys Cricket Tourna- 2013. SM Bali, Chief Executive Officer, Handball Fed- achievement of these dedicated and ment last season, Shubam Pradeep ASHOK RECEIVES INDIAN TEAM’S eration of India was manager of the Indian team, while gritty sportspersons in the yearender. Khajuria was selected for India Under- ‘FAIR PLAY AWARD’ TROPHY handball coach Dev Raj was the coach of Indian 19 team for the tour of Sri Lanka and Former Deputy Director Youth Services women team. Moreover, J&K Handball team bagged Going down the memory lanes, one finds J&K strug- bronze medal in North Zone Championship and won Quadrangular Series in India. He per- and Sports, Director Sports SMVDSB and gling in the field of sports at almost all the levels, yet vice president School Games Federation of gold in All India Raizada Prehald Bali Federation Cup formed well in both the tours whenever hosted by the State in Jammu. SM Bali was also award- presence of top class individual performers had he got a chance. Presently, Shubam is India (SGFI), Ashok Kumar received presti- always been there in some or the other sports disci- gious Indian team’s ‘fair play award trophy’ ed Doctorate for his administrative achievements in busy with this season’s Cooch Behar handball in the current year. pline. Majeed Kakroo, Surinder Singh Bagal, Sonia Trophy, in which the talented cricketer has already scored bagged in ISF World Cup Basketball Under- 19 Boys Championship at Cyprus in Europe. Sharma, Arun Malhotra, Mehraj-ud-Din Wadoo and 540 runs including a double century (214), a big century (150) Mr Ashok was the manager of the Indian Ishfaq Ahmed are a few outstanding sportspersons to and couple of half-centuries. This performance has fetched team, sponsored by School Games Federation of India. name. However, in the year 2013, ace sportspersons him place in U-19 World Cup probables. of Jammu and Kashmir have not only blossomed at TALENTED RASOOL’S SELECTION J&K FENCERS’ BAG SABRE TEAM GOLD IN TEAM INDIA SQUAD the national level, but at the international arena as The fencers of Jammu and Kashmir claimed gold medal well. Leading from the front in this race are Parvez The year 2013 witnessed selec- tion of J&K’s all-rounder Parvez in sabre team event of the 24th Senior National Fencing Rasool Zargar, Atul Pangotra, Krupali Singh, Palak Championship held at Indoor Complex in MAStadium recent- Kour and Kuldeep Handoo etc. Apart from some Rasool Zargar’s selection in Team India, a historic moment for the ly. The participants in the event included Rashid Ahmed splendid individual performances, J&K witnessed State of Jammu and Kashmir as he Choudhary, Major Vikram Singh, Ujjawal Gupta and Vishal some extraordinary team performances, which became the first ever cricketer from Thappa. J&K bagged overall third place in the Championship, included good show by J&K Ranji trophy team, fenc- the State to get the nod of National besides winning two gold and one silver in the year 2013. ing team, handball team roll ball team and gymnas- selectors. After a marvelous Ranji tic team etc. Moreover, the year witnessed organiza- Trophy season in 2012-13, Parvez tion of high quality National Level Championships in was included in India-A squad to the disciplines of Under-17 boys’ football, Under-14 play a warm-up match against Eng- boys and girls volleyball, Senior National Badminton land on January 6, 2013. Thereafter, Rasool represent- Spikkers in action during volleyball match of 59th National School Games in Jammu Championship, Fencing Championship, Handball ed Board President’s XI to play against touring Australia, Championship and a good number of matches under wherein all-rounder wreaked havoc to take 7-wicket haul STATE HOSTS GALAXY OF NATIONALS and bowl-out them for a modest total of 241 runs. His the banner of Board of Control for Cricket in India. A series of high quality National Level Tournaments, scalps included top-order players like Ed Cowan, Math- organized by the two elite Sports Organisations of the ew Wade and Steve Smith. This performance fetched State namely Department of Youth Services and Sports him place in IPL team and later in Team India squad. and J&K State Sports Council, were hosted by the State ARJUNA AWARDEE KRUPALI BESTOWS J&K champion fencers posing alongwith coach. with great enthusiasm and pomp and show. The Tour- TIPS TO INDIAN GYMNASTS naments included Under-17 Boys Football Tournament REVIVAL OF SHER-E-KASHMIR SPORTS AWARD and Under-14 Boys and Girls Volleyball Tournament, J&K’s Krupali Singh, Arjuna The year 2013 witnessed revival of Sher-e-Kashmir organized by the DYSS in Srinagar and Jammu respec- Awardee bestowed tips to the Indian Sports Award for outstanding sportspersons and the glitter- tively, which witnessed a huge participation of teams gymnasts by accompanying the Indi- ing ceremony of award presentation was held at Zorawar drawn from across the Country; Senior National Bad- an team in World RG Championships Singh Auditorium, University of Jammu, wherein Chief Min- minton Championship, organized by J&K Badminton at Ukraine in August 2013. Krupali ister, Omar Abdullah was the chief guest and Minister for Association, under the banner of J&K State Sports also passed the International Gym- Sports, Taj Mohi-ud-Din was the guest of honour. State gym- Council, which had the distinction of witnessing partic- nastics Judges Course, organized by nasts led from the front in receiving this prestigious award ipation of ace national shuttlers including Purapalli International Gymnastics Federation and bagged 13 of them, followed by six awards clinched by Kashyap, Anoop Shridhar, Chetan Anand and Sourav at Singapore in November, 2013. ace footballers of the State. Verma.The State also hosted Handball Federation Cup. Coach SP Singh also accompanied the Indian Gymnastics Team as official in the 6th Asian HEENA, INAYAT SPARKLE IN TAEKWONDO NATIONALS RG Championships at Tashkent in Uzbekistan in June, J&K’s Heena Bali and Inayat Hussain sparkled in 59th 2013. National School Games in the discipline of Taekwondo GUTSY IAN SLAMS THUNDEROUS TON Under-17 years boys and girls Tournament held at Chhat- tisgarh recently. These players were part of J&K State con- Stylish Jammu and Kashmir bats- tingent, sponsored by the Department of Youth Services and man, Ian Dev Singh Chauhan slammed Sports, under the patronage of Navin Aggarwal, Director a power-packed ton (145) in the presti- General Youth Services of Sports and under the auspices Palak Kour in action during Asian Gymanastics C’ship at Tashkent. gious Duleep Trophy semifinal match of School Games Federation of India (SGFI). this season, eclipsing the century ACE GYMNAST PALAK REPRESENTS INDIA scored by former India Under-19 skip- per Unmukt Chand in this match. Gritty gymnast, Palak Kour represented India at the Inter- national Level in 6th Asian RG Champi- MANZOOR, KALRA GET BCCI NOD onship at Tashkent in Uzbakistan in the Apart from Dr. Farooq Abdullah, Kuldeep Handoo (left) with Indian Wushu team which Union Minster for New and Renewable month of June and in 32nd World RG excelled in Malaysia. Championships at Kiev in Ukrain in the Energy and president Jammu and month of August, 2013. Palak has the hon- Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA), HANDOO EXCELS AS NATIONAL COACH Manzoor wazir, treasurer JKCA, Ran- our of being the recipient of Sher-e-Kash- Kuldeep Handoo has the distinction of helping India jeet Kalra, chairman Media Committee Wushu team clinch medals at the International scene. mir Sports Award for outstanding JKCA and Mehboob Iqbal were induct- sportspersons. Apart from Palak’s excel- With Handoo as coach, the Indian Wushu team ed in BCCI sub committees in the year clinched silver medal in the World Games at Cali in lence, the State gymnasts sparkled in 12th 2013. Kalra was also nominated as Colombia and 6 medals in 12th World Wushu Cham- National Aerobic Gymnastics Champi- member, J and K State Sports Council and chairman pionship in Malasia. onships at Mumbai in the month of May, 2013. While the team Sports Advisory Board, Doda. of Jaskaran Singh, Inderdeep Singh, Parul Mehra, Honey J&K RANJI TEAM ALMOST CERTAIN TO Mehra, Tejpal Kour and Ravia Verma clinched bronze in this TAEKWONDO STAR ATUL PANGOTRA EXCELS championship, Manpreet Kour and Mayank Jain won gold Taekwondo star Atul Pangotra, who QUALIFY FOR KNOCKOUT STAGE was the only medalist from Jammu and and bronze medals in women and men individuals. In mix Registering outright victories over the formidable pair, the duo of Mayank Jain and Tejpal Kour bagged gold, Kashmir in Commonwealth Taekwondo teams of Goa, Andhra, Kerala and Assam, the Jam- while the trio of Parul Mehra, Tejpal Kour and Ravia Verma Championship in 2011-12, continued mu and Kashmir Ranji trophy team is all set to qualify claimed bronze. In junior men, Karanjyot Singh bagged sil- his brilliance and excelled at the Inter- for the knockout stage, under the captaincy of Parvez ver, while in sub junior, Mehak Chhetri and Gourav Chhetri national Level in 2013 also, besides Rasool, after a gap of 14 years as J&K had earlier qual- clinched women and men gold. Mehak Chhetri and Gourav receiving Sher-e-Kashmir Sports Inayat and Heena displaying merit certificates while posing with ified for the knockout stage in the year 2000, when the chhetri won bronze in mixed pair. Award for outstanding sports persons. Director General Y S & Sports. J&K team was led by Test cricketer, Ajay Jadeja.

A DREAM 10 MEMORABLE SPORTS MOMENTS It was midnight, stars were twin- kling in the sky and the moon was 013 was a roller coaster ride for Indian Leander Paes doubles title at US shining brightly. The owl was howl- sports. The year going by saw batting Open: At 40, doubles ten- ing & the trees were looking very 2 maestro Sachin Tendulkar's nis legend Leander beautiful. There was a big house Retirement. Paes, became the old- there. It had a balcony with a It was also marked est man to win a Grand by triumphs in the Slam title when he and beautiful garden too. Suddenly, a ICC Champions his Czech partner girl came out of her room and into Trophy in England, Radek Stepanek took the balcony. The girl was half a bronze medal by the US Open title. sleepy. Her eyes fell on a unicorn, shuttler PV Sindhu Shiv Kapur at British who was grazing in her garden. in the World Cup Open: Golfer Shiv Kapur became the first Indi- and 40-year-old an ever to lead in a Major albeit She couldn’t believe her eyes Leander Paes in briefly when he captured and rubbed them. She quickly ran the US Open the fancy of golf aficiona- out of her house and into the gar- men's doubles. dos with his incredible first den. She patted the unicorn and Sachin's retirement: round display, which got sat on it. Then she flew through the Billions of cricket him perched atop the clouds and the twinkling stars. She buffs across the coun- leaderboard for the first try and worldwide were nine holes at the British saw candies and lollies and took left in tears after master Open. a few of them with her. Then she blaster Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar Players of women Junior Hockey Team Deepika Kumari's Silver in Archery felt sleepy and slept on the horse announced his retirement from the 22-yard World Cup: India's golden girl Deepika while it was flying. Then suddenly, track ending a 24-year long international note by clinching the Sultan of Johor Cup year though the Hyderabadi has failed to win Kumari led the women contin- title in Malaysia, which gave India the self- even a single title. a voice came, “Get up Laura! career. gent to a new height stun- Get up !’’ She opened her eyes Sachin also earned the distinction of belief that they can win the Junior World Cup Amit Kumar's Silver in World Wrestling ning world champions being the first sportsperson to be conferred at home. Championships: Asian Champion Amit Korea in the World Cup, and the room was filled with sun- India's highest honour, the Bharat Ratna. But Manpreet Singh and his men crashed Kumar clinched the silver while the relatively new light and her mother was calling The award for Sachin was made out in the pool stages, eventually finishing in the final of 55kg cate- compound archers too her, “Get up! You’re getting late moments after the master blaster a disappointing 10th in the 16-team event. gory at the World emulated their recurve PV Sindhu World Cup Bronze: While Wrestling Champi- for school.’’ She realized that it announced his retirement. ICC Champions teammates in what was just a dream and what a Trophy Win: In less than a year, the world Indian badminton had a mixed onships. Amit lost to turned out to be a good champions have pocketed six ODI trophies year with London Hassan Farman Rahi- year for Indian archery. dream it was, like she had - back to back. And the feat was achieved Olympics Bronze mi of Iran 1-2 to win fin- Rahi Sarnobat's World Cup Gold in entered a magical world. medalist Saina Nehw- ish with a silver medal at not as 'Lions at Home' but across four con- Pistol Shooting: Rahi Sarnobat scripted -Sahar Rohmetra al in poor form, Pusar- the Papp Laszlo Sports Are- tinents. history by becoming the first Indian pistol la Venkata Sindhu, na. After London Olympics silver medallist Women Junior Hockey Team's Bronze shooter to clinch a gold medal HAPPY BIRTHDAY medal win: 2013 was an eventful roller- also from Andhra, hit Sushil Kumar failed to take the mat due to the headlines by fitness issues, Amit brought cheers to the in the ISSF World Cup. Rahi coaster ride for Indian hockey. joined the elite club of rifle Excelsior wishes many many The eves stole the limelight with the jun- becoming the country's Indian camp when he got the better of Sezar happy returns of the day to first woman to win a singles medal - a Bronze Akgul of Turkey in the semifinals of the mar- shooters - Anjali Bhag- Baby Aanya, daughter of Mrs ior team bagging a historic Bronze medal in wat, Gagan Narang, the World Cup held at Monchengladbach, - at the World Championships in August. quee event. Ruchika and Mr Vijay Kotwal, Sanjeev Rajput, R/o Bohri Talab Tillo, Jammu, Germany. Led by Sushila Chanu, the girls Sindhu has won two Grand Prix Gold titles Amit's heroics was followed by Sandeep Rajyavardhan Singh who celebrated her Happy won their first-ever World Cup medal by - Malaysia Open (May) and the Macau Open Tulsi Yadav, who capped a fine performance Rathore, Ronjan Sodhi Birthday on December 25, beating England in the third-place playoff via (December) - and was also conferred the at the Worlds in Budapest by claiming India's Arjuna Award. In contrast, Saina could not maiden bronze in Greco-Roman 66kg cate- and Manavjit Singh Sandhu 2013. She was blessed on the penalty shoot-out. day by her Dada and Dadi, Just like their female counterparts, the replicate her fantastic 2012 performance gory. Narsingh Yadav also claimed the - who have won gold medals in the Nana and Nani and all nears junior boys started the year on a promising when she also won an Olympic medal. This bronze in 74kg in the repechage. ISSF World Cups for India. and dears. Baby Aanya