SUNDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2015 (PAGE-3) 2015: J&K witnesses mixed moments in sports The sports sector in the State witnessed mixed moments-both pleasant and unpleasant during the year 2015. While, on the one hand, Gymnasts, Wushu players, Judokas, Paddlers and Canoeists kept the State's flag high at the National and International scene, on the other hand, internal bickering within the elitist sports body-the Jammu and Kashmir Association (JKCA), badly affected the State teams and drastically declined their performance graph in the BCCI Tournaments. Rajesh Dhar recounts both these moments, which are now a part of the sports history of the State. SURYA BHANU PARTAP the summit clash. Jammu University team has the distinc- CREATES HISTORY tion of entering final of the prestigious Tournament for 4th Surya Bhanu Partap Singh created history by consecutive season. winning prestigious bronze medal in the World GOVT FELICITATES 38 OUTSTANDING Wushu Championship held recently in at SPORTSPERSONS Jakarta in Indonesia. He also clinched gold in To give fillip to sports in the State, the Government of 35th National Games held at Kerala in Janu- Jammu and Kashmir presented cash awards to 38 outstand- ary 2015. Bhanu Partap and Rajinder claimed ing sportspersons of the State in an impressive function, bronze medals in Pars Cup held in Iran earlier organised by J&K State Sports Council in Jammu recently. in the year. These winners attributed their suc- Mittali Dogra Bilquis Mir Palak Kour Krupali Singh Nippu Jamwal Shikha Bhau Shweta Thakur This award is really a great initiative by the State Govern- cess to coach Kuldeep Handoo, who has the dis- ment to give impetus to sports in the State. tinction of being Wushu Coach of India. BOXERS SPARKLE GYMNASTS BLOSSOM J&K boxers namely Pardeep Sharma, Dheeraj Kumar Ace gymnasts of the State namely Mitali Dogra, Palak Kour and and Anju Bala clinched bronze in the 35th National Games likes continued their customary business of winning medals at the national scene in the year 2015. Mitali, Palak, Mridul Gupta and held at Kerala earlier this year. Boxer Harpal Singh also Pawandeep Kour won a team gold in 35th National Games. Palak claimed a gold in Senior National held at Nagpur, while clinched 2 gold and one silver and Mitali claimed one gold and 2 Pardeep Sharma clinched a gold in BR Ambedkar Cup at bronze medals in these Games. These meritorious sportspersons Jabalpur. Pardeep also claimed a silver medal in World Mil- are the trainees of Gymnastics coaches including Arjuna Awardee, itary Games held at Seoul in South Korea during the year. Krupali Patel Singh, SP Singh and Manisha Gupta. These boxers are the trainees of boxing coach Anil Wad- Kuldeep Handoo Harpal Singh Anil Wadhera Mehraj-Ud-Din Wadoo S P Singh Ranjeet Kalra Atul Pangotra WADOO SHINES hera. Jammu and Kashmir's iconic footballer, Mehraj-ud-Din Wad- FENCERS DAZZLE; VANSH, doo, who has been bringing laurels for the State from a decade, TEJA REPRESENT INDIA has done it again by lifting the Indian Super League (ISL) title As per their custom of shining at the higher levels, the with his franchisee side Chennaiyin Football Club, recently. State fencers sparkled in the year 2015 by wonning 15 medals ANSARI MAKES BCCI CUT in the National Level Tournaments, including 2 bronze Minister for Information Technology, Technical Educa- medals in prestigious 35th National Games at Kerala and tion and Youth Services and Sports, Molvi Imran Raza one gold in Under-23 Youth Games. The team of Kerala Ansari made it to the Board of Control National Games included Rashid Ahmed, Ujjwal Gupta, for (BCCI) by being Vishal Thappar and Javed Ahmed. Above all, Vansh Maha- nominated in prestigious BCCI Commit- Ishan Pandita Parvez Rasool Mithun Manhas Ian Dev Singh Praful Dhar Vansh Mahajan Pardeep Sharma jan won bronze in Cadet Nationals and represented India tees in the recently held AGM. Apart alongwith Teja Singh in Commonwealth Cadet and Junior from the Sports Minister, BCCI vice brought laurels to the State and the Country as well in the name. event at Cape Town in South Africa. The fencers attribute president, ML Nehru, Rajeet Kalra and year 2015. JUDOKA SHWETA their excellent performance to the sheer-dint of hard work Ankush Abrol were retained in the Sub ATUL CONTINUES ARTISTRY IN TAEKWONDO WINS GOLD Committees. Kalra was also renominat- Atul Pangotra, who ahs won laurels for the State, many Gritty judoka, Shweta Thakur won gold medal in the ed Member of J&K Sports Council and a time, continued his artistry in Taekwondo this year also. Senior National Judo Championship held at Chandigarh its Standing Committee and named He represented the Country in Taekwondo Australian Open recently. Shweta is the trainee of Judo coach Suraj Bhan Chairman of High Level State Committee to liaison with and his student Kajal clinched gold in Senior National Taek- Singh. For the success of Judo players like Shweta, Nippu Ministry of Sports, Government of India. wondo Championship at Cuttack in Odisha. Jamwal and Shiksha Bhau, apart from Suraj Bhan, other J&K FOREST TEAM SETS RECORD IAN, PARVEZ, MANHAS SLAM coaches and promoters of the game like Arshi Nad, Ritika Jammu and Kashmir State Forest team set a record by BIG TONS IN RANJI Slathia and Vikas Gupta deserve appreciation. winning gold medal in Football, Billiards and Snooker and J&K's star cricketers Parvez Rasool, Ian Dev Singh PALLAV BAGS BRONZE IN SKATING a silver medal in Cricket in the recently held 22nd Nation- Chauhan and Mithun Manhas slammed big hundreds in the Pallav Gupta won bronze medal in skating, the lone al Forest Sports Meet at Bangaluru in Karnataka. during this season. Ian scored three centuries, medal by the State in the 51st National School Games in the BALI BHAGAT CREATES HISTORY while rasool and Manhas hit two centuries each. Apart from discipline of skating all age groups (U-14 to U-19) held at J&K Forest Minister, Bali Bhagat, created history by this talented trio, Abhinav Puri, Pranav Gupta, Umar Nis- Bhelgaon in Karnataka, recently. Pallav clinched medal in becoming the first ever Forest Minister of the Country to ar, Jatin Wadhawan, Shubham Singh Pundir and Kamran Under-19 boys speed event. represent the State Forest team in the prestigious National Iqbal scored magnificent hundreds in their J&K U-17 GIRLS CRICKET Level Football event. He was part of the J&K team that won respective age groups during the season. TEAM BAGS GOLD PRAFUL EMERGES HIGHEST Jammu and Kashmir eves won TAKER gold medal in the 61st National Ace fencing coaches and players posing for a photograph after Young off-spinner Praful School Games Under-17 investiture ceremony organized for felicitating outstanding sports Dhar emerged highest wick- Girls Cricket Champi- persons in Jammu. et taker in India by claim- onship, organised by ing 14 in four the Department of by fencing coaches Chotu Lal and Rachna Jamwal. T20 matches of 60th Youth Services and AVERAGE, DISMAL SHOW National School Sports, under the The year witnessed dismal to average show from almost Games Under-14 auspices of all the other games at the National Level. Some prominent Boys Cricket Tour- School Games recognised sports disciplines where the players or the teams nament held in Federation of either gave dismal or average performances included Hock- Telangana in Feb- India (SGFI) ey, Football, Badminton, Table Tennis, Basketball, Archery, ruary 2015. Pra- and under the Handball, Tennis Ball Cricket and Athletics. Moreover, the ful took 8/6 patronage of state witnessed poor show by the organizers and sponsors against Karnata- DG Sports ka and 11/5 J&K, Jahangir as one of the state Volleyball teams participated in the pres- against Gujarat Mir at Jammu. tigious women nationals without sports shoes and proper Minister for Forests, Bali Bhagat displaying his soccer skills in this Tourna- J&K defeated kit. during a football match at Bangaluru in Karantaka ment and helped Telangana in POOREST EVER DISPLAY BY CRICKET TEAMS J&K to enter the finals. The The year 2015 witnessed poorest ever performance from gold medal in Football during 22nd National Forest Sports semifinals. State team was all the teams sponsored by the Jammu and Kashmir Crick- Meet at Bangaluru in Karnataka. J&K GETS RS selected, trained et Association (JKCA) to represent the State in the Tourna- ISHAN MAKES IT TO EUROPEAN CLUB 200 CR SPORTS and coached by 17-year old footballer Ishan Pandita, a permanent resi- ments, organised by the Board of Control for Cricket In PACKAGE the officers and India (BCCI). In the current season J&K won just one match dent of Tral in Valley, presently at Bangaluru in Karnataka, Union Sports Min- officials of the in Under-19 Boys Cooch Behar Trophy and faced humiliat- is all set for the Spanish ball as he has made it to profession- istry has sanctioned a Department including al European Club UD Almeria to play in Under-18 team, special package of Rs 200 Anju Gupta, Rajesh ing defeats against all the rivals in all age groups from which played in prestigious La-Liga last season crores for raising sports infra- Dhar, Pankaj Sasan and Under-14 category to Ranji Trophy level, including Under- STATE WINS GALAXY OF MEDALS structure in Jammu and Kash- Satika Sharma. 19 and Senior Girls. Even the records were set against the IN WATER SPORTS mir and giving fillip to sports in the JKP WRESTLER BENIA poor J&K teams during the season. Under-19 girls team The State of Jammu and Kashmir won galaxy of medals State. This initiative of the Central as well MIN WINS SILVER was bundled out for a paltry totals of 10, 27, 36 and 47 runs in Water Sports events throughout the year 2015. J&K con- as the State Government will go a long way in Jammu and Kashmir (JKP) wrestler in the four matches played in the season, while the State's tingents led by India coach, Bilquis Mir won galaxy of promoting sports and games in nooks and corners of the Benia Min won silver medal in All India Police Games held Under-16 boys cricket team was bundled out for meagre 36 medals in the National Championships held during the State. at Madhuban in Haryana recently. Min has the honour of year. Ace canoeist Munir Malik is presently part of India runs in Vijay Merchant Trophy against Delhi's mammoth J&K HOSTS GALAXY OF NATIONALS bringing laurels to the Police Department as well as to the total of 500 runs. J&K remained at the bottom of the Camp for Canoe Slalom. During the year, J&K emerged Jammu and Kashmir hosted a series of National Level State at almost all levels of wrestling. table in almost all the categories. The philosophy behind overall champion in Federation Cup and won four medals events in sports during the year 2015. Winter Games at Gul- JU TEAM MAINTAINS SUPREMACY in Senior Nationals, besides winning a gold in 200 meters marg, Under-19 Boys Football Championship at Srinagar, Jammu University Employees Cricket team maintained J&K's heavy thrashing against all the rivals was the inter- Dragon Boat at Bhopal and a bronze medal in Canoe Polo. Water Sports event at Srinagar, Under-17 Girls Cricket its supremacy by clinching silver medal in the All India Vice nal bickering and factionalism in JKCA, which gave rise to Above all, Bilquis Mir, who has been serving as National Championship at Jammu and National Level Women Chancellors T20 Cricket Cup held at Gorakhpur Universi- favouritism and even nepotism in selecting players as also Kayaking & Canoeing coach from over five years , has Sports Competitions at Jammu are a few National events to ty recently. JU team lost to Jamia Milia Islamia, Delhi in the support staff. Topsy-turvy 2015 for Indian cricket On the field, the team endured a mixed year starting with the Mahendra Singh 3-0 before levelling the T20I series 1-1. Dhoni-led ODI side failing to defend its World Cup title while the new-look Test In August, Kohli embarked on his first full tour as Test captain when India toured side won five of the nine Test matches under new skipper Virat Kohli. Off the Sri Lanka for a three-match series that saw Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara bow field, while it was curtains for N Srinivasan both from the Board of Control for out after the second Test. The visitors came out victorious 2-1 to register their first Cricket in India (BCCI) and the International Cricket Council (ICC), the national Test series win in the island nation in 22 years. cricket board got a new set of office bearers with Nagpur strongman Shashank The Lanka series was followed by over two-month-long South Africa tour of Manohar taking over the reins for the second time. India which started on a disappointing note as the hosts lost both the T20 and ODI The calender year also witnessed the suspension of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) series. and Rajasthan Royals (RR) from the cash-rich because of But India’s rising dominance in the longer format was once again proved as betting-related activities involving team officials Gurunath Meiyappan and Raj the Kohli-led brigade outclassed Hashim Amla’s men 3-0 in the four-match rub- Kundra in 2013. ber. The pitch in Nagpur - the venue for the third Test - was the centre of all con- year started with Kohli taking over the reins of the Test side after Dhoni quit troversies, as critics across the globe hit back at India for producing such rank- the longer version midway the Border-Gavaskar series against Australia. Despite turners. losing the series, India found a new ray of hope as Kohli led from the front in the Cricket in India never seemed to take the backseat as the proposed short lim- final Test with a brilliant 147. ited overs series against arch-rivals in December was cancelled following India’s ODI campaign in 2015 started on a disastrous note as the men-in-blue acrimonious relationship between the two nations. failed to win a single match in the tri-series involving Australia and England, that The BCCI and the PCB had signed an MoU last year, agreeing to play a total of followed the Test rubber. six bilateral series between 2015 and 2023. The first of these were to be hosted by With fans fuming and backlash back home, India, however, managed to reach the PCB in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in December. the semi-finals of the ICC World Cup 2015 before going down to eventual champi- But with BCCI president Shashank Manohar reluctant to play in the UAE, the ons Australia in the last four. one. Back to international cricket, India embarked on the tour to Bangladesh, PCB agreed to host a limited-overs series in Sri Lanka. The BCCI asked the Indian The cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL) followed next with Mumbai Indi- where the ODI side succumbed to their first ever bilateral series defeat of 1-2 in the government to play the series but the government did not come up with a decision, ans being crowned champions. It was not the on-field achievements of the IPL that three-match rubber. The series also saw the return of veteran off-spinner which ultimately led to the series being cancelled. hit headlines, but the suspension of CSK and RR became the talk of the town. Harbhajan Singh into the national team as the Kohli-led side drew the lone Test The biggest surprise from the BCCI came in the penultimate week of the year Both Meiyappan and Kundra, who were earlier found guilty of betting by the against the hosts. when the selectors recalled veterans Yuvraj Singh and Ashish Nehra in the T20 side Justice RM Lodha Committee, were suspended for life from any cricketing activi- The Bangladesh fiasco was followed by a second-string Indian team led by for the upcoming tour Down Under next month. ty undertaken by the BCCI. Ajinkya Rahane, who was dropped after the first ODI loss to Bangladesh with Dhoni As chief selector Sandeep Patil said, they had named the team keeping the ICC Following the suspension, the game’s governing body in the country had to bring publicly citing his sluggishness in such conditions as the reason - touring Zimbab- World T20 in mind. It will be interesting to see how things pan out for the team in in two new teams (Pune and Rajkot) for the tournament to make it a competitive we for three ODIs and two Twenty20 internationals. India clinched the ODI series the mega tournament, which will be held in India in March-April next year.