Fatima muscle KP aside to enter quarters

B D Narayankar

bapun@sakalherald.com

PUNE: Centre forward Sanu Jacob was the penalty shoot-out hero for Fatima XI as they scraped past KP XI 7-5 in the Vahatuk football tournament here on Monday. After a drab show against NDA Youth Club in the tournament opener, Fatima and KP XI were tied at 2-2 in normal time after Viren D’Souza scored in the dying minutes to take the game into a tie-breaker.Then came the real drama as Vijayan Arland, a standby goalkeeper, pulled off a goal, denying KP striker Thomas and offering Sanu Jacob the opportunity to step up and score the winning goal. Fatima forwards - Richard Zuzart and Vijayan Arland launched a barrage of attack on KP citadel. But it was their flank partner Viren D’Souza who had the most telling impact. It was Fatima goalkeeper’s poor display that saw two goals being pumped in by KP in the first two minutes of the match. Thomas gave KP XI the lead in the very first minute of play when he caught Fatima goalkeeper Rozario Tupsuandrya napping with an opportunistic goal. Pavan Gurung struck three minute later to leave the Fatima defence shell-shocked.Just when Fatima’s chips were down, the combo of Richard Zuzart and Viren D’Souza showed impressive speed and strength to create pressure on KP defence. Fatima had a wonderful chance to reduce the margin by one goal when Nelson Gyanprakash fired a fierce shot dwon the left flank, but failed to find the net in the 13th minute of the match. Vijayan Arland muffed up another scoring opportunity as KP keeper Ashish Magar pulled off a fine save in 25th minute. Fifteen minutes into the second half, Fatima’s Steven Zuzart collected a through ball and sprinted near the touchline before chipping a cross that invited Sanu Jacob’s clinical finish; amazingly this goal boosted his morale, until then he appeared totally off-color. Sanu Jacob came into the act again sending a delightful through to left-winger Viren D’Souza, who dodged KP keeper Ashish Magar, flicked the ball to his right and sent in the equaliser.RESULTS: Fatima XI 7 (Sanu Jacob 2, Viren D’Souza 2, Vijayan Arland, Richard Zuzart, Godfery Micheal) bt KP XI 5

Chetak cane Mischiefmakers 2-0

B D Narayankar

bapun@sakalherald.com

PUNE: Eltin Lima was right on target as he provided the most necessary ammunition for Ventura to make a loud noise in the semi-finals of inter-corporate football mania played here on Saturday.In relatively murkier conditions, Ventura turned on the style, smashing home three goals against AXA, before clinching a resounding victory to lock horns with WNS Entrance in title clash on Sunday.Fielding virtually their key players for the semi-finals, Ventura began their campaign rather sedately; hardly taking any risk to set up an attack for first five minutes of the game.After getting a feel of the wet conditions and opponent’s gameplan, Ventura accelerated their pace and began pounding AXA’s fort. Soon centre forward Eltin Lima brought fans to their feet in 7th minute with a cracking header on Delzad Marzapani’s corner.A minute later, AXA missed a wonderful opportunity of scoring an equalizer when their striker picked hole and sprinted inside the box as Ventura keeper effected a wonderful save.In the same minute, Sri Jagtap set the attack for Ventura from the right flank and lobbed the ball for Eltin Lima, who just had to tap the ball in, but he floundered.Just a minute before the lemon break, Ventura devised a delightful move from the right flank. After dodging a couple of AXA defenders, Sri Jagtap pushed himself hard into AXA’s citadel and thumped a scorching shot to the left of diving AXA keeper. Unfortunately for Ventura, the ball brushed the sidebars before sailing out for a free kick.Eight minutes into the second half, Ventura found themselves 2-0 leading, when Sri Jagtap detonated an explosive lob from the half-line to waiting Eltin Lima who glided the ball at the back of AXA keeper’s net.In 47th minute, Eltin Lima burst into life, first running hard through AXA’s fort, and then setting up an attack for Celestin Fernandes, who smacked the third goal for Ventura.“It was a tremendous victory. We played a very good game. If we continue the good work, we will win the title,” Eltin Lima told Herald after the match.“WNS Entrance is a good team. We have not taken them lightly. We will field our best team for the final and go at them hard,” he added.“We were on song in the first half itself when Eltin scored two goals for us. The second half too was good,” Delzad Marzapani said.In another semi-finals, WNS Entrance defeated Wipro BPO 5-4 in a tiebreak. Both teams were nil-nil at the end of the game. Denzil Fernandes was the villain for Wipro, missing the penalty, while others converted their penalties. Four goals, however, were not enough for Wipro, compared to WNS’ five, to sail into the final.RESULTS: SEMI-FINALS: Ventura 3 (Eltin Lima 2, Celestin Fernandes) bt AXA 0; WNS Etrance 5 (Tony Mehta, Baptist Mendonca, Baptist Lobo, Kenneith Fernandes, Allen Almeida) bt Wipro BPO 4 (Micheal D’Cruz, Habib Shah, Ryan Susai, Sandesh Gadkari)

Fatima XI ease past NDA Youth Club 2-0

B D Narayankar

bapun@sakalherald.com

PUNE: Fatima XI provided the expectant crowd at Chandrashekhar Agashe ground plenty to cheer about as they eased past National Defence Academy (NDA) Youth Club by a brace in the inaugural match of the Vahatuk football tournament here on Friday. Playing in wet and sticky conditions, the white devils (Fatima) began their game at a leisurely pace. They were content to indulge in a sleek passing game in their own backyard. After Viren D’Souza and Sanu Jacob failed to find the target with their early efforts, Vijayan Arland brought the motley fans to their feet in the 15th minute with a cracking header that NDA goalkeeper did well to palm it way.A minute later, NDA had their first good look at the rival goal when their strikers penetrated into the Fatima box before custodian Rozario Tupsoundarya brought off a fantastic save. Almost immediately, Sanu Jacob set up an attacking move for Fatima from the right and chipped a perfect ball for Richard Zuzart to head the ball into the net, but he faltered missing the target by a couple of inches.Just a minute before the lemon break, Fatima created a promising move down the left flank. After dodging past two NDA defenders, Viren D’Souza caved into the box and unleashed a scorching shot to the left of the diving NDA keeper. Unfortunately for Fatima, the ball grazed the side bar for a free kick. Four minutes into the second half, Fatima found themselves 1-0 ahead when Vijayan Arland fired a booming shot from just outside the NDA box that struck the crossbar and the ball ricocheted to Richard Zuzart, who was lurking near the goalmouth. He made no mistake in sending the ball into the net.Fatima consolidated their position when Viren D’Souza scored the second goal in 38th minute to literally take the match away from NDA. The goal came at the end of a nice period of passing play before Viren striker cut in from the right and finished off the move with a crisp, sliding shot from 20 metres.“Today’s game was a good test for us and a good test for NDA. We were looking to assess the early progress of our players. We enjoyed our victory, though,” Richard Zuzart told the Herald after the match. “In the first half, we could not score. We, however, came to grips in the second by scoring two goals. I think we played a fairly good game,” he said with a glint of joy on his face.“We tried looking if the enthusiasm was still there, and we think it was there. There is no regression in the side and we are making good progress,” he added.RESULTS: Fatima XI 2 (Richard Zuzart, Viren D’Souza) bt NDA Youth Club 0.

Sudhanshu lifts PDMBA singles title

B D Narayankar

bapun@sakalherald.com

PUNE: The music of celebration rose above the din as top seed Sudhanshu Medsikar defeated Amey Tilloo 21-19, 21-10 in finals of U-13 PDMBA championship on a glorious Thursday evening. As soon as he defeated his rival, Sudhanshu jumped in delight, ran towards his father and melted into his embrace, cherishing every bit of the treasured moment. This was his second title in two years. Just last year, he had carried home the Mahila Mandal District Badminton Championship Cup.It wasn’t all that easy for Sudhanshu, though. He came out of the fire unscathed and fought the battle till the end. First game was a neck-and-neck affair. Sudhanshu took a two-points lead over Amey, for the first time, when the score was 15-13 in his favour.He, however, could not hold on to the lead. Sudhanshu committed errors, giving Amey opportunities to smash across the court. Soon he was trailing 15-18. He ultimately won the first game winning three points by locking Amey with his flurry of chest serves and cross-court smash.Sudhanshu tore apart Amey in the second game, completely dictating play with his intelligent slice drops and smash. The top seed served efficiently, ate up Amey’s attacking serves and won the match when he blitzed a smash across the court. Sudhanshu was ecstatic about his second title win. “Winning finals is always good, especially beating someone you have played before,” he told Herald after the match. “It is definitely one of my top wins. Though Amey is an unseeded player, he is a wonderful player,” he added with a laugh.“I wanted to dictate as I have had trouble with him in today’s first game because he retrieves so well. But, I made sure I was both aggressive and defensive when I got on court,” Sudhanshu said.In U-19 boys’ final, top seed Nihar Tilekar pulled off an impressive win 21-14, 21-16 win over third seed Kunal Bhide in a pulsating encounter. Tilekar came into the finals on the back of successful outings in earlier stages of the tournament.In an hour’s contest where momentum kept swinging back and forth in the first half of the point’s table, both Nihar and Kunal pounded heavy shots from the baseline to make it an exciting match for the sizeable crowd at the WIE Sports Complex.Nihar used his strong tosses to set up winning points and kept Kunal under pressure with his smash.After taking the first game 21-14, Nihar opened the final game by holding serves to take 11-6 lead. Later leading 18-16, after conceding huge points, Nihar got to match point when he slammed a attacking shot for a winner.After the win, Nihar said it was the toughest first-game match that he could get as he had to play against a good player like Kunal. “It’s hard to play the finals. I, however, played well under the circumstances,” Nihar said. “I had wanted to spend the least amount of time possible on the court. But I won the match in the end, and that's the most important thing,” he added.

Amey, Sudhanshu to clash in final

Photo: Shashank Sane

Sudhanshu Medsikar

B D Narayankar

bapun@sakalherald.com

PUNE: Amey Tilloo, an unseeded player in PDMBA tournament, caused yet another upset trouncing third seed Ajit Kumbhar 21-18 and 21-19 in a nerve-wracking encounter here on Wednesday.

With this win, Amey will take on top seed Sudhanshu Medsikar in the final to be played on Thursday. Sudhanshu beat his rival Viren Deshpande 21-8, 21-9, in another semi-finals, without much resistence.

A tremendous player himself, Amey missed on his ranking, as he failed to participate in the Mahila Mandal District Badminton Tournament held recently.

Known to his mates as a giant killer, Amey had a tough task cut out for him to face the challenge of a top player. Unfortunately, he ran fever last night and was not in his elements at initial stages of the match.

Perhaps, Amey’s performance had something to do with his health as he began his campaign poorly, meekly conceding first five points to Ajit.

He, however, recovered soon barging past Ajit, taking 6-5 lead on his serve. Just when he had the opportunity to further his lead, Amey faulted and lost six vital points to Ajit. These mistakes, however, did not take the toll of Amey’s capabilities. Instead it inspired him to stay focused in the match.

When the score read 11-6 in favour of Ajit, Amey did not let his tempo up and dominated the game, taking three-points lead consistently.

The 21-18 win in the first game should have motivated Amey to play a better game and take an initial lead. In contrast, he conceded 11 points to Ajit. But again he made a magnificent comeback, maintaining three-points lead constantly.

What was striking about Amey was he brought variety into his game. In the first game, he focused on rallies, in the second he played an attacking game once he had tired Ajit.

Meanwhile, top seed Sudhanshu posted a comfortable victory over Viren Deshpande to storm into the final. He played a flawless game much to the delight of his coach Anil Modak, who was egging on his favorite disciple from the sidelines of the court. “Sudhanshu has improved as a player. He has brought variety into his shots. Normally, players in his category do not do that. I am pleased with his performance,” Modak told Herald after the match.

Sudhanshu had a gameplan to mesmerize Viren. He forced Viren into rallies by tossing up the shuttle and then pouncing on it to collect vital points. “At any point of time, I did not feel any competition from Viren,” he added.

RESULTS: U-13 Boys’ Singles: Amey Tilloo bt Ajit Kumbhar 21-18, 21-19; Sudhanshu Medsikar bt Viren Deshpande 21-8, 21-9; U-10 Boys’ Singles: Ataharv Gosavi bt Sahil Lokhande 21-10, 21-14; U-13 Girls Singles: Aishwarya Dobhade bt Natasha Bhagwat 16-21, 21-16, 21-17; Radhika Joshi bt Revathi Devasthali 21-4, 21-18; U-16 Girls’ Singles: Sanyogita Ghorpade bt Rekhi Jyot Kaur 21-16, 21-19; Saee Purandhare bt Kalyani Limaye 21-8, 21-9; U-16 Boys’ Singles: Niraj Mahajan bt Amey Oak 21-12, 21-14; Varun Sarode bt Ashutosh Kale 21-17, 21-8

Amey enters semifinals

Photo: Mukund Bhute

B D Narayankar

bapun@sakalherald.com

PUNE: Perhaps he could have made himself a good alrounder in cricket. He is an amazing character who takes pleasure in doing things, which is not in his strides, professionally. He was officiating as linesmen in one of the matches, which he did it to perfection. But, before that he showed what he is good at, thrashing top players.

Amey Tilloo outplayed second seed Gaurav Joshi 21-18 and 21-6 in a pulsating encounter causing a major upset before entering semifinals of U-13 Boys’ PDMBA tournament here on Tuesday.

In another quarterfinal match, top seed Sudhanshu Medsikar trounced Gajendragadkar Nandan 21-9, 21-11 in straight sets. He now meets Viren Deshpande in the semifinals.

It was not for the first time Amey had been involved in an embittered on-court battle with Gaurav. Last year too, Amey had celebrated a win against the second seed.

However, he did not wallow in this victory. He played as a true professional dumping the exhilarating past before stepping into the battlefield. “Since I have played him last year, I was expecting a tough competition from Gaurav. He also is a top-ranking player in the tournament,” Amey told Maharashtra Herald after the match.

Amey sprang from the depths after conceding an initial lead to Gaurav in a fascinating encounter in the first game. “I lost my track in the initial stages losing five points,” he said.

He got his rhythm back when he started spanking the shuttle across the court with great vigor. Perhaps these shots would have been inspired by a Bollywood flick where the hero swears by his mother to avenge his father’s death.

Soon with the flurry of smashes, drop shots and series of sallies, he took the game away from his opponent in a jiffy that camouflaged the inconsistency of Gaurav. This led to the loser’s downfall as he took the game lightly and allowed the uncanny Amey barge past him.

Soon Amey caught his opponent’s weakness; he started tossing the shuttle to Gaurav’s back, which was troubling him a hell of a lot. “As I was feeding him with tosses, I was delivering a flurry of drop shots, confusing him totally,” Amey said.

Soon Amey was ahead 18-15. Here at this stage did he realise he could win the first game and arrive on the court for the second dig, confidently. Gaurav, however, kept his cool and surprised Amey sending him into a tizzy for a moment after garnering next three points –the scoreline then read 20-18.

Finally, Amey banged one onto the floor forcing Gaurav to reach for the shuttle, who missed it, conceding the game.

Amey had it easy in the second dig when he identified Gaurav panting and running across the court. Hence he employed the theory of tiring him out. Gaurav failed battling his fatigue and committed errors on his serves.

RESULTS: U-13 Boys’ Singles: Amey Tilloo bt Gaurav Joshi 21-18 and 21-6; Sudhanshu Medsikar bt Gajendragadkar Nandan 21-9, 21-11; Niraj Mahasan bt Ishan Talwalkar 21-8, 21-14; Ashustosh Kale bt Nachiket Agashe 16-21, 28-26, 21-12; Varun sarode bt Ameet Kumbhar 22-20, 21-12; U-19 Boys’ Singles: Nihar Tilekar bt Kaustubh Virkar 21-14, 21-16; Siddhant Ghorpade bt Yashodhan Marathe 18-21, 21-14, 21-13; Kunal Bhide bt Pratik Mehta 21-12, 21-18; U-10 Girls’ Singles: Adiuti Kale bt Shruti Gaurav 21-13, 21-8; U-13 Girls’ Singles: Aishwarya Dobhade bt Avani Vora 21-17, 21-6; Natasha Bhagwat bt Kanika Bansal 21-15, 21-19; Revathi Deveshthali bt Himani Mahajan 19-21, 21-12, 21-14

Top seed Sudhanshu breathes fire, steams into quarterfinals

Photo: Mukund Bhute

Amey Oak in action


B D Narayankar

bapun@sakalherald.com

PUNE: He didn’t rejoice, nor jumped in tears. He walked out from court-two with shoulders drooped. For a moment one would imagine he had lost the match. But hold on. He has just done the opposite, breathing fire, he defeated his opponent convincingly in pre-quarter stages of U-13 boys’ singles badminton tournament organized by PDMBA at WIE Sports Complex here on Monday.

Top seed Sudhanshu Medsikar scripted an intelligent victory over Ajinkya Rense walloping him 21-11, 21-10 in straight games.

Just before the start of the match, Medsikar showed immense confidence and self-belief, but when he took charge at court-two, he was a different player – dejected and frustrated for not getting his shots where he wanted to.

Most of his returns were tossed up, making Rense to play drop shots winners in an attempt to bounce back in both the games. “I was not in my elements. I won with a margin of 15 points against an unseeded player. The score of 21-4, 21-2 would have boosted my confidence before moving into the quarterfinals against third seed Ajit Kumbhar tomorrow,” Sudhanshu told Maharashtra Herald after the match.

Notwithstanding his comments on his game today, Sudhanshu played a rather balanced and composed game, unleashing his shots to perfection. Rense was no match to his delectable shots and was found wanting in reaching out to the shuttle.

What was so good about Sudhanshu was his cool temperament. He played the game as though nothing had happened. His slice drops made him look an intelligent player. He forced Rense to make most of the running round the court with his tosses and cross-court placements.

It wasn’t an arduous terrain for Sudhanshu to tread. He defeated his rival as easily as a knife slinking through a cake of cheese.

In another pre-quarterfinal match, Viren Deshpande defeated Yash Deepak Shah 21-9, 21-13 and sneaked into last eight in U-13 Boys’ singles event.

RESULTS: U-13 Boys’ Singles: Viren Deshpande bt Yash Deepak Shah 21-9, 21-13; seed Sudhanshu Medsikar bt Ajinkya Rense 21-11, 21-10