Hyderabad: It will be a clash of the top two seeds in the final of the boys category at the All India Tennis Association Talent Series tournament for under-14 boys and girls, played at Pallavi School in Bowenpally, Secunderabad.
Aditya Kallepalli, seeded first, will lock horns with Pralok Ikkurthy for bragging rights. Both players are from Andhra Pradesh. Meanwhile, top-seeded Mirica Jaiswal (AP) will vie for the girls' crown with statemate Dhriti Kapoor, the third seed, in the summit clash.
In the semifinals, Aditya breezed to a straight sets 6-3, 6-2 victory against the 12th seed, T. Harsha Sri. In the other semifinal, Pralok quelled a challenge from unseeded Raja Krishna Teja of Tamil Nadu to win 7-5, 6-2.
Mirica Jaiswal was odds-on favourite to win her semifinal against her unseeded opponent, D. Sunskrithi, also from the state. Mirica did not disappoint, scoring a 6-3, 6-4 victory. The other semifinal between Dhriti and M. Sahithi Reddy of AP was a more engrossing affair. Dhriti took the first set against the second-seeded player 6-3 and won a the second 7-6 (5) to advance.
HYDERABAD LAD SHASHANK IN BENGLAURU MEET QUARTERS
Hyderabad player M. Teertha Shashank fought his way back from a set down to advance to the quarterfinals of the all-India Championship Series tennis tournament for under-14 boys, being played at the Top Spin Tennis Academy in Bengaluru.
In the Round of 16, Shashank scored a come-from-behind 3-5, 54, 5-2 victory over Arjun Elangovan. Shashank stuttered at the start of the match to let his opponent gain the lead. There was little he could to to prevent Arjun from winning the first set 5-3.
However, he dug deep to turn the tables around and pulled level with his opponent by taking the second set 5-4. In the decider, Shashank cashed in on his new-found momentum to win the set 5-2 and with it, book a place in the quarterfinals of the competition.
Shashank had displayed superb form throughout the tournament. He hit the ground running in the first round, scoring an 8-3 defeat against Karnataka player Aravind Kalyana.
Despite his best efforts, Aravind could only watch as Shashank advanced to the second round comfortably. There, Shashank ran into another Karnataka player, Abeer Dubey. Abeer gave very little fight to Shashank, who scored a comprehensive 8-2 victory to reach the third round.
Facing Tamil Nadu player M.D. Chirag, Shashank was at his most destructive yet. He unleashed a savage flurry of strokes to immediately push his opponent into the corner.
Displaying ruthless aggression, Shashank won the onesided encounter 8-0 and made the Last 8 stage.
ROCKETS CROWNED BASEBALL CHAMPIONS
The Apollo Rockets were crowned champions of the second edition of the Baseball Premier League India, played at the G.M.C. Balayogi Stadium at Gachibowli in Hyderabad. In the final, the Rockets crushed IBA Bengaluru 5-2 to lay their hands on the silverware.
Pavan, Pankaj Chand, Veer Eklove, Phaneendra and Ankanna scored one reach each for the winners while Mansur scored both of IBA's runs. Earlier, in the semifinals, IBA Bengaluru defeated CEA Giants 3-2 while Apollo Rockets beat Youngmen Cubs 6-5.
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BHAVANI CAPTAIN OF OU WOMEN'S TEAM
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Bhavani is leading the women's hockey team, which is representing Osmania University at the Central Zone inter-university women's hockey championships, being played at Rourkela in Odisha. The team is being coached by Manohar, while I. Balaram Reddy is serving as the manager.
OU SQUAD: Bhavani (captain), Chinni, Vaishnavi, Ganga Jamuna, Nazia begum, Rekha, E. Babitha, Kavitha, Sravani, Mounica, Pavani, Anusha, Jyoshna, Supraja, M. Jyothi, B. Aruna; Coach: Manohar; Manager: I. Balaram Reddy. ?
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Blog Corner Carlsen, the new emperor ?
by Praveen NVS
It was heartbreaking for all the fans and admirers of Viswanathan Anand when he failed to defend his world title at the recently concluded World Chess Championships in Chennai. Anand’s tremendous experience did not prove enough to stave off the mighty challenge from Magnus Carlsen, the Norwegian wunderkind, who also happens to be the current world number one.
In his illustrious career, Anand has overcome many stiff challenges but this one, which came in the form of a young, unstoppable force, was beyond Anand. The defeat ends Anand's six year reign at the top, but it should not make him any less great. He has achieved enough for his name to be etched forever in the list of all-time chess greats and is a constant source of inspiration to many budding chess players in India.
Coming to Carlsen, he won the his maiden world championship on his Worlds debut. He also holds the record for the highest ever ELO rating in history. To accomplish all this at the age of just 22 is phenomenal, and by the time Carlsen reaches the halfway stage in his career, he may well be considered the greatest player ever. At the moment, Carlsen has no equal, and is by far the strongest player.
Catching up with him will be a herculean task for any of his rivals.
(The blogger is a sports enthusiast from Hyderabad)
