Mysuru :

City’s Varunya Chandrashekar teaming up with Sansrithi Ranjan of Karnataka won the women’s doubles title in the 50K AITA Women’s Tennis Tournament held at Navasahyadri in Pune recently.

In the final, top-seeds Varunya and Sansrithi beat the second seeded Andhra pair of Sindhu Janagan and Aareyali Chavan 7-5, 7-5.

In the semi-finals, Varunya and Sansrithi beat third seeds S. Nithasha and Neha Ghare of Maharashtra 2-6, 6-2, 13-11.

In the quarter-finals, the duo combined well to beat Sameer and Nikita 6-2, 6-1.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Sports News / May 18th, 2016

The Mysore District Chess Association (MDCA) felicitated World Amateur Chess Championship (U-1700 rating) Gold Medal Winner S.N. Jatin and (U-2000 rating) Silver Medal Winner M.P. Ajith at a function held at a private hotel in city recently.

The champions are seen with Association Secretary K.R. Shivaramegowda,  M.K. Biddalppa, Association President Prof. S. S. Ananda Thirtha and former Ranji trophy cricket player and coach S. Vijaya Prakash.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Sports News / May 16th, 2016

Mysuru :

Top-seed K. Manasa (Dakshina Kannada, rating 1916), WCM Isha Sharma (Dakshina Kannada, rating 1883), H.R. Manasa (Mysuru-Rating 1669) and WCM Ananaya Suresh (Kodagu-Rating 1902) tied with 7 points each from 9 rounds, but based on her better progressive tie-break scores than the others, K. Manasa won the Karnataka State Women’s Chess Championship 2016 organised by Mandya Chess Association yesterday at Gandhi Bhavan, Mandya on yesterday.

Isha Sharma, H.R. Manasa and Ananya Suresh secured the second, third and fourth places respectively.

The top four players will represent Karnataka in the National Women’s Chess Championships.

Mysuru’s other upcoming players, M. Supraja (6 pts-15th place), Hemadri Sathish (5 pts-21st), Prasiddhi Bhat (5 pts-22nd), C.T. Anamika Menon (5 pts-23rd), Dhatri Umesh (5 pts-28th), Akshatha Raju (5 pts-30th), Ananya R. Patel (5pts-31st), Sharadhi Shastry (4 pts-39th), M. Sujana (4 pts-47th), N. Prakruthi (4 pts-49th), Vidhya Sridhar (3.5 pts-52nd) and Deeksha (3 pts-61st) performed well in the championship.

Final Placings

1. K. Manasa (DK-7-55.5), 2. WCM Isha Sharma (DK-7-55), 3.H.R.Manasa (Mysuru-7-49.5), 4. WCM Ananya Suresh (Kodagu-7-41.50), 5. Shalon Joanne Pais (DK-6.5-36), 6. Nisha N. Patkar (Shivamogga-6.5-34.25), 7. S. Meghana (Mandya- 6.5-27.75), 8. K. Shruthi (Shivamogga-6.5-26), 9. WCM I. Sharanya (Bengaluru-6.5-25.5), 10. Mahima Sheringar (Udupi-6-24.50).

Important results: 9th round

Isha Sharma (7) bt K. Shruthi (6.5), I. Sharanya (6.5) drew Ananya Suresh (7), G. Kruti (6) lost K. Manasa (7), Mahima Sheringar (6) lost H.R. Manasa (7), Nisha N. Patkar (6.5) bt A.N. Shefali (5.5), P. Dhanyashree (5.5) lost to Shalone Joanne Pais (6.5), S. Meghana (6.5) bt N. Madhuri (5), Prasiddhi Bhat (5) lost to M. Supraja (6), A. Ananya A (6) bt C.T. Anamika Menon (5), Hemadri Sathish (5) lost to Bhagyashree G. Patil (6).

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Sports News / May 16th, 2016

Mysuru :

Soukya Sports Award-2016 will be conferred on hockey player H.P. Sandhya at a programme organised by Rotary Mysore Midtown in association with Soukya Travel and Tours, at Rotary Centre on JLB Road in city on May 18 at 6.30 pm.

Mysore Travel Agents Association President C.A. Jayakumar will be the chief guest.

Profile: Sandhya, a 1st year M.Com student of Teresian College in city, is the daughter of Pushpa, warden of DYSS Hostel in Hassan and late Palaksha.

Determined to perform at top level, she trains under Vijaya Krishna, Hockey Coach, Sports Hostel, Mysuru.

She was a kho-kho player at the young age and was introduced to hockey by chance by her teachers.

She has taken part in 57th National School Games (2011-12) at Delhi, Sub-Junior Girls Hockey Championship (2011) at Chhattisgarh, 2nd Sub-Junior Girls National Hockey Championship (2012) at Haryana, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th Junior National Hockey Championship (2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 respectively) at Sonepat-Haryana, Jharkhand, Mysuru-Karnataka and Chhattisgarh respectively, National Games (2015) at Kerala, National Women Sports Competitions Group – 2 (2014) at Chitradurga – Karnataka, All India Inter-University Tournament in 2012-13 (University of Rajasthan-Jaipur), 2013-14 (University of Kurukshetra) and 2014-15 (South Zone at Anna University). She has also participated in Junior Women National Coaching camps and Indian camp.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Sports News / May 16th, 2016

Roller Skating, which started as a recreational activity, has slowly transformed into a sport. Ever since the sport was introduced in Mysuru, the city has become a hub of roller skating with many youngsters and children taking to this sport. Among the champions who have emerged out of our city is Akash Aradhya.

This talented roller skater too was conferred with Ekalavya Award for his achievements in roller skating. Having started to practice roller skating at the age of three-and-a-half years, Akash has gone on to become one of the emerging stars of the game. Akash’s achievements in roller skating has been tremendous with him winning gold medals in Senior National Roller Skating Championships held in 2011, 2012 and 2013. He was also part of Indian team which participated at Asian Games held at China in 2010, Asian Championships held at China in 2014 and other international championships.

Speaking to Star of Mysore, Akash expressed his happiness over being recognised by Government of Karnataka for his achievements. “Roller Skating is a smaller sport compared to Lawn Tennis and Cricket. The game is also tougher as it needs continuous practice and physical fitness. The competition in roller skating is such that I had to wait for six years to get into the national side,” he added.

He also thanked his coaches Srikanth Rao and State Roller Skating Association for the support extended to him and fellow roller skaters in the State.

A B.Com graduate from D. Banumaiah College in city, Akash aims to follow his father Nagabhushan Aradhya’s footsteps to become a successful Chartered Accountant. Currently, his focus is to represent the country in the Winter Olympics to be held at PyeongChang, South Korea in 2018. He has been training for the past three months at Calgary in Canada.

Akash Aradhya’s mother R.C. Rekha, expressing joy on her son being honoured with the prestigious Ekalavya Award, said that the efforts of her son had yielded fruit and she wanted him to achieve much higher feats in roller skating.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles / May 14th, 2016

One of the toughest games to be played ever is Kabaddi. Having originated in our country, Kabaddi has been one sport which India has dominated both in men’s and women’s categories. This sport being widely played at the rural level has seen many talented players emerging out of our State to represent the National team in South Asian Games, Asian Games and World Cup. One such player to have emerged from our city is Sushmitha Pawar, who was part of the National Women’s Team which won the gold medal in the Asian Games held at Incheon in South Korea. Sushmitha was awarded the Ekalavya award by the State Government at a function held at Mysuru recently.

Speaking to Star of Mysore, Sushmitha said it was a proud moment for her to receive such a prestigious award in recognition of her achievements in Kabaddi.

Sushmitha, who works with State Police Department in Bengaluru, has won many accolades for her achievements in the sport. She was part of the State Women’s Kabaddi team which took part in the Senior National Championship held in 2010, 2011 and 2013. Her consistent performance at the National level earned her a place in the National team which took part in the 2014 Asian Games.

Having inspired by Sports Authority of India (SAI) Kabaddi coach Sridhar to take up Kabaddi, Sushmitha went on to represent in the Junior National Team for the first time and also the State in Amrita League in 2004.

Sushmitha, who hails from a poor family, was ably supported by parents Omprakash Rao Pawar and Manjula Bai, residents of N.R. Mohalla, who run a flour mill. Sushmitha said that her parents borrowed money from her relatives and friends to provide funds for her travel. Having started to play Kabaddi in 2003, Sushmitha says that the Police Department has supported her in all her endeavours.

She captained the Karnataka Junior Kabaddi team and was member of the South Zonal and Karnataka Senior team. Sushmitha also credited her husband Venkatesh for her success. After having achieved her initial goal, Sushmitha aims to take part in the Olympics.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles / May 14th, 2016

Another Namma Huduga to be conferred with the Ekalavya Award is N. Lokesh. Having taken up gymnastics accidentally, Lokesh has gone on to achieve great feats in his favourite sport. He won the gold medal in the 54th Senior National Championship held at Hyderabad in 2014 apart from winning Bronze in 53rd Senior National Championship held at Kurukshetra in 2013.

Speaking to Star of Mysore, Lokesh said that he was happy to be recognised by the State Government for his achievements. “It is the recognition which I have received for the sincere efforts put in over the past 18 years. Such recognition always motivates sportspersons to achieve more feats and work harder to bring glory to State and country,” he said.

Lokesh, who aims at participating in International-level championships, rued that there were no basic facilities for gymnastics and urged the State Government to provide the same to help youngsters build a bright career. Lokesh is currently gearing up for the Goa National Games during which he aims at winning the feat that he achieved in 2014.

Having completed his B.E in Electrical and Electronics from PES College, Mandya, Lokesh is currently working as a Production Engineer in one of the private companies in Tumakuru. Though he has been finding it tough to dedicate time for his practice, Lokesh makes sure to attend the same for at least a couple of hours every day.

“Currently, I have not been able to give much time for practice. With National Games round the corner, there is a need for me to dedicate more time. I will make sure to repeat the golden feat once again at the National level,” said Lokesh.

While Lokesh was immensely happy to be receiving the award, his father Narasimhamurthy, a retired KEB Junior Engineer, was one step ahead. He was seen with his chest up feeling proud to see his son receiving the award in Mysuru from Chief Minister Siddharamaiah, who also hails from Mysuru.

“It is a proud moment for me and my family to see Lokesh receiving the prestigious award. It is a great achievement to be recognised at this level. Though we supported his interest to join gymnastics we had never thought he would reach such a great height. I hope to see him grow at a much higher level, so that he could bring laurels to the State as well as the country,” says Narasimhamurthy.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles / May 14th, 2016

by S.N. Venkatnag Sobers

A native of a small village called Dornahalli in K.R. Nagar Taluk, Mysuru district, this talented volleyball player has represented the country’s Senior Women as well as Junior Women volleyball teams.

She was part of the Senior Women’s Volleyball Team which took part in the Asian Senior Championship held at China in 2013. This talented player is none other than Nishya Joseph, who received the prestigious Ekalavya award for her achievements in volleyball.

Having completed her primary education at her native, Nishya joined the Sports Hostel-Vidyanagar in Bengaluru where she completed her secondary education. Later, she came to Mysuru and joined the Sports Hostel and completed her PU and Under-Graduation at Teresian College.

Speaking to Star of Mysore, Nishya Joseph said that it was a dream come true for her to be receiving the award. “It is a proud moment for me to be receiving the prestigious Ekalavya award. Even my parents and other relatives wanted to see me receiving the award and today I have fulfil their dreams,” she said.

Talking about the support extended by her family, Nishya said that her father Joseph wanted her to take up volleyball and added that her uncle, Vijaykumar, who works as a Physical Education teacher, helped her in the game as she had the perfect physique and height.

“As per my uncle’s instructions I took up volleyball and here I am today. Currently, I am focusing on being a part of the Senior Women’s Volleyball Team,” Nishya said.

Being a part of the Indian Railway Team, Nishya works as a Ticket Collector for Indian Railways at Pune in Maharashtra. When asked about shifting base from Karnataka to Maharashtra, Nishya said that there is not much job opportunities for sportspersons in Karnataka which was the main reason for her to shift to Pune.

“The State Government has to encourage sportspersons by providing jobs in public sectors. There are other States which have been encouraging achievers in sports by providing jobs and other facilities. But in our State it is not the same. Even the facilities provided for volleyball is not up to the mark. Though we have sports hostels yet there is a need for more infrastructure to compete at the international level,” she added.

Joseph Mari, Nishya’s father, said that it was a proud moment to see her daughter receive the award. “Majority in our family are involved in one or the other sport. But till date none of them have grown to a level where Nishya has reached. It feels good to see my daughter making us proud through her achievements. I hope she would continue with her efforts and play at much higher level and bring laurels to our country,” he adds.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles / May 14th, 2016