Category Archives: Sports

City’s canine detectives win medals at State-level contest

Records, All, Sports
Handlers with the police dogs Robin and Juliet

Dog squad of the city police to get high-level training ahead of national competition

Robin and Juliet, the youngest members of the city police’s dog squad secured two prestigious medals at a State-level competition held recently in Thrissur as part of the duty meet of the Kerala police.

While Robin, the one-and-a-half-year-old Labrador Retriever, proved his skills in detecting hidden narcotic substances at the five-level contests, Juliet, the Doberman of the same age, bagged the medal for tracking objects.

Both Robin and Juliet were qualified for attending the upcoming national-level contest in November. Their handlers said the dogs were excellent in obedience and food refusal tests as well at the three-day meet that concluded on April 19.

“Both were trained at the National Centre for Training in Search, Rescue and Disaster Response run by the Indo-Tibetan Boarder Police in Haryana before joining the city police squad 10 months ago. Ahead of the national meet, they will get high-level training,” said additional sub inspector D. Sanilkumar, who is in charge of the dog squad.

Robin, who was trained by his handlers Prasoon and Sujil, won the attention at the State meet by tracking narcotic substances buried in the soil or hidden in different places. Objects hidden in a suitcase and on human body were spotted by him within the given time.

Midhun and Sanal, the handlers of Juliet, too had moments of joy when she came out with outstanding performance in scent discrimination, identification and tracking lost objects. She also excelled in displaying flawless retrieving skills by crossing the hurdles.

Mr. Sanilkumar said the seven-member dog squad had put up sterling performances in several other competitions held earlier in various parts of the State. “Our four-year-old Buddy, a Labrador, was one among the dogs which drew the attention of trainers in such competition venues,” he said.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kozhikode / by Staff Reporter / Kozhikode – April 23rd, 2018

Kerala’s karate kid

Records, All, Sports

Her dad is a karate instructor and watching his kicks and chops, a young  Amritha Vijayan  started learning the martial art at the age of 5.

In no time, it became a lot more than an extra-curricular activity for the Varkala girl. A ninth grader now, she recently became the first female martial artist from Kerala to qualify for the Asian Karate Championship, after winning a gold medal at the national tournament. The 15-year-old is busy preparing for the tournament, which will be held in Japan in May.

“Winning the gold in the nationals itself was a thing of pride, and a lot of effort went into it,” says the soft-spoken black-belt holder. A student of Government Higher Secondary School, Varkala, Amritha has been training under her father Vijayan, from an early age. “He has an academy in Varkala and is also the coach of Sainik School, Thiruvananthapuram. My dad is a seventh dan black belt holder in karate. When I started out, there weren’t many girls in the academy. However, my sister Avanthika and I trained in the martial art and over time, more women joined,” she recalls.

Her mom Geetha used to accompany her for the tournaments for years together but now, a confident Amritha says she can handle her own safety. “Due to the high expense, my parents don’t accompany me now and I am also going to Japan without them. I am confident enough to take care of myself, thanks to my passion for karate,” she says.

Amritha is also thrilled that the tournament will be held in the island of Okinawa, which is believed to be where karate originated. “It is famed for having the longest-living people in the world. Studies have found that practising martial arts is what helps them stay strong and healthy and live long,” she says. In fact, it was her dad’s dream to visit this island. “I am glad that he is getting to fulfill it through me. I can’t wait to check out the place,” she beams.

She is also happy that karate is now included in the Olympics, with it debuting in Tokyo 2020. “For a lot of us who are into the martial art, this has served as an inspiration to work harder. Getting to represent one’s country at Olympic Games is truly an unparalleled honour and I hope many people from the country make it to the Olympics for karate,” says the youngster, who wishes to join the police force when she grows up.

Ask her about her own expectations for the upcoming Asian Games as well as Tokyo 2020 and she says, “I can’t say anything on that yet, but I know I will give it my all.”

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Kochi News / by Deepa Soman / TNN / April 05th, 2018

Diving school named after war veteran

Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Education, Sports, Travel
Chiman Singh interacting with naval divers at the Naval Base on Friday.

It will be known as Chiman Singh Block

A newly-constructed modern dive training facility at the Diving School of the Southern Naval Command, christened as Chiman Singh Block, was jointly inaugurated by Chief of Staff of the Command Rear Admiral R.J. Nadkarni and former Petty Officer Clearance Diver and Maha Vir Chakra holder Chiman Singh at an event held at the Naval Base on Friday.

The facility houses a state-of-the-art recompression chamber complex and a laboratory, besides modern stores. It will make dive training at the school comparable with the best in the world.

Chiman Singh, after whom the new facility is named, was awarded the second highest gallantry medal for his exploits as a Leading Seaman in the 1971 Indo-Pak War.

Unmatched valour

Deployed off the Bangladesh coast, he displayed unparalleled gallantry in the face of the enemy in rescuing several of his colleagues, despite being severely injured.

The sailor was eventually taken prisoner-of-war (POW) and released on culmination of the war.

This is the highest gallantry award ever received by a naval person. Bangladesh honoured him with the Friends of Bangladesh Liberation Award in 2013.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu /  Home> News> Cities> Kochi / by Special Correspondent / Kochi – December 16th, 2017

City’s landmarks in sketches

Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Sports
Exhibition of sketches and paintings by T.C.Rajan ‘Reminisence of My City’ in Ganesam, Thycadu in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday. | Photo Credit: S.GOPAKUMAR

ISRO official T. C. Rajan has put up 30 sketches of iconic buildings of the city

Sketches of some of the most iconic structures in the city attest to the State capital’s rich tradition and culture.

Artist T.C. Rajan has captured the beauty of many a landmark building in his sketches in Indian ink that are on display at an exhibition at Ganesam, Thycaud.

Padmanabhaswamy temple, Kuthiramalika, VJT hall, Napier Museum, Central station, Cliff House, LMS church, Kowdiar Palace…all of these come alive in Mr. Rajan’s works.

A senior project assistant (Accounts) at the Indian Space Research Organisation, Mr. Rajan has put up 30 sketches and 18 paintings at the exhibition, his 50th.

It took him almost an year to get the works ready. “I wanted to capture the beauty of different parts of the city. There are many changes happening, and I wanted the future generation to know how the city was.” he says.

Wherever he was denied access, he sketched using photographs. For instance, for the sketch of the Kowdiar Palace, he was presented with a photograph showing an overhead view of the palace, and drew it from that. For Kuthiramalika, he received special sanction and was able to sketch the structure.

Eighteen of his oil and acrylic works are also on display. These too capture the beauty of places such as Chirayinkeezhu, where often it gets obscured by filth. He says he is constantly experimenting.

The use of various colours to depict water in his painting of children on a beach come from years of experience, he says.

Director of the Kerala Chitrakala Parishad, he has also been conducting painting camps for Soorya for years.

A national basketball player, Mr. Rajan has been drawing since he was a child. On spotting his talent, his father used to take him to various exhibitions. Even when he was pursuing sports, he kept alive the connection with art. Though he never learnt painting formally, he learnt from taking part in various camps conducted by the Lalithakala Akademi and from interactions with artistes having different styles.

On of the most memorable moments in his life has been the portrait he presented to the former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam when he came to ISRO. “He was not President then. He then wrote me a letter asking me to draw Veli and ISRO together. I drew that and presented it to him when he visited ISRO after becoming President. He then wrote me an appreciation letter for the work,” he says.

He recently drew a 6 ft portrait of Vikram Sarabhai that has been displayed at ISRO.

Mr. Rajan mostly paints landscape, his travels inspiring him to paint nature in all its glory. Contemporary issues such as problems faced by children also find expression in his works. “The challenge in such a work is to present it in such a way that viewers understand it, even if it is abstract,” he says.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Thiruvananthapuram / by R.K. Roshni / Thiruvananthapuram – November 17th, 2017

Meet Kochi’s own Ironman

Records, All, Sports, World Opinion

With half and full marathons becoming commonplace, Kerala now witnesses endurance sports events every other weekend.

Joby Paul, a 35-year-old IT entrepreneur from Kochi, shows what the new breed of runners and fitness enthusiasts might be aiming at next. Joby is just back after completing the ‘Ironman’ triathlon — one of the toughest sports events in the world, in which Malayali names, especially of non-NRKs, have hardly figured. A ‘runversation’ with Joby gives a glimpse into how he swam, cycled and ran towards the Ironman title!

“A couple of Malayalis have done this triathlon before, but they were not based in Kerala. I had spoken to a few of them for training tips,” says Joby, who came into endurance sports as a runner, only in 2015. “I was always a fitness freak, enjoyed watching sports and have been way too competitive. I did my first half marathon in November, 2015 in Kochi,” he says. Full marathons followed and slowly, endurance sports became his passion. “In the past two years, I did 20-odd half marathons and five fulls, and race by race, I could see an improvement in my timing. My first marathon took 4.45 hours and my best one is 3.43, in a span of two and a half years,” the sportsman recalls.

Joby started cycling and swimming to reduce running injuries and for cross training. “Meanwhile, the thought of a triathlon struck me as it’s the event in which you have to do swimming, cycling and running, without a break.” He also felt the need to do something new and challenging, which demands discipline and dedication. “When I found that Ironman is one of the most challenging endurance events, I decided to try being one,” Joby says.

His running buddies also encouraged him and Joby registered for a half Ironman event in Bahrain, in December, last year.

“It went well. In the meantime, I also did five full marathons (42.2 km) in different cities in India including Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi.” He also bagged a medal for completing the 5 km sea swimming in Goa swimmathon in April 2017. “That was a big confidence booster for the full Ironman triathlon and so, I registered for the Florida Ironman event,” he says.

However, the path towards being an Ironman was hardly easy. “It was important that I balance the three disciplines with a well-structured workout, six days a week.

I had to wake up at 4 am on most days, and sometimes, even at 3.30 am for long workouts. There were a couple of weekends where I was out for more than seven hours, sometimes, all by myself. This was definitely hard — physically and mentally. Training for this long is, quite frankly, boring and draining. With all of these, there was no proper work-life balance either,” says Joby.

Added to that was the extreme diet control. However, self-motivation was the key, he says. “On many of the days it was very hard for me to wake up and train. But the finish line thoughts would pull me out of bed,” he says. In September, he participated in Thonnur Triathlon in Mysore, which was a half iron distance triathlon and got a podium finish.

But all the training and events helped him get a proper heads-up for the Florida Ironman. “Still, it was no cakewalk. I had a taxing 15 kilometres during the 42.2 km marathon. There was also extreme mental pressure thinking of the length and on many occasion you feel like quitting. But I was sure that somehow I would finish.”

Right now, everything, from the hard training to packing the bags for the event have turned golden memories for him. But the most precious moment was the one where he crossed the finish line – “I crossed the line with an Indian flag, amid the cheering and the announcement, ‘Joby Paul, you are an Ironman!” that was the best!

So, what next? “I want to do more events to secure an entry to the Ironman world championship held in Hawaii. So, I am now planning my next race. I also have a couple of marathons and swimmathons queued up,” he says.

Joby hails from Onakkoor, a village near Piravom. His wife Sweety is an IT professional and the couple has a daughter and a son.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Kochi News / by Deepa Soman / TNN / November 10th, 2017

Blind Football Academy to be opened today

Amazing Feats, Education, Records, All, Sports
Union Minister K.J. Alphonse at a function where membership of the Blind Football Academy was handed over to C.S. Falhan on Thursday.

First member receives membership

C.S. Falhan became the first member of the Blind Football Academy when he received the membership from Union Minister K.J. Alphons here on Thursday.

Sunil J. Mathew, Indian Blind Football Federation sporting director; Fr. Robin Kannanchira, director, Chavara Cultural Centre; and M.C. Roy, attended the event. The academy, which has been established by Indian Blind Football Federation, will be opened on Friday at Jogo Football arena near Bund Road at 4 p.m.

source:  http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kochi / by Special Correspondent / Kochi – September 14th, 2017

Cash prizes for medal winners at Asian Athletic Championship

Sports

Kerala Sports Council will provide financial assistance to P.U. Chithra

The State Cabinet has announced cash awards for athletes who had won medals at the just concluded 22nd Asian Athletic Championship at Bhubaneswar.

Individual gold medallists at the meet will get ₹10 lakh each, silver medallists, ₹7 lakh each, and bronze medallists will get ₹5 lakh each. In the team category, gold medallists will get ₹5 lakh each, silver medallists, ₹3.5 lakh each, and bronze medallists ₹2.5 lakh each.

Besides the cash incentive, the Kerala Sports Council will provide financial assistance to P.U. Chithra for continuing her training and participating in various meets. All the medal winners at the Asian Athletic Championship will be honoured at a function to be held here. Coaches of the medal-winning athletes will also be honoured, Sports and Youth Affairs Minister A.C. Moideen said in a press note here on Wednesday.

Operation Olympia

The Minister said the cash incentive for sportspersons who won medals at national and international sports meets would be revised from time to time. Medal-hopeful athletes would also be given training by bringing them under Operation Olympia, which was targeted at creating medal winners at the Olympics. International footballer C.K. Vineeth, who had been dismissed from service at the Accountant General’s office here, had applied for a job in the State service. The government would take an early decision on his petition, Mr. Moideen said.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Kerala / by Special Correspondent / Thiruvananthapuram / July 12th, 2017

On the right moves

Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Sports

Veteran players pens book on chess

Chess is the most intellectual of all sports. But, Kerala, which has always prided on its intellect, hadn’t produced any major chess talent for decades.

Except for N.R. Anil Kumar, who played for India at the Chess Olympiad in 1982, Kerala’s presence in India’s chess scene was minimal for decades. There was also A. Sasidharan, an immensely gifted young man — capable of playing brilliantly spectacular games — who committed suicide, reportedly because he was unable to get a job.

But, times have changed. Many players in Kerala have found employment on the basis of their achievements on the chessboard. The State has now two Grandmasters, several international players as well as a little world champion in Nihal Sarin.

So the release of veteran chess-player-turned-author P.V.N. Namboothiripad’s book, Chessinoru Patapusthakam, could not have been timed better.

Running into more than 800 pages, it could well be the most exhaustive book on chess ever written in Malayalam. “The book is the result of my work over the last 10 years,” Mr. Namboothiripad told The Hindu on Saturday. “I always felt that there was a need for such a book in Malayalam. We haven’t too many books that look deeply into chess.”

The book, published by Kerala Bhasha Institute, discusses various technical aspects of chess and features an exhaustive collection of games with diagrams. This is the third book on chess by the Kochi-based author, who turned 80 this year.

source:  http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Kerala / by P.K.  Ajith / Kozhikode – May 06th, 2017

Indian captain Sreejesh’s home state Kerala yet to recognise hockey!

Sports

SreejeeshKERALA30aug2016

Thiruvananthapuram :

It may sound incredible, but is a hard fact. Hockey is not a recognised sport in the home state of P R Sreejesh – captain of Indian hockey team. Nor are Olympic events like golf and rugby. As India is busy assessing its failure at the Rio Olympics yet again, emerges this case of mismanagement and politicking.

Without the Kerala State Sports Council’s (KSSC)recognition, these sports miss out on initiatives and financial assistance from the state government to develop the sport. The impact on trainees is more profound as they are denied benefits like grace marks, quota admissions.

While sports like hockey remain unrecognised, there are dubious inclusions like atiya patiya, tennikoit, arm wrestling, roller skating, bodybuilding, kalarippayattu and even tug of war in the 39-event list  Despite being recognised as the official body by Hockey India in 2014 and fielding a state team at the 35th National Games 2015 and national championships ever since, Kerala Hockey, earlier this year, were denied recognition by the Council ciitng legal tangles.

“There have been 3-4 associations who lay claim to the sport in Kerala. This has been the bane of the sport in the state. Let them solve their differences first because it is the players who suffer ultimately,” Sreejesh told Express. “These associations should first set their house in order. Or the Council should sit with Hockey India and form a new state body to govern the sport in Kerala,” the goalkeeper said.

According to officials, Kerala Hockey does not have any pending cases in court. “We have spent around Rs 13 lakhs to send state teams for Nat’l championships without government aid,” said Afsar S Ahammed, secretary of Kerala Hockey. “Some associations have been affiliated by the Council thanks to backdoor entries while deserving association like ours are often ignored,” alleged Afsar.

T P Dasan, the new president of Kerala Sports Council approves. “During tenure of the previous administration, there were some undeserving associations who were selected and we had expressed our displeasure when sports like arm wrestling were recognised without any merit,” said Dasan. Kerala women’s rugby team had won bronze at the National Games.

“Though the acceptance of rugby has increased, we are yet to be recognised despite continuous efforts. I hope the new administration will look into this,” said coach Mahesh Kumar, also secretary of Kerala State Rugby Association.

The rugby body was founded in 2002, but Dasan said its application was being processed. “They had only completed the paperwork recently and it is on our table now. We will definitely consider it,” he said.

Golf is still in a nascent stage in Kerala despite making its debut in Olympic stage at Rio.

“We haven’t received an application for golf but all associations have to conduct district and state championships for three years and have a presence in at least eight districts to be eligible for recognition,” said Dasan.

Classification

He said the Council was planning to classify the recognised sports into low, medium and high priority categories to cater to their demands efficiently. “We plan to take up these issues during the Council’s administrative board meeting on August 31,” he said.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Sport / by Adwaidh Rajan / August 30th, 2016

The Malabar River Festival is back!

Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Sports, Travel

The excitement in the air is almost palpable. Fuelled by large doses of adrenalin and adventure quintessential to extreme sports, spectators are gearing up for the popular Malabar River Festival in Kerala.

In its fourth edition, the festival will be held this month at Kondencherry, near Kozhikode.

Scheduled to take place from July 28 to 31, the competition, organised on behalf of Kerala Adventure Tourism Promotion Society by the Kerala Kayak Academy and Bengaluru-based Madras Fun Tools, will see athletes vie for the total cash prize of Rs. 5 lakh in categories that include BoaterCross, Downriver time-trial and Slalom.

The number of events this year has seen a slight dip. There may be around 60 events compared to the 110 held last year, said Manik Taneja, CEO of Madras Fun Tools.

Also missing from the event will be a big team of Olympians with the mega-sporting event scheduled to be held in August.

However, the event will see the participation of more female participants (10) compared to the usual average of five, mostly from India, UK and Italy, Mr. Taneja said.

For further details about the Malabar River Festival, visitwww.malabarfest.com.

The fourth edition of the event will be held at Kondencherry, near Kozhikode, from July 28 to 31

source:  http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / by Staff Reporter / Bengaluru – July 26th, 2016