Posts Tagged ‘Pune’
Written by admin on 06 February 2012
Pune, Feb 6 (IANS) Mumbai FC registered their first victory in seven matches when they dented Churchill Brothers’ title hopes with an inspiring 2-1 win in a 19th round football I-League clash at the Balewadi Sports Complex Monday.
This was Mumbai’s first win in 2012 and helped them stay away from the drop zone for some more time as the Essel Group-promoted outfit went six points clear of Chirag United Kerala.
Mumbai now have 17 points from 19 matches, while Chirag is on 11 from 18 with one game against Pailan Arrows to be played on a later date.
Churchill remain on 33 points, but their bargaining power of having played one game less than other top teams fizzled out with Monday’s loss.
Both Churchill and Mumbai began at a brisk pace. Churchill deservedly took the lead through N.D. Opara in the 20th minute.
Unlike in past few matches, Mumbai FC kept their morale high with relentless runs into Churchill’s half.
Gbeneme Friday had moved up in the right corner from where the Nigerian sent a measured pass into the box. Lalwmpuia was on target but Bhattacharya punched it out only to see the ball go straight to Cavin Lobo.
The Mumbai FC midfielder had been unlucky earlier on, but this time he had enough space between the defenders to measure his shot that left the goalkeeper stranded.
In the 83rd minute, Dhanachandra scored an unlikely winner for Mumbai to send them clear of the relegation zone.
Tags: Maharashtra, Pune
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Written by admin on 05 February 2012
Pune, Feb 5 (IANS) The drawn Kolkata Derby Saturday has given Churchill Brothers a golden chance to challenge fellow Goan club Dempo SC when they take on embattled Mumbai FC in a 19th round I-League football match at the Balewadi Sports Complex Monday.
After the 1-0 win against Air India, Churchill is ready to take on Mumbai FC and anything but full points will satisfy Manuel Gomes’ side as they have been handed a chance to bridge the gap with Dempo with a match in hand.
Churchill have 33 points from 17 matches, while Dempo are on 40 from 18 games.
Hosts Mumbai FC are smarting from six-straight losses since the turn of 2012. Mumbai FC’s streak of losses began Jan 4 when Chirag United Kerala thrashed them at home.
Ebi Sukore will be back against Churchill, but more than his presence, Mumbai FC will have to find right combination to seal the hole in their midfield that unnecessarily puts pressure on defenders.
Churchill Brothers, however, will have to be wary of complacency even as they haven’t lost to Mumbai FC in all their four I-league encounters, so far. Churchill, who beat Mumbai FC at home early this season, leads 3-0 with one match drawn.
Tags: Maharashtra, Pune
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Written by admin on 04 February 2012
Pune, Feb 4 (IANS) Showing that he has matured into a class player, Mumbai-based cueist Aditya Mehta won his second National snooker title in a space of six months beating IBSF World No.3 Kamal Chawla 6-2 in the final here Saturday.
Down 0-2, Mehta of Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) took his chances once Chawla (Railways) let go possible pots and crawled his way back into the match to take the next six frames in a row to close out the affair in just under four hours.
Playing his maiden National final, Chawla began confidently as the two tried to test each other in the beginning. Chawla was tad bit clearer in his focus as he kept earning small but crucial breaks to take the first frame 60-2 and the second 65-48.
The decisive moment came in the third when Chawla missed a pink and Mehta responded with a break of 30 and eventually won the frame to get back into the match.
Thereafter, Mehta punished Chawla for every lapse and grew in confidence as the match progressed. After taking the fourth, it was Mehta all the way as he crafted a break of 80 in the eighth to close the match.
Results:
Final: Aditya Mehta (PSPB) bt Kamal Chawla (Rlys) 6- 2-(60, 48-65, 72-49, 69-38, 80-9, 71-27, 67 (58)-1, 80 (80)-0).
For 3-4 positions: Shahbaaz Adil Khan (PSPB) bt Brijesh Damani (Ben) 3-1 (33-61,76-21, 94 (71)-7, 67-28).
5-8 placing matches: Lucky Vatnani (AP) bt Manan Chandra (PSPB) 2-0; Himanshu Jain (AP) bt Siddharth Parikh (Rlys) 2-0. For 5-6: Jain bt Vatnani 2-0. For 7-8: Chandra bt Parikh 2-1.
Tags: Maharashtra, Pune
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Written by admin on 04 February 2012
Pune, Feb 4 (IANS) Air India would be looking to put some distance between them and tenth placed Shillong Lajong when they play HAL Bangalore in the 19th round I-League football clash at the Balewadi Sports Complex Ground here Sunday.
Air India will be buoyed by the return of striker Henry Ezeh, and mid-fielder Takayuki Omi, both missed the Churchill match due to double bookings.
With 24 points from 18 matches, Air India are just three points behind Sporting Clube de Goa and three ahead of fast-approaching Shillong Lajong FC (21), who play Pailan Arrows Sunday. HAL are at the bottom of the heap with just 6 points.
There were few worries for Air India as they wasted several opportunities against Churchill, and the main culprit was midfielder Sandeep Sangha, who missed at least four chances to get the ball into the net.
Though one of the positives that Air India can take into the match is custodian Pawan Kumar’s form, who saved several shots from Churchill strikers.
Meanwhile, Ramalingam Thyagraj’s HAL will have to do a lot to tighten their defence. This is HAL’s third match of the season on this ground. They lost to Pune FC (1-3) and Mumbai FC (0-4).
Tags: Maharashtra, Pune
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Written by admin on 03 February 2012
Pune, Feb 3 (IANS) Defending champion Aditya Mehta, along with Kamal Chawla, Brijesh Damani and Shahbaaz Khan entered the semi-finals of the 78th Manisha-National snooker championship, here Friday.
Mehta, who opened the defence of his title with a massive break of 134, needed no special efforts to subdue Siddharth Parikh 5-0 with breaks of 82 and 55 to set up a clash with former junior champion Shahbaaz Adil Khan who accounted for Andhra’s Himanshu Jain 5-3.
In the previous round, Khan had authored the tournament’s biggest upset when he beat former champion Pankaj Advani.
Chawla, who eliminated last year’s runner-up Alok Kumar in the previous round, overcame qualifier Lucky Vatnani of Andhra 5-3 with a break of 86 in the seventh frame.
Chawla now meets Brijesh Damani of Bengal who scored an upset win over 2006 champion Manan Chandra 5-2.
Results:
Quarter-finals: Aditya Mehta (PSPB) bt Siddharth Parikh (Rlys) 5-0; Shahbaaz Adil Khan (PSPB) bt Himanshu Jain (AP) 5-3; Brijesh Damani (Ben) bt Manan Chandra (PSPB) 5-2; Kamal Chawla (Rlys) bt Lucky Vatnani (AP) 5-3.
Pre-quarterfinals: Mehta bt Sarang Shroff (Mah) 4-0; Parikh bt Pulkit Thukral (Del) 4-1; Jain bt Shivam Arora (Bih) 4-3; Khan bt Pankaj Advani (PSPB) 4-2; Damani bt Vijay Nichani (TN) 4-1; Chandra bt Sourav Kothari (PSPB) 4-2; Vatnani bt IV Rajeev (AP) 4-1; Chawla bt Alok Kumar (PSPB) 4-3.
Tags: Maharashtra, Pune
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Written by admin on 02 February 2012
Pune, Feb 2 (IANS) Four-time champion Pankaj Advani swept past veteran Devendra Joshi 4-0 enroute to the pre-quarterfinals of the Manisha-National snooker championship here Thursday.
A break of 75 in the fourth frame highlighted Advani’s victory as he joined defending champion Aditya Mehta, qualifier Brijesh Damani and Siddharth Parikh (Railways) in the knock-out stage.
In the best match of the day, PSPB’s Sourav Kothari overcame Karnataka cueist M. Yogesh Kumar 4-3 after a four-hour tussle that could have gone either way. The decisive moment came when Kothari put in a break of 46 in the deciding seventh frame.
Meanwhile, last year’s runner-up Alok Kumar displayed top form while beating Sunil Kumar and Kamal Chawla, the IBSF World No 3, also won 4-0 as the two set up an enticing pre-quarterfinal match-up.
Results:
Round of 32: Aditya Mehta (PSPB) bt Neeraj Kumar (Rlys) 4-1; Sarang Shroff (Mah) bt Rafath Habib (Rlys) 4-3; Pulkit Thukral (Del) bt Lalrina Renthlei (Miz) 4-2; Siddharth Parikh (Rlys) bt Rupesh Shah (PSPB) 4-1; Shivam Arora (Bih) bt Sumit Talwar (Chd) 4-3; Himanshu Jain (AP) bt R Girish (Rlys) 4-1; Pankaj Advani (PSPB) bt Devendra Joshi (PSPB) 4-0; Shahbaaz Adil Khan (PSPB) bt Divya Sharma (Har) 4-0; Brijesh Damani (Ben) bt Dhvaj Haria (Guj) 4-1; Vijay Nichani (TN) bt Durga Prasad (Rlys) 4-1; Manan Chandra (PSPB) bt Rajat Khaneja (Chd) 4-0; Sourav Kothari (PSPB) bt M Yogesh Kumar (Kar) 4-3; IV Rajeev (AP) bt Rovin D’Souza (Mah) 4-0; Lucky Vatnani (AP) bt Shankar Rao (AP) 4-0; Alok Kumar (PSPB) bt Sunil Kumar (AP) 4-0; Kamal Chawla (Rlys) bt Sundeep Gulati (Del) 4-2.
Tags: Maharashtra, Pune
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