MotoGP 2007

10 Mar Qatar – Héctor Faubel/ Jorge Lorenzo/ Casey Stoner
25 Mar Spain – Gabor Talmacsi/ Jorge Lorenzo/ Valentino Rossi
22 Apr Turkey – Simone Corsi/ Andrea Dovizioso/ Casey Stoner
6 May China – Lukas Pesek/ Jorge Lorenzo/ Casey Stoner
20 May France – Sergio Gadea/ Jorge Lorenzo/ Chris Vermeulen
3 Jun Italy – Hector Faubel/ Alvaro Bautista/ Valentino Rossi
10 Jun Catalunya- T Koyama/ Jorge Lorenzo/ Casey Stoner
24 Jun Great Britain – Mattia Pasini / Andrea Dovizioso/Casey Stoner
30 Jun Netherlands – Mattia Pasini/ Jorge Lorenzo/ Valentino Rossi
15 Jul Germany
22 Jul USA – / / Casey Stoner
19 Aug Czech Republic – / / Casey Stoner
2 Sep San Marino – Mattia Pasini/ Jorge Lorenzo/ Casey Stoner
16 Sep Portugal – Hector Faubel/ Alvaro Bautista/ Valentino Rossi
23 Sep Japan
14 Oct Australia – / / Casey Stoner
21 Oct Malaysia
4 Nov Valencia

Dipika Pallikal “misquoted”

On her website Dipika Pallikal states the following: “One of the Articles in the Times of India, Bombay edition, has quoted me as saying ‘I care a damn about SRFI’. This is not true. I have been misquoted and I apologize for the hurt it may have caused. Though I do not train at the ICL Squash Academy these days, I always remember that it was at the very same Academy that I learn’t to hold a squash racket in my hand and grow from there. Whatever be the reasons, I have become the black sheep of SRFI but I know that one day soon, India would see the best Squash players bring pride to their federation and to their nation.”

Tournament of Champions, New York

Saurav Ghosal enters the main draw of the $ 70,000 Bear Stearns Tournament of Champions, New York, one of the biggest tournaments in the USA.  In the qualifiers Saurav beat Chris Simpson 11/4, 11/8, 11/8 and  David Barnett 11/8, 11/8, 11/8.

Cricket World Cup, West Indies calendar

Tue 13  1st Match, Group D – West Indies v Pakistan
 
Wed 14  2nd Match, Group A – Australia v Scotland
Wed 14  3rd Match, Group C – Canada v Kenya
 
Thu 15  4th Match, Group B – Bermuda v Sri Lanka
Thu 15  5th Match, Group D – Ireland v Zimbabwe
 
Fri 16  6th Match, Group A – Netherlands v South Africa
Fri 16  7th Match, Group C – England v New Zealand
 
Sat 17  8th Match, Group B – Bangladesh v India
Sat 17  9th Match, Group D – Ireland v Pakistan

Formula One Grand Prix calendar

18 Mar Australia Melbourne – Kimi, Ferrari
8 Apr Malaysia Sepang – Fernando, McLaren
15 Apr Bahrain Bahrain
13 May Spain Catalunya
27 May Monaco Monte Carlo
10 Jun Canada Montreal

Hoe Hin White Flower Ointment Asian Junior Squash Championships, Hong Kong Finals

Pakistan retained the 13th Asian Junior Squash Team Event Championship title by beating Malaysia 2-1 in the final at Hong Kong

Farhan Mehboob beat Mohammad Ashraf 9/1, 9/1, 9/4
Elvin Keo beat Waqar Mehboob 9/4, 4/9, 0/9, 9/7, 10/9
Farzan Rashid beat Chuoong Kam Hing 9/2, 9/4, 9/2

Individual Final:
[1] Farhan Mehboob (PAK) bt [2] Abdullah Almezayen (KUW) 9-5, 9-5, 9-3 (51m)
[2] Annie Au (HKG) bt [3/4] Joey Chan (HKG)6-9, 10-8, 9-3, 9-2 (45m)

Semi-finals:
[1] Farhan Mehboob (PAK) bt [3/4] Farzan Rasheed (PAK)9-7, 9-7, 9-1 (49m)
[2] Abdullah Almezayen (KUW) bt [3/4] Waqar Mehboob (PAK) 9-1, 9-7, 9-4 (43m)

[3/4] Joey Chan (HKG) bt [1] Wee Wern Low (MAS) 9-3, 9-3, 9-0 (32m)
[2] Annie Au (HKG) bt [5/8] Misaki Kobayashi (JPN) 9-2, 10-8, 9-0 (31m)

India wins Bronze at Asian Juniors, Hong Kong

The Indian boys recovered from being a match down to defeat hosts Hong Kong 2-1 and win the bronze medal on the final day at the Asian Junior Squash Championships. Sandeep Jangra first on court, fought hard to over come a 2 game deficit to level the scores but was unable to win the fifth against Hong Kong’s #1 Leo Au. Parth Sharma leveled the tie with his game of accurate lengths and precision finishing defeating Fung Ji Yang convincingly. Naresh Kumar playing the decider for India kept his cool to play outstanding attacking squash to defeat Chan Kai Chi in straight sets. 

The Indian team performed marginally better than the last Asian Junior Championships held at India in 2005 where we finished fourth. “In the semi finals if we could have pulled off the match against higher ranked Malaysia against whom we fought well; it would have been wonderful, nevertheless winning the bronze is a great achievement” said National Coach Cyrus Poncha. Consultant Coach Maj Maniam said “Our boys have been working very hard for the past 2 years; they have learnt what it takes to be a professional squash player. I am confident and convinced that in the next two years they will be performing well on the PSA tour.

This is the last junior team championship for all the boys, Sandeep turns 19 years later this month, followed by Naresh later this year and Parth and Harry early next year.” “We have really trained very hard at the ICL Academy for this event and the fruits of our labour equated to a worthy bronze at this championship said Harinder and Parth in unison.”Earlier in the individual event both Ravi Dixit and Ramit Tandon gave a good account of themselves which certainly augurs well for the future of junior squash in India.

Sandeep Jangra lost to Leo Au 9-3, 9-0, 5-9, 5-9, 9-0
Parth Sharma bt Fung Ji Yang 9-5 9-0 9-4
Naresh Kumar bt Chan Kai Chi 9-3, 9-5, 10-8

India go down to Malaysia in the Asian Jr semis

India went down fighting to Malaysia in the semi final of the Asian Junior Squash Championships held in Hong Kong. Harinder first on court played another marathon match lasting 105min. The first game itself was 39min where Harinder lead for the better part of the game. Ivan fought back hard to come back and win the game 10-8. Ivan tightened the screws to win the second easily.  Harinder fought back and hung in extremely well to win the 3rd. The fourth was another long duel with both players showing signs of getting cramps. Ivan managed to hold his nerve and close out the match. Sandeep unfortunately never got into the match and went down timidly in 4 games.

Ivan Yuen bt Harnderpal Singh 10-8, 9-2, 5-9, 9-6; Modh. Ashraf Azan bt Sandeep Jangra 9-6, 9-6, 9-10, 9-1

India thru to semis

The Indian junior squash team trounced Iran 3-0 in their final pool match here in Hong Kong at the Asian Junior Squash Championships. The Indian boys placed in pool C along with Korea and Iran won both their ties 3-0 to top their pool and set up their semi final clash against second seeded in the event and world no. 3 Malaysia.

The results

Sandeep Jangra bt Navid Sabet 9-3, 9-0, 9-2; Harnderpal Singh bt Mohd. Hossein Nadoushan 9-5, 9-7, 9-5; Parth Sharma bt  Mohd. Reza Sadeghpour 9-6, 9-1, 9-7

All the boys have worked very hard and we are ready to upset the fancied Malaysian’s in our semi final tomorrow evening.

Team Championships – India wins opener

Given the 3^rd seed in the Asian junior team championship India is placed in pool C along with Korea and Iran. Pakistan has been given top billing followed by Malaysia who was the runner up and 3^rd positions respectively at the World Junior Championships held in New Zealand last year.

In order for India to qualify for the semi final they would need to defeat both Korea and Iran.

India‘s opener against Korea was won very comfortably. Parth Sharma rested while Sandeep Jangra, Harinderpal Singh and Naresh Kumar clocked straight set victories.

The results-

Naresh Kumar bt Jin Sung Woo 9-3, 9-5, 9-3; Sandeep Jangra bt Lee Jin Tong 9-0,9-2, 9-2; Harnderpal Singh bt Lee Nyeon Ho 9-8, 9-1, 9-0

Tomorrow India takes on Iran at 1630hrs.