National Adventure Foundation (NAF) commenced a ballooning programme on Sunday at the Black Thunder Resort on the Mettupalayam – Ooty main road.
NAF is conducting the events in association with Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. The event would conclude on December 15 and the event is free. NAF has also proposed to conduct Bungee Trampoline, Parasailing etc till January 2 at Black Thunder. For details, contact 93631 45544.
The tournament, which features six players, six overs and played in a span of six days, offers fast and furious action in a festival atmosphere.“We had the Super Sixes on our mind for quite some time. But, we preferred to go slow on it as it involved the right kind of planning and a good amount of hard work,” says Rachna D’Silva, Managing Director, Active 24 HR Services.
“We know it is not going to be an easy task for us considering the size and craze of the tournament. But, thankfully we have an efficient team to see through the event with ease,” she adds.“The participants will be split into four separate pools such as schools, colleges, corporate and open.“The toppers from each pool will clash in the semi-final,” says Marvin D’Silva of Active 24 HR.
“There is going to be something for every player, leave alone a team, as we have shortened the boundary lines. So, sixes are going to come easy and with it the rewards,” he adds.
“Serious cricket is being played in every nook and corner of the city but not such a fun filled event. It is happening for the first time, and believe me the fans are going to crave in for more such events,” says Rachna. The Super Sixes champion will walk away with a cash purse of Rs. 25,000. The next in line will take home Rs.10,000.
There will also be a special cash prize of Rs. 5,000 for the batsman who scores the maximum sixes besides gift vouchers for the hat-trick and double hat-trick sixes in every match.
Entries close with the organisers on December 15. For registration details, contact 9092366666 and 90920 99221.
The Reds vs Yellows Rally war of the 1990s looked like coming back when this year’s Indian National Rally Championship was announced with a clear federation and good sponsors in place. But for this year’s Speed INRC, at the moment it will be Reds vs Reds as Team MRF will face resistance from Red Rooster in the six-round championship that begins in Coimbatore on June 26. Team MRF (Reds) and JK Tyre (Yellows) were engaged in the bitterest battles in the Indian National Rally Championship in the 1990s with the baton of title changing hands regularly as both the teams had the cream of drivers in the country in their ranks. However, the yellows stopped their rally stint in 1999 and the reds dominated for the next nine years.
If Eeshan managed to bring out his best today it was due to the skilful riding of Bangalore’s K.P. Arvind (Team TVS Bangalore). The latter, who had stalled his bike in the earlier rounds in Goa and Hyderabad, raced to glory in the Foreign Open (Moto 1).
The 22-year-old commerce graduate of St. Aloysius College got off the blocks a bit too late. But, he quickly made amends by working extra hard upfront. It paid off. From a not so enjoyable back position, Arvind came out with some brilliant moves before sealing the top slot.
Novice: Group ‘C’ up to 165cc 2/4 stroke: 1. R. Natraj (TVS Blr) 20 pts; 2. Bashir Ahmed (Blr) 17; 3. A. Anand (Cbe) 15.
Indian Experts: Group ‘B’ up to 165cc 2/4 stroke: 1. K.P. Arvind 20 pts; 2. Pramod Johsua (TVS Blr) 17; 3. T.K. Vishwanath (TVS Blr) 15.
Local: Group ‘C’ up to 165cc 2/4 stroke: 1. R. Prakash (Cbe) 20 pts; 2. C.S. Anandkumar (Cbe) 17; 3. Ganesh Murthy (Cbe) 15.
Indian Experts: Group ‘C’ up to 165cc 2/4 stroke: 1. Pramod Joshua 20 pts; 2. Vishal Barguje (TVS Blr) 17; 3. R. Natraj 15.
Intermediate class: Group ‘A’ up to 250/500cc (10 laps): 1. Veer Patel (Team Pashankar) 20 pts; 2. Eeshan Lokhande (Team Pashankar) 17; 3. Snehal Chavan (Team Pashankar) 15.
SSCB’s Devendro and Tamil Nadu’s M. Shanmugam made mincemeat of their opponents and marched into the semifinals of the 42nd National youth boxing championship at the Ramakrishna Mission Vidyalaya Indoor Stadium here on Friday.Devendro, who clinched the gold in an international invitation meet in Cuba late last month, did not sweat much on his way to a 4-0 win over Sikkim’s Madan Rai.
The 17-year-old Manipur youngster, arguably the most exciting fighter available in India at this level, fought like a professional on Friday. He stayed calm, dealt with adversity in an assured manner, and clobbered his rival for a convincing 4-0 win and a place in the last four of the lightfly (48kg) class.Shanmugam, the darling of the crowd, was not his usual self. He kept aside his aggressive skills for a while and opened up midway through to tear apart Manjeet Kumar of Haryana for a semifinal berth in the bantamweight (54kg) category.
Shanmugam was well aware of the strengths of his opponent. But, he did not panic. He used his savvy in a smart manner to avoid early damage in the first two rounds.The third round saw the Chennai youngster in a marauding mood. He used his height to a great advantage. And, that in fact gave him all the leverage on his punches and earned him precious points.With the crowd behind him, Shanmugam went about boldly doing his job. He bashed his rival quite early in the fourth and gutted out the rest of the round for a resounding 13-5 win.
The results: Quarterfinals: Lightfly (48kg): Devendro (SSCB) bt Madan Rai (Sik) 4-0; Aheibam Bony (Tri) bt Bahadur Singh (Utk) 11-10; S. Ziyaudeen (TN) bt Rishi (HP) (RSC OC R-1); Jagdeep Kumar (Pun) bt Mayur Paysude (Mah) 8-4.
Fly (51kg): D.S. Baskar (AP) bt Mayank Singh (MP) 13-2; Suraj (Meg) bt Amit Kumar (Jha) 8-1; S.S. Shriniwas (SSCB) bt Arun Kumar Limbu (Aru) 7-3; L. Herojit Singh (Tri) bt Avinash Ashok Kumar (Guj) 17-0.
Bantam (54kg): N. Limanguba Tsubir (Nag) bt Gurvinder Singh (Raj) 7-6; M. Govind Rao (AP) bt Sandeep Toppo (Jha) 20-3; M. Shanmugam (TN) bt Manjeet Kumar (Har) 13-5.
With an aim to promote young talent, the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) has lowered the age limit for participants in the 2009 Indian National Road Racing Championship for two wheelers. The championships, which begins on June 6 in Coimbatore, will have the minimum age of 13 years for two categories in the unmodified Group D 130 cc and moped categories. The rest of the categories will follow the old limit of 15 years. 
He loves the sport as much as his family. And, he has no regrets. No wonder he commands more respect than any of his peers in the district. R. Govindarajulu, the vice-chairman of the Tamil Nadu State Volleyball Association and the president of the renowned Kovai Volleyball Academy (KVA) is a contented man. The septuagenarian, who headed the Coimbatore District Volleyball Association for more than two decades, tells Rayan Rozario about his past and his involvement in developing the game in the district. 
The young guns scream in excitement on the final day of the selection trials of the Vijay TV Pepsodent Chennai Super Kings Juniors at the SNR Sons College grounds in the city on Sunday.All is well that ends well. True to it, the curtains for the selection trials of the Vijay TV ‘Pepsodent Chennai Super Kings Juniors’ cricket team came down on a glorious note with ten lucky boys making it to the next big grade at the SNR Sons College grounds here on Sunday. 
To mark the International Women’s Day on March 8, The Hindu, Coimbatore is organising a two-wheeler treasure hunt for women titled “Heels on Wheels”. The event will be kick-started from The Hindu office in the city on Sunday at 8.30 a.m. With two women per team on a two-wheeler, 75 to 100 teams are expected to ride during the fun-filled event. Registrations are now open for ‘Heels on Wheels’ for a fee of Rs.100 per team. Those interested in participating can register as soon as possible by calling 0422-2212710 as entries for the event are limited. This event would be open to women above 18 years.Registrations would be accepted only at The Hindu office, 19 & 20, ATT Colony, LIC Road, Coimbatore – 641 018 on a first-come, first-served basis. The event is sponsored by Kota Jewellers Raja Street, while Mahaveers, Samsung and Ideal Stores are the associate sponsors.
Savithri Photo House, Truair Gilma, Afra’s Multi Cuisine Restaurant, Nilgiris (R.S.Puram & Vadavalli), Suvai Ice Cream, SJB TVS are other sponsors. Exciting prizes and gift hampers await the winners and participants. Each registration carries a gift hamper which includes one litre of petrol from Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited, two litres of packaged drinking water from Sabols and a T-Shirt from Ramraj Cottons. All participants will be rewarded with a free insurance cover by The Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd. Ambulance service and first aid medical kits are being provided by K. G Hospitals. The event will be organised by Akarsh events and technically supported by Coimbatore Auto Sports Club.
The budding cricketers of Coimbatore now have a chance to realise their dream of becoming a professional cricketer. Vijay TV is on the hunt for a junior version of Chennai Super Kings cricket team. The Coimbatore leg of the selection process for the ‘Pepsodent Chennai Super Kings Juniors Show’ (with over 20 episodes) will be conducted on March 7 at the PSG Medical College Grounds from 8 a.m. onwards.
The first phase of preliminary selection took place at Tiruchi last week and over 1,000 players participated. One team comprising talented batsmen and bowlers were chosen from the Tiruchi zone. Boys between eight and 12 years can participate in the selection. Applicants can be accompanied by their parents. They should also bring some document to prove their age. They are requested to bring their cricket kit.
Entry is restricted to the first 1,000 registrations. At each of the preliminary selections, the kids will be tested on their basic skills of the game and cricket trivia. Their cricket skills (including batting, bowling and fielding) will be judged by district-level cricketers. The children will be asked to play with a leather ball. One team of 11 players will be chosen from the Coimbatore zone. Pepsodent Chennai Super Kings Juniors will be aired on Saturday and Sunday at 7 p.m. on Vijay TV.
The winning eleven will be christened Chennai Super Kings Juniors, says R.Balachandran, Vice President, Strategic Planning and Marketing, Vijay TV, Chennai. Managing Director of India Cements and Secretary of BCCI, N. Srinivasan, says while Tiruchi and Coimbatore will have one team teach, Chennai will have two or three teams. The selection will be held on March 14 and 15 in Chennai. The five teams will play a round robin league in the T10 format and each team will clash with other teams twice during the league phase starting from March 22/23 and the whole exercise will go on before the final 11 is chosen, he adds.
Apart from the original eleven playing in the matches, there will be reserves who will be called into teams in case of necessity. In addition to the players who make to the teams in the finals, the other players too will be in contention for the selection of the final Chennai Super Kings Juniors team depending on their performance in the matches, Mr. Balachandran says.
The team members will have the opportunity of watching the matches being played in Chennai by the Chennai Super Kings team in the IPL tournament. The seniors will also interact with them. Three players from the junior team, who excel in bowling, batting or fielding, will be given the opportunity to participate in the nets with the senior players and will have the chance to travel to any one of the IPL matches staged outside Chennai. The teams will also get a chance to rub shoulders with cricketers such as Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Adrew Flintoff, and Muttiah Muralitharan. The juniors team will also be coached by former national cricketer V.B.Chandrasekar. The Hindu will be the media partner for the event.
Over 3,000 children from 60 schools participated in the Jetix Action League 2.0 - Powered by Boost, a sports event organised by Jetix television channel and Boost in the city recently. According to a release from the organisers, the event was aimed at helping children interpret action in a positive way through unconventional games, teamwork and a spirit of adventure. It would encourage youngsters to go out and play. The games included ‘belly ball relay,’ ‘wheel barrow relay,’ ‘frog race,’ ‘tug of war,’ ‘kings and guards,’ ‘Frisbee soccers’ and the ‘30 legged race’.
S. Pathy of Coimbatore and C.V. Sudarsan of Chennai are the new Chairman and Secretary/Treasurer respectively of the Kennel Club of India.
Austrian Couple Philipp Schaudy (left) Valeska Schaudy on a world cycling tour, at Coimbatore. An Austrian couple Phillip Schaudy (35) and Valeska (30) are on a tour of the world covering 39,000 km on a bicycle. The mode of transport is by choice, as they believed in travelling using their own power avoiding fuel and emission. The couple told in Coimbatore recently they liked many things in India, especially the food but what really annoyed them was the traffic and motorists’ behaviour. “We wanted to have a feel of the world instead of being carried away by reports in the media about certain countries, especially the developing ones”.
The couple admit that media reports, especially because of the biased factor, often distort the original image of a country, its people and their living conditions. It even scared people from visiting a country. The tour of the world is just not to visit places, learn the culture and heritage but to spread a message that concerns humanity especially issues such as global warming. The couple who began their journey from Northern Europe after Africa, Cape Town and Australia, landed at Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala.
Within the country, especially on land, they travel on bicycle and to cross oceans they fly taking their bicycles along with them. Through friends in Austria, they establish contact with friends and hosts in various towns in various countries who take care of their domestic travel. In western Tamil Nadu and in some parts of India, Roots Industries Limited played the role of a host organising the stay and logistics.
“We loved the Indian food and the costumes, Kathakali dance of Kerala”. The couple who work in Austria take vacations to undertake the journey and on completion of the vacation they return to work. After working, for the next vacation they resume the journey. The journey across the world that began on October 9, 2006 is expected to be completed by 2010, said the couple shortly before pedalling their way out of Coimbatore. The couple on exploring India have plans to visit Nepal, Tibet, China, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia.
Jetix has partnered with Boost to host the second season of Jetix Action League in January. Starting 24 January, 2009, Jetix Action League 2.0 will engage kids in outdoor activities across Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Coimbatore and Visakhapatnam. This five-city inter-school sports event is an attempt to promote the positive values of teamwork and camaraderie among school children.
“Jetix Action League aims to engage kids in outdoor activities while ensuring that they understand the positive values of action and adventure,” said Walt Disney Television International (India) MD and senior VP Antoine Villeneuve. Jetix Action League 2.0 will reward the five best school teams across five cities with a grant of Rs 1,00,000 each and a ‘Jetix Action League Games Trophy’. Commenting on the partnership of Boost with Jetix GSKCH India GM - marketing, other nutritionals Pawan Sud said, “Boost has been synonymous with energy and a winning attitude. This is a fact well substantiated by our association with India's sports icons like Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni, Virender Sehwag and Ishant Sharma.”
Loyola College (Chennai) survived a few anxious moments before defeating St. Joseph’s College (Tiruchi) 6-5 via the tie-breaker for the title in the 18th State-level collegiate football tournament for the PSG Trophy at the PSG College of Arts and Science grounds, here on Wednesday.
Mini marathon held in the city as part of Coimbatore Vizha. As part of Coimbatore Vizha, a mini marathon “Run for Coimbatore” was organised with the support of Kovai Athletic Club. The marathon was flagged off by V.Panchatcharam, Assistant Commissioner Traffic – East and Shankar Vanavarayar, Chair, Coimbatore Vizha and Chief Executive, Sakthi Textiles. The marathon which started at Nehru Stadium had over 2,000 participants including college students, professionals and business personalities. 
With motor sports getting popular in Coimbatore, miniature bikes are fast catching up with the children instead of bi-cycles. The motor sports in Coimbatore got a shot in the arm with India's first Formula One driver Narain Karthikeyan winning on the international circuit. The growing popularity of the motor sports prompted Joe, a motorbike mechanic with an interest in miniature bikes, to make these bikes. "Two years back I went to china and saw large number of youngsters riding small bikes. I was very much impressed and thought why not we design such bikes in India. Moreover, a large number of motor sport riders have come up in Coimbatore, so I decided to design miniature model bikes. So far I have designed and sold more than one thousand bikes," said Joe.
These miniature bikes have the same features as the big motor bikes, though engine capacity of these is up to 40 Cubic Capacity. The miniature bikes can run upto 50 Kilometers on one liter of petrol and can accommodate a pillion rider as well. They are ideal for the children, as they do not require registration or driving license. "Generally I used to ride bicycle, but when I saw these bikes I fell in love with them and in future I'd love to take up bike racing." Said Eswar. The cost of these miniature bikes varies from anywhere between from rupees 15, to 17,000.
A cricket match involving college students and people living with HIV/AIDS was held at the KSG College of Arts and Science here recently. Over 400 people gathered on the college grounds to watch the match. “This is an attempt to demonstrate that people living with HIV should not be discriminated against. The public should support people living with the disease,” said R.Meenakshi, president of the Coimbatore District HIV Ullor Nala Sangam.
According to the Tamil Nadu AIDS Control Society, over 1,10,608 people in Coimbatore had come forward to test for HIV/AIDS. In 2008, 99,631 people had volunteered to test for the disease. The district had 40 HIV testing centres. With an aim of creating awareness among the younger generations about the disease, youth Red Ribbon Clubs had been formed in 82 colleges reaching out to 5,000 students all over the district.
V.Kumaran, Dean-in-Charge of the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital, said that efforts were being taken to address the HIV/AIDS issues in the district. The level of HIV awareness among the youth was increasing day by day. Through the Government Hospital in Coimbatore, 2,191 HIV positive people had been provided with free Anti Retroviral Therapy treatment, he said. P.Govindaraj, Superintendent of Coimbatore Central Prison, said that Integrated Counselling and Testing Centres were functioning inside the prisons too.
