Tag Archives: Indian Muslims in Sports

CWG silver medallist Abdulla Aboobacker wins gold in triple jump at Mikio Oda Memorial Athletics Meet in Japan

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KERALA:

Abdulla Aboobacker

The 27-year-old achieved his season-best score in the tournament.

Commonwealth Games 2022 silver medallist triple jumper Abdulla Aboobacker Narangolintevida clinched the gold medal clocking a season-best score of 16.31m in the Mikio Oda Memorial Athletics meet in Hiroshima, Japan. The 27-year-old Keralite clocked his season-best score twice in the fifth and sixth attempts and notched up a good performance in the maiden foreign meet of the season.

Abdulla crossed the 16m mark five times in seven attempts overall in the Mikio Oda Memorial. Earlier this year, he claimed the third spot in two domestic meets by clocking 15.93m and 15.77m (Indian Open Jumps and Indian Grand Prix). The Keralite, after below-average performances in the domestic meet this year, has shown good improvement by constantly crossing the 16m mark in Japan.

Last year, he also won the silver medal at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022 with a result of 17.02m, just 0.1m behind the gold medal mark. Compatriot Eldhose Paul clinched the gold medal at CWG 2022 by clocking 17.03m.

The 2022 season was one of the most successful ones for the Keralite. He crossed the 17m mark thrice and recorded his personal best mark of 17.19m in the Indian Grand Prix held in Bhubaneshwar. The 27-year-old also qualified for the World Athletic Championships 2022, but put in a below-average performance (best score-16.45m).

The qualification mark for World Athletics Championships 2023 stands at 17.20m. Abdulla needs to get back to his original form ahead of the all-important Senior Federation Cup and the National Inter-States Meet, to secure automatic qualification for the Worlds.

Among the other Indian Triple Jumpers, Praveen Chitravel came close to qualifying for the World Championships as he notched up a personal best score of 17.17m in the Indian Open Jumps and won the silver medal in the Asian Indoor Athletics Championships recently.

Meanwhile, Eldhose Paul will soon be in action alongside Tokyo Olympics gold medallist Neeraj Chopra in the Doha Diamond League, starting May 5, 2023.

source: http://www.khelnow.com / Khel Now / Home> Athletics / by M Sudharshan / April 30th, 2023

Syed Abdul Rahim’s role in golden era of Indian football immortalized in biopic Maidaan

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Hyderabad , ANDHRA PRADESH / TELANGANA :

Syed Abdul Rahim and Ajay Devgn in the poster of Maidaan
Syed Abdul Rahim and Ajay Devgn in the poster of Maidaan

In an era of Indians recognizing their unsung heroes and reviving their memories, a biopic on Syed Abdul Rahim, India’s most successful football coach, is all set to be released on June 23.

The teaser of the film Maidaan featuring Ajay Devgn as the legendary coach of the Indian national football team was released by Zee Films recently. It has already crossed 35 million views of YouTube in five days.

Under Syed Abdul Rahim’s guidance, the Indian team was rated as one of the most powerful teams in the sport, and the period – 1952-1962 turned out to be the golden period of Indian football.

The teaser opens with the resounding music of A R Rahman and the powerful image of the Indians playing Yugoslavia (a country now spilt into Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia) in heavy rain.

It seems the bare-footed Indians lost the match against Yugoslavia as Rahim (Ajay Devgn) is shown in tears in the teaser. The film is produced by Bonny Kapoor.

According to reports, from his early days, this Hyderabad-born Rahim spotted talented boys on the football fields of Hyderabad and trained them to cobble up an Indian team.

With him as the coach of the national team, India finished fourth in the Melbourne Olympics and won the gold medal in the Asian Games of 1962 beating Japan and Korea.

Although Rahim is credited for ushering in the Golden Era of Indian football, he passed away unsung. He was never conferred with any award and many say he was too focused on coaching and never mingled with leaders or influencers to get noticed by them.

Maidaan’s teaser is a 90-second clip that tells the story of a fight against the odds by Rahim and his Indian team. The trailer opens with monochrome shots from the 1952 Summer Olympics held in Helsinki (Finland). India fared badly on that occasion and lost 10-1 to Yugoslavia in the preliminary round.

The resounding defeat did not discourage Rahim; instead, it brought out his fighting spirit.

He studied the training methods used by the European teams. Rahim studied their training and tactics and then modified the same to suit Indian conditions. He realized that Indian players had less physical stamina and there was no point copying the European methodology.

Rahim adapted the European ways to suit the Indians and it worked wonders. It must have taken Rahim’s meticulous planning and precision in training the Indians that helped the team perform great in the next Olympic Games in 1956 when India defeated Australia

On 1st December 1956, India stunned the world with the team’s excellent performance and defeating host Australia 4-2. Ace striker Neville D’Souza scored a hat trick and Krishnaswamy scored one goal.

This match is an abiding memory of the glorious era of Indian football.

Today, Indian football fans are disappointed to see Australia plays in the final phase of the FIFA World Cup while India has dropped to the bottom. Indian team employs expensive foreign coaches and support staff but the results are not commensurate with the efforts and expenses.

Sources said the filmmakers had consulted the Football legend’s son S.S. Hakim who died in 2021. Hakim was an Air Force officer who had played in the Olympics and was a highly qualified coach and referee too.

In the film, Ajay Devgn speaks the Hyderabadi (Deccani) version of Urdu. After many delays due to the pandemic and other reasons, the film is scheduled for a theatrical release on 23rd June 2023.

source: http://www.awazthevoice.in / Awaz, The Voice / Home> Story / by ATV, posted by Aasha Khosa / April 15th, 2023

Hockey player offers ‘Sehri and Iftar’ for fasting Muslims in Raipur hospitals

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Raipur, CHHATTISGARH:

Nauman Akram and his welfare group have chosen hospitals and passenger terminals to extend help by offering food, water and juices as a moral responsibility to those fasting.

Iftar food bag given to fasting relatives of a patient at a hospital in Raipur. (Photo | Express)

Raipur : 

During the ongoing sacred month of Ramadan, when Muslims engage in observing fast, a former well-known hockey player devotes his time with his small team of youths to reach out to those who keep fast staying in hospitals while enduring challenging or difficult situations and provide them with Sehri (before sunrise meal) and Iftar (after sunset food) daily.

Nauman Akram’s Raipur-based welfare group believes that a large segment of the Muslim population may not be blessed with enough food and provision since they usually have little except to work hard to make ends meet during Ramadan.

Akram, also a former national hockey umpire, has chosen hospitals and passenger terminals to extend help by offering food, water and juices as a moral responsibility to the fasting people who are away from their homes and essentially need the support that brings them some solace during the pious month.

“We visit big hospitals like Raipur AIIMS, Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar hospitals among others to distribute small food bags among the patients and their fasting families. We also interact with Muslim travellers. The food packets are prepared by us daily. The distressed relatives of patients or the travellers in buses or elsewhere are already in demanding situations. So, any small support raises their morale and brings them some comfort”, he said. 

Akram also solicits assistance from various Muslim groups through social media to lend a helping hand for his noble task. “Sehri particularly remains much in demand as finding the food post-midnight is really a major problem for the fasting people in hospitals or any passenger. So we prepare and distribute it by 3 am”, he added.

The menu of Sehri usually comprised chapatis, egg curry or bhurji, biryani and fruits. Similarly, iftar food contains dates, fruits, samosa, baked items and juices among others. Religious scholars have appreciated the service citing that the month of Ramadan is also about compassion for others, caring for the needy and sharing with empathy.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Good News / by Ejaz Kaiser / Express News Service / April 11th, 2023

Karnataka State shines in ’60th National Roller Skating Championships 2022 ′ -Winning 11 Medals – 6 Gold, 2 Silver and 3 Bronze.

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KARNATAKA :

The 60th National Roller Skating Championships 2022-23 was held at Bengaluru from December 11 to 22.

10 skaters from Hi-Flyers Skating Club had qualified for the Nationals. 4 skaters won 6 Golds, 2 silvers and 3 bronze.

In Individual Events :

Arpita Nishanth Shet gets 1 Gold and 1 Silver in Rink 500+D and Road 1 lap.


Muhammad Shamil Arshad gets 1 Gold and 1 Silver in Rink 500+D and Road 1 lap.


Dashiel Amanda Concessao gets 2 Bronzes in Dual TT and 500+D.


Moksha A Suvarna gets a Bronze in Road 1 lap..

In group events :

Shamil and Arpita grab the Gold in junior Mixed Relay.

Arpita and Dashiel also grab the Gold in the junior Girls Relay

These skaters were trained by coaches Mohandas K, Jayaraj and Ramanand of Hi-Flyers Skating Club.

source: http://www.daijiworld.com / Daijiworld.com / Home> Karnataka / by Media Release / December 20th, 2022

Youth makes it to national shooting championship after three-month training by father

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Bengaluru, KARNATAKA :

Mohammed Rayan Baig, an engineering graduate qualified for this national event as he won a gold medal in the (A-01) Small Bore Free Rifle Prone (NR) Championship 50M Men Individual event.]

Mohammed Rayan Baig with his father/trainer MN Baig
Mohammed Rayan Baig with his father/trainer MN Baig. (Photo | EPS)

Bengaluru:

Trained by his father in just three months, Mohammed Rayan Baig has made it big in a national-level shooting championship by bagging a gold medal.

Now, all eyes are set on the young engineering graduate, who will be representing the state in the All India shooting event, held by the National Rifle Association of India from the first week of November at Thiruvananthapuram.

Baig qualified for this national event as he won a gold medal in the (A-01) Small Bore Free Rifle Prone (NR) Championship 50M Men Individual event at the 31 All India GV Mavalankar Shooting Championship in Asansol at West Bengal in the second week of this month.

He secured 581 out of 600 points in the event.  

What is interesting is that Baig who resides in Frazer Town was trained by his father, MN Baig for three months to qualify for the event held in West Bengal.

His father is into agriculture and business and his mother, Shehnaz Baig is a housewife.

“My dad has been shooting for the last 7-8 years. In the 300 metres big bore competition, he has got a renowned shot certificate five times. I have been watching him, waiting for my studies to get over.”

“After I completed engineering, I started to practice at Karnataka State Rifle Association Range and simulation at home,” said Baig, who completed his B-Tech in Mechanical Engineering with 8th Rank with a Cumulative Grade Point Average of 9.04 out of 10) at PES University in the city this year.

“I dedicated myself to studies. Once I finished my engineering with a good rank, my next goal was to excel in shooting. I set my goal and got a gold medal in the All India GV Mavalankar Shooting Championship. If I set a goal, I want to achieve it. I have natural talent and was trained by my father and no professional coaching,” Baig told The New Indian Express.  
 
Sharing his views on shooting, he said “I can say that this sport requires a lot of dedication and concentration. But if one spends time practicing, honing their skills, refining their techniques, they can even reach the Olympics.”

“My next target is the event to be held from November 20 to December 6, 2022, at Tiruvananthapuram, where all big shooters will be participating,” he concludes. 

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Sports> Others / by Yathiraju, Express News Service / October 31st, 2022

Shotgun Shooting World C’ship: Muffadal Deesawala, Bhavtegh Gill win junior skeet mixed team bronze

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Hyderabad, INDIA /Osijek,CROATIA :

The Indian duo beat the American pair of Aidin Burns and Mikena Grace Fulton 5-1 in the second bronze medal match.

Muffadal Zahra Deesawala & Bhavtegh Singh Gill | ISSF YouTube

Muffadal Zahra Deesawala and Bhavtegh Singh Gill won India’s third medal of the International Shooting Sport Federation Shotgun World Championship in Osijek, Croatia. The duo picked up a bronze in the Skeet Mixed Team Junior event here at the Olympic Shooting Range ‘Pampas’ on Tuesday.

They beat the American pair of Aidin Burns and Mikena Grace Fulton 5-1 in the second bronze medal match. They were declared winners by Golden Hit after Bhavteg and Mufaddal shot seven out of eight targets in the last series, enough to ensure that the Americans cannot win the series after Burns missed one out of his four targets.

The first pair to six points usually wins the match but the Indians were up 5-1 already and a tied last series would have given the Indians the point needed to win.

Deesawala and Gill finished sixth in the qualifiers shooting a combined 132 out of 150 targets. Deesawala shot 62 out of 75 and Gill shot 72 out of 75 shots to secure the last position for the bronze medal matches.

The British pairing of Mitchell Brooker Smith and Sophie Herrmann won the Gold in the event beating Haolei Zhao and Dan Wang of China 6-4.

Areeba Khan, on Tuesday, had won India’s second medal of the World Championship after the Junior Men’s Trap Team had won a gold. 

Bhowneesh Mendiratta had also won a Paris Olympic quota, India’s first for the 2024 Games, earlier in the championship. He finished fourth in the event.

source: http://www.scroll.in / Scroll.in / Home> The Field> Shooting World Championships / by Scroll Staff / October 04th, 2022

Shotgun WC: India’s Areeba Khan wins silver in junior skeet

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Aligarh, UTTAR PRADESH:

Areeba Khan

Osijek (Croatia):

At the 2022 International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) Shotgun World Championship, which was held on Monday in Osijek, Croatia, Indian shooter Areeba Khan took home the silver medal in the individual women’s junior skeet event.

Areeba Khan hit 29 of her 40 shots in the final, missing her final attempt, while Sophie Herrmann of Great Britain scored 30 shots to win the gold.

Raveca-Maria Islai of Romania took home the bronze medal after striking 20 shots, while Muffaddal Zahra Deesawala of India placed fourth after hitting 12 targets.

After Shapath Bharadwaj, Shardul Vihan, and Arya Tyagi won gold in the junior trap men’s team competition, this is India’s second medal in the shotgun competition.

After a shoot-off, Areeba Khan came in third place in the qualifying round. She then won her ranking match to advance to the final.

The 19-year-old Indian shooter competed for India’s junior women’s skeet squad in 2021, which won a gold medal.

No Indian shooter qualified for the ranking matches in the junior men’s individual skeet later in the day.

In qualifying, Bhavtegh Singh Gill, Abhay Singh Sekhon, and Ritu Raj Bundela came in at positions 32, 33, and 36, respectively. The ranking matches are limited to the top eight competitors. 

source: http://www.awazthevoice.in / Awaz The Voice / Home> Sports / Ocotber 05th, 2022

Watch Mahboob Khan’s journey: A hidden gem in India’s combat sports

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Hyderabad, TELANGANA :

Hyderabad: 

Although known primarily for its food and culture, Hyderabad is fast emerging as a centre for Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). All over the country, those looking to make their mark in the sport make the city their home as the Hyderabad MMA Gym on Kali Khabar Road in Chaderghat churns out well-rounded, technically sound fighters. The man responsible for this, Head Coach Shaik Khalid, creates fighters adept at grappling and striking.

Among his earlier students is India’s first gold medallist in the sport, Mahboob Khan. Originally from Gulbarga, Karnataka, he moved to Hyderabad with his family at the age of 10. To help make ends meet, he began working from a very young age at an onion shop in Madannapet. His work ethic improved even further as helped provide for his family.

But a chance visit to Shaik Khalid’s gym would change his life as Khalid recognized that Mahboob incorporated the same discipline from his previous jobs into his training.

Seeing this potential, Khalid asked Mahboob to quit his job and paid for his daily expenses. The result has been a gold medal on the international stage and more than 10 within the country’s domestic scene. He hopes to also make a professional debut soon. Do check out Siasat.com’s mini-documentary about Khan’s journey.

source: http://www.siasat.com / The Siasat Daily / Home> News> Hyderabad / by Daneesh Majid / September 05th, 2022

Indian women’s hockey team wins bronze at CWG 2022

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JHARKHAND / INDIA :

Indian women's hockey team
Indian women’s hockey team

Salima Tete’s goal gave India the lead and they led 1-0 at halftime, paving the way for an entertaining second half.

Birmingham: 

The Indian women’s hockey team beat defending champions New Zealand 2-1 in a shootout to win the bronze medal and finish its campaign at the Commonwealth Games on a high note here on Sunday.

Leading 1-0, India conceded a penalty corner with less than 30 seconds to go for the final hooter, as the match went into a shootout after Olivia Merry’s equaliser.

India though held their nerves in the shootout to emerge winners.

Coming off their heartbreaking loss to Australia in a controversial semifinal, India showed the intent to wrap up their campaign with a win and earn a podium finish.

Salima Tete’s goal gave the Indian women’s hockey team the lead and they led 1-0 at halftime, paving the way for an entertaining second half.

Neha Goyal almost doubled the lead after the break, but good defending by New Zealand prevented the Indians from consolidating their position.

New Zealand has had to do a lot of defending and they’ve done quite well to remain disciplined until that Tete’s goal.

source: http://www.eastmojo.com / East Mojo / Home> News / by Press Trust of India / August 07th, 2022

Mairaj Ahmad Khan snatches skeet gold

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Khurja, Bulandshahar District, UTTAR PRADESH :

Mairaj Ahmad Khan wins a spectacular gold from nowhere in the Digvijay Singh shotgun championship in Delhi on Sunday. | Photo Credit: Kamesh Srinivasan

New Delhi:

Darshna Rathore had a chance to fight for gold but missed the last two birds and thus had to settle for the bronze.

Olympian and World Cup gold medallist Mairaj Ahmad Khan asserted his class yet again as he accelerated to a smart finish in grabbing the skeet gold in the Digvijay Singh shotgun championship at the Dr. Karni Singh Range, Tughlakabad, on Sunday.

The 46-year-old Mairaj beat Arjun Thakur 35-30 for the gold, as he missed only one bird in the medal round. He had qualified on top in the semifinal with 27 hits, after having made the final with a modest score of 115, six point behind qualification topper Gurjoat Khangura.

‘’Final and semifinal are great. I am going to work only on qualification for the next three months’’, said Mairaj, understandably happy about the way he had competed despite not being at his best.

It was a similar case during the last World Cup in Changwon, when Mairaj had to win a shoot off with four others after being tied on 119 for the last two berths, before racing to the gold.

Anantjeet Singh Naruka who had shot 120 in qualification lost the shoot off against Amrinder Singh Cheema for a berth in the medal round.

Raiza Dhillon won both the women’s and junior skeet gold medals. | Photo Credit: Kamesh Srinivasan

It was Raiza Dhillon all the way as she won both the women’s and junior gold. Raiza beat qualification topper Ganemat Sekhon 36-35 for the women’s gold, and beat Parinaaz Dhaliwal 33-32 for the junior gold.

Darshna Rathore had a chance to fight for gold but missed the last two birds and thus had to settle for the bronze.

The results:

Skeet: Men: 1. Mairaj Ahamed Khan 35 (27) 115; 2. Arjun Thakur 30 (27) 119; 3. Gurjoat Khangura 24 (29) 121; 4. Amrinder Singh Cheema 15 (24) 113.

Juniors: 1. Harmehar Singh Lally 28 (25) 112; 2. Bhavtegh Singh Gill 23 (25) 113; 3. Rajveer Singh Gill 19 (26) 112; 4. Abhay Singh Sekhon 14 (26) 116.

Women: 1. Raiza Dhillon 36 (25) 113; 2. Ganemat Sekhon 35 (27) 118; 3. Darshna Rathore 26 (22) 109; 4. Zahra Mufaddal Deesawala 11 (21) 112.

Juniors: 1. Raiza Dhillon 33 (23) 113; 2. Parinaaz Dhaliwal 32 (23) 109; 3. Darshna Rathore 24 (28) 109; 4. Sanjana Sood 14 (26) 113.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Sport / by The Hindu Bureau / New Delhi, August 01st, 2022