SPORTS IMPHAL FRIDAY 10 OCTOBER 2014 TRUGPU down MPSC, NEROCA lose to USA JNV Sports Meet kick starts By Our Sports Repoorter IMPHAL, Oct 9 : The Tiddim Road Unique Gammy Players Union (TRUGPU), Nambol edged past Manipur Police Sports Club (MPSC) by a margin of 4 goals to three while North Eastern Re-Organising And Cultural Association (NEROCA) lost to United Sports Association (USA), Khurai by 1-3 today in the ongoing 9th Manipur State League organised by All Manipur Football Association (AMFA) under the sponsorship of MLA Khumukcham Joykishan Singh at Mapal Kangjeibung, Imphal. In a thrilling match beMPSC (yellow) battle for the ball against TRUGPU MATCH RESULT MPSC 3 TRUGPU 4 NEROCA 1 USA 3 Today's Match on 10.10.2014 at 12.30pm SSU VS FCK at 2.30pm ZFC vs AIM tween TRUGPU and the po- the police team did not loosen unmarked Ksh Kanta who lice team, Th Kiran of MPSC their game and after a series had no problem in slotting the struck the opening goal in the of attacks the ball went to an ball home barely one minute 20th minute of after the equalthe match after iser from LEAGUE TABLE AFTER 9th ROUND the ball TRUGPU. P W D L G/F G/A G/D Pts bounded off Team On the 9 6 2 1 22 16 +06 20 T R U G P U ' s SSU other side, the goalkeeper W NEROCA 9 TRUGPU 5 1 3 20 13 +07 16 Suraj. team with one USA 9 4 3 2 12 06 +06 15 T R U G P U MPSC goal down, 9 3 5 1 11 08 +03 14 then went on changed their 9 4 2 3 12 07 +05 14 the offensive AIM game plan and 4 2 3 15 13 +02 14 and L Ratan TRUGPU 9 went out in the 9 4 2 3 12 14 -02 14 attack repeatdid well to TRAU 9 4 1 4 15 12 +03 13 claim the equal- ` ZFC edly raiding the citadel of iser through a NISA 9 3 2 4 11 13 -02 11 the police p o w e r f u l KLASA 9 2 1 6 06 16 -10 07 header in the NACO team. Off such 9 1 3 5 06 15 -09 06 an attack, L 22nd minute. FCK 9 1 2 6 05 13 -08 05 Ratan received However, a well directed pass and managed to score his second and the team's equalizing goal in the 39th minute. Tied with two goals each in the first half, TRUGPU continued with the offensive and L Deepak scored a brace in the 69th and 82nd minute Mary Kom, Sarita Devi to skip Natls of the match to help his team take a comfortable 4-2 lead. Down by two goals, the MPSC team fought back hard and managed to reduce the margin when K Priyokumar found the net to bring his team back into the match at 43. The third goal however came too late as the final whistle went off soon. In the second match of the day, Md Aasif of USA opened his side's account in the 26th minute of the match. After break, NEROCA's Th Ronald scored the equaliser in the 66th minute to tie the score at 1-1. Minutes later, a sharp header from USA's Ch Risk helped his side take a 2-1 lead. The NEROCA side fought back to find the equaliser but all their attempts were thwarted by the USA defenders. Against the run of play, Md Asif of USA rammed home his second goal in the 83rd minute of the match to register a convincing 3-1 win. NEUFC crush Assam XI 9-0 GUWAHATI, Oct 9 : NorthEast United FC geared up for the inaugural Indian Super League with a 9-0 rout of Assam XI in a practice match at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium here today. David Ngaihte gave the lead followed by Sergio Koke who doubled the lead before Allen Deory scored a terrific hat-trick to send NEUFC 5-0 up. Seimeinlen Doungel increased the lead to 6-0, Luis Padilla bagged a brace to make it 8-0 before Do DongHyun scored the final goal to complete the rout for the John Abraham co-owned franchise. CM O Ibobi (C) and other dignitaries attending the inaugural function of JNV Sports Meet By Our Sports Reporter IMPHAL, Oct 9 : Chief Minister Okram Ibobi today inaugurated the 25th Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti National Football Championship and the 17th Navodaya Vidyalaya National Samiti National Archery Meet 2014 at Khuman Lampak indoor hall. Both the meets were jointly organised by the Regional Office, Shillong and Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Khumbong under the aegis of Ministry of Human Resource Department of School Education and Literacy, Government of India. The inauguration function was attended by Chief Minister O Ibobi as the chief guest and Deputy Commissioner NVS Regional Office, Shillong, Dr NS Reddi as the president. Youth Affairs and Sports and Tourism Parliamentary Secretary M Prithviraj and Vidyalaya Management Committee Chairman and State Revenue Department Secretary K Radhakumar also attended the function as guests of honour. Ibobi unfurled the JNV flag and took salutes of the participating contingents of JNV students coming from different parts of the country. Delivering a speech, O Ibobi said that lots of future leaders and promising sportspersons of the country are studying in different JNV schools. The objective of setting up JNV schools is to provide quality education to needy families in rural areas and opportunities for faster all round development to enable them to compete with their urban counterparts. He also said that JNV schools have been providing ample opportunities to the students for self development and creative expression through games and sports and National level inter JNV sports meets. He further said that games and sports constitute an inalienable part in modern education as the state of people’s health can be measured by the performance in games and sports. As such, all efforts are being made in different coun- tries to groom their prospective and talented youth by giving all the opportunities, incentives to enable them to represent their countries at the international level, he added. He said that Manipur has produced many champion sportspersons although it is a tiny State. In the recently concluded Incheon Asian Games, State sportpersons won three gold medals and four bronze medals bringing laurels to the State and country, he added. Many other athletes from the State also participated in the said Games and the State is proud of them, Ibobi said. He also said that all the participants of JNV sports meet would enjoy good hospitality and support from the sports loving people of Manipur. He also appealed them to serve as ambassadors of Manipur in spreading the beauty and goodness of the people to other parts of the county. Apart from the release of a souvenir, the function also witnessed presentation of cultural dance and music by the students. Djokovic, Federer enter QFs in Shanghai Masters SHANGHAI, Oct 9 File: Mary Kom and Laishram Sarita Devi JAIPUR: Oct 9 (Agencies) When the senior national women’s boxing championship begins on Saturday, after a gap of almost two-and-a-half years, the star quotient will be missing. With the World Championships lined up next month, MC Mary Kom and L Sarita Devi have decided to skip the tournament. Gold medalist at the recently concluded Asian Games, Mary has decided to rest a minor arm injury, while Sarita wants to spend time with family before getting busy for the World meet. The Manipur Amateur Boxing Association had sent the entries of both Sarita and Mary for the event to be held in Raipur, the two star boxers decided to stay away. “Mary is nursing a right arm injury, and it’s not possible for her to participate in the nationals. We have already named her substitute,” Mary’s husband Onlar, who will be travelling with the Manipur team to Raipur, told the news agencies on Wednesday. Even Sarita, who courted controversy by refusing to accept her bronze medal at the Asian Games, feels this rest is necessary ahead of the World meet in South Korea. “I wanted to participate initially but am not completely fit now,” Sarita explained. Asian Games participant Pooja Rani is also doubtful for the meet. Meanwhile, ahead of their first national meet, the newly elected Boxing India (BI) is in a spot over the selection of the match officials. The federation is yet to form a core group of referees and judges as all of them are still registered under the now unrecognized Indian Amateur Boxing Federation (IABF). “It’s just a stop-gap arrangement. We have invited all the match officials for the Nationals. Once we get permanent membership (from the world body, AIBA), we will start the process of selecting the core group,” BI secretary general Jay Kowli said. Caught in a tussle between AIBA and IABF, boxing activities had come to a standstill in the country but with 32 units set to participate at the Nationals now, the pugilists are hoping to make every opportunity count. Two-time defending champion Novak Djokovic avoided being the latest seed to lose at the upset-hit Shanghai Masters, rallying to defeat No. 85ranked Mikhail Kukushkin 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in the third round Thursday. Roger Federer also advanced to the quarterfinals with a routine 6-4, 6-2 win over Roberto Bautista Agut, a night after he saved five match points and escaped with a three-set win in the second round. Djokovic extended his 27match winning streak in China, but it wasn’t easy against the speedy Kukushkin, who kept the topranked Serb running with powerful forehands that repeatedly caught the lines and impressive defense to extend lengthy rallies. Serving at 4-5 in the second set, a frustrated Djokovic even lashed out at the chair umpire after receiving a time violation as he caught his breath between serves. After dropping that service game to lose the set, the seven-time major winner got the early break in the third and held on for the win. It was the first set he’s lost in seven matches this year in China, including five at last week’s China Open. Kukushkin, a Russianborn Kazakh player who entered the match with a 1-15 record against top-10 players, had 35 winners to 27 for Djokovic. Federer avoided the dramatics of his opening match over Leonardo Mayer of Argentina, which he finally won 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (7) after coming back from a 5-2 deficit in the third-set tiebreaker. Federer, who will overtake Rafael Nadal at No. 2 in the rankings next week, played a much cleaner match against Bautista Agut, hitting 33 winners to just 21 unforced errors. He had 57 unforced errors against Mayer. The biggest problem after Wednesday’s match was the recovery. The match ended at 12:30 a.m. local time and he didn’t get to sleep until four hours later. Djokovic will next face David Ferrer, who boosted Novak Djokovic returns a shot against Mikhail Kukushkin his chances of qualifying for the ATP finals with a 2-6, 61, 6-2 win over Andy Murray. Both Murray and Ferrer are fighting to claim one of the remaining spots in the eight-man tournament next month in London. With the win, Ferrer will now pass Murray into ninth place in the standings, just behind Milos Raonic in eighth. Murray had played far more tennis than the fresher Ferrer in recent weeks, winning a title in Shenzhen and making the semifinals of the China Open. The Spaniard, meanwhile, was coming off two straight opening-round losses. Murray will now try to build on his momentum over the rest of the season to make a push for London. Besides last year when he was recovering from back surgery, Murray has played in the season-ending championships every year since 2008. Sixth-seeded Tomas Berdych also reached the quarterfinals, beating Ivo Karlovic 6-3, 6-4. The Czech player is the only seed remaining on the bottom half of the draw after Nadal, Stan Wawrinka, Marin Cilic, Milos Raonic and Ernests Gulbis were all knocked out. No. 13-seeded John Isner also lost Thursday to Spaniard Feliciano Lopez, 6-3, 6-4. Berdych will next face Gilles Simon of France in the quarterfinals, while Lopez takes on Russian Mikhail Youzhny. Federer plays French veteran Julien Benneteau, who defeated Jack Sock of the United States, 6-3, 6-4. –– AP Things will fall into place slowly says Gouramangi MUMBAI, Oct 9 Indian defender Gouramangi Singh is confident that the mix of top foreign players and their lesser-known Indian counterparts would gel well gradually to make Chennaiyin FC a force to reckon with in the Indian Super League starting on Sunday. “It’s a month now that we have been training together. Earlier there were 3foreigners in a team (Ieague), now there are larger numbers. I would say the quality of training or intensity is much File: higher,” said the 28year-old central defender in Mumbai on Thursday. “But we are just training now and the real thing will start on the 12th. Things will fall into place slowly. Let’s see how things go in the first couple of games.” Gouramangi said he was not really thinking about whether he can be in the starting XI in a line-up that has some top defeders such as World Cup-winning Italian great Marco Materazzi, who is the team’s player-manager, and ex-Paris Saint Germain stalwart Bernard Mendy to do the job. “I don’t think about getting into the starting XI. Moirangthem Gouramangi Singh Everyone is pushing hard. Let’s see on (October) 15th who plays,” said the defender from Imphal. He was referring to Chennayin’s opening league clash against FC Goa in the latter’s backyard — Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium at Fatorda. Gourmangi said though more time would have been better in preparing the team, no one was complaining. “I would love to have had 2-3 months training before the tournament but it’s not the case. We can’t be complaining about it,” he said. –– Agencies Owned and published by Sapam Nishikanta Singh at Sega Road Thouda Bhabok Leikai, Imphal (Manipur) Pin-795001 & Printed by him at Sangai Offset Printers, Sega Rd, Thouda Bhabok Leikai, Imphal (Manipur) Pin-795001; Edited by Hijam Rajesh Tel: 9206040924, 9206345908 RNI No. 72025/99.