Category Archives: Sports

India’s First Female Judoka Olympian Athlete . July 2002 .

Lourembam Brojeshori Devi, aged 19 was the first and only female judoka in the Indian Olympic contingent who participated in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games in the Judo event ‘ Women’s Half-lightweight ‘.

Brojeshori Devi at 19 was a National champion . She  participated in 20 international and 16 national judo championships. Took part in the 2002 Busan Asian Games, the Commonwealth Games 2002 (Manchester) and in 2006 (Melbourne). This judoka won 2 Gold medals in SAF Games in 2006 and 2010. She won a Silver medal at the Vietnam International Judo tournament at Ho Chi Min city. Also represented India in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing (China).

Brojeshori Devi was coached by Deven Moirangthem from Imphal (Manipur)for the period 1995-1988.

L. Brojeshori Devi born January 01st,1981 hails from Imphal, Manipur. She is the 3rd child amongst 5 children born to Lourembam Manglem and Taruni L. of Khagempalli, Huidrom Leikai. She was married to Th Rojen of Tabungkhok Mayai Leikai.

Brojeshori joined the CRPF in 1999 and worked as ‘Inspector’ of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). She was undergoing training in July 2013 at the CRPF Training Centre in Coimbatore on a Departmental training programme to become ‘Assistant Commandant’ when she became unwell.

She expired prematurely at 10.45pm, July 21st,2013 – aged 32,  at G.K. Hospital, Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu where she was rushed for health related treatment. Lourembam Brojeshori Devi’s last rites were carried out by her husband Rojen Singh in Tabukhok Mayailekai near Imphal.

First differently-abled Indian Athlete to win Gold at IPC Athletics World Championship, France . July 2013 .

Devendra Jhajhaira scripted history and became the first differently-abled Indian to win Gold as he bagged the first position in the Javelin event at the 6th IPC Athletics World Championship held at the Rhone Stadium in Venissieux near Lyons, France on Monday – July 22nd, 2013.

Jhajhaira also created the record of the event in France by hurling the Javelin to 57.04m in the F-46 category meant for one-armed athletes. He led the 11-athlete field from the very beginning.

India was represented by a 10-member contingent in this July 19-28 Championship. The Paralympics Committee of India (PCI) President, Sultan Ahmed congratulated Devendra Jhajhaira and the PCI announced an award of 5 lakhs.

The 2013 6th edition IPC Athletics World Championship featured over a 1000 athletes from 100 countries and is the biggest gathering of internationally disabled athletes since the 2012 London Olympics.

Devendra Jhajhaira, 32 year old, who lost his left hand in an accident is the son of a farmer Ram Singh hailing from the desert terrain Churu district of Rajasthan, the gateway to the Thar desert. He is a class IV employee of the Indian Railways and is thankful to the Railyways who allowed him to practice and train throughout the year.

It was in 1997, that Jhajhaira was spotted by his coach Ripudaman Singh Aulak, a Dronacharya Awardee in Javelin. He shifted to the nearby town of Kasab for better training facilities. Soon he was training at the National Institute of Sports (NIS), Patiala (Punjab).

Devendra Jhajhaira is the (1) 2nd gold medallist at the Paralympics after Murlikant Petkar (2) At Athens (Greece) he created a new world recored of 62.15m throw (3) He won a Gold medal at the 8th FESPIC Games in Korea.

Following his spectacular performance in the 2004 Paralympics Games, Jhajhaira was conferred the ‘ Arjuna Award ‘ in 2005. He is also the first Paralympian* to be awarded the ‘Padma Shree’ in March 2012. (* Paralympian…. Paralympic sports person).

India’s First and Only Indian Male Athlete to win Individual Gold in the Commonwealth Games. 1958 .

Milkha Singh the legendary hero is Independent India’s first and only* male athlete to win an Individual gold medal in Athletics Track event at the ‘ 1958 Commonwealth Games ‘ (*as on July 2013) where he won the 400 yards at Cardiff by defeating the favourite Malcolm Fence.

A true champion, a real life hero, a graceful runner Milkha Singh was born in a country, and won medals against all odds in a country that had savoured independence for just 11 years, and where there was no support from any quarter, where facilities were few, contending for medals was then a romantic pursuit.

Milkha Singh a story of guts and glory. A former track and field sprinter was born in Muzaffargah district in Kot Addu tehsil, British India (currently Pakistan) on October 08th, 1935. A village about 10 Km from the city. He was orphaned during partition of India, when his parents, a brother and some sisters died tragically. At the age of 15 in 1947 he moved to Delhi where he lived with his sister Iswar Kaur. Amongst a string of adversities he faced, his temporary home for a month was a platform on Delhi’s railyway station.

In 1951 he joined the Indian Army and while stationed at the Electrical Mechanical Engineering Centre in Secuderabad was introduced to Athletics. The Brigade Meet in Secuderabad was Milkha’s first exposure to a competitive environment where he ran in front of 8,000-10,000 spectators.

Milkha Singh represented India in the 400m competition of the  1956 Melbourne Olympics. It was here that he got the opportunity of travelling by air for the first time in his life during the Melbourne Olympics. In 1958 he set the recrods for the 200m and 400m in the National Games of India held in Cuttack. He represented India in the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome and came 4th. In the 4th Asiad – 1962 Asian Games held in Jakarta (Indonesia) he won the gold in the 400m and in the 400 x 4 relay as well.

Awarded ‘Padma Shri’ India’s 4th highest civilian award in recognition of his sporting achievements.

‘ Flying Sikh ‘ : in 1962 he got the epithet ‘Flying Sikh’ from (then Pakistan President )General Ayub Khan, after defeating Abdul Khaliq, Pakistan’s fastest runner. When he gave away the medals, he whispered to me in Punjabi ” you did’nt run today, you flew ‘. Since then the name crowned and stuck to him ‘ Milkha Singh – The Flying Sikh ‘.

In 1962 Milkha Singh became the Director of Sports in the Punjab Ministry of Education. He retired in 1991 as Director of Sports & Youth Programme , Punjab Government. Married to Nirmal Kaur, a former Captain of the Indian Women’s Volleyball team. They have 3 daughters and one son – Jeev Milkha Singh, Professional Golfer and India’s first Golfer to join the 1988 European Tour. In 1999, they also adopted the 7-year old son of Havildar Bikram Singh, who had died in the Battle of Tiger Hill. He currently lives in Chandigarh and the family run a Trust established in 2003- Milkha Singh Charitable Trust, Chandigarh to help the poor and needy sports persons and their families.

Donated his sporting treasures :

Milkha Singh who in total won 77 of his 80 races, has donated his medals to the nation. They were displayed at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi. Subsequently they were moved later to a sports museum in Patiala.

Books: (1) Autobiography: The Race of My Life : an Autobiography by Milkha Singh and co-authored by his daughter Sonia Sanwalka – Published by Rupa Publcation.

(2) Film : ‘ Bhaag Milkha Bhaag ‘ (English: Run Milkha Run) a biographical film on Milkha Singh, released nationally in India and worldwide as well on Friday, July 13th, 2013. Produced and directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, script by Prasoon Joshi. Milkha Singh’s role played by actor Farhan Akhtar.

(3) website http://www.milkhasingh.co.in/biography.htm

First Kashmiri cricketer to be selected for the National India ‘A’ team cricket squad. July 2013 .

Parvez Ghulam Rasool Zargar (Parvez Rasool)scripted history and became the first cricketer from the state of J & K to be selected for the National India ‘A’ Team.

Parvez Rasool was named by the selectors on Friday, July 05th, 2013 for the 5 match ODI series, Zimbabwe tour beginning July 24th .

A technically accompolished cricketer he made his first-class debut for J & K in the 2008-09 season.  Parvez Rasool is a middle-order batsman who also bowls classical off-spin, and has been a trail blazer right through his career. Earlier on this year he was chosen to play the IPL for the Pune Warriors. He played for the ‘Board President’s XI’ and was a standout performer for J & K in the 2012-13 Ranji trophy, ending the season as its top scorer and highest wicket taker. Parvez has taken 46 wickets in 17 first class matches and scored 1003 runs at an impressive average of 30.57 runs.

Rasool said “without the guidance of former Indian Captain Bishen Singh Bedi, his dream would not have been possible”. He also thanked his childhood coaches Abdul Qayoom Bugoo and Rajesh Dhar for his success.

Parvez Rasool – This poster boy of Kashmir cricket, belonging to a second-generation cricket playing family, was born on February 13th, 1989. A son of a humble shop keeper, as a kid he often played cricket on the deserted streets of Bijbehara, a a small town in South Kashmir. Cricket runs in the family which hails from Anantnag district. His father Ghulam Rasool Zargar loves the game and played for the local club whilst his brother Asif represented J&K in domestic T20 championship.

India’s First Gold at the 20th Asian Athletics Championship . July 2013 .

Vikas Shive Gowda (Vikas Gowda) discuss thrower clinched the first gold for India on July 04th the eve of his birthday, amidst much celebration as the crowd listened to the National Anthem being played for the first time in the championship.

He threw the iron disc to a creditable 64.90m in his 4th attempt to win his first gold of the Asian Championship in his 5th appearance. Vikas Gowda had earlier won a silver each in the 2005 and 2011 editions. He holds the national record of 66.28m whilst his season’s best is 65.82m .

Amongst much celebration the home team won 3 medals on the second day at the 20th Asian Athletics Championship held at the Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex in Balewadi, Pune, State of Maharashtra, India . As the championship concluded on Sunday, India had acquired a total haul of 17 medals. The tally of 9 for the men and 8 for the womens’ events, making it the first time in the last 5 Asian Championships that Indian men had won more medals than women. The total of 17 medals was India’s best since the 1989 edition in New Delhi.

The 29-year old athlete born on July 05th 1983, in Mysore,Karnataka is an ace discuss thrower and shot putter who trains in the US. He grew up in Frederick, Maryland in the US. His father Shive Gowda coached the 1988 Indian Olympic track team.

Vikas Gowda is an alumnus of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He is the US MCAA National Champion 2006 in Discuss.

Vikas Gowda : Records : (2005) came 2nd in the 2005 Asian championships held in Incheon, Korea / (2010) came 3rd in the 2010 Asian Games held in Guangzhou, China / (2010) came 2nd in the 2010 Commonwealth Games held in New Delhi, India / (2011) came 2nd in the 2011 Asian Championship held in Kobe, Japan / (2013) 1st position, won Gold at the 20th Asian Championship held in Pune, India .

India’s first Indoor Roller Coaster . June 2013 .

Called ‘Deep Space’ the country’s first Dark Roller Coaster which also means that it is an Indoor Roller Coaster, was launched by the 26-year old Bollywood actor Anil Dhawan . The rides go completely upside down indoors upto a speed of 86 km/hour

‘Deep Space’ venue is at ADLABS Imagica in Khipoli on the Pune-Mumbai expressway, the Theme based amusement park outside Mumbai city.

The first Indian to participate in the ‘ Lamborghini Super Trofeo ‘ International motor racing series . May 2013 .

Amir Beg, an Indian racing enthusiast is all-set to make his debut, as the first Indian to participate in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo series, Season II. The series also marks India’s debut in the championship.

The Lamborghini race is considered to be the fastest one-design series in the world (where all the vehicles are of the same make and same specifications). The participating race cars in the series are Lamborghini Gallardo 570-4 Super Trofeo. Interestingly this event also coincides with the 50 year celebration of the Italian mega brand Lamborghini. The legendary car manufacturer has decided to support Amir Beg.

Born in hyderabad, on May 01st, 1981  Amir Beg did his schooling at a boarding school in Bangalore. He then headed off to the University of Western Ontario in Canada for higher studies.

NBA’s first India-born majority owner. May 2013 .

Vivek Ranadive became NBA’s (National Basketball Association) first India-born majority owner of ‘Sacramento King’. NBA Board of Governors unanimously approved the sale of Sacramento Kings on Tuesday, May 28th, 2013.

Vivek Ranadive a minority owner with the Warriors joined a team led by health-club financier Mark Mastrov and billionaire Ron Burkle to bid for the Kings to help keep them in Sacramento. Ranadive emerged as the leader, which also included the Jacobs family from San Diego, another Indian-born businessman Raj Bhathal and Australian Silicon Valley entrepreneur Katrina Garnett. The Investment Group led by Ranadive succeeded in competing and beating the $406 million bid led by Steve Ballmer ,Microsoft Chief Executive Officer. The deal was concluded from the team’s existing majority owner since 1999 – the Maloof family of Las Vegas Hotel fame. A new stadium is part of Ranadive’s package. Sacramento City Council now has a public-private deal in place to build a new 18,500 seat arena and retail centre downtown.

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, a former NBA and Cal Berkeley star says of Ranadive ” He’s a visionary. He understands technology and startups, he’s built businesses “.

Vivek Ranadive was born in Juhu October 07th, 1957. With $50 in his pocket he left Bombay bound for the U.S. at the age of 17. He went on to complete his Bachelors and Masters degree in Electrical Engineering at MIT. Subsequently pursued an MBA at Harvard University in 1983 where he was a Baker Scholar.

Ranadive a slight and unassuming man, worked his way turning his enterprises as Founder and CEO of a multi-billion dollar real-time computing company of Palo Alto’s TIBCO Software.He is a Tae Kwon Do Black Belt and a sports buff. Ranadive has 3 children.

Awards: 1)2002: Info World’s 2002 Top Ten Technology Innovators (2) 2002: Ernst & Young Software Entrepreneur of the Year (3)2005: Wharton Infosys Business Transformation Award (WIBTA): North America Technology Change Agent Award (4) 2008: South Asian CEO of the Year – by the South Asian MBA Association (SAMBAA)

Books: Vivek Ranadive has authored the following books. (1) ‘The Power of Now’- 1990 ( a New York Times best seller) (2) ‘The Power to Predict’- 2006 (International best seller and was profiled in Forbes, Harvard Business School and the Wall Street Journal’s – Smart Money (3) ‘The Two Second Advantage – How We Succeed by Anticipating the Future Just Enough’ – 2011 (the book was New York Times, Wall Street Journal and USA Today best seller).

 

Sacramento, is the capital of State of California, USA.

First Asian player to win the Junior Wimbledon’s Boys singles title. 1954 .

Ramanathan Krishnan was the first Indian and the first Asian tennis player to win the boy’s singles title at Wimbledon Championship 1954, beating Ashley Cooper in the finals.

On the playing court Krishnan was a magician, off it, a thorough gentleman. His playing style was known as ‘touch tennis’. Lance Tingay of The Daily Telegraph described his tennis as “pure oriental charm”. Robert Philip wrote that “each and every Krishnan rally was a thing of rare beauty”. Krishnan was a peerless symbol of a sportsman exuding simplicity that contrasted beautifully with the majesty of his play. Krishnan a prodigy, went on to become the top Indian player of the era. The Kri8shnan saga symbolised a glittering phase in the beginnings of the Indian tennis history.

He has the unique honour of having breakfast with the then Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in London. A telegram breakfast invitation that he received at his hotel,the day he won the match aginst Jaroslav Drobny in London in 1956.

Singles: In singles his records includes victories against Czech Jaroslav Drobny and Australian legends Rod Laver and Roy Emerson.

Davis Cup: Krishnan made his debut in the Davis Cup at the age of 16 against Belgium in Perth .In the Doubles final against Australia, Ramanathan Krishnan and Jaideep Mukerjea won the doubles rubber against John Newcombe and Tony Roche. Krishnan was a key member of the Indian team which reached the Davis Cup final for the first time in 1966.

National: Krishnan won the Indian national title for eight years consecutively.

Awards: Awarded the Arjuna Award in 1961, the Padma Shri Award in 1962 and the Padma Bhushan Award in 1967.

Book: ‘A touch of Tennis: The story of a tennis family ‘. Krishnan has written a book alongwith his son Ramesh Krishnan and Nirmal Shekar. The book covers 3 generations of tennis-playing Krishnans published by Penguin Books India.

T K Ramanathan his father introduced the 10 year old Krishnan to the game at the Talkatora club in New Delhi. T K Ramanathan was rated third amongst the Indian tennis players in the 1930’s. T K Ramanathan hailed from Tenkasi in Tamil Nadu. The family subsequently moved to Chennai(Madras) to keep up with the frequent travel required for Krishnan to participate in all the tournaments nationally and internationally.

Krishnan’s son Ramesh Krishnan emulated his fathers feat by winning the Wimbledon Junior title and went on to become a leading Indian tennis player of the 1980’s.

Krishnan lives in Chennai where alongwith his son Ramesh they run the ‘Krishnan Tennis Centre’. The Centre has 11 courts and have all been sponsored by the top stars each one named after them. He also manages a gas distribution agency.

First Indian amputee girl scales world’s highest peak Mount Everest on prosthetic leg. May 2013 .

Arunima ‘Sonu’ Sinha became the first Indian amputee to scale Mount Everest. This Indian girl surprised all with her exceedingly rare achievement of scaling the summit on a prosthetic leg.

History was created when 25 year old Arunima Sinha reached the 8,848 metre-high summit, of the world’s highest peak. She left the high camp at 6pm on Monday evening and arrived at the summit at 10.55am on May 21st, 2013 (Tuesday).

Arunima Sinha, a resident of Ambedkar Nagar in Uttar Pradesh (about 200 km from Lucknow) was a part of the 6 member Indian team ‘Eco Everest expedition’ from the Tata Group . Led by India’s former Border Security Force (BSF) staffer Love Raj Singh and accompanied by 9 sherpas on their successful ascent of the summit.

The former national level player, had lost her right leg, in an accident after being thrown off a moving train. Subsequently she joined Tata Steel Adventure Foundation (TSAF) camp in Uttarakashi last year, where she was trained by Bachendra Pal, the first Indian woman to conquer Mount Everest.

Dr.Manmohan Singh, The Prime Minister of India conveyed his congratulations and added “Arunima’s achievement is an example not only to society at large, but also to women everywhere. This young woman looked adversity in the eye and when all seemed lost, decided to make something of her life in the most spectacular fashion possible.”

Arunima’s achievement coincides with the 60th anniversary of Edmund Hilary and Tenzing Norgay’s feat on May 20th, 1953