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Confident Vidya hopes to go the distance at 6-red Worlds

September 28, 2013

VidyaBangalore, Sep 28: Having completed a rare double when she annexed the National 6-red snooker championship two days ago at Lucknow, the seasoned Vidya Pillai exuded confidence on her chances at the World 6-red Snooker Championship, due to kick off in Carlow, Ireland, on September 29.

Vidya, who took a sabbatical from the circuit to embrace motherhood before returning in stunning fashion this January in Gwalior when she lifted her seventh national 15-red snooker title with very little practice. She showed hunger for more glory, while beating Neena Praveen for the 6-red title as well in Lucknow on Wednesday.

Now, the 36-year-old, struggling to manage time between her love for the green baize and son Surya, leaves to Carlow where the women’s 6-red worlds is being staged for the first time with greater determination.

“Just like the 15-red event, I went to the 6-red with very little practice,” said Vidya. “Every title I win now is a bonus because I don’t practice as hard as I would’ve in my prime. Such victories give you a lot of confidence.

“The worlds is going to be a unique experience. This is the first time women will be involved in the 6-red format and I guess the shortness of it makes for some interesting games. I’m feeling very confident and I hope to go the distance.”

Apart from competing for individual honours, Vidya will also be teaming up young Arantxa Sanchis in the team event. Bangalore’s Chitra Magimairaj and Varsha Sanjeev will form the second team and will also be taking part in the individual championship.

“I honestly think we have a good chance. Chitra and I are there for experience while Varsha and Arantxa are extremely talented. Hope we are able to maintain the intensity.”

Besides Vidya, Chitra will be one of the cueists to watch out for after having won a 6-red snooker bronze medal early this year at the Asian Indoor Games in Incheon, Korea. “I am extremely disappointed with my Nationals show and I’m determined to make amends,” said Chitra who lost in the quarterfinals of the Nationals.

“I’m generally good at international events and I’m looking forward to it. I’ve been practicing hard in the last few months and I hope to make the country proud yet again,” added Chitra.

The Indian contingent, including the men, left for Ireland in the wee hours of Saturday.

The squad: Men: Individual championship: Shivam Arora, Laxman?Rawat, Brijesh Damani, Manan Chandra, Shahbaaz Adil Khan.

Team: Manan Chandra/ Brijesh Damani; Shanbaaz Adil Khan/ Shivam Arora.

Women: Individual championship: Chitra Magimairaj, Vidya Pillai, Arantxa Sanchis, Varsha Sanjeev.

Team: Arantxa Sanchis/?Vidya Pillai; Chitra Magimairaj/ Varsha Sanjeev.

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Agencies
August 1,2020

Colombo, Aug 1: Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan has expressed his interest in playing the inaugural edition of the Lanka Premier League (LPL), scheduled to start from August 28.

Pathan is among 70 foreign players to have shown interest in playing the LPL, ESPNcricinfo reported.

It is believed that Pathan has taken permission from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to take part in the competition. 

BCCI doesn't allow active players to participate in other T20 leagues but Pathan announced his retirement in January this year.

Former swashbuckling all-rounder Yuvraj Singh also played in a foreign league last year. He played for Maratha Arabians in the T10 League in Abu Dhabi.

According to ESPNcricinfo, Pathan will now be put in a player draft unless one of the five franchises choose him to be a marquee player. The details of the draft, and the franchise owners, are yet to be finalised and announced. 

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) is also waiting on some government clearances even as it decides on franchise owners. The five franchises will represent Colombo, Kandy, Galle, Dambulla and Jaffna.

On Monday, SLC Executive Committee granted approval for the tournament.

"The 23 match League will be played on the four international venues of R Premadasa International Cricket Stadium, Rangiri Dambulu International Cricket Stadium, Pallekele International Cricket Stadium and Suriyawewa Mahinda Rajapakse International Cricket Stadium. Five teams named after the cities of Colombo, Kandy, Galle, Dambulla and Jaffna will participate in the League," SLC said in a statement on Monday.

Sri Lanka has controlled the spread of COVID-19 better than many other cricket-playing nations.

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News Network
May 11,2020

Karachi, May 11: Pakistan might play more Test matches during their tour of England if it goes ahead as scheduled in July after the West Indies pulled out of an assignment there in June owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Pakistan Cricket Board and the England and Wales Cricket Board officials are due to have a video conference on May 18 to discuss how they should proceed with the tour given the situation because of the pandemic.

"At present we have to play three Tests and three T20 internationals but the number of Tests could be increased and the tour could start a bit early in July," a PCB source said.

The source said that the ECB could offer to organise a four or five Test series against Pakistan if the West Indies tour didn’t go ahead.

Issues that are likely to be discussed in the May 18 meet are a quarantine period for Pakistani players when they arrive in England in July and limiting the venues for the matches and playing before empty stadiums.

PCB CEO Wasim Khan confirmed the video conference but said so far, the ECB has not spoken to them on increasing the number of matches on the tour which is scheduled between July and September.

"Things will be clear after the meeting but whatever decision we take we will consult our captains and head coaches before giving any confirmation," Khan said.

The PCB has so far kept mum on the chances of the series taking place in England because of the COVID-19 situation.

But with the British government due to announce measures to ease the lockdown in the country, it appears Pakistan could be touring on schedule.

Some former players have, however, asked the PCB to tread on the side of caution.

"If the West Indies have decided to postpone their series in June because of safety reasons and because of the situation then the PCB should also be very careful before taking up any offer from the ECB," a former captain said.

The West Indies Cricket Board said its players have to be convinced of their safety for it to commit to the assignment, which "is not possible in June."

"...we will continue our discussions with the ECB and other Internationals Boards on trying to find new dates," it said in a recent press release.

"We will only travel to England to play the series if our players can be assured that it is safe to do so," it added.

Pakistan is also scheduled to play an ODI series against Ireland while in UK but that series could be rescheduled and also be held in England.

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News Network
February 5,2020

Aukland, Feb 5: Striker Navneet Kaur scored a brace to guide the Indian women's hockey team to a convincing 3-0 win over New Zealand in the last game of its five-match tour here on Wednesday.

Navneet found the net in the 45th and 58th minutes, while Sharmila scored a field goal in the 54th minute as India drew curtains on the New Zealand tour on a bright note.

After a goalless opening two quarters, Navneet finally broke the deadlock for India in the 45th minute.

Sharmila then doubled the lead when she struck a powerful shot past the New Zealand goalkeeper in the 54th minute. Navneet found the net again just two minutes from the final hooter with a beautiful field strike.

India began the tour by thrashing New Zealand Development squad 4-0 before suffering close 1-2 and 0-1 defeats to the home senior team.

In penultimate game of the tour, skipper Rani's lone strike handed India a 1-0 win over Great Britain.

"...I am happy we produced three goals against New Zealand in the last match. This tour gave us a good insight about where we need to improve and one of the things is to create faster play than we do now," said India's chief Coach Sjoerd Marijne.

Commenting on his side's performance during the tour, Marijne said, "Sometimes we tend to keep the ball too long on the stick and then we create pressure. We need to avoid that by passing faster.

"On the defence side, we need to be a bit more calmer and need to improve our tackling. We will have a four week camp after a short break when we return home and we will be working on these points."

The Indian team will return home on February 7.

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