Squash News 2010

• 21/06/2010 : Back stroke? Paralympic swimming selection process under scanner (Article in TNN)

• 03/05/2010 : Govt aiming for transparency, says Gill (Article in Times of India)

• 03/05/2010 : Ministry clips wings of sports bodies’ top guns (Article in DNA)

• 03/05/2010 : Sports ministry's eviction notice to Kalmadi and Co (Article in Hindustan Times)

• 17/04/2010 : El Shorbagy Celebrates Historic Tour Win in PSA Kolkotta event
• 17/04/2010 : Maiden WISPA title for Dipika Pallika in Kolkotta event
• 11/04/2010 : Squash star Dipika Pallikal is a self-proclaimed gadget freak. When she is not on 
  the court practising, she is busy hunting for new gadgets (Article in Mumbai Mirror)
• 02/04/2010 : Skeet team grounded (Article in Hindustan Times, New Delhi)

• 20/3/2010 : Overseas Indian citizens can play for country: HC (Article in DNA)

• 18/03/2010 : OCIs can represent India in sport: HC  (Article in Hindustan Time, New Delhi)

• 02/03/2010 : Jagtap crashes out of French Jr Open Squash (Article in Times of India)

• 02/02/2010 : Shy girl with a ruthless streak on court (Article in Times of India)

Mahesh Mangaokar, Anaka no 2 in the Latest WSF World Junior Circuit Rankings
10 January 2012 

Whilst Egyptian Marwan El Shorbagy retains his men's number one ranking, England's Emily Whitlock makes her debut at the top of the women's list in the new January WSF World Junior Circuit Rankings which are published today by the World Squash Federation. 

El Shorbagy, aged 18 and from Alexandria, is the reigning world junior champion after winning the WSF Men's World Junior Individual Championship crown in Belgium in July - since when he has made rapid progress in the PSA world rankings. 

Title success in the Indian Junior Open in September helped India's 17-year-old Mahesh Mangaonkar move up to second place - pushing Egypt's Mohamed Abouelghar, runner-up to El Shorbagy in Belgium, down to No3. 

Dutchman Tom de Mulder bursts into the rankings for the first time at No4 after a runner-up finish in October's Nordic Junior Open in Sweden. 

After winning the Canadian Junior Open, then finishing in third place later last month in the US Junior Open, Mexican Mario Yanez also makes his first appearance in the list at No5. 

Emily Whitlock, the 17-year-old British national junior champion, is rewarded for her focus and success on the world junior circuit by taking over the top spot - succeeding Egypt's world junior champion Nour El Tayeb. 

Whitlock, who became the European Junior champion for the first time last April, added the Belgian Junior Open title to her trophy collection in November. 

And India's Anaka Alankamony also moved up in the list to take over second place. The 17-year-old from Chennai followed her unexpected success in last year's Asian Junior Championships by winning the Indian Junior Open in her home city September. 

American Maria Elena Ubina, 16-year-old winner of the US Junior Open, leaps up to fifth place, below Egyptians Nour El Tayeb and Nour El Sherbini, at 3 and 4, respectively 

The WSF World Junior Circuit Rankings - which are based on the under 19 age grouping and were launched last October - will be issued quarterly, based on results achieved in national junior opens, regional championships and WSF World Junior Individual Championships. In the coming months, as players compete in more events (there are sixteen already on the circuit in the first half of the year), players will have more results with which to find a level. 

Men's top 10:

1 (1) Marwan El Shorbagy (Egypt) 66.67 
2 (3) Mahesh Mangaonkar (India) 55.00 
3 (2) Mohamed Abouelghar (Egypt) 46.67 
4 (-) Tom de Mulder (Netherlands) 44.33 
5 (-) Mario Yanez (Mexico) 41.67 
6 (-) Ahmed Abdel Khalek (Egypt) 41.67 
7 (11) Declan James (England) 38.33 
8 (7) Tatu Knuutila (Finland) 34.33 
9 (15) Tom Ford (England) 34.33 
10 (20) Tyler Osborne (Canada) 32.67 

Women's top 10:

1 (5=) Emily Whitlock (England) 76.67 
2 (4) Anaka Alankamony (India) 73.33 
3 (1) Nour El Tayeb (Egypt) 66.67 
4 (2) Nour El Sherbini (Egypt) 46.67 
5 (29) Maria Elena Ubina (USA) 45.00 
6 (3) Lee Ka Yi (Hong Kong China) 42.67 
7 (29) Caroline Sayegh (Germany) 32.67 
8 (12) Aparajitha Balamurukan (India) 29.33 
9 (-) Julia Lecoq (France) 29.33 
10 (5=) Amanda Sobhy (USA) 26.67 

Dipika credits Aussie coach Fitzgerald for her new high
Times of India, Mumbai : 28/12/2011

MUMBAI: Having wrapped up her season on a winning note in Hong Kong, India No.1 Dipika Pallikal is back home, for a much-needed winter break with friends and family. 

And for the 20-year-old, a Merry Christmas is only going to be followed by an even happier New Year. 

Come January 2012, the ace squash player will find herself at a career high World Ranking of 15, becoming the first Indian to accomplish the feat. 

"I had set top 20 as the target for this season. I broke into top 20 in September. So, I had to move on to a new goal. I am very glad indeed," said a composed Dipika. Personally, she finds a lot of room for improvement. 

"Looking back at the season, I let it slip in the match against Madeline Perry in the Hong Kong Open. I wish I could win that." 

Mostly, it has been a cracker of a season for the current World No.17, taking into account her three WISPA titles, the tournament wins in US and the quarters berth in the World Open. 

"Overall it's been a rather good year for me. Although the first half was pretty quiet, things started moving upwards from August and things have gone to plan ever since. I have beaten some of the top players. I have been injury free and healthy, which is a big positive." 

But the literature major from Chennai's Ethiraj Women's College is not ready to sit pretty on her laurels. 

"I guess, now is the real test. I have reached where I wanted to and now it is all about improving on that. Consistency is the key." She flies to the US to participate in the Tournament of Champions next month. 

According to her, the one factor that has made a key difference to her performance is her coach Sara Fitzgerald. 

"Shifting base to Melbourne has been a deciding factor. My trainer Sara Fitzgerald, who herself has been a five-time world champion knows what goes into proper training. Staying and training with her has helped me a lot. It has been a great boost." 

Ask her about her New Year resolution, and Deepika says, "I want to remain injury-free and healthy and enjoy my game. I also want to break into the Top-10."

GHOSAL SET FOR RETURN : DNA NEWSPAPER, MUMBAI (31/07/2011)

India ’s No 1 squash player Saurav Ghosal is set to make a comeback at the Australian Open next month after a four month-long injury lay-off. Ghosal injured his foot during the semifinal of the Irish Open against Tarek Momen on April 11. 

“It was an unfortunate injury because I had made prefect movement towards the ball and it was not like I turned my ankle or anything. One of the tendons on my toe and the underside of my foot got injured and I could not even walk after that,” Ghosal said. 

The world No 26 was two games up before the injury forced him to forfeit the match. He said, “I was sad as I had a chance to go to the final and was playing well, but injuries are a part of the game. I have worked hard towards gaining the same form I was in during that period.” 

He was bed-ridden for three and a half weeks before he could start with the recovery process. 

Ghosal faces the Australian Stewart Boswell in the first round of the tournament in Australia . “It is going to be a tough tournament as there are some really good players playing there. I have played Boswell just once and had lost that game, I am hoping to do better this time,” he said. 

Following the Australian Open, Ghosal’s next assignment would be leading the country in the World teams event in Germany . He said, “Last time we couldn’t do well in this competition because of a number of injuries during the tournament. This time around we are hoping to do well and aiming for the top-8 or at least top-10. It is going to be an uphill task for us but it is not unachievable.”  

Ghosal is a two-time Asian Games bronze medallist but since the sport is not a part of the Olympic he has not had a chance to become an Olympian. “Olympics is the biggest stage where sportspersons can show their skills. It is very unfortunate that squash is not a part of the Games. It is not something that is in the hands of the players but the squash fraternity is hoping and pushing for its inclusion in the future Olympics,” Ghosal said. 

source: http://www.dnaindia.com/sport/report_saurav-ghosal-set-for-return-at-the-australian-open-next-month_1571465

Back stroke? Paralympic swimming selection process under scanner
Rema Nagarajan, TNN, Jun 21, 2010, 05.11am IST

All is not well in the world of disabled swimming, more so in the Paralympic Swimming Federation of India (PSFI) that controls disabled swimmers in the country.

Where a maximum number of 18 swimmers, nine male and nine female have been allowed per country for the six swimming events in the Commonwealth Games, the federation has decided to take in only seven, five men and two women. PSFI general secretary Dr V K Dabas claimed that he had shortlisted seven from an initial list of 20, as these were the best. However, there have been allegations of impropriety in the selection process.

Ratan Singh, president of the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI), the umbrella body for disability sports in the country, when contacted by TOI, pleaded ignorance and said that he saw no reason for the swimming federation to be disqualifying any swimmer instead of training those they had found, as the ministry had asked them to do. Even the PCI website lists 12 swimmers training at Gwalior and the PCI had no information of the number being pruned to seven.

Singh promised that the PCI would look into the allegations regarding the selection process and added that PCI would be conducting one more round of trials to select sportspersons for the CWG. He added, whatever anomalies there are will be corrected. “We have a problem in finding enough athletes who can put up a good performance not only at the CWG, but also for future events. Moreover, when we have a quota for 18 and the government is willing to support 18, why should we send just seven? The more we manage to train and send the better our chances,” said Singh.

Incidentally, Dabas, the federation general secretary is also the self-appointed chief coach against whom there have been allegations of mismanagement, despite which he has been nominated by the PCI for the Dronacharya award, the highest honour for a coach in the country. Singh claims that the PCI merely forwarded Dabas bid for the award. However, the letter sent by PCI to the sports ministry on May 24 nominating various persons for the different sports awards belies this claim. It clearly lists Dabas as one of PCIs nominees for the award.

As a further indication of the way the swimming federation is being run, the PCI websites list of support staff for the disabled swimmers includes Dabas wife Saroj Dabas, Suresh Kalra president of Dabas non-profit organisation, SWIMAID, and its vice president, Lalit Gupta, all from Gwalior . The listing of president and vice-president of SWIMAID, who are now holding the same posts in the federation, as support staff who supposedly help carry bags and run errands to help the disabled sportspersons might seem surprising till it comes to light that the support staff get to accompany the swimmers to all the countries they travel to for competitions.

At present, Dr Dabas as chief coach and his wife as one of the support staff are in Germany accompanying the swimming team to participate in a swimming tournament in Berlin , for which the federation had not even managed to procure internationally acceptable swimsuits for the Indian participants.

Though it is called a national federation, the PSFI seems more like a Gwalior federation run mostly by people from the city, barring one or two from Delhi . The PSFI was formed in 2000 from a local Gwalior non-profitable organization called SWIMAID or Swimming Association of India for the Disabled started in 1991 to rehabilitate disabled people through Aqua-therapy.

“We will soon be modifying our constitution in line with the changes being brought about in the Paralympics Committee of India to make it more representative with members from across the country,” said Dabas.

 Govt aiming for transparency, says Gill
Article in Times of India : 03/05/2010

New Delhi : The sports ministry said it took its decision on limiting sports heads’ tenure after studying regulations of the International Olympic Committee and other global sports federations. Ironically, sports bodies had been citing the same regulations to insist on “autonomy’’. Federations which refuse to accept the order will lose government recognition and not be eligible for financial help. They will also lose the power to select national teams for events like the Olympics.

The ministry’s decision came a day after the TOICrest Edition had questioned the rationale behind allowing sports bosses to continue in their positions for years together. In 1975, the government had issued regulations capping the tenure of the president, secretary and treasurer at not more than two consecutive terms of four years each. However, this was kept in abeyance by orders issued in 2001 and 2002 when Uma Bharti was sports minister.

“The cryptic order passed on August 8, 2002 by the then minister, blocking the perfectly valid and well considered regulations of 1975, served no public interest. I have, therefore, set it aside,’’ sports minister M S Gill told TOI. “I passed this order in confidence that it will serve the best interest of sportspersons of the country and will give an impetus to transparent and professional management of Indian sports in the new century.’’

The order has sent sports federations in a tizzy. A senior official of the Indian Olympic Association questioned the timing of the law when foreign delegations were in India to oversee preparations for the Commonwealth Games. “The timing is awful. The sports ministry could have discussed with the association before coming out with such an order. Now the war between IOA president Suresh Kalmadi and sport minister M S Gill is out in the open,’’ the official said.

The ministry said the new order, which comes into effect immediately, aimed to encourage professional management in national sports federations, including the IOA headed by Kalmadi since 1996.

The ministry said that existing office bearers who have already crossed the prescribed limits will be allowed to complete their terms, provided they were elected to office. The order means that Kalmadi will have to quit office by the end of his fourth term in 2012. Similar is the case with IOA secretary general Randhir Singh, who has been occupying the post for the last 20 years.

IN A NUTSHELL

1. The President of any recognized national sports federation (NSF), including the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) can hold the office for a maximum period of twelve years with or without break

2. The secretary (or by whatever other designation such as secretary general or general secretary by which he is referred to) and the treasurer of any recognized NSF, including the IOA, may serve a maximum of two successive terms of four years each after which a minimum cooling off period of four years will apply to seek fresh election to either post

3. The president, the secretary and the treasurer of any recognized NSF, including the IOA, shall cease to hold that post on attaining the age of 70 years

4. The above dispensation will come into operation with immediate effect. 

 Ministry clips wings of sports bodies’ top guns
Fixes tenure for office-bearers; political bosses to feel the heat
Article in DNA :  03/05/2010 

The long, unending stints of top sports federation office-bearers who, in many cases, are high-profile politicians and influential bureaucrats, are going to be over soon. In a potentially controversial move, the sports ministry has revived a 35-year-old regulation to cap the tenure of prominent office-bearers.

The move, aimed at encouraging “professional management, good governance, transparency”, means that a host of prominent persons, including Suresh Kalmadi, Vijay Kumar Malhotra and Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, cannot hold on to their positions in sports federations for long. it could be no coincidence that the relationship between sports minister MS Gill and Kalmadi, chairman of the commonwealth games organising committee and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), has been deteriorating for some time.

Under the new ministry guidelines, the maximum tenure of the president of a national sports federation, including the IOA, shall be 12 years, with or without a break. For the secretary and the treasurer, the tenure shall not be more than two successive tenures of four years each.

“The secretary and the treasurer shall be eligible for standing for re-election to the post after a minimum interval of four years. There will be a retirement age of 70 years for all members and office bearers,” the statement issued by the ministry said.

This regulation virtually closes the option of re-election for IOA president Kalmadi, president of the archery association of India Malhotra and president of the badminton association of India VK Verma. The announcement followed a hearing of a civil writ petition in the Delhi high court.

The court ruled that all the government guidelines governing the national sports federations were valid, binding and enforceable, and the tenure clause is not in violation of the international Olympic committee’s (IOC) charter. The court also expressed concern at the inaction on the part of the government in this regard.

It could tantamount to transgressing the Olympic charter, which lays down restrictions on the terms of office-bearers. But the sports ministry overruled any doubts in this regard.

“After detailed examination of the charter, it has been found that even the IOC, which is the mother body of all sports federations, enforces tenure limits on its members and office bearers,” it said.

As per the charter, the duration of term of office of the vice-presidents and ten other executive board members is four years and a member may serve a maximum of two consecutive terms on the board, followed by a cooling off period of two years. In case of the president, the Olympic charter allows a term of eight years renewable once for a four-year term.

“The IOC charter also prescribes a retirement age for all IOC members, which is 70 years (for those elected after December 1999),” it said.

The Olympic charter is against government interference in the functioning of sports bodies but it is often deemed a subjective issue. it may be recalled that IOA secretary-general Randhir Singh had announced recently that the body would not take funds from the government from the current financial year. However, the government announcement pre-empts any move by sports bodies to be deemed as independent on this basis alone.

The ministry makes it clear it is not just the financial or other benefits that make the bodies accountable to the government. it is also because they get the right to select national teams and represent the country in international bodies, events, meets and  conferences.

 Sports ministry's eviction notice to Kalmadi and Co
FIXED TENURE Govt sets rules; age bar for office bearers of state-supported sports bodies

Article in Hindustan Times : 03/05/2010 

It took the Sports Ministry more than nine years, a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) and a Delhi High Court order to put a cap on the tenure of sports bosses such as Suresh Kalmadi of the Indian Olympic Association and Vijay Kumar Malhotra of the archery federation.

Kalmadi has been IOA pres- ident for 14 years now, starting in 1996, and most people have forgotten when Malhotra start- ed his tenure or who he suc- ceeded, three decades ago.

Kalmadi, Malhotra and a lot of the other sports bosses -- of the National Sports Federation (NSF) -- will now complete the remainder of their terms and retire, according to a notification issued by the Union Sports Ministry on Sunday.

The notification doesn't cover cricket, tennis and other sports not financially supported by the government.

“I passed this order in confi- dence that it will serve the best interest of the sportspersons of the country and it will give an impetus to transparent and pro- fessional management of Indian sports, in the new century,“ said Sports Minister M.S. Gill.

Actually, Gill's ministry has merely brought back a 1975 rule that specified fixed tenure for sports bosses, but had been put aside by Uma Bharti as sports minister in 2001.

Also, the ministry might have felt the pressure to come up with the notification in view of a May 5 deadline fixed by Delhi High Court for coming up with rules and regulations for run- ning sports organizations.

Rahul Mehra, the advocate who filed the PIL last December seeking the court's interven- tion to stop sports federations becoming personal fiefdoms, said, “They (the Ministry) were bound to reply or send a noti- fication after the High Court Order on Wednesday.
Otherwise, tell me what took them 10 years to restore a 1975 order?“ According to the National Sports guidelines (1975), office bearers of sports federations cannot hold office for more than two terms of four years each (max eight years).

But this time the Ministry has 'modified' the order in com- pliance with the International Olympic Council, allowing sports federations presidents to hold office for a maximum of 12 years.

Sources in the IOA said the association was yet to see the order. V.K. Verma, president of the Badminton Association, said he did not know about such an order.

The Athletics Federation of India secretary, Lalit Bhanot, who is also the IOA joint sec- retary, said he would like to reply only after going through the order. “I have not read the order as yet,“ he said.

Despite repeated attempts, Malhotra and Kalmadi could not be contacted.

All office-bearers will retire when they are 70 years, said the notification.

However, the order, which comes into effect immediately, will not disrupt the continuity of the federation heads for now.

A senior Ministry official said that with most federations being headed by people who had completed more than two-three terms, removing all of them “would create a vacuum“.

He said that this had been done keeping in mind the Commonwealth Games in October. All officials who end their tenure before the next elections shall not be eligible to contest.

The secretary and treasurer are eligible for re-election after completing two successive terms of four years but only after “a minimum cooling off period of four years“.

According to the notification, the Ministry has also finalised the retirement age of all office- bearers to 70 years.

STATEMENT SHOWING REVISED FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS (YEAR WISE) TOWARDS
PREPARATION OF INDIAN TEAM FOR COMMONWEALTH GAMES 2010 

Source : http://sportsauthorityofindia.nic.in/writereaddata/mainlinkFile/File435.pdf

Status Report on Preparation of Indian Teams for 2010 Commonwealth Games as on 20.10.09