Latest news with #VijayAmritraj
India Gazette
10 hours ago
- Sport
- India Gazette
Chennai Open returns to WTA calendar after three years
ANI 17 Jun 2025, 01:08 GMT+10 New Delhi [India], June 16 (ANI): The Chennai Open tennis tournament is set to return this October after a three-year hiatus, the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) announced on Monday, as per The tournament's schedule was announced during an event in St Petersburg, USA. Action in the main draw of Chennai Open 2025 is set to get underway from the week of October 27 on outdoor hard courts. The tournament will conclude on November 2. 'Finally, our efforts to get a major international tennis event to Chennai have borne fruit. Thanks to the strong support of the Government of Tamil Nadu and the SDAT (Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu),' Tamil Nadu Tennis Association (TNTA) president and Indian tennis great Vijay Amritraj said, as quoted by 'The event will be broadcast on a major sports channel. I look forward to enthusiastic participation of the sporting public of Chennai in making the event a grand success,' he added. There will be 32 players participating in the singles draw and 16 pairs will make up the doubles section. The SDAT Nungambakkam tennis stadium in Chennai will be the venue for all matches with the eventual winners set to receive 250 ranking points that are awarded for winning the tournament. The WTA 250 event was last held in 2022 when Czechia's Linda Fruhvirtova claimed the singles title, while Canada's Gabriela Dabrowski and Brazil's Luisa Stefani took home the doubles crown. The upcoming Chennai Open will mark only the second edition of the professional women's tennis tournament. Ankita Raina, one of India's top women's tennis players, received a wildcard entry in 2022 when the Chennai Open was last held. (ANI)
The Hindu
15-05-2025
- Sport
- The Hindu
Football and tennis in focus as Sports Ministry mulls approval to OCI athletes
India's lack of growth in sports like football and tennis has often led to criticism of the ban on Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) card-holders from representing the country in 2008. Only Indian passport-holders are allowed to compete for the nation. A ministry source said a revocation of that ban is being considered to ensure that 'India's sporting ecosystem can be strengthened'. The discussion is, however, at a very early stage and would involve thorough 'exchange of ideas' between the stakeholders. The deliberation has mainly revolved around football and tennis. The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has been particularly keen on allowing OCIs even though there are no major names who can be considered for India even if the ban is revoked. 'It is just a preliminary discussion at this point, it would take a lot of time for anything to move on this front,' the source said. In tennis, the legendary Vijay Amritraj's son Prakash was among the prominent US passport-holders who could not play for India because of the ban on OCI card-holders. 'There is no harm in reconsidering because we would like the best of our talent to be able to represent us. But again, it's a very long road,' the source said.
Time of India
12-05-2025
- General
- Time of India
Shankargarh Gaushala in Prayagraj produced vermicompost worth Rs 1.75 lakh in a year
Prayagraj : Shankargarh Gaushala (cowshed) has turned into a hub for producing vermicompost , a natural fertiliser made by earthworms composting organic matter in the Sangam city. This Kanha gaushala, with a total of 2,773 cattle, has produced vermicompost worth Rs 1.75 lakh in a claim that the state govt has aimed to make all three city-based gaushalas (cowsheds) self-reliant. For this, the govt is fast encouraging the production of cow dung products . The money earned through vermicompost at gaushalas is also being utilised to make the cowshed and in other projects. Officials of the Prayagraj Municipal Corporation claimed that the Shankargarh Kanha cowshed is moving forward to become self-reliant. The authorities are also trying to reduce their dependence on the municipal corporation and make all cowsheds Municipal Corporation's Animal Husbandry Officer, Vijay Amritraj, said, "With as many as 2,773 cows/calves being kept at Kanha cowshed, a vermicompost production unit has been set up at the cowshed campus. The gaushala has produced vermicompost worth Rs 1.75 lakh so far. Apart from this, plans are afoot to make other products." Officials further added that there are three Kanha Gaushalas in Sangam city, out of which Shankargarh Kanha Gaushala has moved towards self-reliance. The administration has also prepared a plan for two other Gaushalas in the meanwhile, said that there are proposals to develop the Kanha Gaushala being set up in the Bamrauli area as a model Gaushala, and for that, plans are mooted to allocate the required budget. Apart from the production of vermicompost on a large scale, plans are also being mooted to shape diyas made of cow dung, yajna wood, havan samagri, incense sticks, havan kund, mobile stands, wall hangings, wall frames, name plates, various products made from cow urine in this Gaushala.
The Hindu
11-05-2025
- Sport
- The Hindu
Last Word: Applause for opponents then, psych-wars now
Traditionally, and certainly in India, we expected our sportsmen and sportswomen to be polite, humble, unselfish, empathetic, and respectful of the opposition. When I was growing into adulthood, our champions were Prakash Padukone (right), Gundappa Vishwanath, Bhagwat Chandrasekhar, Vijay Amritraj, and Ajit Pal Singh — all of whom embodied these values. When they won, they applauded the opponent; when they lost, it was with a smile. We believed this was how athletes ought to be. Good behaviour was often rated above ruthless victories. It was considered better to lose with grace than win with rancour (and that's only a slight exaggeration). Recent research, however, suggests that being self-centred, ruthless, and manipulative may be the route to glory. Scientists at Nottingham Trent University (NTU) have concluded that 'specific characteristics considered malevolent in social settings are highly relevant in performance sport.' Interestingly, according to the researchers, coaches who exhibit these traits tend to work against their athletes. The more self-centred a coach is — or the higher their level of narcissism — the less responsive they are to their athlete's needs. Success, then, seems to depend on a productive mix of personality traits. The research focussed on the 'dark triad' of qualities — narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy — or, in practical terms, selfishness, strategic exploitation, and deceit. I have often felt that in team games, you need a variety of characters to work together. As the great Mike Brearley wrote, 'a cricket team works only by dint of differentiation.' You need your best players to be selfish — in the sense of putting the team above everything else. Don Bradman, for instance, tended to look less than ordinary on wet tracks (those were days when wickets were not covered) and avoided batting on them as much as possible. This kind of selfishness served the team. Great players understand when they are most effective and plan accordingly, knowing they are, in effect, half their team. Ruthlessness, too, is often a hallmark of top players. In the years when Vijay Amritraj was one of India's nearly men — good enough to beat the best but consistently falling short in the Grand Slams — someone (I think it was Jimmy Connors) remarked that when you have an opponent down, you get even more aggressive to make sure he never gets up again. This was something Vijay was unable to do, and the prevailing cliché then was that Indian sportsmen lacked the killer instinct. Do nice guys really finish last? If so, it ignores another truism — that you can be ruthless and selfish on the field but a 'decent human being', as Leander Paes puts it, off it. I imagine Roger Federer is a good example of this, as are some of our more recent champions like Viswanathan Anand, Rahul Dravid, and P. V. Sindhu. In competition, however, as the former world chess champion Mikhail Tal summed up almost poetically, 'You must take your opponent into a deep dark forest where 2+2=5, and the path leading out is only wide enough for one.'
