29 BAHRAIN SPORT

BAHRAIN SPORT
Email: sport@gdn.com.bh
Gulf Daily News Saturday, 8th November 2014
29
Steed races to victory
n India’s badminton doubles star Ashwini Ponnappa arrived in Bahrain yesterday to be the guest
of honour at the final of the Indian Club Centenary Li-Ning Bahrain International Challenge today
at the Indian Club. Ponnappa is a bronze medallist at the World Championship and gold medallist
at the Commonwealth Games with partner Jwala Gutta. Above, Ponnappa, centre, being received
by Indian Club cricket secretary Nishant
n Trainer Smith receives the Late Shaikh Rashid bin Isa Al Khalifa Sprint Cup
Pawar sets up title
clash with Kholik
By VIJAY MRUTHYUNJAYA
IT’S going to be India versus Indonesia tonight at the Indian Club Centenary Li Ning
Challenge following thrilling semi-final
clashes in the men’s and women’s singles
showdowns last night.
Second seed Anand Pawar of India won perhaps the
closest and longest match, if not the best quality wise, to
have been played in Bahrain in the recent past in a threegame thriller 9-21, 26-24, 26-24 in 80 minutes of hair-raising action against fifth-seeded Indonesian Christie Jonatan.
Match and game points were traded with as much
fervour and friction as precious shares of a multi-billion dollar company at the floor of top stock exchanges
in the world.
After a dull and drab first game, Pawar came into the
party late but soon made his presence felt rallying from
4-10 down to equalise 11-11. But only to see Jonatan
string together crucial points to reach match point 20-18.
The real drama started here as Pawar saved two
match points, squandered three game points and eventually emerged from the cusp of defeat to take the
match into the decider.
The decider was intense and immensely absorbing
as either player could win successive points till 9-9 and
from there on they won points in clusters as Pawar won
four points in a row and Jonatan returned the compliments making it 17-17.
The crowd, packed but equally divided in support,
was on their feet as the match went into extra points.
The situation was a mirror image of the second game as
this time Pawar held two match points 20-18.
n Pawar in
action during
last night’s
semi-final
It was the turn of Jonatan to play with his back to
the wall and like his worthy opponent in the second
game, he dug deep into his energy reserves to prolong
the battle before Pawar ended the protracted tussle with
his sixth match point to seal a place in the final.
“It was a tough match and the playing surface did not
help much as I could not get a firm foot hold,” said the
28-year-old Indian national team player.
“It went down to luck really and he offered me easy
points in the second and third games and I took them
Bahrain down Singapore
TWO second half goals helped Bahrain beat
Singapore 2-0 in a friendly football match at
Bahrain National Stadium last night.
This was the last friendly match for the national team before travelling to Riyadh to compete
in the 22nd Gulf Cup Football Tournament starting on Thursday. The team is placed in Group A
along with hosts Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Yemen.
The national team, coached by Iraqi Adnan
Hamad, started last night’s game with the line-up
of Ali Saeed (goalkeeper), Mohammed Hussain,
Abdulla Al Hazza, Mohammed Daej, Waleed
Al Hayyam (defenders), Abdulwahab Ali, Mahmood Abdulrahman, Sayed Deya, Faisal Bu Dahoom, Abdulwahab Al Malood (midfielders) and
Abdulla Yousif (forward).
The first half of the game saw Bahrain dominate the proceedings, taking advantage of the
Singaporean team’s defensive approach. The first
half, however, ended 0-0.
Bahrain’s coach Adnan Hamad made four substitutions in the half time, sending in striker Ismael Abdullatif, midfielders Sami Al Hussaini and Hussain
Baba and goalkeeper Sayed Mohammed Adnan.
Bahrain ace striker Ismael Abdullatif succeeded in breaking the Singapore defence after he got
a timely long pass from Hussaib Baba. Abdullatif
advanced past a number of defenders and netted the
ball into the left side of the goal in the 67th minute.
Five minutes later, Bahrain made it 2-0, with
Mohammed Al Tayyeb passing the ball to Sami
Al Hussaini who netted the ball.
without complaining,” added Pawar, son of former Indian national team player Uday.
All other singles matches of the evening were dull
affairs compared to the above. The other men’s singles
semi-final was over in 30 minutes as Indonesia’s Firman Abdul Kholik beat compatriot and close friend
Ginting Anthony 21-16, 21-13.
The women’s final will also be an Indo-Indonesian
affair as top seed P C Thulasi of India continued her
love-affair with three-game matches. This time she was
stretched by compatriot Rituparna Das, who had upset third seed Aprilla Yuswandari on Thursday, before
winning 13-21, 21-10, 21-15 in 55 minutes.
Thulasi takes on Indonesia’s Ruselli Hartawan in
today’s final after the later saw off the challenge of
compatriot Fitriani Fitriani 21-19, 21-18 in 40 minutes.
Today’s finals start at 3pm. Entry is free and all are
welcome.
Other results (semi-finals):
Mixed doubles: 1-Vitalij Durkin and Nina Vislova (Russia)
bt 3-Arun Vishnu and Aparna Balan (India) 21-12, 21-12; Fran
Kurniawan and Komala Devi (Indonesia) bt Muhammad Rian
Ardianto and Rosyita Eka Putri Sari 21-11, 28-26.
Women’s doubles: Ekanerina Bolotova and Evgeniya Kosetskaya (Russia) bt 2-Pradnya Gadre and N Siki Reddy 21-17, 2117; 1-Anastasia Chervyakova and Nina Vislova (Russia) bt Mahadewi Istirani and Melvira Oklamona 21-16, 15-21, 21-19.
Men’s doubles: 3-Fran Kurniawan and Agripinna Prima Rahmanto bt Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto (Indonesia)
21-16, 24-22; Yohanes Rendy Sugiarto and Afiat Yuns Wirawan
(Indonesia) bt Yong Kai Terry and Hendra Wijaya (Singapore)
17-21, 21-4, 23-21.
n Action from last
night’s friendly
STEED, trained by
Yousif
Alboainain
and ridden by Hassan
Al Saffar, won the richest race
of the day for the Late Shaikh
Rashid bin Isa Al Khalifa Golden Mile Cup for imported horses as a new horse racing season
began yesterday at Sakhir.
Steed beat Lui Rei to claim
the top prize fund of BD5,500
in this race ran over 1,600 metres while Hachita Valley was
third and Myownway fourth.
Filfila, trained by Osama
Hashim and ridden by Kieren
Fox beat Hobb Nobb to win
the Late Shaikh Rashid bin Isa
Al Khalifa Opening Day Cup
for locally bred horses which
carried a cash prize fund of
BD5,000 and ran over 1,600
metres.
Basmaan was third and Satellite fourth.
Erebus, trained by Mohammed Hassan and ridden by
Alberto Sanna, beat Fitkin to
win the Late Shaikh Rashid
bin Isa Al Khalifa Spring Cup
for imported horses which
carried a cash prize fund of
BD3,500 and ran over 1,000
metres.
Saloomy was third and Tassel fourth.
Prize
Question Mark, trained by
Alan Smith and ridden by
Tristan Normand, beat Barraqah to win the Late Shaikh
Rashid bin Isa Al Khalifa Sprint
Cup for locally bred horses
which carried a cash prize fund
of BD3,500.
Lazzaz was third and First
Mate fourth.
Al Ma’anagy 1555, trained
by Yousif Taher and ridden by
Abdulla Faisal, beat Mloishan
1627 to win the Late Rashid bin
Isa Al Khalifa Cup for Arabian
horses which carried a cash
prize fund of BD2,500.
Al Saqlawy 1578 was third
and Al Hamdanieh 1497 fourth.
Musaafer, trained by Yousif
Alboainain and ridden by Abdulla Faisal, beat Erodium to
win the Late Shaikh Rashid bin
Isa Al Khalifa Cup for imported horses which carried a cash
prize fund of BD2,500 and ran
over 1,400 metres.
Tally Ho was third and Kabbaas fourth.
Harash, trained by James
Naylor and ridden by Gerald
Avranche, beat Tickity Boo to
win the Late Shaikh Rashid bin
Isa Al Khalifa Cup for locally
bred horses which carried a
cash prize fund of BD2,500 and
ran over 1,400 metres.
Nardeen was third and Rocket Boy fourth.