Engrossed in
IPL ? - do you know or heard of ‘Kheleo’
(what ?) or Carles Puyol set to launch ticket sales ?? (honestly I read about them just now !!)
Yesterday it
was all about - Rahul Tripathi’s feat of 52-ball 93 to power Rising Pune
Supergiant to their sixth win in seven games and move to third spot in the
league. Despite wickets falling at the other end, Tripathi produced a
full-blooded onslaught - hitting 78 runs in boundaries - and ensured Rising
Pune had only a little to do towards the end. The chase of 156 got a bit harder
with the loss of Ben Stokes, MS Dhoni, and then Tripathi himself with six
needed. But Daniel Christian's flat six over deep midwicket off Colin de
Grandhomme sealed victory with four balls to spare, consigning Kolkata Knight
Riders to only their second defeat in six home games this season. The result
was set up by Rising Pune's bowlers, led by Jaydev Unadkat's 2 for 28.
The man born
in Ranchi and playing for Maharashtra, Rahul Tripathi wasn't part of the
Inter-State and Inter-Zonal T20s this season. He wasn't picked for
Mahararashtra's first four matches in the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy. He bats
in the middle order for his state and is known more for his stickability than
ball-striking ability in the Indian domestic circles. He was only picked in the
last round of the auction by Rising Pune Supergiant and was sent to open with
Rahane.
Carles Puyol Saforcada is
a Spanish retired professional footballer. Mainly a central defender, he could
also play on either flank, regarded as one of the best defenders of his
generation. A one-club man, he served as
the longtime team captain for his only club Barcelona after taking over from
Luis Enrique in August 2004, and went on to appear in 593 official games for
the club and win 21 major titles, notably six La Liga trophies and three
Champions League. In Aug 2014, after 15
seasons as a Barcelona first-team player, and a decade as club captain, Carles
Puyol announced his retirement at a specially held event at the Camp Nou.
Soccer is
not all about Germany, France, Argentina and famous clubs. Nigeria becoming the first country to win the
title for a fifth time was the biggest story of the FIFA U-17 World Cup Chile
2015, but by no means the only one. The presence of Mali in the final made for just
the second occasion on which two teams from the same continent have contested
the deciding match. As such, ‘Una fiesta un nuestra cancha’ (a party on our
pitch), as the slogan Chile used to welcome the world put it, was ultimately
celebrated to a distinctly African beat.
Now cometh the time for FIFA U17 and it is in India.
The 2017 FIFA U-17 World
Cup will be the 17th edition
of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth football
championship contested by the U17 national teams of the member associations of
FIFA. The tournament will be hosted by India between 6 and 28 October 2017.
This will be the first FIFA tournament hosted by the country. The final will be
held the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata on 28 October 2017.
Nigeria, the 2015
champions, will not be able to defend their title as they failed to reach the
final round of the CAF qualifying tournament. In doing so, they became the
first incumbent title holder since Switzerland in 2009 to fail to qualify for
the subsequent tournament. A total of 24
teams qualify for the final tournament. In addition to India who qualified
automatically as hosts, the other 23 teams qualify from six separate
continental competitions.
Spain’s football World Cup
winner Carles Puyol will be in India this month to launch the sale of tickets
for the FIFA Under-17 World Cup. Puyol will be involved is the launch of ticket
sales of the Under-17 World Cup. He will grace multiple events in New Delhi and
Mumbai between May 15 and 17 to promote the tournament. The first set of
tickets for the FIFA U-17 World Cup will go live on May 16 at exactly 19:11
hours, paying tribute to the year in which Indian football made history. It was
in 1911 that an Indian football team, Mohun Bagan, for the first time won the
IFA shield by defeating an English team East Yorkshire Regiment. Anticipating
what will be his first visit to India, Carles Puyol added, “I’m very excited
and curious to discover the country and its people. I’m really drawn to the
culture of India, its traditional medicine, its food and, of course, the way
football is developing there, which is one of the main reasons behind my
visit,” Puyol said in a release.
Earlier last year, the
Organisers had unveiled “Kheleo”, the
leopard, as the tournament’s mascot. The clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa) is
a wild cat seen in the Himalayan
foothills through mainland Southeast Asia into China. Since 2008, it is listed
as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. Its total population is suspected to be
fewer than 10,000 mature individuals, with a decreasing population trend, and
no single population numbering more than 1,000 adults. It is one of two members
of the genus Neofelis, and is classified under the family Felidae. It
represents the smallest of the big cats, but despite its name, it is not closely
related to the leopard !
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
4th May 2017