Kodava Samaja Cultural and Sports Club, Vijayanagar, recently greeted the city’s new ACP (Traffic) G.N. Mohan with a bouquet at his office in Shivarampet.
He is seen with (from left) Prof. Kambeyanda C. Belliappa, Vice-President of Kodava Samaja, Mysuru; Muckatira Jeevan, Treasurer, Kodava Samaja; Machimada Nanaiah, President, Sports Club; Mechanda M. Karumbaiah, former President, Kodava Samaja and Sports Club; Kuttimada D. Muthappa, Vice-President, Sports Club; Malchira M. Ponnappa, Hon. Secretary, Kodava Samaja; Meederira Prakash, Joint Secretary, Sports Club and Nayakanda Thimmaiah, Advisor to the Club.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Sports / March 23rd, 2019
Rohan Bopanna has served plenty of aces in his career. But the Indian doubles star also serves something else on the ATP Tour: coffee expertise.
“When I go to the tournaments, everybody comes to me and says, “Rohan, this is bad coffee!’ Bopanna said, cracking a laugh. “I say, ‘I’m sorry but I can’t do anything with it’!”
Bopanna is more than just a coffee connoisseur. The 39-year-old, currently No. 36 in the ATP Doubles Rankings, has his own line of The Flying Squirrel coffee: Rohan Bopanna’s Master Blend.
“To be honest, the coffee came first, before my tennis. That’s something which has been part of the family. We grow coffee, hence the coffee love came,” Bopanna said. “I’ve been through the whole process of how it works, how the plants grow. Now I’m learning so much more about getting the right blend, roasting the coffee and everything from the past three years. But the growing part I’ve always known how to grow the coffee and all of that goes back to my childhood.”
Bopanna’s family estate, home of their coffee plantation, is in Coorg, a district in the state of Karnataka, in southwest India. When the former No. 3 doubles player in the world was growing up, his father had not started a coffee company — they simply sold beans to those who were interested in buying. But nevertheless, it’s been a part of his life as long as he can remember.
“Me being the only son, I feel there is an opportunity for me to go back whenever I’m done [with tennis] to take care of that plantation,” Bopanna said. “This [venture] was something added on, something different and yes, of course, I would love to still be very much part of it. One of the reasons I started now is that with tennis, obviously [my life] as a player is going to end one day. There’s something more to look for and coffee’s been a pure love from the beginning, so why not continue with it?”
Not only does Bopanna get to share his work with other players on the ATP Tour, but by travelling the world, he gets to try different blends every week. The 18-time tour-level titlist does bring his own beans and filter on the road with him, though.
“Tennis takes us to some beautiful cities, where automatically I get to taste all the greatest coffees,” Bopanna said. “Australia has some great coffee places. Even last week I was in Phoenix, Arizona. I was in the old town of Scottsdale and that had exceptional coffee places at the different cafes.
“Tennis has given me an opportunity to taste different coffees and hopefully take that experience to improve Indian coffee more.”
While it is as catchy as hot shots you see on the court, one may wonder where the name of the company — ‘The Flying Squirrel’ — came from.
“The family friend who I tied up with, at the estate, we have flying squirrels there,” Bopanna said. “When I started my blend, I thought the best way was to tie [my line] up with his [brand] since they already have the roasters and everything… to start everything from scratch would have been tough, hence the name ‘The Flying Squirrel’.”
While Bopanna takes his coffee seriously, he’s certainly not done on the court yet. At this week’s Miami Open presented by Itau, Bopanna is competing alongside #NextGenATP Canadian Denis Shapovalov. The Indian also played with Shapovalov at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.
“The idea is to obviously try and do well in these big tournaments, big Masters series events. That’s the key,” Bopanna said. “I’m at a stage that when I play these tournaments, I’m looking to obviously do well and try to win the tournament. You’ve been on the [ATP] Tour for such a long time. You know every player out there, you know what to expect and you’re going there to try to win the tournament.”
As Bopanna continues to try to make his mark on the court, he’s trying to win over his colleagues’ taste buds, too.
“Indian coffee I feel has really grown in a big way in India and I feel we can really bring it out to the world to try to experience it. I feel the best way for me is to try to use my tennis platform to give a lot of my homegrown coffee to all the tennis players who love coffee,” Bopanna said. “I’ve gotten great feedback from all these players who have tried it and enjoyed it so far. It’s something very, very different, and I enjoy doing it.”
source: http://www.atptour,com / ATP Tour / Home> News / by Andrew Eichenholz / March 22nd, 2019
Uthappa also thanked Nayar for helping him during the injury period.
Robin Uthappa. (Photo Source: Twitter)
Kolkata Knight Riders fans would have heaved a sigh of relief after seeing their star man Robin Uthappa return to action after a long injury lay off. Uthappa had not played competitive cricket since October last year as he was sidelined with an ankle injury. Consequently, he missed Saurashtra’s stunning march to the final of the Ranji Trophy where their batting let them down. He later underwent surgery in England and was advised rest for two weeks.
He made his much-awaited return to action on Thursday (February 21) and hit the ground running straight away. The two-time IPL-winning star played a crucial knock of 46 to help Saurashtra pile up 188 for 3 in their Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy-opener against Railways. But unfortunately, it was a comeback to forget for Uthappa as Railway won the game by five wickets. But while the result did not go in his team’s favour, Uthappa is in a good place as far as his fitness is concerned.
In order to recover fully from the injury, Robin Uthappa had travelled to Mumbai to train at the KKR Academy. He was very well assisted by former Mumbai stalwart Abhishek Nayar, the head coach and mentor of the Academy. “I am in a good place right now. Well honestly, it has been a learning curve for me – going through the injury, and then, the surgery,” Uthappa was quoted as saying by the KKR website.
The right-handed batsman went on to open up about his problematic ankle, saying, “It was impeding the flexibility and movement around my ankle, and I have had it for the last three or four years. Immediately after the surgery, the range of movements around my ankle was almost twice as much as (it was) before the surgery even happened. So I am really happy to get it out of the way. I am happy to be back to playing cricket.”
Praise for Nayar:
Robin Uthappa had a word of praise for Nayar, saying that the latter’s approach has worked well for him. “As I have batted more balls, and spent more time here in the middle, I’ve actually felt I have gotten better and better and better,” he said.
“Every day that I have spent at the KKR academy camp – I’ve enjoyed every bit of it. (Nayar’s approach) is definitely out of the box, and something that seems to be working for me very well,” added Uthappa whose last international appearance came during India’s tour of Zimbabwe in 2015.
Knight Riders, meanwhile, will be hoping that their vice-captain hits the top gear ahead of the season as they eye their third IPL title. The two-time champions will open their IPL 2019 campaign against Sunrisers Hyderabad at home on March 24.
M.M. Thimmaiah, President of Kodagu Academy for Education and Culture (KAEC), inaugurated the Rifle Shooting Range at Coorg Public School (COPS) in Gonikoppal by cutting the ribbon.
School Trust Vice-President M.N. Belliappa, Secretary K.A. Poonacha and Treasurer K.A. Subbaiah were also present along with coach Dhirender Singh and COPS Principal Benny Kuriakose.
School Head Boy ChehulChinnappa welcomed the gathering. School Head Girl D.R. Gowri proposed a vote of thanks.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Sports / February 24th, 2019
The office-bearers of Kodava Samaja Cultural and Sports Club, Mysuru, greeting the new City Police Commissioner K.T. Balakrishna at his office recently.
Seen are (from left) Nayakanda Thimmaiah – Advisor to the Club, Kuttimada Muthappa – Vice-President, Meederira Prakash – Joint Secretary, Mechanda M. Karumbaiah former President of Kodava Samaja and Club, Machimada P. Nanaiah – President of the Club, Muckatira Jeevan – Treasurer of Kodava Samaja, Prof. Kambayanda C. Belliappa – Vice President of Kodava Samaja and Malchira Ponnappa – Hon. Secretary of Kodava Samaja, Mysuru.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> News / February 17th, 2019
The event, which has even entered the Limca Book of Records, is being organised by Kodavas for 22 years.
Madikeri :
The highly anticipated annual Kodava Hockey Tournament, which was to be cancelled this year following the suffering caused to people due to the floods in Kodagu, will be held as usual, albeit in a modest manner.
The event, which has even entered the Limca Book of Records, is being organised by Kodavas for 22 years. It started with a handful of families, and attracted fame and popularity with a record-breaking participation of 334 families in last year’s Kulletira Hockey Cup.
Though the tournament was proposed to be cancelled, the tradition was sought to be kept alive. So, Kodava families approached the Coorg Hockey Association to continue the legacy though not in its usual glory.
“The cost of the tournament will be under `20 lakh,” said association secretary B Chengappa, ex-international player.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Karnataka / by Express News Service / February 19th, 2019
Indian tennis star Rohan Bopanna has blamed the system for not producing quality players and demanded more tournaments in the country itself.
Bopanna, who had bad outings in the both the categories (men’s and mixed doubles) in the ongoing Australia Open here, also said the country needs to have more academies and strong grassroots programmes to produce more tennis players.
“We dont have system in place to generate that many of players. And not only the system but we need to have tournaments in India. We have only one ATP tournament and two challengers in India which is not enough. If you look at Europe or USA, they have 25 to 30 weeks of just tournaments alone which makes a difference,” Bopanna told IANS.
“Tennis is an expensive sport so to travel constantly week and week out is tough. If each state in India has a one challenger tournament then you can travel only in india and make international points and that way we build constantly nUmber of athletes travelling and getting the sport and rankings high,” he added.
“First we have to start with the system then with tournaments then obviously to have good academies in place. So that entire system once that comes into play we will have more player coming out of it.”
Bopanna, who had paired up with Zhaoxuan Yang, went down 6-3, 3-6, 6-10 to Robert Farah and Anna-Lena Groenefeld in the opening match of the mixed doubles category at the Australian Open recently.
In the men’s doubles category, Bopanna has paired up with fellow Indian Divij Sharan and lost his opening round match to the Spanish pair of Pablo Carreño Busta and Guillermo Garcoa-Lupez.
Divij is a left handed player and Bopanna has paired up with him for he first time. The had won the Maharashtra Open but could not continue the momentum in the first Grand Slam of the year.
“Nothing went wrong in this tournament. I have to give credit to the opponents who is playing in this circuit for such a long time so they are more experienced than us,” Bopanna said.
“Yes we were seeded higher but if you look at the experience in the grand Slams our opponents were more experienced than us.
For me playing with the left-hander is something new this time and it takes time to build a partnership and that what we are working on as a team,” he added.
India will host Italy on grass court in the qualifiers for the Davis Cup in Kolkata next month. Taking bout the tie, Bopanna said the tie against Italy will be tough but the new format might help India.
According to the new rules, the tie have been cut from three days to two and each rubber will be decided over three sets, down from the earlier five.
“The Davis cup tie is very very tough tie because the Italians have four or five players in the top 100 which makes a big difference which we don’t have anyone currently. Yes after this week Prajnesh(Gunneswaran) might come into the top 100 but apart from this they still have a lot more top players,” he said.
“So we will surely going to have a tough tie against them but having new format of best of three sets I think we do have a chance.”
(Gaurav Sharma can be contacted at gaurav.sharma@ians.in)
source: http://www.newkerala.com / NewKerala.com / Home> News> World Sports News / IANS / January 22nd, 2019
Indian Ambassador Munu Mahawar presented a number of awards, including a special hockey stick to Naqvi for his contributions to promoting hockey in the Sultanate.
Muscat:
India’s 70th Republic celebrations kicked off in Muscat with a hockey festival held at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Bausher.
S.A.S Naqvi, former technical adviser of the Oman Olympic Committee and organiser of the event, said, “As it will be the 70th Republic Day of India, to commemorate this national event, we held two hockey cups: the Ambassador Cup, in which school teams competed, and the Republic Day of India Cup, where the Oman Veterans Team and expat Team Coorg competed.”
The Chief Guest of the tournament was Indian Ambassador Munu Mahawar, who was joined by Guests of Honour Kiran Asher, Group Managing Director of Al Ansari Group, and Captain Talib Al Wahaibi, Chairman of the Oman Hockey Association.
Team Coorg Muscat claimed victory in the Republic Day Cup, beating the Oman Veterans in a hotly contested match.
Naqvi said, “Team Coorg Muscat won the Republic Day Cup by edging out the Oman Veterans 3-1.” The Ambassador Cup was played in two categories: one for the boys’ teams and one for the girls. The winners of the cup this year were Indian School Al Seeb and Indian School Maabela, who both won their final matches on penalties.
Al Wahaibi said, “It was great and entertaining hockey and I am very grateful to Team Coorg and to the embassy for hosting these events for the youngsters every year. It was great and I really enjoyed it.” According to Naqvi, “The school teams of Al Seeb and Maabela won the Ambassador Cup. Another highlight was the Indian School Wadi Kabir Musical Band, which included 100 boys and girls.”
After the tournament, Mahawar presented a number of awards, including a special hockey stick to Naqvi for his contributions in promoting the game of hockey.
A number of events are being held across Oman in the run-up to Republic Day, culminating in a flag-hoisting event at the Indian Embassy in Muscat.
In an announcement published on Twitter, the embassy said, “Members of the Indian community in Oman are invited to join a flag hoisting ceremony at the embassy premises in celebration of the 70th Republic Day of India. Date & time: 26 January 2019 at 08.30 hrs. Please arrive by 08.15 hrs.”
“Please carry [a] resident card and a copy of the uploaded invitation,” the statement added.
source: http://www.timesofoman.com / Times of Oman / Home / by Times News Service / January 20th, 2019
Karnataka cricketer and Bigg Boss Kannada Season-3 contestant Neravanda Chetticha Aiyappa, aka N.C. Aiyappa, got hitched to actress Anusha (Anu) Poovamma yesterday. The couple had a typical ‘Kodava’ wedding at Kodava Samaja in the town.
Anusha Poovamma is a well- known actress, who has acted in some Kannada movies. She is currently seen playing the role of ‘Aishwarya’ in the popular Kannada serial ‘Muddulakshmi’. Aiyappa, on the other hand, is the younger brother of popular South Indian actress Prema.
Aiyappa is the son of Neravanda Chetticha and Cauvery of Kumbaladalu village while Anusha is the daughter of Maletira late Chinnappa and Pushpa of Kedamullur village.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> News / January 21st, 2019
In an interview to GQ India the doubles player Rohan Bopanna revealed who has been his biggest idol in life. Bopanna picked the six-time Major winner Stefan Edberg not only for his on-court successes but behaviour as well.
“I had the opportunity to meet him, and he was just as I’d imagined him to be”, confessed Bopanna. “Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and I we were playing against Roger Federer and Stanley Wawrinka [in 2014], and Stefan Edberg happened to be coaching Roger Federer.
He happened to be sitting in the box obviously, watching Federer. It was crazy – I couldn’t have imagined playing against some of the best tennis players in the world, and then having your idol watch the match.”
Bopanna also revealed he changed his eating regime in recent times: “I did a food intolerance test in India, which showed that my yeast intolerance was very high. So I’ve completely stopped having bread; it’s been about two years now.
Perhaps before a match, I’ll have fish and white rice, which gives me the energy I need. While playing, I’ll have a banana and you need electrolytes and water of course – especially when it’s hot. Otherwise, I keep things as simple as possible.
Fitness wise, I travel with my trainer, and that’s made a huge difference in terms of stretching at the right time, cooling down – especially as you get older and recovery becomes more important.”
source: http://www.tennisworldusa.org / Tennis World / Home> Tennis News> Roger Federer / by Luigi Gatto / January 28th, 2019
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