Kerala loses in Vijay Merchant cricket

Kochi: Kerala’s dream run was halted in the first stage of the knockout phase when Odisha crushed them by an innings and 12 runs in their Vijay Merchant Trophy under-16 cricket match in Mumbai on Saturday.

Going into the fourth and final day, Kerala were on the verge of defeat at 120 for 7 and it took less than six overs for Odisha to strike down the remaining batsmen with only five runs added to the total.

H.P. Rathore bagged a five-for while skipper Subham Nayak finished with 4 for 67 and Prem Sagar remained unbeaten on 55 for Kerala.

Brief scores: Kerala 186 in 76.3 overs (Unnimon 42, Rohan 34, Subham 5/57, Rathore 3/38) & 125 in 51 overs (Prem Sagar 55, Rathore 5/34, Subham 4/67) lost to Odisha 323 in 160.4 overs (Sabat 111, Samal 58, Rathore 33 not out, Safwan 3/57, Sijomon 3/77, Fanoos 3/91)

SRV to face Sree Narayana in final

Kochi: SRV hss Ernakulam and Sree Narayana Secondary School Thrikkanarvattom reached the Phase I final of MAT mini inter-school football championship in Aluva on Saturday.

Rahul P. Anil scored a brace as SN defeated Government Boys HSS Aluva 2-1 in the first semifinal.

Rahul opened the scoring in the sixth minute and then struck again two minutes later for SN while striker Jithin George scored the only goal for the Government boys in the 26th minute.

In the second semifinal, SRV won 2-1 against Government Vocational hss Chalakudy with Abin Sijo netting a second half winner. Febin Baby’s eighth minute opener for SRV was cancelled out by Mohammed Parakkattil in the 27th minute.

President’s off to flyer in T20 meet

Kochi: Hosts President’s CC posted a 27-run victory over Wadakancherry CC in the opening match of the President’s Trophy all Kerala T20 cricket tournament at Perinthalmanna on Saturday.
President’s CC scored 139 for 8, with Sudheesh scoring 38 runs and in reply, Wadakancherry were bowled out for 111. In another match, NCA Nilambur won by three wickets against Parappanangadi CC. Nilambur chased down their target of 100 runs in the final over.

Brief scores: President’s CC 139/8 in 20 overs (Sudheesh 38, Francis 3/21) bt Wadakancherry 111 in 18 overs (Amal 33, Saurav 31, Jaseer 3/23). Parappanangadi 99 in 17 overs (Mansoor 3/14, Kabeer 3/10) lost to Nilambur 103/7 in 19.4 overs (Sajeesh 32, Syed 28 not out).

Mogral in club football last 16

Kochi: Mohammed Salih scored a brace as Mogral FC Kasargod drubbed Thirumullavaram FC Kollam 4-0 to reach the pre-quarterfinals of the state inter-club football championship at the Government Boys High School in Vadakkanchery on Saturday.

The striker, who opened the scoring in the fifth minute got his second in the 36th minute. Mohammed Aifas added a third in the 75th minute and Noushad K. struck the final goal just before the final whistle.

Mogral will face either KSEB, Thiruvananthapuram or Frontline Bathery in their Round of 16 match. Defending champions AG’s Office, and Kochi-based second division club Golden Threads FC play the third quarterfinal of the championship on Sunday.

‘Ammu’ on textbooks

DC CORRESPONDENT

Kochi: Kerala hopes to host the 35th national games this year and any promotional activities for the mega event will be void without the involvement of children.

Luckily, the national games secretariat has made a wise move by taking the message of national games to schools throughout the state through its mascot ‘Ammu’ the hornbill. The state education department has decided to introduce school textbooks with ‘Ammu’ image in the coming academic year in order to generate awareness about the games.

Education minister Abdu Rabb made the announcement and SCERT, the body entrusted with the preparation of the textbooks has been directed to implement the necessary changes. The mascot will carry the message — ‘health, discipline and pride’ through play.

As a prelude to the event a drama with ‘Ammu’ as central character has already been staged in over 50 schools in the state. In the coming weeks, the drama will be played at schools in Ernakulam and Malappuram districts.

Eagles soar into quarters

Eagles FC knocked out Central Excise 4-2 on penalties to cruise into the semi-finals of the state inter-club football championship at Wadakancherry on Friday night.

Goalkeeper Midhun saved one and a wayward shot from Excise proved to be the difference. Bishijith, Vijay Dias and Anil P.C. converted their spot kicks to secure Eagles’ passage to the quarters.

Earlier, disbelief had set in after Bishjith Saha scored an injury time equaliser for the Stanley Rozario side that shattered the Excise spirits as it finished 1-1 in normal time. The department team had defended with grit for majority of the match despite being down to 10 men after Sajin was sent-off for a second booking as early as the 29th minute.

Muneer who later scored the only penalty for Excise was also their scorer in regulation time when he put them ahead just three minutes into the second half, though in vain.