Indian Sports and Entertainment Industry

Vipul · Post by **Vipul** » 08 Dec 2015 06:22

^^^^Badminton League auction.

Leading stars Saina Nehwal and Lee Chong Wei (World No 4) emerged as the costliest buys at the auction of the Premier Badminton League. While Nehwal was picked up by Awadh Warriors, Wei was bought by Hyderabad Hunters, both for a whooping $100,000. Other top buys included PV Sindhu, who was bought by Chennai Smashers for $95,000, while K Srikanth was bought for $80,000 by Bangalore Top Guns. Tommy Sugiarto, H S Prannoy and Tanongsak Saensomboosuk were the other top buys. Akhilesh Das Gupta, President of Badminton Association of India President & PBL Chairman said: “The League has attained a unique position in the world of Badminton. The increasing choice of opting for younger player is an indication that the teams are keen to experiment with fresh talent.”

Supratik · Post by **Supratik** » 08 Dec 2015 17:43

Yes, most of the Indian hockey players now are well built guys. Good to know that the badminton league will start again. The wrestling buys were in the range of 30-40 lakhs. Apparently (need confirmation) both the hockey and wrestling leagues are the richest in the world in these sports.

Supratik · Post by **Supratik** » 08 Dec 2015 18:56

And badminton.

Bhurishrava · Post by **Bhurishrava** » 09 Dec 2015 19:01

Srikanth has lost all confidence. It was sad to see him lose to Kento Momota so tamely today.
The fault is his coach`s. He is a very good player but is being completely wasted.

Supratik · Post by **Supratik** » 09 Dec 2015 20:02

Given the frequency of international competition in badminton it is very hard to compete continuously against top ranked players. Both Srikanth and Sindhu don't have that level of fitness and intensity yet.

Bhurishrava · Post by **Bhurishrava** » 09 Dec 2015 22:32

I disagree. Particularly in case of Srikanth. His problem is mental and not physical.

Last year after beating Lin Dan he was high on confidence and was playing amazing badminton in the same Dubai tournament. He ripped apart Sugiarto like a kid. This year he has lost to Sugiarto twice.

In the last 5 tournaments he has lost 4 times in the first round. So it is not fatigue. Also he is super fit and has got really powerful smashes.
Today, in the first game he was not attacking at all. Then he did start attacking in the second game but fell apart after giving away some loose points. He has lost his confidence. He was not picking the slow and inaccurate smashes of Momota today in the first game because he was expecting harder and more accurate smashes. That happens when you are playing tentatively and think your opponent is so much better.
Someone needs to tell him to go back to his attacking game and to enjoy rather than worrying about winning or loosing. There is nothing like a confident player. All his strokeplay will be useless if he has lost on that part of the game.

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 09 Dec 2015 23:01

Srikanth's USP was his all out attacking deception game. Someone seems to have told him to tone down the attacking and 'play percentage game'. This is quite a stupid thing to do to someone with natural genius like him. In last year's China Open, he made Lin Dan look silly multiple times, even though people would argue Lin Dan wasn't in top physical shape then.

Now he looks like a guy playing with a scrambled head. He needs a good coach to step up and unclutter his mind. The change will be dramatic. He was among the 2-3 who were the best after the world #1. Now he's barely top 10 material.

Vikas · Post by **Vikas** » 10 Dec 2015 16:18

Sushil Kumar has withdrawn from Pro Wrestling League fearing injury.

Bhurishrava · Post by **Bhurishrava** » 10 Dec 2015 16:28

Srikanth lost again. He has been losing to players whom he easily beat previously. That includes Momota, Axelsen etc.

I am beginning to wonder about Gopi`s ability as a coach now if he cant manage a supreme talent like Srikanth. Not to speak of Srikanth`s own mental strength. This is going to prevent him from winning All Englands and Olympic medals.

.

Supratik · Post by **Supratik** » 10 Dec 2015 17:48

Is Gopichand still his coach? I saw a Indonesian or Malaysian looking guy coaching him in the Indonesian masters.

Supratik · Post by **Supratik** » 10 Dec 2015 20:34

Saina beats Carolina. She is starting to use more attack with her solid defense after she switched to Vimal Kumar and she is getting results. With some aggression both Carolina and Li Xurei are defeatable. This will do her confidence good.

Supratik · Post by **Supratik** » 10 Dec 2015 20:47

The sudden fall in form for Srikanth occurred after he returned from injury. I wonder whether he has been advised to curtail aggression to spare him from injury. Maybe his body is unable to take it. Otherwise I am unable to explain the discrepancy in his game.

Bhurishrava · Post by **Bhurishrava** » 11 Dec 2015 00:50

Srikanth has not had any major injury issues. He has played in all the 12 super series this year.
Its a confidence issue. He is taking too much pressure on himself. The 4th rank means he is expected to win tournaments and he is not doing that. The failure is compounding his issues. In mens singles the margin of error is very small.
He was a much better player when he was unseeded and beat jorgensen in the first round of Indian open. Same when he beat Lin Dan. Now that he is expected to win, he is unable to cope.

member_28911 · Post by **member_28911** » 11 Dec 2015 16:51

Indian cyclist Deborah Herold makes history with 4th place ranking

negi · Post by **negi** » 12 Dec 2015 17:14

Srikanth needs a world class support system that is what is between us and the Chinese now ; his game is right up there but unlike the Chinese we have babudom in sports . The Chinese spend lot of resources into every aspect of the game , video analysis of rest of the field , nutrition, strength training (check out the legs of new crops of players like Chen Long , these guys will be able to jump at least 4 feet high from a stand still position with ease ). So a couple of days back Srikanth lost to Viktor Axelsen another rising Dutch who will surely surpass likes of Peter Gade in achievements , that match was very close and Srikanth lost some points due to mistakes and not because opponent hit too many winners.

SBajwa · Post by **SBajwa** » 12 Dec 2015 17:22

Gowda qualifies for the Discus throw for Olympics!

Kakkaji · Post by **Kakkaji** » 26 Dec 2015 06:27

In 2016, Soccer, kabaddi & tennis leagues to offer tempting choice other than cricket

ISL along with Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) and International Premier Tennis League (ITPL), which have all just concluded the second season, offer the Indian sports fan a tempting choice other than cricket. Cracking a second season is no mean feat because the success of the first edition of a tournament is often a product of the hype organisers create around it.

ISL's television viewership in 2015 increased 26% from a year ago. With an average attendance of 27,090, ISL is now the third highest attended league in the world after the Bundesliga and English Premier League. PKL had 20% more viewers in the second season, according to data from broadcaster Star. At this year's India leg of IPTL, which has an impressive array of tennis superstars such as Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray, around 14,000 people crammed the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in Delhi.

India's obsession with cricket will not wane anytime soon, but Indians finally have other sporting sporting events to obsess about. If the past two years were about setting the stage for bigtime sports action in India, the year 2016 will be about staging bigger sporting action.

From the third edition of PKL in 2016, the organisers have actually decided to hold two seasons a year — in January and July.

Sanjay Gupta, chief operating officer of Star India, says in football and kabaddi, brands have seen the power of sports play out and hence are far more open to sponsoring. "That's a big shift in India."

Supratik · Post by **Supratik** » 26 Dec 2015 08:09

Instead of two kabbadi league sessions it will be better to hold leagues for other sports like boxing, basketball, volleyball, etc. Otherwise it will be overkill of kabbadi.

Vipul · Post by **Vipul** » 07 Jan 2016 22:14

Siril Verma and Chirag Sen ranked world No 1 and No 3 in junior men's singles category.

Kakkaji · Post by **Kakkaji** » 24 Jan 2016 10:20

Rio Olympics: How a bunch of entrepreneurs is trying to improve India's abysmal record in sports

Supratik · Post by **Supratik** » 24 Jan 2016 13:13

Sindhu wins Malaysian Masters Grand Prix.

SBajwa · Post by **SBajwa** » 28 Jan 2016 22:39

Heena Sidhu wins Gold in shooting and gets birth to Rio olympics (9th Indian to qualify for shooting)

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 29 Jan 2016 00:08

SBajwa wrote:Heena Sidhu wins Gold in shooting and gets birth to Rio olympics (9th Indian to qualify for shooting)

She won the gold in the earlier Asian shooting championship in Kuwait in November too. But that event lost its Rio qualification eligibility because they barred Israelis from taking part. So the Delhi event was held, and she just won the gold all over again.

Vijay Kumar, the London silver medalist, missed out on a quota spot. He was leading after qualifications but finished 5th in the final.

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 29 Jan 2016 11:59

Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis win Australian Open as well, after winning Wimbledon and US Open last year. 3 grand slams in a row for them.

Vipul · Post by **Vipul** » 29 Jan 2016 19:07

Good day for India in Australia. Men and Women Cricket team clinch T20 series against the Australians and India wins in the womens doubles final at the Australian Open.

Supratik · Post by **Supratik** » 29 Jan 2016 21:15

Unfortunately there is no one to partner Sania in the Olympics women's doubles.

Yayavar · Post by **Yayavar** » 29 Jan 2016 21:26

yeah... might have to focus on mixed doubles if the internal feuds has not source Paes/Bhupati to Sania relations.

Ankit Desai · Post by **Ankit Desai** » 29 Jan 2016 22:17

Ayonika Paul and kaynan chenai also won Olympic quota.

-Ankit

NRao · Post by **NRao** » 29 Jan 2016 22:54

Kakkaji wrote:Rio Olympics: How a bunch of entrepreneurs is trying to improve India's abysmal record in sports

Very interesting article.

Was part of the soccer Olympic Develop Program (ODP) in the US. It is a feeder system that starts at the grass roots and feeds into the US Olympic Team (Women). Plenty of politics - Brazilians vs. Argentinians vs. Russians vs. Ukrainians vs etc. And, this was in late 90s!!!!

The game plan was based on a 12 year cycle. So, a cycle started 12 years prior to a World Cup/Olympic event - typically 8-12 year old kids, younger the better.

Not a perfect system, but it works. The city I am from has produced two Olympians in soccer (from the same high school, in fact) and a third opted to represent the nation in basketball (from a neighboring high school).

But, very, very glad to see people trying to improve the Indian record. Chase the dream.

SBajwa · Post by **SBajwa** » 02 Feb 2016 18:09

Shooter Sanjeev Rajput on Tuesday secured his spot for this year's Rio Olympics after finishing fourth in the men's 50m three-position rifle category at the Asian qualifiers in New Delhi at the Karni Singh Shooting Range. The 12th shooting person to qualify for Olympics.

Supratik · Post by **Supratik** » 02 Feb 2016 18:44

They are not doing as well as they did in Kuwait.

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 02 Feb 2016 20:43

The two events are hard to compare. Many of our Kuwait event medals were from juniors. We sent 11 shooters to London 2012. We already have 12 places in Rio now, and we also have better medal contenders than London, where Bindra and Narang were our primary options, though Vijay Kumar gained a surprise silver. This time we could potentially medal from the womens contingent from either Apurvi Chandela, Heena Sidhu or Ayonika Paul, in addition to potential medals from Jitu Rai and the rifle shooters among men. The shotgun kid seems too young to perform well, but Indian shooters have surprised at the world stage lately.

Vipul · Post by **Vipul** » 08 Feb 2016 18:23

Paki Squash Player tries her pakiness but still ends up losing to in the squash final of the SAG games.

Chinappa said she did not enjoy playing the match as her opponent was "very aggressive" and "not playing fair".

The women's final match had all the drama which was witnessed during the men's semifinals with Chinappa expressing unhappiness to the match officials with the "aggressive" play of Wazir who was seen as trying to be a bit physical with the top-ranked Indian.

"I am a kind of player who plays fair, without these interfering and blocking etc. Doing all these is not nice for the spectators and also for the game," she added.

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 26 Feb 2016 04:55

India made it to the semifinal of the Asian Team Badminton Championships in the men's category. Shocked the top seeded Chinese, and Singapore in group round, then beat Malaysia in the Quarterfinals, and lost to Indonesia in the semifinals. We were missing Kashyap, but Srikanth seems to have woken up, and won all his matches - including against top 10 players Tian Houwei (China) and Tommy Sugiarto (Indonesia). Lack of a second strong singles player in Kashyap's absence was felt - Jayaram and Prannoy played well, but are not yet as good. Jayaram's win against the much strong Wang Zhengming was a highlight of the win against China. Indonesia has a very strong doubles team and that made the difference in the semifinal.

The women lost in the quarters against Korea. Saina did not play either, and the Koreans are much more powerful in doubles; Gutta/Ponnappa are no longer as good as they were.

The top 4 teams from the Asian championship makes it to the Thomas Cup, so India once again qualifies for that event this year. For the first time in a while, India qualifies for both the Thomas Cup and Uber Cup without being the host, and not only that, we're seeded in the top 8 in both.

The last time India won a medal in the Asian Team level was in 1986, a full 30 years ago.

SBajwa · Post by **SBajwa** » 29 Feb 2016 23:05

http://www.rediff.com/sports/report/afi ... 160229.htm

ndia was deprived of at least three medals at the Asian Cross Country Championships in Bahrain due to an apparent goof-up by the Athletics Federation of India which did not field the required number of participants to be considered for team standings.

India fielded three athletes each in senior men, senior women, junior men and junior women categories in the championships and except in case of the first, the country should have won a team bronze each in the remaining three as they secured the third highest aggregate points.

But strangely, India did not get any medal in the championships held in Manama.

Sources told PTI this was due to the reason that each country was to field four runners in each event though only the top three would be considered for counting of aggregate points for team results. India fielded only three runners in each event.

Points are counted according to the position of each runner like one point for the winner, two for the second-place finisher and three for the third. The team which gets the lowest aggregate point will get the gold and so on.

When contacted, AFI President Adille Sumiriwalla said that he was in a meeting while Chief Operating Officer Manish Kumar did not respond after initially saying that he would give reasons why India did not get three bronze.

"It was clear from the (individual) results sheet of Asian Athletics Association that India should get three team bronze but will tell you later the reason why it was not so," he told PTI. He did not clarify why India did not get the medals.

In the senior women's category, Bahrain runners grabbed all the three podium positions while India's Sanjivani Jadhav, Swati Gadhave and Manisha Salunkhe finished 7th, 10th and 17th.

This should have got India 34 (7+10+17) points in the team standings behind Bahrain (1+2+3=6 points), whose runners took the top three spots, and China (32 points) -- whose three runners finished 8th, 11th and 13th. But only Bahrain and China were handed gold and silver respectively.

In the junior men's category, Bahrain took the team gold as their runners took all the three top places and Japan got the silver as they secured 15 aggregate points (4+5+6) as their three runners finished fourth, fifth and sixth.

India should have got a bronze with 29 points (8+10+11)as Kisan Narshi Tadvi, Ansar Imam Dargiwale and Anil Kumar Yadav finished 8th, 10th and 11th respectively. Instead, Iran, who secured 49 points (12+17+20), was declared bronze winner.

The same was the case in junior women's category as Bahrain won the gold with eight points as their three runners finished first, second and fifth. Japan got the bronze with 13 points (3+4+6) as their three runners finished third, fourth and sixth.

India should have earned a bronze as their aggregate point was 49 (11+12+16) as Arati Dattaray, Nandini Gupta and Sudha Pal finished 11th, 12th and 16th. But Jordan, who got 50 aggregate points, was awarded the bronze as it fielded four runners while only three Indians took part in the event and their points were not counted for team results.

Vipul · Post by **Vipul** » 04 Mar 2016 04:21

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal earn more than Kohli, Dhoni in an IPTL season.

There is a perception that Indian cricketers are the highest paid sportspersons across the eight domestic leagues in the country. But this notion has been dispelled by a Research Services Agency, Super Insight, which in its document titled 'Indian Sports Salaries Report 2016', has claimed that tennis legends Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal alone earn double than Indian ODI skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni or Indian Test captain Virat Kohli for playing in just one season of the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL).

Not only this, Pro Wrestling League (PWL) is the most watched league in India in terms of the TRP ratings followed by the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL), and not the Indian Premier League (IPL).

London Olympic bronze medallist wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt commands the highest advertisement value for a 60-second spot during the leagues at Rs 1.65 lakh per minute, surpassing the likes of cricketer Yuvraj Singh, who earns Rs 1.01 lakh per minute in the IPL followed by Kohli, Dhoni and Suresh Raina (Rs75,000 per minute).

Out of Rs823 crore salaries paid to players in the IPL, IPTL, PWL, PKL, Indian Super League (ISL), Hockey India League (HIL), Premier Badminton League (PBL) and Champions Tennis League (CTL) in India, the domestic players earn just Rs 296 crore as compared to their foreign counterparts, who get a whopping Rs527 crore by featuring in these leagues.

A total of 857 players, 521 Indian and 336 foreign, play in the eight leagues. The Rs1,100 crore ($162 million), earmarked for players' salaries by the eight leagues, is 75 per cent of India's total sports budget.

According to the report, Federer and Nadal are the highest earning players with Rs 26 crore each for playing in the IPTL. While Federer or Nadal's individual earning from IPTL is equal to what all the players in the HIL draw as salaries, if the income of the two taken combined, then also it will be more than that of all players' salaries in PBL, PKL and PWL and HIL. The IPTL's average pay out per player is Rs 5.5 crore, while IPL's is Rs 2.5 crore.

Overall, Indian players rank 36 on the average pay out amongst the players from 73 countries playing in eight leagues. The 169 players considered for this report across the eight IPL teams in 2014-15 earned Rs419.5 crore between them at an average of Rs 2.48 crore per player.

India (44 %) is followed by Australia (11 %), South Africa (6 %), and Switzerland (5 %) as the highest earning countries sending players for playing in the Indian leagues.

The report has been prepared after comprehensively analysing the various sports leagues in India, the cost benefit analysis on players' acquisition deals, the comparative analysis of eight leagues and undertaking valuation of the franchises and leagues.

Vipul · Post by **Vipul** » 10 Mar 2016 18:15

All England Championships: Sai Praneeth stuns Lee Chong Wei.

Supratik · Post by **Supratik** » 10 Mar 2016 20:15

Sindhu's bad form continues. Apparently she lost even in the SAF games finals to a young Indian girl called Ruthvika Shivani.

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 11 Mar 2016 01:14

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wc3AjvxmxFw

Excellent performance by Sai Praneeth against Lee Chong Wei, who has won All England thrice and has exchanged the world #1 ranking with Lin Dan several times.

KJo · Post by **KJo** » 11 Mar 2016 02:50

Praneeth has lost to H-K Vittinghus.