Santosh Trophy

May 30 Results:
Delhi beat Tripura 2-0, Haryana beat Assam 3-1, Sikkim beat Chandigarh 3-1, Tamil Nadu drew Bihar 2-2, Karnataka beat Uttar Pradesh 3-0, Railways beat Chhattisgarh 3-0
Sikkim beat Chandigarh 3-1 at Maulana Azad Stadium at Jammu. The match was a mere formality as both the teams had been out of contention for a Pre-quarterfinal berth from Cluster I.
Chandigarh opened the score through Gopal Thapa in the 13th minute which was equalised by Bikas Jairu six minutes later. C Subba added another in the 84th minute and Bikas Jairu completed a brace in the injury time of the second half to seal the match 3-1 in favour of Sikkim.
Delhi defeated Tripura 2-0 in a Cluster III match to set up a Pre-quarterfinal clash with Hosts J&K. Delhi scored through Praveen Rawat in the 18th minute and made it 2-0 in the 33rd minute through G.Kamesh.
Haryana defeated Assam 3-1 in a close encounter to advance to Pre-quarterfinal stage from Cluster VI and will play Karnataka in the pre-quarterfinals.
Assam opened the score in the 5th minute through Gulidum Bongmei, which was equalised by L Thoiba Singh the 40th minute. Haryana increased the lead through Jatinder in the 74th min while Thoiba scored his second goal in the last minute to make it 3-1 for Haryana.

SAFF Cup football

Five northeastern players in India squad:
Baichung Bhutia, Potsangbam Renedy Singh, Bungo Singh, Moirangthem Gouramangi Singh and Sushil Kumar Singh were named in the India squad for the SAFF Cup football championship in Maldives and Sri Lanka to b eheld from June 3-14.
Regular India defender Surkumar Singh, who injured himself in India's second friendly against Chinese Taipei on May 27 in Chennai, had to miss out.
The Squad:
Goalkeepers: K Subrata Paul, Subhashish Roy Chowdhary. Defenders: Mahesh Gawli, Gouramangi Singh, Deepak Mondal, N S Manju, Anwar Ali, Sameer Naik. Midfielders: Steven Dias, Climax Lawrence, N P Pradeep, Bungo Singh, Mehrajuddin Wadoo, Renedy Singh, KuttimaniForwards: Baichung Bhutia (Capt), Sunil Chhetri, Manjit Singh, Abhishek Yadav, Sushil Kumar Singh

Vision India

AFC pats Manipur on football development:
Kuala Lumpur: AFC General Secretary Dato’ Paul Mony Samuel has congratulated the All Manipur Football Association (AMFA) for another successful football season of the Manipur State League.
“I would also like to congratulate Thangmeiband’s NISA club for their impressive title run in only their first season in the league,” he said.
“I am delighted that Manipur State League, launched under AFC’s Vision India programme in 2006, has witnessed tremendous growth in quality of the game and standards of the clubs.”
“With strong commitment and leadership of AMFA, the Manipur State League has become a model of success and one that needs to be emulated in many states across India,” he said.
He said the successes of state and schools league will inspire the AMFA to launch an under-14 club youth league this year.
“I am confident that the success of these leagues will inspire the association to launch a youth league this year,” he added.
Source: Asian Football Confederation

Bayern Munich vs Mohun Bagan

German coach Hitzfeld Praises Lalwampuia:
Kolkata: Bayern Munich coach Ottmar Hitzfeld picked out Lalwampuia, Lal Kamal Bhowmick and Ishfaq Ahmed and amongst those who shined from the Mohun Bagan side in May 27 match against the German giants.
“They played well and were certainly better than the Indonesian team which we took on a few days ago.
“It’s difficult on judge the players after seeing them for only one game but Bagan’s number seven (Lal Kamal), nine (Lalwampuia) and 11 (Ishfaq) played well and seem to be good players.”
The 60-year-old ended his second stint with Bayern last evening and said, “It was an emotional match and it was not only my farewell but Oliver Kahn’s. It is great that it took place in Kolkata.”
Hitzfeld who would now join the Swiss national team didn’t have much to say on the sending off incident involving Bayern’s Breno and Bagan’s Cardozo.
“I was very far away so I cannot comment on the incident.”

SAFF Cup

Surkumar ruled out:

Kolkata: Defender Surkumar Singh, who pulled a hamstring in the second friendly against Chinese Taipei on Tuesday, has been ruled out of the SAFF Championship in Maldives and Sri Lanka.
According to AIFF sources, though the national coach Bob Houghton is keeping his fingers crossed, the Manipuri, who plays for East Bengal, will be kept out of the SAFF squad.

“Houghton would take a decision only on Thursday. He hasn’t announced his final team yet.”
Surkumar’s injury could further weaken India’s defence. Houghton has been forced to shift Deepak Mondal to the left back position because of N.S. Manju’s injury. With Surkumar unavailable, Samir Naik or Syed Rahim Nabi might find a place in the side.
India play Nepal in the first match on June 4.

Santosh Trophy

May 28 Results:
Sikkim beat Bihar 5-1, Assam drew Madhya Pradesh 0-0, Mizoram drew Railways 1-1, Tamil Nadu beat Chandigarh 2-0, Jharkhand beat Uttar Pradesh 3-2.

Assamese Creates Tennis History in United States

Somdev Dev Varman wins 2nd consecutive NCAA singles title:
Oklahama (USA), May 27: Assamese origin Indian tennis star Somdev Dev Varman created history on Monday (May 27) by winning his second consecutive National Collegiate Athletic Association singles title with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over J P Smith in the final.
Dev Varman, who made his Davis Cup debut in February in India vs Uzbekistan tie in New Delhi, cruised to victory in under an hour to become the first Indian and only the 13th player in the US collegiate tournament's 124-year history to win consecutive titles. He is just the fourth player to do so in the last 50 years.
He joins a band of players including Georgia's Mikael Pernfors (1984 and 1985) and Matias Boeker (2001 and 2002) to win consecutive NCAA singles title since the 64-player tournament format was adopted in 1977.
Dev Varman, who made his Davis Cup debut for India in February, defeated the 6 feet 9 inches John Isner in last year's final for the NCAA championships.
He becomes the first player since Dennis Ralston (1963 and 1964) to win consecutive titles without winning at least one of them on his home courts. He also joins Sargin Sargsian (1995) and Benjamin Kohlloeffel (2006) as the only players to win the ITA National indoor singles championship and NCAA singles championship in the same season. The win was his 18th career NCAA singles tournament victory, extending his record for most in the current tournament format.
"There was a little bit of a different feel this year than last year," Dev Varman was quoted as saying on the NCAA Web site.
"Last year there was a bigger crowd and it was No 1 vs No 2 instead of No 1 vs an unseeded player. But that didn't change how I prepared for the match. I was focused and played well."
The final turned out to be an easy outing for the Indian as he broke the unseeded Smith in the eighth game of the first set before serving it out 6-3. He broke Smith twice in the second set to go up 3-0 before closing out the match 6-3, 6-2.
Dev Varman ends the season with a 44-1 singles record, tying the record for wins in a season he set a year before. He is believed to be the first NCAA singles champion to finish the season with one or fewer losses since Jimmy Connors went undefeated in 1971.
The youngster -- winner of the the first India Abroad Award for Youth Achievement this year -- ends his college career with a 158-27 career singles record, setting the school record for career victories.
"To end my career like this is very special. I wasn't just playing for myself, I was playing for Virginia for the last time. I was playing for my teammates and my coaches too. The loss in the team tournament was so hard to take, but this was the best way to try to cheer everyone up a little bit," he said.
Source: www. rediff.com

Devvarman repeats as NCAA tennis champion:

India vs Chinese Taipei Friendly

Four Manipuris in India first XI:

Irungbam Surkumar Singh, Moirangthem Gourmangi Singh, Bungo Singh and Potsangbam Renedy Singh took the field in India's second and final friendly match against Chinese Taipei on May 27 in the run up to the June 3-14 SAFF Cup in Maldives and Sri Lanka.

The match ended 2-2 draw.
N. P. Pradeep scored both the goals for India in the .

In the first friendly against the same opponents on May 24, there were five Manipuris with young striker Sushil Kumar Singh taking field along with Surkumar, Gouramangi, Bungo and Renedy.

India Squad on May 27: Subrata Pal, Mahesh Gawli, Surkumar Singh, Gourmangi Singh, Deepak Kumar Mondal, Bungo Singh, N.P. Pradeep, Renedy Singh, Climax Lawrence, Sunil Chhettri, Bhaichung Bhutia (captain).

India squad on May 24: Subrata Pal, Mahesh Gawli, Surkumar Singh (66' Nanjangud Shivnanju Manju), Gourmangi Singh, Deepak Kumar Mondal, Bungo Singh, N. P. Pradeep, Renedy Singh, Climax Lawrence (77' Sampath Kumar Kuttimani), Sunil Chhettri, Bhaichung Bhutia (71' Sushil Kumar Singh).

Mohun Bagan vs Bayern Munich

Four NE players rub shoulders with Oliver Kahn:

Two Mizos and two Manipuris had the opportunity to play against legendary German goalkeeper Oliver Kahn in his last competitive match on May 27 at Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata.
Lukram James Singh, Sagolsem James Singh, Henry Gangte and Pachau Lalam Puia donned Mohun Bagan colours in their match against the famous Bundesliga side Bayern Munich.
In the first half, Sagolsem James Singh wasted an easy chance off the corner kick of Lal Kamal Bhowmick and Lalam Puia shot straight into Kahn a minute before the breather. Bayern won the match 3-0 and Kahn was given a standing ovation by more than a lakh crowd when he left the field after being substituted in the 56th minute.
Mohun Bagan skipper Baichung Bhutia missed the match and the Sikkimese sniper was playing as captain for India against Chinese Taipei in an international friendly in Chennai today (May 27).
Mohun Bagan: Sangram Mukherjee (90' Chirodeep Chattopadhyay), Rahul Kumar, Rakesh Masih, Anand Vasim, Habibur Rehman Mondal (71' S Naveen Kumar), Lal Kamal Bhowmick, Sielphaw Henry Gangte (60' Tapan Maity), Sagolsem James Singh, Lukram James Singh, Ishfaq Ahmed, Pachau Lalam Puia (64' Branco Vincent Cardozo).
Bayern Munich: Oliver Kahn (56' Michael Rensing), Christian Lell, Andreas Ottl, Breno, Uwe Schlottner (82' Diego Pizarro), Mark Van Bommel, Ze Roberto (77' Taygun Kuru), Viktor Bopp (68' Gianluca Simari), Toni Kroos (74' Dominik Rohracker), Jose Ernesto Sosa (Diego Contento), Jan Schlaudraff
Yellow Cards: Sangram Mukherjee (36' Mohun Bagan) and Jan Schlaudraff (76' Bayern Munich)Red Cards: Branco Vincent Cardozo (84' Mohun Bagan) and Breno (84' Bayern Munich) Attendance: 1,20,000

62nd Santosh Trophy

Manipur, Meghalaya win, Nagaland loses:
Jammu/Srinagar, May 27: Former champions Manipur opened their campaign with a facile 7-2 win over Orissa in a Cluster II match of the national football Championship for the Santosh Trophy played at GGM Science College grounds at Jammu.
Manipur, captained by former international Bijen Singh, toyed with their happless opponents.
Despite grabbing the lead in the 38th minute through Bhabani Singh, Orissa failed to continue with the magic as Jotin Singh of Manipur fired in from close range to level the scores in the 39th minute.
The second half was dominated by the energetic Manipuris who made Orissa dance to their tunes.
Bijen Singh (55th), Y Raju (61st, 82nd), I Khelemba Meitei (67th), K Samson (72nd) and A Naresh (77th) made no mistakes in converting their chances.
M Saddique scored the second goal for Orissa in the 74th minute from the left wing.
In another Cluster II match in Jammu, Services rode on a hat-trick by midfielder LB Victor to trounce Nagaland 8-0.
Nagaland were left clueless as the services forward line pumped in three goals in the first half and five in the second at Maulana Azad Stadium.
Shaji D'silva opened the account for Services in the 20th minute. Four minutes later, S Raleng shot home to make it 2-0. Gordon scored another goal just before the interval tohelp Services go to the break with a 3-0 lead.
After the change of ends, Victor came up with his hat-trick (63rd, 71st, 81st) to rub salt into Nagaland's wound. D'silva then completed his brace in the 70th minute, while Sudhir Mishra (61st) notched up a goal for Services.
At Polo ground in Srinagar, Meghalaya overpowered Uttarakhand 3-1 in pouring rain in an action-packed match.
Bansharalsun not only stunned their opponents but the spectators when he scored in the very second minute of the encounter. Receiving a ball from Kitkupar Kharshing, unmarkedBansharalsun made no mistake and sent the ball into the net from a close range (1-0).
Meghalaya scored another goal in the 42nd minute through Bansharalsun and then Marlanki Suting made it 3-0 in 74th minute before Nitin Kumar struck in the 76th minute to reduce the margin for Uttarakhand.
Due to unplayable ground conditions at the Bakshi Stadium following incessant rains, all matches matchs scheduled at the stadium till May 30 will be shifted to Kashmir University grounds.
Today's (May 27) Results:
Cluster II: Manipur beat Orissa 7-2; Services beat Nagaland 8-0
Cluster IV: HImachal beat Puducherry 3-2; J&K beat Daman and Diu 4-0
Cluster VIII: Meghalaya beat Uttarakhand 3-1
Scorers: Bansharalsun (2nd, 42nd), Marlanki Suting (74th)
May 28 Fixures:
Cluster I at G. G. M. Science College Ground, Jammu: Chandigarh vs Tamil Nadu; Sikkim vs Bihar
Cluster III at Bakshi Stadium, Srinagar (now shifted to Kashmir University grounds): Gujarat vs Tripura
Cluster V at Polo Ground, Srinagar: Jharkhand vs Uttar Pradesh
Cluster VI at Polo Ground, Srinagar: Assam vs Madhya Pradesh
Cluster VII at Bakshi Stadium, Srinagar (now shifted to Kashmir University grounds):
Mizoram vs Railways