K. Sagaya Bharathi (Tamil Nadu) and Kajal Kumari (PSPB) are the top-seeded players in the men’s and women’s singles events respectively in the 24th All India Federation Cup Carrom Tournament 2017-18. Meanwhile Shivdayal Yadav (Uttar Pradesh) and Mamta Kumari (Bihar) are the top seeds in the Sub-Junior Boys’ and Girls’ events respectively in the 44th Sub-Junior Nationals & Inter-State Carrom Championships, to be hosted by the Maharashtra Carrom Association and played at the Halari Visa Oswal Samaj Hall, Dadar (East) starting from Tuesday, January 2 to Friday, January 5, 2018.
Kajal Kumari
LIC of India is the sponsors of both the events, which are recognized by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports Government of India and is being organized by the All India Carrom Federation (AICF). MCA had last hosted the Senior Nationals at the Andheri Sports Complex in 2003.
The second seed in the men’s event is L. Suryaprakash (RBI) followed by M.A. Hakeem (BSNL) and World Champion Prashant More (RBI) who are seeded third and fourth respectively.
Tuba Sehar (Chandigarh) is the second seed in the women’s competition followed by World Champions S. Apoorva (LIC) as third seed and R. Sharmila (CAG) as the fourth seed. Maitrayee Gogate (Maharashtra) is seeded fifth.
Talented youngsters from 22 states in India will fight for the top honours in the cadet (Under-12) boys’ and girls’ and sub-junior (Under-14) boys’ and girls’ categories.
Five World Champions and 40 Indian stars from 23 states and 12 institutions will showcase their playing skills as they will target to emerge champions in the Federation Cup.
Since the two championships are the first events in the calendar, the player are certain to make a fresh beginning and one can expect to witness some intriguing and calculated competition in the coming four days.
The format of the competition in the cadet category will be only singles and direct knockout rounds while the sub-junior event will consist of team championship which be played on a league cum knockout basis and individual singles. In the Federation Cup, competition will be conducted for men’s and women’s singles and doubles and will be played on a direct knockout basis. All matches will be played on Surco Carrom boards.
The Maharashtra Carrom Association will felicitate B. Bangaru Babu, founder General Secretary of All India Carrom Federation and International Carrom Federation during the opening ceremony in the morning of Tuesday, December 2, 2018. The MCA will present the octogenarian Babu, who was instrumental and the architect in helping the sport grow in the country with a purse of Rs 1,11,111 during the ceremony.
The winners and runners-up of all events will be presented with handsome trophies.
The seedings – Nationals Sub-Junior Girls: 1. Mamta Kumari (Bih), 2. J. Abinaya (TN), 3. Sanya Chaddha (Chd), 4. M. Mohanan Bagai (TN), 5. Monika Devi (Man), 6. Nidhi Gupta (Chd), 7. Nandita Mahajan (Mah), 8. Anjali Keshri (UP).
Sub-Junior Girls – Team championship: 1. Tamil Nadu, 2. Chandigarh, 3. Uttar Pradesh.
Nationals Sub-Junior Boys singles: 1. Shivdayal Yadav (UP), 2. C. Dinesh (TN). 3. Shri Hari Nithiesh (TN), 4. M. Kabilan (TN), 5. Kamran Tanveer (UP), 6. Neeraj Kamble (Mah), 7. Ksh. Josef (Man), 8. R. Deodarshan (TN).
Sub-Junior Boys – Team championship: 1. Uttar Pradesh, 2. Manipur, 3. Tamil Nadu, 5. Bihar.
Federation Cup – Men’s singles: 1. K. Sagaya Bharathi (Tamil Nadu), 2. L. Suryaprakash (RBI), 3. M.A. Hakeem (BSNL), 4. Prashant More (RBI), 5. Riyas Akbar Ali (AISPB), 6. Sandeep Dive (Mah), 7. Sandeep Deorukhkar (PSPB), 8. Mohd. Hassan (Chd).
Women’s singles: 1. Kajal Kumari (PSPB), 2. Tuba Sehar (Chd), 3. S. Apoorva (LIC), 4. R. Sharmila (CAG), 5. Maitrayee Gogate (Mah), 6. Rashmi Ranjan (CAG), 7. Debajany Tamuly (ASM), 8. Sangeeta Chandorkar (RBI).