Sportlight

Part of the Indian rugby team to Malaysia and Thailand to play in the triangular national in June 2006 was Rayomand Jeejee­bhoy. Maneck Unwala was team manager. Jeejee­bhoy was among the nine players from Bombay, others being from Bangalore, Delhi and Madras, six (of Indian origin) from the UK as well as from the Indian Army and Maha­rashtra state police. "I was really happy about the competition for places in the team as there were two or three players who played in the same position with little to choose between them,” said Unwala, as reported by the Express News Service, June 2.

Twelve-year-old Hormuz Baliwalla won the title of Individual Champion in the boys under 13 group at the 24th Otters Club All-Mumbai Open Swim Gala in April ’06. With two golds, three silver and one bronze from the six events he swam, Baliwalla garnered 32 points, far ahead of his nearest rival Apurva Sharma who had 22 points. Baliwalla is coached by Vistasp Besania.

Hormuz Baliwalla

Fourteen-year-old Burges Master has been selected and invited twice to England for soccer training, reports the Jam-e-Jamshed Weekly, July 2, 2006, adding that the lad is in need of sponsorships to further his talent.

Wild card entrant Jenai Billimoria ousted top seed Garima Vatwani of Delhi in the under-14 pre-quarterfinals at the Xtra Premium National Series tennis championship at the Practennis courts in Bombay. Playing three matches in one day (May 18, 2006) in the under-14 and the under-16 groups, the 13-year-old standard nine student of the Cathedral and John Connon School won all three, report The Times of India and Hindustan Times, May 19, 2006.

Polly Umrigar battling illness

Former India cricket captain Polly Umrigar, undergoing treatment for non-Hodgkins Lymphoma (a form of lymphatic cancer), has been in and out of hospital through June and July, as per press reports. The burly six-footer, who is now 80, is remembered in the record books for his prowess with both bat and ball and has worn many hats — tour manager, administrator, selector and curator.

To Strive and To Soar, a book on the Tatas’ contribution to sports, was released in Bombay on July 24, 2006. Present at the launch of what is a visual anthology were Formula One driver Narain Karthikeyan, one of India’s leading sports personalities sponsored by the Tatas, former cricket great Sunil Gavaskar, cricketer Ajit Agarkar, shooter Morad Ali Khan and others.

The list of Tata employees nurtured through their sporting days include one Padma Bhushan holder, 11 Padma Shris, three Dronacharya and 41 Arjuna award­ees and six world championship winners, as per www.hindu.com

Shireen Kiash (née Contractor), who achieved the rare distinction of representing India in basketball, hockey and cricket, passed away on February 26, 2006 at the age of 56. The only Zoroastrian and probably the only Indian to play at the national and international level in three completely different sports, Kiash is mentioned in the Limca Book of Records. Kiash had also played the roles of manager and coach in basketball.

Rustom Dadachanji, former vice president of the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA), passed away in Poona on July 14, 2006. Dadachanji, who was in his 80s, had been the vice president when former India test cap Madhav Mantri was president. Earlier, Dadachanji had also officiated as MCA treasurer and was the chairman of the board of trustees of the Dr H. D. Kanga Memorial Library in Bombay, as per a report in the Mumbai Newsline, July 15, 2006.