Chennai plays as coronavirus disrupts calendar elsewhere – The New Indian Express

Express News Service

CHENNAI: At a time when the Delhi government has cancelled all sporting activities due to coronavirus and the BCCI has postponed the South Africa ODIs along with the IPL, sports in the city seem to be running sm­o­othly. 

The TNCA first and lower division leagues, the Chenn­ai Hockey Association Super Le­a­gue, the Chennai Volleyball Association’s A Division league and the Tamil Nadu Tennis  Association leagues are being held for the past few weeks.

V Baskaran, president of the Chennai Hockey Association, attributes the smooth functioning of the hockey league to the city’s sports culture and awareness of the players.

“Athletes in the city are aware of the coronavirus threat and plan their schedules accordingly. Plus, all matches in the super league start in the afternoon under the hot sun. The probability of someone catching cold is low,’’ said Baskaran.

“We have a fully equipped ambulance from Kumaran hospital. This is generally kept to handle  injuries, but in case of any other contingency, they will handle it. We do not expect a full house during league ga­m­es. The hundred-odd fans who come and watch the matches sit  scattered in the stands,’’ added the former India captain.

The A Division volleyball league is on at full swing at the MRC Stadium and DG Vaishnav College. “Volleyball is not like cricket. We do not have big crowds. The players are professionals. They come, play their matches and return home,’’ said AK Chitrapandian, secretary of the Chennai District Volleyball Association.

The TNCA league games are held in various parts of the city. Venues like VB Nest and SSN College are far from the heart of the city. The ones like MA Chidambaram Stadium, IIT and the India Pistons ground have restricted entry.

“Most of the matches are held in different corners of the city. We do not expect crowds at all. If R Ashwin is playing at VB Nest, a few fans from nearby areas come and watch. Since there are no crowds, I see little chance of the virus spreading from the crowd,’’ said the secretary of a club.

On the other hand, the TNTA has cance­lled the ITF-Junior meet scheduled to start on March 28 following an instruction of the ITF. The TNCA has also ann­o­unced that Chennai Super Ki­n­gs will not practise at Chepauk from March 14 due to the virus. All said, not a single ground in the city or suburbs is available this weekend.

Prasath bags six

S Mohan Prasath’s 6/49 helped Young Stars to bag a lead of 185 runs over Nelson SC in a drawn match of the TNCA Senior Division league on Friday.

At IC-Guru Nanak: AG’s Office 113 drew with Vijay 399/7 decl (N Jagadeesan 106, Himmat Singh 95, M Mohammed 61 n.o, L Suryap­pr­a­kash 60). At MRF-Pachaiyappa’s: Jolly Rovers 546/4 drew with Globe Trotters 320/4 (S Radhakrishnan 106, Sanvir Singh 75 n.o, R Auchi Sachin 55). At SSN: Young Stars 339 (Ankur Julka 89, Ganesh Satish 87, Wilkins Vic­tor 54 n.o, W Antony Dhas 3/73) drew with Nelson 154 (Robin Bist 58, S Mohan Prasath 6/49, R Rohit 3/27). At IIT-Chemplast: Alwarpet 498/7 drew with MCC 364/7 (S Suresh Kumar 164 n.o. S Karthik 113, M Vijay Kumar 52, B Arun 3/85). At VB Nest: Swaraj 274 drew with MRC A 224 (Smit Patel 62, NS Chaturved 55, ME Yazh Arun Mozhi 6/117, M Silambarasan 4/73). At CPT-IP: India Pistons 441/9 (S Guru Raghavendran 199 n.o, S Harish Kumar 114, R Aushik Srinivas 5/122) drew with Grand Slam 287 (V Ganga Sridhar Raju 103).

S Mohan Prasath bagged six wickets to help Young Stars bag a lead of 185 runs against Nelson SC in the TNCA Senior Division league on Friday