Category: Sports

FC Barcelona x TikTok: Show Your Love and Win official Barça

MUMBAI: FC Barcelona has teamed up with TikTok, the world’s leading short video platform, to launch the #BarcelonaChallenge in India. Providing a platform for football fans to engage with their favorite FC Barcelona players, TikTok users globally can showcase their love for the team by participating in the challenge.

Starting from now until August 10, TikTok users in India are invited to participate in the #BarcelonaChallenge by uploading videos of themselves sporting the blaugrana (red and blue) colors or wearing a Barça jersey. Five of the most creative videos will stand a chance to win official FC Barcelona jerseys.

“FC Barcelona has a massive fan base both globally and in India, and TikTok is thrilled to partner with the world-famous team to launch the #BarcelonaChallenge,” said Sachin Sharma, Director, Sales and Partnerships, TikTok India. “TikTok has a strong international footprint that empowers creation and interaction, making it the ideal platform for sport teams to interact with their fans and engage with new audiences.”

To kick-off of the #BarcelonaChallenge, FC Barcelona have uploaded videos of their players wearing their Barça jersey.

July 31, 2019
Sony Pictures Sports Network kicks off its one-year countdown to the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 with a rallying cry, “Hindustan dekh raha hai ek hi khwab, Hum Honge Kamyab”

MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Sports Network (SPSN), the official broadcaster of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, kick-starts its initiatives for the upcoming prestigious multi-sporting event starting with its on-air campaign, ‘Hum Honge Kamyab’. SPSN marks the one-year countdown to one of the world’s greatest sports event with the telecast of a series of Olympic Channel shows, which includes India-centric content to further familiarize the audiences with Indian athletes and Olympic sport disciplines.

‘Hum Honge Kamyab’ is a call that invokes a strong sense of national pride for our athletes and rallies the nation to unite in a state of support for our athletes for Tokyo 2020. The inspiring campaign also aims to motivate the athletes to put their strongest foot forward for the biggest sporting event in the world and make the nation proud through the journey to win medals. The film showcases aspiring athletes in training, inspired by their real-life heroes and past Olympians. The track is a stylized version of the anthem, ‘Hum Honge Kamyab’. The sentiments of the nation are echoing – Hindustan dekh raha hai ek hi khwab, Hum Honge Kamyab.

With less than 365 days to go for Tokyo 2020, a specially customised programming line-up of Olympic Channel content will also be aired on SONY TEN 1 channels every Friday at 8:00 PM. The content will include India-specific series, which will be aired under “Hum Honge Kamyab!” and non-India content under “The Olympic Dream”. Under the “Hum Honge Kamyab!” series, the sports network will air “Land of Legends” that highlights the stories of India’s medal winning hockey teams followed by other episodes “Can’t Stay Down” about India’s wrestling akharas, “Foul Play: Dutee” featuring the story of Dutee Chand’s trials with gender testing policies and “Shakti: India’s Super Women” featuring Indian female athletes Dipa Karmakar, Deepika Kumari, Sakshi Malik and Sandhya Shetty who have overcome unmatched obstacles to achieve their sporting dreams. “The Olympic Dream” programming includes episodic series like “Unforgettable Olympic Moments”, “The Olympics on the Record”, Olympic documentaries from Five Rings Films and much more.

SonyLIV will also launch an Olympic Channel section on their app entirely dedicated to their content featuring 50+ original series and more than 10 films that includes “Heroes of the Future”, a chronicle of tomorrow’s budding athletes, “Olympian’s Tips”, an inroad into the world of coaches and athletes, Gold Medal Entourage”, “Sports Swap”, and others.

July 31, 2019
Sony Pictures Networks points finger at organisers for World Cup Kabaddi no-show

MUMBAI: Last week, India won the men’s and women’s World Cup Kabaddi 2019 beating Iraq and Taiwan respectively. While the men eased past Iraq 57-27, the women scored a convincing 47-29 win at the Mini Stadium Bistari in Melaka, Malaysia. Now, if you’re wondering why the twin triumphs escaped your attention or found no mention on your social media feeds, the reason is quite simple. The matches were not televised by the media rights holder Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) for the Indian audiences.

SPN had acquired the exclusive media rights for World Cup Kabaddi 2019, which was held from 20-28 July. The network had got into an agreement with the Malaysia Kabaddi Federation for rights to televise the tournament on its sports channels across eight countries India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Maldives, Bhutan and Afghanistan. SPN was also to make it available to consumers on its streaming service SonyLIV.

“While we were all set to broadcast the World Cup Kabaddi Melaka 2019 for all our Kabaddi fans in India, we were unable to do so as the organisers did not produce the event for television broadcast due to some issues that they were facing,” SPN said in a statement.

World Cup Kabaddi was billed as the marquee event for the World Kabaddi, a body formed just over a year ago. World Kabaddi describes itself as the governing body for the sport in all its three formats – National Style, Beach Kabaddi and Circle Style. It was established following a meeting of more than 50 countries from five continents in Bengaluru in March 2018 with Ashok Kumar Das as president

“The addition of World Cup Kabaddi 2019 to our portfolio augments the positioning of the sports cluster of Sony Pictures Networks India as a global multi-sporting arena with the best international content. We have always worked towards building a multi-sport viewing culture in India with our diverse sports portfolio of international tournaments and marquee events. Kabaddi is one of the more popular sports in the country and we are delighted to be the official broadcasters of an international tournament that positions Kabaddi as a mainstream international sport,” SPN chief revenue officer, distribution and head – sports business Rajesh Kaul had said after securing the exclusive media rights for the World Cup Kabaddi.

July 30, 2019
Sony Pictures Sports Network announces a stellar line-up of panelists for the upcoming India tour of West Indies

MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Sports Network (SPSN), the official broadcaster of the India tour of West Indies, announces their exciting programming initiatives to increase engagement with audiences across India. The series, comprising 3 T20Is, 3 ODIs and 2 Test matches spanning from August 3 to September 3, 2019 will feature the Indian cricket team for the first time after their appearance at the Cricket World Cup Semi-Finals. The India tour of West Indies will also mark the start of the ICC World Test Championship for both teams.

SPSN’s celebrated live wrap-around show, Extraaa Innings, will return for the India tour of West Indies featuring a host of renowned expert panelists. Sir Vivian Richards, Sunil Gavaskar, Graeme Swann, Murali Kartik, Darren Ganga and Ian Bishop will present comprehensive pre, mid and post-match expert analyses in English, while Ashish Nehra, Ajay Jadeja, Mohammad Kaif and Vivek Razdan along with presenters Gaurav Kapur and Arjun Pandit will be presenting in Hindi. Extraaa Innings will also make an appearance in the breakfast segment with the post-match analysis for the ODI and Test series. In addition to this, SPSN will be airing ‘Cricket Talk’, a show that will provide previews for the Test format and reviews after the T20I and ODI formats.

The matches, being played across five scenic venues in the Caribbean and in Florida, USA, will be telecast in English on SONY TEN 1 channels and in Hindi on SONY TEN 3 channels. Viewers can expect fast bowling, furious batting and an exceptional viewing experience from the highly anticipated series only on Sony Pictures Sports Network.

July 29, 2019
Dabang Delhi KC ropes in JK Super Cement as principal sponsors for Pro Kabaddi League Season-7

MUMBAI: Dabang Delhi Kabaddi Club, owned by DO IT Sports Management, today announced its association with JK Super Cement, India’s premier cement brand, which will now serve as the principal sponsor of the team. As part of this partnership, Dabang Delhi players will now sport the JK Super brand logo on their match-day and practice jerseys. In addition, the brand will get visibility through DDKC in-stadia branding, official website and respective social media platforms.

Today, the sport of kabaddi represents true strength, speed, resilience and grit – traits that not only work well in terms of connecting with the wider populace, but also attract the attention of brands that stand for each of these qualities. Pro Kabaddi League celebrates this sport by hosting matches in 10 cities across India, which engage fans of all age groups. Dabang Delhi Kabaddi Club is best known for its players who deliver performances that personify the undying spirit of the capital. Through the storied lineage of kabaddi and Dabang Delhi’s recent dominance on the mat, JK Super aims to leverage this partnership and build deeper connections with their stakeholders across the country.

Quote from Mr. Pushp Raj Singh, President-Marketing, JK Super Cement, “What better sport than Kabaddi to resonate the spirit, strength, and perseverance of JK Cement and what better team than Dabang Delhi to epitomize our energy! Kabaddi as a sport is rooted deep within the soil of India. The pace at which the sport has gained popularity in recent times is unparalleled. The grit, spirit and indigeneity of the game as well as the team only strengthens our association and establishes this proud partnership. We are pleased to be the principal partners of Dabang Delhi. The principle on which every team warrior is being trained, personifies JK Super Cement’s proposition – BUILD SAFE. Hence, we are upbeat for a glorious performance by the players and we wish them all the best for the season.”

Commenting on this association, Mr. Sumeet Yadav, Group CEO, DO IT said, “We are delighted to announce our partnership with JK Super for the upcoming season of Vivo Pro Kabaddi. Over the years, JK Super has built a strong presence within the Indian cement industry, symbolizing strength durability and safety. All these attributes resonate well with the spirit of our team and have also reflected in our performances across the last few seasons. We’re positive that this association will prove mutually beneficial, given our shared passion for Kabaddi and the common desire to better our performances with every opportunity.”

Dabang Delhi Kabaddi Club was among the top 4 teams in Season 6 of the Pro Kabaddi League. The team will commence their season 7 campaign against Telugu Titans in Hyderabad on 24th July, and will play their home leg between 24th to 30th August.

July 23, 2019
NEP deploys multiple Calrec consoles and routing technology for premium audio at Wimbledon 2019

MUMBAI: Viewers around the world enjoyed premium quality audio while watching Wimbledon 2019 with NEP UK deploying 15 Calrec consoles at the South West London tennis venue, alongside extensive Calrec networking and routing technology and I/O boxes. An additional three Calrec consoles were used in NEP OB trucks that covered Centre Court, Court One and Court Two.

Jimmy Parkin, Sound Engineer, NEP Broadcast Services, said, “We have worked extensively with Calrec over the years. The networking flexibility and easy scalability of their technology were central to the success of this Wimbledon 2019 project. We needed audio operators to be able to easily access any source from any court without having to move anything or plug anything in; any console can “talk” with any other console on the network. We also needed to integrate IP networks with Calrec’s Hydra 2 networking technology and using their interfaces made this very easy. Pre-event offsite planning, using Calrec’s H2O GUI for the Hydra 2 network, meant that we could accurately name and label ports before any hardware was connected.”

For the second year, the host broadcaster was Wimbledon Broadcast Services (WBS). The video network was all IP (SMPTE ST2110) with Calrec consoles connected to this host broadcast network. Eleven Calrec consoles – 10 Summa and one Brio – were deployed across this, including consoles for the Wimbledon Channel and the media centre.

In addition, NEP worked with a major US broadcaster for their coverage, including streaming, using an additional three Calrec consoles – two Artemis and one Brio – in their three control rooms.

Parkin adds, “It worked seamlessly. The way that Calrec’s technology allows resources to appear on a network, and then how effortless it was to move those resources across the network, made our life so much simpler. Adding additional I/O boxes was also really easy too. This was a very complex project, but we were working with good people and great technology.”

Andy Birkinshaw, International Sales Manager with Calrec, said, “We have a longstanding relationship with NEP, having worked with them on many large-scale projects. Wimbledon is such a massive sporting event and we’re very proud of what our technology helped NEP to achieve. We will continue to see mixed IP/proprietary environments, with this a clear example of how our technology works in such a complex scenario.”

July 22, 2019
#IsseToughKuchNahi say all twelve captains of VIVO PROKABADDI SEASON 7

MUMBAI: VIVO Pro Kabaddi League, one of the most-anticipated sporting events of the calendar is back with Season 7 begins on 20th of July 2019 in Gachibowli, Hyderabad. Unveiling the coveted trophy, the captain of all 12 teams came together to speak about the excitement for the upcoming season.

The toughest 12 representing each team as Captains; Maninder Singh from Bengal Warriors, Joginder Narwal from Dabang Delhi, Sunil Kumar from Gujarat Fortunegiants, Rohit Kumar from defending champions – Bengaluru Bulls, Dharmraj Cherlathan from Haryana Steelers, Deepak Hooda from Jaipur Pink Panthers, Pardeep Narwal for Patna Pirates, Surjeet Singh from Puneri Paltans, Ajay Thakur from Tamil Thalaivas, Abozar Mohajermighani from Telugu Titans, Nitesh Kumar from UP Yoddha, Fazel Atrachali from U Mumba were in attendance ahead of the league opening in Hyderabad.

Ajay Thakur, Captain, Tamil Thalaivas, “Rahul and I have been playing for some time now for team India and we have great chemistry but this is the first occasion where both of us will be seen together in PKL. I believe it is going to be a great for our fans as well to watch us supporting each other during the game. I have always believed that hard work pays off and we have been working very hard for the success of our team. Once the season is underway, we will be able to tell easily who are the teams that have worked hard to improve.”

Abozar Mohajermighani, Captain, Telugu Titans, “Our team composition is made up of strong raiders, a strong defense line and moreover good coaches, so you can call us the strongest team in the competition. Our players are fit and have been practicing continuously for the tournament. We will have a plan to approach every match and aim to win one match at a time. Our performances in the previous years have been strong and I hope we are able to make it to the semi-finals this year”.

Fazel Atrachali, Captain, U Mumba, “We fought hard last season and we will continue to do the same this year as well. Having Sidharth last season was a big plus for us, but this season also we have youngsters with us who have shown the same dedication and promise as Sidharth. Sidharth and I know each other well and we do have a plan to tackle him which you will see in the game tomorrow”.

Deepak Hooda, Captain, Jaipur Pink Panthers, “We have 8 to 9 youngsters in our team this year and this new talent will certainly bring some energy and help the team to win matches. We have been practicing very hard and the youngsters have shown the right intent and hard work necessary to play games at this level. As a team we will be focusing on all our matches one at a time. We will be playing all the teams and so it will be interesting to see the performance of the players against each of the teams”.

Nitesh Kumar, Captain, UP Yoddha, “Being the youngest captain is not added pressure for my game and performance. My goal for this season is to ensure that I put in 100% into my game and prove myself as well as ensure that the team makes it to the finals.”

Joginder Narwal, Captain, Dabang Delhi KC, “Our performance last season was very encouraging, and the team has been training with the same energy and passion for the last one and a half months at the camp in Delhi. Last season, the only place we lacked was our defense and we've worked hard to make sure we don't repeat the same mistakes. This year, the players on defense have meticulously practiced their skills and are close to perfecting them. Last year, we made it all the way to the semi-finals and this year, we hope to make it to the finals.”

Rohit Kumar, Captain, Bengaluru Bulls, “All teams are extremely competitive, but I believe Gujarat Fortunegiants and Tamil Thalaivas are our strongest competitors this season. This year, we aim to win maximum of the matches and even if we lose, I will hope to lose with the minimum difference. The 45-day long camp has made us train and practice extremely hard and with that intensity we will prepare for the match against Patna Pirates tomorrow and give our 100% and try to win the first match of the season.”

Surjeet Singh, Captain, Puneri Paltans, “We have a very good combination of both senior and new young players this season which makes a very strong team as we have the best of the talent. We have gotten some new talent and have practiced on our skills and techniques to make sure we give the best of our performance on the mat.”

Sunil Kumar, Captain, Gujarat Fortunegiants, “This season, just like last season, we have got a lot of new young talent which we believe will be our secret weapons. They will not only enthrall and surprise the audience but also our opponents on the mat. We are looking forward and putting all our efforts to make sure we win the finals this time.”

Pardeep Narwal, Captain, Patna Pirates – “We’ve won the championship thrice and we will do it again this season. We are a strong and balanced side and there’s nothing that will stop us. Personally, I’m also working on some new moves which you’ll see on the mat in our opening game already .”

Haryana Steelers, Captain, Dharmraj Cherlathan “We have trained very hard and worked on perfecting our skills and building new techniques and strategizing our gameplay. The team is mentally and physically prepared for the new season, and we aim to play well with strategic and smart thinking. The competition of the toughest season ever begins.”

Maninder Singh, Captain, Bengal Warriors, “With Season 7 around the corner, there is a lot of excitement and pressure. I am looking forward to getting back in the game with fierce competitiveness that the new format has brought, we have trained very rigorously for the same and are looking forward to picking the trophy home this year.”

Hyderabad has welcomed all teams of VIVO Pro Kabaddi Season 7 to their city. Telugu Titans will be looking forward to playing their first match in their home city with the fans in Hyderabad being known for cheering all their favourite teams with an unmatched energy.

Star Sports continues to deepen its penetration into regional markets by offering the best of sporting action customised in the preferred language of each major market. Providing live and non-live content, Star Sports will have experts, commentators and players for all Season 7 VIVO Pro Kabaddi League programming in 7 languages across channels including Star Sports 1, Star Sports 1 Hindi, Star Sports 1 Kannada, Star Sports 1 Telugu, Star Sports 1 Tamil, Star Sports 1 Bangla, and the newly launched Start Sports 1 Marathi.

VIVO Pro Kabaddi League 7 begins on July 20th, 2019 at the Gachibowli Stadium, Hyderabad. The opening game will be played between Telugu Titans and U Mumba and the second match of the day will see the defending Champions, Bengaluru Bulls take on the three-time champions, Patna Pirates. The LIVE coverage of the new season will begin at 7:00 pm with the pre-show KBD LIVE, whilst matches will begin at 7:30 pm and will broadcast on the Star Sports Network and Hotstar.

July 19, 2019
APL Apollo announced as principal sponsors of Haryana Steelers for Pro Kabbadi League Season 7

MUMBAI: One of India's largest Steel Pipes Manufacturers, APL Apollo was announced as the principal sponsor of Haryana Steelers for the seventh season of the Pro Kabbadi League. The JSW Sports-owned franchise made the announcement at their new home ground in Panchkula which will see APL Apollo begin with a one-year association with the Haryana Steelers. The agreement between the two organisations will see APL Apollo feature as the Principal Sponsors across various platforms, including the Official Playing Kits and the front of the official team jersey.

Sanjay Gupta, Chairman, APL Apollo, said, "Kabaddi is one of the fastest growing sports in the country, and we are proud to be associated with it through the Haryana Steelers as their Principal Sponsors. The sport has an ever-growing presence in the country including Haryana, and we want to extend our full support to the team in their endeavour of producing excellent results in the Pro Kabaddi League. Our first venture into sports sponsorship was with JSW Sports for Delhi Capitals, and now we are looking forward to an exciting season of the Pro Kabaddi League with the Haryana Steelers.”

Mustafa Ghouse, CEO, JSW Sports, welcomed APL Apollo as the Principal Sponsors of the Haryana Steelers, "We are delighted to announce APL Apollo as the Principal Sponsors of the Haryana Steelers. Being one of India's largest Steel Pipes Manufacturers, APL Apollo has a major presence in Haryana and throughout the country, and we are looking forward to having a very successful association with them over the course of this season of the Pro Kabaddi League. The league provides a huge opportunity for our home state to celebrate kabaddi which is native to Harayana and I would like to thank everyone at APL Apollo for extending their support to Haryana Steelers."

Founded in 1986, APL Apollo has gone from strength to strength to lead the charge in revolutionizing the Steel Tubes and Pipes manufacturing industry. The company is also the largest producer of Electric Resistance Welded (ERW) Steel Pipes and Sections in the country, and is amongst the top-5 Steel Tube manufacturers in the world.

Dharmaraj Cheralathan-led Haryana Steelers will start their Pro Kabaddi League season against Puneri Paltan on Monday, 22nd July 2019 at 20:30hrs IST at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad.

July 19, 2019

DSPORT to broadcast live the round two draw for asian qualifiers to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022

MUMBAI: DSPORT, a premium sports channel by Discovery Communications India will broadcast the Round 2 draw for Asian qualifiers to the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 preliminary competition.

The draw will be broadcast LIVE and Exclusive to the Indian audience on DSPORT from 2:30 PM IST on July 17th, 2019.

Commenting on the deal on behalf of DSPORT, the official broadcaster, Mr. R.C. Venkateish, MD & CEO, LexSportel, shared his thoughts saying, “ This is a big opportunity for us. FIFA World Cup is the most anticipated tournament in the world. We as a broadcaster are overwhelmed to become a part of this epic journey. We hope we can further our association with the sporting extravaganza as we move closer to the event.”

In the first round of the Preliminary Joint Qualification, teams ranked 35-46 in Asia were pitted against each other in two pools. After the matches of round 1, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Guam, Malaysia and Mongolia – advanced to Round 2 while the decision on the match between Macau and Sri Lanka is still pending.

The draw which will be held at the AFC House, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia will feature top forty nations who will be drawn into five groups of eight teams. The seeding of the draw is based on the FIFA/Coca Cola Rankings as of June 14th, 2019.

In the FIFA World Cup Russia 2018, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Iran participated. Japan was the only team to make it to the round of 16 and finally went down to Belgium by a score line of 3-2 in one of the most thrilling encounters of the cup.

The pots in the round 2 shape up in the following manner:

Pot 1	Pot 2	Pot 3	Pot 4	Pot 5
IR Iran	Iraq	Palestine	Turkmenistan	Indonesia
Japan	Uzbekistan	India	Myanmar	Singapore
Korea Republic	Syria	Bahrain	Hong Kong	Nepal
Australia	Oman	Thailand	Yemen	Cambodia
Qatar	Lebanon	Tajikistan	Afghanistan	Bangladesh
UAE	Kyrgyz Republic	DPR Korea	Maldives	Mongolia
Saudi Arabia	Vietnam	Chinese Taipei	Kuwait	Guam
China PR	Jordan	Philippines	Malaysia	Macau/Sri Lanka

July 16, 2019

Games2win appoints Angelo Lobo as creative director

MUMBAI: Games2win India Pvt Ltd, a global publisher of casual mobile games with more than 250 million downloads, announced the appointment of Angelo Lobo as Creative Director. Angelo is a well-known veteran of gaming and was the Director of Game Design at Zynga India. At Zynga, he ran the design vertical, overseeing games like Draw Something, Empires and Allies, FarmVille, FarmVille 2 and FarmVille: Country Escape. These games have collective installs of over 1.5 billion.

Prior to Zynga, Angelo worked at Games2win as Lead Game Designer. He is also a mentor for Google’s Indie Games Accelerator, one of the few Gaming Professionals from India to enjoy this privilege.

On his appointment, Alok Kejriwal, CEO and Co-Founder of Games2win, said: “It’s awesome to have Angelo come back to Games2win! We extensively worked together in the early stages of Games2win’s development and he was instrumental in producing our game libraries, hiring creative teams, and establishing our production processes. In his new position at Games2win, I expect Angelo to lead our Replay Game Fund initiative that helps gaming entrepreneurs and developers create, publish and monetise their games with our help in terms of funding, guidance, knowledge sharing and publishing. Angelo has mentored scores of game designers and enthusiasts, and many know him well. He will be the ideal mentor and Creative Head for all new-age gaming entrepreneurs from India!”

Angelo Lobo said: “It’s very exciting to be a part of the Replay Game Fund. Over the past 18 years, I’ve gained deep insights into game design and production, thanks to the amazing people I got to work with. Now, thanks to Alok and Games2win, I will be able to share that knowledge with the next generation of gaming entrepreneurs. The best thing about Games2win is that they have the resources and drive of a large company, but they are as agile and quick as a start-up. They know how to get things done. I’m confident that any gaming studio that chooses to work with Games2win’s Replay Game Fund will be able to super accelerate their growth, knowledge and revenue!”

July 16, 2019