HEALTH

Pfizer award for Dr Wig
Tribune News Service

Prof J.D. Wig

Chandigarh, January 3
The prestigious Pfizer Oration 2005 Award has been given to Prof J.D. Wig, Head, Department of General Surgery, PGI, in recognition of his outstanding research work conducted in the field of gastroenterology by the Indian Society of Gastroenterology.

He delivered the oration at the 46th annual conference of the Indian Society of Gastroenterology at Visakhapatnam.

Professor Wig has earlier received B.C.Roy Award, Dr Das Mahapatra Oration Award, Dr P.K.Sen Memorial Oration Award, Dr G.P. Ramayya Oration Award, Dr S.S.Gularia Oration Award among others. He is a member of many national and international scientific societies.

Invited: Two leading urologists of the city, Dr Rajesh Gulia and Dr Virendra Dhankar, from kidney centre, Sector 34, have been invited to an international workshop to be organised by the Socie’te’ International d’ Urologie at Mumbai with the focus on “bladder pacemakers”.

This innovation can prove to be a boon for the patients of spinal injury, paraplegics etc, having a non-functional bladder. These patients are otherwise doomed to be on catheter for life (intermittent or continuous) with its associated complications.

SPORTS

TV umpires for hockey league
G. S. Paul
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 3
Come January 5 and a history will be made in Chandigarh with the introduction of television umpires and mobile mikes on the opening day of month-long India’s Premier Hockey League (PHL), at Hockey Stadium Sector 42, here.

The matches will be played under newly installed floodlights.

With 11 foreigners, including captains of Pakistan and Argentina, the second edition of the Premier Hockey League (PHL) is all set to pioneer a few innovations, apparently with the consent of the International Hockey Federation.

Every match will have four halves of seven-and-half minutes each with a provision of time out. A total of 12 cameras, along with a big screen, are being installed at the venue. The television umpire will judge the close decisions, including disputed goals and line calls.

All changes are being made to market the game that is the national sport of India and in which the country has won eight Olympics gold medals, the last coming at the 1980 Moscow games.

The five Tier I teams will have foreign players, who will be seen in action during the PHL-II tournament.

Making their Tier I debut, local favourites Chandigarh Dynamos will have Rajpal Singh as their Captain. Dilip Tirkey will lead Hyderabad Sultans, alongwith Argentina skipper Jorge Lombi and Pakistan duo Salman Akbar and Shakeel Abbasi. Arjun Halappa will captain Bangalore Hi-Fliers supported by Spaniard S. Jordi Quintana and Pakistani forward Rehan Butt. Shere-e-Jalandhar will be led by Gagan Ajit Singh and the team includes Pakistan captain Mohammad Saqlain and Spaniard penalty corner expert Pau Quemeda.

Viren Rasquinha will lead Maratha Warriors and it will have two Pakistanis-forward Adnan Zakir and defender Imran Warsi to strengthen the squad.

Meanwhile, Lieut-Gen S.F. Rodrigues (retd), Governor, Punjab, inaugurated the newly installed floodlights at Hockey Stadium, Sector 42, here. The total expenditure on installing the lights comes around Rs 1.2 crore.

An exhibition match was played between teams of Chandigarh Hockey Academy and Air Force under the floodlights.

Lawn tennis becoming popular in China
Akash Ghai
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 3
“In China table tennis and football are the most famous sports, yet lawn tennis has started attracting sportspersons and has been growing at a fast pace in our country”, said Xia Jiaping, a former international tennis player.

Jiaping, at present a National coach of under-16 junior girls, is in the city with the team of 13 tennis players and two other coaches to participate in the ongoing ITF Junior (Grade 3) Tennis Tournament at the Chandigarh Lawn Tennis Association courts here.

Jiaping had represented China in two Olympics in 1992 in Barcelona and in 1996 in Atlanta and two Asian Games in 1990 and 1994. He also won gold medals in men’s double and mixed doubles at Asian Games in 1990 and 1994.

Echoing the views of the coach, Li Jie and Deng Hong Bou, the upcoming sportsmen, said the tennis had been emerging as a popular sport but at the moment it was more popular among women. “Sportswomen Li Na (33 rd ranked in world), Peng Shuai (31 st rank), Li Tung and Sun Tian Tian are the popular tennis players there”, said Li Jie.

Xin Xiero Long, a top tennis player of China at the junior level, lauded the Chinese Government as well as multinational companies supporting the players in China.

The government is also providing necessary infrastructure and facilities to encourage the sport, he added. “We have plenty of ‘hard courts for practice and players as well as coaches are earning a handsomely”, said Long.

Expressing happiness over the participation in the ongoing tournament, Zhong Yi, Guo Xue Xu, Zhou Ni and Liu Meng, and other members of the team said, “It is always beneficial for a player to play with foreign players at foreign land to get much-needed exposure and experience”.

Meanwhile, the Chinese team, which is satisfied with all the arrangements made by organisers of the tournament, is enjoying the every moment in the city.

“Though Chandigarh is a small city compared to Shanghai, yet the people here lead a quality life”, said Li Jei, who hails from Shanghai. But it is the Indian food, which has found favour with the entire Chinese group.