The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories

SPORT

Taking giant strides in sport
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, June 9 — Hansraj Public School, Panchkula, has excelled in academic pursuits in Class X and has also taken giant strides in sports. The school, established in 1995, has facilities for roller skating, basketball, gymnastics, cricket, karate, kho-kho and table tennis. During the past few years, students of the school have performed well in table tennis, cricket, kho-kho and skating.

Ms Rajni Thareja, Principal of the school told that in the beginning they made the parents aware that the school was basically for the overall development of a child and sports were part and parcel of their life. Right from the beginning, emphasis was on putting the child into a particular sport, viewed Ms Thareja.

Last month school bagged the under-14 cricket championship organised by the District Panchkula Cricket Association. The school boys won first place in Panchkula inter-district cricket tournament in under-14 section in 1998 and again in 1999. In under-16 section, it secured second place in the same tournament held last year. It also got second position both in the Mahatma Hansraj zonal tournament and in the Haryana inter-school cricket meet at Panchkula.

Last year Meenakshi Kohli, Shreya Sawhney and Priyanka Sharma represented India in the Asian roller skating meet in roller hockey and won bronze medal. Meenakshi got the best fighter award at the meet. She represented India in the Asian skating meet. The school won gold medals in 35th national skating meet, 36th national roller skating meet at Vishakhapatnam in 1998 and 37th nationals at Chandigarh in 1999. In the 45th national school games held at Moga in November last, the school girls were part of the Haryana School team which bagged gold medal in both under-19 and under-10 section, while under-19 boys secured bronze medal.

The boys of the school secured second place in the All -India Mahatma Hansraj zonal badminton tournament held in Delhi last year. Players like Gaurika Sharma, Akshit Mahajan and Prerak Sharma were shaping up well, felt Ms Rajni. She said from the 2001 academic session, the girls hostel, having accommodation for 100 students would start its operations. The school plans giving stress on basketball, badminton, tennis, cricket and skating. She has been given the Governor’s Award for being one of the best sport promoter of the state last year.

The school was also visited by cricketer Ajay Jadeja and the President of Japan Karate Association of India, Mr Anil Girodia. The karate training was performed by Yashpal Kaur, Sharda Sharma and Rakesh Verma. The school also fared well in kho-kho and table tennis tournaments by securing first and second places in Panchkula inter-school matches in the past two years.

Judo trials on June 14
By Our Sports Reporter

CHANDIGARH, June 9 — The Amateur Judo Association of Chandigarh will hold selection trials for UT junior judo team on June 14 at Judo Coaching Centre, Sector 42, at 3 p.m. The selected judokas will be sent for further selection trials, to be held in New Delhi, to be conducted by the Judo Federation of India. The selected judokas will also attend a coaching camp. The Indian team will be sent to the second Children of Asia sport meet, to held in Yutusk, Russia.

Death condoled: The members of the Chandigarh Hockey Umpires Association have condoled the demise of S.N. Vohra, the founder secretary of the Chandigarh Hockey Association, on May 30. They decided to hold matches for keeping his memories alive.

The Jawahar Lal Nehru Hockey Tournament Society was also deeply grieved to learn the death of S.N. Vohra. The society members felt that the void created would be difficult to fill.

Cricket tourney: Garhwal Cricket Club defeated Neeraj XI by six wickets in the fourth Uttrakhand trophy match. In another match of the day, Inder Cricket Club overpowered Kchhetrapal XI by 197 runs. In the last match of the day, ASCY XI outplayed DYFI XI by 57 runs.

'Women cricketers deserve equal respect'
By Arvind Katyal

CHANDIGARH, June 9 — ''If men cricketers could appear in various advertisements, why not women players, since we are also celebrities," says Anjum Chopra, one of India's best batswoman. She is in the city to attend a camp at the Sector 8 DAV Senior Secondary School in preparation for the World Cup in November.

Five-foot seven-inch tall Anjum said sport was in her blood as every member of her family was involved in sport. Her father, K.B. Chopra, is a golf player, while her mother, Poonam, is a car rallyist. Her brother Nirvan and she play cricket together and Nirvan has also been part of the Delhi under-16 team.

Anjum is a management graduate and working in the Bank of Punjab in Delhi. She has a B.Com degree from Delhi's St Stephen's College. She initially trained under Hardeep Dua who advised her to seek the help of a more experienced coach, Tarak Sinha.

Anjum is the tallest among the 36 probables selected for the first camp in progress here. She bats at one down in the order and bowls at a medium pace. In the last one-day series she played against England in June past year, she hit two centuries and was declared man of the match on both occasions. India won the series, 2-1. She represented India for the first time in January 1995 in the Centenary Cup held in Australia. In the last World Cup in India, she helped her side reach the semi-finals.

A has also represented Delhi in basketball and swimming. Anjum says that Indian sportspersons are a neglected lot. "See the condition of P.T. Usha, Madhumita Bisht and Nirupama Vaidyanathan who have done well for the country, but do not get the respect they deserve." She said India did not have a sport culture and parents were unwilling to make their wards choose sport as a career.

She thanked her employers, the Bank of Punjab, for allowing her to take part in camps and the other major tournaments. Anjum said her favourite cricketer was Bilandi Clarke of Australia and would like to bat like her. She likes Saurav Ganguly as he is also a left hander like her. She loves to imitate his style at times. She said no one should miss watching Sachin and his strokes. She also admires Michael Bevan, Mark Waugh and David Gower.

Anjum celebrated her 25th birthday on May 20. She gives priority to physical conditioning and even if it rains, she does not miss her gymnasium session.

She said the media should not neglect women cricketers, thinking that the standards were not up to mark. She said Indians were at par with the other women players of the world. She said India had a fair chance of winning the forthcoming World Cup in New Zealand where seven countries were likely to participate.

She said at home she was always treated like a male child would spare no effort to bring more glory to the women's cricket in India which was still in its infancy. She said it was good that the present camp was held in Chandigarh. She said the city had a better weather conditions than other places in the country, and good practice facilities. She said the coaches Sudha Shah, S.S. Bawa and Sudhakar were doing a good job and the food served at the school was also good.