SPORTS

Hockey academy boys clinch title
Our Sports Reporter

Chandigarh, August 25
The newly-recruited boys of the Chandigarh Hockey Academy (CHA), Sector 42, today showed a spirited display of stick work when they humbled the Rock Rovers Club 5-1 to clinch the hockey title in the 1st S.N. Vohra Memorial Sub-Junior Hockey Tournament, which concluded here this evening at the Sector 42 Hockey Stadium. Mr Chandersekhar, president of the Chandigarh Hockey Association, was the chief guest and gave away the prizes. Also present on the occasion were Mr J.P.S. Sidhu, Joint Director (Sports), UT. The winners and runners-up were given cash awards also. The boys, who excelled from different teams, were also chosen for the individual performance awards.

Wearing orange T-shirts, the Hockey academy boys were given tough fight by their opponents till the first half as no team could score any goal. However, it was Dharamveer of the CHA who struck with first goal for his team in the 34th minute. Then Ranjot Singh scored in 44th minute. Just after two minutes, Rock Rovers were given a penalty stroke whichwas fully utilised by Harpreet Singh, thus reducing the margin at 1-2 in favour of the CHA.

But there was no stopping for the CHA boys, when in 50th minute, Sandeep Singh scored a field goal to surge ahead his team 3-1. Then just after five minutes, Baljinder scored a goal and finally in 58th minute, Deepak fielded a goal thus giving a winning lead of 5-1.

Carrom meet

Pallavi Luthra and Deepak bagged the women and men singles titles, respectively, in the IInd Panchkula Distrcit Carrom championship, which came to close this evening at Saupin’s School, Sector 9 Panchkula. Dr D.K. Dhar donated an amount of Rs 10,000 to the association for the growth of carrom activities. Mr Derek Gomez, Headmaster, Saupin’s School, Panchkula, gave away the prizes.

Results: Finals — ( women): Pallavi Luthra b Surbhi Sharma 25-0; (men): Deepak b Aman Luthra 24-11, 25-0; sub-junior boys: Sahil Sood b Gursharan Singh 24-10; junior boys: Saurabh Sharma b Raman Sharma 25-8; junior girls; Nikita Budhiraja b Pallavi Luthra 25-1; and sub-junior girls: Diksha Jain b Sheena Dhiman 11-4.

Sony XI win

A superb bowling of Vineet Jain, who claimed three wickets for 29 runs, and helped by Amit Uniyal, who got two wickets for 22 runs and also batted well by scoring unbeaten 29 runs, enabled Sony XI to defeat Godrej Cricket Club by six wickets. Sony XI thus entered the final of the Sony league-cum-knock out cricket tournament played here today at Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 19 grounds. The tournament is being organised by Chandigarh Cricket Association affiliated to the Haryana Cricket Association.

In another tie, Sector 17 Cricket Club beat RS Club by four runs.

‘Honour Abhinav’

The president of the Punjab State Rifle Association, Mr Gurbir Singh, has requested the Chief Minister, Punjab, Capt Amarinder Singh, to give a befitting honour to the first shooter of the state, Abhinav Bindra, for being chosen for the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award. Gurbir today came to the city after attending the executive committee meeting of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) held yesterday at Hyderabad.

He said for a sportsperson, it is always the sincerity and dedication which finally pays. This happened in case of Abhinav who has yet to complete 20 years and this gutsy shooter has made all Punjabis’ proud.

Cricket meet

Canara Bank defeated Harmukh Club by 19 runs, thanks to a fine performance by Rampal Raghav who hammered 85 runs in just 65 deliveries and also claimed three wickets for just 36 runs, in the 1st Inter Media/Institutional/Bank employees Cricket Tournament played here at Panchkula. In another match, The Tribune Cricket Club got the better of the Gallant Cricket Club by 19 runs.

Brief scores: Canara Bank:- 169 runs all out in 24.2 overs(Rampal Raghav 85, Charan Dass 30, Ramesh 3 for 31, Ashu 3 for 32, Naveen Kumar 3 for 24); Harmukh Club:150 runs for nine in 25 overs (Kuldeep Kaul 45, Sanju Khor 36, Sanjay Raina 27, Anant 3 for 30, Rampal Raghav 3 for 36, Rajiv Suppal 3 for 30).

Shikha, Vikram win TT titles
Our Sports Reporter

Chandigarh, August 25
Shikha Sharma of AG Haryana and Vikram Aditya of Amritsar won the women’s and men’s titles, respectively, in the fourth Manav Mangal Open Table Tennis Tournament that concluded in the Sector 23 hall here today. Mr D.S. Mangat, Director Public Instruction (schools), gave away the prizes to the winners.

In the women’s final, Shikha defeated Barkha KC of AG Punjab in a five-game thriller, 8-11, 11-5, 11-8, 13-11 and 13-11. In the men’s final, the Amritsar lad, Vikram Aditya, beat Janak Raj of Amritsar in a tough match, 11-8, 12-10, 10-12, 11-6, 11-8.

The tournament organised by Manav Mangal School evoked a massive response for the fourth time in succession and top-ranked players of the region participated in it. Mr Sanjay Sardana, Principal of the Sector 21 Manav Mangal School, gave the Lions Club Chandigarh Central and the Chandigarh Table Tennis Association the credit for the success of the tournament in which more than 300 players had participated.

Results: Semi-finals (women) — Shikha Sharma b Gurvinder Kaur (AG Punjab), 11-9, 11-9, 11-7, 11-7; Barkha KC b Nadia Saini (DAV Public School, Sector 8), 11-8, 9-11, 11-8, 5-11, 10-12, 11-8, 11-9; men’s semi-finals — Vikram Aditya b Mandeep Singh (RBI), 11-9, 11-5, 11-5, 11-7; Janak Raj b Dheeraj Arora (RBI), 3-11, 11-5, 11-4, 11-8, 10-12, 11-7.

Transporters decry STA's challan spree
 Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 25
Alleging that the State Transport Authority(STA) was challaning school buses arbitrarily, members of the Chandigarh School Bus Operators Welfare Association, in a press note issued here today, said they were being fined for no fault of theirs.

The members claimed they were being challaned on grounds that conductors did not possess licences when neither the Estate Office nor the police was authorised to issue such challans, and for carrying children from another school despite having permits.

Most buses are running with permits from the STA, while some have applied for it.

Despite possessing receipts from the STA that all dues had been paid and necessary insurance coverage done, the members alleged that they had been challaned and some vehicles impounded.

Denying charges that parents had been bullied into availing their services, they said the parents had the option of sending their children by government buses or leaving them in their personal vehicles.

The transporters would not risk their vehicles with inexperienced drivers and due care was taken to transport children , they said adding that five years experience was no criteria for being a “ safe driver ”.

The complained that charging Rs 10,000 for not possessing a permit and Rs 5000 for not carrying a first-aid box was unjustified. “We have been transporting 16000 children in the city for years and have the support of many parents,” they said.

They urged the UT Administrator and the Home Secretary-cum-Chairman of the State Transport Authority to look into the matter. 

Efficiency test for cops
Our Correspondent

SAS Nagar, August 25
The police today conducted an efficiency test for its staff.

The SP, Mr H.S. Bhullar, said the test was aimed at increasing the knowledge of the staff and also determining how much they knew about their work.

The test, in which nearly 140 personnel, including those from the traffic wing, appeared, had questions relating to their daily duties and general awareness.