200 examined at medical camp
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, December 30
About 200 patients were examined at a medical camp organised by the Lions Club Chandigarh (Host.) The blood pressure was monitored, blood sugar level was tested and ECG done. Hearing aids were donated to the needy deaf and dumb children.

The members and general public were examined by a team of doctors from Fortis Heart Institute.

Czech shuttlers’ tour smash hit
Arvind Katyal

Chandigarh, December 30
They came, they played, they gained — is the story of three top badminton players of Czech Republic who came to the city with their coach. The Chandigarh Badminton Players Welfare Association had invited them here. The team included coach Radek Votava, two boys — Pavell Florian and Stam’slav Kohovtek — and a girl, Pavla Janosova. While Pavell and Stam’slav are the Czech national champions in their respective age group, Pavla is among the top ten in her age group.

Before leaving for New Delhi on their way back, the players said India had impressed them a lot. Pavell Florian, who spoke English fluently, said, except crowded places, the players had liked everything else. The players praised local badminton players and officials for showing them respect and hospitality.

Pavell said the players had three training sessions every day for 25 days they had spent here. The sessions were conducted by a senior badminton coach of the Sports Authority of India, Surinder Mahajan. Training began at 6.30 am every day. It included rigorous physical conditioning, weight training, cross country race and interval training. Just before noon, the players would reassemble for stroke practice, incentive training, shuttle run and shadow practice. In the evening, the shuttlers played matches with local players.

Pavell said: “Mr Mahajan is a nice coach and he taught us many fundamentals of the game that we were not aware of, so far. After receiving competition exposure here, we were taken to the National Institute of Sport in Patiala, where we learnt about sports sciences. The NIS was a different country from the moment we stepped on the campus.”

“We visited Ludhiana also, where we played in the Sutlej Club badminton hall. For excursion, we were taken to Shimla and the beautiful hills were a treat to watch,” Pavell said.

He said the 25-days stay had been marvellous for the players. They tried every kind of food — aloo prantha, makki ki roti, saag, cheese tomato and various kinds of pizzas. Every member of the team remained fit during the visit. Coach Mahajan said the association wished to send city players to Czech Republic for training and tournament exposure, under the sports exchange programme.

ESTESA beat Sports Dept XI to reach final
Tribune News Service

CHB XI: 83 all out (Rajeev Kashyap 23, Vijay Puri 12; Arun 12, Rajesh Arora 4 for 12, Lekh Raj 2 for 14, Rajinder 1 for 9, Satish Chowdhry 1 for 7).