Chandigarh, December 31
The inclusion of two city cricketers, Yuvraj Singh and Dinesh Mongia, in the Indian team for the World Cup-2003 was the happiest news of the year for sports buffs here. The selections announced on December 30 eclipsed the sorrow of city’s poor performance in the 32nd National Games, where its 250 athletes could win only one gold medal.
Overall, the performance of senior players of the city in all team sport deteriorated. Only individuals could salvage some honour with their efforts. Abhinav Bindra, star shooter of the city, got the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award. He also received the International Olympic Committee (IOC) scholarship to receive training abroad.
The poor performance of other city players was mainly due to the exodus of good players to neighbouring states, since Chandigarh failed to protect the interests of its players. Gurpreet Kaur, wonder rower of the city, who struck gold in the single-scull category in the last National Games, moved to Punjab when she was not given any cash reward. Punjab gave Rs 1 lakh to each of its gold medalists. This year, Gurpreet won a silver.
Last year, Sabeeha Dhillon, also chose to represent Punjab and won bronze in the National Games. Sabeeha helped Panjab University win two gold medals in the All-India Inter-university Meet. Badminton players of Czech Republic stayed here for more than three weeks, which was a good experience for local shuttlers.
The city also hosted the North Zone Inter-state Badminton Tournament and the National Karate Championships. The Sports Karate Federation of India led by Mr Ravinder Talwar made the event a success.
Good sportspersons here are mostly of the Sports Authority of India. When they didn’t play, the performance of the city was bad. In the 32nd National Games, men’s roller hockey team helped the city win a gold medal, while the women’s team won a bronze medal.
Kriti Puri of the Sector 9 Carmel Convent School did well in roller hockey and speed events at the national level. She also
represented India at the World Cup in Portugal.
The new DPI Schools of the UT, Mr D.S. Mangat, was good news for school sportspersons. Mr Mangat told sports teachers to coach students in mornings and evenings. Sports wings were established in schools and trained coaches of the SAI and the UT Sports Department were appointed in various schools. The Sector 33 Government Model Senior Secondary School was made a model centre of excellence, with a floodlit basketball court and new clay courts for tennis players. The UT school judokas also reaped a rich haul in the just concluded 48th National Games in New Delhi. The UT school hockey players, who were hoping that the hockey events of the games would be held here, were, however, disappointed. The Education Department decided not to hold the events here due to a delay in the laying of synthetic turf in the Sector 42 Hockey Stadium.
Sportspersons of Panchkula did well in roller skating. Seven of the town’s women skaters, who were part of the 10-member Haryana squad, won a gold medal in the 32nd National Games. Panchkula skaters — Amrita Singh, Chandita Kamboj, Anuja, Rayasha Rajput, Ritika and Suruchi — were also part of the Indian women’s roller hockey team for the World Championship in Portugal.
