SPORTS

Randhawa does his bit to perpetuate 
Bhalendra’s memory
M.S.Unnikrishnan

New Delhi, March 10
Out of sight means out of mind. Retired sportspersons often fade away in anonymity, and many die in penury. The enterprising ones take to the lucrative path of sports politics and sports administration, while the dedicated ones opt for coaching to give back something to the sports from which they have gained everything in life. And Gurbachan Singh Randhawa can be put in the last-mentioned category, as he has been taking an active role in spotting and nurturing promising talent, ever since he retired from police service in 1994.

The first Arjuna Award winner in athletics, Randhawa is the only Asian athlete to become an Olympic finalist in the 110m hurdles. He secured fifth place in the 110m hurdles at the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games in which he had the honour of leading the Indian contingent. His record of 14.0 secs, which he posted in Tokyo, still stands. Randhawa was also the first Indian athlete to set four national records in four different events — high jump, javelin throw, 110m hurdles and decathlon. It was a remarkable achievement, as those were the days when athletes performed without the aid of performance-boosting chemical agents..

He was adjudged the Best Athlete from Asia by a panel of International Track and Field Statisticians during the 1962 Asian Games at Jakarta (Indonesia), where he had bagged the gold in decathlon. He had also represented the country in the 1960 Rome Olympics and 1966 Commonwealth Games and a number of international meets in West Germany, Holland, Soviet Union, Switzerland, Uganda and West Indies.

Randhawa was also awarded the Home Minister’s gold medal for the Best All India Police Athlete for six consecutive years. He is one of the senior most qualified athletics coaches from the National Institute of Sports, Patiala. He has conducted a number of coaching camps, and has produced a clutch of medal winners.

He served the Central Reserve Police Force, the Intelligence Bureau and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police. After serving various police organisations for 35 years, he retired in 1994. He was awarded the Police Medal for meritorious service in 1978 and the President’s Medal for Meritorious Distinguished Service in 1990.

After retiring from service, Randhawa, instead of resting on his laurels, became very active in athletics coaching, shaping the career of many a medal winner.

He is now a Government observer for athletics and adviser on sports to the Vice-Chancellor of Punjabi University, Patiala. It was due to his tireless efforts that the Punjabi University Stadium was dedicated to Raja Bhalendra Singh, the doyen of India’s Olympic movement, on February 26 this year.

Randhawa pointed out the anomaly that while every other stadium in the country has been named after political personalities, none was dedicated to Raja Bhalendra Singh, whose contribution to the Olympic movement is unmatched. Raja Bhalendra was a member of the International Olympic Committee from 1947 to 1992 and president of the Indian Olympic Association from 1960 to 1976 and then from 1980 to 1984. He was also the president of the Amateur Athletic Federation of India from 1953 to 1968 and life president of the Olympic Council of Asia till 1992. But after his death in 1992, nobody ever thought of dedicating a stadium to Bhalendra’s memory till Randhawa mooted the idea, and the Punjabi University readily accepted it.

It was a highly satisfying experience for Randhawa, as he strongly feels that India’s sports fraternity owes a lot to Raja Bhalendra Singh for the way he strode the Olympic movement in the country like a colossus.

“Raja Bhalendra Singh was a generous philanthropist and quietly helped poor people in various ways. A simple, sober and quiet person, Raja Bhalendra Sigh was a man of resolute will, courage, conviction and confidence. He has left behind a legacy that cannot be measured in words,” Randhawa summed up in his tribute to Bhalendra Singh.

Randhawa says the dedication of the Patiala University Stadium in Bhalendra Singh’s name has been one his most satisfying achievements.

Rajinder, Sumit star in Bright Club’s victory
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, March 10
A dashing knock of 59, with one six and nine fours, by Rajinder Bisht, and deadly bowling of 3 for 25 by Sumit Narwal helped Bright Club stun Sonnet Club by 108 runs in a league match of the fourth Roshanara Cricket Tournament at the Roshanara Club ground.

Sonnet won the toss and put Bright Club in. Bright seized the opportunity to pile up 246 for nine wickets in 45 overs, thanks to the half century knocks of Bisht and Nischal Gaur, with Dinesh Yadav and Pankaj Thakur also pitching in with substantial contributions.

Though Oneil Wilson produced a stunning 4 for 46 spell for Sonnet, Bright managed to post a handsome total. Sonnet were then shot out for 35.1 overs, due to the fine bowling of Sumit Narwal.

Scores: Bright Club: 246 for 9 in 45 overs (Rajinder Bisht 59, 1x6, 2x4, 71b; Nischal Gaur 52, 3x4, 74b, Dinesh Yadav 48, 1x6, 2x4, 71b; Pankaj Thakur 35, 5x4, 23b; Oneil Wilson 4 for 46, Sumit Sharma 2 for 37, Saurabh Virmani 2 for 50).

Sonnet: 138 in 35.1 overs (Sunny 35, 6x4, 42b; Dhruv Mohan 25, 2x4, 38b; Sumit Narwal 3 for 25).

Raman powers Pahari Dhiraj to victory
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, March 10
Raman Gujral hit a strokeful 62 to help Pahari Dhiraj Club defeat Rehman Club by 31 runs in an A-I Division match of the DDCA League at the Kotla No 1 ground.

Madras Club: 188 for 3 in 30.3 overs (Kamal Chopra 53, Ajit Chaudhary 45, Sanjeev Kumar 32 n o, Arun Mishra 3 for 31).

Daksh beat Motorola

Daksh defeated Motorola by five wickets in the Reebok Cricket Tournament.

Scores: Motorola: 106 all out in 24.5 overs (Soumen Basak 26, 4x2, 34b; Vaibhav Sharma 3 for 17, Varun Vussai 2 for 19, Chandan Singh 2 for 12, extras 36).

Daksh: 110 for 5 in 18 overs (Adipras Butalia 32, 4x3, 35b; Vineet Vij 14 n o, 7b, 4x3; Abhijeet 2 for 9, Ganesh G 2 for 36).

Sunil Narula hits double century

A sparkling double century by Sunil Narula and a quick fire century by Dhanraj Singh helped Jawaharlal Nehru Sports Trust beat Australian High Commission by 272 runs and entered the semi-final of the second Commonwealth Cricket Tournament at the Nehru Stadium.

Sunil Narula and Dhanraj Singh put on 319 runs for the fifth wicket. Narula was adjudged the Man of the Match.

Scores: Jawaharlal Nehru Sports Trust: 486 for 5 in 35 overs (Sunil Narula 250 n o, Dhanraj Singh 131, Mohan Sharma 57, Tony Stuart 3 for 83). Australian High Commission: 214 in 32.4 overs (Charles 57, Ratnakar 45, Danny 44, K S Bedi 3 for 39, Sarkar Talwar 3 for 33, Vikram Kaul 2 for 16).

B L Kashyap enter quarter-final
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, March 10
Kanav Anand cracked an unbeaten 89, studded with nine fours and two sixes off just 52 balls, to guide B L Kashyap to an eight-wicket victory against National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) in a super league match of the tenth Teri Cup Cricket Tournament at the Teri Oval.

B L Kashyap won the toss and opted to field. Deadly bowling spells by Naresh and Puneet Kashyap ensured that NTPC were restricted to just 151 for seven wickets in 25 overs. B L Kashyap knocked in the required runs for the loss of just two wickets in 22.2 overs.

Electing to bat, NTPC made 151 for 7 in 25 overs. Scores: NTPC: 151 for 7 in 25 overs (Harbans Sonu 41 n o, 4x4, 2x6; Prahlad Ramrakhiani 25, 2x4, Ram Pal 20, 2x4; Naresh 2 for 27, Puneet Kashyap 2 for 28).

B L Kashyap: 152 for 2 wickets in 22.2 overs (Kanav Anand 89 n o, 9x4, 2x6, 52b; Vikram 45, 2x4, 2x6). Kanav Anand was named the man of the match.

Malhotra opens health camp
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, March 10
All India Council of Sports (AICS) president Prof Vijay Kumar Malhotra opened a free health check up and blood donation camp, organised by the Friends Devoted Club, at Subhash Nagar in New Delhi.

Inaugurating the camp, Prof Malhotra said there was an urgent need to hold more such camps to make health care awareness among the people. Specialists in various areas of medicine will be attending to patients at the camp.

Prof Malhotra said a healthy citizenry was imperative necessity for the qualitative growth and development of the country.

ADMINISTRATION

Cent per cent recovery of taxes claimed
Our Correspondent

Rohtak, March 10
Deputy Commissioner Ashok Yadav has claimed that Rohtak would be the first district in the state to achieve the distinction of cent per cent recovery of various taxes till March 31.

Addressing newsmen at his camp office this afternoon, the Deputy Commissioner said an amount of nearly Rs 1.63 crore had been recovered so far against the budgetary provision of Rs 2.05 crore. He said this huge amount was pending in the form of different taxes for the last 10 years. A sum of Rs 27.75 lakh was pending as house tax against different government departments till last month out of which Rs 13.75 lakh had been recovered. An amount of Rs 8 lakh was pending as professional tax against chemists, which the Chief Medical Officer and the drug inspectors had been deputed to recover within three days.

Commenting on the shifting of dairies to the outskirts of the town, he said 155 out of 270 plots had been sold near Kanheli village. He said the developmental works were in progress on the site and the facilities of roads and sewers would be completed by the end of next month. He said the authorities had collected an amount of nearly Rs 1.26 crore from the instalments of the sold plots while a loan amounting to Rs 75 lakh had already been granted for the purpose.

Mr Yadav said the slaughterhouses had also been shifted out of the town and 53 meat shops had been constructed near Kutcha Beri road so far by spending a sum of Rs 7.13 lakh. The DC said the dues recovery campaign had also been launched in Meham and Kalanaur municipalities.

Search in Police HQ for ‘dangerous object’ 
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 10
The Office of the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Headquarters) issued an order to a number of police officials to check all floors of the Police Headquarters to find out whether there was any dangerous object lying in the building.

The order was issued following a secret information that the headquarters is a soft target for the militant organisations. The main gate of the Police Headquarters has also been closed for the general public.

Interestingly, most of the Inspectors and Sub Inspectors who are deployed to check the headquarters building are from the ministerial staff. They are not trained to check explosives and other dangerous objects, sources said.