SPORTS

Vijayant, Yajiani move ahead
Our Sports Reporter

Chandigarh, August 13
The main draw rounds of the AITA Junior Tour Championship began here today at the Sector 10 tennis stadium. Top seed in the boys under-14 section, Vijayant Malik, a student of DAV Public School, Sector 8, justified his seed when he downed Uday Karan Puniha, also of Chandigarh, in straight sets. In the girls under-14 section, Yajiani Baluja, another budding youngster from Chandigarh, proved her worth when she outplayed eighth seed Saumya in two sets to move in the third round. The matches will begin tomorrow at 8 am for under-14 age group in boys and girls section.

Results: Boys under-14 singles (first round) : Vijayant Malik (CHD) bt. Uday Karan Singh Puniha (CHD) 6-1, 7-5; Prateek Bhambri (DLI) bt. Varun Gunaseelan (TN) 6-4, 7-5; Arjun Chaudhary (DLI) bt. Ashwani Kumar (CHD) 7-5, 6-2; Shiva Sangwan (CHD) bt. Mandeep Yadav (CHD) 6-3, 6-3; Navinder Pal Singh (CHD) bt. Subhash C. Rao (DLI) 7-6(2), 6-3; Ajay Kumar (DLI) bt. Kush Jagga (DLI) 7-5, 6-2; Parul Verma (CHD) bt. Saneesh Mani Mishra (UP) 6-2, 6-1; Ankit Sachdeva (DLI) bt. Pulkit Mishra (DLI) 6-2 ,3-6; 6-4; Sidharth Singh (CHD) bt. Vidhan Vyas (DLI) 6-3, 2-6, 6-0; Deepinder Singh (CHD) bt. Navdeep Singh Uppal (CHD) 7-5, 6-4; Yuvresh Bansal (CHD) bt. Akshat Joshi (CHD) 5-7, 7-5, 7-5; Chandril Sood (UP) bt. Lakshit Sood (UP) 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-2; Karunday Singh (DLI) bt. Dhruv Gurwara (DLI) 6-3, 2-6, 6-3; Rahul Jain (DLI) bt. Shikhar Kapoor (DLI) 6-3, 7-6(5); Irawan Sireg Dody (DLI) bt. Amit Chauhan (CHD) 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, Zehn Laliwala (GUJ) bt. Vikrant Sobti (CHD) 6-2, 6-1.

Girls under-14 singles (first round): Ramneek Rihal (CHD) bt. Arushi Sharma (DLI) 6-3, 6-2; Shradha Singh (CHD) bt. Mehak Singh (CHD) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2; Jaanesh M. Kaur (CHD) bt. Roop Saran Rihal (CHD) 7-6(4), 6-4; Ankita Singh (CHD) bt. Joben Nandadeep Chahal (CHD) 6-0, 6-0.

Girls under-14 singles (second round): Sweta Kumari (DLI) bt. Noor Paul (CHD) 6-2 ,6-0; Yajini Baluja bt. Saumya Avinashi 7-6(3), 6-2.

Boys under-14 doubles (first round): Karanuday Singh and Zehn Laliwala bt. Rahul Jain and Arjun Chaudhary 6-1, 6-2; Srigar Dody and Amit Chauhan bt. Subhash Chandera Rao and Pulkit Mishra 6-4, 0-6, 6-1; Kush Jagga and Ajay Kumar bt. Amrinder Singh and Ashwani Kumar 6-2, 7-5; Lakshit Sood and Chandril Sood bt. Inderjot Singh and Yuvresh Bansal 6-2, 6-0.

Carrom tourney

The Panchkula District Carrom Association will organise the IIIrd Panchkula District Carrom championship on August 23 and 24 at Saupin’s School, Sector 9, Panchkula, said Mr R.S. Yadav, general secretary of the association. The events will be held in men and women, juniors (below-18), sub-junior (below-14) section. Entries close on August 19.

Gymnastics

The Chandigarh State Gymnastics Championships will be held in ITBP gymnasium hall, Behlana, from August 17 to 19. More than 200 participants have confirmed their participation in the artistic, rhythmic and aerobics competitions in the senior, junior and sub-junior sections.

The championship will be held on international standard equipment imported by the ITBP. The competitions will start at 8 am on August 17. Meanwhile, trials to select the national aerobics team, which will participate in the Aerobic World Championship to be held at LEIP219 Germany next month, will be conducted here on August 19.

Bank Olympiad

Patiala: A high-level meeting to review preparations for the Bank Olympiad, scheduled to be held at Patiala and Chandigarh from November 1 to 8, was held here today.

The day-long meeting was chaired by Mr J.R Devgan, General Manager (Operations) of State Bank of Patiala (SBOP). Nearly 2,000 sportspersons from various banks are expected to take part in 14 sports disciplines.

Prominent among those who attended the meeting were the Regional Director of NIS, Mr G.S Anand, a former Test cricketer, Navjot Sidhu, the in charge of National camps, Ms Kamaljit Kooner, the District Sports Officer, Mr Sunil Khosla, senior NIS coaches, Bhawani Mukherjee and Ramesh Kailey, and cricket coach, Talwinder Singh. The Punjab Table Tennis Association and the Punjab Powerlifting and Body Building Association were represented by Mr J.K Bhardwaj and Mr Ram Nath, respectively.

Mr C.K. Mishra, Deputy General Manager (Personnel and HRD), was also present on the occasion.

Swimming meet

The Patiala District Swimming Championship for sub-junior, junior and senior boys and girls would be held at Government Mohindra College swimming pool on August 16 and 17.

This was stated by Mr M.S. Sidhu, Secretary of the Patiala District Swimming Association (PDSA), in a press note here on Wednesday.

Coach foresees bright future for spikers
Arvind Katyal

Chandigarh, August 13
Tall and lanky Om Parkash, who will receive the coveted Major Dhyan Chand Life Time Achievement Award in volleyball on August 29 at Delhi, predicts a bright future for India in volleyball. In a brief interaction with Chandigarh Tribune today, Om Prakash, who is working as a Senior Manager, Sports, with the Haryana State Industrial Development Corporation (HSIDC), Panchkula, was instrumental in convincing his bosses the need to tap the best talent in volleyball in the corporation two years back. This proved successful and today nine volleyball players, who are part of the HSIDC, are in the national team in various age groups.

Om Prakash (44) did his diploma in coaching from the NIS, Patiala, and also the Level I course from FIVB Volleyball Development Centre, Chennai. He has represented India for nearly 10 years from 1981 to 1990, the last was as the captain of the Indian team that played a test match against the USSR in June 1990. In 1987, he helped India in winning gold medal in the South Asian Federation Games held in Kolkata.

A native of Kohar village in Bhiwani district, Om Prakash was earlier appointed by the Haryana State Electiricity Board as a sports officer. But it was the HSIDC which realised his potential and finally gave him the charge to build a volleyball team of national standards.

Om Prakash said recently the Volleyball Federation of India has sent the circulars to all state federations for allowing club teams in the various national championships. He said this would boost the corporate sector teams.

He said the recent Indian juniors performance, who bagged silver medal in the World Cup, was a big leap for the volleyball in the country. At present Indian volleyball team was capable of beating any world class team, even the Europeans, he added. Two of their boys, Amir Singh and Raghbir Singh, have been selected in the Indian team. 

New window film stickers for vehicles
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 13
The Chandigarh Police today decided to cancel the stickers issued for window films of vehicles issued till August 7, 2003, and give fresh ones. The police has sought applications till September from those who want filming of windows of their vehicles as per the new design.

All stickers issued till the specific date would cease to be valid after September 30.

Persons seeking fresh permission shall ensure that the window film being used complied with the provisions of Rule 100 (2) of the Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989, that stipulate 50 per cent and 70 per cent visible light transmission for side and rear car windows, respectively.