SPORTS

Nadia wins double crown in TT
Our Sports Reporter

Chandigarh, August 31
Nadia Saini bagged double crown in the girls and women section in the Professor R.S. Mehta Memorial table tennis tournament which concluded this evening at the Sector 23 TT hall. Sandeep of Himachal Pradesh clinched the boys title while Vikram Aditya of Patiala lifted the men singles title.

Results: all finals: girls: Nadia Saini (Chd) b Manisha 11-8,11-7,12-10, 8-11,11-5; women:Nadia Saini b Rishu (Jal) 12-10,11-9,11-7, 8-11, 10-12, 11-9.

Boys: Sandeep b Sajal Kaushal 7-11, 9-11, 11-9, 11-6, 9-11, 11-8, 11-7.

Men; Vikram Aditya b Dheeraj Arora 4-0.

St Stephen’s defeat St Soldiers

St Stephen’s School, Sector 45, defeated St Soldier’s International School, Sector 45 by 7-0 while Sacred Heart Senior Secondary School, Sector 26, beat Government High school, Sector 11 by 2-1 in the Chandigarh Junior girls Football championship for under 19 section played here today at the Football Stadium, Sector 17.

Tennis body to select boys

The Chandigarh Lawn Tennis Association will select 10 physically gifted boys in the age group of 9 to 11 years out of a shortlist of 40 wards of serving soldiers. Disclosing this, Mr Rajan Kashyap, Chairman, CLTA, stated that under directions of Lieut. Gen. S.S. Mehta, GOC-in-C, Western Command, the Army authorities have made a talent search to find the most athletic and physically well endowed boys from Army formations all over the country. Scientific selection tests of these 40 boys would be conducted in CLTA Stadium from September 1.

The 10 boys to be selected on the basis of athletic ability and general aptitude would be inducted in the Chandigarh Academy of Rural Tennis on November 1. They would join 10 other boys who are already receiving specialised coaching at CLTA from previous batches.

Mr Kashyap explained that the unique venture between the CLTA and the Army is expected to identify boys with best genes and aptitude for a sustained scientific tennis training programme over the next six or seven years until the boys reach peak form. The CLTA would take full responsibility for meeting all the needs of entrants to the prestigious Chandigarh Academy of Rural Tennis (CHART), including their board and lodging, books and studies in a local public school and most importantly their physical development and realisation of potential in the game of tennis. A special hostel for the CHART is being constructed in the CLTA campus by the Administration with the support of Centre at a cost of Rs 25 lakh.

Mr Virendra Singh, Adviser to the Administrator, UT Chandigarh, reviewed the progress of construction. He directed that the construction of the hostel should be complete in all respects so that the new CHART scheme could be inaugurated on November 1.

New kabaddi body chief

Mr Satnam Singh Randhawa and Prof. Harjinder Singh were unanimously elected President and Secretary, respectively, of the Chandigarh Kabaddi Association, at a meeting held last evening. Mr S.S. Randhawa will replace Mr Baldev Singh. Both were authorised to form their own team of members.

IDS beat GMCH in cricket

ESTESA XI, Chandigarh defeated the Harmukh Kashmiri club by two wickets in the Inter Institutional cricket tournament played here today at the PEC cricket grounds. In other matches of the day, IDS Infotech beat the GMCH, Sector 32, by five wickets while in the third match of the day, Chandigarh city employees XI downed Oriental Bank of Commerce XI by five wickets.

Aashi wins gold

Aashi of SD Public school, Sector 32, won a gold medal each in the girls and women section in the Chandigarh Mountain Bike meet held this morning, near Panjab University, Chandigarh.

Anju’s big leap elates sportspersons
Our Sports Reporter

Chandigarh, August 31
Saturday was a great day for Indian athletics when Keralite athlete Anju Bobby George brought home a bronze medal in long jump at the World Athletics Championship in Paris.

Anju had earlier won medals for India at the Commonwealth Games, 2002, and Asian Games at Busan.

Om Prakash, a volleyball coach who knows the family of Anju, said Bobby George, her husband, was the motivating factor for her fine performance.

Om Prakash, who was recently conferred with the lifetime achievement award in volleyball, said the elder brother of Anju’s husband, Jimmy George, an Arjuna awardee in volleyball, had also encouraged her a lot. He hoped that Anju will certainly bring a medal in the 2004 Olympics.

Ravinder Talwar, secretary of the Chandigarh Olympic Association, while calling Anju’s achievement a big leap for Indian athletics, said this proved that now Indian sportspersons were making a name in the world of sports.

Talwar, who is also the senior vice-president of the Amateur Athletics Association, Chandigarh, said apart from Anju, now we have K.Beenamol and many other sportspersons in the country who could be our medal hope at the Athens Olympics.

D.K.Mukerjee, founder member of the Chandigarh Badminton Association, was of the view that after a long wait Anju George was likely to fill the gap left by P.T.Usha. Mukerjee said in his view it was Mike Powell, former long jump winner under whose guidance Anju did training abroad, was the man behind her success. 

Fun activities at Country club
Our Sports Reporter

Chandigarh, August 31
The Forest Hill Golf and Country Club Resort, near Chandigarh, has planned fun activities, forest hill great escapades, from October 1.

Adventure escapades will include trekking, mountain climbing, camping, boating, wildlife spotting and camel safari.

Sports escapades would have golf, tennis, swimming, and biking, air gun and archery events.

Health escapades will include activities for good living such as yoga, naturopathy, reiki, acupressure, stress management and aerobics.

Hobby escapades will have photography, astronomy, gardening and Indian and western dance. The registration will begin from tomorrow.