SPORTS

Abhinav eyes Olympic medal
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, October 7
Abhinav Bindra (21), the first sportsperson from India to get quota place in shooting for the 2004 Athens Olympics, is all set to perform in the ISSF World Cup final being held in Milan, Italy. Though officially the six-day meet began today, the 10 m air rifle event, in which Abhinav is pitted against top-ranked shooters of the world, would be held on October 10.

Along with Abhinav, another world class shooter, Anjali Bhagwat, will also vie for top honours in the meet in the 10 m air rifle (women section) event.

Abhinav, who is ranked seventh in the world, is perhaps the youngest shooter in the world having reached this level. According to his father, Mr A.S. Bindra, during the past four years, Abhinav has been travelling, participating in the competitions all alone without any accompanying coach, guardian or parents. He said for a player to reach at the zenith of any competition, it was important to take care of many other aspects also, including mental balance, psychology, nourishment and the temperament on a particular day. “In shooting, each shooter has to find his own answer to what he is able or unable to do,” he said.

Though Abhinav’s aim is to perform well in the 2004 Olympics, he is giving equal importance to the World Cup and other major international competitions. He is working hard to excel in the forthcoming competitions as people expect a lot from him. Indian shooting community has also pinned high hopes on this talented sportsman.

His father said proper grooming of any sportsperson was very important. He said his son had sacrificed his prime days of teenage, youth for the cause of shooting. No distractions could land him in trouble when he was on the field, he said.

Abhinav’s main aim is to win a medal in the 2004 Olympics. Only 356 quota places will be distributed for 17 events for the Athens Olympics, so about 21 shooters in each event would stake claim for the coveted Olympic medal.

After the World Cup at Milano, Abhinav will spearhead India’s challenge in the first Afro-Asian games to be held at Hyderabad, then in the Commonwealth Shooting Championship to be held in New Delhi from December 1.

6-day carom meet begins
Tribune Reporters

Chandigarh, October 7
The six-day 13th Chandigarh State Carom Championship with 316 entries in seven categories began here today at the St Stephen’s School, Sector 45. In the sub-junior girls’ (singles) category, Tanvi and Prabhpreet moved up by beating their respective opponents, Shivalika and Vishakha. In other matches of the day, Priyam, Jasleen, Bhanu and Kudrat also registered wins.

The sub-junior boys who won their opening round matches were, Sushant, Shahil, Anuj, Akash Bedi, Ishan, Armaan, Karan Rana, Sudeep, Girish Raheja, Haider Nawaj, Rahit, Taranpreet, Lakshya, Deepak, Nikhil Patwal, Karan Kapoor, Ankit Bansal, Nikhil Jassal, Varun Sood, Karan Kaushal, Sudeep, Piyush Sood, Viren Sood, Karan Kaushal, Ankit Aaswal. In the junior boys’ (singles) category, the winners included, Robin, Dewal, Ankushi, Mohit Sharma and Rohit Sharma. In the veteran men’s (singles) category, K.S. Patwal and D.S. Aaithani won their respective matches with ease.

Judo championship

Nidhi Bhardwaj of the Government College for Girls, Patiala, secured the first place in the below-57 kg section (girls) of the Punjabi University Inter-College Judo Championship played here today at Government College, SAS Nagar. Other winners in various age groups in girls’ section include, Rupinder Jit (below-63 kg); Ashu Goyal (below-52 kg); Ravneet Kaur (below-48 kg); and Pawandeep Kaur (open weight).

In the boys’ section, those who attained the first places were: Rishi Parkash (below-100 kg); Anil Kumar (below-90 kg); Mohammad Mustafa (below-81 kg); Himanshu (below-66 kg); Dal Bahadur (below-60 kg); and Neel Kant (below-50 kg).

AITA tennis series

Local tennis players, Vijayant Malik, Navdeep, Deepinder, Karan Uday, Mandeep Yadav ,in the boys’ section, and Isha Toor and Inayat Khosla, in the girls’ section, will vie for top honours in the AITA Champions Series Tennis Tournament, the main draw rounds of which will begin here on Wednesday at the Sector 10 tennis stadium. The draw will be of 32 players in all four events, under-14 and under-18 boys’ and girls’ sections.

Talent hunt

Ambala: The Army conducted competition for schoolchildren to spot talent at an early stage. The talented children will be subsequently recruited into the Army, Army Sports Institute, where their skills will be nurtured. “A wrestling competition was organised for schoolchildren at Ambala Cantonment from October 4 to 6 under the aegis of HQ Western Command. A total of 154 participants from 12 districts of Punjab and Haryana participated in the tournament,” a press note said.

The boys were screened by the BRO, Ambala, and selected for enrolment in the Army. The finals were witnessed by senior Army officers. The winners and runners-up were given medals, along with cash prizes. All participants were given certificates.

Cycling championship

PATIALA: The Patiala District Cycling championship (track) will be held at Punjabi University velodrome on October 12.

The meet, which is being organised by the Patiala District Cycling Association, will be held in senior, junior and sub-junior categories.

Chadha to head key cricket panel
Abhijit Chatterjee
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 7
The Chandigarh Administration has constituted three committees — Cricket Upgradation Committee, Administrative Committee and Technical and Coaching Committee — to conduct cricketing affairs in the Union Territory under the guidance of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as also to utilise the financial support which the national body will extend to the Union Territory to improve the facilities for the game. The committees have been constituted by the Advisor to the Administrator of the Union Territory of Chandigarh.

Former national selector Ravinder Chadha, who has also had a long association with the national cricket team as medical officer, will head the Cricket Upgradation Committee which will play, besides other things, a key role in the utilisation of funds which the BCCI will release from time to time to improve the cricketing facilities in the Union Territory. According to sources the Chandigarh Administration has handed over a Rs 2 crore ‘‘wish list’’ to the BCCI.

The other members of the Cricket Upgradation Committee will be DAV School, Sector 8, principal Ravinder Talwar, Mr Mahender Singh, Secretary of the Chandigarh Cricket Association affiliated to the Punjab Cricket Association, Mr V.K. Bhardwaj, Mr S.S. Bawa, Secretary of the UT Cricket Association, former Haryana Ranji Trophy player Rakesh Jolly with Mr Vivek Atray, who will be the convener of this very important committee. Incidently, Mr Atray has been appointed nodal officer by the Administrator who will communicate with the cricket board.

The Administration Committee will have four members, three of them by designation. They are the Secretary, Finance and Sports of the Chandigarh Administration, the Director of Sports of the Chandigarh Administration and the Joint Director of Sports. The fourth member of this committee will be Mr Vivek Atray.

The Technical and Coaching Committee will be headed by Desh Prem Azad who has a very long association with cricketing affairs in the Union Territory and has headed the Sector 16 cricket coaching centre for many years. It is he who placed Chandigarh on the international cricket map by producing players of the calibre of Kapil Dev (who has been made chief consultant of this committee) and Ashok Malhotra, who later went on to become a national selector. Included in this committee are Sarkar Talwar, Chetan Sharma (yet another protege of Desh Prem Azad), S.S. Bawa, Harish Sharma, Sunil Sharma, Daniel Banerjee, Arun Tuli, Surinder Singh Baijee and J.P.S. Sidhus.