Khalsa Club girls triumph
Our Sports Reporter

Ludhiana, February 4
Khalsa Club, Ludhiana, prevailed over the Government College for Women, Ludhiana, 4-3 to the title in the Ludhiana District Women Hockey Tournament that concluded at the Government College for Women ground here today. The issue was resolved via tie-breaker as the two teams were tied 1-1 at the end of the regular period.

Khalsa Club went into an early lead through Preetinder Kaur. Government College girls neutralised the lead midway through the first half. Both teams wasted a number of scoring chances as they failed to capitalise on opportunities. And, as the encounter failed to produce any result during the stipulated period, the tie-breaker rule was applied.

Sandeep, Kuldeep and Narinder Soni of the Khalsa Club succeeded in scoring while for the hosts Government College, only Sarabjeet and Jyoti found the target. In the match for the hard-line cup, Nanakana Sahib Public School of Kila Raipur overcame stiff challenge from Khalsa College, Sidhwan Khurd, 2-1.

Earlier in the semifinals, Khalsa Club beat Sikh Girls Senior Secondary School, Sidhwan Khurd, 2-0 while Government College outclassed Khalsa College, Sidhwan Khurd, 2-1 to set up the title clash.

Mr S.K. Sharma, Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, gave away prizes to the winners. Mr Simarjit Singh Bains, councillor, Mr Sukhbir Singh Grewal, former international hockey star, and president, District Hockey Association, Ludhiana, were among others who attended the prize distribution function.

Basketball trials: As many as 86 cagers reported for the trials at the local basketball courts of the Guru Nanak Sports Complex. These boys turned out for the trials conducted for the forthcoming Young Men Asian Basketball Championship scheduled to be held in Tehran in September.

According to Mr Teja Singh Dhaliwal, honorary general secretary, Punjab Basketball Association, a five-member panel headed by national basketball coach K.K. Siensuria was constituted to pick up the probables for this meet. The panel had other members in Dr Suman Sharma, Mukhtiar Singh, Ashok Rangeen and Ram Kumar. The panel shortlisted 20 players who would undergo training-cum-coaching camps prior to their participation in the upcoming tournament.

The first camp would start here on Februray 5 which would continue till Februray 19, Mr Dhaliwal added.

Prize distribution function
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, February 4
Students of Arya Senior Secondary School, who had shown excellence in sports and academics, were honoured at a function held here yesterday. The function began with a song based on the teachings of Swami Dayanand Saraswati. As many as 18 students and three coaches were honoured for bringing laurels to the school. Kanika Sharma was honoured for her success in the middle examination. Nirvair, Parneet Singh, Avtar Singh and Satinder Singh were honoured for their achievements in athletics.

Rajnish Sharma, Bhupinder Singh, Sanjay Kumar, Hardeep Singh, Sukhwant Singh, Ashwini Kumar, Jatinder Kumar, Simranjeet Singh, Balwinder Singh and Ramandeep Singh won prizes for their success in national judo competition. Dushwant and Gurdeep Singh were honoured for their victory in throwball. Amrita Chauhan won the prize for the best gymnast.

Besides, three coaches were also honoured on the occasion. These included Mr Rakesh Singh, district judo coach, Mr Sukhdev Singh, district athletics coach, and Mr Parveen Thakur, junior judo coach.

Ottalan sports festival opens
Our Correspondent

Samrala, February 4
The 17th sports festival organised by the Youth Welfare Sports Club, Ottalan, 3 km from here, began on the premises of Government Senior Secondary School today. In the horse races, 45 horses took part. The horses of Gahi Singh of Mangewal village, Raja of Balion and Amar Singh Rangian won the first, second and third positions, respectively.

The bullockcarts of Rachhpal Singh of Harbanspura, Nirmal Singh Nagra and Jasanpreet Singh of Kauri won the first, second and third positions, respectively.

In the kabaddi (42 kg), Mehoodan defeated Jasran and Balala defeated Ottalan; and in the hockey league matches, Amritsar defeated Ottalan and Sultanpur defeated ITI, Ottalan. The tournament was inaugurated by Ms Swaran Kaur, sarpanch.

Sports at Jarkhar from today
Our Sports Reporter

Ludhiana, February 4
The three-day sports festival at Jarkhar village near here begins tomorrow. A number of events have been added to this year’s festival. Giving this information, Mr Narinder Pal Singh Sidhu, chairman, Sports Club, Jarkhar, said a meeting of the club was held last evening to take stock of the arrangements made for this event.

The main attraction of this meet would be a kabaddi match between India XI and Pakistan. A match between the teams of Punjab and Haryana in the women’s section would also be conducted on the final day. Besides, a basketball match between India Red and India Blue teams would be organised, Mr Sidhu informed.

A number of prominent Punjabi folk singers have been invited to entertain the spectators during the festival.