DCI team visits hospital
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, July 18
The two members of the Dental Council of India (DCI), Mr S Jagdish from Bangalore and Dr Neelam Andrade, visited Dr Harvansh Singh Judge Dental College, Sector 25, for inspection today.

Dr Krishan Guaba has been appointed director of the college. He has been working with the PGI for the past 25 years. He has been Additional Professor in the Department of Oral Sciences for the past 10 years. The entrance test for admission to the institute will be held after the DCI and the Ministry of Health gives final approval to the institute.

SPORTS

Trials begin for sports quota seats
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 18
The two-day selection trials for allotment of 165 sports quota seats (colleges) in 14 different disciplines started here today at various coaching centres, run by the Sports Department, Chandigarh Administration.

On the first day of the trials, the response was encouraging as 300 sportspersons turned up to for 149 seats in 12 disciplines.

The trials for 12 volleyball seats at the Sports Complex, Sector 7, saw over 40 participants, the maximum among all disciplines, today. Weight lifting witnessed the minimum number as only 10 lifters took part for the five wing seats at the Sports Complex-42.

The trials for judo (16 seats), boxing (10 seats), wrestling (16 seats), badminton (10 seats), kabaddi (10 seats) and handball (12 seats) were held at the Sports Complex-42.

The trials for athletics (12 seats), Football (16 seats), basketball (12 seats) and hockey (16 seats) were conducted at the Sports Complex-46, football Stadium-17, Sports Complex-7 and Hockey Stadium-18, respectively.

The trials for rowing which were scheduled to be held today at the Lake Club, could not be conducted today.

Tomorrow, trials for basketball (12 seats) and rowing disciplines will be held at the Sports Complex-46 and the Lake Club, respectively, at 4 p.m.

Gymnastics centre rues coach’s transfer
Arvind Katyal

Chandigarh, July 18
The gymnastics coaching centre being run in the indoor hall of DAV College Sector 10, has rued the transfer of its coach Rajinder Sharma to Haryana by the Corporate Office of the Sports Authority of India (SAI).

Mr Satish Gandhi, Head, Physical Education Department of the college, said the centre was established around five years ago. What was unique about it was that it had maximum trainees from families of peons, chowkidars and gardeners.

Mr Gandhi said it was set up with the efforts of their Principal S. Marriya, who had promised to allow coaching to the children free of cost. At present more than 45 young gymnasts, in the age group six to 18 years, practice daily at the centre.

The decision of the SAI to shift Mr Sharma would be a great loss to the trainees. This was the time when the youngsters had begun showing results and were on the verge of making it big in their respective age groups.

He said a few months ago, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh paid a surprise visit to the centre along with his grandson who wanted to get gymnastic stips. The Chief Minister, was so impressed with the performance of the children that he encouraged them by offering incentives for their achievements in the sport.

The centre is equipped with all types of equipment such as Roman rings Horizontal bars, parallel bars, pomelled horse and landing mats.

Dhan Bahadur is the most promising gymnast who is already in the National camp and had won medals in various tournaments. Then Hargun, Naveen, Govind and Subhash among boys and Vidya, Sarita among girls have shown remarkable achievement in their respective age group and event.

The youngsters are trained in general gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, acrobatics and aerobics.

Secretary-General of the Gymnastics Federation of India Kan Singh Rathore, during his visit to the centre, had also praised the dedicated trainees and complimented Mr Sharma for nurturing their talent in right perspective. He had also described it as one of the best emerging centres of the north India.

‘City becoming tennis nursery’
Our Sports Reporter

Chandigarh, July 18
The city has a great potential in becoming a nursery for tennis in the country. This was stated here today by Mr Arun Kumar, Chief Coach, All-India Tennis Association, and Mr Nar Singh, Director, International Relations, Delhi Lawn Tennis Association, at the conclusion of a three-day Basic Tennis Teachers Course (BTTC) at the CLTA Tennis Stadium, Sector 10, here today.

The experts were impressed with the high quality infrastructure and keen interest in the game among boys and girls in the city. As many as 20 Assistant Coaches and Physical Instructors from Punjab and Chandigarh participated.

The experts were confident that the basic skills learned by the coaches would enable them to popularise and develop the game in their schools in villages as well as towns.

Mr Arun Kumar, who was India’s Junior Team Coach for Wimbledon and French Open tournaments, felt that by reaching out to a large number of children in schools, a strong base could be built.

Mr Nar Singh, who is also an international certified coach, saw great potential in the CHART Scheme (Chandigarh Academy for Rural Tennis) under which the CLTA is training talented boys from rural areas.