SPORTS

Football academy beat GMSSS-22 by 26 goals
Our Sports Reporter

Chandigarh, August 17
Defending champions Chandigarh Football Academy-42 outclassed Government Model Senior Secondary School-22 by 26 goals to nil in a group A match of the Chandigarh Sub-Junior Boys Under-16 Football Championship for Mahatma Hans Raj Trophy at Sector-17 Football Stadium here today.

Earlier the four-day meet was inaugurated by Mr Ravinder Talwar, secretary-general of the Chandigarh Olympic Association.

It was Rakesh who performed the first hat-trick of the tournament in the 25th minute and achieved it within a span of four minutes. His second and third successive goals came in the 27th and 29th minutes.

The CFA forward continued to dominate the spotlight by goals in the 34th, 41st , 43rd , 46th, 47th and 54th minutes to complete his tally of 12 goals. Rakesh was joined by Manoj who netted five goals. Randeep, Gurjinder, Gurtej and Pradeep were the other scorers for the winners.

The CFA will next cross swords with Government Senior Secondary School-15 in the quarter-finals on August 19. government SSS-15 were awarded a walkover against Mount Carmel School-47, which played truant. Rakesh Bakshi, secretary of the Chandigarh Football Association, organiser of the sub-junior state competitions, said Mount Carmel had informed their inability to field its team..

St Xavier’s Senior Secondary School-44 trounced against Guru Teg Bahadur School-15 whom they routed 10-0 after establishing a commanding 7-0 lead in the first half. Ping Pong, who is a native of Thailand, scored in the 8 th, 15th , 22nd and 39 minutes. Abhishek opened the St Xavier’s account with a goal in the second minute. His next three goals came in the 5th , 18th and 19 th minutes. Gurdeep and Guman contributed one goal each to swell St Xavier’s tally.

Earlier, in the first match of the day , Vivek High School-38 prevailed over Shishu Niketan Model Senior Secondary School-22 by 3-1. Vivek School boys were in better control of the proceedings despite rain which made ground slippery.

Tomorrow’s fixtures: St Stephen’s-45 vs St Joseph’s-44 (9.30 a.m.); St Soldier’s Public School-28 vs government Model SSS-10 (10.30 a.m.); St Peter’s-37 vs DAVSSS-8 (11.30 a.m.); and Guru Harkishan School-40 vs Shivalik Public School-41 (12.30 p.m.).

Akhtar: We don’t need foreign coaches
G.S. Paul
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 17
Have we heard of any big name in singles after Leander Paes (barring Sania Mirza) in a country of 100 million population? Do we need foreign coaches to raise the level of tennis in India?

Prompt came the reply in negative for both questions by former Davis Cupper Akhtar Ali. Coached in Holland, USA, Australia, Czechoslovakia, Belgium and Malaysia, Akhtar was recently in the city to conduct a 10-day coaching camp at the CLTA, Sector 10.

“The foreign coaches will not be ready to come to India at less money. Even the second-rung coaches do not want to work for India and we are left with lesser known or inexperienced coaches. Such is the plight of tennis in India,” he said. “Instead of spending money on foreign coaches, we should trust our own men,” he further said.

Akhtar remained the coach of national tennis and Davis Cup team. In the 1960’s, Akhtar was a member of the Davis Cup team, which at that time included Ramanathan Krishnan, Jaideep Mukherjee and Premjit Lal.

The list of his trainees includes the Amritraj brothers, Ramesh Krishnan, Nandan Bal and Leander Paes. Even, his son, Zeeshan Ali remained India’s national champion for many years.

The All-India Tennis Association (AITA) is making efforts to develop tennis at the grass root level. As a part of their endeavour, a basic tennis teachers course (BTTC), was organised at the CLTA stadium, Sector 10, last month.

“With these basic training skills, the quality of coaching in all is bound to improve. Twenty coaches from Punjab and Chandigarh had turned up to avail of this facility,” said CLTA chairman Rajan Kashyap.

The AITA is pouring in a lot of money to produce champion players. Amongst the most prominent steps, it is adopting talented players and sending them abroad on scholarship for better exposure.

Gaurav Malhotra, team leader with Hopman’s Tennis Academy, USA, which is now known as Saddle Brook International Sports, is of the view, “We don’t have a culture for sports in India and until unless the parents change their attitude , the situation looks grim for upcoming players. Even Indian parents in the USA have tried to put their children on academic lines and hardly encourage them to take to sports professionally.

On being asked how tennis can be promoted in India, he said , “There is no dearth of talent in India. The problem is the lack of infrastructure which involves a lot of money. I say that if you are rich or influential enough to arrange a sponsorship, then, you should think of tennis as a professional career for your kids”.

The International Tennis Federation has two levels for the coaches i.e. Level 1 and Level 2. The later being the better level. The coaches who go through this test are eligible to train tennis players anywhere.

Chaddha back on ground
Akash Ghai
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 17
Inderjit Chaddha, the local national hockey player who got injured during the Ajlan Shah Hockey Tournament at Kuala Lumpur earlier this year, is back in the field with his hockey stick.

Today he started his practice at Hockey Stadium, Sector 42. “At present, I am concentrating on my fitness as doctor exhorted me for light exercises for three weeks. After that I would indulge myself in rigorous stick work”, said Chaddha, the right side midfielder.

Chaddha was even selected among the probables of the 20-day training camp held at Chandigarh for the preparation of the ongoing Rabo Bank Trophy at Holland, despite plaster on right hand thumb after its surgery.

Chaddha seems unhappy with the dismal performance of the Indian hockey team at Holland, which has already lost two matches against Spain and Germany. “Non-trapping and missing the ball are the main factors for our defeat. These should be overcome immediately”, opined Chaddha, who had played in the winning squad in the World Cup Junior in 2000.

Chadha is preparing for the forthcoming India-Malaysia series in September.

Football meet from today
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 17
St Xavier’s Senior Secondary School, Sector 44, is organising the St Xavier’s Six-a-Side Football Tournament from tomorrow on the school ground here.

As many as 19 schoolboys’ teams along with five girls’ teams will participate in the tournament. Besides this, 10 schools are also sending their staff teams there.

The five-day tournament is being organised in collaboration with the Chandigarh Football Association.