SPORTS

No. 1 Chandigarh Naval NCC cadets shine
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 26
Girl cadets from No. 1 Chandigarh Naval NCC bagged the first position in boat-pulling competition, while boys bagged the top positions in firing, drill, semaphore and ship modelling during the Pre Nau-Sainik Camp held at the Air Force Station High Grounds, Chandigarh.

Besides, the unit also bagged the runners-up position in sailing and ship modelling competition for girls.

As many as 600 cadets from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh attended the 12-day camp, which concluded here today.

Station Commander High Grounds Gp Capt P.P. Khandekar presided over the function and handed over prizes to the winners.

Camp Commandant Capt (IN) M.J. Singh said 40 senior division cadets, including 10 girls, had been selected to represent the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh NCC Directorate at the national-level Nau-Sainik Camp, scheduled to be held at Vishakhapatanam from October 15 to 26.

Prior to their departure, the selected cadets will undergo rigorous training at a camp to be held in Chandigarh from October 2 to 13 to prepare them for the competition.

No badminton coach in Chandigarh
Arvind Katyal

Chandigarh, September 26
At present, there is no badminton coach in the city. For the city-based sports lovers, especially the badminton players, there is a bad news, that they might not get the services of a badminton coach for another few months.

As per the policy of the Sports Department, Chandigarh, if any trainee gets registered at an official coaching centre, he has to pay advance fee for six months. Now, when Department’s own badminton coach has proceeded on leave and trainees are left in the lurch, will the department refund the money to the trainees. This question was raised by one of the parents who had deposited advance fee of his ward for training at the Sector 42 badminton hall.

The city, which has nice atmosphere and good infrastructure for sports, will be devoid of any badminton coach, thanks to the lackadaisical attitude of the authorities concerned.

Interestingly, till July, there were four badminton coaches in the city, three employed with the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and one with the UT Sports Department. But as on today, three coaches of the SAI stand transferred to various other centres, one to the National Institute of Sports, Patiala, and two to Haryana.

The lone UT Sports Department badminton coach has proceeded on leave for higher studies in a foreign university.

Panchkula, a smaller town as compared to Chandigarh, has two coaches, both posted at the Sector 3 sports complex.

The city has three official badminton coaching centres — in Sector 42, Panjab University Gymnasium and Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 23.

Badminton experts say the SAI did the wrong thing by transferring three coaches in July to various other destinations without replacing them with other coaches.

These three coaches were among the 746 coaches transferred all over India by the SAI Corporate Office in Delhi.

What has surprised the local sports lovers is that the case of the UT badminton coach who went on leave was in the prior knowledge of the high-ups in the UT Sports Department, yet they failed to appoint any badminton coach in time for the welfare of the youngsters.

It may be recalled that city shuttlers had done exceedingly well at the north zone, national and the inter-university level, but the absence of any badminton coach is sure to seriously affect their preparations.

Sriram hopeful of inclusion in Indian team
G.S. Paul
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 26
Sridharan Sriram, 29-year-old all-rounder who is representing the Bishnoi cricket team in the ongoing JP Atray Cricket Tournament being held here, is all high about his achievements and hopeful of his re-inclusion in the Indian cricket squad.

He started as a left-arm spinner and considered Maninder Singh as his idol. But now he has turned into a fine batsman, who thoughtfully mixes vigilance with attack. From a bowler-batsman to an opening batsman, the elegant left-handed player has grown in stature. It is truly a proud achievement by this ‘ little in size’ cricketer from Tamil Nadu for whom sky is the limit.

He emerged from the junior ranks to set domestic cricket ablaze with some lavish records. He took 29 wickets on India’s under-19 tour of South Africa in 1992-93 and remained the highest wicket taker. He was the captain of the under-19 team against Australia in 1994-95.

It has been quite an amazing transformation for him. From a bowler, he has become an opening batsman. He made his debut in one-day international matches against South Africa in 2000 at Nagpur.

But it was as a batsman that he came to national notice, becoming the only third batsman to score 1,000 runs in a domestic season, which, with the help of five centuries, he did in 1999-2000. Sriram achieved this in his seventh match and ninth innings. His tally at the end of the innings, remains at 1,050 at an average of 116.

Sriram finally got a well-deserved break in 2004 when he was picked for the Indian squad that played against Pakistan in Kolkata in an ODI held to celebrate the BCCI’s platinum jubilee.

He was the only change in the Indian squad that represented India in the Champions Trophy in England, replacing Rohan Gavaskar.

Sriram turned out to be the unlikely hero with the ball as Tamil Nadu skipped past Bengal in the semifinal of the Ranji Trophy in Mumbai. Chasing 278, Bengal were well on course with 109 for 3, but Sriram struck five crucial blows, including a hat trick towards the end to thwart their bid. At the end of the game, he was to find out that he was included in the Indian squad for the last two games against Pakistan as a replacement for Sourav Ganguly.

He was given a few (eight) ODIs but failed to impress.

Yet he has been the most consistent opener in the domestic cricket for a while. With India’s Test top order far from settled, he remains a contender.

Chandigarh State Badminton Meet begins
Our Correspondent

Ramandeep Kaur of St Xavier’s School, Sector 44, serves during an under-13 singles tie in the Chandigarh State Badminton Meet that began at the Sector 42 indoor hall, Chandigarh, on Monday. — Tribune photo by Vinay Malik

Chandigarh, September 26
Ramandeep Kaur, a Class VIII student of St Xavier’s School, Sector 44, was among those under-13 participants who appreciated the new experimentation system of scoring as envisaged by the Badminton Association of India (BAI). She surged ahead on the opening day of the 16th Chandigarh State Badminton Championship here today at the Sector 42 Indoor hall. She downed Deepshri 21-16, 21-14 and entered the third round.

It may be recalled that the BAI had asked the Chandigarh Badminton Association (CBA) to introduce rally points system in the under-13 and under-16 singles and doubles events by changing the score to 21 points in the best-of-three games. In doubles, instead of previous system of two serves, there will be one serve on each side and back gallery is also dispensed with.

The four-day meet was inaugurated by Shalimar Estate Managing Director R.K. Aggarwal. He announced a grant of Rs 11,000 to the CBA.

Earlier, lanky Akash Sethi went down fighting Adhiraj Neogi in well-contested three games, 9-15, 15-10, 5-15 in a men’s singles first-round match. Second-seed Vivek had a smooth sailing into the second round.

Oscar Bansal, top seeded in the boys under-16 category, easily moved ahead by beating Yogesh, 15-8, 15-8. Indian under-16 top ranked Oscar Bansal also easily prevailed over Sahil, 21-14, 21-5 in the boys’ under-16 singles first-round match.

Results: Men’s singles (Ist round): Vivek b Jasjot, 15-6, 15-8; Adhiraj Neogi b Akash Sethi, 15-9, 10-15, 15-5; Mandeep b Anuj Marwaha, 15-0, 15-1; Oscar Bansal b Yogesh, 15-8, 15-8; Vikas Kundu b Narinder, 15-9, 15-5; Naresh b Paras, 15-1, 15-4; Vivek Sharma b Naresh, 15-6, 15-0.

Girls’ under-16 singles (Ist round): Anita b Diksha, 21-9, 19-21, 23-21; Sumita bt Astha, 21-17, 21-11; Lubna b Neha Panchal, 24-22, 20-22, 21-12.

Girls’ under-10 singles (Ist round): Anchal b Varishta, 21-6; Mehak b Daaman, 22-20; Lubna b Neha Panchal, 24-22, 20-22, 21-12.

Boys under-16 singles (Ist round): Manish b Rohit Mangla, 21-9, 21-9; Param Parkash b Saurabh Gupta, 21-11, 22-20; Gagandeep b Vijay Grover, 21-13, 21-14; Ravi Setia b Gaurav Thakur, 21-8, 21-14; Amand Kumar b Shailesh, 21-19, 21-11; Harminder b Bhag Kumar, 21-12, 19-21, 21-11; Kanwar Cheema b Raminder, 21-17, 13-21, 21-11; Oscar Bansal b Sahil, 21-14, 21-15.

Boys’ under-19 singles (Ist round): Sachin b Hashwinder, 17-14, 15-6; Tushar b Nischal, 15-0, 15-0; Rajinder Bisht b Amit, 15-0, 15-0; Harminder b Ritesh, 15-1, 15-17, 15-3; Bhavesh Malik b Hardeep Singh, 15-2, 15-0; Adhiraj Neogi b Navjot, 15-10, 15-5.

Boys under-10 singles (Ist round): Chirag b Nikhil, 21-18; Aryan b Sonu, 21-15; Mehtab b Rajan, 21-6; Anshul b Ankit, 21-11; Avinash b Nikhlesh, 21-9; Simranjeet b Mayank, 21-9; Vishvajeet b Dey, 21-18; Mehak b Varun, 21-4; Mehak b Mehtab 21-5.

Girls’ under-13 singles (Ist round): Nisha b Mandeep, 21-2, 21-3; Jaskiran b Gagan, 21-17, 21-18; Ramandeep b Deepshri, 21-16, 21-14; Shivani b Rimpy, 21-2, 21-6; Raman b Ujwal, 21-18, 23-21; Diksha b Nidhi, 21-3, 21-1; Anita b Jaskiran, 21-4, 21-8.

Boys’ under-13 singles: Nitesh Khanna b Rahul Sharma, 18-21, 21-15, 21-19; Deepak b Yatin, 21-8, 21-7; Tarush b Vishal, 21-7, 21-8; Kanwar GS Cheema b Lakshya, 21-6, 21-14; Tajeshwar b Rakesh Pandey, 21-2, 21-5.

Girls’ under-19 singles (Ist round): Purnica b Geetika, 11-0, 11-0; Nisha b Akriti 11-9, 11-8; Monica b Rakhi, 11-2, 11-3. 

GSSS-23 enter soccer semis
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 26
The defending champions Government Senior Secondary School, Sector 23, registered a win over Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 46, by one goal in the Chandigarh Junior Girls Football Championship for St Stephens Trophy started at St Stephen’s School Sector-45 here today.

The only goal was netted by Meenakshi Bisht in the 21st minute. With this win, the Sector 23 school has qualified for the semifinal berth.

In the second match between the teams of Sacred Heart Senior School, Sector 26, and Government. Model Sr Sec School, Sector 10, the Sacred Heart team outplayed the latter by 3-0.

Divya Sharma scored two goals whereas the third one was netted by Tanvi Bhargava. With this win, Sacred Heart School have also moved into the semifinal of the championship.

In the third match of the day, St Stephen’s-45 team thrashed the Chandigarh Football Club by 5-0. The scorer were Jyotsana, Shikha, Jaspreet and Prabhsimran.

St Xavier’s Senior Secondary School, Sector 44, got walkover Shivalik Public School, Sector 41, which failed to turn up.

Cricket tourney

PANCHKULA: A fine bowling spell by Karan Kherwal (4 for 16) enabled Chandigarh beat Kurukshetra by seven wickets in the inter-district Haryana Cricket Association Tournament held at Barwala grounds , here, today.

Vipul Chadha of Chandigarh also claimed three wickets for six runs.

CBSE athletics meet
Our Sports Reporter

Chandigarh, September 26
The athletes of DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 8 in the under-19 boys’ section and Chaman Lal DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 11, Panchkula, in the under-16 girls’ section bagged team championships in the CBSE Cluster XIII Athletics meet that ended at the Sports Complex, Sector 46, today. The team championship winners in other age groups were, under-14 (girls) — St Soldier’s School, Sector 28; under-19 (girls) — Chapslee School, Shimla; under-14 and under-16 boys-Sainik School, Sujanpur Tira.

The overall best athletes in under-14 (boys) was Avinash of DAV school, Sector 8; under-14 (girls) — Puneet Kaur of St Soldiers School, Sector 28, In under-16 girls- Manjeet of CL DAV, Sector 11; Panchkula; In udner-19 (girls) — CLDAV-11, Panchkula; In under-19 (boys) — PML SD School, Sector 32, Chandigarh.

Mr K.K. Sharma, chairman-cum-manager of the PML SD School, Sector 32, gave away the prizes.

Water sports

The three-day water sports events in rowing and kayaking and canoeing will begin here on Tuesday at the Lake Sports Complex, Chandigarh.

More than 75 competitors are taking part in sub-junior, junior, senior men and women events. The events will begin at 9 am.

Badminton tourney

The All-India Inter- Electricity Board Badminton Tournament will be held at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium, Sector 3, Panchkula from November 25 to 28.

Mountaineer’s death mourned
Tribune News Service

Mohali, September 26
The Punjab Mountaineering Association held a meeting under the chairmanship of its president, Mr Jai Singh Gill, Chief Secretary, Punjab, here today. They mourned the demise of P.M. Dass, a mountaineer, while attempting to scale mountains in northern Sikkim.

Mr Gill said he was a skillful climber with vast experience, especially in the Himalayas.

The general secretary of the association, Mr D.S. Bains, said he was a source of inspiration to young mountaineers with a spirit of adventure. The association members felt that his untimely demise had left a void that would be hard to fill in the days to come. The association joined the family in this moment of grief and prayed to Almighty to grant peace to the departed soul and give strength to the bereaved family to bear the loss.