Chandigarh, December 22
The SN Vohra's All-India Gurmit Memorial Hockey Tournament, an annual feature in Chandigarh, owes its success to a dedicated band of officials, who have been sacrificing personal comfort to make the tournament successful year after year.

Many of them have retired from government service long back but interest in hockey brings them back to the turf this time of the year around. They not only get a chance to see and interact with top players, but also lend expert guidance. Among them are 70-year-old Gurcharan Singh Nabha, a former Senior Design Engineer in the Irrigation Department, Punjab, and Mr Amarjit Singh, who retired as Flight Lieutenant from the Indian Air Force. As members of the technical table, they have been keeping a hawk's eye on the proceedings, jotting down minute details and guiding umpires when required.

From the first goal scored to the last foul, they record everything along with the timings.

"Our job requires us to be fair, consultative and pragmatic. Whenever the umpires approach us, we help them in clearing doubts, enabling them to reach a fair conclusion. The game is so fast that at times even the umpires are unable to make out what has happened. In such situations, our views are sought. An unfair decision can change the complexion of a match," says Mr Gurcharan Singh , a member of the first batch of diploma engineers who passed out from Thapar Institute of Technology, Patiala, in 1958. In fact Gurcharan himself played hockey and represented Pepsu in the nationals in the 
late fifties.

His colleague, Flight Lieutenant (Retd) Amarjit Singh, who also served as coach of the IAF team for 27 years and the Services team for 11 years, echoes similar views. Recalling an incident during the sixth India-Pakistan Test here last year, he revealed how the umpire had faltered in not recording the time-out and blew the whistle with four seconds remaining for half time. “The umpire later admitted his mistake on being informed about the lapse,” he added.

Mr Gurcharan Singh's words reminds one of the Amritsar incident last year when India played Pakistan in the seventh Test on October 8. Pakistan's penalty corner expert Sohail Abbas, who was eyeing a world record having already equalled Paul Litjens' tally of 267 goals, despatched a powerful drag flick off a penalty corner taken by Rehan Butt. The ball pierced the net like a bullet before landing in the stands. As the player exulted in joy, umpire Amarjeet Singh of Malaysia appeared to be in doubt whether it was actually a goal as he failed to see the ball entering the goalmouth due to its immense speed. He later consulted his colleague, Satinder Sharma, and then together they were seen consulting the technical table. It was only then that the goal was allowed and the momentous occasion was recorded in the annals of hockey history.

Besides being alert during a match, officials on the technical table are also required to keep abreast of the latest rules of the game. At times players, not conversant with changes in rules, challenge the umpires’ decisions necessitating intervention by technical officials.

Although it is the technical table that is largely responsible for the smooth conduct of a championship, yet officials manning it go unsung and unnoticed. “It’s all part of the game,” say Gurcharan and Amarjit, whose voluntary service akin to that of many others associated with Rock Rovers, has kept the grade A tournament running for 35 years. 

Chandigarh, December 22
With the brilliant performance of Mandeep, who netted seven goals, Haryana trounced Pondicherry by 10-0 on the third day of the All-India Football Association Under-14 Soccer Festival being conducted by the Chandigarh Football Association at the Punjab Engineering College grounds, Sector 14, here today.

Despite a cakewalk win, Haryana could not clinch a green card which is worth five points. The green cards will determine the winners for the Fair Play Trophy. Pondicherry were awarded the green card against Haryana.

Rajwinder, Mandir and Vivek scored one goal each.

Meanwhile, a solitary goal scored by Biswajit Dutta helped West Bengal to beat Chandigarh by 1-0.

Results: Bengal bt Chandigarh 1-0 (Scorer: Biswajeet Dutta); Jharkhand draw with Mizoram 0-0; Uttar Pradesh bt Chhattisgarh 2-0 (Shane Parkash, Rakesh) both teams got green cards; Orissa bt Tripura 1-0 (Santosh KR Behra) green cards to both teams; Punjab and Uttranchal goalless draw. Green card to Uttranchal; Goa draw with Sikkim 1-1 (Sikkim: Daibhugua Raj Sharma; Goa : Remend); Haryana bt Pondicherry 10-0 (Mandeep 7, Mandir, Rajwinder, Vivek one each). Green card to Pondicherry; Meghalaya bt Kerala 1-0 (Newstarborn Nohgbri) green cards to both; Delhi draw Maharashtra 0-0. Green cards to both; Gujarat bt Rajasthan 1-0 (Akshay Mall). Green cards to both teams. 

Chandigarh, December 22
Various paid parking sites in the city fetched high prices on the second day of the auction by the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh (MCC) here today. The bids for the sites auctioned today were comparatively lower than yesterday still they fetched a total amount of Rs 1.55 crore. Even today there were no bidders for the two parking zones in Sectors 22-B and 35-B.

The parking sites in Sector 17 alone fetched the MC a net collection of Rs 1.3 crore. The parking area behind Empire Store in Sector 17 was auctioned for Rs 34.15 lakh against its reserve price of Rs 27.84 lakh. Another parking area in this sector in front of the Gurdev studio fetched Rs 26.10 lakh against the reserve price of Rs 19.40 lakh.

The parking site in front of SCO 45 to 56 near Anand Cinema fetched a successful bid of Rs 8.05 lakh against its reserve price of Rs 6.10 lakh. The site adjacent to the Bank Square in Sector 17 was auctioned for Rs 20.65 lakh against its reserve price of Rs 14.90 lakh. The reserve price of the underground parking site outside the DC office was Rs 13.50 lakh, but it fetched a price of Rs 17.10 lakh during the auction.

The parking area in front of CMC, Sector 17, was auctioned for Rs 21 lakh against a reserve price of Rs 16.50 lakh. The car parking area adjacent to Neelam cinema fetched Rs 2.12 lakh against a reserve price of Rs 1.65 lakh.

The Lake Club parking area raised Rs 21.01 lakh against the reserve price of Rs 17 lakh. The parking site outside Shanti Kunj in Sector 16 fetched the least amount. It fetched only Rs 3,000 more than the reserve price. It was auctioned for Rs 1.73 lakh instead of its reserve price of Rs 1.70 lakh.

The parking area outside Piccadily cinema in Sector 34 earmarked for four wheelers also fetched a bid of Rs 2.84 lakh against a reserve price of Rs 2.82 lakh.

However, there were no bidders even today for the parking zones in Sector 22-B and 35-B. While the reserve price of the Sector 22-B is Rs 30.72 lakh, it is Rs 34 lakh for the site in Sector 35-C.