SPORTS

World table soccer president Lounas in town
Tribune News Service

Panchkula, January 28
The president of the International Table Soccer Federation (ITSF), Mr Farid Lounas, visited The Gurukul, Sector 20, here today.

A cultural programme was presented on the occasion. Demo games for the International Table Soccer president were played. Mr Lounas also gave tips to the players to help enhance their performance.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Lounas appreciated the efforts of The Gurukul in promoting the game.

Mr Lounas, who is from France, is here to watch the progress of this relatively new indoor sport in the country. He is on a world promotional tour and after visiting the USA and other countries has arrived in Chandigarh. This is his first visit to any Asian country.

Mr Ravinder Talwar, chairman of the Table Soccer Federation of India, said in a short span of less than two years after the ITSF recognised our federation, we have hosted many tournaments.

Mr Sanjay Thareja, president of the Haryana Table Soccer Association, said The Gurukul was the first national and regional-level venue for the national table soccer championship. He said they were prepared for any international table soccer meet also.

Mr Balwinder Johal, president, TSFI, said this indoor sport had been getting popular in schools and now more than 50 per cent of the private schools in the city had already evinced interest in this game and had bought tables for practice.

He added that the first national championship was held in The Gurukul last year which evoked tremendous response. They conducted the North Zone Table Soccer meet at Delhi Public School, Pinjore, Haryana. Only recently they organised the second national table soccer meet at DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 8, where more than 300 children participated.

TT championship results
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 28
Punjab’s Shirvey Dhawan beat Shobah Naidu of Maharashtra 12-10, 11-8, 11-8 and helped her team to register a victory over Maharashtra 3-1 in the women team championship semi-finals of the fifth All-India Table Tennis Tournament (2005-06) at Table Tennis hall, Sector 23, here today.

In the men’s team championship, the Tamil Nadu team got the better of Madhya Pradesh 3-1 in the semi-finals.

The results are:

Semifinals (women team championship): Punjab beat Maharashtra 3-1 (Shirvey Dhawan

b Shobah Naidu 12-10, 11-8, 11-8, Shikha b M R Deshpande 11-3, 11-2, 11-3, Renu lost to S D Kulkarni 2-11, 3-11 , 3-11, Shikha b Shobha Naidu 11-1, 11-6, 11-3)

2) Tamilnadu b Madhya Pradesh 3-1

Semifinals (men team championship): Punjab b Gujarat 3-2 ( Janak Raj b K.A. Patel 11-9, 11-6, 11-7, Munish Bhardwaj lost to Malay Parikh 9-11, 5-11, 11-8, 11-7, 6-11, Paramjeet Singh lost to K.P. Rathod 2-11, 9-11, 4-11, Janak Raj b Malay Parikh 8-11, 11-2, 11-8, 11-6, Munish Bharadwaj b K.A. Patel 11-6, 11-7, 11-6) Tamil Nadu b Madhya Pradesh 3-1.

Anmol shines in tennis tourney
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 28
A local lad, Anmol Singh Ladhar won the Super Series Tennis Tournament held at Ahmedabad from January 23 to January 27, reliable sources said here today.

In the finals of the singles category, Anmol defeated Sumit Shinde of Pune in straight sets 6-2 6-3. Anmol was also the runners-up in the doubles event. After this tournament, Anmol has come in the top 10 player ranking in the under 16 category of the All-India Tennis Association(AITA).

Anmol is a student of Class X at Guru Nanak Public School, Sector 36. From Ahmedabad, Anmol has proceeded towards Kolkata to take part in another Super Series tournament scheduled to start from January 31.

Laxman Singh wins top honours
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 28
Laxman Singh won the top honours in the single skull men event of Chandigarh State Senior Rowing Championship at the Lake Club here today.

In the same event under the women’s category, Munshadi Khatoon remained at the top.

Single Scull (1 x), Double Scull (2 x) and Coxless Fours (4 -) were the events held during the championship.

The following are the results

Single scull (1 x) (1000M) (Men): 1 Laxman Singh 2 Vikinder 3 Shishan Pal.

(ii) Double Scull (2 x) (1000M): 1Laxman Singh and Vikinder 2 Shishan Pal and Shkinder.

Coxless fours (4 -) (2000M):1 Mangal Singh, Manjit Singh, Balkar Singh and Tarsem Singh, 2 Ram Naryan, Bittu, Parveen Kumar and Vipan Kamboj, 3 Gaurav Sharma, Ravi Kadian, Angrej Singh and Nanak Chand.

Women Single scull (1 x) (1000M): 1 Munshadi Khatoon, 2 Saroj Bala.

Double scull (2 x) (1000M): 1 Munshadi Khatun and Saroj Bala, 2 Rajeshwari and Kiran, 3 Manjula and Renuka Sarkar.

Coxless Fours (4 -) (1000M): 1 Rajeshwari, Renuka Sarkar, Manjula and Kiran, 2.

Athletics meet to begin from January 30
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 28
The Education Department, Chandigarh Administration, will be holding a three-day Inter School Athletics Meet (Boys and Girls) at the Sports Complex, Sector 46, starting from January 30 here.

Sportspersons of different schools will participate in the meet, which will culminate with the annual sports prize distribution function of the department on February 1 at 2 pm.

Fun-filled day for tiny tots
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 28
Fun and frolic marked the third annual sports day celebrations of Eurokids International Pre-School at Chandigarh and Panchkula. The school grounds wore a sporty look as the lawns were marked with tracks for various fun-filled races for the tiny tots.

Colourful flags dotted the field lending a cheerful feel to the school.

A number of races were organised for toddlers. The event began with a drill by Euro-junior and nursery kids. This was followed by a welcome walk by the play class children.

Cheer leaders with colourful pom-poms were a visual treat. Races like “getting ready for school”, “panning for gold”, “means of transport race”, “sea animal race”, “wild animal race” among others were held.