The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories

SPORTS

Chess meet gets under way
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 15
Himal Gusain, Simranjit Singh and Jaskaran are leading with two points each at the end of the second round (junior under-19) of the first Tender Heart Junior and Sub-Junior Prize Money Chess Championship, being conducted by the Chandigarh Chess Academy at Tender Heart School, Sector 33, here today.

In the sub-junior (under-15) category, Gagandeep Singh, Sahil Bhatia and Aditi Sharma were in a commanding position with four points each.

Points position in junior (under-19) category at the end of second round: 2 points: Himal Gusain, Simranjit Singh, Jaskaran; 1 point: Vikram Hooda, Sulaksh Sharma, Sureet Singh, Rishu Rathi, Shweta, Gurnoor; 0.5 point: Abhishek Goyal, Amit Seth, Nitish.

Points position in sub-junior (under-15) category: four points: Gagandeep Singh, Sahil Bhatia, Aditi Sharma, 3.5 points: Shristi Jain, Tejas Kulkarni; 3 points: Palak Grewal, Shivam Shashwat, Jasleen, Ameek Malhotra, Ankush Verma, Sudharma Jain, Shirish, Ashudhir, Amber Sharma, Karansher Singh, Mehul Jyotsi, Udit Jain, Divya Pratap, Satbir, Savya Jha; 2.5 points: Ravneet, Shivam Sahni; 2 points: Jayesh Mondal, Gagandeep Sahib, Tejas Nagpal, Mayank Bansal, Agrim Bansal, Divir Gupta, Vasu Sachdeva, Swikrit Malik, Ravish Chawla, Anubhav Pasrija, Devjyot Singh, Dhruv Sabharwal, Harman Singh, Harpreet Singh, Sanchit Bansal, Saransh Sakhuja, Agam Gujral, Gauri Chutani, Ismeet Singh, Jobanjeet Singh, Lovish, Jagteshwar, Jaswinder Paul, Rishabh Gupta, Saraldeep; 1.5 points: Vaibhav Kohli, Damanpreet Singh, Vasu Pant; 1 point: Prakhar Gusain, Shivam Rathi, Tanish Goyal, Arinuma, Shresht Jain, Sumant Sood, Anubhav Tuknayat, Manraj Singh, Utkarsh Sidharth, Paritosh Sharma, Anirudh Mittal, Annahet, Gazal, Mitali, Pradeepto Mukherjee, Amanpreet Singh; 0.5 point: Harjot Kaur, Harjot Singh, Roopam Bhardwaj.

Chandigarh bundle out Sangrur
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 15
The Chandigarh team consolidated their position on the first day of the two-day inaugural match of the Inter-District (Under 15) tournament for the Sushil Bali Trophy by bundling out the Sangrur team on a meagre 88 at DAV School, Sector 8, here, today.

The decision of Sangrur to bat first after winning the toss did not work as the players could not stand the onslaught by the Chandigarh bowlers and crumbled to 88 all out in just 64 overs. Only two players — Raj Kamal (26) and Sukhdip (20) — could put on some respectable score.

For Chandigarh, Gurinder (3 for 9) was the most successful bowler. Rahul Chopra, Saurav and Nawab claimed two wickets each.

In reply, Chandigarh notched up 115 for 3 in 39 overs at the end of the day’s play. Vishal (41) and Karan Goel (30) were on the crease at the time of the drawn of the stumps.

Brief score: Sangrur 88 all out in 64 overs (Raj Kamal 26, Sukhdeep 20, Gurinder 3 for 9, Rahul Chara 2 for 23, Sarab 2 for 2 and Nawab 2 for 19).

Chandigarh 115 for 3 in 39 overs (Shah Nawaj 25, Vishal 41 not out and Karan Goel 30 not out).

Mohali Lawn Tennis Association formed
Tribune News Service

Mohali, April 15
The Mohali Lawn Tennis Association (MLTA) was constituted yesterday at the State Institute of Health and Family Welfare Complex, Phase VI, adjacent to the Civil Hospital, Mohali.

The newly formed governing body of the MLTA comprises Mr Tilak R. Sarangal, Managing Director, Punjab Health Systems Corporation as its President, Dr R. S. Saggu and Mr A.K. Kaushal as Vice-Presidents, Mr Harjit Singh as Executive Secretary and Mr Mahesh Kumar and Mr Rajiv Rattan as Joint Secretary and Treasurer, respectively.

Mr Sarangal said that three full-fledged clay courts have been developed and are functional with appropriate lighting facility for playing tennis during late hours. He added that two grass courts are in the pipeline. He said that the membership of the MLTA will be provided at nominal charges.

“To be champions, tennis players need to play for country”
G. S. Paul
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 15
“No name comes to mind after Leander Paes or Sania Mirza in a country of 100 crore population, who has done India proud in tennis lately. There is no dearth of talent in our country, but still we don’t have champion-like material. The reason for this is ‘lack of desire’ to play for the country and individuals tend to be bigger than the game. It is a cause of great concern and the need of the hour is to look for those ‘past greats’ who really want to spend time to groom the budding tennis players,” opines Akhtar Ali, former Davis Cupper and renowned tennis coach.

In town to conduct a nine-day coaching camp at CLTA, Sector 10, Akhtar is highly impressed with the infrastructure the city offers for tennis. “Chandigarh has a great potential to become a vibrant nursery for tennis in the country”, he said.

Akhtar, who had coached in Holland, the USA, Australia, Czechoslovakia, Belgium and Malaysia, has a long list of distinguished trainees, which includes the Amritraj brothers, Ramesh Krishnan, Nandan Bal, Leander Paes and not the least his son Zeeshan Ali, who remained India’s national champion for many years.

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

Akhtar blames our coaches for the deteriorating state of the game in our country. “The coaches are not working hard to groom the budding tennis players. Once they produce an under 12 or under 14 champion, they sit back to enjoy their achievements and don’t let the player play bigger tournaments because of fear of being exposed. They just want them to swim in the swimming pool only and don’t let them go into sea, as big ‘sharks’ are there to swallow them. I strongly oppose this. This is a cause of great concern”, he says.

Narrating his experiences, Akhtar says, “When he was coaching in Belgium a pool of around 30 coaches were always on their toes to work on different aspects of the game”.

Do we need foreign coaches to raise the level of tennis in India? Prompt came the reply in negative.

“The foreign coaches could have been better but they will not come to India at the money we offer them. Even the second rung coaches do not want to work for India and we are left with lesser-known or inexperienced coaches. In my opinion, we should find Indian coaches who could groom champions for the country,” he suggests.

“Parental mindset is another factor, which plays a very vital role in this. Sania Mirza and Rajni Parekh started their career at the same time together. Sania’s mother asked me that she wanted her daughter to be Indian champion but Rajini’s mother asked me to train her so that she could get scholarship in America only. This mindset has to be changed if you want to produce champions,” Akhtar opines.

“Sania has attained heights in tennis and has done what nobody has ever done in women tennis in our country. However, the situation is changing at a fast pace and the rise of new stars on the court such as Ankita Bhambri and Oberoi sisters is a very good sign,” he further says.

“Though, I admit 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 scholarships for better exposure. The AITA is making efforts to raise the level of the game by organising competitions from time to time, but these are not organised in a proper manner. The output is very less compared to what it should have been”.

“We should trust our own men and top persons should spend time in this field. Their presence alone can work wonders and is enough to encourage the budding players. We run tennis academies and when these academies invite international players, their interaction with tennis players restricts to photo session only. The big names in all sports have to be more proactive in order to take the game to higher levels and they should devote time more often,” Akhtar concludes.

Football probables
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 15
The following players have been selected for a coaching camp for the Chandigarh boys’ under -21 team after trials conducted at Football Stadium, Sector 17, here today: Sandeep, Pawandeep Singh, Ashwani, Mann Singh, Inderpreet Singh, Sahil, Depanker, Mukesh, Sandeep, Shakti Singh, Sandeep Bisht, Jasdeep, Parveen, Ajay Bhatt, Sandeep (Junior), Mohit Raj, Naresh, Chetan, Sunil, Akhil, Jasbir Singh, Bakashdit Singh and Stanley.

The coaching camp at the stadium would be held under the supervision of Tejinder Kumar from April 17.

The team selected would take part in the 15th under-21 North Zone National Football Championship for Dutta Rai Trophy, to be held at Gurgaon from April 30 to May 9.

Boxing body honours Dr Jerath
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 15
Dr C.K. Jerath, honorary secretary of the Chandigarh Amateur Boxing Association, was yesterday honoured at the Chandigarh Club for excellent performance
of the Indian boxing
contingent during the Commonwealth
Games at Melbourne recently.

Mr Satish Chandra, chairman of the association, presented a memento and a souvenir to Dr Jerath.

Several distinguished officers of Punjab and Haryana were present on the occasion.

Dr Jerath was the only official from the city who accompanied the Indian boxing contingent as manager.

It is for the first time that the Indian boxers won five medals, including one gold.

Arora wins in under-50 category
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 15
Rishi Arora was adjudged nett winner with 42 points while S.S. Waraich was declared nett runner-up with 41 points in the age group of upto 50 years in the Baisakhi Golf Tournament held at Chandigarh Golf Club, here, today.

It is this year’s first major club tournament which was held on stableford format basis against full handicap. The best gross score of 72 was scored by 15-year-old Master Rahul Bakshi and closely followed by Col Iqbal Singh with 73.

Later, Mr Gurinderjit Singh Sandhu, President of the Chandigarh Golf Club gave away the prizes to the winners.

The results:

Nett winner category (Men):

Upto 50 years: winner: Rishi Arora (42 points), runner-up: S.S. Waraich (41 points)

50 to 65 years: winner: Col Iqbal Singh (45 points), runner-up: Brig. A.S. Gill (44 points)

65 to 75 years: winner: BS Johl (48 points), runner-up: Maj Gen. H.C. Sachdev (41 points)

75 years and above: winner: S.D. Kaila (14 points), runner-up: S. Likhi (13 points)

Nett winner category (Women): winner: Preetinder Kaur (40 points) runner-up: Gurbinder Johl (38 points)

Longest drive (winners):

Under 50 years: Rahul Bakshi (age 15); 50 to 65 years: Brig RS Kalha; 65 to 75 years: Maj Gen. HC Sachdev; Above 75 years: Lt Col Mohinder Singh

Women: Mani Chander

Closest to Pin: Ms Rabiya Gill