Panchkula, September 14
A senior cardiologist at Mukut Hospital and Heart Institute, Dr Sudheer Saxena, has claimed to have performed 13 coronary procedures, three angiographies and 10 angioplasties in a single day.

“Ten patients from among them were deemed sick enough to require an immediate heart surgery as a life-saving measure. This is the highest number of angioplasties ever done in a single day by one single cardiologist working all alone in the country. I conducted these procedures without help from any junior cardiologist,” he claimed at a press conference in the Press Club here today.

And, all procedures took a total operative time of four hours and 43 minutes. “It was possible because the heart surgeries, despite being difficult, were uncomplicated. The patients were discharged in less than 48 hours and are doing fine,” the cardiologist explained.

Speaking about coronary heart disease, Dr Saxena said it was fast becoming the number one killer in our country, especially in Punjab and adjoining states. “Not only the number of patients is growing very fast but it is afflicting people younger than 40 years,” he said.

Trained at the Royal Perth Hospital in Australia, Dr Saxena said that angioplasty has a very high success rate (99 per cent) and lowest mortality rate (0.3 per cent). “With a highly systematic and sophisticated training available abroad, the speed of performing the procedure has also improved tremendously. However, the speed of the procedure has to be meticulously combined with skill and safety to avoid any fatalities,” he stated.

Mohali, September 14
The Punjab inter-school cricket tournament for under-17 boys in the Parle Cup state division will commence here from November 14, winners of which will take part in the seventh edition of the Parle Cup.

This was announced by Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) honorary secretary M.P. Pandove at the PCA Stadium here today.

Ludhiana, Amritsar, Patiala, Jalandhar, Chandigarh and Mohali district teams would play matches at their respective places and winners would clash in the knockout round at Chandigarh and Mohali from November 23 to 29.

Parle Cup organiser P.N. Shankaran said 540 teams from Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi, besides Punjab, would participate in the tournament.

Cash awards and special prizes would be given and there were plans to invite foreign teams, he added.

Chandigarh, September 14
The controversy of fielding overage players in local cricket tournaments has resurfaced as Stepping Stones, Sector 37, were disqualified from the tournament for fielding over-aged players in the semi-final match of the third Molly Carver High School Cricket Tournament being played at St Stephen’s School in Togan here today.

Earlier, Stepping Stones had defeated Shivalik Public School, Sector 41, by five wickets in the semi-final.

Shivalik Public School protested against some overaged players of Stepping Stones and the match was reduced to a 15-over-a-side affair. It was played under protest by Shivalik School.

Later, the organising committee upheld the protest and disqualified Stepping Stones. According to organising secretary Sanjeev Aggarwal, the officials of Stepping Stones admitted their guilt and gracefully accepted the organising committee’s decision.

Batting first, Shivalik Public mustered 103 for 4 in 15 overs with the help of fine knocks by Navdeep (40) and Shersht (33). Kuldeep captured two wickets for 13 runs.

Stepping Stones achieved the target in 10.5 overs by scoring 104 for 5. Pawan piled up 52 runs by hitting seven fours and one six.

Brief scores

Shivalik Public School-41: 103 for 4 in 15 overs (Navdeep 40, Shersht 33, Kuldeep 2 for 13).

Stepping Stones-37: 104 for 5 in 10.5 overs (Pawan 52, Parmod 13, Vijay 16, Lovepreet 1 for 23, Shersht 1 for 15).

Panchkula, September 14
A fine century by Bageshwar Bisht (109 runs) along with a five wicket haul by Sumit Narwal (5 for 39) put Chandigarh in a commanding position against Kurukshetra in the Inter-District Haryana Cricket Association Cricket Tournament for the Pataudi Trophy being held at JR Institute, Barwala here today.

Put in to bat first, Kurukshetra were bundled out for a meagre 80 runs in 25.1 overs. With the help of fine bowling spells from Sumit Narwal and Ajay Sikka, Kurukshetra were reeling at 31 for 6 at one stage. The other wicket taker was Vipul Chadha (3 for 8).

In reply, Chandigarh were playing on 223 for 3 in 54.1 overs at the end of the first day’s play. Amardeep Sonkar was unbeaten on 50 runs while Yuvraj Anand was unbeaten at 21 runs.

Earlier, Bageshwar Bisht and Vipul Chadha shared a fine 100-run partnership for the first wicket. Vipul was stumped out for 33 runs. Amardeep Sonkar joined Bisht and had a fine partnership of 90 runs for the second wicket. Bisht completed his century with the help of 14 fours and one six.

Brief scores

Kurukshetra (1st innings) 80 all out in 25.1 overs (Shiv Saini 30, Sumit Narwal 5 for 39, Vipul Chadha 3 for 8 , Ajay Sikka 1 for 14, Mandeep Singh 1 for 5).

Chandigarh (1st innings) 223 for 3 in 54.1 overs (Bageshwar Bisht 109, Amardeep Sonkar 50 not out, Vipul Chadha 33, Yuvraj Anand 21 not out, Gourav 1 for 35, Sanjay Dull 1 for 55).

Chandigarh, September 14
DAV College, Chandigarh, won the Panjab University Table Tennis Championship (Men) for the session 2006-07 whereas SGGS College, Chandigarh, GGD SD College, Chandigarh, and RDS College, Ferozepore, secured the second, third and fourth positions, respectively.

The results are: (men’s final): DAV College, Sector-10 Chandigarh bt Sri Guru Gobind Singh College-26 Chandigarh 3-1; Jubin Kumar bt Lovekesh 11-9, 2-11, 11-5, 12-10; Prateek lost to Sumit Bari 13-11, 7-11, 8-11, 1-11; Y. Dinesh Singh bt Manohar Lal 11-9, 11-7, 11-8; and Lubin Kumar bt Sumit Bari 11-7, 11-4, 11-5.

Semifinals: SGGSC-26,Chd bt RSD, Ferozepore 3-0 (Sumit bt Ankush 11-3, 11-4, 11-6; Lovekesh bt Vikas Sharma 11-7, 11-8, 11-9; Manohar Lal bt Sevesh Kakar 11-5,9-11,11-8,11-5); DAV College-10, Chandigarh bt GGD SD College-32 Chandigarh 3-0; Lubin Kumar bt Sumit Singh 11-3, 11-4, 11-2, Y.Dinesh Singh bt Gurpreet Singh 11-8, 11-5, 11-5; and Prateek bt Abhishek 11-9,11-9, 11-9).

Quarterfinals:GGD SD College-32, Chandigarh, bt PU Campus 3-1; DAV College-10, Chandigarh bt Government College, Ludhiana 3-0,SGGS College-26, Chandigarh bt DAV College, Abohar 3-0; and RSD College, Ferozepore, bt DAV College, Malout, 3-0.

Chandigarh, September 14
Mr S.K. Jain, an IPS officer of the 1980 batch, will take over as Inspector-General of the Chandigarh Police. He replaces Mr Satish Chandra, reliable sources said here today.

Mr Jain was posted as Joint Commissioner (Establishment), Delhi Police. He is a former DIG in charge of the Special Protection Group for VVIPs. He has also held the charge of Foreigners’ Regional Registration Office, New Delhi. He was promoted as IG in 2002.

Mr Jain has served in the north-eastern states of Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh. He is also a recipient of the President’s Police Medal for meritorious services.