Chandigarh, September 30
An impressive function jointly organised by the Department of Immuno-haematology and Blood Transfusion, Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32, and Blood Bank, Government Multi-Specialty Hospital (GMSH), Sector 16, marked the National Voluntary Blood Donation Day, here today.

More than 100 blood donors and organisations supporting the cause were honoured for their valuable contribution.

Chandigarh, September 30
A five fold increase in the last five years and still counting! Roller skating in the tri-city has never had it so good.

The increasing interest of the students in the game is evident from the fact that most top schools boast of a state-of-art skating rink conforming to international standards. Besides the administration-managed skating rink at Sector 10 in Chandigarh, nearly size schools have standard size rinks.

While Panchkula alone has four such rinks to cater to the needs of skaters, many of the other schools either have small size rinks or are planning full-fledged skating infrastructure at their premises.

“At present, 1500 to 2000 skaters are into the sport in Panchkula only whereas Chandigarh has over 1000. In Mohali, the number lies between 400 to 500”, said five times Roller Skating National Champion Chander Singhal.

Chander, who has won national gold medal three times in the Sub Junior category and two gold medals in the Junior category, has now been imparting training to the more than 500 budding skaters at three different training centres at Gurukul, St Xaviers and Dikshant International School, Zirakpur.

“The last three to five years saw big growth in the game as the number of participants in the sport has increased to thousands. The credit go to the efforts made by the Roller Skating Federation of India (RSFI), which has started a number of state-level and national level competitions. The increase in the amount to Rs 31,000 from meager Rs 800 for a national gold medalist by the RSFI was a step in the direction of the development of the sport”, said Chander, who also took initiative to encourage the sport in Panchkula and nearby areas.

Earlier, only one district- level competition was held but now lot of state-level and district-level competitions are being organised, added Chander.

About the status of the game in Mohali and surrounding areas, the President of the Mohali District Roller Skating Association, Mr Mitul Dikshit, said: “Almost 500 to 600 children from various schools and colleges are playing roller skating in Mohali district. Presently, there is only one international size skating rink in the district that is at Dikshant International School”.

Giving details of the initiatives to be taken for development of the game, Mr Dikshit said: “We will set up a banked track which will be 250 metre long and 5 metre wide with a roller hockey ground measuring 20 x 40 metres at Patiala Road, Zirakpur very soon. The rink will play a very crucial role in promoting the game”.

We plan to target a few schools in Mohali to develop at least three skating rinks by July 2007 and will also target introducing the game to maximum schools in Mohali.

Besides these, we also plan to provide scholarships to 20 skaters nationally based on there performance and would prepare them for world championships”.

The sport is yet to be recognised in big sports events like Asian Games and Olympics. “The School Nationals and the CBSE School Games have recognised the sport. We hope that it will make to Olympics in 2012”, said Chander.

Chandigarh, September 30
Utej Singh of St Stephen’s School, Sector 45, got first position in 100 metre breast stroke in under-14 (boys) category in the UT Inter-school Sports Meet at Government College for Men, Sector 11, here today.

In 100 mts butterfly event, Karan Bhai of KB DAV Public School, Sector 7, secured the top position followed by Angad Singh of Manav Mangal (second) and Abhay Kanwar of St Stephens (third).

The other results: Swimming (under-14 (boys), 100m breast stroke: 1 Utej Singh, 2 Harneet Singh, 3 Vipin;

(Under-17) 200m free style: 1 Kunal Bhardwaj, 2 Abhay Kanwar, 3 Rameshwar Dutt.

100m butterfly: 1 Karan Bhai, 2 Angad Singh, 3 Abhay Kanwar.

50m breast stroke: 1 Parminder Singh, 2 Parth, 3 Dev.

50m butterfly: 1 Vivek Yadav, 2 Rishab, 3 Manasvi.

(Swimming under-19), 50m breast stroke: 1 Yadwinder Singh Rawat, 2 Nikhil Choudhary, 3 Akshay Modgil.

200m breast stroke: 1 Gaganpreet, 2 Amanpreet, 3 Nikhil.

Softball (under-17 boys): DAV-8 b GMSSS-33 by 4-1, GMSSS-10 b Mount Carmel-47 by 8-5, GHS-46 b GMHS-36 by 12-11; and yoga (boys under-19): 1 GHS - 25, 2 GMHS-41, 3 GHS-26; (under-14): 1 GHS - 25, 2 GMHS-38, 3 GHS-26.

Chandigarh, September 30
The host team of NPS, Sector 18, beat DAV, Sector 15, (63-42) in the Rao Jai Singh Memorial Basketball tournament 2006, for boys while in the girls’ category, they defeated Sacred Heart Sector 26 team (44-12) in the Shanta H. Singh Memorial Basketball tournamemt 2006 for girls. Both the events are being held simultaneously at New Public School, Sector 18 grounds, here, today.

Chandigarh, September 30
Paddlers of Manav Mangal High School, Sector 21-C, Chandigarh proved their supremacy by claiming the title in boys and girls’ under-17, runners-up position in boys’ under-14 during the UT interschool championship played on their premises, here, today.

In the under-17, Manav Mangal defeated well knit team of AKSIPS-41 in a well-fought match (3-1). In the under-19 quarterfinals played today, AKSIPS-41 beat DAV Public School-8 (3-0).

Under-17 (Boys):

Final: Manav Mangal-21 b AKSIPS-41 (3-1), Sameer Singla b Sumit Choudhary (11-5, 11-5, 11-6), Ankush Gupta lost to Karamjot Singh (11-9, 7-11, 10-12, 16-18), Himanshu Attri b Deepak Ratan (7-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-6), and Sameer Singla b Karamjot Singh (11-13, 11-3, 11-7,6-11, 16-14).

For third & fourth position: DAV Public School b Shishu Niketan-22 (3-0), Rajan b Anmol ( 11-4, 11-9, 11-6), Manik b Umesh (11-2, 11-0, 11-4), Chetan b Neeraj (11-6, 11-7, 11-5).

U-19 (Boys): Quarter Finals — GMSSS-35 get walk over from DAV Public School-8, AKSIPS-41 b DAV Public School-8 (3-0), GMSSS-35 b Manav Mangal High School-21 (3-1) and St. Josephs b GMSSS-16 (3-1).

Mohali, September 30
Chandigarh Engineering College, Landran, was awarded the overall trophy by Dr M.S. Grewal, Registrar, PTU, Jalandhar for winning inter-college table tennis tournament held at the BGEC, Sangrur.

As many as 64 colleges sent their entries for these tournaments. Out of them 32 colleges participated. Chandigarh Engineering College reached quarter-finals after having a clean sweep victory, winning all three of five matches scheduled against the CTIM, Jalandhar as well as the host team.

In quarter final they defeated DAV, Jalandhar (3-2), while in semi-final they again had a clean sweep against PIMT (3-0). The finals were played between the CEC, Landran, and the GZSCET, Bathinda in which the CEC won (3-1).

Congratulating the team members, Manoj Kumar Sharma (Captain), Gurdeep Singh, Rohan Sharma, Shivam Kapur and Abhey Sarotra, Mr Satnam Singh Sandhu, Chairman and Mr Rashpal Singh Dhaliwal, President announced special prizes for them.

Dr G.D. Bansal, Principal, stated that college had already won a record number of 24 medals in various inter-college tournaments organised by the PTU so far. He disclosed that two students of the CEC — Manoj Kumar Sharma and Gurdeep Singh — were selected for the inter university table tennis tournament also.