Chandigarh, November 15
Strong resentment is prevailing among officials of universities who are in the city along with their teams to participate in the All-India Inter-University Canoeing and Kayaking Tournament being conducted by Punjabi University, Patiala at the Sukhna Lake, here.

Their predicament is because of the clash of dates of the inter-varsity canoeing and kayaking meet with that of the 17th National Canoeing and Kayaking Competition, which started at the Upper Lake, Bhopal, today. The tournament here will conclude tomorrow making it impossible for the budding water sportsmen and women who are participating in the national games would be unable to compete in the inter-varsity meet here.

They all are in Bhopal participating in the national meet because of which they get gradation and job placements.

Earlier, this tournament was supposed to be conducted by Panjab University, Chandigarh, from November 4 to 7 but it was abruptly shifted to Punjabi University, Patiala, which is now organising the three-day meet since yesterday at the Sukhna Lake.

It may be either negligence or communication gap between the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) and the National Body controlling Canoeing and Kayaking. This clash of dates between the two prestigious competitions was certainly avoidable.

For Mohammad Yousuf, manager, Kashmir University, Srinagar, this competition is just a formality because their main competitors are participating in the national meet at Upper Lake, Bhopal.” Though we have no problem of any sort here as we are being looked after very well but our main players-Bilkis and Safina-both national medal winners, could not take part in this competition as they are at Bhopal. Only the second rung players are participating in this inter-varsity meet. Consequently, our players are proving weak and our university will lose points, which are to be counted for Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad (MAKA)Trophy. We have produced a number of players in this sport and some of them have appeared in Asian meets in the past. Despite such glorious record, we feel helpless. Not many know that we are the pioneers of Canoeing and Kayaking competitions in the country. We imported the equipment from about 17 to 20 years ago. But, today, we feel as if we are novice in this sport.”

“The Kashmiris could be called pioneers in discovering the sport as we made it popular. You must be surprised to know that the very first Canoeing and Kayaking competition was organised by Kerala University at the Punnamada Lake in Kerala. Water sports are very popular in our state. The Punnamada lake is very famous for the Nehru Trophy Boat Race which is held annually and specifically on the 2nd Saturday in the month of August. Regardless of such a passion for water sports we are not very happy with our team’s performance. The prominent reason is that our key players are participating in the water sports being held under national games. Due to the date clash, we have brought second rung players, so not much could be expected. With the result, we would earn fewer points and chances would be bleak further for MAKA trophy. Naturally, we feel bad about it,” rued Mr Sri Kumar, manager, Kerala University.

Dr Arvind Misra, Head, Department of Physical Education, Allahabad University, and Mr Quadeer, manager of Osmania University, Hyderabad, were also not so happy because of clash of dates.

Though, no one spoke openly but on persuasion, some coaches revealed that the Punjabi University, Patiala, and Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, being the strong contenders for this year’s MAKA trophy, were making all efforts to gobble maximum points. Punjabi University will earn more points fielding its prominent players against our weak players. This win will further strengthen their march towards coveted MAKA Trophy. Punjabi University, being host, has somehow calculatingly put up the dates which clashed with the national games.

Chandigarh, November 15
The Panjab University hockey team was in high spirits today as the Vice-Chancellor granted special permission to it to fly to the venue of the All-India Inter-University (AIIU) Women’s Hockey Tournament to be held at Kanchipur (Manipur) from November 19.

Professor R.C. Sobti took the decision of sending the team by air this morning as the university could not get the railway reservation for them. The team will take the flight from Delhi to Guwahati tomorrow afternoon and the next journey of over 15 hours to Kanchipur will be undertaken by bus.

Expressing happiness over the speedy decision taken by the authorities, the skipper of the team, Seema, of MCM DAV College, Sector 36, said, “It was a great surprise when I got a call in the morning from the Sports Department to be ready for participation, as they were arranging air tickets for the team. We never expected such a gesture from the university side”.

Terming the decision a big step, the forward Harjit Kaur said, “It is a dream come true for all of us. We had given up all hope of participation and were shattered, but now we can’t explain our joy. I have got a job offer from the Railways and I needed the AIIU certificate for that”. This was the last chance for Harjit, who is a final year Arts student of the SGGS College, Sector 26.

Chandigarh, November 15
Ten teams are taking part in the St Kabir Under-14 Basketball Tournament on the school’s premises in Sector 26 from November 16 to 19, according to principal J.P. Singh.

The teams have been divided into two pools. Pool A will consist of Dev Samaj School, St Kabir, Mount Carmel, St Joseph’s and Little Flowers.

Sacred Heart, St Anee’s, Guru Nanak Public School, Shishu Niketan and DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 8 will form Pool B. The tournament will be played on league-cum-knockout basis.

St Kabir is also conducting the ICSC Chandigarh Zone Basketball Tournament for girls from November 16 to 19. — TNS