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Looking Ahead-2007 Bipin Bhardwaj Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, December 29 The department has recently sent a plan for setting up of the hospital to the Union Health Ministry for approval. The proposed hospital will come up along the National Highway-21 in Southern sectors at a cost of over Rs 214 crore and will be the part of Phase-III of Chandigarh. Three dispensaries will come up at Bapu Dham, Behlana and Raipur Khurd villages while the other two are proposed for Sectors 17 and 52. The projects will be taken up in the next five years at a cost of over Rs 33 crore. Dr Manjit Singh Bains, Director, UT, Health, said the proposals had been made taking into account a rapid increase in the city population. The department had also decided to introduce DNB courses of three more specialisations - surgery, orthopaedics and medicines - besides gynaecology and paediatrics having three seats each. Apart from the upgrade of Government Multi-Speciality Hospital, Sector 16, the department would shortly recruit 20 senior resident doctors in the departments of surgery, orthopaedics, medicines, gynaecology and paediatrics. There was a proposal for introducing super-specialities in the departments of cardiology, urology and surgery. The school of nursing would also be upgraded to a college of nursing with ultra-modern facilities and infrastructure.
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Office-bearers elected
Chandigarh, December 30
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Plan to make city Mecca of Indian hockey
Chandigarh, December 29 It is not only home to one of newly laid synthetic fields at its Sector 42 Sports Complex; the city has an elite group of players, administrators and planners, who have entrusted upon themselves the onerous task of reviving the sport right from the grass-roots level. The group, Friends of Hockey, is spearheaded by none other than three times Olympic gold medalist Balbir Singh, who even at 83, sounds as enthusiastic for the new task as his 30-year junior Sukhvir Singh Grewal, another former international. Shivalik Public School, which will soon become the first private educational institution to have its own synthetic surface in its Mohali complex, has agreed to be the main sponsor of the club, says Mr D.S. Bedi, Director of the school. They are not alone in their mission of getting the country back among front-runners in the sport worldwide. They have been joined by Olympian and the Punjab Director of Sports, Mr Pargat Singh, former international Gurdishpal Singh and several others as Chandigarh is now the home town of several Olympians and internationals. Former Indian skipper, national coach and at present selector Harmik Singh, 1948 Olympic champion team member Tarlochan Singh Bawa, international player and coach Narinder Singh Sodhi, Olympians Devinder Kumar, Sukhbir Singh Gill and Rajpal Singh besides promising youngsters like Inderjit Singh Chadha are all from this city. Interestingly Chandigarh is known more for its immaculate planning and design by French architect Le Corbusier than its hockey potential. But the Friends of Hockey have different plans. They are determined to make the city “home of hockey”. Seeking help from all possible quarters, including the Chandigarh Sports Journalists Association, the Friends of Hockey are planning a major event in the city in February/March next year where they plan to bring together not only scores of Olympians, coaches, administrators and promoters of hockey but also psychologists, sports medicine experts, senior officials of the Federation Internationale de Hockey (FIH) and also of those from some of the hockey playing nations of Asia, including Pakistan and Malaysia. “We are planning to host a hockey fest; the first of its kind in the continent where besides players of all age groups, irrespective of their gender, would feature in matches, special competitions and exhibition games.” Youngsters would get a chance to play with some of greats like Balbir Singh Sr, Harbinder Singh, Ashok Kumar, Govinda, Pargat, Balbir Railways, Rupa Saini, Rajbir Rai or Ajinder. During each day of the three-day festival there would be brain-storming sessions featuring Olympians, coaches, administrators, sports medicine and psychologists and officials from all over. The topic would be reviving South Asian hockey in general and Indian hockey in particular. Some of Olympians and coaches, including Malkit Singh (Uganda), Shiv Jagday (Canada and USA), S. Miller (Canada) and others, have agreed to be actively associates of the Friends of Hockey. “We are approaching others also and hopefully set the ball rolling for revival of Indian hockey in a couple of months from now,” adds Sukhvir Grewal. |
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City’s beauty floors boxers
Chandigarh, December 29 “We have heard about Chandigarh, but I doubt if anyone of us knows much about it. We plan to go sightseeing after the final bouts. But our observation so far is that the city is neat and well-planned,” most of them opined. Charanjit Singh, Gurmel Singh, Harpreet Singh and Parminder Singh, all boxers from Sikh Regiment, are excited to be part of the tournament. Gurmel Singh, gold medal winner of the last edition of the Mishra boxing tournament, has come to the city for the third time. “I have heard about Rock Garden and Sukhna Lake, but had not got a chance to visit these places so far. The reason is that we come a day prior to the tournament and leave the very next day the tournament ends,” said Gurmel. He has participated in international boxing tournaments in Germany, Ireland, Cuba and Sri Lanka. Charanjit Singh, a lightweight (59-60 kg) boxer, is participating in the AK Mishra boxing meet for the first time. He is somewhat depressed for not being given a fair judgement in his bout. “I am not complaining. My observation may be wrong because many technical experts are here to judge our performance. Any way, I am enjoying the tournament. I have made many friends here,” said Charanjit, a sub-junior national bronze medal winner. Harpreet, a lightweight (60-63 kg) boxer, however, knows a little more about Chandigarh as he was posted at the Sector 22 unit four years ago. “I am appearing for the first time in a boxing tournament at Chandigarh. I would like to take my colleagues along while going out for sightseeing here,” he said. “But my dear friend, where’s the time. If the finals are held on December 30, we will have to start our return journey on December 31. So we will not have any time to go sightseeing,” Havildar Parminder Singh chipped in. “Please tell the authorities concerned to let us at least have a day of sightseeing. We go to so many places, but we hardly know anything about the cities we visit. We go there for tournaments and come back,” said Parminder Singh, a middleweight category (75 kg) boxer. The sub-junior national gold medal winner of 2003 and junior Asian bronze medallist (2006, Goa) is all praise for the infrastructure available in the city. “I have come here for the first time and am excited to see the sports infrastructure available here. I am playing in the light heavyweight category, one category above to what I usually play. In a way, it is a platform for the upcoming boxers as on the basis of this tournament, the national team will be selected.” Anil Kumar, a welterweight (64-69 kg) boxer, has come from Nagaland where he is posted with the Assam Rifles. He wants to see the much talked about Rock Garden. “I have read and heard about Rock Garden. I will definitely spare some time to see it. This city is well-planned, peaceful and calm. You can imagine the extremely disturbed situations in Nagaland. Any way, I am thankful that I got a chance to visit such a lovely city because of this tournament. And I am eating lots of tandoori rotis with shahi paneer,” said Anil. Gopal, posted with Maratha Light Infantry, Bangalore, is of the opinion that the division of Chandigarh in sectors makes it easy to find places. “It is not that easy in Bangalore,” he said. |
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CGA honours Jeev Milkha Singh
Chandigarh, December 29 With Jeev was his celebrity father, flying Sikh Milkha Singh, who created history at the Rome Olympics by running the sprint of the century with all the first four athletes breaking the world record. Mrs Nirmal Milkha Singh, still nursing a fractured ankle, came on a wheelchair to see her son receiving the award from the CGA president, C.S.R. Reddy. The 35-year-old golf icon, who is ranked 37th in the world, was mobbed by youngsters who showered him with questions on his performance. Jeev did not disappoint them. He took them down memory lane. It was on the greens of the Chandigarh Golf Club that he drove, swung and putted, improving on his lapses. He told them that there were no shortcuts to fame. “You have to sweat it out”, he told one of the questioners. Mr Reddy, while honouring Jeev, said, “Without taking any undue credit for Jeev’s victory, we welcome him as an honorary member of the CGA Golf Range where he has been practising whenever he is in town”. He said the CGA is privileged to honour him with the Golfer of the Year award. “The celebrations are intended to convey a special message to young golfers”, he said. Mr J.S. Cheema, Secretary-General of the CGA, who welcomed Jeev, said his achievements this year had been nothing short of phenomenal. |
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Rhythmic gymnastics
Mohali, December 29 The hosts Punjab aggregated 158.00 points and secured fourth position in the tournament while Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka were at the fifth and sixth positions with 145.35 and 145.05 points, respectively.
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YPS emerge winners
Patiala, December 29 Sachin club, Bathinda: 99 all out (Navkaran 24, Rinku 16, Harkirat Singh 5 for 16, Rajeshwar 2 for 14, Angad 1 for 14). |
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Conditions not favourable to find right talent : Robin
Chandigarh, December 29 Talking further, Robin said the wicket at Sector 26 academy was flat for which the reasons could be many. “On the flat wicket like this anybody can bat and hit. Basically, we are on a hunt for good batsmen and this pitch is most suitable for bowlers. Our purpose of coming here is somewhat defeated, I suppose, said Robin. Robin Singh, an all-rounder, earned his place in the national squad due to his gutsy and sharp pressure play. He was known for his quick singles and a powerful flat hit over the leg side. It may be recalled that Robin made his debut in 1996 at the PCA, Mohali, and was considered one of the finest fielders, beside being a batsman and a medium-pacer. Robin Singh, the left-handed batsman has to his credit around 7,000 runs in 137 first class matches. Robin made 2,336 runs in 136 one-day internationals at an average of 25.95. The right arm medium fast bowler has claimed 172 wickets in his first class appearance. The all-rounder again appeared at the age of 33, seven years after he made his international debut at Trinidad, which is incidentally his birthplace. About Sachin Tendulkar’s performance, particularly this year, he said, “Sachin is a big player to talk about. Still, he has a lot of potential and will continue to live upto our expectations through his bat in years to come,” he said. About the inconsistency in the batting order of the Indian team, Robin said the team needed to build reliable bench strength. “There are a couple of areas where we need to work on, like we have to work hard in our preparation programmes. Sometimes, it is the prevailing conditions at a particular place where the things do not come out favourably. But we need to prepare ourselves to face any conditions.” Robin, known for manning the cover point region in the field indicated that more and more such talent hunt programmes should be conducted all over the country. “These programmes are instrumental in identifying fringe players and fast tracking potential players who can further be inducted into the big league when the need arises”. Robin and Ajay Jadeja were looked upon as the best middle-order batsmen pair. At the moment, to keep consistency in the batting order, the Team India is in a desperate need of such a pair. On being asked, Robin said, “ It is not that our team lacks the combination. There are players like Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina and Venugopal Rao who can be relied upon. I consider them match winners”, opined Robin. It may be recalled that Robin and Ajay Jadeja were instrumental in scripting a thrilling 3- wicket win over South Africa in the opening game of the five match one-day series at Nehru Stadium, Kochi. Ajay Jadeja hammered a grand 92 off 109 balls and Robin Singh cracked an unbeaten 42 off 43 balls to guide India to victory.
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5 city cricketers to get special training
Chandigarh, December 29 The programme is being conducted in 13 cities across the country by Investors in Cricket (IIC) and World Cricket Academy, Mumbai. Trials were conducted to select players in the age group of 15-25 years. A total of 85 cricketers from Delhi, Chandigarh, Punjab, Haryana and other cities participated in these. Ropar: Trials to select the Ropar District under-18 cricket team for the Minor Inter-District Cricket Tournament will be held at the Government College cricket grounds, Ropar, on Sunday.
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Neelam-Veena duo lifts badminton title
Chandigarh, December 29 In the mixed category, the duo of Maneesh Chhibber and Ruchika Khanna (The Tribune) beat Aman Sharma and Richa (HT) 15-13, 15-10 to move into the semi-finals. The other semi-finalists of the category are Rakesh Patial-Neelam (Indian Express) and Umesh-Shalini (Dainik Bhaskar). The other results: Women’s Singles: Neelam Sharma b Sangeeta Johal 15-0, 15-1. Mixed Doubles: Charanjit/ Veena b Vikram/ Jaswinder 15-0, 15-6; Maneesh Chhibber/Ruchika Khanna b Aman Sharma/ Richa 15-13, 15-10; Rakesh Patiala/Neelam b Saurabh Duggal/Monica 12-15, 15-12, 15-10. Men's Singles: Gautam Dheer b Charanjit Ahuja 15-5, 15-10; Kuldeep Singh b Saurabh Duggal 15-7, 15-13. Men's Doubles: Ajay Bajaj/Sanjay Mehta b Gautam Dheer/Kuldeep Singh 15-10, 9-15, 15-11; K.B. Ahuja/Vijender Dhawan b Surinder Negi/Satrajit Chakrawarty 15-5, 15-11.
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Balwan, Uttam best shooters
Chandigarh, December 29 In the pistol category, the BSF team stood first, followed by Assam Rifles and the Special Protection Group. In the carbine category, CRPF team scored the maximum points followed by the BSF and Assam Rifles.
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Medal, cash prizes for sportsmen high on UT agenda
Chandigarh, December 29 “To boost the morale of sportspersons, we will start honouring the best sports achiever of the city with Administrator’s Gold Medal along with handsome cash incentives. Providing job to him/her by the administration is also under consideration”, said Mr Inderjit Singh Sandhu, Director, Sports Chandigarh Administration. The other big project, the administration has been planning to start in the coming year is to build full fledged athletics stadium in the southern sectors to facilitate residents of the area. “We will decide the site very soon in the developing sectors probably in 52, 53 or 54. Most probably, the work will start in the mid 2007”, said Mr Sandhu. Apart from that, the upgradation of ‘Patiala ki Rao’ shooting range, Sector 25, Sector 16 Cricket Stadium, setting up of a cricket academy, construction of an international standard swimming pool at Sector 42 and patronage to motor sports is also on the cards. The city residents will also have a floodlit cricket stadium as the administration has finalised to install the floodlights in Sector 16 Cricket Stadium. The installation work will start from March. Besides this, preparing hard and bouncy pitches there is also on the agenda. There is also a plan to set up a cricket academy at the stadium. The Sports Department will construct an international standard swimming pool at the Sports Complex, Sector 42, and two squash courts at the Sector 7 complex this year. To upgrade the shooting range at Sector 25, more than Rs 50 lakh will be spent. The goals, the sports administration is hopeful of 25 per cent rise in the sports Budget of the city. “In 2006, the Budget was 3.25 crore but we expect at least 25 per cent rise in it in the coming year”, said Mr Sandhu, who is also the Additional Deputy Commissioner of the city.
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Sukhvir sails into boxing semis
Chandigarh, December 29 Light flyweight: Amandeep Singh (Pun) b Paramjeet Singh (ASI) 15-14, Bhoopinder b K. Chiranjeevi 15-6; flyweight: Aiteshaamuddin (ASI) b Mukesh (Chd) 3-2, S.B. Thapa (AR) b Mitra Singh (MP) 28-19; bantam weight: Sanjay Singh (SAI, Bhi) b Hitesh Nidhane RSC (OC) I, Hemant Kumar (ASI) b SK Thapa 33-10; feather weight: Dalbir (Chd) b Pardeep (MP) 18-17, Chhote Lal (ASI) b Sanjay Kumar (Har) 22-4; light weight: Anil Kumar ( Pun) b S. Michael (MP) 25-7, Sanjeet K ( Har) b Bhawan Singh 19-4; light. welterweight: G Satya Raju (MP) b Rohit Yadav OSII, SB Tamang (AR) b Rakesh Kumar (Chd) 28-8; Welter: J Raman ( ASI) b Himanshu ( Delhi) 31-26, Jagwinder b Kailash (Chd) 21-15; middle weight: Amarjeet (ASI) b Sanjeev K (Delhi) 15-10, Sashi Kumar (AR) b Tajender ( Har) RSC (OC) I; light heavyweight: Parminder (SRC) b Rajeev ( Raj) OC III, Sukhvir S (Chd) b Hardeep (Guj); heavyweight: Paramjeet (Har) b Harpal Singh 47-25, Manpreet ( ASI) b Pankaj Kumar (AIEB) RSC; super heavyweight: Gurmail Singh (SRC) b Lovedeep ( Chd) OC, Mehar Singh ( ASI) b Surjeet Singh (AR) RSC (OC) II.
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Friends of Hockey keen
to revive sport
Chandigarh, December 29 Besides boasting of a newly laid synthetic turf at the Sector 42 Sports Complex, the city has an elite group of players, administrators and planners who have entrusted upon themselves the onerous task of reviving the sport right from the grassroots level. The group, Friends of Hockey, is spearheaded by three-time Olympic gold medallist Balbir Singh, who even at 83, sounds as enthusiastic for the new task as his 30-year junior Sukhvir Singh Grewal, another former international. Shivalik Public School, which will soon become the first private educational institution to have its own synthetic surface in its Mohali complex, has agreed to be the main sponsor of the new elite club, says Mr D.S. Bedi, Director of the school. They are not alone in their mission of getting the country back among the front-runners in the sport worldwide. They have been joined by Olympian and the Punjab Director of Sports, Mr Pargat Singh, former international Gurdishpal Singh, and several others as Chandigarh is now the home town of several Olympians and other internationals. Former Indian skipper, national coach and present selector Harmik Singh, 1948 Olympic champion team member Tarlochan Singh Bawa, international player and coach Narinder Singh Sodhi, Olympians Devinder Kumar, Sukhbir Singh Gill and Rajpal Singh, besides promising youngsters like Inderjit Singh Chadha are all from this city. Friends of Hockey are determined to make the city the new “Home of hockey”. Seeking help from all possible quarters, including the Chandigarh Sports Journalists Association, Friends of Hockey are planning a major event in the city in February/March next year where they plan to bring together not only scores of Olympians, coaches, administrators and promoters of hockey but also psychologists, sports medicine experts, senior officials of the Federation Internationale de Hockey (FIH) and also of those from some of the hockey-playing nations of Asia, including Pakistan and Malaysia. The idea is to get the continental hockey back in the reckoning. “It is artistic hockey with short crisp passes, good stick work and body swerves which attract spectators. Further, it has to be made affordable to a lower-middle-class family than an elitist sport,” says Sukhvir Grewal. “We are planning to host a hockey fest — the first of its kind in the continent where players of all age groups would feature in matches, special competitions and exhibition games. Youngsters would get a chance to play with some of greats like Balbir Singh Sr, Harbinder Singh, Ashok Kumar, Govinda, Pargat, Balbir Railways, Rupa Saini, Rajbir Rai and Ajinder. During each day of the three-day festival, there would be brainstorming sessions featuring Olympians, coaches, administrators, sports medicine and psychologists and officials. The topic would be reviving South Asian hockey in general and Indian hockey in particular. Some Olympians and coaches, including Malkit Singh (Uganda), Shiv Jagday (Canada and USA) and S. Miller (Canada), have agreed to be actively associated with Friends of Hockey. “We are approaching others also and will hopefully set the ball rolling for the revival of Indian hockey in a couple of months from now,” adds Grewal. Friends of Hockey want their fest to coincide with the PHL, the second phase of which is to be held here at the Sector 42 Stadium.
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UP gymnasts clinch team trophies
Mohali, December 29 The UP team accumulated total 320.65 points, including 172.25 in compulsory exercise to win the title. The West Bengal squad secured second position with 315.40 points, including 168.90 in compulsory exercises. The third position went to Maharashtra squad. The team got 311.45 points, including 166.25 in compulsory exercise. Results: Team Championship (girls): 1 Uttar Pradesh :(Manu Dewedi 63.40, Khayati Shukla 61.05, Manisha Singh 64.15, Nikhita Gupta 65.20, Arundhati Pandey 65.95, Tripati Tiwari 56.65) 320.65. 2 West Bengal :(Tanu Shaw 63.10, Sangita Biswas 60.50, Parbali Sarkar 62.90, Liza Hazra 58.00, Payal Bhattacharjee 55.20) 315.40. 3 Maharashtra (Dirja Ashar 63.56, Shivani Pathak 60.40, Rucha Dinkar 63.90, Roma Jogalekar 60.46, Pooja Karnik 60.20) 311.45 4 Punjab (Naginder Kaur 64.25, Simranjit Kaur 60.15, Varinder Kaur 56.30, Sangeeta 59.50, Navneet Kaur 51.35) 293.25. 5 Karnataka 263.35 and 6 Andhra Pradesh 261.30. Boys: 1 UP: (Chandan Pathak, Nitin Mishra, Abhishek Chatterjee , Ankit Tripati , Vikas Bhattya, Saurav Sharma) 421.50. 2 West Bengal : (Anubav Ghosh, Surjit, Anil Mallick, Shubhaukar Dey, Karamchand Murmee, Pratis Das ) 481.45. 3 AP : ( A. Kumar Swami, K.D.V Srinivas, B. Lakhau Balmiki , K.V. Suresh, N. Sri Sai, A. Mahesh Babu) 479.40.
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