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Tribune News Service

Patiala, March 28
The traditional Punjabi ‘phulkari’ is once again making a comeback into the living rooms of people, with the dress all set to make a big impact in both the UAE and the domestic market. Sources in the business reveal that ‘phulkari’, which was slowly being pushed into oblivion by modren dresses is all set to make a comeback.

Under the Central government’s cultural exchange programme, training in phulkari was held in Bahrain recently. In the programme, a Patiala resident Rekha Mann, who is also the chairperson of the Patiala handicrafts and handloom society, was the head of the ‘phulkari cluster.

Mann and her colleagues from India imparted training to young artisans from Bahrain in the art of weaving phulkaris. She also extended a helping hand to people from other countries, including those from Egypt, in learning the art of ‘phulkari’.

The Central government, under the cultural exchange programme, has also set up an international market in Bahrain where various features of making a ‘phulkari were showcased.

The international market is part of the Central government's initiative to popularise the traditional Punjabi ‘phulkari’ in the world’s markets.

A significant feature of the Bahrain extravaganza was that an agreement took place among all the cluster groups taking part that products of the participating countries, falling under different clusters, will be popularised in other countries.

Sources said that a mini-skirt was popular in a country like New Zealand and hence efforts will be made to teach artisans from that country how to give colours of ‘phulkari’ on those skirts.

Rekha Mann said people in Bahrain liked the concept of promoting the phulkari on the international stage.

She added that along with the ‘phulkari’ her entourage also took various other traditional products, which were well lapped up by the people there.

Patiala, March 28
The hosts Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) put up an improved display to beat Calcutta Electricity Supply Corporation (CESC) 3-0 to annex the title in the 34th edition of the All India Inter-Board Electricity Board Football Tournament, which concluded on the PSEB sports complex here today.

For the third position, Assam team beat BSES, Delhi, by 2-0.

PSEB rode on the pyrotechnics of striker Gurdish Singh who scored a stunning hat-trick to completely outplay their rivals. Each one of Gurdish’s goals was a notch better than the striker’s previous efforts.

PSEB opened the scoring when Gurdish trapped a measured pass from the right flank and after making his way past two defenders. In his next effort, Gurdish lost control of him but still managed to control the ball. His third goal was another example of skill play.

After having a cushion of a three-goal lead, the hosts slowed down the speed of the game by keeping the ball among them. Soon, their rivals lost steam and finally went down 0-3 to PSEB.

The PSEB Chairman Y.S Ratra in the presence of top functionaries of PSEB distributed the prizes.

Earlier, R.P. Pandove, chief of industrial relations and welfare, welcomed the chief guest.

Chandigarh, March 28
In a major upset, Nihit Rawal, a trainee of Total Tennis Academy, stunned the top seed Sumit Pal Singh of CLTA, 8-5, in a well-contested match to reach into finals of under-10 of the ongoing 4th Sh L.D. Kapoor Memorial Total Tennis Championship being played at YMCA, Sector 11, here today.

He will now face Param Pun in the title clash, who beat Santbir Singh, 8-5.

His brother, top seed Nishchay Rawal beat Utkarsh Khosla in a one-sided match 9-2 in the boys’ under-14 category quarterfinal match. The semifinalists in the group are Sanjog Singh, Sachin Kumar and Bhavya Jain.

In the girls’ under-10 age category, both the top seeds Nandinee Sharma and Vanshika Sawhney proved their seeding right by reaching to the final by beating Prinkle and Rubani with ease.

Other results: Boys (under-10) semifinals: Nihit Rawal beat Sumit Pal Singh 8-5; Param Pun beat Santbir Singh 8-5; (under-14) quarterfinals: Nishchay Rawal beat Utkarsh Khosla 9-2; Sanjog Singh beat Kanwaljot Bajwa 9-7; Sachin Kumar beat Andrew Pradeep 9-5; Bhavya Jain beat Rohin Vinayak 9-1.

Girls (under-10) semifinals: Nandinee Sharma beat Prinkle 6-1; Vanshika Sawhney beat Rubani 6-0; (under-12) quarterfinals: Hasan Abdaal beat Ayna Arora 7-2; Nandinee Sharma beat Nikita 7-1; Nehmat Aulakh beat Manikya 7-0; Vibhuti Khullar beat Sabrina Gill 7-1.

(Under-16) quarterfinals: Madhushree Rajendra beat Nikita 7-2; Nikita Sharma beat Ayna Arora 7-2; Nehmat Aulakh beat Ashima Garg 7-5; Ramneek Kaur beat Navjot Kaur 7-4.

Chandigarh, March 27
Having one of the best sports infrastructures in the city is not enough to send even a single athlete in the forthcoming national coaching camps for the Commonwealth Youth Games to be held in October this year.

This was despite the fact that the local Chandigarh Amateur Athletics Association (CAAA) has its president none other than Flying Sikh Milkha Singh.

For the national coaching camps, which start simultaneously at National Institute of Sports, Patiala, JRD Tata Sports Complex, Jamshedpur and LNCPE, Thiruvananthapuram, from April 1 to May 19, the Athletics Federation of India (AFI) has selected 173 athletes across the country. Even from the neighbouring state Haryana, a total of 23 athletes will be part of the camps but there would be no representation of the city there.

Interestingly, both CAAA and Chandigarh Sports Department are passing the buck to others for the disgrace.

Where CAAA general secretary Ravinder Chaudhary alleged that lack of sports policy as well as support of the sports department were responsible for such state, UT sports director I.S. Sandhu blamed the association for the sorry state of affairs.

Criticising the department, Chaudhary said there was no proper sports policy or sports stream here. “Besides there is no adequate infrastructure for athletes here. The department, which spends crores of rupees on other sports, could not provide even a single synthetic track in the city. Athletics is totally neglected sport. Under such circumstances, the local talent is forced to go to other states. “Recently, three talented athletes, including Vikas, who broke 20-year-old record in 1500 m race in inter-varsities meet, Harmal Singh and Joginder Singh have shifted to Punjab for their bright future”, rued Chaudhary.

On the other hand, Sandhu said, “Like other associations, it (CAAA) had no structured programme for the development of the sports. We gave them timely grants and provided infrastructure. It is up to them to produce good sportspersons by holding camps as well as meets. Instead of blaming us, the association should accept their responsibility for the disgrace”. 

Chandigarh, March 28
Guru Gobind Singh College for Women, Sector 26, received the overall championship trophy during Panjab University annual sports prize distribution function at Gymnasium Hall here today.

The college beat MCM DAV College for Women, which held the enviable record of retaining the trophy for the past 35 years. The winners accumulated 577 points while MCM (333 points) and PU Campus (271.5 points) remained at second and third spots, respectively.

In men’s section, DAV College, Sector 10 (577 points) received winning trophy trailing SGGS College (544 points), Sector 26, and PU Campus (298 points) to second and third positions, respectively.

Apart from this, a total of 185 sportspersons, who won the medals in international, senior national and All India Inter-University Championships were also honoured with cash awards.

Among the present sportspersons, shooters Harveen Sarao, Lakhbir Kaur, judoka C Jina Devi, baseball player Rajbir Kaur, all international medallists, were notable.

Sarao (GGS, Chandigarh) won gold medal in 10 m Women Air Pistol Shooting in 24th World Universities Games at Bangkok while Lakhbir Kaur (Dashmesh Girls College, Badal) finished third in the event. Jina Devi of Guru Nanak Girls College, Badal, bagged bronze in 12th Commonwealth Judo Championship at Mauritius while Rajbir (GNGC, Ludhiana) has been selected for the 4th World Universities Baseball Championship to be held at Prague, Czech Republic, in July this year. In All India Inter-University competitions, the university sportspersons won 21 gold, 15 silver and 15 bronze medals in individual events whereas in team games, its teams emerged five teams got gold, five silver and seven bronze medals.

In the absence of the chief guest Manoranjan Kalia, cabinet minister of the local government, industries and commerce, Punjab PU vice-chancellor Prof R.C. Sobti gave away the prizes to the winners.

Other results: Men’s section- B Division: 1 GGDSD College, Hariana (114 points), 2 GN College, Narangwal (101 points).

Women’s section- B Division: 1 Dev Samaj College of Education (w), Chandigarh (85 points).

Chandigarh, March 28
Senior tennis coach Wg Cdr Beyant Singh (retd) has taken over the charge of Tennis Academy at St Peter’s School, Sector 37, here.

“From April 1, Singh would impart training to the budding players at the academy,” said Patricia Khanna, principal of the school.

Singh was the coach of Indian Junior team (boys/girls) in 1989 and Indian Davis Cup team against Japan in 1990. Lalit Tandon, ex-chief coach of the Chandigarh Lawn Tennis Association (CLTA), would assist Singh.

The school will also engage some ITF (International Tennis Federation) senior coaches, who will visit the academy on regular basis to guide on the latest techniques for development and improvement of trainees, added the principal.

Chandigarh, March 28
Local Chandigarh Lawn Tennis Association’s trainee Vijayanat Malik along with Rohan Boppana, Harsh Mankad and Yuki Bhambri have been awarded wild cards in the main draw of the $10,000 ITF Men’s Futures Circuit Tennis Tournament, starting from March 31 at the CLTA courts, Sector 10 here.

Out of 18 players who have obtained direct entry into the main draw of 32 on the basis of their ranking, seven are Indians.

A total of eight players would qualify for the main draw from the qualifying draw of 64, which would be played on March 29 and 30.

Chinese Peng Sun (481st ranked), Hyun-Woo Nam of Korea (509th), Ashutosh Singh (601th ranked) will be the top ranked players in the fray.

Meanwhile, Indians Arman Choudhary Siddharth Gulgule, Arvind Singh, Deepinder Bains, Raahil Dhruva, Prashanth N Vijay Sundar, Mandeep Yadav and Romanian Stefan Leconte got wild cards in the qualifying round. Vishnu Vardhan of India and Tupy Mario of Australia have been seeded first and second in the qualifying round.

The semifinals and finals will be telecast live on Doordarshan.

Chandigarh, March 28
The Embassy of Switzerland, in association with the department of tourism, will hold various informative cultural events in the city to commemorate the 60 glorious years of Indo-Swiss Friendship signed between the two nations on August 14, 1948.

Encouraged by the aspiring response to the latest dance spectacle by the ‘Da Motus’ ensemble under the aegis of Swiss Arts Council we plan to bring more such programmes aimed at showcasing the Swiss cultural traditions and heritage, disclosed Sara Berry, Embassy's official coordinator in India. Besides a musical concert by the acclaimed Alphorn exponent Eliana Burki, a ballet Bejart Lausanne and a gala event in India, Zurich will host a concert by Sitar queen Anoushka Shankar and an exhibition ‘Ramayana in Indian Painting' Added Sara Berry.

The events for the city include a bonanza of cultural programmes a quiz contest among school students of the city based on the tourism potential as per the respective web cites, painting and poster-making competition for school and college students.

The director, Tourism, Vivek Atrey gave an overview of the scheduled programmes aimed at strengthening the Indo-Swiss bilateral relation through cultural dissemination.