NEIGHBOURHOOD

Bikram eves lift TT title

Patiala, August 9
Girls of Government Bikram College of Commerce have added another feather in the cap of the college by winning the Inter-College Table Tennis Championship that was held at Government College, Ropar, for the second consecutive year.

The team comprising Ankita, Pratibha, Kavita and Charu thrashed Punjabi University, Patiala, 3-0 in the final. Government College, Ropar, won the third place.

Principal Satinder Kaur congratulated team members and in charge, Prof PS Rekhi, for this glorious win. Three of the girls, namely Ankita, Pratibha and Kavita, have been selected to represent Punjabi University in the north zone Inter-University Table Tennis Championship. — TNS

Rajpura, August 9
A 23-year-old boy was seriously injured while his mother and uncle were killed in an accident in the wee hours today. The father of the boy too received serious injuries and is undergoing treatment at Rajindra Hospital, Patiala.

The accident took place at around 4 am near Khadoli village on the Rajpura-Patiala road.

As per information, Paramdeep Singh, whose family is based at Patiala, had gone to Australia for studies and returned last night after three years.

His parents Prem Singh-a senior forest officer in Patiala and Rajinder Kaur-decided to receive him at the Delhi airport and bring him back to Patiala. The couple requested one of the family friends Sukhdev Singh to come with them and receive their son from the Delhi airport. Sukhdev was at the wheels on the way back while the parents along with their son were sitting on the back seat of the car. The Indigo Car they were travelling in collided head on with a heavy vehicle, loaded with a machine used to dig bore wells.

Sukhdev and Rajinder Kaur died on the spot while the father-son duo are undergoing treatment at Rajindra Hospital in Patiala.

Traffic chaos prevailed on the Rajpura-Patiala road as the car, which was involved in the accident could not be removed from the spot till 10 am and long queues of vehicles were witnessed on the stretch.

Meanwhile, the police officials said that a case would be registered against the driver of the vehicle that collided with the car.

Ambala, August 9
The fire brigade of Ambala City is in a state of neglect being woefully short of both men and material.

For a population of about three lakh in Ambala City spread over a sprawling area, including city and outlying localities, the municipal corporation has only two fire tenders.

To add to their woes the fire fighters are also burdened with the responsibility of taking care of fire accidents in nearby towns, including Naggal, Shehzadpur, Naraingarh and Shehjadpur.

On one side multistoried buildings and shopping malls are coming up in all parts of the city, the fire brigade has no basic services like a hydraulic lifts and platforms.

HK Moudgil, fire officer, today said the fire brigade has a total of 22 staff members, including fire officer and sub- fire officer. He added that the issue of material and staff crunch had been taken up at the highest level, but without any results.

According to the sources, shortage of staff is not new for the fire brigade. The fire brigade had requested the higher authorities to fill the vacancies, but nothing had been done so far.

He said it was pointed out that to ensure residents’ safety it was necessary to recruit more staff.

Fire officer said encroachments in the walled city limits pose a major challenge and are a bottleneck in the movement of fire tenders.

He said there was a need for recruitment of regular drivers, as there was no regular driver against the sanctioned strength of five drivers and 16 firemen.

It’s difficult to reach and control emergency situation even in one location, leave alone to answer the second alternate call of emergency.

However, he said the matter had been pending at the higher level since years.

Zirakpur, August 9
The police booked nine persons, including three women, for allegedly encroaching a plot in Dhakoli village. The case has been registered on the complaint of Kuldeep Singh, a resident of Gazipur Jattan.

According to the police, the complainant alleged that he owned a plot of 200 sq ft near Bauoli Sahib Gurdwara. His friend informed him that his land was being encroached up on and he immediately reached the spot. At the spot, he found that accused Surinder Singh along with his family members were allegedly demolishing the boundary wall.

Chandigarh, August 9
An unidentified man molested a 14-year-old girl who had gone to pick firewood in the forest behind the Industrial Area this afternoon.

Chandigarh, August 9
It was a day of upsets at the AITA Talent Series Tournament, getting underway at the Chandigarh Lawn Tennis Association (CLTA), Sector 10, and Lake Club here today.

While CLTA trainee, Raghav Talwar stunned eighth seeded Yugal Bansal from Delhi 6-0, 6-1, qualifier Allen Johnson, a trainee of Harvest Tennis Academy, Ludhiana, showed the door to sixth seeded Jotpal Singh with quite ease 6-3, 6-1 in the under-14 boys’ category.

The other seeded player, who lost today, was seventh seeded Ishan Kakkar from Punjab at the hands of Rahul Seth in a fairly one-sided affair in the same age group. The final score was 7-5, 6-3.

The girls’ under-14 singles, too, witnessed an upset with Nimrat Walia drubbing fifth seeded Sharlee Deshmukh 6-3, 6-4.

Results:

Boys U-14 singles: Dhir Gala (MAH) bt Shrey Gupta (HAR) 6-3, 6-4; Karandeep Singh (PB) bt Dhruv Arya 6-0, 6-1; Param Pun (CHD) bt Surya Pratap (HAR) 6-3, 6-2; Dheeranush Singh Bhatti (CHD) bt Arya Waiga 6-0, 6-0; Sachin Kumar (CHD) bt Vikrant Dahiya (DLI) 6-0, 6-0; Udayan Bhakar (PB) bt Santbir Singh (CHD) 6-3, 6-4; Sumitpal Singh (J&K) bt Lavish Nehra (RAJ) 6-2, 6-2; Rahul Seth (CHD) bt Ishan Kakkar (PB) 7-5, 6-3; Allen Johnson (PB) bt Jotpal Singh 6-3, 6-1; Kashish Kalra (DLI) bt Mohit Bhardwaj (DLI) 7-5, 3-6, 6-3; Paramveer Singh Bajwa (PB) bt Abhijeet Singh (CHD) 7-5, 6-1; Ishaque Eqbal (WB) bt Gurjot Singh (PB) 6-0, 6-0; Raghav Talwar (CHD) bt Yugal Bansal (DLI) 6-0, 6-1; Aarnav Bajaj bt Sultan Singh Atwal 6-2, 6-2; Nihit Rawal (CHD) bt Koonwar Gupta 6-4, 6-1; Gagan Sharma (RAJ) bt Mohak Bajaj (DLI) 6-3, 6-3.

Boys’ U-18 singles: Harry Jindal (CHD) bt Kamal Kishore Maderna (RAJ) 3-6, 6-2, 6-3; Sachin Kumar (CHD) bt Dhruv Puniani (CHD) 6-2, 6-1; Ranjeet Singh (CHD) bt Dhruv Goel (DLI) 7-5, 6-2; Shikhar Gadh (HAR) bt Jajbir Singh (PB) 7-5, 7-5; Ayush Mintri (PB) bt Nishat Eqbal (WB) 6-2, 6-1; Devanshu Jain (RAJ) bt Nirbhay Singh Soin (GUJ) 6-4, 6-3; Rishabh Dev (PB) bt Dipanshu Garg (HAR) 6-2, 6-2; Fatehdeep Singh (PB) bt Trivesh Singh (DLI) 6-4, 6-1; Dhruv Agarwal (CHD) bt Anuj Punjani (HAR) 6-2, 6-4; Rakshit Rishi (DL) bt Sujiv Chopra (DLI) 6-2, 6-2; Shahrukh Khan (MP) bt Udai Singh Mann (CHD) 7-5, 6-4; Manish Kumar (DLI) bt Gaurav Bhatia 6-4, 7-5.

Girls’ U-14 singles: Charvi Saxena (CHD) (Bye); Prinkle Singh (J&K) w/o Mehakdeep Kaur (CHD); Dimpy Khirwar (PB) bt Gulmehar Kaur (PB) 6-1, 4-6, 6-0; Bhavya Wadhawan (CHD) bt Sirat Pannu (PB) 6-0, 6-0; Nandini Sharma (CHD) (Bye); Abhilasha Mudgil (CHD) bt Simran Dhindsa (CHD) 6-2, 4-6, 6-1; Sharishty Dhanda (HAR) bt Nitya Deswal (UP) 6-0, 6-2; Harleen Wadhwa (DLI) bt Bakul Negi (DLI) 6-0, 6-0; Karishma Mehta (CHD) bt Gayatri K (UP) 6-4, 4-6, 6-1; Rubani Ahliwalia (CHD) bt Sanika Sharma (CHD) 6-0, 6-0; Manjot Kaur (PB) bt Aditi Mittal (CHD) 6-3, 6-1; Simran Wadhwa (DLI) bt Shea Bhasin (CHD) 6-0, 6-1; Nimrat Walia (CHD) bt Sharleen Deshmukh (MAH) 6-3, 6-4; Shriya Kalia (HP) bt Saumya Saxena (CHD) 6-0, 7-4 (4); Sabrina Gill (CHD) Isha Kochhar (DLI) 7-5, 6-1, 7-5; Harsimran Kaur (HAR) (Bye).

Girls’ U-18 singles: Jaspreet Kaur (PB) bt Arushi Bhasin (DLI) 6-2, 6-0; Shriya Kalia (HP) bt Nimrat Walia (CHD) 6-4, 6-1; Simran Wadhwa (DLI) bt Simran Gill (RAJ) 6-0, 6-0; Bhavya Wadhawan (CHD) bt Isha Kochhar (DLI) 6-0, 6-0; Harsimran Kaur (HAR) bt Valentina Shekar (PB) 6-0; Sudeshna Sen (DLI) bt Prinkle Singh (J&K) 6-2, 6-0; Aashima Garg (CHD) bt Harleen Kaur (DLI) 6-3, 6-3; Karishma Mehta (CHD) bt Yagini Kapoor (PB) 6-1, 4-1 (concede); Sharishty Dhanda (HAR) w/o Silky Sachdeva (DLI); Dimpy Khirwar (PB) bt Priya Singh (RAJ) 6-0, 6-4; Seeulee Upadhyaya (ORS) bt Sripriya Sarraf (BIH) 6-2, 6-1; Sukhmani Wadhwa (DLI) bt Vibhuti Khullar (CHD) 6-3, 6-1; Jasmine Bajaj (DLI) bt Nandini Sharma (CHD) 6-1, 6-1.

Panchkula, August 9
The ICL Group of Colleges beat LIC Club by five runs in a close match in the Ist Cricket Challenger T20 Cup, which began at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium, Sector 3, here today.

Putting into bat first, ICL were restricted at 90 runs in just 14.3 overs in the rain-curtailed match. The match was reduced to 15 overs per innings.

Rocky Ratta was the highest scorer with 26 runs. Former Indian cricketer Joginder Sharma could not open his account and sent back on duck.

For LIC team, Gaurav Gupta, who claimed four wickets in the course, was the pick of the bowlers. In reply, LIC could make only 85 runs in the stipulated overs and lost the match by five runs. Vishal Sahni finished as the highest run-getter with 25 runs.

Amrinder Singh took three wickets.

With this win, ICL managed to gain two points. Earlier, the two matches played between CM X1 and JCD, Sirsa, and Rana Engineering v/s State Bank of Patiala were abandoned due to rain.

All four teams got one-one point each.

Tomorrow’s fixtures:

Services team will face Royal Greater Club, Chandigarh, while CM XI will meet LIC Club. The third match will be played between ICL and JCD, Sirsa.

Chandigarh, August 9
She is barely seven, but has already made a mark for herself on the national junior circuit. City girl, Vasundara Thiara occupies the second slot in the Category E of the Albatross Junior Golf Tour. The class II student of Vivek High School was given this ranking at a special function held at the India International Centre in Delhi on July 31 for her consistent performance on the junior circuit.

In her last outing at the Panchkula Golf Club, she gave a stellar performance to finish just three strokes behind the leader in an all-boy competition during the second CGA Junior Golf Circuit.

At an age when girls remain glued to TV sets watching Tom and Jerry cartoons, Vasundhara spends a lot of her time on the greens of the CGA Golf Range where she hones her skills under National Golf Academy of India director Jessie Grewal.

According to the coach, she is eager to learn. She has already acquired a good swing. “She is good at the long game and is learning fast at the short game,” added Jessie.

Her doting parents are doing all they can to give her the best. Mental trainer and sports psychologist, Amit Bhattacharya, is also training her.

She took to competitive golf at the age of five and within a year bagged the first prize in the US Kids Golf Tour played at the Army Golf Course in Patiala on May 17, 2009. After finishing fourth in the Albatross Junior Golf Tournament held in Delhi, she moved up to the second slot in the next tournament of the Albatross Tour at Panchkula on June 14 last year. She won in her category in all subsequent events starting with the US Kids Golf Tour at Panchkula on August 23. Thereafter, it has been the top slot for Vasundhara - US Kids Tour at Phillaur on September 19, Albatross Junior Golf Tournament at Chandigarh on September 27 and the CGA Juniors Tournament at Chandigarh on February 12 and 13.

She would have maintained her top slot in the Panchkula CGA Junior Golf Circuit had the organisers not scrapped the event for girls for lack of participants. 

Panchkula, August 9
Gaurav Bishnoi secured first position trailing Rushat and Karan Harsh to second and third positions, respectively, in the U-12 boy’s category in rink race II (inline) event in the Hallmark Roller Skating Carnival at Hallmark Public School here today.

As many as 3 00 skaters from various schools of tricity participated in the carnival. The chief guest OP Sihag, executive officer, MC, Panchkula, awarded medals and certificates to the winners, while Jivtesh Garg, director, Hallmark Public School, presided over.

Road race: U-4 boys: 1Aditya Sahrawat 2 Kaveesh Arora,

U-6 boys: 1Shaurya Raj, 2 Arnav Rawat

U-6 girls: 1Tanya Sharma, 2 Ananya Jagga and 3 Saanvi

U-8 boys: 1 Akshit, 2 Bhavandeep and 3 Manharshpal Singh

U-8 boys inline: 1 Sanyam

U-8 girls: 1 Akshita Shourie, 2 Sumedha and 3 Aayushi

U-10 boys: 1 Adhiraj Kundlas, 2 Mukul Verma and 3 Kartikeya

U-10 boys inline: 1 Harsh Gupta, 2 Saksham and 3 Cheten Sahni

U-10 girls: 1 Khyati Jain and 2 Amisha Mangal

U-10 girls inline: 1 Navya

U-12 boys: 1 Siddharth Jain, 2 Ayush Bhatnagar and 3 Ankit Saini

U-12 boys inline: 1Gold and 2 Rushat

U-12 girls: 1Karen George and 2 Srijna Dhaliwal

U-12 girls inline: 1Chhavi Bishnoi

U-14 boys: 1 Aditya Gandhi and 2 Sudhanshu Jain

U-14 boys inline: 1 Shubham Aggarwal

Above 14 boys: 1Anmol Nayyar

Above 14 girls: 1Kriti Jagga

Above 14 boys inline: 1Shivam

Rink Race-1: U-4 boys: 1Vedansh Arora, 2 Ashmit Aggarwal and 3 Chinmaya Kansal

U-4 girls: 1 Pihu Goel, 2 Vrinda Goyal and 3 Vibha

U-6 boys: 1 Amanpartap Singh, 2 Sahil Grover and 3 Kartik Jindal

U-6 boys inline: 1 Udayveer, 2 Vihan Wadhawan and 3 Achintya Gupta

U-6 girls: 1 Javeen Seth, 2 Siona Arora and 3 Saanvi

U-8 boys: 1 Bhavandeep, 2 Sanyam Gupta and 3 Manharshpal Singh

Rink race-2: U-4 boys: 1Vedansh Arora, 2 Aditya Sehrawat and 3 Ashmit Aggarwal

U-4 girls: 1Pihu Goel, 2 Vrinda Goel and 3 Vibha

U-6 boys: 1Amanpartap Singh, 2 B Parnay Gaud and 3 Kartik Jindal

U-6 girls: 1 Siona Arora, 2 Sonakshi and 3 Aarushi

U-12 boys: 1Keten Bassi, 2 Paarth Tiwari and 3 Ayush Bhatnagar

U-12 boys inline: 1Gaurav Bishnoi, 2 Rushat and 3 Karan Harsh.