Championships make a comeback, players happy

Deepankar Sharda
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, October 5

Competitive events are back after six-month break due to Covid-19 and they are garnering an amazing response by local sportspersons.

Over 30 participated in a local tennis championship being held in Zirakpur, while around six teams — 14 players each — are parting in a cricket championship that started today.

SB Sharma wins tennis c’ship

SB Sharma defeated Shyam Jagat in a neck-to-neck fight to win the men’s (35+) final on the concluding day of the UTR-Roots Tennis Championship here on Monday. Aditi Singh won the girls’ U-18 title by defeating Vanshita Malhotra 4-1 4-3(1). Deepinder Singh and Naveen Verma defeated Dhairya Chadha and Rishi Dhaiya 6-4 6-4 to win the men’s doubles title.

Notably, the tournaments are not only witnessing a good response in the senior category, but also in junior categories. “We have been receiving a good response from all age groups. Every match is played with a new ball, courts gets sanitised in every water break, no spectator is allowed on the premises, participants have been asked to submit a self-declaration form and many other precautions are being taken,” said one of the tennis tournament organisers.

Abhinav, Abhiraj shine in cricket

The unbeaten partnership between Abhinav (82) and Abhiraj (71) helped Sunrise Cricket Academy, Zirakpur, to register 10-wicket win over Youngster Cricket Academy, Mohali, in the 1st Ashok Kumar Vij Memorial U-16 Cricket Tournament on Monday. Laksh, Yuvraj Singh, Manjeet Singh and Krish claimed two wickets each for the bowling side.

To ensure players’ comfort, league matches are being organised instead of knock-out matches. “League matches are more important at this stage. This way, a sportsperson gets to play more matches to gain momentum after such a long break. Technical training suffered due to the lockdown restriction and the players underwent only physical strength training. Life has to go on and so do sports,” said Amanjot, a participant of the tennis tournament.

On precautions and fear, several players said the only way to fight Covid was to avoid any kind of body contact and sharing things. “In the pre-Covid times, we used to share kits, shake hands, sometimes even use same equipment, but now, everything has been stopped. Now even when we want to talk to our coach or manager, we have to stay at a distance. Yes, there is fear, but we have to have the strength to fight the pandemic,” said Aanchal, another contestant.

Meanwhile, cricket tourney organisers said players were not allowed to interact on the premises and are asked to constantly sanitise their kits, accessories and other important equipment. “Since cricket is a team game, we have to take extra precautions. The players have been asked not to gather in groups or use common things. The batsmen will be made to put their kits separately near boundary rope, so that in case of emergency they themselves come and take whatever they want instead of coming in contact with a team’s player,” said one of the organisers.