SPORTS

‘Empty guns can’t shoot’
Arvind Katyal

Chandigarh, November 20
“Lack of ammunition is the major season forcing the delay in organising national coaching camps”, said Sunny Thomas, the national shooting coach and a native of Kottayam (Kerala). He is here in SAS Nagar for the shooting events of the National Games. Thomas who is carrying the forte of national coach for the past eight years, said for the past three years, the ammunition scarcity has become a big headache for all of us. The stocks the National Rifle Association of India were almost on the verge of getting finished, he added.

Thomas was happy at the performance of Indian shooters at the Commonwealth Shooting Meet at Bisley (England). “This proves that Indian shooters have mettle to reach dizzy heights”, he added.

On the foreign exposure to the shooters, Thomas said government should support the players financially in at least two to three international events apart from the Asian and Commonwealth Games. Thomas, a 3 position fifle shooters, said Indian shooters learnt a lot during the stay of foreign coaches, such as Lazslo Szuvask from Hungary.

When asked, what purpose a shooting coach serves, he said a coach while sitting outside can easily notice the leg posture and other angles of his body parts while he shoots. Thomas said sometimes even the national champions commit minor mistakes.

Thomas was optimsitic about the Indian air rifle women shooters and said they were a force to reckon with in the world. About Abhinav Bindra, he said he was a dedicated shooter and predicted a bright future for him.

Thomas said the National Games and the forthcoming national championships would be the basis for the selection of Indian team for the next year’s tournaments at international level.

Basketball title for SPS
Our Sports Reporter

Chandigarh, November 20
Shivalik Public School, Sector 41, won the UT inter-school basketball title in the under-17 boys section, played at Government Model Senior Secondary school, Sector 33, here today. In the finals, SPS-41 cagers outplayed St Xavier’s Senior Secondary School, Sector 44, 81-62. The SPS boys maintained the lead right from the beginning and the first half score was 13-6. The scorers for winners were Rajbir Singh 30, Mukesh 28, Parveen 17, Rajesh four and Gurvir two.

Cricket match

The Chandigarh Paint Dealers Association outplayed the Fevicol Limited XI by 45 runs in a 25-over cricket match held at Cricket stadium, Sector 16.

Brief scores: CPDA: 135 runs (Mani 35,Vipin 20, Ruchit Mahajan 18, Anup Singh 3 for 22). Fevicol Ltd: 90 runs (Parminder Singh 25, Sanjay Sharma 22, Joginder Rana 3 for 30).

Kho-kho meet

The Chandigarh Kho-Kho Association will hold UT state kho-kho championships for men and women on November 24 and 25 at IS Dev Samaj Girls Senior Secondary School, Sector 21. The players for the 37th senior national kho-kho meet will also be selected during this meet. Entries close on November 23 with Ms Tarpinder Kaur (SAI coach) or Mr Davinder Kohli (UT coach).

Parking lot auction fetches Rs 15.13 lakh
Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, November 20
The Municipal Corporation netted Rs 15.13 lakh from the auction of two parking lots in the city today.

The parking lot opposite the Lake Club was auctioned for Rs 14 lakh against the reserve price of Rs 7 lakh, while the site at Shanti Kunj was auctioned for Rs 1.13 lakh against the reserve price of Rs 60,000.

A total of 21 bidders participated in the auction held in the presence of Mr Prem Sagar Jain, councillor, MCC.