Chandigarh, April 23
The number of people affected with glaucoma (kala motia) is between 65 and 85 million while a 30 per cent increase is expected in the number of patients of this irreversible blindness around the world during the next 10 years. This was stated by Dr Karanjeet S. Kooner, associate professor of glaucoma services, University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Centre, Dallas, while talking to mediapersons here today.

Dr Kooner, recipient of several awards, including Physicians Recognition Award of the USA, has a keen interest in glaucoma epidemiology and glaucoma surgeries. He said the disease was ranked fourth among causes behind blindness 10 years ago. However, an increase in longevity and availability of diagnosis facilities have brought the diseases at number among those responsible for blindness.

Cataract (white motia) is curable. It affects 45 per cent of the patients of blindness while 8 per cent of the blinds were the victims of glaucoma, added the US specialist.

Only a regular check up of the eyes was the remedy as there were no specific symptoms for detection of disease, advised the doctor.

No exact cause responsible for the disease had been traced till now. Professor Sunandan Sood, of the GMCH, Sector 32, said the glaucoma clinic of the hospital was functional on every Monday under the supervision of Dr Suresh Kumar, glaucoma specialist.

Chandigarh, April 23
The T20 CFI India ‘A’ team reached the final after beating Haryana by 80 runs in the semifinal of the Twenty20 (Under-19) Cricket Tournament at the Cricket Stadium in Sector 16 here today.

Batting first after winning the toss, T20 scored 138 runs for the loss of eight wickets. Yuvraj Anand scored 44 runs while Rocky Rata contributed 32 runs.

For Haryana, Manish and Sanoop took two wickets each conceding 22 and 25 runs, respectively.

In reply, Haryana were sent back to the pavilion for a paltry 58 runs in just 11.4 overs. Arun was the highest scorer with 19 runs. Rockey grabbed three wickets for 10 runs followed by Summet, Vijay Bhardwaj and Navvrosepreet Singh Sihota, who claimed two wickets each. Yuvraj was declared man of the match.

Tomorrow, T20 CFI India ‘A’ will take on T20 CFI XI at Cricket Stadium, Sector 16, here at 2 pm.

Panchkula, April 23
The Panchkula District Carrom Association is organising the third R.K. Babuta Memorial Prize Money Ranking Carrom Tournament from May 5 to 7 at Saupin’s School, Sector 9, here.

In the tournament, events in singles category will be conducted for men and women under senior, junior and the sub-junior categories. A player must be below the age of 18 years and 14 years as on May 4 for participation in the junior and the sub-junior categories, respectively. Entries will close on May 1. — TNS

Chandigarh, April 23
The chess team of St Xavier’s Senior Secondary School, Sector 44, here bagged the ‘champions of the tournament’ tag in the ICSE Inter-School Chess Tournament held at Tender Heart School, Sector 33, here.

Jasleen Kaur Gill and Himal Gusain, both of Class IX (group A) got the first place. Alisha Sharma and Romir Pathak, both of Class VII (group B) got the second place. Jasmeet (Class VI) and Shivam (Class V) got the second place in group C while Priya and Prakhan, both of Class IV, got second and third places in group D. — TNS

Chandigarh, April 23
Local wild card entrant Naveen Shankar stunned sixth seed Sidhant Deka in straight sets 6-4, 6-3 in the boys under-16 singles first-round match of the AITA Championship Series, which commenced at the CLTA courts, Sector 10, here today.

Digvijay Naruka upset third seed Manpreet Singh Chawla of Delhi 7-5, 6-4 in the same category.

Naveen did not show any sign of nervousness against third seed Deka and dominated proceedings from the start. Displaying a good show of volleys and forehand shots, he defeated Deka in straight sets.

In the girls category u-16 singles, Shilpa Naruka of Chandigarh thrashed Delhi player Aakruti Chand 6-1, 6-2 in the first-round match.

The results: First round

Girls u-14 singles: Namita Bal b Charvi Saxena 6-1, 6-1, Ravnoor Kaur b Abhishekta Pandey 6-0, 6-0, Vidhushi Bhalla b Bhavika Wadhawan 6-2, 6-3, Kritika Paul b Kirandeep Kaur 3-0 (conceded), Seeulee K. Upadhya b Vibhuti Khullar 6-0, 6-0, Ikttesh Chahal b Abhilasha Mehra 6-4, 6-3, Shreya Malhotra b Harnoor K. Mann 6-4, 6-4, Arzoo Malik b Rajvir Kaur 6-1, 6-1, Likhita Shetty b Rimpledeep Kaur 6-0, 6-0, Indu Punia b Srijita Ghosh 6-1, 6-3, Ankita Bhatti b Harkirat Bains 6-0, 6-0, Tarranium Handa b Aakanksha Punj 7-6 (5), 6-4, M. Spurthi b Saumya Chaudhary 6-2, 6-0, Vignyatha Reddy b Shivika Sharma 6-2, 6-2, Parminder Kaur b Ramneek Kaur 6-0, 6-4, Saumya Sanghi b Rajendra Madhu Shani 6-0, 6-1.

Girls u-16 singles: Jaanesh Kaur b Ravnoor Kaur 6-2, 6-0, Saumya Sanghi b Noor Paul 6-4, 6-4, Likhita Shetty b Jaspreet K. Bhatia 6-3, 6-1, Prabhamrit Kaur b Garima Raj Sonkar 6-0, 6-0, Tarranium Handa b Rajendra Madhu Shani 6-3, 6-3, Namita Bal b Bhavika Wadhawan 6-2, 6-1, Ikttesh Chahal b Nandita Bal 6-2, 6-3, Seeulee K. Upadhya b Vignyatha Reddy 7-5, 6-1, Mehak Singh b Manvella Gomes 6-3, 6-4, Arzoo Malik b Srijita Ghosh 6-2, 6-0, Kritika Paul b Sadhana Atre 6-0, 6-2, Shilpa Naruka b Aakruti Chand 6-1, 6-2, Parminder Kaur b Rajvir Kaur 6-3, 6-2.

Boys u-16 singles: Digvijay S. Mehta b Anuraj Kumar 6-1, 6-1, Garry S. Amor b Arjun Singh 6-2, 6-2, Maninder Singh b Md Aiman bin Abdullah 7-6 (0), 6-2, Bharat Bhardwaj b Ashwani Kumar 6-4, 6-3, Sunny Sharma b Jatin Dahiya 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (3), Ankit Chaudhary b Harry S. Amor 6-2, 7-6 (4) Naveen Shankar b Sidhant Deka 6-4, 6-3, Kamal Kishore Maderana b Karan Kurup 6-4, 6-3, Sajal Chaudhary b Gurinder Singh 6-4, 4-6 7-5, Digvijay S. Naruka b Manpreet S. Chawla 7-5, 6-4, Pulok Bhatacharya b Vidant Rastogi 6-3, 6-3, Akshat Joshi b Dinesh Goyal 7-5, 6-3, Karanvir Singh b Darp Anirudh Milind 0-6, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5), Vijay Bhardwaj b Paramveer S. Toor 6-1, 6-2, Vibhav Gupta b Pawan Suresh 6-1, 6-1, Mandeep S. Gill b Suraj Beniwal 6-2, 6-0.

Boys u-14 singles: Digvijay S. Mehta b Manish Kumar 6-1, 6-3, Sajal Chaudhary b Harmeet Singh 6-1, 6-0, Pankaj Kumar b Udai S. Mann 6-2, 6-3, Om Dalvi b Ajay Thakur 6-2, 6-3, Ajay Yadav b Neeihar Yeraavadekar 6-4, 6-0, Digvijay S. Naruka b Arnav Kishore 6-4, 6-1, Kamal Kishore Maderana b Nischay Rawal 7-5, 6-1, Darp Anirudh Milind b Karan Bidani 6-3, 6-1, Karan P. Kurup b Harshit Juneja 6-0, 6-2, Archit Sood b Anupam Chhettri 7-5, 5-7, 7-6 (3), Shikhar Kumar b Tarun Chopra 6-1, 7-6 (5), Manoj b Sidhant Deka 6-4, 6-4, Gurinder Singh b Sunny Dahiya 6-1, 6-2, Suraj Beniwal b Resham Singh 6-1, 6-1, Sudhir Tanwar b Sabareesh Hariharan 6-4, 7-6 (2), Maninder Singh b Ishan Gupta 1-6, 7-5, 6-1.