Chandigarh, May 5
There is an acute shortage of spine surgeons and neurosurgeons dedicated for spine surgery looking at the quantum of work. This was stated by prof V.K. Kak, neurosurgeon and former professor and head, Department of Neurosurgery, PGIMER, Chandigarh, today.

Prof Kak while inaugurating a two-day live workshop on cervical spine surgery, organised by the Department of Orthopaedics of PGI, said the process of spine surgery had changed over the time. Earlier, only neurosurgeons used to operate spine surgeries except a very few orthopedic surgeons who used to do limited spine surgery. After the surgery, the patients used to be bed-ridden for two-three months, but now with the introduction of instrumentation, better knowledge of anatomy and biomechanics, patients are mobilised in a day or two, informed prof Kak.

Eminent orthopaedic surgeons and neurosurgeons who attended the workshop included prof Dara Singh from Jammu, prof Sudhir Kumar of GMCH, Chandigarh, Dr Jain of Fortis, Dr Sanjay Saluja, Dr Saha and Dr Grewal and Dr Jacob Mathew from CMC Ludhiana, and many others.

Describing prof Kak as a surgeon par excellence, prof Raj Bahadur, course director, said cervical spine surgery was quite tricky and to organise live workshops was much difficult than joint replacements because the field of surgery was deep.

Live demonstration of two cervical surgeries i.e. one for the removal of the disk along with anterior fixation of cervical spine and second for ossification of posterior longitudinal ligament was done by prof Bahadur.

Chandigarh, May 5
Anadit Joshi thrashed P Sachdev 153-64 in the 150 points match of first round in the ongoing Sixth Saurabh Khattar Memorial Biliards and Snooker Championship at Chandigarh Club, Sector 1 here today.

Sandeep S Chadha and Jaspal Singh also moved ahead beating their rivals K S Nalwa (153-88) and Mahesh Chaudhary (151-106), respectively during the round.

While in Snooker’s best of three frame matches, Jaspal Singh, Vishal Gupta and Mahesh Chaudhary emerged winners.

Jaspal Singh beat M.S. Judge in the two frames consecutively. He won the first frame 57-53 whereas in the second frame the score was 69-30.

Continuing his winning spree, Vishal Gupta drubbed Manjul Sood 2-0 (66-16 and 80-28) whereas Mahesh Chaudhary got the better of D.S. Chawla 2-0 (82-19, 78-36).

Panchkula, May 5
Sumit Garg emerged winner in Men’s singles (1st round) 25-02, while Tanya Sharma beat Grace 04-00 and Akanksha beat Ashu 16-00 in girls’ junior category on the opening day of 3 rd R.K. Babuta Memorial Prize Money

Ranking Carrom Tournament. The meet held at Saupin’s School, Sector 9, here, today.

The results (1st round)

Men’s singles

Sumit Garg b S N Vashisht 25 - 02, Prag Tuli b Pankaj 11-00, Virat Rana b Manav 17-00, Sahil Garg b Karan 23-00, Shiva Dhir b Sushant Negi 18-00

Junior

Ankit Jain b Abhishek 17-05, Virat Rana b Sagar Bhandari 19-00, Karan Lamba b Vikas 12-00, Shiva Dhir b Aarush Dua 21-00, Modit Garg b Nitin Sharma 10-00, Samrat Rana b Aman Singla 25-00, Ankit Nakara b Shreshth 14-09, Chirag Arora b Yashu Gupta 17-02, Parag Tuli b Paras 25-00, Gursimran Sagu b Rameshwar 25-00, Amber Sharma b Mohit Verma 09-00

Sub-junior

Samrat Rana b Abhishek Arora 25-00, Sagar Bhandari b Arjun 09-00, Avi Dhiman b Sudhir 19-00, Deepak b Akshit Aggarwal 19-00, Abhishek Sood b Himanshu Jain 10-00, Ashwani b Saurabh 14-00, Manpreet b Sumit Bansal 17-00, Shivam b Aditya Sharma 19-00, Saurish b Pulkit Sharma 09-00, Amrinder b Gaurav 25-00, Akshay b Akshat 09-00, Shivam Gupta b Ishan 08-00, Kanav Sharma b Tannay Mishra 10-05, Pulkit b Tushar 10-00, Sahib Saggo b Anmol Mehta 24-00, Modit b Raghav 24-00, Chirag Gulati b Ankit Nandwania 22-00, Subham Gupta b Rahul 06-00, Anubhav Gupta b Roshan Sharma 20-00, Piyush b Mohit 07-00, Dinkar b Lovesh Bansal 12-00, Sachin Sharma b Hridaya Sahini 20-00, Yotskoran b Guryuvraj 25-00, Sahil Garg b Dhariya Thakur 24-00, Piyush b Zaigham Sultan 18-00, Akash b Digvijay Kapoor 24-00, Deepak b Shahbaz Grewal 21-09, Paras b Shagun Garg 24-00, Sahil Jain b Chinki 08-00, Avasyu b Shivam Razdan 14-08, Shanu Goyal b Sumit Sharma 12-00, Lakshya Bansal b Shugam Jain 15-00, Kabir Bali b Priyankit 09-00, Priyanshi b Ankit Jain 21-00, Rachit Malhotra b Bhuvan Sahni 20-00, Simaranjit b Naman Singla 14-00, Chirag Gupta b Sagar Juneja 16-00, Shubham Kumothi b Abhishek 18-04, Shayon b Jatin Prateek 18-00, Gursimran Sagoo b Ishan Rekhi 22-00, Aditya Jain b Dipin Singh 11-00, Manas Arora b Pranav Gupta 06-00, Vaibhav Sharma b Abhishek Bawa 09-00.

Women’s singles

Yamini Vashisht b Ashima Khanna 17-00, Sumitra Vashisht b Tanya Sangwan 23-09

Junior

Tanya Sharma b Grace 04-00, Akanksha b Ashu 16-00

Sub-junior

Sonal Bansal b Shikha Sharma 21-00, Gurpreet b Sonal Jain 15-00, Disha b Akanksha 24-00, Bharti Arora b Nupur Arora 15-00, Mallika b Tanvi Goyal 06-00, Alisha b Sugandha 04-03, Radhika b Aradhika 05-00, Twinkle Jain b Lisha 24-00, Sharinika b Tanvi Gupta 15-00, Kompal b Diya Nanda 12-00, Mahika b Jasleen 07-00, Divya b Shalini 04-03, Shiyana b Amardeep 21-00, Tusharika b Angela 15-12

Chandigarh, May 5
As the second week of May has arrived, the process of spotting and recruiting junior boys for the state-run Chandigarh Cricket Academy (CCA) for Under 14 will be commencing shortly.

Announcing this here today, Chandigarh Sports director-cum-additional deputy commissioner I.S. Sandhu, said a committee had been formed which would visit various cricket coaching centres in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and other places to identify and shortlist the budding players for the final selection. The department will induct 24 players in the academy, which will start functioning this year.

Regarding the physical standards laid down by the Chandigarh Sports Department, height of the fast bowlers should be minimum 150 cms and for batsman, wicketkeeper and spinners should be 140 cms and above.

The selection panel would visit Meerut (May 13 and 14), Lucknow (May 16 and 17), Faridabad (May 19 and 20), Una (May 23 and 24), Patiala (May 26), Amritsar (May 29 and 30), Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali (June 1, 2 and 4, respectively). The Department will also hold selection trials for those who wish to join the academy from any part of the country on June 5 and 5 at the Sector 16 Cricket Stadium in Chandigarh.

Chandigarh, May 5
The city badminton enthusiasts are in for a special treat as the Panjab University (PU) has decided to open its top class indoor badminton hall for 10 hours a day from May 7.

Apart from the university students, employees and their families, outsiders can also become a member after being registered himself/herself with the PU sports department to enjoy the badminton facilities existing at the campus by paying nominal charges.

As many as 12 players can play the game during the one hour session as the hall houses three courts.

The courts will remain functional for six days a week. The membership will be allotted on first come first basis.

Chandigarh, May 5
The swimming pool of Panjab University (PU) was inaugurated by vice-chancellor professor R.C. Sobti at the university’s premises, here, today.

“Now swimming enthusiasts, including PU students and employees, as well as outsiders, can beat the heat according to their convenience as the pool will remain open for 14 hours a day,” said the vice-chancellor, who splashed into the pool just after the inauguration.

This is the first time that the pools (a competitive pool, a diving bowl and a beginner’s pool) will remain open for such long hours (from 6 am to 8 pm) and can accommodate around 750 swimmers. To avoid the rush, the authorities will restrict the number of persons to 70 in one hour while in the last two sessions (from 5 pm to 6.30 pm and 6.30 pm to 8 pm), 100 members in each session will be allowed.

A total of 10 sessions will be available with a 3-hour break from 11 am to 2 pm. During the break, the water-cleaning process will take place.

To provide hygienic and clean waters to the swimmers, the directorate of sports has signed an annual maintenance contract (AMC) with a private firm.

“Providing neat, clean, hygienic, skin-friendly and eyes-friendly water to the users is very necessary,” said Dr D.N. Jauhar, director sports, PU.

Excellent quality services, including clean changing rooms and washrooms, shower bath, lockers, lifeguards and coaches will also be available, added Dr Jauhar.

“Besides facilitating swimming enthusiasts, generating of funds from these pools was another purpose behind the increasing of the duration of the pools. But the charges are very normal,” said Dr Jauhar.

Guests of members will also get a chance to take a splash on payment. The university has spent Rs 12 lakh on repairs of the ‘beginners’ and ‘competitive’ pools.