Chandigarh, August 12
As part of the International Youth Day 2007 celebrations, the Commonwealth Youth Asia Centre organised a blood donation camp here today. As many as 50 persons donated blood at the camp.

An inter-college debate competition on the theme of ‘Today’s Youth is More Sinned Against than Sinning’ was also organised. The first place for team performance was bagged by DAV College, Sector 10, while Shivalik Public School, Sector 41, was the first runner-up. Guru Gobind Singh College for Women, Sector 26, was declared the second runner-up.

Anuj Malhotra and Haripal Brar of DAV College were the winner and runner-up, respectively, in the individual category. Aditya Sharma from Shivalik Public School was declared the second runner-up, a press note stated.

AIDS camp organised
Tribune News Service

Zirakpur, August 12
Members of the Disabled Persons Welfare Organisation, Punjab, here organised an AIDS awareness camp at Baltana here today. The members distributed written material about the disease printed by the Punjab State AIDS Control Society.

Members also helped residents in the preparation of old age pension cases, widow pension cases and disabled pension cases.

Chandigarh, August 12
Sister duo Tarani Goel and Arunima Goyal stole the show in the u-7 (boys’ and girls’) and u-11 girls’ categories, respectively, on the second and final day of the Chandigarh Chess Championship-2007 at St Xavier’s Senior Secondary School-44-C, today.

The elder sister, Arunima Goyal of Sacred Heart Secondary School, has been selected to represent Chandigarh in the u-11 girls’ category during the National U-11 Girls’ Championship scheduled to be held at Calicut in October.

The younger one, Tarini Goyal of the same school, has also been selected to represent Chandigarh in the National U-11 Girls’ Championship to be held at Lucknow in October.

Meanwhile, Himal Gusain in the u-19 boys’, Ravneet Kaur in the u-19 girls’, Tejas Nagpal in the u-11 boys’, Srishti Jain in the u-11 girls’, and Anubhav Tuknayat in the u-7 boys’ category also emerged champions. Dr Sameer Malhotra assistant professor, PGI, gave away prizes to the winners.

Points position on final day

U-7 boys and girls: 3 points: Tarini; 2.5 points: Anubhav Tuknayat; 2 points: Saarthak and Yash; 1.5 points: Rishab, Sanah Bansal; 1 point: Bramjot and Ripudaman; 0.5 point: Chaitnaya; 0 point: Manmeet.

U-11 girls: 3 points: Arunima Goyal, Srishti Jain; 2 points: Simranjeet Kaur, Roopam; 1 point: Gauri, Gursimran Kaur, Arshjot, Tanya Kaushal, Vishakha.

U-11 boys: 5 points: Tejas; 4 points: Sachleen, Shivanshu, Pranjal; 3 points: Mehul, Abhinav, Mayank, Parth, Akash Bhardwaj, Shivam, Prateek; 2 points: Shubham, Akshit, Kuber, Sunbir, Prakhar, Parth, Arnav; 1.5 points: Nikhil, Udhav; 1 point: Shrest; 0 point: Arjun.

U-19 girls: 4 points: Ravneet Kaur; 3 points: Pallak, Megha, Jasleen and Jaya; 2 points: Rishu Rathi, Manvi Tandon, Surbhi; 1.5 points: Rajni and Sukhmani; 1 point: Mahek, Akshita; 0 point: Riya.

U-19 boys: 4 points: Himal, Ameek; 3 points: Sirish, Satbir, Sahil; 2 points: Ritesh, Gitin, Paras, Harpreet Singh, Amit Seth, Karandeep, Manik; 1 point: Archit, Rudra, Isra, Keshav Makkar; 0 point: Arjun Chopra and Pradeep.

Chandigarh, August 12
This man has not let the passage of time come in the way of his dreams. He does not measure success by his extraordinary achievements but by the process that led him to all that.

Amitabh Singh Chandel from Ramgarh (Panchkula) clinched a gold medal in the 100m and a silver medal in 200m men’s competition during the 21st Malaysian Open Masters Athletic Championship held recently at Kuala Lumpur. He set a record of touching the finishing line of 100m in just 11.8 seconds at Bukit Jalil Sports Stadium.

The event was for men above the age of 40 years. Amitabh (41) was also adjudged to be the ‘fastest man of the tournament’.

The success has not come easy. In his 20s, Amitabh suffered from acute, undiagnosed backaches that left him unable to even to stand or walk easily.

Amitabh owes all his success to his elder brother Amar Chandel, who has always been an undaunted inspirational force for him. “My elder brother and mentor inspired me to follow strict yoga regime under his supervision.”

This teetotaller has broken the myth that non-vegetarian diet is essential for sportspersons and surprised his fellow sprinters in Malaysia by telling his diet schedule. “They were surprised to know that I have never taken the ‘four whites’- ghee, sugar, salt and maida - in my entire life. I substitute the requirement of sugar and salt by taking two to three litres of milk and around two kgs of fruits daily.”

Earlier, he had won a gold medal in the 4X100m race in the 35-plus category in the 28th National Veteran Athletics Championship held at Bangalore from June 8 to 10.

Now, Amitabh is preparing himself to participate in the World Athletics Championship scheduled to be held at Italy in September. “I am on the lookout for a personal trainer. At the moment, I am just doing the regular practice of climbing stairs, at least 40 stairs, daily. I know I have to work very hard to make my presence felt in this tournament.”

“Possessing good physique was my motto of life. So, I followed strict exercise schedule and never took to oily or non-vegetarian diet. I have never consumed alcohol or smoked in my life. It was my disciplined and simple lifestyle, which energised me to be a sportsperson,” he expressed.

The other sport, which attracted him, is tennis. Amitabh, managing director of The Fort restaurant at Ramgarh, has also represented India in all major satellite and future tennis tournaments. At present, he is associated with Sector 11 Total Tennis Academy and is also the convener of the sports cell of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee.

Panchkula, August 12
Dilmrig Nayani won a gold medal in the 21 to 40 kg age group while Divyanshi and Arshdeep bagged silver and bronze medals, respectively, in the Second Panchkula District Karate Championship 2007-08 at Choi Kwang Do Martial Art School, Sector 16, here, today.

More than 150 karatekas from different schools participated in the two-day championship.

Results: Boys (below 5 years) 12 to 19 kg: 1 Parthk Gag, 2 Annant Khoshla; (5 to 9 years) 15 to 19 kg: 1 Moksham Chhabra, 2 Yuvraj Dhanaynjay, 3 Daksh Goyal; 20 to 24 kg: 1 Prabhjot Singh, 2 Sahil Saera, 3 Rishabh Saini; 25 to 29 kg: 1 Shobhit Kurana, 2 Harshjot Singh, 3 Lovepreet Singh; 29 kg and above: 1 Jaskarn Singh, 2 Parmveer Singh, 3 Harshpreet Singh.

Girls: (9 to 12 years) 21 to 40 kg: 1 Dilmrig Nayani, 2 Divyanshi, 3 Arshdeep; (10 to 14 years) 41 kg and above: 1 Divya, 2 Gurjeet and 3 Gunjan Katyal. Osheen won the consolation prize. — TNS

Panchkula, August 12
Top-seeded Prasoon Sharma and Aiswarya cornered glory for Manav Mangal School by clinching titles under their respective categories in the Panchkula District Table Tennis Championship at DAV, Sector 8, here.

Prasoon emerged winner in the youth-21 (boys) category by 3-0.

Earlier, in the u-17 (boys) group, Prasoon defeated Shubham of Manav Mangal 11-7,12-10, 11-6 to clinch the honours.

It was a creditable performance for Aishwarya as she reigned supreme in the women’s singles, junior girls’ and sub-junior girls’ categories.

Chief guest S.K. Gupta, former OSD to CM, Haryana, gave away prizes to the winners.

Results

Boys (u-17 semifinals): Sunil Lamba beat Archit 11-8, 7-11, 2-11, 11-9, 11-8; Parsoon beat Shubham 11-9, 11-7, 11-6; finals: Parsoon beat Sunil 11-7, 12-10, 11-6

Youth boys (u-21): Semifinals: Prasoon beat Shubham 11-3, 6-11, 10-12, 11-3, 11-7; Sunil beat Gaurav 12-10, 14-12, 11-9; finals: Prasoon beat Sunil Lamba 9-11,11-5,11-3,12-10.

Women’s singles: Semifinals: Aishwarya beat Aastha 11-8, 1-5, 7-11, 11-7; Anu Saini beat Neha 12-10, 11-9, 8-11, 13-11; finals: Aishwarya beat Anu Saini 11-5, 11-4, 11-7.

Challenged-child category: Finals: Ranveer (Saket) beat Rahul (Saket) 11-7, 12-10, 7-11, 8-11, 11-9.

Men’s singles: Semifinals: Sunil Lamba beat Archit 7-11, 12-10, 10-12, 11-9, 11-7; Prasoon beat Saurav 11-6, 11-4, 11-8; finals: Prasoon beat Sunil 11-3, 7-11, 11-8, 11-9.

Panchkula, August 12
Ayush Gautam outclassed Abhijit in the boys’ u-13 singles event during the Ashwani Gupta Memorial District Badminton Championship Panchkula-2007 held at Tau Devi Lal Sports Complex, Sector 3, here today.

Ayush started with a bang and grabbed the first set with a convincing margin 21-16. Abhijit managed to get the next set 21-19. Bouncing back, Ayush beat him in the deciding game, sealing the fate of the game in his favour 21-14.

Results

U-13 girls’ singles: Gayatri b Karishma.

U-13 girls’ doubles: Gayatri and Karishma b Ojaswani and Ayesha.

U-13 boys’ singles: Ayush Gautam b Abhijit.

U-13 boys’ doubles: Ayush and Abhijit b Saccait and Shubham.

U-16 girls’ singles: Muskan b Daksha.

U-16 girls’ doubles: Muskan and Daksha b Charvi and Rashmi

U-16 boys’ singles: Akshit Mahajan b Deepak Khatri.

U-16 boys’ doubles: Deepak and Vikas b Akshit and Anehit.

Women’s singles: Jyoti Rawat b Pallavi.

Men’s singles: Gaurav Pahwa b Ravi Singla.

Men’s doubles: Akshit and Gaurav b Ravi and Puneet.

Masters’ singles: Jatinder Mahajan b Munish Dutt.

Masters’ doubles: J.S. Mehta and Munish Dutt b Vinay Aggarwal and Jatinder Mahajan.