Chandigarh, August 17
“Shah Rukh Khan would have proved to be a better brand ambassador for hockey, keeping in mind the remarkable job he has done in the film “Chak De India”. I, too, am obsessed with sports. I will try my level best to promote this game in whatever way they ask me to do”, remarked Suneil Shetty, Bollywood actor.

In town along with Indian Hockey Federation President KPS Gill to intimate about an exhibition match between the two Asian powerhouses- India and Pakistan- for AHA Cup, which is slated to be held at the Sector 42 Hockey Stadium here on September 11, Shetty stressed upon making hockey players like stars. “It is the media which can play a vital role in the promotion of this sport. Make the hockey players feel like celebrities. Then and only then they will be able to make their place in the hearts of masses and become the icons of Generation X,” he added.

Just after this exhibition match, a friendly match between the Shah Rukh’s ‘Chak De’ film team and the team of Bollywood stars, has been scheduled to be held at the same venue. Confirming this, Shetty said it would be a beginning in the right direction to promote the game but did not reveal the names of the film stars, who would take part in this friendly match.

Shetty admitted that there was a dire need to promote other games in the country and soccer should be the next. “It is not only for hockey or soccer, if somebody asks me to be the chief guest at any rural sports events like kabaddi or kho-kho, I would be the first person to accept that”, he said. KPS Gill said hockey was slowly catching up and our teams, be it on junior or senior levels, were making their presence felt in the tournaments held recently. “Hockey is in the roots of our country and the majority of the players do not belong to the affluent strata.”

Condemning the attitude of the media, Gill said the media was more obsessed with cricket. “It was heartening to see that one of our players, Diwakar from UP, was the highest scorer during the u-21 Eight Nations tournament held at Kuala Lumpur recently and none of the TV channels or newspapers had focused on that boy. This type of mindset needs to be changed,” he said.

As compared to cricket, hockey players could not make place in the hearts of people, Mr Gill said adding, “Cricket is an individual game and hockey is a team game. The individual’s performance in hockey cannot be gauged like cricket. But I hope that hockey will be back in its glorious era with the advent of forthcoming events like Asia Cup Tournament, World Cup Hockey Tournament and Commonwealth Games. 

Chandigarh, August 17
Sarita of DAV Model School, Sector-15, clinched the first position in 200 metres (women) race, covering the distance in 27.67 seconds on the concluding day of the Chandigarh State Senior Athletics Championships-2007 at Sports Complex, Sector 7, here today.

While in the long jump (men) category, Narpinder Singh of DAV College, Sector-10, won the top title with a jump of 6.87 metres.

At the conclusion of the championships, Jagjit Singh Kang, councillor, municipal corporation, gave away the prizes. He announced financial help of Rs 2,100 for the Amateur Athletics Association of Chandigarh (AAAC) for the organisation of 19th North Zone Junior Athletics Championships to be held at Panjab University grounds from September 25 to 27.

The other results:

Men’s Category

200 m: 1 Gurpinder Singh (23.31 S), 2 Sachin Sharma (23.41 S), 3 Amanpratap Singh (24.5 S)

800 m: 1 Surinder Singh (2:00.36 S), 2 Sukhdev Singh (2:01.15 S), 3 Guriqbal Singh (2:08.65 S)

10,000 m: 1 Manoj Kumar (36:31.44 S), 2 Pardeep (37:56.34 S), 3 Sarabjeet Singh (38:51.46 S)

20 km walk: 1 Baljinder Singh (1:40.52 S), 2 Krishan Rai (1:50.01 S), 3 Pardeep Kumar (1:58.56 S)

Long Jump: 1 Narpinder Singh (6.87 M), 2 Jaswinder Singh (6.85 M), 3 Akhil (6.35 M)

Discus Throw: 1 Sarbhom Malik (40.70 M), 2 Gurmilap Singh (39.77 M), 3 Dilpreet Singh (37.65 M)

Hammer Throw:1 Pushpinder Singh (57.75 M), 2 Gurpreet Singh (54.54 M), 3 Sukhdev Singh (36.40 M)

Women’s Category:

200 m: 1 Sarita (27.67 S), 2 Akhwinder Kaur (28.50 S), 3 Nisha (29.55 S)

800 m: 1 Pooja Rani (2:33.11 S), 2 Amandeep (2:48.13 S), 3 Prabjot (2:53.24 S)

10,000 m:1 Rajdeep Kaur (40:34.43 S), 2 Rajwant Kaur (41:23.45 S), 3 Sandeep Kaur (43:34.67 S)

Long Jump:1 Sarita (5.07 M), 2 Jyoti Sharma (4.49 M), 3 Ruchi Sharma (4.23 M)

Discus Throw: 1 Jaspreet Kaur (24.91 M), 2 Harpreet Kaur (18.73 M), 3 Bimla Rani (13.25 M)