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Total Tennis
Sonali, Inayat to clash in final
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 6
Sonali Bansal and Inayat face each other in the finals of girls under 16 category of the ongoing Fort Ramgarh YMCA Total Tennis Championship at YMCA courts, Sector 11, here.

In the semifinals, Inayat beat Chandarika Sharma 7-3 while Sonali Bansal thrashed Ramneek Kaur 7-0 to secure berth in title clash. In boys under 16 section, Devbir Singh, Nishchay Rawal, Arshbuland Aulakh and Raghav Singal will vie in the semifinals.

Earlier, in quarterfinal matches Devbir Singh beat Abhijit Singh 7-4 while Nishchay Rawal got the better of Vinayak Mehta 7-3. Arshbuland Aulakh and Raghav Singal drubbed their rivals Aakash Dhingra and Parminder Singh, respectively with an identical score of 7-1.

Results: Boys (U-10) quarterfinals: Paramveer Bajwa beat Nihit Rawal 7-5, Sachin Kumar w/o Himanshu Gupta, Param Punn beat Lakshay Sofat 6-0, Ishaque Eqbal beat Sumit Pal Singh 6-1.

(Under 12) quarterfinals: Karan Kapoor beat Ishaque Eqbal 6-5 (4), Shubham Vij beat Sumit Pal Singh 6-1, Ranjit Singh beat Divyaansh Pandey 6-3, Nishat Eqbal beat Utkarsh Khosla 6-2.

(Under 14) pre quarterfinals: Sachin Kumar beat Aayush Nijhawan 7-0, Nishat Eqbal beat Pranjal Sharma 7-1, Nishchay Rawal beat Anvit 7-0, Aswinder Singh beat Karan 7-2, Utkarsh Khosla beat Vikas Goyat 7-5, Pragun Vinayak beat Dhruv Chawla 7-1, Arshbuland Aulakh beat Nihit Rawal 7-1, Davinder Singh beat Abhijit Singh 7-1.

Girls (under 12) quarterfinals: Neha Sharma beat Harshita Rao 5-0, Vanishka Sahwney beat Priyadarshni Kaur 5-1, Rubika beat Joshna 5-2, Nandini Sharma beat Rehmat Arora 5-0.

(U-16) semifinals: Inayat beat Chandarika Sharma 7-3, Sonali Bansal beat Ramneek Kaur 7-0.

Soccer: St Stephen’s lift St Kabir Trophy
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 6
St Stephen's School, Sector 45, kept hold of the Kabir Trophy for the third time in a row defeating the hosts St Kabir School, Sector 26, by 2-0 in the finals of the Chandigarh Football Tournament (U-12) for St Kabir Trophy concluded at the school premises here today.

Rishav Kumar drew the first blood in the 24th minute, collecting a pass from Vikrampreet.

The next goal came in the 44th minute through Mankaran Singh. St Kabir saved a speedy kick off Harpal Singh in front of the goal but the custodian could not hold the ball properly. Capitalising on the chance Mankaran sent the ball home to seal 2-0 victory.

Showing a never-say-die attitude, the host team too tested the defence of the rivals.

They squandered many chances that came their way.

St Kabir School principal J.P. Singh gave away the prizes to the winners of the St Stephen’s school.

Netball tourney from tomorrow
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 6
The Netball Association of Chandigarh is organising the Chandigarh State Senior Netball Championship (boys and girls) on December 8 and 9 at Guru Nanak Khalsa Senior Secondary School, Sector 30, here.

During the championship, the boys’ and girls’ teams will be selected to participate in the Senior National Netball Championship to be held at Dhanbad in Jharkhand from December 26 to December 30.

PU athletics meet from today
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 6
The Panjab University Inter-College Athletics meet will be held from December 7 to 9 at PU grounds. As many as 500 athletes, from 33 men colleges and 43 women colleges, are expected to participate in this meet, which will be inaugurated at 9 am tomorrow.

Panchayat, zila parishad poll to be held simultaneously
Tribune News Service

Patiala, December 6
The panchayat and zila parishad elections in Punjab would be held simultaneously in the state in March or April.

This was stated here today by Punjab rural development and panchayat minister Ranjit Singh Brahmpura. The minister was here to inaugurate the 12-day regional Saras fair, being organised jointly by the ministry of rural development and the district rural development agency. More than 400 artisans are participating in the fair where as many as 150 stalls have been set-up. Hundreds of people from all over the region visited the fair on the first day today.

Talking to mediapersons, Brahmpura denied that the SAD-BJP government was harassing the Congress panches and sarpanches in the name of a probe into the misuse of funds. “Actually, an amount of Rs 1,400 crore was received from the centre for development of villages during the Congress regime. The probe is on and guilty would not be spared at any cost and there would be no discrimination,” said Brahmpura.

He said such fairs were being organised at all district headquarters to encourage artisans and artists. “The centre government is giving 75 per cent while the state government is contributing 25 per cent share of money for these fairs,” said Brahmpura.

Deputy commissioner D.S. Grewal said the North Zone Cultural Centre had made arrangement for about 500 artistes and singers who would be entertaining people in the fair. “People should come forward to encourage artistes,” appealed Grewal.

Two traders, 15 bovine killed as bus, truck collide
Tribune News Service

Kharar, December 6
Two cattle traders and 15 bovine were killed in a bus-truck collision on Kharar-Kurali road. The cattle were being taken for slaughtering purpose to Saharanpur (Uttar Pradesh).

The incident took place at around 1:30 am when the truck (HR 58 6541), loaded with cattle, was going from Kurali to Saharanpur. The over-loaded truck collided with a Himachal Pradesh Roadways bus (HP 24 A 5779) on its way to Bilaspur from Chandigarh. The Kurali police officials said first the tyre of the truck busted, following which, the bus, coming from the opposite direction, collided with it.

Two cattle traders, Ifran and Nasir (both from Saharanpur), were killed on-the-spot along with 15 cattle while six animals sustained serious injuries. The injured cattle were being treated at Kurali Veterinary Polyclinic Centre.

Eyewitnesses said as a result of the accident, the rest of the cattle got scared and fled. They animals were bought from the Kurali animal fair.

Drivers of both the vehicles sustained serious injuries and were undergoing treatment at PGIMER, Chandigarh. Over 12 passengers of the bus also sustained minor injuries. The police swung into action early in the morning but the road could be cleared only by 10 am. Till then, the mangled remains of both the vehicles and bodies of the cattle lay sprawling on the road, blocking traffic.

Truck driver Badhir Ahmed, a resident of Sapran Wali Gali, Saharanpur, has been booked on the complaint of bus conductor Yogesh, a resident of Bilaspur.

Boy missing from Hoshiarpur found in Kharar
Megha Mann
Tribune News Service

Kharar, December 6
Thirteen-year-old Harpreet Sharma, a student of St Joseph's Convent School of Hoshiarpur, was found abandoned today near Kharar bus stand at around 12.30 noon.

Harpreet had left for school this morning on foot when someone drugged him on the way. He regained senses on reaching Kharar bus stand and asked people around him where he was.

One of the passersby spotted Harpreet and took him to his house.

Harpreet told the passerby, a resident of the area around Namdev Bhawan, that he was from Hoshiarpur. His father Subhash Chand was contacted on phone and informed about Harpreet.

Harpreet's maternal grandfather Chand Singh too lives in Kharar and he too was informed. Subhash Chand reached here at around 4.30 pm and took away his son. Harpreet is physically challenged.

Meanwhile, when contacted, Manjeet Singh, SHO (city), Kharar, confirmed the incident. He, however, added that since the child had been handed over to his father, no police intervention was sought.