Chandigarh, January 7
The local lanky tennis player, Vijayant Malik, is on a spree to add a new feather to his cap and make the city proud with his continuous achievements.

Though he finished runners-up in the Sunny Enclave ITF Junior World Ranking Tournament at the Chandigarh Lawn Tennis Association courts, which concluded on Saturday, he won the hearts of the local crowd with his on-field fighting spirit. In the final match, he lost to third seed Russian, Alexey Tikhonov.

For his success, Vijayant gives all the credit to CLTA chairman Rajan Kashyap and all his coaches. “I was picked up by the association under the Chandigarh Academy for Rural Tennis scheme at the age of 11. The credit of my success goes to Mr Kashyap for his encouragement as well as the efforts of my coaches, Gajender Singh, Lalit Tandon and Tushar Sharma”, says the under-16 national champion.

About his protégé, Gajender Singh, Director, Coaching CLTA said, “Vijayant’s cool temperament, consistency and ability to understand the weakness of his opponents are his forte. He has the potential as well as the talent to play at higher levels. But he needs to play more aggressively. Forward movements and service are other areas where he needs to do some work”.

For fourth seeded Vijayant, emerging a winner and making waves in the sport has become a routine affair. Before this tournament, Vijayant topped in the ITF Grade 4, held at Mumbai. He also made the city proud by getting selected for the International Elite Cup-2005, held at Sanchez-Casal Academy, Barcelona (Spain), in 2005. At least 60 players from 20 countries participated in the tournament.

With his accomplishments, Vijayant jumped from ITF Junior World Ranking 1700+ to 166 in just a span of six months. He was also member of the Indian Junior Davis Cup team and he played the international tennis circuit in Damascus, Syria, Brunei and Malaysia. Besides this, he was the winner in the Chandigarh State Championship-2003 (under-14), AITA Super Series (under-16), AITA Talent Series (under-16), AITA Super Series (under-16), AITA Championship Series (under-14). The list of his achievements is very long.

A resident of Kolda village (Panipat), Vijayant never dreamt of touching such great heights. His father works as an operator in a thermal plant in Panipat and his mother is a teacher. It is his grandfather, Hoshiar Singh, a farmer by profession, who accompanies him wherever he goes to play. “Being an ignorant villager, I did not understand the game but the achievements and success of my grandson has inspired me to gain knowledge of the game. Now I understand the sport. Vijayant has brought fame to our village”, says the proud grandfather.

Disclosing his plans, Vijayant said, “As I wanted to clear my 12th class exams, I will not be participating in the forthcoming ITF tournaments to be held at Kolkata and Bangladesh. But I will go to Delhi for the next edition of the tournament.” Vijayant is a student of DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 8.

Vijayant, who mainly relies on his forehand strokes and volley during the matches, wants to become a top player like his idols, Marat Safin and Pete Sampras. Unlike the youngsters of his age, this 17-year-old never deviates from his two passions, namely, tennis and studies.

Chandigarh, January 7
A deadly bowling spell (5 for 16) by Manan Vohra guided the hosts St John's Cricket Academy to register win over Victoria Park Cricket Club (VPCC) Meerut by 9 wickets in the final of the cricket tournament for the second St John's Trophy (U-14) at the school’s grounds here today.

The decision to bat first by the Victoria Club proved wrong, as the team put on a meagre 65 runs in 31.2 overs. Accurate bowling by Manan and Veer Karan gave the rival batsmen a tough time.

Madhav scored 21 n.o. followed by Varun Tyagi’s 15 runs. Karan snapped 2 wickets for 12.

After displaying bowling skills, Manan put up a good show with bat and made unbeaten 30 off 56 to achieve the target, losing one wicket in just 20.3 overs. The other notable contributor was Naman Prashar, who scored 15 not out in 20 balls.

Manan was declared man of the match as well as player of the tournament.

Chief guestVivek Gogia, DIG, UT, gave away theprizes to the winners.

Brief scores :

VPCC: 65 all out 31.2 overs (Madhav 21 n.o., Varun Tyagi 15, Manan 5 for 16, Veer Karan Goel 2 for 12).

St. John's: 67 for 1 in 20.3 overs (Manan Vohra 30 n. o., Naman Prashar 15 n.o., Shikhar 1 for 20).

Chandigarh, January 7
Local girl Aafreen Chaudhary has won two gold medals and one bronze medal in the children’s pony advanced ‘B’ category during the National Equestrian Championship and 55th Kolkata Horse Show held at Kolkata Race Course, recently. Lt-Gen KS Sivakumar, VSM, Chief of Staff, Eastern Command, awarded the medal to all the winners.

Earlier, Aafreen was the youngest participant in the National Horse Show, Chandigarh, to clinch one gold and one silver medal. On the basis of her performance, she had got the offer to undergo specialised training at Sydney Equestrian Centre, Sydney, under the able guidance of Ms Kerry French.

Aafreen is the youngest overseas member of the Equestrian Federation of Australia. David Lawrence, Chairman of the Equestrian Federation of Australia, also congratulated her on her latest achievements and offered to provide all support to her on behalf of the Equestrian Federation of Australia.

Meanwhile, Aafreen will be leaving for Australia in April for one month’s training and guidance under the aegis of former Olympian Vicky Roycroft of Australia.

Chandigarh, January 7
A 44-run partnership shared between skipper Rajil Sawhney (38 off 42) and Sanjay (26 off 16) enabled Connect XI beat Tata Indicom by five wickets in a Group B match of the Inter-Corporate Twenty-20 Tournament at DAV College grounds, Sector 10, here today.

In the second match of Group C, ICICI XI registered win over Ranbaxy XI by 62 runs.

Batting first after winning the toss, Tata Indicom piled up 138 for 6 in 20 overs.

Facing fierce bowling attack of Connect XI, Azad showed some resistance as he scored a defiant 63 in 41 balls.

He hit four boundaries and four sixes. The other contributor was Mukesh with his 21 runs. Arun Madan took two wickets for 25 runs, while Sanjay, Mohit Garg, Amit Pathania and Vikram claimed one wicket each.

Chasing the target, Rajil Sawhney’s knock of 38 off 42 helped the team reach the target in 18.3 overs.

Openers Vivek Pathania made 18 runs, while Arun Madan and Mohit Garg remained not out on 17 and 11, respectively.

In the second match, ICICI XI set a target of 165 in 20 overs for Ranbaxy.

ICICI’s Sumit Verma hammered all bowlers all around the ground to score an unbeaten 65 in 41 balls. He hit eight fours and two sixes.

Jaswinder Pahwa of Ranbaxy was the most successful bowler, finishing four for 22.

In reply, Ranbaxy batsmen could not face the accurate bowling attack of ICICI and were wrapped up on 102 in 15.5 overs.

Sumit Gakhar snapped four for 19 followed by Pankaj Uppal (2 for 10).

Brief scores: Tata Indicom: 138 for 6 in 20 overs (Azad 63, Mukesh 21, Vikram Nanda 19 n.o. Arun Madan 2 for 55, Vikram 1 for 28, Amit Pathania 1 for 25, Sanjay 1 for 16, Mohit Garg 1 for 30).

Connect XI: 139 for 5 (Rajil Sawhney 38, Sanjay 26, Luxmi Mala 1 for 18, Mukesh 1 for 25, Vikas Malhotra 1 for 24, Manjit 1 for 24).

ICICI XI: 164 for 8 in 20 overs (Sumit Verma 65 n.o. Sumit Gakhar 17, Dev Raj 17, Vishal Batra 19, Jaswinder Pahwa 4 for 22, Nitin 1 for 38, Vijay 1 for 27, Gunwant 1 for 13).

Ranbaxy XI: 102 in 15.5 overs (Gunwant Singh 15, Vijay 15, Sumit Gakhar 4 for 19, Pankaj Uppal 2 for 10).

Chandigarh, January 7
Rakesh emerged winner in the boys’ category garnering 195/ 360 points in 20 metres and 189/360 points in 30 metres in the Chandigarh Sub-Junior State Archery Championship held at Sector 8 DAV Grounds, here today.

In the girls’ category, Rekha with 180/360 points (20 m) and 170/360 (30 m) bagged the gold.

Other results: Girls: Anupama 175/360 (20 m), 165/360 (30m); Somthapa 169/360 (20m), 155/360 (30m); Sonia Bhandari 150/360 (20m), 140/360 (30m). Boys: Mandeep Rawat 190/360 (20 m), 183/360( 30m); Amandeep 180/360 (20m), 175/360 (30m) Vijender 172/360 (20m), 165/360 (30m).

Meanwhile, all the four boys-Rakesh, Mandeep Rawat, Amandeep and Vijender and the four girls-Rekha, Anupam, Som Thapa and Sonia Bhandari were selected to participate in the sub-junior championship to be held at Raipur from January 17 to 21.

Chandigarh, January 7
Continuing their winning spree, Stadium XI, Sector 16 team thrashed Greenfield Cricket Academy (GCA) by 75 runs in the second match of the 1st Jal Champions Trophy (u-12) at the MCM DAV College grounds, here today.

Batting first, Stadium XI scored 138 for 5 in the allotted 30 overs. Daksh (38 off 53) and Sanjog (21 off 55) stitched a 65-run partnership to put their team in a comfortable position. Amritpal took 2 wickets for 24.

In reply, the GCA team was wrapped up with just 63 runs in 21.1 overs. Both Daksh and Pranav claimed three wickets each. Daksh conceded 12 runs wile Pranav gave 21 runs.

Brief Score: Stadium XI: 138 for 5 in 30 over (Daksh 38, Sanjog 21, Pranav 15, Arjit 13, Amritpal 2 for 24)

GCA: 63 all out in 21.1 over (Sehaj 14, Sarthak 14, Arunam 13, Daksh 3 for 12, Pranav 3 for 21, Arpit 2 for 10). 

Chandigarh, January 7
Traders in Sector 17 here, especially those running their business in the Central Piazza, will no more be allowed to paint or whitewash the façades of their buildings.

They will also have to remove the advertisement panels other than those prescribed under the architecture control sheet. Those violating the guidelines will attract the provisions of the Punjab Capital (Development and Regulations) Buildings Rules, 1952.

With a view to improving the outlook of the commercial sector, the Estate Office has started issuing notices to the owners of properties who have not cleaned the façade of their buildings. Glazing the façade is also a violation of the rules.

An official said the occupants are required to get the façades of their buildings cleaned by way of silicon treatment or by other means. Individual notices are being issued to the property owners, and if they fail to remove the violations, the Estate Office would recover the costs of removing the violations from the violators.

Action on part of the Estate Office has been pending since 2005, when the plan to upgrade the infrastructural facilities was taken by the Chandigarh Administration.

Sources in the Estate Office revealed that the violations have been there for a long period. Public notice issued in this regard a few months ago by the Estate Office has failed to make any impact.

Apart from improving the outlook of the buildings, the Administration has plans to convert the area under paid parking into a no-parking zone. In lieu of the areas which would be declared no-parking areas, temporary or make-shift parking spaces would be created till the multi-level parking was made. However, the work on the multi-level parking is yet to take off.

To begin with, the Administration and the Municipal Corporation have proposed that the parking lot in front of the Empire Stores, Sector 17-E, be converted into a no-parking zone.

The plinth level of the metalled area will be raised and covered with chequered tiles to merge it with the existing pedestrian area. This will provide more walking space for the shoppers.

Besides, the work on creating one of the four murals has recently begun.