Germany blank Indian women's hockey team 5-0

  Dusseldorf (Germany), Feb 27

 World No. 3 Germany side defeated the World No. 9 Indian Women's Hockey Team 5-0 in their first match of the four-match tour here in Dusseldorf on Saturday. Pia Maertens (10th, 14th), Lena Micheel (20th), Pauline Heinz (28th) and Lisa Altenburg (41st) found the back of the net for the hosts.

India got off to a great start early in the first quarter by earning a penalty corner only in the second minute. However, the German defensive line stepped up and saved India's shot at the goal. Thereafter, the hosts upped their ante and put extensive pressure on the Indian defence. They got into great positions and created multiple goal-scoring opportunities. Germany's Forward Pia Maertens put the hosts in the lead with a goal in the 10th minute and then found the back of the net once again in the 14th minute. The teams went into the first quarter break with Germany leading at 2-0.

In the second quarter, the hosts continued to put pressure on the Indian defence line and earned a Penalty Corner in the 17th minute. The Indian side saved the Penalty Corner and counter-attacked immediately. India earned a Penalty Corner in the very next minute, however, the Germans stood tall and saved India's shot at the goal once again. The World No. 3 side rode on the momentum and took a 3-0 lead in the 20th minute when Germany's Forward Lena Micheel found an opening and converted it brilliantly. Eight minutes later, the hosts extended their lead to 4-0 after Midfielder Pauline Heinz found the back of the net just before half-time.

The Indian team fought hard and tried to make inroads into the German half in the third quarter, however, the hosts fought back and earned a Penalty Corner in the 40th minute. The Indian defence line stood tall and found a way to ward off the Germans' shot at the goal. However, the hosts continued to put pressure on India relentlessly and Germany took a 5-0 lead after Forward Lisa Altenburg struck a goal in the 41st minute.

At the start of the final quarter, the Indian team showed fantastic character and put Germany on the back-foot straight away. They earned a Penalty Corner in the 47th and the 50th minutes, however, the German defence line stood tall and saved India's strikes on their goal. The Indian team fought hard until the last minute, however, the hosts ensured that they didn't concede a goal and won the match 5-0.

The Indian Women's Hockey Team will take on Germany in their second match on Sunday, 28 February 2021 at 1630 hrs IST.

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Rushil and Vishal advance into final qualifying round

CHANDIGARH, FEB 27

Rushil Khosla defeated Anidrudh Sangra in straight sets 6-0, 6-0 in the boys qualifying second round match in the ITF World Tennis Tour Juniors (Grade-4) for boys and girls under-18 years

In a contrasting style Vishal Gautam won from Aryan Thakur in a closed contestant three setter match. After losing first set at 5-7 Vishal Gautam bounced back by winning second set at 6-4 to level the score, In the deciding set (match tie break) Vishal Gautam clinched the issue by 10-5.

. Other players who moved into final qualifying round are Aditya Balda, Sahib Sodhi, Aryan Arora and Deep Munim  

Second seed Pavitra Pari moved into final qualifying round in Girls singles. Pavitra defeated Shriya Singh 6-0, 6-0 in straight sets without conceding a single game.  

 Results  

 Boys (Qualifying 2nd round):  Rushil Khosla (IND) bt. Anirudh Sangra (IND) 6-0, 6-0,  Vishal Gautam (IND) bt. Aryan Thakur (IND) 5-7, 6-4, 10-5, Manish Yadav (IND) bt. Aryanth Chintharlapalli (IND) 6-0, 6-2,  Aditya Balda (IND) bt. Nitin Sai Chowdary Koneru (IND) 6-2, 6-3, Saheb Sodhi (IND) bt. Parag Jain (IND) 6-3, 6-1,  Aryan Arora (IND) bt. Vivek Lakshay (IND) 6-4, 6-1,  Deep Munim (IND) bt. Rishi Jalota (IND) 6-2, 6-3. 

Girls (Qualifying 2nd round):  Pavitra Parikh [2] (IND) bt. Shriya Singh (IND) 6-0, 6-0.

Boys singless (Qualifying Ist round):   Anirudh Sangra (IND) bt. Mehraab Singh Rai(IND) 6-1, 6-0,       Rushil Khosla (IND) bt. Satvik Singla (IND) 6-0, 6-0,  Vishal Gautam (IND) bt. Yagna Patel (IND) 6-4, 6-0,      Aryan Thakur (IND) bt. Jay Prakash Pawar (IND) 6-0, 6-2,   Manish Yadav (IND) bt. Raghav Poonia (IND) 6-3, 6-1,   Aryanth Chintharlapalli (IND) bt. Abdullah Shakir (IND) 6-2, 6-2, Aditya Balda (IND) bt. Pranav Mehta (IND) 6-2, 6-3,  Nitin Sai Chowdary Koneru (IND) bt. Aryan Kotasthane (IND) 6-3, 6-0, Parag Jain (IND) bt. Deepansh Lather (IND) 6-0, 6-2, Saheb Sodhi (IND) bt. Ranbir Singh (IND) 6-0, 6-0,  Vivek Lakshay (IND) bt. Arihant (IND) 6-3, 6-4, Aryan Arora (IND) bt. Divyank Kavitke (IND) 6-1, 6-0, Sagar Kumar (IND) bt. Arnav Bishnoi (IND) 6-0, 6-2, Lakshya Batwara (IND) bt. Pranav Gadgil (IND) 6-2, 5-7, 13-11,   Rishi Jalota (IND) bt. Jasmeet Duhan (IND) 6-0, 7-6(5),  Deep Munim (IND) bt. Aarya Vaibhav Nigam (IND) 6-0, 6-0.

 

Girls singles (Qualifying Ist round):    Naisha Srivastav (IND) bt. Millee Chug [1] (IND) 6-4, 6-3,   Pari Singh (IND) bt. Riya Matharoo (IND) 6-1, 6-2,  Tamanna Takoria (IND) bt. Ananya Dogra (IND) 6-0, 6-1,     Navya Vadlamudi [5] USA bt. Riya Sachdeva (IND) 6-4, 6-4,  Pavitra Parikh [2] (IND) bt. Harnoor Sidhu (IND) 6-3, 6-0,  Shriya Singh (IND) bt. Catherine Bhangu (IND) 5-7, 6-4, 10-5,  Hitakamya Singh Narwal (IND) bt. Tamanna Narwal (IND) 6-1, 6-3, N. Arunkumar [6] (IND) bt. Mehar Kohli (IND) 6-3, 6-2,  M. Krishnarajan [3] (IND) bt. Aditi Singh (IND) 6-4, 6-3, Steisha Buddhala (IND) bt. Priyanshi Panigrahi (IND) 6-0, 6-1,  Pari Chavan (IND) bt. Prisha Prasad (IND) 6-3, 6-1, Nandini Dixit [8] (IND) bt. Kashmira Nanohar (IND) 6-2, 4-6, 10-6, Sanjivani Kutwal (IND) bt. Siddhi Khot [4] (IND) 7-5, 6-3,  Ananya Dhankhar (IND) bt. Harleen Kaur Dhanda (IND) 7-5, 6-4,  Riya Kaushik (IND) bt. Maitreyi Phogat (IND) 7-6(3), 7-6(4),  Deepshika Sriram (IND) bt. Kotistha Modak [7] (IND) 6-2, 6-1.

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Om Prakash scores four-shot victory at Glade One Masters

  

 Ahmedabad, February 26

Om Prakash Chouhan of Mhow dominated the final day’s proceedings to win the Glade One Masters 2021 with a massive four-shot margin at 17-under-199. Chouhan shot a five-under-67 at the magnificent Glade One Golf Resort in Ahmedabad on Friday to make up for his heartbreaking loss on the PGTI last week.

Gurugram’s Manu Gandas took second place at 13-under-203 after firing a one-under-71 in the final round.

The unique format for the tournament was as follows. The first two rounds consisted of nine holes each. The cut was applied after 18 holes. The third and fourth rounds comprised 18 holes each. The tournament was played over a total of 54 holes.

Om Prakash Chouhan (35-33-64-67), the overnight joint leader along with Manu Gandas, was off to a flying start with birdies on the second and third thanks to his accurate lob wedge approach shots that left him short putts. Om Prakash all but ran away with the match after his eagle-birdie on the eighth and ninth gave him a six-shot lead over nearest rival Manu Gandas who was one-over at the turn.

Chouhan produced a magical pitching wedge shot from the fairway bunker on the eighth for the second day in succession as he once again found the hole from 115 yards and picked up an eagle-two just like he had done in round three. The birdie on the ninth came as a result of a 15-feet conversion.

Interestingly, ‘OP’ as Chouhan is fondly referred to by his fellow professionals, had also dominated last week’s event at Kalhaar Blues & Greens in Ahmedabad having led for the first three days. However, a quadruple bogey after finding the water on the seventh hole in the final round put paid to his chances last week and saw him finish tied third.

The 34-year-old Chouhan said, “I’m relieved to have won today especially after the disappointment of last week. I had told myself at the start of this event that I will not repeat the mistakes of last week. The previous week was one of the rare occasions when I played in the leader group during the final round and did not win.

“I have now won six times while playing in the leader group in round four. When I’m in a good position I generally don’t let the opportunity slip away. But that didn’t happen last week so that was a big lesson for me.

“I must thank Mr. Ragesh Vasa who is a leading amateur golfer here in Ahmedabad for all his inputs about this course. He played a round with me in Kalhaar after the tournament last week and helped me regain my confidence by giving me some vital tips on how to tackle the challenges posed by the Glade One Golf Resort course. He helped me on all kinds of information about the Glade One course including the layout, yardages, green speed and reading the line on the greens. He was motivating me through my round today.

“I would also like to thank my wife Sheetal who gave me a pep talk after I missed out on a win last week. It was my marriage anniversary on the 24th of February and she said her biggest gift would be my victory at Glade One.

“I attacked well at the start today and then tried to play some conservative golf on the back-nine and tried to avoid getting overconfident despite the big lead at the turn. I executed my pitching wedge shot from the bunker to perfection for the second day running. The yardage from there was somehow perfect for my shot as it was about 115 yards out and almost in the same spot as round three.”

Chouhan’s sixth career win earned him a prize money cheque of Rs.4,84,950 and lifted him from 23rd to 13th place in the PGTI Order of Merit. He will now earn 3 Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points for his win that is likely to push him up significantly from his current world ranking of 823 when the updated rankings are released on Monday.    

Manu Gandas (35-30-67-71), the other overnight joint leader, picked up six birdies on Friday but at the same time conceded a bogey and two double-bogeys to post a 71. He did not pose any threat to Chouhan during the round. However, he ended up matching his previous best result on the PGTI with his runner-up finish.

Delhi’s Rashid Khan (69), Faridabad’s Abhinav Lohan (68) and Gurugram’s Veer Ahlawat (69) took joint third place at eight-under-208.

Chandigarh’s Karandeep Kochhar kept his lead intact in the PGTI Order of Merit after his tied eighth finish at six-under-210. Noida’s Gaurav Pratap Singh shot the day’s best score of six-under-66 to claim tied 11th position at five-under-211. Pune-based Udayan Mane, India’s highest ranked golfer in the world, shot a 69 to close the event in tied 29th at one-over-217.

Among the three Ahmedabad-based professionals, Shravan Desai took 31st place at two-over-218, Jay Pandya was tied 42nd at six-over-222 while Anshul Patel was placed tied 54^th at 13-over-229.

====balbirsingh227@gmail.com

SSCB win Greco-Roman team trophy in National Wrestling

 CHANDIGARH, FEB 24   

With a haul of three gold, four silver and six bronze medals Services Sports Control Board emerged champions in  Greco Roman Style by logging 190 points in the Tata Motors 65th Senior Greco Roman Style National Wrestling Championship being organized in Lovely Professional University in Jalandhar today.

Arjun Halakurki downed Vijay in the all-SSCB 55 kg final. Deepanshu  (97 kg) and Naveen  (130 kg) were the other gold medal winners for SSCB.

Railway Sports Promotion Board (3-1-7) and Punjab (2-2-0) and Punjab (2-1-1) finished runners-up and third, respectively. updated below:

Results (Greco Roman Style )

55 kg: 1 Arjun Halakurki (SSCB), 2 Vijay   (SSCB), 3  Arshad  (UP) and  Shrikant.  (Har).

60 kg: 1  Manish  ( RSPB), 2 Sunny Jadhav (MP), 3  Gyanendra (SSCB) and  Sachin Rana (RSPB).

63 kg: 1 Neeraj  (Del), 2    Govind (Mah), 3   M. Taibanganba  (SSCB) and  Rajeet  (SSCB).

67 kg: 1 Gaurav  (UP), 2  Surajmal  (SSCB), 2  Sachin (SSCB), 3  Deepak (RSPB).

72 kg: 1  Kuldeep Malik   (RSPB), 2 Sameer (Mah), 3   Amit (RSPB) and  Vikas (Har).

77 kg: 1  Gurpreet Singh (Pun), 2   Mohd. Rafeeq Holi    (SSCB), 3  Sajan  ( RSPB)  and  Manjeet   (SSCB).

82 kg: 1 Harpreet Singh (Punjab), 2 Sanjeet (SSCB), 3  Atul (RSPB) and  Rohit Dahiya (Har).

87 kg:  1  Sunil Kumar (RSPB), 2  Prabhpal Singh (Pun), 3  Amit (RSPB) and  Ravinder Khatri (SSCB).

97 kg:  1  Deepanshu  (SSCB), 2  Ravi  ( RSPB), 3  Hardeep  (RSPB) and  Narender Cheema  (Pun).

130 kg: 1 Naveen (SSCB), 2  Ravi (Delhi), 3  Sonu (SSCB)  and  Aawesh (Haryana).

.Team Rankings: 1  SSCB   190 points, 2  RSPB 170 pts and 3  Punjab  111 points.

====balbirsingh227@gmail.com

Dushyant Chautala re-elected TTFI president, Arun Banerjee is new Secretary General

 

Panchkula, February 24:

Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala retained as president of the Table Tennis Federation of India in the general body meeting held here today. He is the youngest president of any National Sports Federation (NSF) in the country.

In its 84th Annual General Meeting of the NSF held at a city hotel here on Wednesday, Arun Kumar Banerjee from Uttar Pradesh took over as the Secretary General.  He now holds the post vacated by Mahinder Pal Singh. TTFI also has a fresh face in Gurpreet Singh, the new treasurer of the Federation.

Incidentally, Banerjee is also the secretary of the Uttar Pradesh Table Tennis Association and was till recently the Treasurer of TTFI.

The AGM also chose two senior vice-presidents, eight vice-presidents, one senior joint secretary, four joint secretaries, and four Executive Committee members.

Returning Officer and retired Justice Ranjit Singh of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, who supervised the polls, declared them elected unopposed. Ravinder Chaudhry, representing the Indian Olympic Association, was the observer at the AGM.

President Chautala gave full credit to the outgoing Secretary General M.P. Singh, appreciating his efforts in taking table tennis to new heights. “I can vouch and, you will all agree with me, that his (Singh’s) four-year term was full of opportunities and our paddlers did exceedingly well during his stint. The paddlers brought laurels to the country, winning a bagful of medals at the CWG in Gold Coast and followed it up with a bronze medal at the Jakarta Asian Games.  All of these were possible because of the constant support and cooperation from our state unis which helped TTFI improve its functioning,” he said.

The TTFI chief also said that he expected the new Secretary General to strive hard and keep up the momentum provided by his predecessor in the last four years. “I am sure with people like Dhanraj Choudhary around, Banerjee will try and set new milestones.

On his part, the new Secretary General assured the president and the House that he will function with all sincerity to carry forward the work of M.P. Singh. “With everybody’s support and guidance, I will definitely try to inspire one and all, besides working to raise the standards of the sport,” he said. 

 The new office-bearers are:

President: Dushyant Chautala (Haryana).

Senior Vice-President: Sanjay Singh (Bihar) and Rajeev P. Bodas (Maharashtra).

Vice-President: Chiranjib Choudhury (Meghalaya), Manjinder Singh Sirsa (Delhi), Rabindra Kumar Parida (Odisha), Vero Nunes (Goa), Sharad Shukla (Chhattisgarh), V. Bhaskar Ram (Andhra), P. Prakash Raju (Telangana) and Om Soni (Madhya Pradesh).

Secretary General: Arun Kumar Banerjee (Uttar Pradesh).

Senior Joint Secretary: Yash Pal Rana (Himachal Pradesh).

Treasurer: Gurpreet Singh (Delhi).

Joint Secretary: Prakash Tulpule (Maharashtra), Jai Kumar Sinha (Jharkhand), Jayesh Acharya (Madhya Pradesh) and Sailoliana Sailo (Mizoram).

Executive Members: Prince Vipon (Uttarakhand), Rajan Sharma (J&K), Kuber Bhandari (Sikkim) and Kanchan Basak (Women quota, Maharashtra).

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Sathiyan overcomes Sharath Kamal to win title in Panchkula Nationals

 

Panchkula, February 23  

Gnanasekaran Sathiyan’s perseverance paid the dividends. What he narrowly missed at Cuttack two years ago, the world No. 37 and second-seeded Petroleum paddler made it up in the UTT 82nd National Table Tennis Championships at the Tau Devi Lal Indoor Stadium here today.

 That day, Sathiyan rued his missed chances against Sharath Kamal in the final at Cuttack, which ultimately put the current world No. 32 on a high pedestal, leading to his ninth title. Today, it was a different Sathiyan. So was Sharath, not his usual self, who lost his momentum in the fifth game.

 

“Third time I was lucky, no more jinx. A huge burden off my shoulder,” said Sathiyan. Before Cuttack, he had missed out at Pondicherry (2014) and Hyderabad (2015).  The 4-2 win also helped him carry home Rs. 2.50 lakh in prize money.  

 

Taking a 2-0 lead, Sathiyan made his intentions loud and clear. But he knows his experienced opponent can change the flow of the match in a matter of minutes. And Sharath did strike, taking the next two games. But, as seen very often, Sharath had his problems unable to land the ball. Converting those moments to his advantage, Sathiyan nailed it again and went 3-2 up.

As if on cue, Sathiyan kept his backhand blocks and forehand scorchers going, pushing Sharath on the backfoot as hard as possible. Sharath should own up the mistakes for his losing heart in the match, allowing Sathiyan to take control slowly but surely. It’s equally important to give full credit to Sathiyan, the new champion, who punched his way up the ladder with a lot of hard work.

 

“In the end, it was a good match, and he deserved to win,” said the genial Sharath. He attributed the loss to the lack of concentration in the fifth game after leading 8-6. “Two crucial mistakes cost me dearly at that stage. But Sathiayn let me off the hook in the third to come back. These are part of the game. I am happy for him,” he added.

 

With age catching up with Sharath, Sharath is not yet giving up chasing his tenth title. “I will certainly come back strong and aim for it,” he said.

 

Sharath began well in his semi-final against fourth-seed Manav Thakkar. But in the second, Manav went 3-1 up before letting Sharath take his second point. And both exchanged a point before Manav striking a nice rhythm to lead 9-3.

 

Sharath added two more points, and that was all he managed. In the third, Manav surged ahead and led 10-7 up. Saving three game points, Sharath converted his second game-point to go 2-1 up. In the fourth, Sharath took control of the game before wrapping it up comfortably. However, the sixth was a touch-and-go affair. The lead kept changing hands until Sharath had his first match point at 10-9. The top-seed and world No. 32 failed to convert while squandering two more before sewing it up on the fourth.

 

On the other hand, Manav dropped three game-points. But the credit must go to last year’s runner-up, who matched Sharath’s attacking way of play. Manav’s backhand and wonderful placements caught Sharath on the wrong foot, as the latter time and again indulged in false stroke.  Sharath, employing his backhand blocks and powerful flips, upped the ante only to drop his guard now and then. But there was hardly a moment in the match when Sharath looked out of control.

In the second semi-final, SFR Snehit lost the match when allowed second-seed Sathiyan to claw his way back from 2-10 down. Another chance came his way when he went 11-10 up. But Sathiyan nailed it to win the game 13-11. After that, Snehit was never in the match. Probably, he could have benefited had he adopted a different strategy, as he did against Harmeet Desai, attacking his strong points. But Sathiyan was a different kettle of fish.

 

RESULTS: Final: G. Sathiyan (PSPB) bt A. Sharath Kamal (PSPB) 11-6, 11-7, 10-12, 7-11, 11-8, 11-8; Semi-finals: A. Sharath Kamal bt Manav Thakkar (PSPB) 11-8, 5-11, 14-12, 11-9, 9-11, 17-15; G. Sathiyan bt SFR Snehit (Telg) 13-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-5.

----balbirsingh227@gmail.com

M Dharma and local lad Anshul Patel lead the pack on day one

  

Anshul Patel

Ahmedabad, February 23

The first ever professional round played at the magnificent Glade One Golf Resort saw the seasoned M Dharma of Bengaluru and Ahmedabad-based rookie Anshul Patel take the honours. Dharma and Patel shot scores of three-under-33 over nine holes to take the first round lead at the inaugural Glade One Masters.

The six players bunched together in tied third place with scores of two-under-34 were Delhi’s Honey Baisoya, Patna’s Aman Raj, Bengalureans Khalin Joshi and Trishul Chinnappa, Chandigarh’s Yuvraj Singh Sandhu and Faridabad-based Abhinav Lohan.

Aman Raj had the highest birdie count on day one as he accumulated five birdies at the expense of three bogeys.

The unique format for the tournament is as follows. The first two rounds will comprise of nine holes each. After 18 holes the cut will be applied. The third and fourth rounds will then comprise of 18 holes each. The tournament will be played over a total of 54 holes.

Anshul Patel, who turned professional earlier in the season in 2020, looked quite comfortable at a course where he’s played about seven or eight times before. He fired eight greens in regulation to set up his birdies on the third, sixth and eighth. 

M Dharma 

Anshul said, “I’ve been playing at Glade One Golf Resort for the last one month to prepare for this event and that helped me adapt well to the conditions here during round one. You need to know where to place it on this course and you cannot attack all through your round.

“I didn’t drive well today but I hit my second shots quite close and found eight out of nine greens. Even when I missed the green once it was on the right side. Importantly, I scrambled well today for a par on the first after a bad drive. That just got my round going. I feel the first and the ninth holes are the toughest on this course and will test most players going ahead.”

M Dharma, a two-time winner on the PGTI, made a 15-feet birdie conversion early on the third but then made a three-putt bogey on the sixth after missing a few short birdie putts on the fourth and fifth.

Dharma finally rallied with some outstanding iron shots to pick up birdies from short range on the seventh, eighth and ninth and close the round in the joint lead.

Among the prominent names, Chikkarangappa, Ajeetesh Sandhu, Karandeep Kochhar and Viraj Madappa shot scores of one-under-35 to be placed tied ninth.

Udayan Mane’s one-over-37 placed him tied 50th.

===balbirsingh227@gmail.com

M Dharma and local lad Anshul Patel lead the pack on day one

 Ahmedabad, February 23

The first ever professional round played at the magnificent Glade One Golf Resort saw the seasoned M Dharma of Bengaluru and Ahmedabad-based rookie Anshul Patel take the honours. Dharma and Patel shot scores of three-under-33 over nine holes to take the first round lead at the inaugural Glade One Masters.

The six players bunched together in tied third place with scores of two-under-34 were Delhi’s Honey Baisoya, Patna’s Aman Raj, Bengalureans Khalin Joshi and Trishul Chinnappa, Chandigarh’s Yuvraj Singh Sandhu and Faridabad-based Abhinav Lohan.

Aman Raj had the highest birdie count on day one as he accumulated five birdies at the expense of three bogeys.

The unique format for the tournament is as follows. The first two rounds will comprise of nine holes each. After 18 holes the cut will be applied. The third and fourth rounds will then comprise of 18 holes each. The tournament will be played over a total of 54 holes.

Anshul Patel, who turned professional earlier in the season in 2020, looked quite comfortable at a course where he’s played about seven or eight times before. He fired eight greens in regulation to set up his birdies on the third, sixth and eighth.

Anshul said, “I’ve been playing at Glade One Golf Resort for the last one month to prepare for this event and that helped me adapt well to the conditions here during round one. You need to know where to place it on this course and you cannot attack all through your round.

“I didn’t drive well today but I hit my second shots quite close and found eight out of nine greens. Even when I missed the green once it was on the right side. Importantly, I scrambled well today for a par on the first after a bad drive. That just got my round going. I feel the first and the ninth holes are the toughest on this course and will test most players going ahead.”

M Dharma, a two-time winner on the PGTI, made a 15-feet birdie conversion early on the third but then made a three-putt bogey on the sixth after missing a few short birdie putts on the fourth and fifth.

Dharma finally rallied with some outstanding iron shots to pick up birdies from short range on the seventh, eighth and ninth and close the round in the joint lead.

Among the prominent names, Chikkarangappa, Ajeetesh Sandhu, Karandeep Kochhar and Viraj Madappa shot scores of one-under-35 to be placed tied ninth.

Udayan Mane’s one-over-37 placed him tied 50th.

===balbirsingh227@gmail.com

Forensic Science Laboratory in Hisar starts functioning

 Chandigarh, February 23

 In an effort to expedite crime investigations, Haryana’s fourth Regional Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) has started in Hisar.

Three such laboratories are already functional at Bhondsi in Gurugram, Sunaria in Rohtak, and Moginand in Panchkula, besides the main facility at Madhuban.

While giving this information here today, a Haryana Police spokesperson informed that new regional FSL has started receiving samples and exhibits related to various criminal cases for examination in the NDPS, Toxicology and Serology divisions from February 12, 2021.

He said that the new laboratory would receive samples from four districts of Hisar, Fatehabad, Sirsa and police district Hansi. The objective of establishing the regional lab is to ensure a more efficient investigation process using scientific methods. This would ensure timely preparation of reports and hence disposal of cases.

Earlier, above four districts were dependent on FSL Madhuban for forensic expertise. A lot of time and resources are being consumed while commuting to and fro by police personnel to deposit a case and receive a report. Now the regional lab becomes functional, results will be available at the earliest, expediting the whole investigation process.

It is worthwhile to mention that regional FSL has been established with the active support of DGP, Haryana, Sh. Manoj Yadava and efforts of Director FSL Haryana, Madhuban Dr. R.C. Mishra and IGP Hisar Range, Sh. Sanjay Kumar.

Dr. Ajay Kumar has been posted as Assistant Director-cum-Incharge of Regional FSL, Hisar.

===balbirsingh227@gmail.com