SAS Nagar, 23rd March, 2008 : – The two-day Punjab State Masters’ and Veterans’ Championship was inaugurated yesterday by Shri Ramesh Inder Singh, IAS, Chief Secretary, Punjab. The event commemorated to Shaheed Bhagat Singh Ji was organized by Mohali District Lawn Tennis Association (MDLTA) under the umbrella of Punjab State Lawn Tennis Association and the categories were 35+ / 45+ and 55+ singles & doubles.
Speaking during the inauguration, Shri Ramesh Inder Singh Singh, Chief Secretary, Punjab while appreciating the efforts put in by MDLTA in conducting the State Championship at Mohali, lauded the role of the Association in providing quality sport facilities to the people of the area. He termed that keeping in view the current lifestyle of people, there was an increased role of sports activities to keep oneself physically healthy.
Shri Tilak R. Sarangal, IAS, President, MDLTA while speaking said that around 60 players of the national and state level caliber from Amritsar, Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Ludhiana, SAS Nagar, Patiala, Sangrur were participating in the state level championship. Mr Satish Chandra, IAS, Secretary Planning Mr HIS Grewal, IAS, Deputy Commissioner, SAS Nagar, ADC, SDM, SAS Nagar were also present on the occasion.
The second & final day (23rd March, 2008) was marked with the Chief Guest Dr Roshan Sunkaria, IAS, Managing Director, Punjab Health Systems Corporation giving away awards to the winners and runners-up of the above categories. He appreciated the smooth conduct of the event by MDLTA. The players from Amritsar stole the show by winning the most of the titles in the championship.
In the 35+ Masters’ category, Ashish Kapoor from Patiala won the singles event and Rakesh Bhrany from Amritsar was the runners-up. And in doubles Rakesh Bhrany and Jasbir Singh Sadana from Amritsar won the title and Ashish Kapoor and Jaswinder Singh from Patiala were the runners-up in the event. In the 45+ category, Jasbir Singh Sadana (Asr) won the title and Harish Saini from Mohali was the runner-up. In doubles 45+ category, Jasbir Singh Sadana and S.J.S. Randhawa won the title and Rashpal Singh and M.S. Gill were the runners-up in the category. In 55+ category, S.J.S. Randhawa from Amritsar and A.K. Kaushal from Kurali were the winners and runners-up respectively. In 55+ doubles category, again, S.J.S. Randhawa and H.V. Birla and A.K. Kaushal and R.S. Saggu were the winners and runners-up respectively.
MDLTA is now planning to conduct the prize money open tournaments in the near future. Mr H.V. Birla from Amritsar while paying a gratitude to the MDLTA in conducting the event in an appreciable manner suggested that the Masters’ and Veterans’ event should be a regular feature here at Mohali in the memory of his late father, Shri R.K. Birla.