Excelsior Sports Correspondent
Udhampur, May 6: Happy Model School, Udhampur, felicitated its former students namely Rakesh Balwal and Nitish Suri for qualifying the Union Public Service Commission Examination 2011and bringing laurels to the school and the State in an impressive and well attended function, here today.
On the occasion, the family members of the star performers joined the school management, staff and the students to honour and award them.
The duo were awarded the Star Award of the School by founder of the school Kamal Gulati. She blessed both the ace students for their happy life in future.
Both the meritorious students, who have been Scouts in their school days, went around the school campus and gave went to their feelings by recalling their days in classroom.
Attributing their success to the great methods of teaching and use of technology, the duo gave tips to the students for doing well in life. They advised them to always fix goals and then follow them with full vigour and determination.
It is pertinent to mention here that Rakesh Balwal, a resident of village Sanoo, works in the Indian Railways and comes from the family of toppers, while Nitish Suri was a gifted child, an outstanding orator and a recipient of National Child Scientist Award.
The family members Deepa and PL Suri also addressed the gathering and expressed their gratitude towards the school for building a very strong foundation.
The Principal of the school, Dr Muneesh Gulati and vice-principal Dr Vikram Gulati threw light on the abilities and the interests of these meritorious students. Several anecdotes and success stories of these two performers were cited to inspire the pupil.
Finally, School Song and National Anthem was presented by the students.

Excelsior Sports Correspondent
JAMMU, May 6: Defeating Ajit Singh of Udhampur in a thrilling last round in the final, Sumit Grover lifted the title trophy of the J&K State Open Chess Tournament, which concluded at Hotel Nek, here today.
The second place went to Ajit Singh, while the third position was bagged by young Shivinder Chib, who toppled Arvindu Sharma in a tough contest. Sandeep Singh won the fourth place, while the fifth place was bagged by Arushi Kotwal of Doda. Ravi Sharma of Kathua got the sixth position in this open tournament.
The players who bagged the first four places in this State Championship will represent J&K in the Senior Nationals to be held at Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh from May 18 to May 27, 2012.
The matches were conducted byAnil Kotwal, fide arbiter.
President, All J&K Chess Association, Atul Kumar and secretary Baldev Raj along with other members of the association distributed prizes among the winners.

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, May 6: After the grand success of 3rd Jammu Marathon held recently, the Board of Director for Sports in India (BDSI) would organise the first ever Cyclothon in the city of temples on June 3, 2012. The event shall start from Satwari, Jammu, and after passing through various parts of the city, will finally culminate at Dussehra Ground, Apsara Road Jammu.
This was informed by the Director of the Board of Development for Sports in India, Amit Sethi, while addressing media persons here today.
“As the season of summer is picking up, the 1st Jammu Cyclothon, would not only be a promotion to cycling as a sport, but also awareness regarding the protection and conservation of environment”, said Sethi.
He further said that it was the time that the ‘Green Machine’ Cycle gets its due in Jammu city which was being promoted as ‘Clean and Green Jammu’, adding that it was because of the same reason, the slogan of this Cyclothon has been kept as ‘Jammu My Pride’.
The BDSI Director said that the Cyclothon has been divided into two categories-Amateur Ride for the participants ageing from 10 to 15 years and Green Ride for the participants ageing from 16 and above and added that the event would be open for both male and female categories.
“Since the Cyclothon is being organized just a couple of days before the World Environment Day on 5th of June, this event will also give a chance to create awareness regarding protection and conservation of environment in the State. With more and more use of cycling in our daily life, the pressure on resources like petroleum will ease. The lesser use of the petroleum products will result in a greener environment and a healthy life,” opined Amit Sethi.
Sethi believed that the people of Jammu will respond with equal passion and enthusiasm like Third Jammu Marathon and expected a participation of over ten thousand participants in the event.
Prominent among others present on the occasion were Sagar Gupta, Sanjay Gupta, Veerain Kaul, Surinder Kumar Yadav, Kanav Padha, Manik Kapoor and Sandeep Didwal.

4th Ashok Sodhi Memorial T20 Tournament

Excelsior Sports Correspondent
JAMMU, May 6: Veteran cricketer Akshay Khajuria’s swashbuckling knock of quick-fire 75 runs went in vain as youngster Jatin Wadhavan stole the show by smashing a power-packed half-century to guide Singh Cricket Club (SCC), Akhnoor to an emphatic win over Jammu and Kashmir Police (JKP) XI by 5 wickets to enter the semifinals of the ongoing 4th Ashok Sodhi Memorial T20 Tournament, being organized by the Print and Electronic Cameramen Association Jammu at Parade ground, here.
Earlier, electing to bat first after winning the toss, JKP XI rode on a superb knock of 75 runs by Akshay Khajuria to post a decent total of 169 runs in the stipulated 20 overs, losing 6 wickets in the process. Akshay made his experience to count and sent the rival bowlers on a leather-hunt by smashing 9 crispy boundaries and one massive six in his knock. Skipper Rajesh Gill, Farooq and Naresh contributed 20, 19 and 19 runs to the total respectively. Sunny was the most successful bowler for SCC Akhnoor, who captured 3 important wickets, while Sham Singh Langeh bagged two. Pardeep Bali and Rajan also claimed one wicket each.
In reply, SCC Akhnoor sailed on a murderous knock of 50 runs by Jatin and useful contributions from Jasvinder Singh (44), Rajan (22) and Pardeep Bali (17) and chased the required target on penultimate ball of the match by losing 5 wickets. Jatin smashed 7 delectable boundaries and two towering sixes in his magnificent knock. He played all the shots with fluidity and grace and had a nightmarish onslaught on the rival bowlers. For JKP XI, Saqib took 2 wickets, while Shashi and Shamsher claimed one wicket each. For his thunderous half-century, Jatin Wadhavan was declared man of the match.
In another match, Cantt Cricket Club scripted a narrow win by 4 wickets in a close contest of a low scoring quarterfinal match to seal berth in the semifinals.
Batting first, Young XI bundled out for a meagre total of 90 runs in 19.3 overs. Dimple was the top scorer with 37 runs including 4 boundaries, while Raghu and Shamsudin contributed 15 and 12 runs to the total respectively. Raj Kumar was pick of the bowlers for Cantt Club, who scalped 3 wickets by conceding 16 runs in his 4 overs, while Khushwant Singh claimed 2 wickets and Dheeraj one.
Cantt Club, in reply chased the target in 19.3 overs by losing 6 wickets, and thus won the match by 4 wickets. Ameet top scored with 22 runs, while Vijay Dogra, Sunil Govil and Dheeraj contributed 16, 14 and 10 runs to the total. For Young XI, Raghu took 2 wickets, while Shamsudin, Ritesh and Kuldeep claimed one wicket each. Raj Kumar of Cantt Club was adjudged man of the match for his superb bowling display.
The matches were officiated by Sadiq Husain Malik and Saleem-ur-Rehman as umpires, while Ajay Sharma maintained the scorebook.
Senior Congress leader, Gulchain Singh Charak was the chief guest in today’s inaugural function, who interacted with the players of both the teams on the occasion.

Panaji, May 6: Goa Cricket Association (GCA) has announced its  election for selecting 15-member committee, including president,  life member and 13 ordinary members, on May 27.
Chairman of Election Committee Adv Dilip Dabolkar announced the detailed agenda for the electing manging committee for the year 2012 to 2015 today, which will be held at the indoor Cricket Academy Hall Porvorim in North  Goa.
Nominations can be filed from May 15 to 17, scrutiny will be taken up on May 19. Withdrawal of nomination is fixed for May 23. (PTI)
The election will take place on May 27 and counting of ballots will take place after election process gets over.
President of GCA Dayanand Narvekar is expected to seek another term. As Mr V T Hadkonkar, Inspector General of Societies & District Registrar(North) was forced to order the inquiry following complaints from three local clubs appointing  two-member committee former GCA Secretary Chetan Desai and former Accounts officer Anil Lawanis to investigate into the alleged misappropriation of funds and administrative irregularties, the GCA election has great  significance.UNI

MADRID, May 6:
In fine fettle after a month-long rest, Roger Federer is ready to get his clay season underway and continue his bid to recapture the world number one ranking from Novak Djokovic.
The 30-year-old Swiss maestro, who has not played since losing to Andy Roddick at the Sony Ericsson Open at the end of March, said he had needed some time away from tennis to recharge his batteries and rid himself of one or two niggling injuries.
Federer has played some of his best tennis in years in winning three titles this season, including the Indian Wells Masters event, but knows that challenging Rafa Nadal on the Spaniard’s favoured  clay and stealing his French Open crown in Paris starting at the end of this month will be a tall order.
‘I feel good about my chances of playing well in the next few months,’ the world number three told a news conference previewing this week’s Madrid Open on  Sunday.
‘But then again I am coming back on clay and Rafa has been so dominant on this surface for so many years so I know the task ahead of me,’ added the 16-times grand slam singles champion.
In an intense start to the year, Federer played 23 matches and lost three, reaching the semi-finals of the Australian Open before falling to Nadal and winning events in Rotterdam and Dubai to add to his success in Indian  Wells.
He also had a busy end to 2011, triumphing at the World Tour finals in London in November after victories at the Paris Masters and his home event in Basel.
The rest was vital, said Federer.    ‘I needed it because I did play so, so much and this break was also looking ahead to what’s to come and there’s a lot on my plate and I want to be fresh in my mind and fit in my body for those big goals ahead,’ he added.
‘It was more about relaxing my body because I had been playing with some niggling injuries over a few weeks, or a few months almost, and I am happy they went away.
‘It was just to get away from tennis for a while really, get away from the craziness that surrounds it, the matches and the press and all that stuff.
‘So that was nice to just recharge the batteries, that was the key during this break.’
If Federer can leapfrog number two Nadal and topple Djokovic he would equal, and then have a chance of beating, Pete Sampras’s record of 286 weeks at the top and the Swiss said he was in a ‘pretty good position’ to do it over the coming months.
‘All of a sudden if you do win a grand slam again you have a shot and if I do I’ll probably be extremely close to world number one,’ he said.
‘Then again – easier said than done. I know what it takes to win a grand slam. It’s hard, it’s always been  hard.
‘It’s still far away for me and my focus is on my next match here on Wednesday.
‘But it is a dream for me this year try to achieve that again.  I’ll try to chase that as hard as I can and see if it’s possible.
If not it’s no problem and I’ll just try to win tournaments which is a thrill in itself.’ (PTI)

Margao, May 6:
Sikkim United Football Club’s Quinton Jacobs and HAL’s striker Hamza Amaba have signed for Salgaocar FC as foreign players for the next I League season even as Edeh Chidi along with French Maxime Belouet have been dropped.
Chidi had a disappointing season despite being the highest paid footballer at the club.
Salgaocar’s coaching staff had monitored Hamza in the I-League where he scored seven goals for HAL and were impressed with his ability to tire out defences with his speedy movement.
The signing of 32-year old former Namibia Captain Jacobs who played for Baichung Bhutia’s Sikkim United Football Club which has been promoted to the Elite I-League, started his career with Black Africa in native Namibia in 1997 and later played with Manchester United reserves against a Major League Soccer(MLS) Under-21 in 1999.
Salgaocar Captain Brazilian Luciano Sobrosa will continue to lead the side.
However, there is no confirmation with the other foreign striker Japanese Ryuji Sueoka whether he will be available for next season.
Sueoka, the best player of the I-League last year is being pursued relentlessly by I-League Champions Dempo and Churchill Brothers. (PTI)