Gulmarg: It was a perfectly sunny Sunday in Gulmarg, and all the events of the 3rd Edition of Khelo India scheduled for today were conducted smoothly at all the venues.
All the players, coaches, and officials donning their jerseys with enthusiastic spirit reached the venues early to earn time for the final practice before matches.
One of the Alpine G slalom players while expressing his happiness said that it is a great opportunity to participate in the 3rd Edition of Khelo India. He said that today the weather is very pleasant and he hopes to give his best to make his state proud.
The sports events fixed for 3rd day of the Winter Games included Ice Stock, Ice Hockey, Ice Skating, Bandy Curling, Bobsleighing & Skelton, Snow Shoe, Nordic, Ski Mountaineering, Alpine G Slalom, and Cross Country.
During the events, a huge number of spectators clapped and shouted to extend support to their favorite teams. Meanwhile, winners were awarded prizes by the officers & officials of J&K Sports councils after registering top position by defeating opponent teams & players.
Earlier, in Bandy Gujarat registered first position, Haryana second position while Maharashtra was satisfied with third position.
Similarly, in Ice Skating of 1000 Mtr. for the senior Girls category, Swarali Ashutosh Deo of Maharashtra achieved 1st position, Raina Kukreja got 2nd position and Anushka Merchant obtained 3rd position, and both the players belonged to Haryana.
In the same event of senior Men, Suyog Sanjay Tapkir of Maharashtra wrested 1st position, Anubhav Gupta from UP and Padma Gurmeet of Ladakh got 2nd and 3rd position respectively.
In another Figure Skaters event for Boys 13-15 Years, Kapish Kaushik and Utkarsh Saxena both players from Haryana got first and second positions respectively while Ayush Jaguri, and Uttrakhand had to satisfy in 3rd position. While in Figure Skaters Girls-15-19 Years, Wafa Tariq from J&K topped, followed by Chelsi Singh of Haryana at 2nd position and Shezan Wani, J&K at 3rd position.
Also, in the Figure Skaters age category Senior Girls, Kashish Sharma stayed at the top and Suyog Sanjay Tapkir obtained the top position in Speed Skaters in Senior Men Category.
Aman Thakur (HAWS) got a gold medal in the Senior Men Long Distance competition, Ghulam Haider (Ladakh)got gold in the Junior Boys Long Distance competition, Dhanalaksmi ( Karnataka) received gold in the Senior Women Long Distance category and Sara (J&K) took gold medal Junior Girls Long Distance.
In Nordic 15 KMS (Men) Shubham Parihar ( Army Red) got 1st position and in Nordic 1.5 KM Jr. Girls Shabnum (HP) scaled top position. Farhat Shabir (J&K) & Priyanshu Kawan (UK) achieved first position in Alpine Category 01 Boys and Alpine Category 02 Boys respectively.
During the entire day, officers of the J&K Sports council continued to monitor events by visiting venues and interacting with the players. Secretary J&K Sports council while speaking at Kongdoori said all the events are going as per schedule at all the venues. She said that players were very happy and ready to show their capabilities.
She informed that Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Anurag Thakur instructed the department to organise sports events at other destinations including Sonmarg, Pahalgam Doodpathri in the future and other possible venues to promote the winter sports at these places.
