JAMMU: In what counts as one of the major achievements of the efforts of the administration in expanding the scope of sports in J&K, 14 trainees including 8 girls of Khelo India Hockey Centre, Poonch have been selected to represent the Jammu Division Hockey team in the Inter-Division UT Level U-19 Tournament held at K.K Hakku Stadium Jammu.
The trainees have been undergoing rigorous priming in the newly set-up centers since their inception under the tutelage of trained professionals. “Both skill and mental aspects of the trainees are being fine-tuned in these centers across the J&K and due care is being taken to provide all the best possible facilities to our athletes,” said Nuzhat Gull Secretary of Sports Council. Gull also said that the efforts put in the past few years are bearing fruits and our athletes are second to none when it comes to the display of skills at the highest level, adding that our players shine day in and day out across the globe and we must credit them for their unrelenting hard work.
The Secretary Sports Council also congratulated Harvinder Singh, son of the soil for creating history by being nominated as the coach of the Indian Senior Men Softball national team. Harvinder, hailing from Gangyal, Jammu is a former outstanding Softball player and a certified NIS Softball coach. He will be part of the national team participating in the Men’s Asia Cup Senior Softball Championship later this month which is being organized by the Japan Softball Association and Softball Confederation of Asia.
Terming Harvinder’s appointment as coach of the National team as a big achievement, Waseem Raja Khan, General Secretary, J&K Softball Association said that Softball is growing fast in the Union Territory of J&K due to the facilities put in place by the J&K Sports Council.
The team is leaving for Japan on the 23rd of this month.
Meanwhile, the Volleyball and Kho-Kho events were organized at Government Girls High School in the border area, Arni. Many students, both boys and girls participated in the event.
The final match of the volleyball was played between Maharaja Cub and Bishna Higher Secondary School in which the former knocked out the latter with the final score line reading 25:13, 25:18,25:19 in their favor. In the Kho-Kho event, Senior Girls Club won the final bout.
A friendly Volleyball match was also played between the teams of Junior and Senior staff members of the school.
In the meantime, the closing ceremony of the Farooq Memorial Open Taekwondo Championships was held at Sher-i-Kashmir Indoor Complex, Srinagar today. The event was organized by J&K Taekwondo Association under the aegis of the Taekwondo Federation of India (TFI) in memory of the Senior Taekwondo Coach Farooq Ahmed.
The Secretary Sports Council presided over the concluding ceremony as the chief guest. While speaking on the occasion, Nuzhat Gull assured all possible support for such endeavors in the future.
The Championship held under the banner of J&K Sports Council’s special vertical My Youth My Pride was inaugurated by Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, Administrative Secretary of Tribal Affairs, CEO of J&K Mission Youth and Mission Director of Skill Development Mission, a few days ago.
More than 700 players from various schools and clubs participated in the event, which also opened a window of opportunity to the medalists who fancy a chance to represent the J & K team in the upcoming LG Cup All India Club’s Taekwondo Championship later this year.
The event featured players from different sections of society, including a good number of Para-athletes and players from low-income groups.
International Taekwondo Medalist, coach, and referee Atul Pangotra was the Technical Director of the event. While speaking on the occasion Atul said, we are very committed to nurturing and creating Olympic-level athletes in J&K for which J&K Sports Council is providing us all the possible support and he also presented a vote of thanks to all participants in the event.
