Nordic Competitions conclude; athletes express gratitude to administration, Sports Council
GULMARG: On the fourth day of Khelo India Winter Games, Jammu and Kashmir saw glitter over the snow peaks of Gulmarg as a local boy from Tangmarg, Shahid Ahmad Chachi triumphed Ski Mountaineering in Men’s Verticle Category at Kangdoori and was capped with a gold medal, the first one for UT.
Mayank Dimri from Uttrakhand was decorated with silver while Thir Bhadhur with Bronze.
In the same event for women, Kamaya Kartikayan from Maharashtra, Menak Gunjiyal from Uttrakhand and Gousia Gulzar from J&K won Gold, Silver and Bronze respectively.
Besides, in the sport of Alpine Skiing Slalom for women, Anchal Thakur from Himachal Pradesh clinched Gold, Sobiya Nabi from J&K followed with Silver and Diya Thakur from Himachal with Bronze. It was a plus one for Anchal Thakur who has already decorated herself with her first Gold medal in Giant Slalom.
Thanking God for the achievement, Anchal says that she was confident of her preparation. She said, “I wanted to have the best results.” “I will take with me the experience and memories from the 4th Khelo India Winter Games,” she said.
Regarding the arrangements, she expressed gratitude to the government and J&K Sports Council for excellent arrangements and for providing athletes with the opportunity to enhance their skills.
Alpine Skiing Slalom for Men witnessed the Army triumphing with medals as its athletes Baqir Hussain won the gold medal, Mayank Panwar obtained silver, and Jekmat Rafstan got bronze. Baqir also became the player who won gold medals both in Giant Slalom and Slalom.
In another event of Snowboard Parallel Slalom of the Men’s Category, Kulvinder Sharma from the Army, Vikar from J&K and Kamal Jeet from Himachal emerged victorious winning Gold, Silver and Bronze respectively. Like Anchal Thakur and Baqir Hussain, Kulvinder Sharma also took the second gold medal after winning Snowboard Slalom and Parallel Slalom at Kangdoori.
Bhavani Thekkada Nanjunda from Karnataka lit the Golf Course Nordic Skiing track with celebrations when she struck a hattrick of Gold medals after winning the Nordic Distance 10 km competition. In the previous two events, she had also won gold in Sprint 1.6km and Sprint 5 km.
Sapna & Prince from ITBP won silver & bronze respectively in the event. It had been 2nd silver for Sapna after getting silver in 5km Nordic and surprisingly, Prince Kumari had also won bronze in the same event.
Nordic Skiing for Distance 10 was the concluding event of the discipline in this 4th KIWG.
The four medals for J&K today have brought joy over the faces of spectators who cheered up for the local promising athletes- Shahid, Vikar, Sobia & Gousia who clinched titles.
