STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: Embarking on the mission to maximise the reach of sports activities across J&K, several sports activities under the banner of special sports initiatives were held in Jammu and Kathua districts.
A grand gymnastic event was held in the gymnastics academy, New Indoor Sports Complex Jammu. Competitions in the categories of mini, sub-junior, junior, and senior for rhythmic, aerobic, and artistic events were held.
Deputy Commissioner Jammu, Avny Lavasa was the chief guest on the occasion, while ADC Jammu, Rakesh Dubey attended the function as the guest of hnour. Ranjeet Kalra, a member of the Sports Council, Ashok Singh Sports Officer, and managers S.P Singh and Satish Gupta, besides other officials and coaches from J&K Sports Council also attended the event.
While interacting with the gymnasts, the chief guest said that sports inculcate the values of cooperation and excellent teamwork besides developing a sense of punctuality and obedience.
Ashok Singh presented the welcome address, while vote of thanks was presented by Ranjeet Kalra.
The indoor sports complex was jam-packed with parents and family and other spectators present at the venue. More than 200 gymnasts are participating in the event which includes some well-known faces of J&K gymnastics.
Meanwhile, K.K Hakhu Hockey Stadium remained abuzz with hockey activities and many matches were played throughout the day.
Rajeev Sharma, a member of the J&K Sports Council, inaugurated the event in which matches for both boys and girls are being held.
A large number of spectators were present at the venue when the event kick-started. Among the others present on the occasion included Sports Officer Jammu and Manager K.K Hakhu Stadium besides Priyanka Singh, Harman Singh, Ishan Sharma, Gurpreet Singh, Jaspreet Singh, and Anjali Thakur the office bearers of the J&K Hockey Association.
Early in the morning, Bashir Ahmad Bhat, Joint Secretary, Sports Council convened a review meeting to speed up My Youth My Pride activities in the Jammu division.
While addressing the heads of the districts from the Jammu division, Bashir Ahmad asked all to work out the modalities to extend reach to the areas that have so far remained aloof from sports. He also directed the sports officer to coordinate the event at the divisional level to make the program a grand success.
In the other activities of the day, Kathua hosted several events in Kho-Kho and Judo in which a large number of participants and spectators were present.
While the Judo event was hosted at Kartar Public School, Barnoti, and inaugurated by Brijeshwar Singh, BDC chairman Barnoti, Er. Sandeep Malhotra, DDC member, inaugurated the Kho-Kho event at JK Public School Kathua in which 200 players drawn into different teams participated. The ground remained packed to full capacity all through the day. Director JK Public School presided over the function as guest of honor.
Meanwhile, in the ongoing U17 Gold Cup Football Tournament held in GGM Science college number of matches were played yesterday,
In the first match, Young Tiger was trounced by Nagrota FC. Rajinder Abrol, Chairman of Young Hero was a guest on the occasion.
Shivam Mehra, Abhishek Chander, Soyam Gupta, and Lalit Kumar officiated the match. Churchill Brothers and Kuta Royal FC are scheduled to lock horns today at the same venue.
The events are being played under the special sports initiative MY Youth My Pride across the J&K.
These activities are apart from the regular coaching and training classes conducted across the J&K, said J&K Sports Official.