* Advisor Khan distributes prizes among winners of tourney *
STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: Jammu district clinched 33rd J&K UT Junior Volleyball Championship in boys and girls section by defeating their opponents in the finals played at MA Stadium, here on Tuesday.
The three-day championship was organized by Volleyball Association of J&K under the aegis of J&K Sports Council.
In the boys final, Jammu district defeated Kathua by 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-20) while Jammu district outplayed Srinagar district by 3-0 (25-12, 25-23, 25-19) in girls final.
Earlier, in semifinal matches played today, Jammu beat Poonch by 3-2 (18-25, 25-19, 25-21, 21-25, 15-10) and Kathua beat Samba by 3-1 (25-17, 21-25, 25-21, 25-20 in boys section while Jammu beat Udhampur by 3-0 (25-11, 25-17, 25-13) and Srinagar beat Baramulla by 3-1 (25-18, 19-25, 25-19, 25-19) in girls section.
In the closing ceremony, Advisor to Lieutenant Governor, Farooq Khan distributed the trophies among the winners and finalists of 33rd Junior level volleyball tournament.
On the occasion, the Advisor was the chief guest , who also watched the final match played between the boys of Jammu and Kathua districts. Excise Commissioner, Kishore Singh Chib was the Guest of Honour besides Secretary Sports Council, Nuzhat Gul presided over the function.
The chief guest lauded the efforts of Volleyball Association of J&K for organizing such events all across the UT at district, division and UT levels for promoting volleyball players in national and international levels in the future.
He also appreciated office bearers of VAJK headed by Raj Daluja (Patron in chief), Sidharth Daluja (President) and all other team members of the association for the excellent conduct of the championship by involving 17 districts of the JKUT in this mega event.
The Advisor maintained that in sports every player in the field is the winner. He said that after watching today’s game he is sure that the quality of sports played in J&K has upgraded a lot. He said that the players are depicting great skill and talent in the field nowadays as the department is getting lot more attention and importance than the past.
Khan also reiterated that it is for this reason that many national associations are approaching us for hosting their tournaments. He said that J&K is fast coming up as a Sports destination of the country as the sports infrastructure has got major fillip under PM Development Plan.
The Advisor said that every district of the UT is getting its share of stadia and sports events that is happening to be pivotal in making sports icons out of its youth.
He asked the youth to be ambassadors of development and adopt sports to live progressive lives. He beckoned them to be guiding light for those fallen into the trap of drug addiction.
Keeping in view the hardships of the players and officials, Farooq Khan also assured that all out efforts shall be made in providing indoor volleyball facilities to players in Jammu in near future.
Welcoming the Chief Guest, Vijay Kumar Magotra, General Secretary VAJK gave overall account of activities of Volleyball Association of J&K being carried out in JKUT as well as national level.
Col. Gurbax Singh Gill, veteran volleyball player of J&K who represented the State in various national championships besides serving in army and represented services team as volleyball coach, was honoured on the occasion.
Saqlain Tariq, international volleyball player who glorified the name of JKUT in various national and international volleyball events and who became role model in the championship, was also honoured by the Association.
After witnessing best performance by the players in the final match of boys section, President, Volleyball Association of J&K, Sidharth Daluja presented Rs 5000 cash prize each to Mannat Choudhary from Jammu and Kanhaiya Bhardwaj from Kathua team.
It was said that 17 districts participated in the boys category while in girls category 11 districts took part in the tournament from past 3 days.
A total of about 50 matches were played during this tournament at three venues with finals today played at MA stadium on the third day of the tournament.
Amongst dignitaries present were Dr Zaffer Iqbal CAO J&K Sports Council, Vijay Sharma Chairman Municipal Committee Hiranagar, Ashok Singh Divisional Sports Officer (Jammu), Kuldeep Magotra CEO, H S Gill Vice President, Vijay Kumar Magotra General Secretary, R C Sharma Treasurer, and other number of office bearer of VAJK, office bearers of districts volleyball associations of JKUT, officials of Social Welfare Department and artists of Bharat Sangeet Kala Sansthan. Amit Sharma conducted the proceedings of the function efficiently.
Technical panel was headed by Rajiv Dogra Senior SAI coach and Amarjeet Singh VFI qualified Referee.