Advisor Bhatnagar witnesses final match of 34th J&K Senior Volleyball Championship
STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: Jammu district clinched 34th J&K UT Senior Volleyball Championship in men and women sections by defeating their opponents in the finals played at MA Stadium, here on Monday.
The three-day championship was organized by Volleyball Association of J&K under the aegis of J&K Sports Council.
In the men’s final, Jammu district defeated Anantnag by 3-0 (25-16, 25-13, 25-19) while Jammu district outplayed Srinagar district by 3-0 (25-14, 25-03, 25-17) in women’s final.
Earlier, in semifinal matches in men’s section played today, Jammu beat Poonch by 3-1 (16-25, 26-24, 25-23, 25-16) and Anantnag beat JKP by 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-23).
In the closing ceremony, Advisor to Lieutenant Governor, Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar, was the chief guest, who distributed trophies, medals, certificates including cash prizes to the winner and runner-up teams on the occasion. The cash prizes Rs. 10000 each were given to winner teams and Rs. 5000 each to runner-up teams by Volleyball Association of J&K.
On the occasion, the Advisor along with Guest of Honour, Secretary, J&K Sports Council, Nuzhat Gul, watched the final match played between the boys of Jammu and Anantnag districts.
It’s worth mentioning here that Jammu district women team has been last year champion whereas Jammu district men team has been last year runner up.
Advisor Bhatnagar, in his address, said that Jammu and Kashmir is fast emerging as a powerhouse of sports across the country and in recent years the UT has produced notable sportspersons of national and international standard.
He highlighted that Jammu and Kashmir is rising as the preferred location for hosting sports events owing to the upgradation and establishment of sports infrastructure in the last couple of years.
Advisor said that every district of Jammu and Kashmir is having its stadium now and sports events are being organized from village level so that the region can produce sports icons from grassroots level.
He asked the participants and sports lovers to be ambassadors of development and adopt sports to live progressive lives.
The Chief Guest congratulated all the teams for their excellent conduct in general and best adjudged teams in particular during the championship.
He also lauded the efforts of Volleyball Association of J&K and J&K Sports Council in scaling new heights in the sports arena especially in volleyball by clinching third position in the recently held 48th Junior National Volleyball Championship at MA Stadium, Jammu for the first time.
Bhatnagar also appreciated the hard work of office bearers of Association, volleyball coaches, referees and players for up gradation of sports in JK UT as per vision of Lt. Governor of JK UT.
The Chief Guest hoped that with the improvement in sports infrastructure the Union Territory of J&K would become a hub of sports in hosting national and international events in days to come.
While giving away prizes among the winners and finalists, Advisor Bhatnagar maintained that every player in the field is the winner. He said that after watching today’s game he is quite optimistic that the quality of sports played in J&K has upgraded and players are depicting great skill and talent than the past.
Advisor praised the participants for their hard work and dedication. He emphasized the importance of sports in building a healthy society and congratulated the winners for their outstanding performance.
Earlier, Nuzhat Gul underlined the importance of sports in inculcating the sports culture among the youth for enabling them to contribute in nation building as well as to shun away from social evils like drug addiction etc.
She also praised the role of Volleyball Association of J&K (VAJK ) in reaching out to every nook and corner of JK UT especially of Sidharth Daluja, youngest and energetic President of the Association who was also present on the occasion.
Nuzhat Gul said that the sports events being organized across Jammu and Kashmir are part of Jan Bhagidhari initiative of J&K government. She highlighted that the positive ecosystem of sports has been established in J&K and UT is witnessing maximum number of player selections in national and international events.
Welcoming the dignitaries, V.K Magotra, General Secretary of VAJK, highlighted the achievements of the Association from time to time.
He further disclosed that Association has so far produced three international volleyball players who have established their recognition in the sports arena of volleyball such as Saqlain Tariq who is also a member of JK Sports Council at present, Kartik Raina who captained Indian team under 18th Asian Volleyball Championship held at Tehran and secured 3rd position for the country, Mannat Choudhary who played in Jammu team today also participated in AVC cup in Thailand.
In all total 66 matches were played in the three-day championship from February 25 to 27 under panel of dedicated volleyball referees wherein as many as 400 players and officials participated with zeal and zest.
Amongst dignitaries Ashok Singh DSO, Satish Gupta Manager Stadium, J&K Sports Council, H.S Gill Executive Vice President, Kuldeep Magotra CEO, R.C Sharma Treasurer of Volleyball Association of J&K, Muneer Alam, Mudassar, Nilofar, Mohd Tariq Joint Secretary, Akbar Ali Office Secretary, Suresh Chib, Subash Shastri, Veena Kumari all executive members of VAJK were also present on the occasion besides other sports lovers.