Games for visually impaired: 400 players attend opening ceremony

Our Sports Correspondent

Ludhiana, January 13

The three-day National Games for Visually Impaired, being organised by the state unit of the National Federation for Blinds (NFB) with the help of the Punjab Sports Department and the Ludhiana district administration, began at Guru Nanak Stadium here today.

The enthusiastic participants helped by their guardians started arriving at the venue well before the scheduled time for the opening ceremony of the sports meet. Volunteers, deputed by the organising committee, were in attendance at the stadium to guide players and provide the required assistance.

Dr SP Oberoi, managing director, Sarbat Da Bhala Charitable Trust, and Pritpal Singh, chief sewadar, Gurdwara Dukh Nivaran Sahib, inaugurated the games. 

Around 400 players from all over the country are taking part in the games. They released colorful balloons to mark the opening of the event.

SK Rongta, the NFB general secretary, presided over the opening function while Dr Kusham Lata, vice-president of the women wing of the federation, was guest of honour on the occasion. 

Gurnam Singh Kaler, a representative of Swami Shankranand Bhoori Wale, Talwandi Dham, was also among others present at the stadium. All the participants were given track suits by Kaler on behalf of Swami Shankranand.

Rongta welcomed players, officials and wished them good luck. He also announced to make these games an annual feature. 

Gurpreet Singh Chahal, head of the NFB Punjab unit, thanked guests. He said position holders in all the 114 events to be held during the games would be given cash prize worth Rs 3.5 lakh, besides medals and certificates.

Ravinderan, deputy director, Vocational Rehabilitation and Training Centre for Blinds, coaches Sanjeev Sharma, Makhan Singh, Satnam Singh and Dalwinder Singh, besides coordinator, women section, Kamaljeet Kaur Jamalpur, were also present during the opening ceremony.

On day one of the games, heats for 100 m and 200 m races were held. A large number of special athletes took part in races while four titles were decided today. 

In the boys’ section (B-I), Neeraj Chouhan from Dehradun came out victorious in the 5,000 metre race while the second position was bagged by Varinder Singh from Himachal Pradesh and Thomas Masih the secured third spot.

In the 1,500 metre race for girls (B-I), Kirti from Rajasthan emerged winner. Jashanpreet Kaur and Usha, both from Chandigarh finished at the second and third position, respectively.

Similarly, in the 5,000 metre race for boys (B-II), Amba Lal of Rajasthan romped home victorious, followed by Ajay Kumar of Chandigarh and Gaurav Singh from Delhi.

As there were two participants in the B-I category (boys), Rivish Kumar of Haryana won it while Mohd Azharudin from Rajasthan bagged the second position.