Amritsar girl Aditi’s golden grip takes her global

The district handball team is again making waves at the national and international levels: this time, player Aditi Daksh — a student of Class XII at Khalsa College for Women — was on Thursday drafted into the national handball team, which is set to play for the prestigious International Handball Champion Trophy in Thailand this month.

Notably, the district has already produced 12 international players.

Sports Department handball coach Jaswant Singh Dhillon said, with government support, two centres were being run in the city. Beginning this session, a handball hostel for boys was being operated for 20 residential players and 30 day-scholars at Guru Nanak Stadium, he added.

Another residential school, with 16 seats, was being run for female players at Khalsa College for Women.

The women’s centre was started in 2004 at Khalsa Collegiate Senior Secondary School, with Dhillon joining as coach in 2008.

To boost the district’s sporting initiatives, the Education Department has provided the district handball team with another coach, Jatinder Singh.

Over 100 national and 500 state medallists have been trained by Dhillon, with many of them now placed in various government departments.

U-17 boys’ team shines at inter-district contest

On November 8, the under-17 district handball team emerged champion in the 69th Punjab State Inter-District School Handball Championship, defeating Patiala in a close contest (22-18) to secure the first position. As many as 24 districts and one team of Punjab Sports Institute, Mohali, participated in the under-17 (boys’) events at the championship, organised by the state Education Department. Host Amritsar, Patiala, Hoshiarpur and Punjab Institute of Sports reached the semi-finals, with the host team winning the first place, and Patiala finishing second. Punjab Institute of Sports clinched the third spot.

District Sports Officer Savita Kumari congratulated the team and coaches for the remarkable performance in competitions.