National U-14 CISCE cricket tournament begins in Karnal

A three-day national Under-14 cricket tournament of CISCE schools was inaugurated with great enthusiasm at Adarsh Public School in Karnal on Sunday.

The school campus turned into a festive sporting arena as 11 state teams from across the country and one international team from the UAE gathered to compete for national honours. The tournament features both league and knockout formats, promising keenly contested matches.

Among the participating teams are North India, Odisha, Karnataka-Goa, UAE and Overseas, Andhra Pradesh-Telangana, Kerala, North East, Bihar-Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra and the combined team of Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

On the opening day, Karnataka-Goa defeated Andhra Pradesh-Telangana, while UAE overcame Uttarakhand. Maharashtra registered a win over Odisha, and the Tamil Nadu-Puducherry-Andaman & Nicobar team prevailed against Kerala.

The opening ceremony was marked by colour, cheer and a strong message of unity through sport. Students of Adarsh Public School welcomed the teams. Declaring the tournament open, school Director Mansimar Singh and Joint Director Anna motivated players to uphold the spirit of fair play.

“It is an honour to host the national CISCE cricket tournament for the first time. Earlier, we had the privilege of organising the national table tennis championship in 2023,” said Singh.

He added that the purpose of sport went beyond winning trophies, stressing the role of games in building character, discipline and teamwork. Participants also took a collective pledge to give their best on the field while upholding the values of sportsmanship.