Handball tournament begins in Una, Army teams among 25 participants

Two-time Paralympic Games Silver medallist and Arjuna Award winner Nishad Kumar inaugurated the two-day Invitation Cup Handball Tournament at Dulehar village in Haroli subdivision of Una district today. Twenty-five teams from different parts of the country are participating in the tournament being organised in the memory for former national handball player Munish Rana, who hailed from Dulehar village.

Deepak Thakur, a senior member of the organising committee, said that the teams of 15 Dogra and 3 Dogra of the Indian Army, BSF and the ITBP, besides from Chandigarh, Amritsar, DAV-Jalandhar, Kaithal, Jaipur, Lovely Professional University, New Delhi, Bilaspur, Una and Ludhiana, among others, were participating in the tournament.

Organising secretary Satinder Thakur said that the teams had been lodged in the Rajiv Gandhi hostel of the Industries Department at Dulehar and were being served food with the help of locals. He added that the winning and runner-up teams would be given cash rewards of Rs 31,000 and Rs 21,000, respectively.

Nishad said that the country’s youth were today making a name in athletics and other games at the international level. He called upon the youth to make sincere efforts to bring laurels to the nation, Himachal and their families.

Nishad, a resident of Amb in Una district, said that he had lost a wrist in a mishap at a very young age but with sheer determination and grit, besides the unflinching support of his family, he became a national hero. Nishad’s father Rashpal Singh accompanied him on the occasion.