Hockey players brought glory

Aakanksha N Bhardwaj

Jalandhar, December 19

Jalandhar’s Mithapur kept the district’s name alive in the world of sports this year. Star hockey players Varun Kumar, Manpreet Singh and Mandeep Singh, who won gold medal in the Asian Games, were given a rousing welcome in their village.

Diminishing interest in sports

Notably, Jalandhar has been known for producing exceptional national and international players, including recipients of the prestigious Padma Shri and Arjuna awards. Coaches attributed lesser participation in trials to students’ diminishing interest in sports as most of them are opting to move abroad in pursuit of different aspirations.

Highs

• Jalandhar’s hockey players won gold medal in Asian Games
• Hearing and speech-impaired Mallika Handa got selected for Deaf Olympics

Lows

• Not much infrastructural development
• Less participation in trials for sports wings

Budding players getting trained at the Mithapur Academy were in awe when they received their hockey idols. Hardik Singh, another player of the Indian Hockey team, belongs to Jalandhar.

This year also saw youngsters losing interest in games. A few participants turned up in trials conducted by the Sports Department in May. In a surprising incident, not even a single player turned for football and wrestling trials held for U-17 and U-18 categories in the residential sports wing. The trials went on for two days with no players showing up for either of the sports on both days. Coaches expressed disappointment over the poor response. They reminisced about the times when securing a spot in the sports wing was highly competitive, with a large number of players vying for admission.

“The competition used to be fierce, and being selected was considered a stroke of luck,” a coach said.

Notably, Jalandhar has been known for producing exceptional national and international players, including recipients of the prestigious Padma Shri and Arjuna awards. Coaches attributed lesser participation in trials to students’ diminishing interest in sports as most of them are opting to move abroad in pursuit of different aspirations.

Sports trials held for the Punjab Institute of Sports (PIS) also saw less participation, with only a handful of players turning up for most of the trials. The trials, which were held over two days, witnessed a total of 456 players participating in 11 games. However, a majority of the participants, 221, chose to play hockey, while only a few players showed up for other sports.

Talking about the infrastructure, nothing new was given to the city apart from a synthetic track at the sports college and an Astroturf at Mithapur village.