Day 2 marked by hockey, football, kabaddi matches
Competitions in hockey, kabaddi, volleyball and football were held on the second day of the 37th Jarkhar Sports Festival, commonly known as the ‘Modern Rural Mini Olympics,’ which is being held at Jarkhar village, about 15 km from here.
Punjab Cabinet Minister Tarunpreet Singh Sondh was the chief guest on Saturday. He appreciated the organisers’ efforts and declared the Mata Sahib Kaur Stadium as a heritage piece of rural sports.
Addressing the gathering, the minister announced a grant of Rs 5 lakh for Mata Sahib Kaur Sports and Charitable Trust and for the sprucing up of the stadium. He called the Director, Sports Department, Punjab, to provide all possible assistance to the trust in laying down a full-fledged Astroturf at Jarkhar so that aspiring players of the area could benefit.
Tarsem Singh Bhinder, Chairman, Improvement Trust; Sajjan Singh Cheema, an Arjuna awardee (basketball); Ahbaw Singh Grewal, AAP chief spokesperson; Ashok Bawa, manager of Vishal Cycles; Manjit Singh; and Satwinder Singh Sran, among others, were present on the occasion.
In the Naib Singh Grewal Kabaddi Cup matches, Jodhan beat Buthari, Kanganwal beat Nijampur, Kaind beat Jaspal Bangar, Kadiana beat Jarkhar, Jambo Majra beat Ghaloti, Padain beat Rangarh Bhullaran, Jargari beat Zoraran, and Nandur beat Hathoor to enter into the knockout stage.
In football, Buthari beat Gill, Kadiana beat Burj Hakima, Gagran beat Dango, and Seelon beat Mandiala to secure berths in the semifinals.
Ghawaddi Club and Jalandhar recorded victories in hockey (boys) in the senior group. Ghawaddi defeated PIS, Ludhiana, 8-4, and Jalandhar beat Kila Raipur 5-4, while in the girls’ section, Amargarh outplayed Mundian Kalan 2-0, PIS, Bathinda outperformed Lovely Professional University 7-3, Amritsar outnumbered Rajpura 8-4, and Punjabi University, Patiala, outplayed Ludhiana 8-0.
