Eminent figures in sports, edu feted as Jarkhar fest wraps up
The three-day 37th Jarkhar Sports Festival, commonly known as the ‘Modern Rural Mini Olympics,’ organised at the Jakhar village, about 15 km from here, on the Ludhiana-Malerkotla road, concluded on Sunday.
Twenty teams vied for the top honours in the Open Naib Singh Grewal Memorial Kabaddi Cup, and Nandpur village emerged as the champions, while Kadiana village finished runners-up. In hockey (senior), Ghwaddi Club prevailed over Lovely Professional University, Phagwara, 7-6 to lift the trophy, while in the girls’ section, Punjabi University, Patiala, got the better of Bathinda by 4-2 to clinch the title.
In the Sub-Junior Jagtar Memorial Hockey Cup, Jarkhar Academy outplayed Amargarh 8-7. The issue was resolved through a penalty shoot-out after the two sides were locked 4-4 at the end of regular time.
Khanjarwal village defeated Gill village to lift the winners’ trophy in the Amarjit Singh Grewal Volleyball Championship, and in kabaddi (veterans), Ropar overpowered Ludhiana 16-15, while Jhand Sahib village beat Burj Donha village in the tug of war competition.
District Education Officer, Ravinder Kaur, along with Punjabi folk singer Jaswant Shandila, hockey Olympian Balwinder Singh Shammi, eminent sports writer Navdeep Gill, former kabaddi star from the UK, Tara Singh Gangash, and Olympians Ajit Singh (hockey) and Mohinder Singh Gill (athletics), were honoured by the organisers for their contributions in their respective fields.
Aman Arora, Cabinet Minister and state president of the Aam Aadmi Party, was also felicitated on the occasion. He was given the award ‘Punjab Da Maan’. He appreciated the organisers for holding the event successfully each year and wished them success ahead.
Gurmeet Singh Khudian, Minister of Agriculture, announced a grant of Rs 2 lakh for the organisers of the event. MLAs Jeewan Singh Sangowal and Kulwant Singh Sidhu were the guests of honour at the event.
Narinder Pal Singh Sidhu and Jagroop Singh Jarkhar, chairman and chief organiser, respectively, of the festival’s organising body, thanked the guests and extended gratitude towards the participants and villagers on the successful completion of the event. They also appreciated the sponsors—Royal Enfield, Avon Cycles, Coca-Cola, Dabur, Vishal Cycles, and others—for providing medals and other material articles for the participants.
