Jugal, Rana hail enthusiasm of youth in traditional sports

JAMMU, September 12: Bhola Kashni of Delhi has won the Raja Mandleek Dangal by defeating Chota Gani of Hoshiarpur in a fierce competition held at Baran in Nagrota Assembly Constituency.

In all 105 bouts were held between the wrestlers of Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

Lauding the growing participation of youth in sports, especially traditional and rural based, Senior BJP leaders Mr Jugal Kishore Sharma and Mr Devender Singh Rana, while speaking at the concluding function, at Raja Mandlik Dangal in Baran and hoped that this momentum will get further fillip in a big way. They also exuded confidence that competitions of such magnitude inspire others to participate in sports and leave a mark of their talent at the national and international levels.

  “Like other parts of the country, Jammu and Kashmir too has a high tradition of organizing rural oriented sports”, Member Parliament Mr Jugal Kishore said, adding that the reach of such events needs to be expanded for larger youth participation.

Mr Sharma said that the mere presence of reputed and eminent wrestlers of North India was a source of inspiration for budding wrestlers of the region. “I hope they will learn from the veterans in the field”, he said and exhorted youth to participate in sports in a big way alongside academics. 

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Devender Rana expressed happiness over the enthusiasm of rural youth in traditional games like wrestling, saying these still retains the sheen of yesteryears.

Mr Rana said, in an era of competition, the youth cannot afford to remain in the shell of academics alone; they have to be versatile in every field of activity. It is with this view the BJP led government at the Centre has taken several measures to promote sports under flagship programmes like Khelo India. He hoped the budding sportspersons will benefit from these programmes and participate in sports, which has vistas of career advancement opportunities as well.

Mr Jugal and Mr Rana gave away the awards to the wrestlers for achieving distinction and complimented the organizers for their relentless efforts in organizing the event at such a big level.

The Dangal was organized by the Dangal Committee comprising Vikram Singh, Kuldeep Singh, Kaushal Singh, Tiger Singh, Parveen Singh, Bittu Singh.

A large number of locals and Nagrota peripheries besides those from Jammu applauded the wrestlers for their performances.

(NOTE: PRESS RELEASE PUBLISHED AS RECEIVED)