Excelsior Sports Correspondent
JAMMU, Dec 15: Jammu and Kashmir boys and girls outclassed their opponents by convincing margins in the summit clashes to lift twin titles in the 58th National School Games Under-19 Boys and Girls Tennis Ball Cricket Championships, organized by the Department of Youth Services and Sports which concluded with an impressive valedictory function at MA Stadium, here today.
Minister for Medical Education, Technical Education and Youth Services and Sports, RS Chib was the chief guest on the valedictory function, who later-on distributed prizes among the winners, runners-up and third place holders on the occasion.
Jammu and Kashmir outplayed Madhya Pradesh in the boys final, while in girls title clash, J&K drubbed Goa. Jharkhand claimed third place in boys section, while Chhattisgarh bagged bronze in girls section.
Meanwhile, addressing the gathering, the Sports Minister, while congratulating the teams, announced incentives for them. However, the Minister left it on Director Youth Services and Sports as to how to felicitate the winners in a better way.
The Minister further said that the Omar Abdullah led Government is keen to promote youth as also sports in nooks and corners of the State.
While congratulating the participating teams, Sports Minister said that there was no way that J&K could have clinched twin gold without the participation of these teams.
He said that sports serves for delight, for ornament and for agility.
Mr Chib expressed gratitude to School Games Federation of India (SGFI) for organizing event in the State, adding that it has provided proper representation to the State.
Earlier, Director Youth Services and Sports, Jaipal Singh in his welcome address gave detailed report of the tournament and said that every effort was made to ensure the comfortable stay of the participating contingents.
Mr Rajesh Mishra, secretary general, School Games Federation of India, while speaking lauded the talent of the Jammu and Kashmir players in this discipline of sports.
Prominent among others present on the occasion were Prof Dhian Singh Bhau, Director Sports and Physical Education, University of Jammu, Madan Lal, Joint Director Youth Services and Sports, Padam Shree SP Verma, Ashok Kumar, Deputy Director Youth Services and Sports, Hafiza Hasan, Deputy Director Youth Services and Sports, besides District Youth Services and Sports Officers of various districts.
Earlier, in the girls final, J&K thrashed Gujarat by 7 wickets in an easy contest. Batting first, Gujarat were bundled out for a paltry 31 runs as Meenaz, Rubia and Ruksara wrecked havoc in the rival camp with their disciplined bowling. Meenaz scalped 3 wickets, Rubia 2 and Ruksara one.
In reply, J&K reached the target in 3.1 overs. Meenaz scored 14 runs, while Rubia contributed 8 runs to the total. J&K skipper Meenaz was declared women of the match and women of the series for her fabulous all-round display.
The third place went to Chhattisgarh which defeated Goa in the hard-liner.
Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir boys defeated MP by 14 runs in the final to lift the coveted trophy.
Batting first, J&K scored 85 runs in the stipulated 12 overs, losing 7 wickets in the process. Wahid top scored with 28 runs, while Aamir and Gulbash contributed 20 and 18 runs to the total respectively. For MP, Jai Raj and Ajay Kumar claimed 3 wickets each.
In reply, MP bundled out for 71 runs in 11.2 overs, thus lost the match by a narrow margin of 14 runs. Ayush (19) and Ajay Kumar (12) were the main scorers. For J&K, Mubashar Naqib and Omar claimed 3 wickets each, while Sultan Skinder took two.
Wahid was adjudged man of the match, while the man of the series trophy went to Hinan Nazir for his outstanding show with the bat during the tournament.
Jharkhand defeated Goa in the hard-liner to claim the third place. The Jammu and Kashmir teams were accompanied by Farooq Salroo, Anju Gupta, Jagtar Singh, and Sandeepan as coaches and managers, while Narrotam assisted them to bestow his valuable tips to the players.
Today’s finals were officiated by BCCI Level-A coaches Suresh Singh and Saleem-ur-Rehman as umpires apart from the officials from SGFI, while Sanjay Raina, BK Tickoo and Sadiq Hussain Malik were the match referees. Rajesh Dhar was convener of technical committee of the venue, while Noor-ul-Haq, District Youth Services and Sports Officer, Ganderbal was the chairman technical committee.
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