Excelsior Sports Correspondent
JAMMU, June 4: Ashok Kumar, Director Sports, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board (SMVDSB), Katra inaugurated the Staff Badminton Championship for the year 2018-19, being organized as staff welfare measure at J&K Police Indoor Badminton Hall, here today.
Som Raj Gupta, renowned Badminton player of Jammu and Kashmir, having the distinction of representing the country in the World Veteran Championships at Bulgaria and Indonesia, was the special guest on the occasion.
11 matches have been played so far in singles and doubles events of men’s section.
While interacting with the players, Sh. Ashok Kumar, Director Sports, said that as per the Sports Policy of the Shrine Board which envisages promotion of games, sports, acquisition of talent, creation of sports culture in and around Katra, thrust on accelerated performance of the regular compass of the Shrine Board. The motive is to encourage the staff of the Shrine Board and their children towards healthy competitions.
It is pertinent to mention that the Governing Council comprising of eminent international sports personalities and sports administrators headed by Dr. Ashok Bhan, former Director General of Police and Member Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board is contemplating to provide proper direction and guidance for the organization of sports activities vis-a-vis use of State of the Arts facilities created by the Shrine Board.
Som Raj Gupta asked all the players to keep themselves physically fit and make sports anf games as a way of their life.
Dinesh Gupta, Abhishek Sharma, Vikram Singh, Sukhdev Singh, Dinesh Nanda and Ram Parsad were also present on the occasion.
In singles, Shashi Singh beat Aditya Verma (21-10, 21-13); Sumit Gandotra outplayed Sham Lal (21-08, 21-15); Abhishek Sharma defeated Sandoor Singh (21-11, 21-16); Joginder Singh drubbed Rohit Chopra (21-15, 21-08); Uday Pratap Singh defeated Pawan Kumar (21-06, 21-12) and Ram Gupta beat Dinesh Gupta (21-19, 21-17).
In doubles, the duo of Vipan and Joginder beat the pair of Pawan Raina and Sandoor Singh (21-10, 21-15) in the first semifinal, while in the second semifinal, Sunit Sharma and Uday Singh drubbed Sumit Gandotra and Abhishek Sharma (21-18, 21-17).
Earlier, in the quarterfinals Sumit Gandotra and Abhishek Sharma beat Dinesh Nanda and Ram Gupta (21-16, 21-12); Sunit Sharma and Uday Pratap Singh defeated Shashi Singh and Sham Lal (21-13, 21-11) and Pawan Raina and Sandoor Singh outplayed Aditya Verma and Rohit Chopra (21-14, 21-19).
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