Khelo India Winter Games
Excelsior Sports Correspondent
GULMARG, Mar 8: Game was the winner on day-2 of the ongoing Khelo India Winter Games-2020 as SnowShoe athletes, vying for the top honours, braved chill and hostile weather conditions when the long distance SnowShoe run was flagged off here today.
The second day of the Khelo India Winter Games which were inaugurated by Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju yesterday, saw continued snowfall and low visibility that created lot of problems for the organizers on day-2 today.
Majority of the events got late and some of the events were postponed for the evening.
Despite the odd conditions one of the major event of the Games ‘SnowShoe Run’ was held today in senior and junior men’s category.
Due to tough conditions and low visibility the distance for the men’s senior category was reduced from 8 to 5 kilometers while as for junior from 5 to 3 kilometeres.
In the run 16 top athletes from all over J&K and four athletes from Uttarakhand participated.
The run was flagged off by Secretary Sports Council Dr Naseem Javaid Chowdhary in presence of CEO Gulmarg Development Authority, Assistant Director Tourism Nasir Mehmood, President J&K SnowShoe Association Tariq Ahmad Zargar, Olympians Gul Mustafa, Nadeem and number of other senior players and officials.
Despite having to counter tough conditions and terrain, athletes did their best by completing the run at the altitude of around 10,000 feet above sea level.
In senior category, Suhail Nisar cruised to victory with the timing of 34.08 seconds. He defeated World bronze medallist Muzamil Hussain Mir by eight second difference. Umer Farooq finished third with the timing of 35.19 seconds.
In junior category, it was World junior silver medalist Ayaan Bin Shahnaz who cruised to win with the timing of 24.23 while as Maqsood Sofi finished second with the timing of 24.40. Haadi finished third with the timing of 24.50. All the podium positions in the SnowShoe event were grabbed by J&K players.
In the following days of Winter Games, athletes from Lakshadweep would be joining SnowShoe events in sprint categories.
Secretary Sports Council termed it a great sight to see athletes competing amid hostile weather and making sure that Games turn out as a success.
He congratulated players and officials for the effort and said that J&K State Sports Council and other organizations involved are making sure that event turns out as success and players get all the support.
The Khelo India Winter Games are organized by Winter Games Association of J&K in collaboration with J&K State Sports Council while as SnowShoe event is held by J&K Snowshoe Association.
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