Rajesh Dhar
Though the major part of the year 2012 witnessed mixed fortunes for sports in Jammu and Kashmir, in the latter half of the year, the sportspersons of the State succeeded in carving a niche and crafting space on the sports map of India by giving some splendid performances in their respective disciplines to keep State flag high at the National scene. Moreover, the year witnessed development and renovation of sports infrastructure in the State to help budding sportspersons polish and fine-tune their skill. The highlight of the year, apart from successful organization of the Kashmir and Jammu Premier Leagues and sending cricketers for advanced training to hone their skill and talent, was holding of soccer extravaganzas in the State by inviting two premier soccer clubs of the Country namely Mohun Bagan and Mohamedan Sporting Club to play few friendly matches against the footballers of Jammu and Kashmir. What was more pleasing was that J&K team displayed superb performance against both these sides, which apart from encouraging the budding footballers, delighted the huge number of spectators. The constitution of Sports Councils in 10 districts of the State by the Minister for Sports, RS Chib, was also a step forward in enhancing the standard of sports in Jammu and Kashmir. The organization of around 10 National Level events in the State during the current year was also in right direction towards sports promotion.
Ace gymnast Pawandeep Kour created history by breaking National record and winning 6 gold medals in sub junior National Rhythmic Gymnastics Championship held in Punjab in the current year, while gutsy Mitali claimed 3 gold and 3 silver in the senior National event. Moreover, J&K’s Karamjyot Singh and Ravia Verma participated in Asian Aerobic Gymnastics Championship held in Indonesia in October 2012, while Seema Mehra and SP Singh (coach) were part of the Indian team that participated in World Cup held at Kufstein in Austria. The contribution of the Gymnastics coaches like Krupalli Singh, SP Singh, Manisha and others is worth appreciation.
Despite the fact that the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) is in trauma from last nine months because of the alleged multi-crore scam, the State cricketers showed outstanding temperament, class and grit and gave some splendid individual performances as also the team performances in this season. While, talented Parvez Rasool, promising Ramdayal and gutsy Ian Dev Singh displayed superb show at the Ranji trophy level, the youngsters Shubam Khajuria, Umar Nazir, Paras Sharma, Ahmed Banday and Sidharth Magotra with their outstanding performances helped Jammu and Kashmir to qualify for the knock-out stage in Cooch Behar Under-19 Boys Cricket Tournament.
J&K won sub junior and mini gold in National Championships held at Srinagar and also claimed gold in North Zone Handball Championship held in Himachal Pradesh. Moreover, handballers Neeraj Singh and Nitan Sharma represented India in IHF Challenge Trophy South and Central Asia held in Nepal, while Nitan Sharma also represented the Country in International Pattle Cup held in Sweden. Vivek Khajuria and Dev Raj were the coaches of Indian women team which bagged gold in IHF Challenge Trophy. The organization of historic International Olympic Committee (IOC) Technical Course in Jammu under the technical supervision of Khalid Hamouda of Egypt and under the overall supervision of Dr SM Bali, Secretary General, Handball Federation of India was the highlight of the year in this discipline.
Jammu and Kashmir claimed twin gold in the Under-19 boys and girls Tennis Ball Cricket as part of 58th National School Games, organized by the Department of Youth Services and Sports in Jammu recently. J&K boys defeated MP in the boys summit clash, while girls outclassed Jharkhand in the title clash. Hinan Nazir and Meenaz blossomed in this tournament.
The year 2012 witnessed ace shuttlers like P Kashyap and likes playing in Jammu and Kashmir while representing their respective States in the mega National Level Badminton event hosted by J&K in Srinagar.
Apart from winning bulk of medals at the National Level with 10 in Federation Cup, 5 in Junior Wushu Championship and 16 in National School Games, J&K’s Bhanu Pratap Singh and Nitin Sharma represented India in the 6th World Wushu Championship held at Macau and 5th World Traditional Wushu Championship held at Huangshan in China. Inspector Kuldeep Handoo National Wushu Coach of India was coach of India in Asian Wushu Championship, wherein India bagged 10 medals. He also represented India in 4th Pars Cup at Zanjan in Iran, where India got 5 medals, with 2 silver and 3 bronze. Handoo also attended International Referee and Judging Course during the current year.
Six kick-boxers namely Arun Singh Charak, Pawan Singh, Rajinder Singh, Raj Narania Singh, Jagvinder Singh and Bhanu Pratap Singh represented India in the Asian Kick-Boxing Championship held at Pune recently. Moreover, the State kick-boxing team won 17 medals in open India Kick-Boxing Championship, bagged 12 medals in 17th Sub Junior National Kick-Boxing Championship and claimed 16 medals in 18th Senior and 17th Junior National Kick-Boxing Championship during the year 2012.
Promising judoka Shikha Bhau’s medal at the national scene was the only bright spot in the discipline of judo in the current year, while the performance graph in the disciplines of hockey, chess, football, softball, korfball, taekwondo, table tennis, fencing, skating and other games remained almost unchanged during the year, however the disciplines of wrestling and kabaddi witnessed holding of International and National Level events in the State during the year.
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