JK boys sparkle, 5 seal berth in semis; 5 girls in medal hunt too

• J&K, Manipur, Rajasthan, Maharashtra players’ show grit

STATE TIMES NEWS

JAMMU: Jammu and Kashmir boys’ sparkled today as five players sealed the berth in the semifinals and endured medals, while five J&K girls also made it to the medal bouts round as the athletes from Jammu and Kashmir, Manipur, Rajasthan and Maharashtra showed grit and guts on day-2 of the ongoing 68th National School Games in the discipline of Wushu, being organised by the Directorate of Youth Services and Sports J&K, under the auspices of School Games Federation of India (SGFI) at Indoor Sports Complex Bhagwati Nagar here.

The boys from J&K who made it to the semifinals included Suryansh Singh in -60 kg category, Arham Parray in -70 kg category, Mehran Amin in -75 kg category, Umaan Arif in -80 kg category and Mohd Haseeb in -85 kg category, while the girl athletes from J&K who made it to the medal bouts round included Arbeena Nazir, Aliza Shah, Saliqa Farooq, Anum Ajaz and Sadiya Gulzar.
Earlier, in the boys -40 kg weight category, Ankiet Lotra of J&K lost to Aditya Chouhan of Maharashtra, in -45 kg category Kapish Bharat Rakwal of J&K lost to Nikhil of Delhi, in -48 kg category Tawheed Akbar Mir of J&K lost to Aashu of Rajasthan, in -52 kg category Rishi Khosla of J&K beat Parbil Munda of Odisha. In -56 kg category, Aayaan Asim Mir of Jammu and Kashmir beat Asem Dhrubaraj of Manipur, in -60 kg category Suryansh Singh of J&K defeated Shivam of Chandigarh to seal berth in semifinals, in -65 kg category Azad Hilal of J&K lost to Sunil of Rajasthan, in -70 kg category Mohd Arham Parray beat B Prem Kumar of Telangana in his first bout and got the better of Subhod of Chandigarh in his second bout and entered the semifinal. In -75 kg category, Mehran Amin Bangoo of J&K beat Ph Suraj Singh of MP and reached semifinals, in -80 kg category Umaan Arif of J&K drubbed Prejith Kumar of Tamilnadu and entered the semifinals and in -85 kg category Mohd Haseeb Sohil of Jammu and Kashmir beat Tarun Kamniya of Rajasthan and entered the last four stage. In U-17 girls -45kg weight category, Jia Manhas of J&K defeated Nandita Pradhan of West Bengal, in -52 kg category Saliqa Farooq of J&K trounced Yashika Khandelwal of Rajasthan, in -56 kg category Arbeena Nazir of jk beat Gouri Raj of Delhi, in -60 kg category Aliza Shah of J&K outplayed Gayatri Parida of Odisha, in -65 kg category Anum Ajaj of Jammu and Kashmir beat Dhandhukiya of Gujarat and in -70 kg category Sadiya Gulzar of J&K beat Vaishnavi Sahu of Vidhya Bharati. Captain Murti, President J&K Lawn Tennis Association (JKLTA) and Editor-in-Chief Greater Jammu was the chief guest in today’s proceedings, who inaugurated the medal bouts. He was accompanied by Chief Wushu Coach of India and Dhrounacharya Awardee, Kuldeep Handoo and District Youth Services and Sports Officer Jammu and Convener Ceremonies Committee, Harvinder Kaur.
Meanwhile, around 600 players and officials drawn from 21 States/UTs across the country are taking part in this mega event, which is as part of the historic series of 68th National School Games in the disciplines of Judo, Fencing, Wushu and Football, wherein around 4000 athletes and officials across the country are taking part.
These Games are being held under the patronage of Minister for Sports, Sh Satish Sharma; Secretary Youth Services and Sports, Sh Sarmad Hafeez and under the chairmanship of Director General Youth Services and Sports, Sh Rajinder Singh Tara.