Sports Reporter
JAMMU: Even after confirming their participation, teams from three nations of Pakistan, Maldives and Afghanistan could not make it to the South Asian Chess Championship, which got underway with competitors from India, Bangladesh and Nepal only at Gurjar Desh Charitable Trust Complex, Channi Himmat, here on Thursday.
With only three nations reported, around 430 participants sat for the first round of the competition this afternoon. The competition, organised by All J and K Chess Association under the aegis of All India Chess Association, was declared open by Minister of State for Sports and Transport, Sunil Kumar Sharma in front of a jam-packed gathering of participants, their parents and officials.
The Chief Guest lauded the efforts of the association and appreciated the parents accompanying young participants for their support and encouragement to the future champions.
Inspector General of Police, Jammu, Danish Rana and Joint Secretary of J and K State Sports Council, Shiv Kumar Sharma were Guests of Honour. Both of them welcomed the participants and wished them success.
Earlier, the event was to be held at Srinagar, but due to unrest in Valley, the organisers had to shift the venue to Jammu. The majority of the participants are from different states of India.
Earlier, President of the Association, Atul Kumar Gupta welcomed the Chief Guest and other distinguished gathering amidst a brief report of the prestigious event. Also present were General Secretary, Ashiq Ahmad, Senior Vice President, A.R Wani, Vice Presidents, Baldev Raj and Taranveer Singh, Kuljeet Jamwal (Press Secretary), Vikas Nanda, Khalid Amin, Dr A.S Bhatia and Raj Kumar.
Fourteen professional arbiters have been involved for smooth conduct of this event. Srivatsan R has been appointed by Asian Federation as Chief Arbiter for this event.
