Punjab governor inaugurates street cricket tourney in P’kula | Hindustan Times – Hindustan Times

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Punjab governor and UT Chandigarh administrator Gulab Chand Kataria inaugurated the first Bharat Ratna late Atal Bihari Vajpayee District Street Cricket Tournament at Tau Devi Lal Sports Stadium, Sector-3, Panchkula on Thursday. A total of 116 teams are participating in the six-day event.
The governor formally introduced himself to the players and even stepped onto the field to hit a few shots with them, significantly boosting their morale and enthusiasm. He was accompanied by Gian Chand Gupta, former speaker of the Haryana legislative assembly and chairperson of the Sports Promotion Society.
Addressing the inaugural ceremony, Kataria lauded the Sports Promotion Society for organising the tournament with a resolve for “Drug-Free Panchkula and Drug-Free Haryana.” He emphasised that the competition provides a powerful platform for rural and urban youth to showcase their sporting talent.
Kataria highlighted the contribution of Punjab and Haryana in raising the nation’s glory in the field of sports at national and international levels. Congratulating the recently victorious Indian Women’s Cricket World Cup team, he proudly noted that four players on the team hail from Punjab and Haryana.
On this occasion, Gupta informed that the 116 participating teams, drawn from schools, colleges, labor colonies, and the industrial sector, have been divided into eight zones. Each zone is named after great revolutionaries and freedom fighters of the Indian independence struggle. The primary objective of the tournament is to inspire youth towards sports and keep them away from social evils like drug addiction.

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