SRINAGAR, APRIL 14 (KNS):  The “My Pride My Youth” initiative of the Sports Council reached far-off villages in Poonch where events in the disciplines of Boxing, Taekwondo and Hockey shall be held.

 Around 240 players are participating in the event which is aimed at tapping the talent from every nook and corner of the J&K and honing their skills in the game-specific academies set up across the union territory.

The event Hand ball and Hockey events will be conducted  on tomorrow were in more than 100 players will showcase their talent to get space  in future competitions.

DDC member from Surankot, Sohail Malik presided over the function as the chief guest, while Sunil Sharma Sarpanch was the guest of honour and Naresh Sharma was the special guest.

A large number of spectators were present on the venue besides officials from Sports Council, YSS and other government departments besides incharge sports stadium Poonch.

Speaking on the occasion, the Chief guest said that "Khelo India" is already bearing fruits and I am hopeful of the same results from "My Youth My Pride" programme which aims to identify the talent at the grassroots level. He further added this move will promote sports culture among youth and help in grooming sports champions at UT, national and international level.

The Chief guest  while interacting with players said that programmes of such nature would encourage youth to adopt a healthy lifestyle and channelize their energies for larger good.

Guest of honour in his address highlighted the role of sports in achieving mental health in addition to physical health which is a way forward to progressive and pragmatic society. He also thanked the UT administration and Sports Council, for providing  progressive platform to rural youth to bring them at par with their urban counterparts by way of organising competitions in remote areas as well.

Secretary Sports Council, Nuzhat Gul while divulging the details of the sports initiative said that government is keen to identify and build a talent pool of players in the region. "J&K abounds for multi-talented youth and as an apex sports body, we are here to explore that talent and provide them the right platform to showcase their skills", she added. “This is just the beginning and I am sure through the medium of this program much talent will come to the fore”, said Secretary Sports Council.

For participants from a remote area, this is one of the unique experiences when game-specific events are being held for the first time in a very organized manner.

Some of them feel, that similar events in other games shall also be held in their native villages, however, were quick to add, the initiative is appreciable for which Sports Council and the government of J&K deserve all applauses.

 Like a common demand from other areas, participants here also feel that such events should become a regular feature in the future.

In Sher-i- Khass’s Gani Memorial Stadium, Sports Council Football Academy, Bandipora will clash with Etihad Football Academy in the ongoing Youth Football League later in the evening.

Meanwhile, the much-awaited game between the arch-rivals J&K Bank Academy, and Lonestar KFC played yesterday evening turned out to be high voltage drama as both teams sprinted on the field with a high tempo, right from the first whistle.

An early breakthrough for Bank Academy came in the 8th minute of the match and by the end of the first half, the lead was doubled. Though Lonestar made many unsuccessful attempts, they eventually succeeded in netting one in the initial minutes of the second half. However, their euphoria was short-lived as they conceded two more goals soon after that and handed over the game to J&K Bank Academy with a scoreboard reading 4-1.

With this win, J&K Bank Academy earned all the 3 points from the match and secured their place in the final round of the League.

Tazeem of J&K Bank Academy was awarded player of the match for scoring two important goals for the team.

A large crowd of football enthusiasts had thronged the stadium and it is expected that the audience will only swell up as the league progress.

In Nanil Cricket field Anantnag, Super Star Mattan defeated their opponents KCC Mattan. Riding on some brilliant performances of Sahil and Asif with bat and ball Super Star Mattan trounced their opponents by 28 runs. While former contributed with a personal score of 33 runs and later grabbed 4 crucial wickets to take his team home. Asif for his brilliant bowling spell was adjudged man of the match.

In an another match of 2nd Round, GSM Mattan got better off their opponents Seer Royals and won the match by 32 runs.GSM Mattan after winning the toss aggregated 136 runs for the loss of 9 wickets and in response, Salia Royals could pile up only 104 in their allotted quota of 20 overs.

Tawseef with 65 runs and 4 wickets was top performer in the winning cause while Junaid was the pick of the bowlers for the Salia Royals claiming 4 wickets.

Tawseef for his brilliant performance with both bat and ball was awarded man of the match.

Meanwhile, another match of the Spring Shield T-20 Cricket Tournament between Hutmurha Sports and Wonder Boys was in progress when the report was being filed.(KNS)