Provincial President National Conference and MLA Nagrota Devender Singh Rana on Friday complimented wrestlers for keeping the traditional and most thrilling sport of yesteryears alive, hoping wrestling to regain its lost space given the enthusiasm among youngsters.“In an era of cricket, interest for wrestling is amazing and encouraging”, Rana said while speaking at function held to honour the wrestlers achieving distinction in the breathtaking annual event here this evening.The 88th Vishal Dangal was sponsored by Awadh Travels India.He called for governmental encouragement and recognition to youth evincing immense interest in the competitions like wrestling, saying it continues to remain a passion for its practitioners and fans whose number is substantial, notwithstanding the challenge being posed by other popular games.“The enthusiasm among fans is equally reassuring and reflective of the fact that the game still holds big promise for talented youth”, he said and congratulated the competitors and organisers for making the event live and breath-taking by putting in their best in the competition.
The MLA expressed his happiness over Nagrota becoming hub of sports and other activities, enabling youth to showcase their talent on larger canvass. He said holding of various events like Kabbadi and wrestling speaks about love for sports in the constituency. He also made a reference to the ongoing Maruti Suzuki Nagrota Premier League competition being held at Bjalata and said this is perhaps the first and the only event across the State that has continued for nearly two months, exposing various teams and giving space to budding cricketers. He said he has and will always remain in the forefront to give fillip to sports in the Constituency so that talented ones find their due place in state and the national squads. “Given the commitment of youth, I am really optimistic that day to come soon”, he added.In the keen context, Binia Bin of Jammu defeated Rimple of Ludhiana in the finals. Earlier, Lalu of Jammu trounced Amritpal of Amritsar, Farooq of Jammu registered victory over Gurmail of Chandigarh, Zakir Hussain of Jammu defeated Sagar of Delhi while Ranjit of Ludhiana lost to Gobri.Prominent wrestlers of Jmmu, Punjab and Delhi participated in the competition, which was witnessed by thousands of people from various areas of Nagrota and Jammu. (KNS)