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Ludhiana:Kila Raipur Games begin to a lackluster response
The Kila Raipur Games has a unique identity of hosting traditional games, including camel races, elephant races and several other folk art forms
The 83rd edition of the Kila Raipur Games began on Friday with a tepid response with only a limited number of players taking part in the event and fewer spectators to cheer them on the first day.
The festival has a unique identity of hosting traditional games, including camel races, elephant races and several other folk art forms. The sitting area around the stadium, which would remain bustling with people from far-flung areas, including neighbouring states of Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, was only filled one-tenth of the capacity.
On Friday, events of Hockey, athletics, tug of war, trolley back competitions and bhangra performances were held. Bullock cart races which were among the main highlights of the festival have been stopped following a ban by the Supreme Court in 2014.
Several veteran players said that the four-year gap due to internal tussle between the organisers has cost the games dearly along with the palpable absence of heritage events, which are the two major factors behind the low turnout of people.
Teja Singh, 90, who stood second in the 100-metre race along with his best friend Chajju Ram, who bagged the first top spot, has been participating in the games since 1993. Remembering the old times, he said the place would be brimming with joyous crowds and there would be hardly any space on the benches which are mostly empty now.
Sukhpreet Singh, 24, who lives in the neighbouring Gujjarwal village, said that he has been attending the event for the last 10 years, and the reason behind the dip in turnout is the absence of heritage events.
Gian Singh, sarpanch of the Kila Raipur and member of the organising committee said that as the games are being held after four years, it could be the reason behind the low turnout.
Veterans’ race stole the show on the inaugural day of the games. Khaju Ram Dhanola, 85, of Barnala stood first and Teja Singh Phallewal stood second in the 80-year-old men’s race.
Surinderpal Singh Hoshiarpur clinched first position in the race for men in the age group of 65 to 70 years, Satpal Bura of Haryana stood second and Lakhvir Singh obtained the third position.
In the men’s hockey, Shahabad Markanda’s team defeated Narwana (Haryana) 3-1 in a tiebreaker and entered the next round. In the second match, Rampur Academy defeated Fort Raipur by 2-1. In the girls’ hockey match, Delhi defeated Kurukshetra by 5-1 and entered the next round.
In the 1500 meters girls’ race, Renu Rani of Sangrur bagged the top spot, and Mandeep Kaur of Bathinda bagged the second position. In the boys’ race, Varinder Singh of Dehlon and Jagdev Singh of Jalandhar bagged first and second positions, respectively.
Apart from this, the preliminary round competitions of the trolley back, trolley emptying and tug-of-war were conducted.
