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Punjab: Dragon boat championship trials not conducted, sports dept, association trade blame
Trials were to be held on December 22-24 for team selection, says Punjab Kayaking and Canoeing Association; will surely send players, it adds
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A blame game has erupted between the department of sports and the Punjab Kayaking and Canoeing Association over failure to conduct state-level trials for selecting a team for participation in the 14th National Dragon Boat Championship, to be held from January 6 to 9 in Bhopal.
The trials were supposed to be conducted at the Katli Water Sports Centre in Ropar on December 22 to 24. The Punjab Kayaking and Canoeing Association said it could not conduct the trials as no permission was received from the sports department whereas the latter claimed that it didn’t receive any such communication from the association.
Association general secretary Prabhjeev Singh said, “We applied for permission on December 12. We still have not received any approval from the sports department. Without the nod, trials can’t be conducted.” He further stated that the association was in touch with the officials concerned for sending a team for the Bhopal event.
When contacted, Ropar district sports officer (DSO) Jagjeevan Singh said, “We didn’t receive any written request or communication from the association due to which the trials could not be conducted.”
Players said there should be better coordination between the sports department and the association. Karanjot Singh, 27, who has been training in dragon boat for the past seven years, said he had won a silver medal in the last national championship at Yamuna river in Delhi. “This year, I kept practicing and waited for the trials, but nothing happened,” he said.
Meanwhile, Rajya Sabha MP Balbir Singh Seechewal said he wrote to the chief minister, seeking his intervention. In his letter, Seechewal stated that Punjab players had earlier brought pride to the state by winning 150–200 medals in national and international competitions between 2022 and 2025. He wrote that many sportspersons come from humble backgrounds and depend on sports for employment opportunities. He said it was unfortunate that despite repeated reminders, the trials were not conducted.
