The much-awaited inter-district school-level games that were scheduled to be held in September have been postponed by the state education department owing to the rising Covid cases in the state.
The five-day long event would have featured more than 33 sports events including kho-kho, roller skating, swimming, volleyball, wrestling, gymnastics, athletics, yoga, karate, circle kabaddi, chess, cricket, boxing, basketball, hockey, softball, handball, gatka, shooting, archery, carrom, fencing, judo, lawn tennis, netball, track and road cycling, powerlifting, weight lifting, and kabaddi.
A letter in this regard was issued by the sports branch stating that due to the pandemic, the schools had remained closed since March and the inter-district school-level games scheduled to be held in September had been postponed.
The games were to be conducted for Under-14, 17 and 19 categories of both boys and girls. The postponement has disappointed the players, but the coaches said that life was more important and the games could be conducted whenever the situation was under control.
Basketball player Amritpal Singh said, “I have been participating in the competition for the last four years, and this year I was to play in the Under-19 category. But we were unable to practice as a team and the game requires coordination and strategy among players.”
{{/usCountry}}Basketball player Amritpal Singh said, “I have been participating in the competition for the last four years, and this year I was to play in the Under-19 category. But we were unable to practice as a team and the game requires coordination and strategy among players.”
{{/usCountry}}As per the sports calendar, the inter-district games were to begin from September 14 and continue till October 10. In Ludhiana, over 5,000 participants from other districts were expected to participate.
Ajitpal Singh, district-level incharge (sports), said, “Due to the growing number of Covid cases, the higher authorities have postponed the games. Since the schools closed in March, players were not able to practice.”