Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, July 14:  The closing ceremony of 2nd Inter-Church Cricket Tournament was held at Alexander Memorial High School, here today.
Shakeel Beig, DIG Jammu was the chief guest on the occasion, while  Fr Kuriakose, Incharge Priest Church Jammu was the guest of honour and Vijay Prabha was the special guest.
The tournament was conducted under the supervision of Rajesh Gill, former Ranji player.
8 Church teams participated in a league-cum-knockout tournament. In the final, Pentecostal Church XI won the toss and elected to bat first to score 135 runs for the loss of 7 wickets in the stipulated 12 overs. Nitish top scored with unbeaten 52 runs, while  Patrick (36) and  Sunny (23) were the other notable contributors.  Nitu Khokher  was the pick of the bowlers, who took 4 wickets, while Avinash took 3 wickets.
In reply, St Peters’ Catholic Church XI bundled out for a paltry total of 78 runs to lose the match by 56 runs. Ambroose and Rakul scored 28 and 12 runs respectively. For Pentecostal Church XI, Sunny Gill took 4 wickets, while Rohit bagged 3 wickets and Nitesh and Rohan shared 1 wicket each. Sunny was adjudged man of the match, while Ambroose was declared best batsman, Nitu best bowler and Nitish as man of the series.
In his address, Shakeel Beig, DIG Jammu lavished praise for the organizing team for conducting the event smoothly and successfully and said that sports keep youth mentally and physically fit.
He assured all possible help to Christian Sports Organization from Police Department.
Fr Kuriakose in his speech specially thanked the Police Department for all support to the Christian Sports Organization in organizing sports events and drug addiction programmes for the youths of the State.
He further said that CSO is regularly conducting sports and allied events for the youth to help them not to derail from the mainstream.

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

SAMBA, July 14: 1st Monu-Rinku Memorial Cricket Tournament concluded at Kehli Mandi, here today.
The Tournament was organized in the memory of Monu and Rinku, which invoked immense interest amongst the sports lovers of Kehli Mandi and adjoining areas with a large number of people specially youth thronging to witness the two weeks long Tournament in which 16 teams participated.
The tournament was organized by Anil Singh Sambyal, Sunil Singh, Ravinder Singh and Surinder Singh Sambyal of Kehli Mandi Samba.
The final match of the Tournament was played today between Bony XI  and New Life Club Samba, wherein Bony XI lifted winner’s trophy by defeating New Life Club by 85 runs.
Earlier, batting first, Bony XI scored 110 runs for the loss of 5 wickets and then bundled out New Life Club for meagre total of 25 runs. Kalu was adjudged as man of the match for his brilliant 50 runs in just 23 balls and 4 crucial wickets. Chander Udhay Singh bagged man of the series award and Vikram Singh Sambyal claimed fair play award.
Provincial president of National Conference and MLC, Devender Singh Rana was the chief guest on the occasion, who felicitated the winners, runners-up teams and the players with trophies.
He complimented all the participating teams in the tournament and thanked the organizers for holding the event which would promote cricket amongst youngsters and inspire them to make their presence felt at State as well as National level.
Meanwhile fulfilling the demand of the people, he announced Rs 2.50 lakhs for the Children’s Park in Kehli Mandi.
Senior NC leaders Rattan Lal Gupta, Kashmira Singh, Ayub Malik, Satwant Kaur Dogra and Dr Kamal Arora accompanied the Provincial president.
Earlier, president Rajput Sabha Samba, Inder Singh presented welcome address, while NC leader Satwant Kaur Dogra highlighted the demands pertaining to sports infrastructure in Samba.
Advocate Subash Singh presented the vote of thanks.

Excelsior Sports Correspondent
JAMMU, July 14: President of Jammu and Kashmir Amateur Kabaddi Association, Anil Gupta announced the selection committees for sub-junior, junior, senior, beach style and circle style kabaddi teams for  boys and girls for the  year 2014.
The selection committees will pick the talented players during the coaching camp before participation in the Nationals.
The performance of the selection committee members will be reviewed by the president and after accessing the performance, the members will be rotated for the next year.
The committees:
Circle Style: Kuldeep Kumar Gupta, chairman, Gulzar Ahmed, convener, A R Padder, co-convener, Rakesh Sharma, International player, Sushil Kumar, Sheikh Mohd Shafi, Jasdev  Singh and Ravinder  Singh  Bali, NIS coach.
Beach Style: Kuldeep Kumar Gupta, chairman, Anil Gupta, convener, Barshrat Khan, co-convener, Rakesh Sharma, Jameel Mir, Anil Modi, Vinod Kumar, NIS coach and Deeraj Sharma, NIS coach.
Senior: Kuldeep Kumar Gupta, chairman, M S Baba, convener, Dinesh Gupta, co-convener, Rakesh Sharma, Sangram Singh,Vijay Dhar, B S Tirthi, NIS coach and Ajay Gupta, NIS coach.
Junior: Kuldeep Kumar Gupta, chairman, Surinder Mohan Gupta, convener, Ghulam Mohd Ganai, co-convener, Rakesh Sharma, Fazal Hussain, Sanjit Sharma, Dharamjeet  Singh, NIS coach and Ankush Gupta, NIS coach.
Sub-Junior: Kuldeep Kumar Gupta, chairman, Ashok Sharma, convener, Hakumat Singh, co-convener, Rakesh Sharma, Inderjeet Sharma, Ankush Chib, Anil Sharma, NIS coach and Manik Sharma, NIS coach.

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, July 14: Cricket Friendship Cup Series 2014, organized by ‘The Swabhiman’, a Non-Government Organization (NGO), which had begun on May 25 concluded, here yesterday.
35 teams from different areas of Jammu participated in the Series. Team Mandi and team Dewana reached the finals, wherein team Dewana Mandir emerged winner defeating team Mandi by 4 wickets. Sheru was adjudged man of the match for his 4-wicket haul, while Dakar of Dewana Mandir team got man of the series award.
Amrit Malhotra, chairman Legislative Council Jammu and Kashmir was the chief guest, while BP Bhalla was the guest of honour and  Vikram Malhotra, general secretary, Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) was the special guest.
Prominent among others present on the occasion were Rinku Jamwal, Organizer, Balbir Singh, president Ward No 1, Jyoti Vaid, president, EP Tenants Welfare Society, Jammu, Tinu Khokhar, Thomas Khokhar,  Ram Swaroop, Raj Singh, Govind Singh and Joginder Singh.

* ‘Lack of encouragement, area of concern’

Rajesh Dhar
JAMMU, July 14: The selection of State’s ace gymnastics trio of gritty Mitali, gutsy Palak and skilled Krupali to represent India in 20th Commonwealth Games scheduled to be held at Scotland in UK from July 23 to August 3, 2014, is an incredible achievement for the State of Jammu and Kashmir, which otherwise is striving hard to craft a space on the Country’s Sports Map.
These world-class sportspersons will be leaving the State for this exalted tour on July 17, 2014.
While imaginative Krupali will escort the Indian squad as coach, golden girls Palak and Mitali will be the playing members of the Indian contingent in these prestigious Games.
However, despite their landmark achievements, the lack of encouragement to these sportspersons from the concerned authorities still remains an area of concern for these outstanding gymnasts.
In absence of standard infrastructural facilities available at MA Stadium in Jammu, the trio has to utilize the facilities available at BSF School, Paloura before leaving for this gymnastics extravaganza.
These sportspersons have set an example of sparkling at the highest level, despite lack of facilities.
Mitali has the distinction of representing India in 29th World Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships at Mie, Japan in 2009, World Cup in Rhythmic Gymnastics at Minsk, Belarus in 2010, FIG World Cup in Rhythmic Gymnastics at Pesaro, Italy and member of Indian Gymnastics team for Commonwealth Games at Delhi, India in 2010, besides winning 38 medals in various National Championships, with 17 gold, 10 silver and 11 bronze, she also holds the record of winning all 5 gold medals in 18 Senior and Junior National R G Championships at Jodhpur in 2007.
Palak Kour, on the other hand has the honour of representing India in 4th Children of Asia International Games at Yakutsik, Russia in 2008, 6th Asian RG Championship at Tashkent, Uzbekistan in 2013, 32nd World RG Championship at Kiev, Ukrain in 2013 and FIG RG World Cup at Tashkent, Uzbekistan in 2014, besides winning 27 medals in various National Championships, with 8 gold, 12 silver and 7 bronze.
1971 born gymnastics coach, Krupalli, has represented India in 13 International events, besides winning 113 medals in her playing career. She has the honour of being the youngest Indian to receive it at the age of 18 years in 1989.
Meanwhile, sharing their experience with EXCELSIOR, 17-year old Palak, who is presently youngest in the Indian squad and acrobatic Mitali said that the selection has brought ecstatic rather blissful feeling to them, adding that they are hopeful of a good show despite lesser facilities in the State.
They attributed their selection in the Indian squad to the sheer-dint of hard work by their coaches S P Singh and Krupali Singh.