JALANDHAR
Local Bodies Minister Balkar Singh on Sunday said that the Punjab government was making every effort to promote sports and develop infrastructure in the state to nurture youth from the playfield to the podium.
Felicitating the winners of the Yonex-Sunrise North zone inter-state badminton tournament in Raizada Hansraj Stadium on a concluding day, Singh said that the government was committed to reviving the sporting culture in the state. He said that there was no dearth of talent in the state but the need of the hour was that the players need better infrastructure and facilities which is being ensured by the state government.
About results, District Badminton Association Secretary Ritin Khanna said that in the individual events, Ravi of Haryana became the winner in the men's finals. Ravi defeated Bharat Raghav of Haryana. In the women's event, Tanvi Sharma of Punjab won the final by defeating Anmol Kharab of Haryana. In the men's doubles final, Rajasthan's Shubham Patel and Vedant Sharma defeated Harsh Rana and Nitin Kumar of Delhi 21-19, 21-16 to win the title. In the women's doubles final, Haryana's Devika Sihag and Riddhi Kaur Toor defeated Delhi's Ishani Valdiya and Navadha Mangalam 18-21, 21-16, 23-21.
Similarly, in the mixed doubles category, Haryana's Akshit Mahajan and Riddhi Kaur Toor defeated Delhi's Nitin and Navdha 11-21, 21-16, 21-13. Medhavi Nagar from Haryana became the winner in girls' singles under- 19 category. She defeated Sheena Narwal of her own state by 21-18, 4-0 (retd). In Boys under-19 Doubles, Delhi's Bhavya Chhabra and Param Chowdhary defeated Mayank Rana and Sunny Nehra of Haryana 5-1 (Retd). Haryana's Afreen Bishnoi and Chitwan Khatri pair defeated Punjab's Lisa Tank and Manya Ralhan 21-12 21-12 in the Girls under-19 doubles final. In the final of Mixed Doubles under-19, Aryan and Anmol pair of Haryana defeated Akshit and Manya Ralhan of Punjab by 14-21, 21-18, 21-15.
P. Ramakrishna was the chief referee and Rakesh Rasania was the match controller in the tournament.
Prominent amongst those present included Punjab Badminton Association Secretary Anupam Kumaria, Mohinder Chopra, Rakesh Khanna, Vishal Ralhan, Dheeraj Sharma, Rajan Kumar, Ashok Kumar, Chitranjan Bansal, Sandeep Rinwa, Ashok Kumar, Navjot Bhullar, Dr Mohinder Singh