Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 19 Dec: Visually impaired athletes are showcasing their talent at the National Blind Sports Championship being held at Maharana Pratap Sport Stadium, Raipur. Eight men’s teams and six women’s teams from various states are participating in this major sporting event. The men’s teams are from Gujarat, Kerala, Meghalaya, Odisha, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, and Uttarakhand. The women’s teams are from Maharashtra, West Bengal, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Odisha, and Gujarat.
In this competition, the first football semi-final match was played on Wednesday between Uttarakhand and Gujarat, Uttarakhand winning 2-0. Shefali Rawat of Uttarakhand performed exceptionally well in this match.
The second semi-final was also between Uttarakhand and Gujarat, Uttarakhand winning 3-1. Sahil scored two goals and Shivam Negi scored one for Uttarakhand, while Vijay Panchani scored one goal for Gujarat. On Thursday, the final match played between Uttarakhand and Meghalaya in the men’s category, and between Uttarakhand and the winner of the match in the women’s category.
Dr S Farooq appreciated the efforts and said that such events will encourage others and also to see ability beyond disability.
Anant Prakash Mehra, President of the Uttarakhand Blind Sports Association, said that this five-day national blind sports championship, held at the Maharana Pratap Sports College ground, is a testament to the self-reliance of people with disabilities. The association has been motivating and training its visually impaired players to play football since 2016.
In 2023, a women’s blind football team was formed from Uttarakhand, which won the 2023 Zonal Championship and the 2024 National Championship in its very first attempt. Despite limited resources and a lack of facilities, the visually impaired players are continuously striving for excellence.
Present on the occasion were Dr S Farooq, Dr Shivkumar Varnwal, Lalit Pant, Ghanshyam, Namita Mamgai, Amit Gupta, Association Chief Secretary Nirupama Rawat, National Referee and National Coordinator Vivek Konari, Vijay Panchwal, Akash Rawat, Ranju Rawat, Israr Ahmed, Rajesh Kumar, Umesh Grover, and others. The referees were Samuel Chandra, Shikha Negi, Madhu Tamta, and Akshay Kumar Singh.
