By OUR STAFF REPORTER
DEHRADUN, 19 Dec: Governor Lt Gen (Retd) Gurmit Singh was the Chief Guest at the closing ceremony of the 11th All India Police Archery Competition. The ITBP team won the men’s category and the BSF team won the women’s category in the event. Rajat Chauhan of Rajasthan Police and Tushar Shilke of ITBP were jointly awarded the Best Archer’s Trophy in the men’s category while Tutu Moni Boro of BSF was declared the Best Woman Archer.
Addressing the gathering, the Governor congratulated all the players, national and international. He said that it was a matter of pride for the state to have hosted the All India Archery Competition. Known as Dhanurvidya, archery is an ancient Indian art which requires planning, concentration, practice and a strong will. These are the qualities that could enable an individual for success in life as well. He further noted that archery has an important place in police and the armed forces.
The Governor stressed that the main aim of the sport was to showcase one’s art and skill. Besides physical development, sports also helped in personality development. It was great to note that Indian players were hoisting the tricolour the world over and even in archery, Indian players have proved their mettle on the international stage. He said that it is a great initiative to revive an ancient art form and he noted that Uttarakhand has brought in a new sports policy to help players hone their skills even more.
Lt-General Singh congratulated the Uttarakhand Police for the successful organisation of the competition. Director General of Police Ashok Kumar spoke about the championship, in which a total of 26 teams, including armed forces and police teams of 19 states participated. A total of 316 players, including 196 men and 120 women, participated in the competition which was conducted between December 14 and 19.
In the concluding programme, Additional Director, IB Sapna Tiwari also congratulated the winners. The organising secretary of the competition Mukhtar Mohsin briefed the gathering about the competition. On this occasion, along with Rajendra Tomar, secretary of Uttarakhand Archery Association, senior officials of police department and players from different states were also present.
