Sports Desk/Chandigarh
Punjab’s Governor and UT Administrator Banwari Lal Purohit formally inaugurated the second edition of the Allengers Gully Cricket Tournament at Cricket Stadium on Friday. As many as 3600 young boys and girls aged between 14 to 18 years are representing 300 teams in this 17 days long tournament. The tournament is being organized by UT Cricket Association in collaboration with the Chandigarh Police.
Present on the occasion includes UTCA’s President Sanjay Tandon, Secretary Devender Sharma, Chandigarh Police’s DGP Surendra Singh Yadav, IG RK Singh, SSP Kanwardeep Kaur, Sports Secretary Hari Kallikat, former Justice Mahesh Grover, State BJP President Jatinder Pal Malhotra, Allengers’s chief RS Kanwar and others.
In his address, UTCA President Sanjay Tandon termed this second edition of the tournament as his 'promise' and 'maintaining the tradition intact'. He elaborated that after the great success of the first edition inspired him to move on for the second edition with the kind cooperation of the police, administration and sponsors.
Governor and UT Administrator Banwari Lal Purohit praised the efforts of President Tandon and said that this effort has created an excellent platform to connect deprived children with sports. He said that while the administration is making all efforts to curb drug addiction, the police is also leaving no stone unturned in this direction, meanwhile on the other hand, UTCA has also not been untouched in strengthening this campaign.
He affirmed that the theme of the tournament is not only to strengthen the Nasha Mukt Abhiyan of the Government of India but also to make the youth represent Chandigarh by connecting with cricket. He said that likewise last year, this year also jerseys, cricket and medical kits have been distributed to each player. The organizers will register their tournament in the Asia Book of Records with 300 teams against 204 teams played in the last edition.
In his address, Governor and UT Administrator Banwari Lal Purohit praised the efforts of President Tandon and said that this effort has created an excellent platform to connect deprived children with sports. He said that while the administration is making all efforts to curb drug addiction, the police is also leaving no stone unturned in this direction, meanwhile on the other hand, UTCA has also not been untouched in strengthening this campaign. He said that last year he was a part of this event and he is very happy with the massive participation of the tournament.
In her vote of thanks, Chandigarh Police’s SSP Kanwardeep Kaur expressed her gratitude to everyone and said that the department has ensured that no player faces any difficulty in the tournament. She informed that the department has dedicated 600 jawans and senior officers for the tournament.
The tournament will be played in ten overs-a-side. A total of nine grounds have been designated for the tournament. The final of the tournament will be played on August 11 at PCA Stadium in Mohali. During the course of the tournament, intellectuals will promote sports spirit in exhibition matches on weekends.