‘Balla ghumao, nasha bhagao': Punjab Governor appeals to youth at felicitation event
Addressing the winners and runner-up teams of the third edition of the UTCA Chandigarh Police Gully Cricket Tournament, Chandigarh Administrator and Punjab Governor Gulab Chand Kataria urged the youth to stay committed to the tournament's theme 'Balla ghumao, nasha bhagao', of taking up sport and staying away from the menace of drugs.
The tournament was suspended earlier this month due to the hostilities between India and Pakistan and the final matches were played on May 17.
Kataria felicitated the players in a special function at Punjab Raj Bhavan on Friday, which also saw the presence of UTCA president Sanjay Tandon and UT SSP Kanwardeep Kaur apart from UT Education and Sports Secretary Prerna Puri.
'As the youth of the city, each one of you has to stay committed to the theme 'Balla ghumao, nasha bhagao'. One of the targets for us is to make Chandigarh as well Punjab drug free and I applaud UTCA and Chandigarh Police for such endeavour. I congratulate all the winners as well as runner-up teams and I am sure next time, the runner-up team's target will be to win the trophy,' said Kataria while addressing the function.
A total of 576 teams including 6912 players competed in the tournament in the boys and girls categories combined.
In the boys' final, Team Number 187 claimed the title with a 31-run win over Team Number 311, while team number 1 scored a 35-run win over Team Number 52 in the girls' final played on May 17.
Kataria also announced a cash reward of Rs 10,000 for each outstanding player of the tournament.
Mohammad Shahbaz of Team Number 187 was adjudged as the best batsman of the tournament as she scored 254 runs in seven matches.
Suraj Kumar was adjudged as the best bowler with 17 wickets in five matches in the boy's category.
In the girls' category, Prabhjot Kaur was adjudged as the best batsman with 123 runs in six matches while Ayana Siwach was adjudged as the best bowler with 11 wickets.
'This tournament has been unearthing talent at the grass roots level and our motive is to keep the youth away from drugs and create a drug free society. Along with Chandigarh Police, we have been successfully conducting this tournament since 2022 and to see participation of more than 6,000 players this year is overwhelming for each one of us. The top players will be given training by UTCA and nurtured by UTCA,' said Tandon.
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