Army skiers outshine others in national championships

Skiers and snowboarders from Army Sports Control Board (ASCB) have beaten other athletes in national alpine skiing and snowboarding championships commenced at Solang slopes of Manali.

The races in five categories ended on Tuesday evening while prize distribution ceremony will be held on Wednesday. Team Army remained overall winner of the tournament. Asif Aziz from Army bagged first prize in giant slalom. Devender Gurung from Army and Atul Bhatt from Uttarakhand finished at second and third places.

In women category, Sandhya from team Himachal finished at first place while Aanchal Thakur and Varsha from Himachal finished at second and third places respectively.

Men’s snowboarding too was captured by Indian Army. Vivek Rana, Rigzin Norboo and Thakur B Ale, all from Army, finished at first, second and third position respectively.

Clocking lowest time, Avatar Singh from Army was announced the winner of snowboard cross category. Rinku from Himachal and Tim Bahadur Chhetri from Army finished at second and third positions respectively.

In slalom category, skier from Army, Devender Gurung, won the race after defeating top 20 skiers who had qualified for the final race. Sunil Kumar from Army finished at second place. Santosh Kumar from team Himachal had to satisfy with third position.

In women slalom, Sandhya Thakur from team Himachal won the first prize. Aanchal Thakur and Varsha Devi from Himachal finished at second and third position respectively.

In ski free style too Army team stumped all the athletes. Army’s Sunny Kumar bagged the first prize. Bilal Ahmed from team J&K finished the race at second position and Jai Singh from team Uttarakhand finished at third place.

In women free style ski, Varsha Devi and Sandhya, both from Himachal finished at first and second place respectively, while Ankita from team Delhi finished the race at third position.

Nearly 100 athletes, both men and women, from Army, Himachal, J&K, Uttarakhand and Delhi, participated in the races. Athletes from Army proved their mettle in both skiing and snowboarding. However, team Army had no women athlete.

Star skier Aanchal Thakur, who came to prominence after winning first medal for country in international event last year, could not perform well at home slopes.

The championships were organized by Himachal Pradesh Winter Games Association, Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Mountaineering and Allied Sports (ABVIMAS) and Manali Winter Carnival Committee under aegis of Indian Olympic Association.

ABVIMAS joint director Ashwani Kumar said closing ceremony of the event will be held at Solang on Wednesday. “Everything went smooth and perfect. The snow quality on slopes was great. All the athletes enjoyed the tournament. Army’s team did tremendous job by outshining others. We are looking forward to host more such events here,” he said.

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The Himalayan

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