The Indian Army team has won the trophy of 14th National Rafting Championships held at Sunni in Shimla district and another team of the Army won second place while the team of Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Mountaineering and Allied Sports (ABVIMAS) remained third overall winner of the tournament.
The event had started on March 23 in Satluj river and a total of 15 national teams participated in the races in different categories including men and women. Five team of Indian Army, four teams of Border Security Force (BSF), teams from Punjab police, Hyderabad, Jammu & Kashmir, Arunachal and Himachal participated in the event.
The ABVIMAS team bagged gold in sprint race in senior men category while Army teams won both silver and bronze. In both slalom and marathon races, the gold, silver and bronze were won by the three teams of Army.
In senior boys and girls mix category, gold was won by ABVIMAS, silver and bronze were bagged by BSF teams. Gold in marathon race was bagged by BSF, silver by ABVIMAS team and bronze by BSF.
Indian Army team was declared the overall winner. Another team of Indian Army was declared first runner up and ABVIMAS team had to satisfy with third place.
The event was hosted by ABVIMAS in association with Himachal Tourism. ABVIMAS director Col Neeraj Rana said tourism secretary Devesh Kumar was the chief guest in prize distribution ceremony. “The river rafting events are promoting waters sports in the country. The top-performing teams will be shortlisted for World Rafting Championship to be held at France from June 28,” he said.
National Rafting Championships in Satluj river from March 23
March 21, 2021: The 14th National Rafting Championships will be held in Himachal in Satluj river from March 23 to 27 where 18 teams from different states will vie for the top three places to be able to participate in World Rafting Championships, France.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Mountaineering and Allied Sports (ABVIMAS) is organising the championships at Luhri in Himachal. The national championship is organised in different rivers at different places every year.
The purpose of the event is to promote water sports in the country and encourage youth to adopt water sports as a profession.
ABVIMAS director Col Neeraj Rana said nearly 18 teams are participating in the biggest water sports event of the country that is starting from March 23.
“Four teams are from Indian Army, two from BSF, four from Himachal, one each from Arunachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Telangana and Jammu and Kashmir. The races will be held in different categories including men, women and mix,” he said.
He added that the top performing teams will be shortlisted for WRF World Rafting Championships to be held at L’Argentière-La Bessée city of France from June 28 to July 3. The event will be organised by World Rafting Federation.
White water rafting and kayaking have emerged as popular water sports in Himachal. River rafting has become a popular adventure activity that is experienced by lakhs of tourists every year in the state.
Water sports have become a source of income for thousands of people in the state. And efforts are being made to promote the event as both fun and professional sport.
Besides rafting, speed boat, jet skiing, ski boarding, water scooter, cruise and water skiing are also being introduced at new sites of the state. Last year, jetovator, hydrofoil and jet skiing were introduced at Larji and Tatapani reservoirs. A large number of local youth were trained in different water sports by ABVIMAS.
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