Srinagar: The stage is set for the first-ever Rowing National Championship in Srinagar as the 23rd Sub-junior and 5th Inter-State Challenger National Rowing Championship would be inaugurated at SKICC here on Wednesday.
Around 700 players and officials belonging to 25 States, and Union Territories from different parts of the country have arrived in Srinagar for the event.
It will be the first time ever that the National championship of Rowing would be hosted in J&K. The championship is expected to be inaugurated on Wednesday by Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha.
On Tuesday, teams had their first training session in the course specially made for the championship in Dal Lake. Despite bad weather players from all teams had their training sessions and would be having another session on Wednesday morning. The competitions are scheduled to be held on Thursday morning.
The event is being conducted by the J&K Rowing and Sculling Association under the auspices of the Rowing Federation of India and sponsored by J&K Sports Council with active support from J&K Police, Tourism, J&K Administration, Health, LAWDA, SKICC, SDRF, NDRF and SMC.
RFI also held its executive meeting at SKICC on Tuesday in which the executive committee members from various parts of the country discussed the conduct of the event.
“It is a historic event and everything is in place for the inauguration,” said Vice President J&K Rowing Association, Gowhar.
“All the teams have reached Srinagar and all of them have settled in their respective allotted hotels. They also had their training session and would be having another one before the start of the official competitions,” he said.
A participant from Maharashtra said that the weather is a bit cold but they are enjoying it.
“The conditions, weather-wise due to rain are challenging but we are ready for the event. The course is great and Kashmir really is a beautiful place,” said the athlete.
Rowing Federation of India VP Balaji said that it is a great moment for the sport of Rowing in India that finally, a National championship is happening in Kashmir.
“It is a historic moment in the history of Rowing sport in India. RFI is delighted to have it finally in Kashmir. Everything has been done superbly and this event is going to be a big success,” he said.