Chandigarh: The National Gatka Association of India today inaugurated the Federation Gatka Cup with much fanfare at the Sports Complex, Sector 34, Chandigarh, which was inaugurated by Saint Baba Gurdev Singh Ji, head of Gurudwara Nanaksar, Chandigarh. On this occasion, he was accompanied by President of National Gatka Association Harjit Singh Grewal, President of Chandigarh Gatka Association Hardeep Singh Butrela and General Secretary of Chandigarh Olympic Association N.S. Thakur was also there.

On this occasion, Baba Gurdev Singh ji blessed the guest players from different states and said that the National Gatka Association of India (NGAI) will promote and recognize this 600-year-old game at the national level. His efforts are commendable. He said that Gatka is a very cheap, easy and long-awaited art of self-defence to keep the youth away from drugs and connect them with their heritage. Therefore, to promote this game to all state governments and various organizations, N.G.A.I. should be supported.

 On this occasion, N.G.A.I. Gatka President Harjeet Singh Grewal announced that boys and girls teams from at least 20 states would participate in the 11th National Championship and 2nd Federation Gatka Cup. He also announced that the first ‘Champions Gatka Trophy’ as a national level competition would be organized in Kurukshetra in September in collaboration with the Haryanvi Gatka Association to continue preparing players for bigger tournaments.

Giving this information, Chandigarh Gatka Association General Secretary Rajdeep Singh Bali and Finance Secretary Simranjit Singh said that Gatka teams of boys and girls from 13 states are participating in this two-day national tournament. Before the inauguration of this Federation Cup, the players and technical officials prayed for success and also took an oath to play and feed the tournament with ideal sportsmanship and transparency.

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During this tournament, talented Gatka players Simarpreet Kaur and Harneet Kaur from Dashmesh Gurmat Vidyalaya, Tarnet, Melbourne, participated in Gatka Soti and Soti-Pharri under the guidance of Dr. Shubhkaran Singh Sikh Heritage Sports Department, Dashmesh Gurmat Vidyalaya, Bhai Gursharan Singh Australia Gatka Coach. Participated and also showed the jewels of Shashtar art.

 On this occasion, among others, N.G.A.I. Vice President Sukhchain Singh Kalsani, General Secretary Harjinder Kumar, Joint Secretary Jatin Kumar, Zonal Coordinator Jaswant Singh Khalsa Chhattisgarh, Harpreet Singh Uttarakhand, Gurmeet Singh Rana Delhi, Pandurang Ambure Maharashtra, Ravinder Singh OP Jammu, Paramjit Singh Jabalpur, International Council of Sikh Shastra Education Secretary Baljit Singh, Jaspal Singh Malik, Inderjodh Singh Zirakpur, President of District Gatka Association Rupnagar Bibi Manjit Kaur, Harpreet Singh Loudimajra, Varun Bhardwaj etc were present.

The results of the first day were as follows –

In the women’s free-spirited team events, on the opening day, Haryana beat Jammu in the first semi-final, while Delhi lost to Punjab in the second semi-final. Similarly, in the women’s Gatka Soti individual event, Haryana defeated Punjab in the first semi-final, while Madhya Pradesh lost to Jharkhand in the second semi-final. In the men’s Gatka Soti team event, the Punjab team defeated Chhattisgarh in the first semi-final while Chandigarh defeated Uttarakhand in the second semi-final.

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