Chandigarh: Month long sports carnival which has been organised by Confederation of Indian Industry’s (CII’s) Young Indians (Yi) Solan Chapter, in association with Chandigarh Citi Center (CCC), Zirakpur, today took off at the Sector 16 stadium here. The chief guest on the occasion was G.S Bali, Minister for Transport & Consumer Affairs, Government of Himachal Pradesh.
All the participating teams were present during the inaugural ceremony and an exhibition cricket match was also be played between Chandigarh Citi Centre vs CII Yi to mark the beginning of the Sports Carnival. For the first time, a ‘Pink Ball’ will be used in the cricket matches played in the sports carnival.
While speaking on the occasion the Mr G S Bali, Minister for Transport & Consumer Affairs, Government of Himachal Pradesh said it was a good initiative of the CII and Chandigarh Citi Center as it such events help in promoting sports and also in encouraging those who are good in sports but do not get the right opportunity to participate. The trophy of tournament was also unveiled by the chief guest.
The carnival is open to all individuals aged between 18 and 65 years. The event will comprise sports namely Cricket, Badminton, Table Tennis, Soccer. Matches for all the sports would be played on league-cum-knock-out basis. All matches will be played on weekends. League matches will be played at Chandigarh & Panchkula while the Semis and the finals would be played at Chandigarh only. More than 20 teams will be participating in Cricket and over 40 participants each in Badminton and Table Tennis.
The Event Partner is Chandigarh Citi Center, Zirakpur and Equipment Partner is Cricketer Shop. There would be two venues for the cricket matches on every weekend and in total 12 matches will be played. In total till final 49 matches of cricket will be played. The concluding ceremony will be in the second week of November.
Nitin Aggarwal, Chair Yi Solan Chapter, said “Our aim of holding this tournament is to promote sports and learn the art of working as a team, to inculcate a ‘never say die spirit’, to learn to play as a cohesive unit and coordinate well with each other to achieve desired results. It has been Yi's endeavour to work towards an all-round growth & development of people."
Sanjay Khurana, Chairman, CII Himachal Pradesh State Council said the sports carnival is sure to be a delight for Chandigarh residents and it will help in making their weekends sportier.
In Table tennis age groups have been classified into four parts: 18 to 25, 26-35, 36 to 50 and above 50. Cricket matches will be played on weekends from 8 am onwards and there will be 12 matches of crickets to be played on Saturdays and Sundays during the month. The venues would include DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 8, Leader Cricket Academy in Sector 26, ATS Derabassi and Tau Devi Lal Stadium, Panchkula. Semi Finals and Finals of cricket to be played at Cricket Stadium, Sector 16.
