Union Minister Murlidhar Mohol has said that the National Games should be organised again in Pune and efforts should be made to achieve this goal.
Mohol was speaking during the inauguration of the Sub Junior National Judo Tournament here. He said, “Judo resembles my favourite sport, wrestling. Many judo moves are also used in wrestling. These two martial arts have great affinity.”
The competition was inaugurated by lighting a traditional lamp. Young entrepreneur Punit Balan attended the event as a special guest. On this occasion, Balan announced a Rs10 lakh cash award for the medal winners of the contest. An award of Rs11,000 will be given to the gold medalist, Rs7,000 to the silver medalist and Rs5,000 each to the two bronze medalists.
Inspire Institute of Sports' Tathagata Mukherjee and Judo Federation office-bearers, including Virender Vashist, CS Rajan, and Dronacharya Award winner Jiwan Sharma, Arjuna Awardee Yashpal Solanki and State Judo Association president Dhananjay Bhosale were present at the event.
Paris Olympic silver medalist and Arjuna awardee Sachin Khilari was the special invitee. State Judo Association general secretary Shailesh Tilak made the introductory speech while secretary (TC) Datta Aphale proposed a vote of thanks. As many as 235 boys and 230 girls from 29 states are participating in the Sub Junior Competition.
The Junior National Judo Championships – 2024-25 (Boys & Girls) is held, in association with the Maharashtra Judo Association, from Jan 18 to Jan 21 at Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex, Balewadi.
