Bandipora, Feb 10: “Sheenijung”, a delightful game of hurling snowballs at one another will be entering its new phase as North Kashmir’s Bandipora district prepares to host its inaugural tournament of snowfall on Sunday.
The tournament has been announced by the Padma Shri award-winning martial arts coach Faisal Ali Dar and will be held at the recently identified scenic tourist destination of Bandipora, Ketson, which boasts a plethora of Winter sports opportunities.
Faisal while speaking to Rising Kashmir said that the “Sheenijung” is an age-old pastime of Kashmir and citizens have plentiful reminiscences tied up to it. “We thought it could be a good idea to make a proper game out of it, so that tourists can also have a fun time playing by throwing snowballs at one another,” he said.
Faisal added that the tournament will start on Sunday and every team will possess ten participants. ” We have properly drafted regulations and instructions for this game. It will be managed professionally so that we can take it to the next level in the subsequent year,” he said.
A court with limits will be formed in the snow and teams will stay fifty meters apart, Faisal said, adding that the toss winning team will either opt to protect or strike and the assaulting team will then hurl snowballs at their opponent who will endeavor to shield and defend the attack which will be the first round of the competition.
Similarly, the defensive team of the first round will attack their rival in the second round and the team with the most hits will emerge victorious, he said.
Faisal said that ‘Sheenijung’ has been a winter entertainment of Kashmir for generations and citizens of all ages, even elderly people, have experienced pleasure with this.
“Sheenijung has the capability of becoming a renowned winter traditional game of Kashmir which is precisely what we are going to strive to do by utilizing every possible effort”, he added.
Faisal said that apart from the “Sheenijung”, games such as Kabbadi and tug of war will also will be held in the newly-acknowledged tourist village with immense potential for winter sports activities.
In the near future, national and international participants will be invited to Kashmir to engage in this traditional winter game, thus providing this game a formal touch, which is the primary aim.
To mention, snowball fight gained attention across media platforms after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi shared a video on social media of throwing Snow on his sister Priyanka Gandhi during Bharat Jodo Yatra.
