LG Sinha to inaugurate Asian PencakSilat championship today

Srinagar, Oct 12: All preparations and arrangements are in place for 6th senior Asian PencakSilat championship scheduled to be held at Shere-e-Kashmir Indoor sports Complex Srinagar and LG J&K, Manoj Sinha will inaugurate this mega event on Thursday, officials said.
Organising Secretary and coach Indian PencakSilat Federation, Irfan Aziz Bota told Rising Kashmir that all preparations have been put in place for 6th Asian pencaksilat championship.
Around 200 athletes from 12 Asian countries are going to participate in this international event including India, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Philipines, Kazakhistan, Indonesia, I.R. Iran, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
A total of 72 athletes are participating in the mega event including 12 athletes from Jammu and Kashmir.
Botta said that Indian PencakSilat Federation will also hold the Asian championship in 2018 in which nine Asian teams will participate.
“We hope the tournament shall give a positive message to outside countries that international tournaments could be held in Srinagar,” he said.
Talking about the preparations Botta said that they have prepared well for the international event.
“We have been into the camp since 27th of September and athletes from across India have been selected for said championship after following proper selection process,” he said, adding that in previous championships they bagged four medals and this time are hoping for more medals.
Boinow, 32, an athlete from Manipur who is an international silat player said that he has been playing pencaksilat since 2016, have bagged many medals for the country.
“Kashmir is a beautiful place, with its mesmeric picturesque of mountains, gardens and lakes and friendly nature of people of Kashmir multiply value to it,” he said.
He said he has been preparing for the last 15 days for this mega event and is hopeful that he will bag a medal for the country.
Another athlete from Singapore Mohammad Iqbal, 29, said that everything was well managed at the venue.
“We were received and taken care off by the management,” he said,” and added, “Kashmir is good place for athletes to play in and the best destination for tourists to visit,” he said.
He said that he will give his best in the tournament and will try to win a medal for his country.
Mohammad Arif, Manager Malaysian team said that they have arrived in the valley to participate in asian championship 22 and added they are pleased that they have been invited to take part in the championship.
“We hope that we will win some gold medals for our country,” he said.
He added that they will visit some tourist places in Kashmir soon after they get free from the championship.
The Asian championship is being organised by Indian PencakSilat Federation and is sponsored by J&K Sports Council.