Numerous athletes participated in the much-awaited ‘Kashmir Grand Prix’ athletic meet organized by NGO Wath Haawuk at Gindun ground in Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) with NIS qualified coach Tahir Mir overseeing all the competitions.
The day started off with Men’s 1500m race which was won by Gulbadan Hikmatyar, while Umer Hamid and Sajad Hussain came second and thirds respectively. The enthusiasm of the athletes in the first race set the tone for rest of the day.
It was followed by Men’s 100m event for which three qualifying rounds took place. In the final round, Adil Sher occupied the first position, Danish Dar came second and Mohd Adil Khan ended up in the third spot.
At the end of the first hour and a half, female athletes took centre stage and competed in the 200m race which was won by Nadiya Nighat, joined by Sameera Hamid in second spot and Zeenat in the third spot.
Soon after, Women 800m began in which Zobiya Tariq claimed the first position and Muskaan Shabaan finished just short in second place.
Next up was the Men’s 400m race. In a closely fought contest, Suhail Nisar clocked in the fastest to bag the top position, while a mere few seconds separated runner ups Parvaiz Ahmed Wani and Danish Ahmed Dar.
In the afternoon, the athletic meet witnessed U-14 children events.
In the girls 100m race, Eshal impressed with the top place, while Irfa Zehra came second and Hadiqa ended up bagging the third spot.
The boys 100m race in children was a much exciting affair and saw Asif Ali run away with the first spot, Abeer Rouf and Hamzah grabbed the second and third positions respectively.
The day then got down to the final two events. First up was Women’s 100m final. Once again Nadiya Nighat proved to be good enough for her to claim her second gold of the day. While Sameera followed her first silver with another one in this race. Sheeraza came third in a close race.
The final event of the day took place in Men’s 5000m category. All the athletes were well equipped and conditioned for this long run. After a lengthy run, Gulbadan Hikhmatyar claimed gold after an impressive performance. Umer ended up with a silver medal and rounding off the top three was Mir Riyaz, claiming bronze.
After the event, all the athletes were provided with participating certificates from Wath Haawuk. All the winners from various categories received medals from Tahir Mir, who applauded the efforts of everyone involved.
All the participants of the children category were awarded medals to encourage them further in their endeavours. In the junior category, Zaeem Hussain Bazaz, Mirza Mohammad Kazim and Murtaza Hussain participated – all of whom were four years of age or less.
This event marked one of the best turnovers in the athletic history of the valley. In all, 60 athletes participated in the men and women events, most notably there were two participants from Kargil. The junior category also attracted a good number of young runners with the total of 22 participants.