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MUZAFFARABAD: Starting today, February 7, the Azad Jammu and Kashmir AJK women’s Winter Sports Association (AJKWSA) and the AJK Sports Department will hold the third Ganga Choti Winter Sports Festival and the 2023 National Women Winter Sports Championship (Saadia Khan Cup).
According to Raja Aqeel Khurshid, secretary general of the AJKWSA, “This is the first time Azad Kashmir is hosting a women’s winter sports national championship where more than 80 female athletes will compete for the Saadia Khan Cup.”
“He said that female athletes from eight teams including AJK, Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), Pakistan Air Force, and Adventure Foundation Pakistan will represent their respective teams.”
More than 40 male athletes from various regional clubs in AJK, Punjab, KP, GB, and ICT will compete individually in the third Ganga Choti Winter Sports event, according to Mr. Khurshid.
In the Bagh district of AJK, at a height of 9,990 feet, Ganga Choti is located seven kilometres in front of Sudhan Gali, a popular tourist destination at 7,000 feet.
According to Mr. Khurshid, the athletes would compete for medals in the Alpine Skiing Slalom and Giant Slalom categories, as well as the Snowboarding Parallel Giant Slalom and Giant Slalom categories.
On February 12, he predicted that AJK Prime Minister Sardar Tanveer Ilays will likely attend as the event’s primary guest.
At the closing ceremony, where local artists would also perform at a Kashmiri cultural display, athletes will showcase their skiing and snowboarding prowess before receiving their medals and other accolades.
“AJK Winter Sports Calendar: Training Camps and Upcoming Championship”
The sporting event, according to Mr. Khurshid, was a part of the AJK winter sports calendar. “The AJK Winter Sports Association held Alpine Skiing training camps for local youth between January 28 and February 6 at various locations near Muzaffarabad, Rawalakot, and Bagh, including the 9,500-foot-high Pir Chinasi, the 9,000-foot-high Toli Pir, and the 7,000-foot-high Sudhan Gali.”
He stated that this year’s 5th Arang Kel Championship was planned for mid-March.
Khurshid insisted that since the AJKWSA hosted the territory’s first-ever winter sports event in 2019 at 8,379-foot-high Arang Kel in Neelum valley, winter, and ice sports competitions, and activities had become a regular occurrence in AJK.
He claimed that AJK has the best slopes and locations, which were only a three to four-hour drive from Islamabad and technically ideal for Alpine Skiing and Ice Sports, making the region a popular vacation place for fans of the winter sports and tourists.
To attain this goal, he added, the AJK government had to establish a decent infrastructure and facilities as well as a thorough and realistic policy with clear and logical short-term and long-term goals.
He claimed that he had just spoken with the AJK premier, who had pledged his support for the construction of ice rinks and the installation of chairlifts at four different places to promote winter sports.