Chandigarh, May 9
“Basketball is emerging as one of the key disciplines in Punjab as the state team won two gold and two silver medals in last four National Games along with 13 medals in last 14 years in national championships”, said Mr R.S. Gill, Additional Director General of Punjab Police and president, Basketball Federation of India, in an interaction with The Tribune.
Elaborating further, he asserted that at present Yadwinder Singh, Jagdeep Singh and Talwinder Singh of the state were representing India in the senior team along with seven boys and one girl in various age groups. Punjab have overtaken all other states in the last 13 national championships bagging 65 medals in comparison to 31 and 30 medals managed by states at number two and three positions, respectively.
To get better results in Olympics and other reputed international events, Mr Gill stressed on the need to develop the game at the grass-root level. “For the purpose we have been organizing the inter-district and inter-state championships at regular intervals along with the camps for preparation.”
Mr Gill, who is also president of Punjab Basketball Association, claimed to have prepared 200 more courts in rural areas during his term of 14 years as office-bearer of the association. Besides, floodlights have been installed at the 25 per cent of the total centers of the state to provide more time to practice to sportspersons.
“To motivate players, who brought laurels to the state and country, we organize special functions to honour them with mementoes and cash awards,” Mr Gill added.
Revealing his objectives for improvement of the game, Mr Gill said: “To have indoor basketball stadiums with world-class facilities in every district headquarters along with at least four training centres in each district and government jobs for players who make a mark, are our top priorities and we hope to achieve these very soon”.
