University admissions: Turnout for sports trials dips further on last day

Aakanksha N Bhardwaj

Jalandhar, June 25

Participation on last day of the sports trials today remained much less as compared to the first day. The wings trials were held for selection in colleges associated with Guru Nanak Dev University, Punjab Technical University and Maharaja Bhupinder Singh Sports University, Patiala.

Over 200 players took part on Tuesday

The coaches were of the view on Monday that the turnout might increase on the last day, but nothing of that sort happened. It has definitely highlighted the grave problem related to sports. On Monday, a total of 305 players participated in the trials, while over 200 players participated on Tuesday.

In figures

• As many as 20 players turned up in athletics, while only seven players took part in swimming. For boxing, gymnastics and volleyball, as many as nine, 13 and 20 players came for the trials, respectively.
• In kabaddi, as many as 20 budding players took part whereas in judo and handball, 18 and 15 turned up, respectively. Forty players each gave trials for basketball and hockey. In weightlifting and badminton, less than five players took part.

The trials, which began on Monday, saw an abysmally poor turnout on both days. Today, girls participated in the trials, but the number was very less. The coaches were of the view yesterday that the turnout might increase on the last day, but nothing of that sort happened. It has definitely highlighted the grave problem related to sports. On Monday, a total of 305 players participated in the trials, while over 200 players participated today.

As many as 20 players turned up in athletics, while only seven players took part in swimming. For boxing, gymnastics and volleyball, as many as nine, 13 and 20 players came for the trials, respectively.

In kabaddi, as many as 20 budding players took part whereas in judo and handball, 18 and 15 turned up, respectively. Forty players each gave trials for basketball and hockey. In weightlifting and badminton, less than five players took part. The Tribune had highlighted how not even a single participant came for swimming, table tennis, lawn tennis, badminton, fencing and cycling on Day 1. Today also, none of the players participated in all these games, except badminton, in which four players took part.

Jalandhar is renowned for producing exceptional national and international players, including recipients of the prestigious Padma Shri and Arjuna awards. However, the participation in trials for the sports wings has dwindled over the years. The Tribune had earlier highlighted that the coaches attribute this decline to the diminishing interest of students in sports as more and more are opting to go abroad in pursuit of different vocations.