Skiers from Uttarakhand will be representing the nation in the Dream Skiing Programme 2014 to be held later this month in South Korea.
The skiers from the mountain State will participate in the programme to be held from January 12 to 26 in Gangwon in South Korea. The president of the Winter Games Federation of India, Brigadier (retd) SS Patwal said that three skiers from Uttarakhand have been selected to represent India in the international level event to be held in South Korea later this month.
The skiing athletes selected by the federation include two from the Joshimath area of Chamoli district while the Indian junior team coach, Ajay Bhatt from Joshimath will be the team coach for this event. “In the past years, skiers from Jammu and Kashmir and neighbouring Himachal Pradesh used to dominate the Indian teams sent to such international events and competitions. The skiers of Uttarakhand who have trained and performed well at an international level ski slope like Auli in Joshimath used to be deprived of such opportunities as they could not get passport and other necessary documents on time.
“lack of awareness also prevented the local skiers from participating in such events. However, this year the WGFI took the initiative of selecting able skiers from Uttarakhand to represent the nation in South Korea where more than 300 skiers from 50 countries will learn and hone their skills apart from displaying their skills to the international fraternity,” he said.
The team coach Ajay Bhatt said that efforts of the WGFI, upcoming skiers in the sub junior category got the opportunity to participate in such an international event for the first time as representatives of India. This had boosted the morale of skiers in the State. Bhatt further informed that Vivek and Abhishek from Joshimath and Dev Surya from Rishikesh will represent India in the event. Father of the duo selected from Joshimath and GMVN worker Vinod Bhatt is enthusiastic about his sons being selected in the Indian team.