More than 100 pilots from across the globe are expected to take part in the seven-day Pre-World Cup Paragliding Championship to be held in October in Himachal Pradesh.
launching a website of Paragliding Pre-World Cup on Saturday, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said that it was a matter of pride that Paragliding World Cup Association had given approval to organise the championship in India from October 24 to 30 at Bir-Billing of Kangra district. The championship would be held at Bir-Billing in joint collaboration of State Tourism Department and Billing Paragliding Association (BPA).
He said that Bir-Billing in Dhauladhar range of Kangra had emerged as top five paragliding sites in the world. Around four hundred world class para-gliders would fly over the beautiful Dhauladhar range and about one hundred top class pilots would take part in pre world cup paragliding championship, he informed.
Urban Development Minister and president of BPA Sudhir Sharma said world class Scorer Ulric Jessop would be the scorer-cum-observer of championship. Debu Chawdhary, Indian best Paragliding Pilot and 52nd ranked world Para-glider would be the technical event meet director. Out of hundred world class competitors, 25 seats had been reserved for Indian Pilots.
Sharma said that attractive prizes would be given to the winners. First cash prize in overall category would be of Rs 2.50 lakh, while cash prizes of Rs 2 lakh and Rs 1.50 lakh would be given to second and third winners respectively. In Indian Class Category, Rs 1.10 lakh, Rs 90000 and Rs 70000 would be given to first, second and thirdwinners respectively.
In women class & sports class categories, the cash prizes of Rs 75,000, Rs 65,000 and Rs 55,000 would be given to first, second and third winners and Best Newcomer prize would be given a cash prize of Rs 40,000 amongst Indian Pilots for best performance to boost the sports talents in the country. The Minister added that for the first time in the country, a standby helicopter would be kept nearby landing site to tackle any emergent situation. Besides, Paragliding acrobatic show would also be organized for the first time during the championship.