Vishal, Priya bag gold medals in JK Open Fencing Championship

Vishal Thapar and Priya Khajuria of Jammu bagged gold medals in the 12th J&K Open State Fencing Championship today.
Three matches were played on the final day of the championship today.
In Open Saber Boys individual category, Vishal Thapar of Jammu District bagged the gold, Javed Ahmed of Jammu clinched the silver while Sushant Sharma of Jammu and Kushal Sharma of Kathua clinched a bronze each, an official spokesman said.
In Open Saber girl's individual category, Priya Khajuria of Jammu clinched the gold, Mansi Bral of Jammu won the silver while a bronze medal each was bagged by Seema Bhagat and Simram Sharma, both from Reasi district, he said.

In Under-17 Epee Boys individual category, Rajan Prasar of Udhampur won the gold, Teja Singh of Jammu clinched the silver while Ravi Sharma of Kathua district and Shubham Shari of Jammu won a bronze medal each, the spokesman said.
207 players from nine districts of the state took part in the three-day championship at the Government Degree College at Billawar. A total of 68 medals -- 17 gold, 17 silver and 34 bronze -- were handed to the competitors.

Competitions were held in Sabre, Foil, Epee, Open and Open Epee categories in Under-12, Under -14, Under-17 individual age groups.
Speaking at the concluding function, Minister for Youth Services and Sports and Medical Education, Taj Mohi-ud-Din, said that the state government would equip every panchayat with sports infrastructure to nurture sporting talent among rural youth.

Taj said that the idea behind organising such events was to attract the youth hailing from rural pockets and far-flung areas to new games.