Chhattisgarh recreates history, retains All India Forest Sports Meet crown
Raipur, November 17
Chhattisgarh has once again created history in the All India Forest Sports Meet. With a stellar performance, Chhattisgarh secured first place in the medal tally at the 28th All India Forest Sports Meet held in Dehradun. Chhattisgarh won the championship for the second consecutive year with 150 medals and 578 points.
Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai and Forest Minister Kedar Kashyap congratulated all the players and teams that performed exceptionally well in the competition, wishing them continued excellence in the future.
It is noteworthy that the 28th All India Forest Sports Meet was held in Dehradun from November 12 to 17th. Chhattisgarh won first place in this competition, winning 74 gold, 34 silver, and 42 bronze medals. A total of 253 members from Chhattisgarh participated in the event. Chhattisgarh players also delivered several outstanding individual performances.
Among these, Best Male Athlete Nikhil Zalko won five gold medals in swimming, Best Female Athlete Sangeeta Rajagopalan won four gold medals and one silver medal in badminton and tennis, and Best Athlete Women's Open Thota Sankirtana won five gold medals, earning the title of "Golden Girl". Similarly, Best Athlete (Male Veteran) Sukhnandan Lal Dhruv won five gold medals, and Best Athlete (Female Veteran) Charulata Gajpal won four gold medals.
Chhattisgarh won the overall championship trophy for the 13th consecutive time. At the closing ceremony of this sports competition, Uttarakhand Governor Lieutenant General (Retired) Gurmeet Singh and Uttarakhand Forest Minister Subodh Uniyal jointly presented the overall championship trophy. Shalini Raina received the trophy on behalf of Chhattisgarh. Additional Chief Secretary Richa Sharma and Forest Force Chief V. Srinivas Rao congratulated and wished all the athletes.
Kerala secured second place in the All India Forest Sports Competition with 31 gold medals. Karnataka took third place with 25 gold medals, while host Uttarakhand finished sixth. A special initiative was also taken to connect this competition with environmental protection. Under the concept of "One Sport, One Forest," a tree was planted in the name of each medal winner, thus giving the athletes a message of nature conservation along with sports.
— ANI
Reader Comments
Wow! 150 medals and 13th consecutive championship? That's some serious dominance. Nikhil Zalko and Sangeeta Rajagopalan are true champions. Deserves more media coverage!
As someone who follows sports across India, I must say this consistency is remarkable. However, I wish the government would invest similar energy in improving basic sports infrastructure in rural areas too.
Bahut badhiya! Our forest department staff are not just protecting our jungles but also bringing glory in sports. Thota Sankirtana - the Golden Girl - what an inspiration for young athletes!
So proud of our Chhattisgarh team! 👠The fact that they're planting trees for each medal winner shows how committed our forest department is to both sports and environment. True role models!
Impressive performance! The veteran category winners show that age is just a number. Sukhnandan Lal Dhruv and Charulata Gajpal proving that experience matters in sports too.
We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.