Mangaluru, Apr 30: A colourful march past by contingents of participating athletes from various states and teams depicting cultural dance forms of various regions of Tulunadu and Karnataka state marked the beginning of the 19th Federation Cup National Senior Athletics Championship - 2015, hosted for the first time in the state in the coastal city of Mangaluru.
Contingents of athletes representing Indian armed forces, Assam, New Delhi, Chandigarh, Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and other teams participated in the march past. Cultural forms from different parts of Karnataka such as dollu kunita, pooja kunita, pilivesha, warrior dance, Kahale, Chamara, bhootakola and others were also depicted by various troupes in the march past.
The 19th Federation Cup championship is jointly organised by Government of Karnataka, Youth Empowerment and Sports Department, Karnataka Amateur Athletics Association (KAAA) and Dakshina Kannada Athletics Association (DKAA).
The official flag of the Federation Cup championship was hoisted by Athletics Federation of India (AFI) president Adille J Sumariwalla and Karnataka State Athletics Association Dr G Parameshwar.
Speaking after formally inaugurating the five-day athletics tournament, Minister for Higher Education and Tourism R V Deshpande said that India was a country with a population of more than 120 crores, but was unable to produce talented athletes proportionate to its population unlike countries such as China, UK and Japan. It is a challenge for athletic associations like AFI and Karnataka Athletics Association to boost the performances of athletes by providing good coaching to talented sportspersons, he pointed.
He said that Karnataka would become the first state in the country to bring in a sports policy for athletes shortly.
Addressing the gathering, AFI president Adille Sumariwalla said that the Federation was committed to providing quality coaching to improve the performances of athletes. The organisation will be sending more sportspersons to participate in international events from national camps. We will be looking to conduct an Indian Athletics Meet by the AFI this year, he informed.
Discouraging the participating athletes from using extra supplements to enhance their performances during the championship, he said that he hoped to see some outstanding performances and new talent emerging in the course of the five days of the championship.
Bollywood cine actor Sunil Shetty said that a surfing festival would be held in Mangaluru in the month of May, which would give a boost to tourism in Dakshina Kannada. He encouraged the athletes to perform well in the tournament while refraining from doping to enhance their performances.
Minister for Sports Abhayachandra Jain and Minister for Health and Family Welfare U T Khader also addressed the gathering. Mangaluru South MLA J R Lobo presided over the inaugural function.
DK Deputy Commissioner A B Ibrahim welcomed the guests and gathering. Dignitaries such as Dakshina Kannada SP Sharanappa, MLA B A Mohiuddin Bava, Shakunthala Shetty, Mayor Jacintha Alfred, Y Abdullah Kunhi, Dr Mohan Alva, N Vinay Hegde, H S Venkatesh, Manjunath Bhandary and several others were present on the occasion.
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