Parveen Arora

Tribune News Service

Karnal, August 13

Seven medals at the Tokyo Olympics have inspired the state youth to take up sports and prepare themselves for the national and international games.

The recent trend showed that around 15 boys and girls got themselves enrolled in hockey, while the similar number of youngsters also joined other games, including wrestling.

“The interest of youth in sports has increased and new players, including children aged 6-7, have also taken up hockey. The performances of players at the Olympics have given a new lease of life to hockey,” said Brij Bhushan, hockey coach.

“The pandemic, however, did impact the number of players coming for practise sessions. Prior to the Covid outbreak, around 80 players used to come to the ground for practice, but the number reduced to 30 even before the start of the Olympics,” he added.

Meanwhile, Wazir Malik, wrestling coach, said the performance of the Indian wrestlers at the Tokyo Olympics had boosted the morale of budding players here. “It has also changed the mindset of parents as well, who are now sending their wards to take up sports. As many as 12 new players have enrolled for wrestling and we are hopeful around 40 more will join in coming days,” he added.