PU postpones national inter-university rowing meet amid Covid-19 threat

Deepankar Sharda

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 15

The Directorate of Sports, Panjab University, has decided to postpone the All India Inter-University Rowing (men and women) Championship following the Covid-19 threat. A day after Panjab University decided to shut down due to the threat, it was decided to postpone the championship till further orders.

The championship was scheduled to be held from March 24 to 28 at Sukhna Lake. Over 200 players from different universities were likely to take part in the event. The university hosted the championship the last two years and also emerged as the overall winners on both the occasions. “Due to the ongoing coronavirus threat, the championship has been postponed till further orders. We are following the Indian Government and Panjab University advisory to avoid any kind of gathering till March 31,” said Dr Parminder Singh, Director Sports, Panjab University.

Earlier, the All India Inter-University competition for gymnastics was cut short at Guru Nanak Dev University (Amritsar), and on similar lines, the national inter-university competition for taekwondo was cut short at Punjabi University (Patiala). Another national inter-university competition, for pencak silat, which was scheduled for March 25 to 27, in Patiala, was postponed. The Amritsar university is yet to take a call on organising the national inter-university competition for women’s wushu scheduled from March 29 to 31.

Sources in different institutions have confirmed that the universities are adamant on organising these championships as the marks obtained in the competitions organised before March 31 will be considered for awarding the prestigious Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAK) Trophy.