Students bring home 7 medals

Tribune News Service

Phagwara, March 3

Five students of bachelor of physical education and sports (BPES) programme at Lovely Professional University have won seven medals at the 29th Senior National Wushu Championships.

A six-day tournament from February 25 to March 2 was organised by Wushu Association of India in Chandigarh. More than 43 teams comprising of 1,000-plus best players from all 28 Indian states, eight Union Territories, CRPF, BSF, ITBP and Services Sports Control Board (SSCB) had participated. LPU medal winners are now able to further compete at Asian and world games.

LPU student Geeta alone won three medals. In Taolu events of the championship, Geeta won gold medal for Nandao style; silver for Nangun and bronze for Nanquan. Among other students, Babli won silver and Sandeep Kaur bronze for Taijiquan style. In Sanda events, Priya won bronze in 60kg weight category and Tansiv won bronze in 75kg division. LPU students had represented their respective states of Jharkhand, Punjab and Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

Taolu involves martial art patterns, acrobatic movements and techniques for which LPU students were judged, and given solid points. LPU students’ basic movements, including positions, kicks, punches, balances, jumps, sweeps, and throws exhibited their winning strengths. LPU winners for Sanda – a modern fighting method and a full contact sport – displayed combating deftness for boxing, kicks and wrestling.

Congratulating the winners, LPU Chancellor Ashok Mittal shared: “Wushu players at LPU are now making a mark towards international-level participation and winning thereof. I feel these skills are not merely a sport but also a self-defence tool, especially for women and children. They should learn this art for self-protection also.” The championship was inaugurated by Minister for Sports, Youth and NRI Affairs, Punjab, Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi, where he was accompanied by president, Wushu Association of India (WAI), Bhupinder Singh Bajwa.

Know what’s Wushu

Wushu, commonly known as Chinese Kung-fu, is a complete martial art sport. Here, ‘Wu’ stands for military or martial and ‘shu’ for art. In contemporary times, Wushu has become an international sport under the International Wushu Federation (IWUF). It is presently an official event at the Asian Games, Southeast Asian Games, and the World Combat Games among other multi-sport events.