National Athletics Championship For The Blind Commences In Delhi

National Athletics Championship for the Blind commences in Delhi (Image Source: IANS)

The 22nd edition of Usha National Athletics Championship for the Blind -- the largest sports event -- for the visually challenged in the country, commenced at the Thyagraj Stadium, here on Wednesday.

The championship, organised by Indian Blind Sports Association (IBSA) bi-annually, will be celebrating the true spirit of athletes in the country with over 336 prizes to be won across disciplines over the next three days.

Being held from December 14 to 16, the event was inaugurated by Meenakshi Lekhi, Minister of State for External Affairs and Culture of India, who also launched the coffee-table book, 'The Play of Dots' -- that highlights the accomplishments of unsung heroes, whose struggles often go unnoticed.

"I've been associated with the Blind Relief Association for the last 25 years so this is like homecoming for me. I realised in college that people who, we feel, have an inability in one way have the capacity to excel in other ways. So, the focus needs to be on the ability and not the disabilities," said Lekhi while declaring the Championship open in front of 550 participants from all over the country, gathered to take part in sporting disciplines such as field sports, and relay race competitions.

"You meet many people in your life who influence you and shape your character, and every experience in life is part of character building. While some of you may win medals, to me, each of you is a winner for the spirit with which you participate. I am sure many of you here will win laurels for India in the future," she added.

Usha, who is the sponsor of the National Championship, has been an avid supporter and promoter of a wide array of inclusive sporting initiatives across the country, including its association with the Mumbai Indians team for IPL, Ultimate Flying Disc, Golf, cricket for the specially abled, as well as football.

"We at Usha are inspired to witness and learn from yet another season of the Usha National Athletics Championship for the Blind. It is inspiring to see how sports can help transform lives and bring them together leaving the differences behind. Being a partner of this mega-event, we intend to enhance the India's athletic ecosystem for the disabled and support access to it, and this is also aligned to our vision of 'play' and nurturing communities with sports," said Komal Mehra, Head - Sports Initiatives and Associations, Usha International.

The company is also deeply invested in reacquainting the people of the region with long-forgotten indigenous Indian regional sports such as Kalari, Mallakhamb, Siat Khnam, Thang-Ta, and Saz-Loung, Pithu.

"We support grassroots initiative and this is something which we have gone deep down into the indigenous sports across India. These sports are happening in remote locations of Tamil Nadu. We have our USHA Silia schools, where we are empowering women, we are asking the kids to come in and play and that's where we are supporting whatever they have been playing. We don't want them to immediately go and start changing the rules and everyone has to play a particular game. We support what they are playing," Komal told at the event.

"We discovered Mallakhamb, which is so big and then there is acrobatics -- these are indeed ancient sports that have been happening. We supported archery in the Northeast as well. We never thought we would go and sponsor a game like Pitthu, so on this journey much more is going to happen over years. And that's what our focus will be.Of course, we support Mumbai Indians in the IPL. But our focus always stays on inclusivity, indigenous and real sports," she concluded.

"We support grassroots initiative and this is something which we have gone deep down into the indigenous sports across India. These sports are happening in remote locations of Tamil Nadu. We have our USHA Silia schools, where we are empowering women, we are asking the kids to come in and play and that's where we are supporting whatever they have been playing. We don't want them to immediately go and start changing the rules and everyone has to play a particular game. We support what they are playing," Komal told at the event.

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