Pencak Silat became the first national sports federation to conduct their sub-junior and junior national championships through online video platforms and are now planning to conduct the senior nationals next week as sporting activities have come to a standstill due to the coronavirus pandemic.
While the sub-junior nationals was conducted on May 4, the junior nationals in select events was conducted from May 7-10 with 195 players participating in the Under-18 category.
Apart from this, a few state level events were also conducted for Wushu last week. A national event is in the works as well.
Pencak Silat, a martial arts discipline, was inducted in the 2018 Asian Games program with three Indian players participating in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Disha Reddy of Madhya Pradesh clinched the gold medal in the girl’s category while Manipur’s Pukhrambam Victor Meetei was crowned the champion in the boy’s category. The medal winners were given cash prizes and an e-certificate.
The sub-junior nationals had attracted 155 entries from across the country.
The players were asked to perform live and also record that performances and send them to the federation which were then analysed by the judges.
“Getting 195 entries for the junior nationals was a great achievement for us,” said Pencak Silat CEO Mohammad Iqbal.
The federation is now planning to hold the senior nationals in the same manner next week as most of the top players were already preparing for the World Championships in July, which have now been postponed to December.
Results
Girls – Gold: Disha Reddy (Madhya Pradesh); Silver: Vaishnavi Gorde (Maharashtra); Bronze: Krinakshi Kishor Yewale (Maharashtra) & Princess A Thomas (Daman & Diu).
Boys – Gold: Pukhrambam Victor Meetei (Manipur); Silver: Rudra Nale (Maharashtra), Bronze: G Kumar (Karnataka) & Hardik Kale (Madhya Pradesh).