5th National Para Judo championship starts in Gurgaon

The fifth National Blind and Para Judo Championship opened at Scottish High International School in Sector 57 on Sunday.

As many as 518 participants from across the country will compete in various age categories at the three-day competition.

Haryana are the defending champions at the speech-impaired and blind categories of boys and girls. The state had won the event held in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, in 2016.

The event was inaugurated by Haryana governor Kaptan Singh Solanki.

In his address, Solanki said, “In addition to the society helping people with special needs, the government also exercises the same. When the inaugural tournament commenced, only 200 participants were there. In less than five years, it has grown nearly threefold. It shows that the level of competition is increasing.”

Officials said in the tournament, opponents will hold each other throughout the bout and referees alert players through gestures and commands when they cross the boundary of the playing area.

Since, vision impairment varies per athlete, varying degrees of assistance are provided by coaches and referees depending on the experience and age of the athlete.

The match starts on the referee’s clap. Players then advance towards each other until there is contact. The referee then needs to ensure that the players do not step away or change their foot positions. Each time they separate during a match, the same procedures are used to resume the competition.

Instead of using hand signals, referees have to verbally announce scores, fouls and time remaining.

The competition starts on Monday and over 50 matches will be held.