Siliguri (West Bengal)

The prestigious national-level All India Police Handball Cluster Sports Competition was inaugurated on Monday at the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) Siliguri Frontier Headquarters in Ranidanga, Darjeeling district. The five-day tournament runs from January 19 to January 23.

A total of 80 teams, including men's and women's teams from 30 different organizations are participating in the 2nd All India Police Handball Cluster Sports Competition. These include police forces from various states across the country, as well as Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs).

The large-scale participation reflects the event's national importance and sporting spirit. Notably, the SSB covers 1,751km of the Indo-Nepal border and 699km of the Indo-Bhutan border.

While speaking to reporters, IG Vandan Saxena announced that an SSB-organised five-day tournament is starting with league matches and progressing through pre-quarterfinals, quarterfinals, semifinals and finals. Winners, runners-up, a hardliner and player of the tournament will be selected in both categories.

Exhibition matches between state police and CAPF teams will also be held. Saxena highlighted the tournament's significance as a major sporting event for Siliguri, hosted under the FIT India and Khelo India initiatives.

Vandan Saxena said, "The five-day long tournament marks its start today, and will conclude on January 23. With total 80 teams, along with men's and women's, the tournament will start with the league matches, followed by the pre-quarterfinals and then the quarterfinals, which will then be followd by the semifinals, concluding with the final. From both the men's and the women's teams, there will be a winner, a runner-up and hardliner selected and a player of the tournament as well.

At the end of the tournament, there will also be exhibition matches which will see state police and CAPF forming a team each and will compete agains each other. The importance of this SSB-organised tournament is that Siliguri is getting a chance to host a sporting event of this scale. It's a big achievement for Siliguri's culture. The tournament is being hosted under initiatives FIT India and Khelo India."

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Former Indian hockey team captain Bharat Chettri expressed hope that Siliguri will develop major stadiums and see greater public participation in sports, and urged people to encourage children to play sports alongside their studies.

"The Government of India has been promoting the sports culture with initiatives like Khelo India. I hope Siliguri sees construction of some big stadiums and sees participation of people in various sports. I urged the people of our country to promote sports amongst the children. While studies are important, but participation in sports is crucial too," he told ANI.