CM Vijay Rupani Kicks-off 72nd Reliance Senior National Championship for Santosh Trohpy (West Zone) at Ahmedabad

Ahmedabad, January 8, 2018: Chief Minister of Gujarat Shri Vijay Rupani kicked-off the 72nd Reliance Senior National Championship for Santosh Trohpy (West Zone) at The Arena TransStadia in Ahmedabad on January 8, 2018. Along with minister of state (Independent Charge) Sports, Youth and Cultural Activities Shri Ishwarsinh Patel, president of Gujarat State Football Association Shri Dhanraj Nathwani, MLA Jagdish Panchal, MLA Shri Suresh Patel, Co-founder and Managing Director of The Arena TransStadia Shri UditSheth and office-bearers of GSFA were present at this occasion. The first match of the tournament played between host Gujarat and Rajasthan resulted into a draw.

GSFA-Dhanraj-Nathwani

Chief Minister Shri Vijay Rupani said that apart from cricket, other games like football, badminton, tennis and basketball are also getting popular in Gujarat. He quoted Swami Vivekananda and said, “If you want to understand Gita, first go to the football ground and get your physique built. Football started from Kolkata and now it has spread all over India.” He said that under leadership of then chief minister of Gujarat Shri Narendra Modi, Gujarat and youth of Gujarat has made a lot of progress in sports due to ‘Khele Gujarat’ and ‘Khel Mahakumbh’. “Because of the efforts of Government of Gujarat, the State has jumped up its ranking in sports from 25th to 9th and will continue its upward trend in future as well,” said Shri Rupani.

Dhanraj-Nathwani-GSFA

On this occasion President of GSFA Shri Dhanraj Nathwani said that organizing such national level tournaments in the State will help in popularizing the game of football in Gujarat. “I am sure such tournaments will create a lot of awareness among people and budding players will get motivated to perform well,” he said.
Meanwhile, the inaugural match between host Gujarat and Rajasthan in Group – A resulted into draw with 5-5 goals each. Gujarat’s next match is scheduled against Goa on Friday, January 12, 2018. Total seven teams are participating in the tournament: Group A- Gujarat, Rajasthan and Goa, Group B- Maharashtra, Daman&Diu, Madhya Pradesh and Lakshdweep.

– DeshGujarat