Santosh Trophy Kicks Off at

Hoshiarpur/Dec 15 /Daljeet Ajnoha : The 79th National Football Championship under the Santosh Trophy, organized by the Punjab Football Federation, was inaugurated with great fanfare at Principal Harbhajan Singh Football Stadium in Sri Guru Gobind Singh Khalsa College, Mahilpur.In the opening match, Jammu & Kashmir defeated Ladakh 3-0, setting an exciting tone for the tournament. District Sports Officer Gurpreet Singh served as chief guest, while Arjuna Awardi footballer Gurdev Singh Gill chaired the event. Gill interacted with the players and motivated them to compete in the true spirit of sportsmanship.Gurpreet Singh remarked that Mahilpur is the heart of football in Punjab, making it a matter of pride to host Santosh Trophy matches here.In the second match, Rayat Bahra University Hoshiarpur Vice-Chancellor Dr. Chander Mohan attended as chief guest, with Director Kuldeep Singh Rana presiding. They congratulated the organizers on the successful event. Punjab dominated Himachal Pradesh 6-0 in a resounding victory.The event drew a large crowd, including District Sports Officer Kapurthala Pardeep Kumar, SP Swinderjeet Singh Bains, Professor Apinder Singh Mahilpuri, Bakshish Singh Bagla, Wing Commander Hardev Singh Dhillon, Harjinder Singh, Principal Jagmohan Singh, Jarnail Singh Palli Jhikki, coach Mahinderjeet Singh, Principal Sukhinder Singh Ricky, Principal Jugal Kishore, Roshanjeet Singh Panam, Jharmeel Singh, Master Binder Singh, Baljinder Maan, Takdir Singh Bharti, Prof. Sarwan Singh, Dr. J.B. Sekhon, football coach Charanjeet Singh, Satprakash Sangha, engineer Tarlokchan Singh, Vij Bala, Dr. Raj Kumar, Dr. Parampreet Kaindowal, and hundreds of sports enthusiasts.