BJSS ATHLETICS

Cream of the crop

NATIONAL hockey defender Baljit Singh and national 3,000m steeplechase runner Melinder Kaur were named the 2011 Sikh Sportsman and Sportswomen of the Year.

Both Baljit and Melinder were presented with the awards during the Sikh Festival of Sports — Gurdwara Cup, organised by the Malaysia-Singapore Sikh Sports Council (MSSSC), hosted by the Selangor Sikh Association (SSA) in Kelana Jaya recently.

The Most Promising Sportsman and Sportswoman awards went to hockey player Harnesh Singh and athlete Savinder Kaur respectively.

About 700 athletes and officials from nine states — Johor, Malacca, Negri Sembilan, Kuala Lumpur, Perak, Penang, Pahang, Sabah, Selangor and Singapore — took part in the 61st edition of the carnival involving football, hockey, badminton, netball and golf.

Simply too good: Baljit Singh and Melinder Kaur with their trophies.

Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim was the guest of honour at the opening ceremony at the Petaling Jaya Stadium in Kelana Jaya.

Khalid said the Sikh community was small in Malaysia but have shown tremendous abilities in sports.
“Malaysia had a great football defender in Datuk Santokh Singh. We hope to see more Sikh sportsmen like Santokh in the future. Malaysia also had a number of internationals in athletics, cricket and hockey,” said Abdul Khalid.

The carnival was first held in 1952. Then only hockey was played in the inaugural carnival in Perak. Mukhtiar Singh, who skippered Perak to the gold medal in the carnival, was also present and was presented with the special merit award.

SSA president Amarjeet Singh thanked Abdul Khalid for being the guest of honour at the opening ceremony.
“Selangor is hosting the Cup after 14 long years. We have also requested to the Selangor state government to provide us a piece of land to build a sports club,” said Amarjit.

Full support: Abdul Khalid posing with the Deshmesh band during the opening ceremony. Looking on are Selangor Sikh Association (SSA) president Amarjeet Singh (left), PJ mayor Datuk Mohamed Roslan Sakiman (second from right) and Datuk Santokh Singh right).

 

MSSSC president Datuk Sohan Singh said the Gurdwara Cup was the oldest hockey tournament not only in Malaysia, but also in the world.

“The Sikh population is only 200,000 in Malaysia but we still managed to organise the Gurdwara Cup continuously for 61 years.

“A number of national hockey players had featured in the tournament. The MSSSC will like to thank the Federal Government for contributing RM100,000 for the carnival,’’ said Sohan.

Kuala Lumpur became the overall champions after emerging as the champions in golf, netball and hockey (senior and junior).