INDIA ABROAD September 17, 1999 SPORTS - PCS Sports Festival
By ASHOK EASWARAN
CHICAGO -- The Punjabi Cultural Society (PCS) of Chicago conducted the fifth annual sports festival at the Buehler YMCA, Palatine, Illinois. At least 800 members of the community from Chicago, Indianapolis and Milwaukee attended the event and about 150 athletes participated in the basketball, soccer, kabaddi and volleyball competitions.
Rita Mullins, second from right, Mayor Palatine, Illinois presenting a memento to Major Gurcharan Singh Jhaj, right, of Punjab Auto Works, a sponsor of the Punjabi Sports Festival, organized by the Punjabi Cultural Society of Chicago.
Hazara Singh "Ramta," a Punjabi singer from Toronto, kept the
audience entertained, while Jayne Astor of Advocate Health and Fitness presented
"Bhangra Aerobics," an innovative fitness class. Suzanne Bassi,
Illinois State representative, inaugurated the tourney, following a parade by
the athletes. Gulzar Singh Multani, PCS president, and Michelle Hutchinson,
director of "Vision in Progress," a community initiative aimed at
improving the quality of life in Palatine and Inverness, welcomed the
participants.
"A focus on fitness is the Punjabi tradition, we must encourage our youth to get involved in sports to continue that tradition," said Gurdial Singh Basran, chairman of PCS.
The opening ceremony began with prayers by Sikh Youth of Chicago, organized by Kirpal Kaur Lall, followed by the American national anthem sung by Navraaz Kaur Basati. Gurpreet Singh, Bhupinder Singh and Manjinder Singh Walia performed the Sikh martial art form "Gatka."
Rita Mullins, Mayor of Palatine, greeted the participants and distributed awards to the sponsors of the event. Major Gurcharan Singh Jhaj of Punjab Auto Works, Bibi Ajmer Kaur Gakhal, Dr. Gurdial Singh Basran, S. Rajinder S. Gill, Harjinder S. Sandhu, Sunny Kular, "Vision In Progress" and Buehler YMCA sponsored the event.
The Harbhajan Singh Gakhal Memorial Kabaddi Cup was presented to the Indianapolis team, after their exhibition tie against the Chicago team. The Subedar Kartar Singh Dhaliwal Basketball Cup was won by "Brown Snakes" who defeated "The Super Chronic team."
The "PHO team" won the PCS Volleyball Cup defeating the Milwaukee team. The junior soccer tourney ended in a tie between the "Punjabi Sher" and "Punjabi Power" teams.
Harcharan S. Gill won the shot-put for men. Rupinder S. Sandhawalia won the pen-category weightlifting title, lifting 300 pounds. Kanwal Singh and Deepinder Singh were the other winners. Jasdeep Sangha, Jasjeet Maan and Sandeep Gill won the children's races. Deepinder Singh won the men's 100 meters, Puneet Singh won the 400 meters and Jagjeet Singh won the 1,500 meters. J. Kaur won the women's 100 meters.
The program was organized by Bhinder Pamma, Harwinder Pal Lail, Sukhmel Atwal, Gulzar Multani, Mohinderjit Saini, Kulbir Bagri, Harjinder Khaira, Jassi Parmar, Jagmeet Singh, Sunny Kular, Ronny Kular, Thakar Basati, Raju Sandhu, Jagjit Dhindsa, Bhagwant Sandhu, Onkar Sangha, Bini Basati, Jaswinder Sapal, Bhagwant Sandhu, Amarjit Atwal, Onkar Lall, Rishpal Singh, Dilbag Hothi, Sukhdev Dhillon, Gurmit Mudhar, Surinder Sangha and Rajinder Mago. Rishpal Singh of Sunshine DJ provided music.
The PCS can be contacted at 847 359-5PCS, or though their Website: www.PCSChicago.org.