| Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | 26 March 2017 | Asia Samachar |
By Jasbir Kaur
National youth hockey player Pavandip Singh – representing the Banting team in the Holla Mahala games – is a lad of many talents. This time around, he tried his hands at athletics.
The 17-year old self-trained himself to run for Banting at the Holla Mahala 2017 (#HMG17) athletics held in Subang Jaya yesterday (25 March 2017).
Another stand out amongst the athletics participants is Savinder Kaur who is running for Gurdwara Sahib High Street. The 21-year old runner leaves a blazing trail each time she runs on the MBSJ tracks.
Pavandip and Savinder are taking part in the annual Holla Mahala sports organised by Sikh Naujawan Sabha Malaysia (SNSM). A number of events, including netball and soccer, are being played out at Kelab Aman in Kuala Lumpur today.
Over a dozen teams from all around Klang Valley and a couple from outstation – Johor Bahru and Seremban – were present at yesterday’s Holla Mahalla’s athletics meet in Petaling Jaya.
The event started off with the singing of Malaysian national anthem Negara Ku and followed by some notes from the organisers.
But the true moment the event officially kicked off when infectious bhangra beat was played for warm session.
The game was well organised, with plenty of space for participations and supporters to hang around. Free hot cha and fried rice were served.
All athletics games were carried out as per schedule for the different age groups Class 1 U21, Class 2 (13-16 years old), Class 3 U12, boys and girls. They even had a special event for the veterans, above 40 year old.
It was a sunny and unbearably hot day. By 12 noon you could see heat rising up from the tracks.
Savinder, 21, is not new to running. The Selayang lass has been running since she was 8 years old and her first taste of Holla Mahalla was at 11.
Her love for the sport paid off when at a tender age of 16, she was selected to join Bukit Jalil Sports school. She is a middle distance runner and usually runs for 800-1500m events only.
Her most recent assignment was at the Kazakhstan Open 800m where she was the only Malaysian in that category.
Savinder is now studying Sports science in Universiti Malaya (UM) and conducts her national training daily at Bukit Jalil.
Pavindip plays for national hockey U-17 team. Despite having bagged a national hockey player belt, he wanted to challenge himself to other sporting events.
Studying at SMK Bukit Bandaraya, he is a school runner and has set his eyes on becoming a runner for the Federal Territory team.
Any advice for youth? Pavandip tells Asia Samachar: “If you are interested in a certain sport, go all out for it. You just will never know where it might take you.”
[ASIA SAMACHAR is an online newspaper for Sikhs in Southeast Asia and surrounding countries. We have a Facebook page, do give it a LIKE. Follow us on Twitter. Visit our website: www.asiasamachar.com]
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For someone whose father was a true sportsman, I have learn one thing from him : make sports interesting and children were spend all their FREE time playing sports. How do you make it interesting? By having friendly competition regularly. When you have competition regularly, the participants will train regularly. They will use all their FREE time playing sports. It will keep them occupied. It will keep them away from undesirable activities. I emphasize again FREE time. Another plus side of sport is it will keep one physically fit. Different Gurdawaras can organise a different sport during different times of the year. It will keep our Sikh society members fit throughout the year. Waheguru.
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