10th Feb 2014, Chandigarh: The 23rd edition of the Wital See Purewal Khed Mela was inaugurated by IG Jalandhar, Surinder Singh Sodhi at Jagatpur Stadium, Hakimpur, Nawan Shehar district. The two-day event also known as the rural Olympic of Punjab’s Doaba region, was organized by Canada-based Purewal family. The rural sports festival was organized to promote and incentivize sporting excellence across rural India.
Wital See organizes spectacular “Purewal Khed Mela” promoting rural sports
The event drew talent from various parts of the country and continued to be one of the largest rural sports festival across Asia. More than 1 Lakh people attended the event which included people from across the country as well as spectators from Canada, United Kingdom, USA and Australia.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Jyoti Narain, Executive Director, Wital See Marketing Limited said, “Khed Mela is our way of reaching out and encouraging hidden sporting talent in our country. Through this initiative we aim to support the budding talent so that they do not suffer because of financial constraints. Each winner in every sporting activity will be awarded cash prize for their performance. Many of these athletes could have brought us medals at Olympics, if they had the right facilities and training. We wish that the winners from this sporting carnival will make the nation proud in international championships as well.”
International wrestling players from Haryana, Punjab and Delhi also participated in the Mela. The participants also included medal winners from Asian and World Championships. All the wrestling matches were played under the guidance of international wrestling coaches like Suresh Mann and PR Sondhi.
List of Winners in Wrestling
| Category | Winner | 1st Runner Up | 2nd Runner Up | 3rd Runner Up |
| 65 Kg | Harphool Singh | Surjeet Singh | Anil Rathi | Surender |
| 75 Kg | Vikas Khanna | Dinesh | Vishal Singh | Manoj |
| 75+ Kg | Rubaljeet Singh | Navneet Singh | Mandeep Sondhi | Jaskanawar Singh |
| 90 Kg | Deepak | Rambeer | Sunil | Naveen |
| 90+ Kg | Satender Singh | Rubaljeet Singh | Naresh | Baljeet |
All winners of wrestling matches were given cash prize the highest cash prize was given in the 90+ kg weight category of Rs 1, 11,000.
List of Winners in Athletics
| Event | Winner | 1st Runner Up | 2nd Runner Up |
| Long Jump (Girls)Under 17 | Harpreet kaur | Manpreet Kaur | Sarabjeet Kaur |
| Long Jump (Boys)Under 17 | Rajinder Singh | Pawan Kumar | Manish Kumar |
| Long Jump (Girls) | Amardeep Kaur | Manjinder Kaur | Harpreet Kaur |
| Shot Put (Men) | Inderjit Singh | Tejinder Singh | Om Prakash |
| Shot Put(Women) | Navjeet Kaur | Gurleen Kaur | Sarvjeet Kaur |
| Long Jump (Women) | Kulwant Singh | Simran Singh | Akhit Dandwal |
| 500 Meter Race(Men) | Kuldeep Singh | Makkhan Singh | Pritpal Singh |
| 100 Meter Race(Girls) | Amandeep Kaur | Amandeep Kaur | Manjinder Kaur |
All the winners of Athletics were awarded with a cash prize of Rs 7500/-, 1st Runners up Rs 5000/- and 2nd Runners Up Rs 3500/- respectively.
List of Winners in Kabbadi
- Winner : Baba Sukhcain Das Kabbadi Club, Sahkot
- Runner Up : Sher-e-Punjab Kabbadi Academy,DAV, Jalandhar
- The highest Cash prize was awarded for Kabbadi the winning team was awarded Rs 5 Lakh and Runners Up got Rs 3 Lakh respectively
Besides sporting activities, this Mela also witnessed a number of cultural activities showcasing the ethos of the state of Punjab. Accomplished traditional artistes performed folk dance, horse-riding, folk music exhibiting their skill. The sporting extravaganza came to an end with a splendid Gatka performance by the Nihangs.
Tags: Athletics, Gatka, Kabbadi, Punjab, Purewal Khed Mela, Rural Sports, Sports, Sports Festival, Wital See Marketing Limited, Wital See Purewal Khed Mela, Wrestling
