Snow Baseball Championship in Gulmarg Kashmir
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Courtesy: ntdtv.com

Young players participated in a snow baseball championship in Indian Kashmir.

The town of Gulmarg gets heavy snowfall during the winter and is covered in white for about six months. The town offers an excellent playground for winter sports.

[Fida Hussain, Organizer]:
“We consider ourselves as the frontrunners of playing this game on snowfields. We want some development in this game as Gulmarg is the perfect spot for national and international championships.”

The sport requires a lot of courage and determination from participants.

[Asif Farooq, Baseball Player]:
“We are happy that we participated in this baseball championship. Now we will be able to play baseball on the snowfields. This is the first time that baseball has been played on snow and our experience has been very satisfying.”

Gulmarg is considered the country’s premier ski resort with its natural slopes and inclines.

Gulmarg Dec 25: (courtesy Rising Kashmir)
Snow Rugby, Snow Cycling and Snow Baseball attracted the tourists at one of the world’s best ski-destination Gulmarg as the Tourism Department organized 3rd Snow Festival to kick start the winter sports here on Sunday.
Minister for Tourism and Culture, Nawang Rigzing Jora, inaugurated the festival in which these summer games were the star attractions.
Twenty-five cyclists participated in the 7 km mass-start snow cycling event, while as the school teams participated in the snow ruby and snow baseball events.

Gulmarg wore the festive look as all the games were played on Sunday.
Chairman JK Rugby Association, Mohammad Iqbal was declared as the pioneer of the snow ruby in the sub-continent.
“I feel proud to be the pioneer as many countries have taken cue from us. They are excited and willing to take part in the event. The snow rugby has turned craze in the sub-continent since its introduction here in Gulmarg,” said Iqbal, adding, “The teams from USA, New Zealand, Fiji, Kazakhstan are expected to take part in a rugby championship in February next year.”

The snow rugby fever has turned girls also to the game.
“This is a treat to play the game on snow. The game is played on playfield which may be dangerous for girls. However, on snow, we feel safe and there is also added excitement,” said one of the players in the event, Dhuha Qazi.
In the girls snow ruby matches, Presentation Convent bagged first place, while as Green Valley and Minto Circle teams bagged second and third place respectively. In boy’s event, Linton Hall, Burn Hall and Green Valley bagged first three places respectively.

Besides, snow rugby the visitors were surprised by the snow cycling event also.
Many mountain bikers participated in the 7km mass start event. They rode up and down the slopes at Gulmarg captivating the attention of the visitors.
NIS qualified coach, Ghulam Rasool Kawa, bagged first place in the event while as Anzil Mukhtar and Mudassir Ahmad bagged second and third place respectively.
JK Baseball Association also had teams to exhibit baseball on the white carpet.