PAMPORE: Two youngsters from the Pampore area are among the four Sqay players of this south Kashmir’s Pulwama district who shined in the 7th South Asian Sqay Championship held in Kathmandu Nepal by bagging the Gold and Silver medals.

Arslan Mehraj and Riyan Rouf, residents of Drangbal Pampore, and Saliq Manzoor from Tral won Gold in the 7th South Asian Sqay Championship held at National Sports Stadium Kathmandu in Nepal from February 3 to 5, while Aadiba Younis won Silver in the same event.

Arslan Mehraj, son of Mehraj Ud Din Mir; and Riyan Rouf, son of Rouf Ahmad Mir, are residents of Pampore’s Drangbal area, while Saliq and Aadiba are from the Tral area of the district.

Taking to Kashmir Reader, Nazir Ahmad Mir, Secretary International Council of Sqay, said that four countries including India, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Nepal represented in the championship. “The players participated under different categories like junior, sub-junior and senior,” he said, adding that the championship is held after every four years.

The championship was organised by the Sqay Federation of Nepal. India remained at the top spot, he said.

Riyan Rouf, a 10th-standard student at Salfia Model School Pampore, told Kashmir Reader that it is his 7th medal but the first at an international level. “I was aiming for Gold and I am happy for winning it,” he said.

Riyan said he started playing Sqay at the age of 6 years. Since then, I have participated in various championships at the state, national and international levels, he added.

Arsalan Mehraj, a 1st-year student at Amar Singh College, participated in the senior category and won his first international medal. Earlier, he won 9 Gold medals, 2 Silver and 1 Bronze in the national events. He also participated in the state, national and international level Sqay championships.

Both players from the Saffron town Pampore are “very happy” to have won Gold medals and said they will work hard to further excel and perform well at the mega stages.

BILAL HABIB