Kolkata, 24 March (H.S.): The Bengal team has left for Thiruvananthapuram to participate in the 18th National Kalaripayattu Championship 2025–26, scheduled to begin on March 27. The three-day event will continue till March 29.
The schedule of the championship was announced by Dr. Ambu R. Nair, General Secretary of the Indian Kalaripayattu Federation.
West Bengal will be represented by a strong contingent this year. The team, comprising several promising athletes, has undergone intensive training under the guidance of ‘Gurukkal’ Paresh Kumar Mishra, and preparations are said to be in the final stage.
Members of the Bengal contingent include:
Kavita Prajapati, Mahima Saraf, Priyanshu Das, Abhay Sharma, Ananta Mishra, Rishi Gupta, Mohar Das, Ushasi Chowdhury, Harshita Sharma, Sayantani Das, Tiyasa Sai, Debadrita Das, Ankita Mondal, Piyush Mondal, Asit Debnath, Aniruddha Saha, Pranil Das, Atri Bhadra, Sohan Chatterjee, Shlok Sahu, Soumyajit Das, Shaurya Srivastava, Deeptarup Sarkar, Durgashish Naskar and Abhay Debnath.
Several experienced office bearers of the federation will be present to oversee the smooth conduct of the championship. Former Union Minister O. Rajagopal will serve as the Chief Patron.
M. Vijayakumar, Chairman of the Kerala Tourism Development Corporation and former Sports Minister of Kerala, along with Padmini Thomas, former president of the Kerala State Sports Council, will act as patrons.
Prof. (Dr.) Ashok Kumar Singh of the Indira Gandhi Institute of Physical Education and Sports Sciences will serve as president, while T.P. Dasan and Dr. Sumesh P.B. will be vice-presidents. Dr. Ambu R. Nair will function as General Secretary, P. Sashidharan Nair and Advocate Rakhi V.R. as Joint Secretaries, and Prof. M.S.R. Nair as Treasurer.
The state’s sporting fraternity is hopeful that under the able guidance of Paresh Kumar Mishra, Bengal’s athletes will deliver an impressive performance at the national level and bring laurels to the state by winning gold medals. The federation has already circulated application forms and detailed guidelines to the concerned stakeholders.
Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh
