Punjabi University Patiala will host second all India Inter-University Gatka (Men & Women) prize money tournament-2013 from January 8 to January 10 at university campus in which more than dozen university Gatka teams would participate. Dr Raj Kumar Sharma Director Sports Punjabi University said that the team winners would be awarded cash prizes from Rs 31,000, Rs 21,000 and Rs 11,000 respectively for their top positions.

Former Union Minister Mr Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa MP and Secretary General SAD, also president of World Gatka Federation, would inaugurate the tournament on January 8. Mr SP Singh Oberoi president Asian Gatka Federation and Mr Harcharan Singh Bhullar president Gatka Federation of India would also grace the occasion as guests of honour.

Dr Jaspal Singh Vice Chancellor Punjabi University would preside over the prize distribution ceremony on January 10 for which sports department has already made adequate arrangements for successful conduct of this tournament. He added that Dr Jaspal Singh Vice Chancellor was longing earnestly for preservation and promotion of this ancient martial art at national level and Punjabi University had taken initiative to organize All India Inter-varsity Gatka competitions with the help of Gatka Federation.

The present martial art form, Gatka, had been acknowledged as a sport and being played in the entire country and diaspora.

Gatka is a style of fighting only with sticks between two Gatka players, intended to simulate the sword and focuses on infusing physical, spiritual and mental fitness. No sharp edged weapons are used in the Gatka game and it has become a “cosmopolitan sport”.