Dhanbad, Oct. 14: From a little-played game, tug of war is fast emerging as a very popular game in the district, a sports teacher feels.
Speaking to The Telegraph on the sidelines of the ongoing five-day district Olympic games at Teresa Public School today, physical education teacher Mridul Bose of Doon Public School, Dhanbad, said he was encouraged by the response to the game at the district level.
"Tug of war is slowly gaining popularity in the district. Initially we were sceptical but when we got confirmation from three other teams, namely, Teresa Public School, Lindsay Club and Kartavya Club we decided to include tug of war in the 18 events of the district Olympics," said Bose who is also the convener of the tug of war event at the district Olympic games.
He added that the game, besides involving muscle power, needs finer techniques, which are explained to participants during the camps and practice sessions.
Incidentally, his school also emerged winners in the girls' category today.
"We had organised a special 10-day camp ahead of the Olympic games at school from October 1 to 10 during which participants were taught techniques like the role of driver who helps in harmonising the team's joint traction as he moves up and down pulling next to his team, instructing others about when to pull and when to rest," he said and added that they plan to organise similar camps with Dhanbad District Olympic Association in the future.
In Dhanbad, the game was organised at the district level for the first time today and had four teams each in the boys' and girls' categories.
While Doon Public School emerged winners in girls' category by defeating Teresa Public School in the finals, Teresa Public School won the boys' defeating Kartavya Club.
Students too seemed to like the game a lot.
Sakshi Tiwari, a Class IX student of the host school and part of the winning team said, "I am interested in the game since the last two years and play at school where it is organised every winter."
Her team mate and senior Sanya Patel said, "The game involves coordination between team members. The school training conducted by Mridul Bose emphasised on this aspect."
