The 2nd Jharkhand State Ice Skating championship will be held from April 27 in Gurgaon, Haryana, where as many as 20 students from various schools in Ranchi, Hazaribagh and Jamshedpur will be taking part.

President of Jharkhand Ice Skating Association Vivek Bhasin said the state meet, to be held at Ambience Mall there, would help them form a state team for an upcoming all-India championship that would be held there from April 28 to April 30.

Bhasin maintained that it was because there were no rinks in Jharkhand that they were holding their state championships outside. "Before the state championship, we are holding a six-day coaching camp from April 20-26. As many as nine students of various schools of Ranchi will take part," he said.

Depending on the performance of the students at the state meet, Jharkhand would choose a team for the for national meet, which association officials stressed, was significant in view of the 2018 Winter Olympics.

"But before that, we will hold a camp in Turkey in June 2016. We will choose potential candidates from the camp," Bhasin said.

From Ranchi, as many as nine students would be taking part in the coaching camp and the state meet in Gurgaon. More students are expected from Hazaribagh, Ramgarh and Jamshedpur. "We are expecting over 20 participants at the meet," said S.M.Thakur, an office-bearer of the association, adding that since ice skating was a new discipline for the state, awareness and promotion was limited in Jharkhand.

Among the Ranchi schools whose students were taking part were St Xaviers, Sarla Birla Public School, Sacred Heart School and Sapphire International School.

"We don't have any permanent facilities for pursuing ice skating. Therefore, we keep organising our meets outside the state," he said, adding that association was being partly sponsored by some of the schools whose students were taking part. The association would bear the remaining costs.