Pat for hill sports stars at marathon Felicitation at Darjeeling on Friday

Bharat Chhetri (left) and Jamling Tenzing Norgay. Picture by Passang Yolmo

Vivek Chhetri, TT, Jan 9, 2018 Darjeeling: Darjeeling police have decided to felicitate 10 sports personalities from the hills, including former Indian hockey team captain Bharat Chhetri, at a half-marathon it plans to organise this Friday in association with The Telegraph and the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA).

The Amway Darjeeling Police Marathon, to be held on the 155th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda, is part of a series of initiatives the force has taken to improve police-public relations over the past couple of months.

"Darjeeling police have decided to felicitate 10 well-known personalities during the event. We will also be holding a musical show at Chowrasta," Siddhart Dorji, DSP (town), said on Tuesday. The 21km half-marathon, which will also draw international athletes, will start from Maneybhanjyan.

Apart from Bharat Chhetri - now coaching the Indian women hockey team at a camp in Bangalore - the organisers will felicitate Everester Jamling Tenzing Norgay Sherpa, marathon runner Roshni Rai, Deben Gurung and Trilok Subba (taekwondo), Parul Lepcha (archery), Crispin Chhetri and Lakpa Sherpa (football), and Ganu Giri and Tenzing Zambling (body-building).

International athlete Anju Bobby George will be the special guest at the event. Anju made history when she won the long jump bronze at the 2003 World Championship in Paris and became the first Indian to bag a medal at a world championship in athletics.

The half-marathon has a cash award of Rs 8 lakh and is expected to draw 3,000 participants in the three categories - open to all, only for hill residents and police personnel from Bengal.

Over the past few months, the police have been hosting football tournaments across the hills and, with more than Rs 6.5 lakh as prize money, the events have turned out to be major attractions.

The police were also part of the recent-five day Teesta-Rangeet Tourism Festival and had organised a musical show at Chowrasta on New Year's Eve.

Coinciding with the marathon, the state government will hold the hill leg of the Uttar Banga Utsav on January 12 and 13 at Chowrasta. The festival is already under way in the plains.