International paragliding event concludes in Pithoragarh
India’s top ranking paragliding pilot Ajay Kumar has bagged the first prize at the state’s first international paragliding competition that concluded on Saturday. While Kumar won the cash prize of Rs 2 lakh, Aan Martial from France won the second prize of Rs 1.25 lakh and Krishna Sanawar from Nepal won the third award of Rs 75,000.
Sixty participants from eight countries participated in the six-day event. Although pilots couldn’t fly on two days due to high speed winds along with rain, the competition was a major success for the participants and locals too, who gathered in huge numbers to see the pilots fly.
Ajay Kumar, who hails from Himachal Pradesh said, “I had a terrific time at Pithoragarh which has the best location for paragliding. It is scenic too. I hope that the state government would provide more funds to make this event even better next year.”
The competition saw participation of pilots from India, Nepal, France, Canada, Great Britain, USA, Finland and Brazil. Paragliding pilots from Indian Army and SSB also took part in the event.
