TNR Exclusive: Tug of war between 2 Himachal sports federations to host Paragliding World Cup next year, both have Sudhir Sharma connection
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The Newz Radar
DHARAMSHALA: The political chessboard has now been set in the realm of paragliding adventure sports in Himachal Pradesh. Billing Valley, often referred to as the paradise of paragliding, has cemented its claim to host the Paragliding World Cup next year by successfully organising mandatory two consecutive Pre-World Cups focused in ‘Accuracy’ and ‘Cross-Country’ events.
The Billing Paragliding Association (BPA), however, has received a major challenge to hold the event next year from its founding director and current MLA from Dharamshala, Sudhir Sharma, whose separate Paragliding Accuracy Pre-World Cup concluded at Narwana in Dharamshala on Friday. On the concluding occasion, Sudhir Sharma made public his plans of organising a Paragliding World Cup in Narwana, thus throwing a challenge to the BPA that he once founded, headed and mentored to success.
The announcement also set the stage for a spirited competition between the two adventure sports outfits to hold global paragliding events in Himachal in 2024.
Sudhir, a former BPA president, organised his own paragliding event in Narwana just 10 days after the international event in Billing. With this, Sudhir appears to be aiming three targets with one stroke. Firstly, he looks to counter the BPA. The MLA has, on the lines of Anurag Thakur’s cricket diplomacy in Dharamshala, promoting an adventure sport, thus strengthening his presence among the youth through sports. Thirdly, he has strengthened his local vote bank by promoting tourism.
If sources are to be believed, Sudhir, who is eager to get a place in the cabinet expansion of the Sukhu government, is now busy in strengthening his positive and visionary image, moving away from his controversial image till Delhi Darbar.
A representative of the Narwana Paragliding Association, which organised the competition, is a Sudhir supporter and the MLA put in all his strength and resources to organise a big event in a small village for the first time. Efforts have been made to attract the youth by garnering many big sponsors and organising grand cultural events.
Now, it remains to be seen whether the Federation of Aeronautical, the supreme global organisation of paragliding, gives the responsibility of the world cup in Himachal next year to the BPA in Bir Billing or to the Himachal Adventure Federation formed merely two months ago in Narwana.
This battle to settle mutual scores through paragliding is going to be interesting. The BPA was formed in Bir Billing a decade ago under the Sudhir’s leadership and in 2015, he gained worldwide recognition by organising the first world cup in Billing. But at the beginning of this year, Sudhir quietly separated from the BPA. He was also missing from two major competitions in Billing.
Current BPA president Anurag Sharma, who was once close to Sudhir, is now counted in the Sukhu camp. Both are silent about why the differences emerged. The Newz Radar repeatedly tried to contact MLA Sudhir and BPA president Anurag regarding their different claims for the Paragliding World Cup next year, but both did not take phone calls.
