Mangaluru
To popularise the traditional Indian game named Lagori, a special tournament was organised by the Lagori Federation of India (LFI) in Sullia. Federation President Doddanna Baremelu mentioned that School Games Federation of India (SGFI) Director Aravind Kumar was present and had been briefed about the rules and regulations of lagori during the programme.
Doddanna said the federation plans to categorise lagori under non-Olympic Games and thereby promote it at the international level.
We have been putting efforts into including lagori in school games. Accordingly, we have formed the LFI to promote the game. As part of our endeavour to include the game in school games, a programme was held in Sullia. We have also set up an office of the LFI in Sullia, and a special lagori tournament was organised as part of the inauguration,” he said.
A book on the rules and regulations for lagori has already been published and was given to Aravind Kumar. Lagori is played in almost all states across India. However, it continues to be a rural game that did not follow any rules and regulations. I drafted rules and regulations for lagori, and a book was released in 2001. Thereafter, various initiatives were taken to popularise lagori across the state and nation. Several district and state-level tournaments were also conducted, he added, noting that lagori is an ancient sport played with a ball and a stack of stone discs.
