Kerala - Alappuzha   

Doordarshan to telecast boat race

ALAPPUZHA: Doordarshan is making all arrangements for the live telecast of the Nehru Trophy Boat Race that will be held here on Saturday.

A Doordarshan press release issued here on Wednesday said all technical expertise available with the channel was being put to use in Alappuzha for the telecast of the event, which will be available on the Malayalam satellite channel from 2 p.m. till 3 p.m. The rest of the event will be relayed on the DD Sports channel from 3 p.m. onwards, accompanied by commentary in English.

The release said this was the first time that Doordarshan was telecasting the 55-year-old event live for such a long spell. A 30-minute curtain-raiser of the event would be telecast on Friday from 5 p.m.

Meanwhile, the State Bank of India’s (SBI) Kerala Circle has announced that it would sponsor the Payipad Chundan for the boat race this year. The Payipad Chundan, which had won the trophy in 2005 and 2006, is aiming a hat-trick this year, and SBI’s effort would complement the endeavour of the Kumarakom Boat Club (KBC), the team handling the chundan, the release added. KBC, a six-time participant, has won the trophy four times and has reached the finals on five occasions. While its victories in 2005 and 2006 were on the Payipad Chundan, KBC’s victory in 2004 was on the Cheruthana Chundan.

Apart from Payipad, only two other boats, Cheruthana and the brand new Pattara Chundan, have so far managed to net sponsors this year, an official release said. According to Revenue Divisional Officer K.G. Raju, efforts were on to get sponsors for more boats.

On the other side, preparations at the venue were moving towards completion. Temporary galleries, which can seat up to 8,300 spectators, have been erected. A new feature of this year’s event will be the victory stand at the Nehru Pavilion, which will also be enclosed for VVIPs and VIPs. Dredging was carried out on the 1,365-metre track.

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Doordarshan to telecast boat race

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