Dhauladhar Paragliding Accuracy Pre World Cup held at Narwana near Dharamshala in Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh concluded on Friday with Aman Thapa from Nepal clinching the overall title.

This pre-World Cup started on 13 November and witnessed participation of many paragliders from seven countries around the world including India, Brazil, Austria, Nepal, Mexico, US and France.

The successful organizing of such a big event, has not only helped in providing the recognition of Narwana along with Dharamshala on the world stage, but also created a lot of enthusiasm among the local people too.

MLA Dharamshala and President of Adventure Sports Federation Sudhir Sharma who successfully organized the Dhauladhar Paragliding Accuracy Pre World Cup, said that this is one of the most successful events of Dharamshala so far and has proved to be a ‘milestone’.

“It was for the first time that such an event was organised in Dharamshala. Narwana has gained recognition across the world,” he said.

In future, the Paragliding World Cup will be organized at this site, he said, adding that apart from this, there is also a plan to open a training school here.

Through this training school, youth will not only be able to fulfil their hobbies by pursuing paragliding, but it will also serve as a means of employment for them, said Sharma, adding that this will be an important step for employment of youth in the direction of adventure sports.

In Dhauladhar Paragliding Accuracy Pre World Cup, the diameter at the landing point was only five meters, instead of the usual landing point diameter of 10 meters, he said, adding that this was the first time that the diameter of landing was only five meters, which made the competition more challenging.

“As per the rules there are five rounds in any paragliding competition, but in this Pre World Cup held in Narwana, there were seven rounds. This made the competition even more interesting and tough for the participants. Many renowned paragliders from India and abroad took part in the Pre World Cup,” he said. There were four categories in this competition, which included Men, Women, Team and National categories.

Nissan Motor India Pvt Ltd Director Marketing, Product and Customer Experience, Mohan Wilson said that the event turned out to be a remarkable event.

“We congratulate all the participants and organizers for making this pre-World Cup a milestone in the world of adventure sports,” he said.

The participating paragliders who came to Narwana said that it is one of the safest sites for paragliding in the world and paragliding amidst the beautiful valleys of Dhauladhar, turned out to be a unique experience itself.

Here the landing site is visible from the take-off site and in such a situation, its safety can be easily estimated.

The youngest paraglider of India Seejal 13-year-old from Bir Billing in Himachal Pradesh was also honoured.

They hoped that in the coming times, Narwana Paragliding site will earn a bigger name even than Bir-Billing.