Peeta Dudh Jithiya Yudh

Writing by shinda on Tuesday, 5 of September , 2006

Yes the post is a week overdue, but then again what can you do.

Another Yudh has come and gone and things went pretty well, even though  there were a lot of unexpected’s, but like always you gotta just roll with the punch’s and come back as best as you can.

The whole day started a tad late, 2 hours if you want to be specific but then again, that much should be expected. 24 competitors for the over 16 age bracket and I think 16 for the under 16 group, plus those who participated in only kirpaan and damalaa made this the biggest Yudh competitor wise, with over 40 competitors from across North America and technically the World (Singhs from India participated also).

There was even a good Sangat turn out, considering the fact that rain clouds loomed over head all day, and of course Gatka isn’t all that popular or main stream yet, but given some time there’s definite potential for growth.

As far as the match’s the one thing that you need for them to be entertaining is rivalry. What would the Lakers/Kings, WWF/WCW/NWO, Shamrock/Ortiz, be if it wasn’t for the rivalry between them. Like wise in Yudh over the years there has been a build up of a few different rivalries of sorts that in one way or another make us want to come out and watch, in most cases it has to do with the past finalists, while other times it just has to do with similar fighters colliding.

This years major rivalry had to have been Jarnail Singh (Toronto) vs Sukhjinder Singh (Surrey). Of course there’s no love lost between the two, but there’s different reasons why this was the rivalry of the night. Both were students of Bhai Charanjeet Singh, both are quick and athletic, neither is big on defense, and finally ones from Surrey while the others from Toronto. It was this rivalry and the fact that the two met so late in the tournament in an elimination round match that made it in my eyes the match of the night.

The build up

Main reason the two met so late in the night was due to Sukhjinder facing off against Harpreet Singh (California), who happened to be the reigning champion, in the second round. Pulling out the win Harpreet Singh advanced on, while Sukhjinder was left to fight for survival the rest of the night. To his credit though he was able to fend of all competitors that came his way after that, including Harpreet Singh again, and also other elite, such as Gursheel Singh and I think even Ranjit, but then again it was more then a week ago and my memory isn’t all that good to begin with. Either way he [Sukhjinder Singh] put on a show, and was relentless the rest of the tournament.

Jarnail on the other hand came to win. Finishing second 2004 and not ranking in 2005, Jarnail was clearly out to clear his name. Winning all his match’s up until he came across Harbir Singh (Calgary), a new face to the international Gatka scene. Incidentally enough Harbir Singh had just prior (week earlier) competed in a local Gatka Tournament held in Calgary which he also won, so clearly he was the man to beat, other then the fact most of us had never seen or heard of him until the day of.

Anyway’s having had his first loss, Jarnail was sent to the losers bracket to face off against Sukhjinder who you could tell was not ready to let up. The fight started and both of them squared off. Not having the scores let alone remembering them I would have to guess this was the highest scoring match, with both going almost hit for hit, and if either competitor did manage a block, then it was similarly rewarded on the other side. When the match finished, no one could tell who was the clear victor as may have been in the case in most other match’s. When the judges made there decision it came out that they were both tied, sending the match into extra time. Again both competitors didn’t let up, knowing that one of them would be eliminated while the other got to compete in the finals. When the match did end, it was Jarnail Singhs hand that was raised, as he pulled of a win by a mere 2 points, the difference being the one hit Sukhjinder took on his back. Regardless of the result, you know that this is going to be one rivalry to look forward to next year.

The finals

Throughout the tournament, Harbir Singh demonstrated why defense is the best offense. Any Gatka Ustaad will tell you that you should always look for the block first then the strike, and Harbir Singh demonstrated why this works best, being the first second Yudh champion to go undefeated the entire tournament and taking the championship home to Calgary for the first time and doing his part in keeping it out of Toronto, yet again. Likewise in the jr’s it was Harman Singh, younger brother of Harbir Singh, who put the same defense first philosophy to work, beating out all competitors and winning it all for the Jr’s as he beat out favourites, Karandeep Singh (Surrey) and Manroop Singh (Toronto).

Harjot Kaur vs Gagandeep Singh

Although a rivalry solely on the fact that it was girl vs boy, the match was definitely entertaining in that it did go, not only into over time but also into sudden death, at which point it became repetitive sanjhaa vaars, until Gagan was able to get a strike in, winning the match. Apart from that the look of sheer determination on Gagan’s face, not wanting to loose to a Bibi, but coming soooo close to it made this match just that much more fun to watch.

The Flops

Like in all sports you have your picks who just don’t perform. This year I had Ranjit and Jarnail meeting in the finals, but Ranjit fell short in the quarters, which I guess you can’t really call a flop since the competition has grown really stiff in recent years, with competitors such as Harpreet Singh and Parmjit Singh from Cali, and the new found talent in Calgary in addition to other top picks such as Karam Singh (India) all involved, none the less, I expected Ranjit to last and go further then he did. Then you had the Nihang Singh from Harian Velaa who came out and didn’t really impress, winning I think only two match’s. Gursheel Singh last years runner up, didn’t show the tenacity he did last year, but at the same time Jarnail didn’t show fire last year either, so hopefully Gursheel comes out and puts on a better performance next year.Sohan Singh was another disappointment having beat Manroop Singh a week prior in exhibition by a good margin, loosing to Manroop just wasn’t expected, but then again Manroop won when it counted, so good for him.

The Surprises

Harbir Singh and Harman Singh were clearly underdogs coming in, but then again that had more to do with familiarity, those that knew them expected nothing less. Sukhjinder you could say also surprised me, since I didn’t expect him to compete at the level he did.

Overall things went pretty well, it didn’t rain, the competition was fierce and the day went seemingly well. I still think there needs to be changes made with the Reffing and judging, just because the current system doesn’t seem all that fair. For example the Harjot Kaur vs Gagandeep Singh match. What most felt was her striking first was called as a Sanjhaa, which is definitely a controversial call when  you get into a sudden death scenario.

Maybe have the referee there to watch for fouls only and have 5 judges score the bout as the case is in boxing, and then you take the tally of the scores to find the victor. Or do it UFC style, 3 rounds, where the judges score the rounds individually.

If it is kept the way it is then maybe get a rotating ref where you rotate the inside and outside refs every other fight, randomize things a little. Then again the sport and competition is still in its infant stages compared to many other competitions so I’m sure there will be a lot of changes to come over the years and hopefully even more tournaments that improve on things, so to end one can only wait and see.

Lastly a big thank you goes to all the sponsors especially those from Preet Video, and Digitology (Bhagauti Soora), who spent the entire day donating their services in capturing Yudh. To Harpreet of Media Vision for taking care of all the print material, posters flyers everything, Gabroo Punjab De Bhangra team for helping setup and volunteering to help run and manage the event and everyone else who put some time in to make things work. The pictures and videos should be made available shortly on Yudh.net but for now you can check out pictures Gursheel’s flickr account or his blog.  Also a big up goes to Amarinder Singh from Guelph who kept it going all day with the jokes and the commentating, hopefully he comes out again next year, in addition to all the Singhs from California, Calgary, Surrey, Guelph, India, Ottawa, and where ever else, who came all the way to compete and make Yudh an event worth watching.

Category: Fight, Gatka, Sikhi

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