Mangaluru, (The Hindu): The participants of the district-level Dasara sports competition here on Sunday had to put up with poor conditions. While kho-kho and kabaddi players got a rough pitch filled with pebbles, athletes had to put up with a badly maintained synthetic track at the Mangala Stadium.

Students from a government First Grade college and a private college in Moodbidri had the first feel of the rough kho-kho pitch set in the warm-up ground adjoining the Mangala Stadium.

Kabaddi and throwball pitches were also at the same ground.

Players from the government college sustained injuries as they didn’t have footwear. However, a few students of the Moodbidri college had canvas shoes.

“These are conditions we have to put up with. Same is the state of pitches for University-level games,” said a student of the government college, who had to send in a substitute because of the injury. The government college lost to the Moodbidri college students by a wide margin. The rough pitch and the humid air took a toll on the kabaddi players. In the opening match, a student for a government college got injured. After first aid, the girl was shifted by an ambulance to the Wenlock Hospital.

There was poor turnout for the 4x100 relay for men and women. While only three teams turned up for the men’s event, only two turned up for the women’s section. The unevenness of the synthetic track at several places posed problems for athletes.

Minister In-charge for the district B. Ramanath Rai inaugurated the event at the Mangala Stadium. Mayor Kavitha Sanil and MLC Ivan D’Souza also participated.

The district-level hockey matches started at the NIT-K grounds, while the football matches were held at the Nehru Maidan. The district-level swimming competition started at the Mangala swimming pool, while the district netball competition started at St. Raymond’s School grounds.