North East sports week kicks off in Manipur

Imphal: Manipur chief minister N. Biren Singh kicked off the North East Regional Sports Week at Main Stadium of Khuman Lampak Sports Complex, Imphal on Thursday in connection with the celebration of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.

The Regional Sports Week which is organised by youth affairs and sports department, Manipur is funded by North Eastern Council (NEC).

The sports week which will continue till May 3.

Sportspersons from seven North East States including Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura and the host State Manipur will compete in select disciplines of Archery, Badminton, Boxing, Football and Table-tennis.

Hosting the sports week is a proud moment for Manipur. The sports week would celebrate the sporting spirit across all the north-eastern states and would also showcase the sportsmanship of our talented players in the select disciplines.

Biren said the state has so far produced 19 Olympians, 20 Arjuna Awardees, 3 Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, 1 Dronacharya Award, 1 Dhyan Chand Award, 6 Padma Shri award, 1 Padma Bhushan and 1 Padma Vibhushan. He said the state has produced medallists in the Olympic Games, including 2 at the recently held Tokyo Olympics, 26 medallists in Asian Games and 30 medallists in the Commonwealth Games.

He said his government had started the construction of ‘Manipur Olympian Park’ where the statue of all the Olympians of Manipur would be installed, as an encouragement to players of the state. The park would stand as a testimony to Manipur as the ‘power house of sports’.

The state government  recently signed an MoU with Samsung Data System India Pvt. Ltd. for installation of ‘Digital Experience Centre’ at the Olympian Park and Khuman Lampak Sports Complex. The Digital Experience Centres would create more awareness of sports among the public about the achievements of Olympians and would also help improve the performance of sportspersons in an innovative manner, he added.

He expressed his hopefulness that the event would create a connection among the participating players and assured that the Government would provide all possible help for smooth conduct of the sports week.