27th North East Games begins in Imphal

The biggest sports extravaganza of the North East – the 27th edition of the North East Games commences at the Khuman Lampak Sports Complex in Imphal later this afternoon.

Touted as the biggest sporting spectacle of the North Eastern region, the event provides a wonderful opportunity for the talented sportspersons from this neck of the woods to show their wares.

All the seven Northeastern states, hosts Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Assam, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura and Sikkim would slug it out in the four-day championship, which holds a lot of pride for the participating states.

The games is being organized by Manipur Department of Youth Affairs & Sports under PYKKA.

According to the organizers, all the participating teams have arrived in Imphal and are giving finishing touches to their preparations for the much-awaited regional event.

As many as 1,500 athletes from eight states would battle it out in ten disciplines – athletics, boxing, judo, weightlifting, football, badminton, wushu, table tennis, hockey and taekwondo.

The athletics and boxing events will be held at the Khuman Lampak main stadium complex. Judo and badminton would be held at the Indoor Stadium, Khuman Lampak.

The weightlifting event would be held at SAI SAG, while the table tennis event would be held at the National Sports Academy Indoor Hall.

Hockey would be staged at the Khuman Lampak Hockey Stadium, while taekwondo and wushu would be conducted at the newly constructed National Sports Academy Indoor Stadium in Khuman Lampak.

The organizers have intimated that the men’s football matches would be held at Mapal Kangjeibung, while the women’s football matches would be played at the Artificial Turf Ground, Khuman Lampak.

The North East Games first started in the year 1986-87. Hosts Manipur had emerged the overall team champions on 21 occasions besides being overall runners-up four times.

This is the fifth time Manipur is hosting the NE Games.

Manipur Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh is expected to be the chief guest for the opening ceremony of the much-hyped regional event.

It may be mentioned here that the last edition of the Games was held in Aizawl, Mizoram where the hosts emerged as the overall champions.

Meanwhile, Nagaland’s contingent of 164 athletes have arrive in Imphal for the event. They would be taking part in all the ten disciplines.

Mizoram has arrived in Imphal with a contingent of 188 athletes (97 males and 91 females).

The next four days promises to throw up some exciting, edge-of-the seat action at this major regional event.