SHILLONG: Apart from football, other sports saw mixed success in 2013.
In a football obsessed state like Meghalaya, there is only a little room for other disciplines to squeeze in.
Granted, multi-sport events were held in several disciplines in every district last year and in regional and national competitions Meghalaya garnered some major achievements.
Martial arts proved to be an area where Meghalaya is developing all the time.
There were successes at the regional and national levels in karate, wushu and taekwondo.
A very interesting initiative was taken in May with the launch of Run Meghalaya, a body that seeks to promote running in the state.
Runners part of this initiative took part in the Guwahati Half Marathon and Delhi Half Marathon.
The latter, an internationally-recognised event, saw four male runners from Run Meghalaya finish in the top 10 of the open category with all three of the female runners (the now famous Marwein sisters of West Khasi Hills) also finishing in the top 10 of their event.
There were also achievements in table tennis, arm wrestling and shooting.
However, there were a few negatives. While the year saw the inauguration of floodlights at the JN Stadium, Polo, the artificial running track is still yet to be available to runners, despite a statement that work would be complete by March.
The Comptroller and Auditor General’s report also cast light on numerous failings with regards to the use of sports infrastructure, their maintenance and the use of funds for sports, which let the state down despite the government’s lofty aims of making Meghalaya a force in the sports world.
Despite this, there were creditable performances and Meghalaya can take a lot of positives away from 2013.
