Shillong: Meghalaya sent a 19 -member delegation to the National Games currently being held in Kerala but the athletes have not registered a single win till date.
Whereas Manipur a troubled state has won 4 gold, 3 silver and 4 bronze medals and Assam has won 3 gold and 3 bronze medals, Meghalaya has got nil.
Nineteen athletes have been selected by the Meghalaya State Olympic Association for the upcoming 35th National Games, A team of 14 officials, including chef de mission B Diengdoh, accompanied the athletes for the January 31-February 15 tournament in Kerala.
The athletes -9 women and 10 men are taking part in five disciplines: archery, boxing, judo, shooting and wushu. While sending them off, working president of the Meghalaya State Olympic Association had told the contingent that it is the spirit of participation which is most important. But many sports observers in Meghalaya have lamented the fact that the Meghalaya sportsperson were nowhere near their competitors even from within the region.
“We don’t invest in sports only for the sake of participation. We expect our sportspersons to also bring back some medals,” said a former sportspersons. A former athelete who did not wish to be named said neither the Minister in charge of Sports and Youth Affairs, Zenith Sangma nor the officials and bureaucrats have any clue about sports. They wonder how the number of officials could be almost as big as the number of sportspersons. The sportsperson said that national games are a stepping stone towards international exposure but Meghalaya did not make the cut even in the national games, despite the immense potential among the youth of Meghalaya. “There has to be something wrong in the selection process or the talent search.
Another sportsperson who has represented Meghalaya from time to time said there are no incentives like sports quota in Government jobs and cash awards to meritorious athletes in this state.
Other sports aficionados feel that the Sports Department neither provides state of the art infrastructure nor does it invest in athletes to the extent needed. They feel the Department needs a major shake-up
The athletes representing Meghalaya include Lako Tsh Lepcha (archery), Parvati Nair (archery & shooting), Prakash Gurung (archery), Sonam P Lepcha (archery), Pynjanai Sancley, Arvind Thapa, Dhan Bahadur, Maitshaphrang, Wanbuddien (all boxing), Y Ranjeeta Devi, Y Sangita Devi, A Anita Chanu, TH Gangarani Devi, Aiborin K Shabong, N Gomti Chanu (all judo), W Tomba Singh, A MIshanta Singh, Md Zahid Chisti, PH Kiran Singh (all wushu).
