SHILLONG, May 3: Meghalaya Chief Minister, Conrad K Sangma on Tuesday officially opened the fourth edition of the Meghalaya Games 2022 during the opening ceremony which was held at Shillong Sports Association (SSA) first division ground at Polo.
More than 2500 athletes will be competing in 19 disciplines of this mega sports event to be held as part of the 50th Statehood Day Celebrations.
The games will conclude on May 6 at the SAI Centre in NEHU.
The SAI Centre at NEHU will host seven disciplines – archery, athletics, men’s football, gymnastics, weightlifting, karate, and table tennis.
NEIGRIHMS will be host to the basketball events, the Mawlai Mawroh Indoor Hall will feature boxing, while Mawlai Madan Heh will be the site for women’s football up to the semi-finals, with the title match to be held at SAI.
The golf event will be held at the iconic Shillong Golf Course. Golf is one of five disciplines that have been added to this edition of the Games, the others being football, gymnastics, weightlifting and cycling.
Cycling – both cross country and downhill races – will take place at Malki, while Shillong Club will host tennis as well as billiards and snooker. The Laban SC Indoor Stadium will feature two martial art forms judo and taekwondo, while wushu will be held at the Madanrting Indoor Hall. Shooting will be held at the Assam Regimental Centre and swimming will go on at Crinoline Swimming Pool. Badminton, meanwhile, will be held at NEHU Indoor Stadium.
Addressing the athletes during the opening ceremony, Sangma said that he is happy to see the second Meghalaya Games being hosted in the last four and half years despite the COVID-19 pandemic. He further added that it is the second of the four Meghalaya Games to be organised in the past 50 years.
Sangma said that this clearly shows the intention of the government to give top priority to the development of sports and more importantly to the youth of the state.
Sangma urged the members of the Meghalaya State Olympic Association (MSOA) to learn from the setback by ensuring that similar discrepancies are not repeated in the future events.
“Everything cannot be perfect and failure is part of life,” the chief minister said while referring to the controversy over the unhygienic conditions of the accommodation provided to the participants of this mega event.
Taking strong cognizance over this controversy, Sports Minister, Banteidor Lyngdoh said that this kind of lapses is not tolerable at all, even asserting that the MSOS should rectify whatever lapses there were.
“We need to make sure that this does not happen in the future,” Lyngdoh added.
Also included in the opening ceremony was a march-past of athletes, oath-taking administered by star Meghalaya karateka Wandahunshisha Mawblei and the performance of songs and cultural dances. The North East Small Finance Bank also sponsored equipment for two elite shooters of the state – Anjali Singh and Dennyson Kyrsian. These were presented to the shooters by the chief minister. The chief minister also announced that next year’s Meghalaya Games will take place in Tura, with the 2024 event to be held in Jowai.
