By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Aug 10: Shillong will host the second edition of the North East Olympic Games from October 30 to November 6 and will feature 18 disciplines, as informed by the Directorate of Sports and Youth Affairs, Meghalaya on Wednesday.
The disciplines included in this edition of the Games include archery, athletics, badminton, basketball, boxing, football, judo, karate, shooting, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, wushu, cycling, golf, weightlifting and wrestling. Aside from wrestling, all other disciplines were conducted at during the recently concluded 4th Meghalaya Games.
The North East Organising Committee, Directorate of Sports & Youth Affairs (DSYA) and the North East Olympic Association (NEOA) carried out a joint meeting to decide on the final list of disciplines.
The meeting was chaired by Sports & Youth Affairs Minister Banteidor Lyngdoh, who said that that the disciplines selected were based on the availability of infrastructure and on further advice of the Meghalaya State Olympic Association.
Senior officials present during the meeting included NEOA and Manipur Olympic Association president Th Radheshyam, NEOA secretary general Abraham K Techi, Meghalaya State Olympic Association working president John F Kharshiing, MSOA general secretary Finely L Pariat among others.
The meeting was attended by representatives of the respective Olympic associations of the eight states including Sikkim and Tripura, who attended via video conference.
The DSYA informed the media that the venues and accommodation for all competing athletes and officials are being prepared in consultation and coordination with the MSOA. State government departments have further been assigned various tasks for the smooth and successful conduct of the Games.
It is understood that the DSYA will take a leading role in the organisation of the Games after the state government was left unhappy by some of the negative news stories to have emerged from the Meghalaya Games earlier this year.
Meghalaya will be aiming to make the most of holding the event on their own turf. In the first edition of the NE Olympics in 2018, the state finished a disappointing sixth in the medals table.