Paragliding, sports climbing among 15 disciplines included in Games
Staff Reporter
ITANAGAR, Feb 23: The 3rd State Olympic Games will be conducted in the capital complex from 13 to 16 March, informed the Arunachal Olympic Association (AOA).
The sports disciplines that are included in the Games are archery, athletics, badminton, basketball, boxing, football, judo, karate, paragliding, shooting, sports climbing, table tennis, Taekwondo, weightlifting and Wushu, said AOA secretary-general Abraham K Techi.
The events will be conducted at different venues within the capital complex, except paragliding, which will be held in Lumdung, in East Kameng district.
While the track & field events (athletics) will be conducted at the RGU ground, archery, boxing, football, judo, sports climbing, Teakwondo and Wushu will be held at Sangay Lhaden Sports Academy.
Badminton and table tennis will be conducted at the Raj Bhawan badminton hall and the MLA cottage indoor hall, respectively. The venues for basketball and weightlifting are Nyikum Niya Hall, Nirjuli, and Don Bosco School, Jully.
The shooting competition will be conducted at Lekhi, and karate at Marik Academy (of karate) in Chimpu, Abraham said.
While sports climbing will make its debut in the Tokyo-2020 (Olympic Games), the World Air Sports Federation has selected paragliding as a potential additional sport.
Paragliding was introduced in the Asian Games in its 18th edition held in Indonesia in 2018, Abraham said.
The state Olympic Games assumes significance for the state’s athletes in view of the second North East Olympic Games to be held here at a later date this year, and the National Games to be held in Goa during October-November, he said.
The AOA secretary-general, who met Chief Minister Pema Khandu on 21 February in connection with the conduct of the state Olympic Games, said the CM has assured to provide grant-in-aid to sports bodies which have been active and are able to produce medal-winning sports-persons.
Abraham said he also attended a consultative meeting of the sports department on Saturday and discussed various issues related to development of the sports sector.
The meeting was attended by Sports Minister Mama Natung, the sports secretary, and other officials of the sports department, including Director Tadar Appa.
