JULLANG, 13 Jul: Sports & Youth Affairs Minister Mama Natung said that Arunachal Pradesh has the potential to become a sports powerhouse in the country.
Natung also thanked the Boxing Federation of India for giving the Arunachal Amateur Boxing Association the opportunity to host the 5th National Junior Boxing Championship here.
“I’m happy and I would like to thank the Boxing Federation of India that they have given us this opportunity to host this national boxing championship. On behalf of the people of Arunachal Pradesh, I also thank the Arunachal Amateur Boxing Association for conducting this event successfully,” he said.
He said he is hopeful that “Arunachal is now capable of hosting any national tournament,” and termed the boxing meet a good platform for youngsters.
“We gave our best efforts, so that this championship becomes a success. I think this championship has provided a good platform to all the junior boxers of the country who will be representing India in major international tournaments in the future,” Natung added.
On the sports scene of Arunachal, he said that the state has improved vastly, especially after Pema Khandu took charge as chief minister. Natung also mentioned that state’s players are in need of technical guidance.
“I must say, Arunachal has talents in boxing and other sports but what they need is some technical guidance, so that they can advance to the next level. Here, I would like to mention that, since Pema Khandu took charge of the state as chief minister, our players have won 900 medals, and out of that, 81 medals came in various international events,” he said, and added that “I’m hopeful that our players will do even better in the days to come.”
Mentioning the ‘Mission Olympic’ roadmap, Natung said that the CM has instructed to select 4-5 disciplines and work on those by including them in various academies.
“This is an effort to bring out talents and groom them for a better future. We are also trying our best, so that there is no dearth in the infrastructure,” he added.
The minister said that he even accompanies the players in some tournaments held in different places in the country.
“I personally accompanied the players, so that they didn’t face any difficulties. I took some players to Madhya Pradesh. Then I accompanied the team for the North East Olympic Games, where Arunachal came third among the NE states for the first time.
“Earlier, we used to be in the last. It indicates that Arunachal has the potential to be a powerhouse in sports,” Natung said.
