The eight-nation 12th South Asian Games, the biggest sports carnival of the region, under Olympic Council of Asia ( OCA) begins today (Friday) in the Northeast Indian main tourist hub Guwahati amid huge enthusiasm among the local fans.
Two Northeast Indian cities –Guwahati and Shillong, are jointly hosting the Olympics of South Asia for the first time from February 5-16 since the Games was first introduced in 1984 in Kathmandu.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the 12-day meet at 30,000-capacity Indira Gandhi Athletics Stadium in Guwahati on Friday. Some 2500 volunteers are ready to welcome the athletes and visitors in two cities.
The Chief Minister of Meghalaya will be the chief guest in another opening ceremony on Saturday (February 6) in Shillong, a hill station and also known as the above clouds and Scotland of the East.
Some 2500 athletes from eight South Asian countries-Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka-are expected to participate for the first time in both men’s and women’s events of 23 disciplines of sports for 228 gold medals.
The disciplines of sports are: Athletics, Archery, Boxing, Badminton, Basketball, Judo, Volleyball, Swimming, Table Tennis, Triathlon, Taekwondo, Hockey, Weightlifting, Wrestling, Wushu, Football, Squash, Shooting, Kho Kho, Kabaddi, Handball, Cycling and Tennis.
The 12-day SA Games, the first of its kind in the Northeast India and the 3rd time in India after Kolkata and Chennai, will be held in 26 venues across the cities of Guwahati and Shillong — 17 venues in Guwahati and nine venues in Shillong.
A 521-member Bangladesh contingent, including 223 men’s, 147 women’s, 60 coaches, 39 managers and other team and contingent officials, will compete in all the disciplines of sports except Triathlon eying gold in Shooting, Archery, Boxing, Weightlifting and Taekwondo, especially in the men’s 10-metre air rifles shooting
The 159-member 2nd batch of Bangladesh contingent, including Athletics, Hockey, Wushu, Kho Kho, Women’s Football, Tennis, Squash and Shooting, left the capital for India by a chartered flight on Thursday morning while the 3rd batch with remaining athletes, except Wrestling, will fly on February 8.
Secretary General of Bangladesh Olympic Association (BOA) Syed Shahed Reza and Secretary in-charge of Ministry of Youth Sports Kazi Akhteruddin accompanied the team on Thursday.
The first batch of Bangladesh contingent comprising 160 members, including Archery, Badminton, Cycling, Swimming, Table Tennis, Volleyball Weightlifting and Men’s Football team, left Dhaka for Assam capital Guwahati on Wednesday.
