Shillong: Know the phrase “there is light at the end of the tunnel?” During a 3-km uphill trek on a chilly Thursday evening, I felt similar. In this case, however, this correspondent was not in the middle of ‘nowhere’, rather, on his way to the dimly-lit Sports Authority of India (SAI) stadium. Why? To witness the not-so-glittering, sans the drone show, opening ceremony of the second North East Olympic Games, coinciding with the golden jubilee of Meghalaya’s statehood.
Accessible to only a privileged few bearing official car passes, the North Eastern Hill University (NEHU), home to the stadium complex, looked rather regular for such an important event, with students around the campus as usual. Thanks to the larger-than-life hoardings of Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma, one could assume that there’s a government-organised event inside the complex.
But a few hoardings later, it became clear that more than the Games, this was another event to promote Sangma and Co ahead of the Assembly elections early next year. And the locals concurred with this opinion.
“Do you see the facilities in Shillong? Do they even match up to the standards of big-ticket events? Instead, the government could have taken some time, and scheduled it properly without making any haste,” said one local, who hesitantly sent his kid to perform at the opening ceremony.
To put things in perspective, the tennis event of the competition, scheduled to start at the Shillong Club Tennis Courts on Thursday, was postponed by a day as the courts weren’t ready on time. And, not to forget, the city’s main stadium, the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, is still under renovation, and the floodlights installed at the MFA Ground for football events are only meant for practice and training.
But for now, let us focus on the opening ceremony. The venue welcomed the gathering with a dimly-lit stage, where anchor Mandira Bedi had to double her effort, and on top of that, was situated in a no-net zone, where even voice calls needed a slice of luck.
As the evening progressed, a gentle breeze across the stadium further dipped the temperature to 12 degrees, making it even more uncomfortable for the children in their dancing attires, who had been waiting for around three hours for their performances. And once they were done, no one bothered to ferry them out.
And the cold seemingly affected a Sikkimese athlete, who had to be stretchered out of the venue even before the start of the march-past of the contingents of all eight North East states.
Meanwhile, national record holder in 400m, Hima Das was the star attraction at the event alongside Conrad Sangma, the chief guest and the state sports minister, Banteidor Lyngdoh, who welcomed the 3,000 athletes and other visitors for the action unfolding across 13 venues in the city over the next seven days.
The Olympic torch, tastefully crafted in traditional style using local materials, was handed over to the chief minister by star Meghalaya runner Marso Kyndait. The CM placed it on the pedestal, declaring the Games open. The flame will remain for the rest of the Games. Following that, Meghalaya karateka Wandahunshisha Mawblei led the oath taking ceremony.
CM Sangma, in his opening address, called on the youth to keep away from drugs and anti-social activities and channelise their energy for constructive activities.
On the field, golf, table tennis and basketball events got underway as planned on the opening day. While Golf is being played at the picturesque Shillong Golf Course, with 80 players from the North East states playing 18 holes per day over four rounds.
At the NEIGRIHMS Indoor Basketball Court, Mizoram stormed to a 126-35 victory over Tripura in Pool A. The second match then saw Nagaland also win comfortably, 87-39 against Arunachal Pradesh in Pool B.
Table tennis, meanwhile, saw the start of their team matches. In the women’s competition, Manipur defeated Tripura 3-1, Meghalaya beat Sikkim 3-0, Mizoram defeated Nagaland 3-0, Tripura took down Arunachal 3-1, Mizoram beat Sikkim 3-0 and Meghalaya defeated Nagaland 3-0.
In the men’s events, Mizoram were 3-0 victors over Arunachal, while Nagaland took down Sikkim by the same margin. Manipur were 3-0 winners against Arunachal before Meghalaya defeated Nagaland 3-1.
Also read | Golf, table tennis, basketball kick-start at North East Olympic Games 2022
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