The Indian women’s hockey team on their arrival in Guwahati on Thursday, ahead of the 12th South Asian Games in Assam and Meghalaya. — PTI
The Indian women’s hockey team on their arrival in Guwahati on Thursday, ahead of the 12th South Asian Games in Assam and Meghalaya. — PTI
Postponed several times for a variety of reasons, the biggest-ever South Asian Games begin here on Friday with the hosts expected to stamp their superiority on the regional spectacle.
The 12-day event, featuring 2,500 athletes from eight Saarc countries, will be declared open by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday. The multi sporting event, being held under the aegis of the South Asian Olympic Council, is happening after a delay of four years.
The 12th edition of the Games was to be held in 2012 in New Delhi but was postponed due to Assembly elections in the national capital.
After that, the Indian Olympic Association was suspended by the International Olympic Committee between December 2012 and February 2014, leading to a further delay.
After the IOA’s suspension was revoked by the IOC, Kerala was tipped to host the Games but the event was handed to Guwahati and Shillong last year before another round of postponements.
The two cities thus got the opportunity to host India’s third South Asian Games after Kolkata (1987) and Chennai (1995).
But, just a day before the opening ceremony, the organisers suffered a jolt when the basketball event was derecognised by the sport’s world body Fiba.
Participating countries have been told not to take part in the discipline which is scheduled to be held here from February 11 to 16. Fiba took the decision on account of the interference by the government and the IOA in the conduct of the discipline in the Games.
India, who had topped the medals tally in all the previous editions, will have the largest number of participants with 521 athletes (245 women), while Nepal and Bangladesh have sent 381 and 370 respectively.
Pakistan, who initially had some reservations in taking part in the Games citing security concerns, have sent 346 athletes.
Guwahati will host 16 disciplines — athletics, basketball, cycling, football, handball, hockey, kabaddi, kho-kho, shooting, squash, swimming, tennis, triathlon, volleyball, weightlifting and wrestling and men’s football — across 10 venues.
Shillong, on the other hand, will see competition in six disciplines — archery, badminton, boxing, judo, table tennis, taekwondo and wushu and women’s football.
