Guwahati, Nov. 6 (PTI): Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal today said people of the state have highlighted their hospitality by helping the government organise world-class sporting events here.
The International Boxing Association’s (AIBA) Youth Women’s World Boxing Championship would be held in Guwahati from November 19 to 26 where 193 registered boxers from 39 countries would participate and the prestigious competition will be held in India for the first time.
“Many world-class tournaments are being organised in Guwahati regularly now and many more such tournaments are going to take place in the city in the near future,” Sonowal said while launching the official logo, mascot and anthem for the forthcoming championship.
The government would develop 500 playgrounds in the state during 2017-18 and state-of-the-art sports stadiums will soon be constructed in Dibrugarh, North Lakhimpur and Sualkuchi in Kamrup, he said.
The state government’s focus has been to identify sporting talents from rural areas and nurture them for achieving success at the national and international level, Sonowal said.
“Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Centre is giving a big push to sports and the state government is also committed to make Guwahati the sports capital of the country,” he said.
The tournament would also be the qualifying competition for the Youth Olympic Games to be held in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 2018, according to officials, an AIBA statement said.
The championship would also mark the beginning of the journey for women boxers to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, the statement said.
Five-time world champion and Olympic bronze-medallist M C Mary Kom, the state’s leading boxer Shiva Thapa and singer Zubeen Garg have been appointed as brand ambassadors of the championship.
