Just a month and half is left for 35th National Games and Jharkhand seems to be prepared with its team representing for this mega sports tournament.
According to Jharkhand Olympic Association (JOA) officials, Jharkhand has qualified for overall nine participating events scheduled for this meet.
“The norms of this national games mentions that every State must finalise their teams prior to one month of hosting the game. As of now, 35th National Games is to be held at Kerala from February 26 to March 7. But, there are chances of extending the games by one more month. The final decision will be taken during the meeting of Indian Olympics Association members on December 23,” said JOA spokesperson Madhukant Pathak on Thursday.
The nine games wherein Jharkhand has qualified comprise Archery, Men’s Hockey, Women’s Hockey, Athletics, lawn Ball, Boxing, Wushu, Taekwondo and Football. Pathak pointed on State’s chance in participating for wrestling. He said, “The final qualifying match for wrestling was supposed to be conducted. I am not sure about the dates of this selection.”
Jharkhand had hosted the 34th National Games in 2011 and had shown its representation in most of the events. “last time, we were hosting this game so maximum participation was obvious. Though few but we hope to bag more than one gold medal in this upcoming national meet,” Pathak said.
This national sports meet would be a testing time for international and national players of India as it will determine their performance for the 20th Commonwealth Games scheduled in Glasgow, the third largest city of United Kingdom from July 23 to August 3 next year.
After this commonwealth, the 18th Asian Games at South Korea’s metropolitan city Incheon from September 19 to October 4 is known to the target zone for players bagging medals at the Commonwealth games.