Governor's Cup taekwondo championship in Imphal attracts large participation

Young taekwondo practitioners from nine districts of Manipur came together at the Khuman Lampak Indoor Stadium to participate in the 10th Governor's Cup Taekwondo Championship 2014 recently.

When it comes to sports, the youth in the Northeast are second to none.

Sport events are being conducted in the region regularly to give the youngsters a platform to showcase and hone their skills.

Altogether 410 participants, including 210 girls and 200 boys from different units of the All Manipur Taekwondo Association, took part in the 4-day long championship.

The tournament was held in 4 categories-sub junior, junior, senior and cadet.

L Joy Khuman, General Secretary, All Manipur Taekwondo Association said, "We would like to promote such events and through such tournaments our players will improve their talents and they will get more interested in this field."

The championship came into being in 2005 and is now a regular annual feature.

The state association is looking forward to produce competent taekwondo practitioners who can represent the state at the national and international level.

Performance in the tournament will determine selection for the forthcoming national championships.

"There are many different styles of Taekwondo but many of these forms are dying now. By coming here and playing together we want to develop and preserve the traditional forms of the game," said Priyadarshini, a player.

Another player, Sebadoli Devi, said, "I started playing taekwondo to bring laurels for Manipur. I really like playing taekwondo and I thought of becoming someone great, that is why I am playing taekwondo."

Such events provide budding sportspersons a platform to showcase their skills, and encourage them to opt for a career in sports.

While there is no dearth of talent in the Northeast, more importance needs to be given to infrastructure development and better training facilities for the sportspersons so that they can perform better and bring laurels for the state and country.