Arunachal Pradesh sports and youth affairs minister Mama Natung said the state has the potential to become a sports powerhouse in the country.
Mama Natung also thanked the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) for giving them the opportunity to host the 5th National Junior Boxing Championship in Itanagar.
“I’m happy and I would like to thank the Boxing Federation of India that they have given us this opportunity to host this national boxing championship. On behalf of the people of Arunachal Pradesh, I also thank the Arunachal Amateur Boxing Association (AABA) for conducting this event successfully,” said Mama Natung.
He is also hopeful that Arunachal is now capable of hosting any national tournament. He termed the boxing meet as a good platform for youngsters.
“We gave our best efforts so that this championship becomes a success. I think this championship has provided a good platform to all the junior boxers of the country which will be representing India in major international tournaments in the future,” Mama Natung added.
On the sports scene of Arunachal, he said the state has improved vastly especially after Pema Khandu took charge as Chief Minister. Mama Natung also mentioned their players are in need of some technical guidance.
“I must say, Arunachal has talents in boxing and other sports but what they need is some technical guidance so that they can advance to the next level. Here, I would like to mention that since Pema Khandu took charge of the state as Chief Minister, our players have won 900 medals and out of that 81 medals came in various international events,” he remarked.
“I’m hopeful that our players will do even better in the days to come.”
Mentioning the ‘Mission Olympic’ roadmap, Mama Natung said Pema Khandu instructed them to select 4-5 disciplines and work on that by including these in various academies.
“This is an effort to bring out talents and groom them for a better future. We are also trying our best so that there is no dearth in the infrastructure,” he added.
The minister is so dedicated that he even accompanies the players in some tournaments held in different places in the country
“I personally accompanied the players so that they didn’t face any difficulties. I took some players to Madhya Pradesh. Then I accompanied the team for the North East Olympic Games where Arunachal came third among the NE states for the first time. Earlier, we used to be in the last. It indicates that Arunachal has the potential to be a powerhouse in sports,” Mama Natung said.
He also appreciated Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s role in giving more focus to the Northeast states.
