Asom basks in the glory of imported players

Guwahati, Feb 11: Placed fifth in the medal table, hosts Asom are basking in the glory of imported players from neighbouring Manipur, who have picked up two gold so far in the 33rd National Games here.

The performance is a marked improvement from the last Hyderabad Games when Asom ended 21st with just one gold, four silver and two bronze.

''We will do better but do not expect much,'' said the Chief De Mission of the Asom contingent Bhogeshwar Baruah, complaining lack of exercise.

Most of the glory and accolades of the second day of the Games could be attributed to Manipuri players, who picked up two gold for Asom in Wushu, a game not many are familiar with.

Similarly in cycling too, they have done Asom proud winning the bronze, which is unexpected. Asom, however, did not stop shopping players from Manipur alone. The Gymnastic team has players from both West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh.

Former champion and strong contender in the individual section Trumpa Debnath is taking the floor from Asom and the Bengali girl has already set the floor ablaze.

''I hope to do well. There is so much hope on me. I have to do well,'' she said.

In the men's section, there are Rohit Yadav from Uttar Pradesh who has also picked up from Uttar Pradesh to play for Asom team.
He is expected to do well and pick up a medal or two as he has been winning medals in the artistic gymnastics for past 10 years. ''It will be tough to compete against my old team Uttar Pradesh. But I shall give my best and will win,'' he said. Already the presence of imported players in the Asom hockey team saw mighty Punjab being humbled, courtesy Brajen Singh and C S Singh, originally from Manipur.

With a bounty of cash awards awaiting for medal winners, smart athletes are turning for adopted state. ''We have already announced Rs three lakh for gold medallist and Rs two lakh for silver medallist as well as Rs one lakh for Bronze medallist,'' said Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi.

Besides that, there were promises of job as well as private cash award. In that process, Asom too has lost the services of World Champion Jaynata Talukdar, who plays for Jharkhand. He, however, opted out of the Jharkhand team citing injury, saving himself from the embarrassment of competition against home team on home turf.

According to a senior official of Asom contingent, at least 10-15 per cent of the athletes in the 908-strong Asom team are imported from outside the state. This trend has been started by Andhra Pradesh during the Hyderabad National Games, in their bid to be top team and now it has become practice of the host team to do so to be on the top.

UNI