Twenty taekwondo athletes from Garo Hills representing Meghalaya have brought laurels to the state by clinching five gold, six silver and six bronze medals in the recently concluded 4th Open National All Martial Arts Games 2016 at Guwahati, Assam.
Athletes from all over the country including the northeastern states competed in the three-day event held at Nehru Stadium, Guwahati, Assam from September 16 to September 18 last.
The National tourney was organized by the Self Defence Association of Assam affiliated to the Self Defence Society of India.
During the event athletes competed in various martial arts disciplines including Jeet Kune-Do, Kick Boxing, Karate, Taekwondo and Wushu.
Among the gold medalists was Agate Sangma, son of Taekwondo Coach Osmond T Sangma who has been consistently performing well for the state in various national and international events.
Speaking to media persons, Sangma said that the youth had tremendous potential in competitive martial arts but sadly there was dearth of sponsors.
Lamenting the paucity of funds, Sangma said that he had applied for funds under the Chief Minister's Youth Development Scheme in Williamnagar, East Garo Hills but nothing was heard of it since.
Athletes in the field have amazing potential to shine and thrive provided they are given enough exposure by letting them join such competitions, Sangma said.
He said that competing in such events required registration fees, fooding, lodging etc among others which was hard to come by.
Sangma, however, thanked all the benefactors who had made it possible for the athletes to join and compete in various tournaments.
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