IMPHAL: The Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya has appealed to the people of Assam and Manipur, underlining the need for strong public support for taking boxing to a new altitude in both regional and international levels. His call for action comes during a high-level meeting with a delegation from the Manipur Amateur Boxing Association, AMBA at the Raj Bhavan in Imphal on Tuesday.
During the meeting, Acharya spoke at length of the rich boxing heritage prevalent in the Northeast and the tremendous potential therein. He has also emphasized developing the local talents of the region, as it can produce world-class boxers with sufficient support. As a mark of his surety, Governor Acharya handed over a cheque of Rs 1 lakh to AMBA, which was to assure that Raj Bhavan would continue to support the cause of sports development in the area.
"I strongly feel that with collective efforts and cooperation from the people, youngsters hailing from our region can excel at the international level," said Acharya. "Boxing is not a game but part of life through which the component of discipline, patience, and resilience is always cultivated, which happens to be an inherent part of the local people's psyche."
The Governor was also full of praise for two promising young boxers of Manipur, N Robash Meitei and L Bidya Devi, who have been selected to represent India in the prestigious Asian Boxing Confederation (ASBC) Asian School Boys and Girls Boxing Championship, scheduled to be held from 27th August to 10th September, 2024 at Al Ain City, Abu Dhabi.
Another goodwill gesture on the part of AMBA has been to invite Governor Acharya to grace the closing ceremony of the 2nd Governor's Cup Boxing Championship, scheduled for September 29, 2024, at Imphal. The boxing event is likely to be a sprightly display of the region's boxing talents and an icing on the cake in terms of enduring patronage by the government as well as by the people.
The Governor also hailed the contribution of three reputed coaches from Manipur who would be part of the Indian Contingent in the ASBC Championship, as Oinam Geeta Chanu from SAI STC Khuman Lampak would lead as a head coach for the national junior girls' team while N Sangita of Manipur Sports Police Club and Ch Bijeta from Mary Kom Boxing Academy would coach the junior girls and sub-junior girls teams respectively.
Coaches, along with their protégés, concluded a stern 15-day national training camp at IIS Bellary of Karnataka and NSNIS Patiala, getting themselves ready for the task ahead. Manipur Amateur Boxing Association wished the Indian contingent success in the upcoming championship.
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