A Correspondent
Itanagar: Arunachal Pradesh has huge hidden sports talents who should be honed up to win laurels for the country, said State Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Mama Natung after declaring the 9th State Level Weightlifting Championship-2019 (Men & Women) open at Nirjuli near here on Thursday.
Addressing 82 weightlifters, including 43 girls from across the state, Natung called upon Arunachal Weightlifting Association (AWA) to identify the talented ones, train them properly and facilitate their exposure to bring their talent to limelight.
He announced to personally sponsor next year championship before declaring the event open.
Many state weightlifters despite lack of highly trained coaches and adequate training facilitates have won regional, national and global medals, AWA president Abraham K Techi said, adding Commonwealth medal winner Yukar Sibi has become army coach.
Techi sought support from the state government for meeting the basic requirements for promoting weightlifting having high potential as a career to generate employment.
The competitions in 10 categories are being conducted by 12 judges led by chief jury Kumar Doka and AWA secretary general Biku Sarita.
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