Chümoukedima, 24 November (MTNews): The newly constructed Table Tennis Mini Stadium of the Northeast India Academy of Performing Arts (NIAPA) located at NER Agri Expo, Chümoukedima was formally inaugurated by Nagaland Deputy Chief Minister, TR Zeliang on November on Friday.
Speaking at the inaugural, Zeliang appreciated the efforts of NIAPA and congratulated it for constructing its First Exclusive Table Tennis Stadium and also for organizing the NIAPA NorthEast Open Table Tennis Tournament.
The tournament is scheduled to be held from 24-27 November with around 70 players representing Nagaland, Mizoram, Nagaland Senior Team, Assam, and Team NIAPA participating in the four-day long event. It was informed that this edition of the tournament was relaunched under the theme, “One wing of a Nation, One Sport #Unity.”
With the inauguration of the exclusive stadium for table tennis, young players in the state will be immensely benefited as a platform and avenue is brought to the doorstep to train and improve their talent to compete with the rest, TR Zeliang observed.
He encouraged NIAPA to remain committed to support and nurture the growth of the sport and provide opportunities for young players to excel and be at par with the rest of the world. “We do not lack the talent to be world renowned and there is potential in our youths to excel in any discipline but due to poor infrastructure and support, our growth in the field of sports is growing at a slow pace,” Zeliang said.
“But with collective effort and in our individual capacity, if we can promote and give the platform, I am confident that our State and Northeast region will be the powerhouse of games and sports in the country,” he added.
Zeliang also said that table tennis is a sport with worldwide appeal and can be played by all ages unlike many games and sports which do not appeal to all age groups. He quoted Ogimura, a famous table tennis player and former President of the International Table Tennis Federation as saying, “Table Tennis is like running a 100M race while playing chess at the same time.”
Whether one takes up table tennis professionally or for leisure, the benefits of it are immense and therefore should be encouraged to improve one’s quality of life, he emphasized.
He urged the players to aim for excellence and strive hard to become successful sportsmen and women not only in the region, but also shine at the national and international levels. This is possible, he said, only when young talents are unwaveringly dedicated to the game through rigorous and constant practice and training.
He also prayed that the newly inaugurated stadium serve as “a symbol of our collective passion for table tennis and our unwavering trust in the power of sports to unite and inspire, and become a place of excellence, sportsmanship and source of joy for generations to come.”
Some of the top State and National players are participating in the NIAPA Open Tournament, including players like Teho and Teboi from Mizoram, Agniv and Shankab from Assam, and Tanushree and Suranjit from Meghalaya.