Ranchi, February 12
Thirty thousand flowers, ten thousand of them ostensibly flown in from Thailand, a laser show, Sukhwinder belting out the number ‘Chak de India’ and a curvacious Sameera Reddy gyrating to the tune, ‘Munni badnaam hui’ were the highlights of the opening ceremony of the 34th National Games here today. Aerobatics by a glider, dances by starlets flown in from Mumbai and Delhi and Vivek Oberoi riding a motorcycle were other ‘star attractions’.

Missing from the action, however, was Ranchi’s favourite son, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who is away with the Indian Cricket team and getting ready for the World Cup.

Present on the occasion were a galaxy of officials of the Indian Olympic Association including the much maligned IOA president Suresh Kalmadi, under a cloud because of the irregularities associated with the Commonwealth Games last year.

The National Games, which will see competition in 33 disciplines, will be held in four different cities of the state including Jamshedpur, Dhanbad and Bokaro.

Although the National Games is to be held after a gap of two years, the last Games was held in Guwahati in 2007 after Jharkhand failed to complete construction of the sports complex and the Games Village. The Games were allotted to Ranchi in 2003 but the fledgeling state sought postponements on six occasions.