Deepankar Sharda
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, November 25
After a gap of almost 14 years, the Chandigarh Olympics Association (COA) is planning to organise the state games in January 2020. The COA has tentatively scheduled the state games from January 27, 2020. The last state games were held in October 2005 followed by a sponsored event called ‘Mini Olympics’ in 2012. The term of the current COA officer-bearers ends in November 2020 and the officials are keen to organise the event to showcase it as their achievement.
COA secretary Maha Singh said, “Yes, we are organising the state games from January 27, 2020. All our affiliated units will be eligible to participate in the competition.”
When asked about the 14-year gap in holding the event, Singh blamed it on the delay in organising the National Games. “We were keen to conduct the state games but due to the delay in organising the National Games we had to extend it further. The real purpose of organising the state games is to select the teams for the National Games,” he said.
It is pertinent to mention here that the COA had failed to organise the state games before the 2015 National Games in Thiruvananthapuram.
In 2005, the state games were organised in events such as athletics, archery, basketball, boxing, football, golf, gymnastics, handball, hockey, judo, kayaking, rowing, volleyball, canoeing, kho-kho, tennis, table tennis, shooting, weightlifting and swimming. Badminton, cycling, skating, wrestling and netball were dropped from the games.
Earlier, the state games were scheduled to be held in November 2019, and prior to that, it was informed that the event was slated for July 2018.
“The COA office bearers were elected in 2016 for a term of four years. If they lacked funds, how come they had a dedicated office at one of the private schools here,” asked one of the former COA office-bearer who did not wish to be named.
The COA had last organised a felicitation ceremony for Punjab Sports Minister Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi at a Derabassi-based hotel on June 26, 2018.
