Advisor to Lieutenant Governor, Farooq Khan today declared open the 27th National Thang-Ta Championship here at MA Stadium.On the occasion the Advisor expressed his elation that the game has taken birth in India and is getting famous not only in the country but throughout the world. He said that Manipur, where the sport originated has produced world class Martial Art players who had popularised it by their sheer talent.Advisor Khan also showed his confidence that the game is spreading across Indian borders at a fast pace and he expects that in future it would become part of Olympic games and Indian nationals are going to win medals for their nation.Moreover the Advisor welcomed all the players and their coaches who are participating in this national event. He offers his gratitude to the Thang-Ta Federation of India for choosing J&K as the venue for holding this championship here.
He maintained that other national associations are also going to hold their respective events here using the world class sports infrastructure raised here from past couple of years. He said that the way new sports stadia are coming up along the length and breadth of the UT is going to produce world class players from here as well.The Secretary, Sports Council, Nuzhat Gul while formally welcoming all the participants encouraged them to play their game well displaying all their capabilities. She said that playing the game in its true spirit is more important than winning the game. She promised them that the Sports Council would do everything to make both their stay and sports memorable.The attractions of the opening ceremony were blind sword demonstration, sword fight demonstration by national level Martial Art players. The audience remained spell bound by their skilful performances thus opening the games with fanfare.It was said that more than 1000 players from 24 states/UTs of the nation are participating in the National Championship, taking place for the next 4 days.