Date:02/01/2009 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2009/01/02/stories/2009010260641800.htm

Sport - Sports : General

National Games in February as scheduled

Principal Correspondent

HYDERABAD: Jharkhand will host the 2009 National Games from February 15 to 28 as scheduled and there will no more postponements.

This was conveyed to the delegates who attended the crucial meeting of the Chefs-de-Mission at Ranchi on December 29.

The AP Olympic Association delegates Prof. K. Ranga Rao, VP, APOA (who represented chef de mission A.P. Jitender Reddy as the latter could not make it), and B. K. Haranath, joint-secretary, APOA, said the State government was determined to avoid any more delay.

Madhu Kumar Pathak, co-chairperson and treasurer of the National Games Organising Committee, informed from Ranchi on Wednesday that the Rs. 700 crore infrastructure would be representative of the State government’s commitment in organising the Games.

Beijing-model

“Of the three stadia under construction, only the roofing of one indoor stadium (where basketball and volleyball are scheduled) would not be completed by the deadline. Hence we are going ahead with the Beijing-model of a temporary structure and also air-conditioning facilities on the 232-acre Games Sports Complex,” he said.

“Hockey will be held on astro-turf and football will be held under floodlights at different venues,” he added.

“For the first time in India, we are planning to have a roof in the main stadium where athletics and opening and closing ceremonies will be held. However, since the concerned firm has expressed its inability to complete the job of roofing before the Games begin, it will be completed later on,” Pathak said.

“The feature of the main stadium is that besides having an eight-lane track, it will have a complete warm-up track too,” he added.

About accommodation, Pathak said that the Games Village with 1250 flats of two, three and four bedrooms — totalling 3,600 rooms — would be ready for the athletes.

He also pointed out that the main stadium, shooting range, velodrome, three indoor stadia and the Games Village are located within walking distance so there will be no transport problem for the participants.