Meghalaya protests shifting of SAG badminton event to Guwahati

Protesting against the shifting of the badminton event to Guwahati, the Meghalaya Olympics body today said they would write to the government and the organising committee of the South Asian Games requesting to allow the event to be played in the city as decided initially.

“We’ll write to the government and the organising committee of the SAG requesting them to allow the games to be held as decided earlier,” Meghalaya State Olympics Association Working President John F Kharshiing said.

The decision was taken at an emergency meeting of the MSOA held here last evening, he said. The state government had also protested the decision and state Sports Secretary F R Kharkongor had sent letters of protest to the bodies concerned.

Kharkongor said the decision to shift the event from Shillong to Guwahati would adversely affect the morale of the co-host state and requested the decision makers to respect the sentiments of the people of the state.

Earlier, the SAG Games Technical Conduct Committee had pointed out two issues with regards to the badminton court at the SAI complex at the North Eastern Hill University premises.

Kharshiing said the issues raised by them were that the lighting should be increased from present 1000 lumens to 1500 lumens and that the practice area should either be planked or carpeted.

Terming the issues as “minor”, Kharshiing said these could be rectified well ahead of time.