Tura, Aug 18: A total of 102 players, comprising of 71 male and 31 female players, participated in the 2nd West Garo Hills District Badminton Championship which recently ended at the Indoor Sports Hall at Hawakhana, in Tura.
Moreover, 23 players were shortlisted to represent the district at the upcoming 39th Meghalaya State Badminton Championship in Shillong scheduled to take place from August 28 to 31.
The tournament received 133 entries, with 110 matches played within the span of three days of the championship. Players eyed for the titles of 21 different sub-categories, which included: Sr. Level Category for men and women (singles, doubles & mixed doubles); U-11 & U-13 (boys & girls singles), U-15, U-17 & U-19 for boys & girls (singles and doubles).
The three-day tournament, held from August 15 to 17, was organised by the Tura Badminton Association in collaboration with the District Sports Office, West Garo Hills with monetary sponsorship received from the chief minister.
Chief Minister, Conrad K Sangma, along with the Deputy Commissioner, West Garo Hills, Jagdish Chelani, and District Sports Officer, Tura, Saljagring M Marak attended the closing ceremony on Saturday and distributed awards to the winners and runners-up of the tournament.
A two-minute silence to pay homage to former Chief Minister, Salseng C Marak, was also observed.
Sangma congratulated the young players and applauded them for their hard work and dedication. He also expressed gratitude to the parents for supporting the interest of their children.
An overall amount of Rs 1 lakh was allotted to the winners and runners-up in the 21 different sub-categories along with the trophy and certificate. A special award for the most promising talent was awarded to Zaayan Khan Islam and Amelia D Marak.
