Panaji: PM Narendra Modi will officially inaugurate the 37th edition of the National Games at the Nehru Stadium in Fatorda on October 25, but the badminton event for men and women will commence six days earlier.
According to the Games schedule, badminton will commence on October 19 and culminate on October 24.
Sources said the Badminton Federation of India (BFI) asked the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to advance the dates since there were two other international ranking tournaments lined-up in India during the National Games.
Netball (Indoor Stadium, Campal, Oct 22-27), gymnastics (Peddem sports complex, Mapusa, Oct 23-28), and basketball (Manohar Parrikar Indoor Stadium, Navelim, Oct 23-28) will also start before the official inauguration, similar to other multi-discipline events across the world.
For example, the 19th edition of the Asian Games ran from September 23 to October 8 in China. The football event, though, starts four days earlier, with India drawn to face China in the opening round clash on Sept 19.
“Given that there was a lot of suspense, it’s good to see that the official schedule is finally out. It’s late, just a month for the Games to start,” a senior official said on Monday.
Two disciplines — golf and cycling (track race) — will be held in Delhi, while shooting, previously scheduled to be held outside the state, has now been allotted to the Yash Shooting Academy in Mapusa.
There has been a change in some venues for Goa too.
Badminton was originally scheduled to be held at the Indoor Stadium in Campal, but a technical inspection suggested that the venue is “too crammed” and not ideal for the National Games where top players would be in action. The Peddem sports complex was suggested as an alternative venue but with the early-start dates clashing with gymnastics, the event will now be held at the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Stadium in Taleigao.
Close to 12,000 athletes and officials are expected to take part in the event.
Goa signed the host city contract in 2008 to host the National Games in 2011, but delays elsewhere meant the 36th edition the state was allotted to host could be held only after Kerala were done with the 35th edition in January 2015.
Goa said it would host the Games in 2016, but has since been unable to complete the infrastructure necessary to host the multi-discipline event.
2023-09-18 18:56:00
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