Four taekwondo players from Malda are ready to participate in the 6 Netaji Subhash State Games to be held on Friday at the Alipurduar Indoor Stadium in Alipurduar district. The competition has been arranged for the first time in north Bengal by the Bengal Olympic Association (BOA) which will be marked from 1 to 4 February in the same venue.
The coach of the team, Mohammad Samiul Islam, is overjoyed as his students are confident enough to snatch medals representing the district. This is to be noted here that the competition is organized in an interval of four years just like the Olympics and it is recognised as a state level format of the games, the Olympic norms of the events are also maintained in the format. As a whole, the competition can be looked upon as a talent hunt programme of the BOA which is affiliated to the Indian Olympic Association.
According to Mr Islam, he received an email from Anil Bhargava, secretary of Bengal Taekwondo association, comprising names of the selected sportspersons, Debanwita Sinha, Biplab Kisku, Bhaskar Bhowmik and Intasar Hossain on January 27 for confirmation of the participation of the selected players.
He also added that these four, now ranks among the top six players of Taekwondo in the state and previously they had taken up challenges in national and international level championships. Moreover, Mr Kisku has won a gold medal in an international arena.
“We have good preparations for the games and we are confident enough to bring medals for our beloved district,” said Mr Islam. The youngest of the four and a student of Malda College in English Bazaar Block, Ms Sinha said, “This is a great chance for all of us to show our talent at this level. By winning the game we will pay tribute to our coach. We are just waiting to hit the Taekwondo arena and put up a strong fight to our opponents.”