Kick-boxing in South Sikkim

NORTH EAST AND STATE AMATEUR MUAY THAI CHAMPIONSHIP GETS UNDERWAY AT JORETHANG
NAMCHI, 18 Dec: The Muay Thai Association of Sikkim is hosting the first North-East Amateur Muay Thai Championship in Sikkim and State Amateur Mauy Thai Championship here at Jorethang, South Sikkim starting today.

Minister for Roads & Bridges, RB Subba was the chief guest on the inaugural day accompanied by the area MLA, Madan Cintury, president West district SDF party, SB Subedi, Joint Director Sports & Youth Affairs(S/W), Kamal Chettri, Grand Master MTI president and South–Asia MTI president, MH Abid, International Referee and gold medallist in Mauy Thai, Farhana Banu Abid.
Addressing the inaugural function, the Minister mentioned that Sikkim was trying to promote new sports in the State and that the State government was working towards upgrading sports infrastructure here.
“We are very thankful to the Mauy Thai Association of India for taking this up in Sikkim. The name of the state, country and association will definitely shine in this new sport”, he expressed.
The north east region has a huge pool of talent and potential in sports but lacks adequate training and knowledge in the field, the Minister stated. Welcoming all the members and international, national and state champions of MTI, the Minister urged all the participants and public to maintain discipline during the matches.
Earlier, Grand Master MTI president, MH Abid in his address thanked the government of Sikkim for the cooperation and the organizing committee for conducting such a tournament. He also assured that the Mauy Thai Association of India will fully cooperate with the association of Sikkim and help the fighters of Sikkim by providing guidance under International and National coaches.
Joint Director Sports & Youth Affairs, Mr Chettri who is also the chairman of the organizing committee while delivering his welcome address said that it is the first time in Sikkim that such a sport is being played. He also thanked the Mauy Thai Association of India for their cooperation and for bringing national and international players for the championship which will definitely boost the spirit of the fighters of Sikkim to sharpen their skills.
He also urged the state’s fighters to learn from those players and to maintain discipline in the game.
The first round matches of the North East Amateur Muay Thai Championship were held in the evening.