Phachey Sernya lifts traditional archery tourney at Yangthang

YANGTHANG [SAMDONG], 23 Feb: Phachey Sernya lifted the trophy of the traditional archery tournament organized by Yangthang Archery Association by beating Assam Lingzey Church in the final match played here on Wednesday. The winner scored 36 points while the opponent scored only 13 points.
Area MLA, Tumin Lingee constituency-cum-Chief Whip, Ugen Gyatso Bhutia was present as the chief guest accompanied by Zilla panchayat, Saraswati Regmi, SDF Cheli vice-convenor, Tika Devi Nepal, ward panchayat, senior party members and government contractors as the guests of honour.
The final rounds of the one-sided match turned interesting as the guests of honour announced Rs. 1,000 to players who shot the target and Rs. 5,000 to those who shot thubjey [two consecutive targets by the same player].
Though none of the players were able to shoot thubjey but Phachey players managed to earn 2 points by hitting the target once to win the tournament.
The chief guest also announced Rs. 2000 each for single target hit and Rs. 10,000 for thubjey. As the tournament was already over, the committee decided to organize extra rounds with new rules. Two top players from each team were selected and given 5 arrows each.
In this too, no one scored thubjey but Saroj Rai, team captain of Assam Lingzey and Samcho Bhutia of Phachey bagged a target each winning Rs. 2000 each in cash.
Then, both of them were given three arrows and the one to hit the target first was to receive a cash prize of Rs. 6,000. None of them shot the target and the chief guest distributed the amount to both the teams equally.
During the tournament Ms. Pubry Bhutia was felicitated for her utmost dedication towards the promotion of traditional archery in the area along with her late husband Tashi Bhutia. She was handed over a shawl and citation by the chief guest.
In his address, the chief guest expressed happiness and gratitude towards the organizing committee. He said that by organizing such tournaments, the committee had done a great job for preserving and promoting age-old traditions of the state.
“Now traditional archery has been inducted in PYKKA, I will do whatever I can to promote this game in the area,” he assured.
Later, Samcho Bhutia of Phachey was awarded Man of the Match trophy along with a cash prize of Rs. 1,000. Pema Ongyal Bhutia of the same team bagged the Man of Series trophy along with Rs. 1,000 cash prize.
The winners trophy alongwith a cash prize of Rs. 10,000 was handed over to Phachey team captain by the chief guest. The runners up were handed over a trophy and cash prize of Rs. 7,000.
The chief guest from his side handed over cash prize of Rs. 3,000 to the match umpire, Tashi Bhutia for free and fair judgement.

Ugen Gyatso calls on Tumin-Lingee to maintain model constituency image

SAMDONG, 23 Feb: “Tumin Lingee constituency is moving in the right direction and people’s support is a must to achieve the desired development,” said Ugen Gyatso Bhutia, area MLA-cum-Chief Whip of the Government during the finals of the traditional archery tournament organized by Yangthang Archery Committee here on Wednesday.
Mr. Gyatso, who attended the programme as the chief guest, pointed out that the constituency had been regarded as a model constituency by the Chief Minister during his village to village tour last year and appealed to the public to maintain it with unity and dignity.
Mentioning that the Sikkim Democratic Front was celebrating its second decadal anniversary on 03 and 04 March at Jorethang playground in a grand manner, Mr. Gyatso appealed to the public of Tumin Lingee constituency to join the celebrations whole-heartedly. He announced that the party has expected minimum gathering of one lakh people and urged the public not to miss such a historic occasion.
“SDF party led by the Chief Minister has dedicated its 20 years to the well-being of Sikkimese people and this is the time for us to dedicate a day for the party,” he appealed.
He also urged the party functionaries of the area to give their utmost support to make the occasion a grand success by making proper arrangements for the public to reach the venue and return safely.
He further said that if people feel that he has made any mistakes, they should come forward and speak to him directly. “There are certain negative elements active in the area, but people must not pay attention to them and rather work together peacefully to make the constituency best of the best,” the MLA added.

Traditional archery tourney begins at Yangthang

GANGTOK, 10 Feb: The inaugural match of the traditional bamboo archery tournament organized by Yangthang Archery Committee of Upper Kambal, East Sikkim under Tumin-Lingee constituency was played between Yangthang A and Yawachi today which was won by the latter to enter into the second round.
The tournament was inaugurated by Zilla Panchayat, Saraswati Regmi, who was present as the chief guest. She was accompanied by Sherab Dorjee Bhutia and Abhimanyu Thapa as the guests of honour.
All together 12 teams are participating in the tournament and the finals will be played on 22 February at Yangthang.
Speaking to NOW!, a member of the organizing committee expressed gratitude towards the chief guest and the guests of honour for their encouragement as well as financial support for the tournament.
The ‘First Hit’ of the tournament went to Bal Bahadur Rai of Yawachi who was awarded a cash prize of Rs. 1,000 sponsored by the guest of honour, Mr. Bhutia.