Cream of country giving National Games a miss

Guwahati, Feb 09: The National Games, beginning today, will miss the 'star power', the nation's leading players, who have shone in the international arena.

Main crowd puller of the recently concluded Doha Asiad, tennis sensation Sania Mirza, who plays for Andhra Pradesh, will not be playing in this 33rd edition of the National Games.

Sania has decided to skip the games this time, sources said.

Of course, participation of badminton's answer to tennis's Sania, Saina Nehwal, would be competing in the Games.

The first Indian woman to win a four-star badminton event when she won the Phillipines Open last year, Saina would play for Andhra Pradesh.

India's star weightlifter N Kunjarani Devi of Manipur would also not be playing in this games. So would long jump queen Anju Bobby George, who had opted out citing fatigue.

Other major tennis stars Rohan Bopanna and Prakash Amritraj would also be absent from this games.

Among the star players who would compete in the Games, Nisha Mallet of Karnataka would be the player to watch in the swimming events.

Nisha is the likely contender to win the most number of medals for an individual player.

Athletics would also see the other star player Jagadish Basak vying for the top spots for host Assam.

The Assam contingent will also field L Brojeshwari Devi in judo and Ng Toshibada in Wushu, strong contenders for gold medals.

Wushu would also see star player in the discipline, L Bismoljit of Manipur.

In the total medals tally, Manipur, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala would be the top three contenders. Punjab would also be another team to watch out over.

Hosts Assam would be hard pressed for making any strong presence in the total standing, with the chef-de-mission himself cautioning against bright hopes from the team.

Bureau Report