First batch of Pakistan to arrive today

Fans to miss soccer matches !

By our Sports Reporter

GUWAHATI, Feb 2: The first batch of Pakistan team will arrive in the city tomorrow to take part in the 12th South Asian Games which will kick off in the city on February 5. Indian hockey teams too will land tomorrow in Guwahati along with the participants of few other countries.

The delegations of the participating countries have already started to reach Guwahati and Shillong for the South Asian Games few days earlier. However the visitors are expected to arrive in huge numbers from tomorrow.

Pakistan, who earlier decided to arrive by a chartered flight, has cancelled their plan and will now come in a batches. The first batch will land tomorrow. It may be mentioned here that Pakistan will send 400 plus athletes in the Games and they will arrive in Guwahati and shillong in batches a couple of days before their events.

India’s both men and women hockey team will also arrive in the city tomorrow to take part in the Games. Tapan Das, the secretary of the Assam Hockey Association, said both the teams will do their first training session on Thursday. Indian basketball team, in both men and women categories, has confirmed their participation in the Games. The 32-member strong contingent will have few star players like Talvinder.

Meanwhile there is more dishearten news for the soccer lovers of the state as spectators will not be allowed to witness the football event of the South Asian Games which will be held at SAI Sports complex. The organizing committee has taken this decision as the seats are very limited in side the complex and those will be required for the guests. The decision are expected to spark a new controversy as already question has started to raise that the lack of enough sitting facilities was not unknown to the organizing committee but still why the venue was reserved as plan ‘B’ keeping aside few other venues like Maligaon Railway stadium.