Gangtok: February 22, 2012

After successfully hosting the Super Football, Sikkim is now readying itself to host prestigious Dr. TAo Football Tournament. This knock out tournament, scheduled to be held from March 02-09, is organized by the Sports and Youth Affairs Department (S&YA) sponsored by the North Eastern Council (NEC) and Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DONER Ministry).

This championship is being held for the first time in state.The Tournament is named after Dr. Talimeren Ao, a legendary sports person from Nagaland. He was the first captain of Indian Olympic Football Team (London Olympics 1948). During a press meet the Secretary, SYA Department, Karma P. Bhutia informed that the tournament was first organized in 2002- 2003 by Sports Authority of India (SAI) at Guwahati, Assam.

Manipur is the standing Champion team. The tournament is held between eight North-eastern states of India and is organized by each state in rotation. Informing about the match, Mr. Bhutia said that two groups will be formed and each group will consist four teams respectively. Sikkim Football Association (SFA) will be forming a team for the tournament to represent Sikkim. Further he added that in order to do make it fairer, one referee from each of the states will be included in. Also speaking about the inaugural day, he informed that Secretary of the DONER Ministry or NEC is expected to grace the event as Chief Guest/special.

Informing about the prize distribution, Bhutia announced that the Winner will be awarded a winning amount of Rs seven lakhs, while the runner up will be winning Rs four lakhs. Even the 3rd and 4th position holders will also be presented an amount of Rs two lakhs and Rs one lakh respectively. Not only the winners, even the teams which would not qualify for the finals will be rewarded with cash prizes of Rs 50,000 each. There are other winning titles too namely Fair Play Winner (Rs 50,000), Player of the Tournament (Rs 25,000), Highest Scorer and Best Goal Keeper (Rs 10,000 each). The coach and manager of the Champion team will be given Rs 20,000 each, while the same from the runner up team will be getting Rs 10,000.

Born in the year 1918 in a Naga village at Chanki, Assam (now Nagaland) Dr. Talimeren Ao was the first Captain of India’s Olympic Football Team at London Olympics. He led Mohun Bagan AC as the Captain during 1943- 1952. Dr. Talimeren Ao performed superbly in the Durand Cup final, 1950 played between Mohun Bagan and Hyderabad Police. In 1951, he played against some foreign teams namely, Philippines, France, Hong Kong, Singapore, Burma and Japan. After his retirement from the Mohun Bagan AC, Talimeren Ao studied medicines at R. G. Kar Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata. Completing his MBBS, he went back to Nagaland. There he became the director of Nagaland Health Service in 1978. He is remembered for promoting sports in North-Eastern states of India. Mohun Bagan AC honored him with the Mohun Bagan Ratna Award in 2002 for his achievements. In 1998, he died at the age of 80.

Sikkim Mail

 

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