The torch relay of the 12th South Asian Games (SAG), to be held in Guwahati and Shillong from February 5 to 16, kicked off at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium here on Sunday.
Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president N. Ramachandran handed over the torch to Union Sports Minister and Organising Committee of the Games chairman Sarbananda Sonowal.
After lighting the torch, Sonowal passed it on to Olympic hockey gold medallist Zafar Iqbal and Commonwealth Games champion weightlifter N. Kunjarani Devi to begin the relay.
The torch was received by IOA secretary-general Rajiv Mehta at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.
“The South Asian Games is the symbol of the cohesion, peace and harmony.
“The sportspersons are the sports ambassadors of their respective countries.
“These Games will energise the youth,” said Sonowal.
Well-known sportspersons like P. Gopi Chand, Rajkumar Sangwan, Seema Punia, Krishna Poonia, Manjeet Dua, Neha Aggarwal, Gurbaj Singh, Romeo James, Bahadur Singh, Devinder Bhatia and Bimoljit Singh and nearly 2,000 volunteers and school children participated in the event.
More than 3,500 athletes and officials from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India are expected to take part in the regional sporting extravaganza.
The Games will be telecast live on Doordarshan.
