35th National Games countdown begins

Kerala took its first firm step towards hosting the 35th National Games, from January 31 to February 14, with a bang as the 30-day countdown to the event at the Central Stadium here on Thursday evening left the crowd enthralled in more ways than one.

There was this unusual gathering of Kerala’s sporting icons, all on the same platform. K.C. Elamma, glamour girl of Indian volleyball of the 1970s, athletes M.D. Valsamma, Shiny Wilson, K.C. Rosakutty, K.M. Beenamol, and Anju Bobby George, spiker Cyril C. Valloor, hockey star S. Omanakumari, swimmers Wilson C. Cherian, and Sebastian Xavier shared jokes but all the same greeted Dronacharya award winners Sunny Thomas, K.P. Thomas, and Jose Jacob with due respect.

Then there was the burly Varghese Johnson caught chatting with D. Chandralal, while George Thomas and V. Diju exchanged notes on badminton.

A little away, Preeja Sreedharan was seen in conversation with Sinimol Paulose, Chitra K. Soman, and Joseph G. Abraham, while footballer U. Sharaf Ali looked on.

All this before getting to the stage and joining hands with political leaders, including Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, Sports Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, Health Minister V.S. Sivakumar, former Sports Minister M. Vijayakumar, MLAs K. Muraleedharan, V. Sivan Kutty and M.A. Vahid besides Mayor K. Chandrika before spreading flame to the seven giant traditional lamps in what was the highlight of the programme.

The evening saw the launch of the virtual torch and the unveiling of the volunteers’ uniform and medals to be presented to the winners.

There was also a fusion dance by the Samudra Dance Group and a jugalbandi between violinist Bala Bhakar and percussionist Mattannur Sriraj.