Sonia Gandhi declares 33rd National Games open

GUWAHATI: UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Friday declared the 33rd National Games open with an appeal to the sportspersons to strengthen unity and amity and spread the message of peace.

Gandhi declared the games open at the Indira Gandhi Stadium at the Sarusajai Sports Complex after an impressive cultural display and march past by the participating states.

Speaking on the occasion, Gandhi said that sports unite people and brings out the best in them.

She said that sports is one arena where people can forget their materialistic pursuit and strive to achieve excellence.

"We learn on the sporting fields that to strive is to accomplish and it is in the sport field that one experiences that the thrill of participating can be as exhilarating as winning," she said.

It is also on sporting fields that friendship is forged and strengthened and wished all participants to display their best and shine in their respective fields of competition.

The UPA Chairperson also expressed happiness over the presence of large number of women participants. She expressed hope that they would bring laurels both to their states and the country.

Gandhi said that National Games was a stepping stone for international events and hoped the participants here would bring laurels to the country in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2010 Commonwealth Games.