Port Blair, July 8: The Member of Parliament, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Shri. Kuldeep Rai Sharma has requested the Hon’ble Lt. Governor of Andaman & Nicobar Islands to organize State Level ‘Open’ annual sports events in Andaman & Nicobar Islands, like ‘Khelo India’, so that raw talents can be identified at the very young age and the youths and children can be trained right from tender age so that they can be properly trained for national and international level sports events.

In a letter addressed to the Hon’ble Lt. Governor, the Member of Parliament mentioned that youths and children from Andaman & Nicobar Islands have a natural inclination towards sports and have a natural talent and stamina for many sports, including Cycling, Kayaking, Canoeing, Athletics, Swimming and team sports like Football.

He pointed out that youths and children from Andaman & Nicobar Islands in past have brought laurels in many national and international sports events and there are many who hold national records in sports.

He added that Star Cyclists like Deborah Herold, Esow Alben, Celestina, Star athlete KP Mammu and many others are examples of Andaman & Nicobar’s sports glory.

The Member of Parliament mentioned that due to lack of proper coaching in most of the other sports categories and less scope for participating in national level sports events, such talents remain largely untapped.