When a state government pitches in to organize an event, especially as title sponsors, the success of it is never in doubt. Yet, what remains in the realm of uncertainty is the organizing part as, more often than not, the officials entrusted with the job make a slip here or there in their over enthusiasm. As a result, such goof-ups remain the sore point and, conveniently, everyone forgets the best part.

We have an example in the 2010 Commonwealth Games which are remembered for certain blemishes, rather than the conduct of the meet. The New Delhi CWG proved to be the best organized Games in recent history.

However, for someone with no experience, hosting an international event can be dicey. And the Meghalaya Table Tennis Association (MTTA) was definitely running the risk as it was conducting a maiden international event, involving seven countries. Not only did the MTTA dispel whatever initial fears one might have had, but also proved beyond doubt that the mere size of the state or, for that matter, the inexperience characteristic did not matter. What mattered were the willpower and a set of people who have the spark in them to turn it around.

MTTA had such people in Organizing Chairman and Secretary R.G. Lyngdoh and Chiranjib Choudhury at the top with a host of others-Saibal Dasgupta, Shekhar Bhattacharjee, Sri David Laitflang, Herbert G Lyngdoh and Dr Debomalya Bhuyan, to name a few-to do the job with clockwork precision to make the event something worth conducting and remembering for everybody associated with it. Their self-belief and willingness to learn stood them in good stead.

 And expectedly, the SAF Junior Table Tennis Championships held between June 17 and 19 at the refurbished indoor hall at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Complex was a great success. First and foremost, the Indian paddlers made a clean sweep of the medals; the participants had a pleasant competitive environment and, above all, the stay and hospitality extended to them was nice and heady.

For Nepal, their boys finished second in the team event behind India and qualified for the first time to paprticipate in the Asian Junior championships next month in China.  As for the technical conduct, the officials deputed by the TTFI, led by competition manager Neelakanta Iyer Ganeshan and chief referee R. Krishnan, did a fantastic job of completing the matches as per schedule.

Coming back to where we began, the government support for the championships proved a major boost. With state chief minister Dr Mukul Sangma himself involved, there was no possibility of things going awry in the first place. Dr Sharma’s gesture of hosting a dinner for the participants and organizing a fashion parade-showcasing the northeastern states’ traditions-and a musical event shows the nicety of the person. His presence at the dinner and interaction with one and all brought out the real personality in him. His patience on the prize distribution evening-he stayed and gave away medals and prizes himself-stood out. One could see and taste the northeastern martial arts and display of various dance forms from artistes, including the bamboo dace, was enchanting and endearing.

Last, but not the least, the gestures of the organizers to present laptops to the singles title winners in junior boys and girls sections was praiseworthy. A thoughtful and purposeful gift, indeed!

All in all, the SAF championships at the scenic Shillong will be etched in everybody’s memory for a long time to come.