Chennai: Tamil Nadu’s reputation as the sports hub of India was established in the last three years of DMK rule that saw a plethora of international events being hosted and the sports infrastructure developed phenomenally like the renovation of the Nehru Stadium, Nehru Indoor Stadium, Mayor Radhakrishnan Hockey Stadium, the tennis stadium and a slew of swimming pools.
Chief Minister M K Stalin had released nearly Rs 1000 crore for sports development in the past three years when several international sporting events were held in Chennai like the International Chess Olympiad in 2022, WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) and ITF (International Tennis Federation) tournaments.
Other sporting events that put the State on the world sporting map were the Asian Men’s Hockey championship in 2023, Khelo India Youth Athletic Meet in 2023, the Squash World Cup in 2023.
According to data provided by the State Department of Sports and Youth Welfare, Rs 87.61 crore was spent on giving stipend to 2,738 sports persons who brought laurels to the State by proving their mettle in various national and international events.
A total of 81 international coaches were appointed to prepare the sportspersons for various global and national meets in the disciplines of athletics, swimming, tennis, hockey and squash.
The successful organization of the 44th Chess Olympiad led to Stalin being named the Man of the Year by the United Arab Emirates based Asian Chess Federation and the international Squash tournament returned to Chennai during Stalin’s tenure after 12 years.
Among the various other measures taken by the government for the promotion of sports and encouraging of sporting talents were the provision of jobs for successful sports persons, drawing up the plan and starting work on a world class sports city in Chennai, renovating all stadia and sporting facilities run by the Tamil Nadu Sports Development Authority at a cost of Rs 30 crore.
That sports had received adequate support from the government was evident from the final medal tally of the Khelo India Youth Athletic Meet, in which the State came second with 30 gold, 21 silver and 30 bronze.
The state-level event for the Chief Minister’s Cup organized in 2023 saw the participation of 3.76 lakh sports persons from 15 disciplines. In Chennai the last stage of events were held at 17 venues where 27,554 winners of the district and regional level meets vied for honours.
For the first time in the country, an exclusive sports and physical education university has been launched in the State, in which even the rural youth are encouraged to take part in sports through the distribution of sport equipment and accessories at a cost of Rs 86 crore under the ‘Dr Kalaignar Sport Equipment Distribution’ scheme that had benefited 420 village panchayats.
The scheme launched to mark the centenary of M Karunanidhi is expected to ensure that youth in the 10,793 village panchayats also get their sport accessories soon.
