Thursday, August 30, 2007

Sikkim Chief Minister Congratulates Baichung Bhutia


India football captain Baichung Bhutia receives the ONGC Nehru Cup trophy from Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit

Gangtok: Chief Minister of Sikkim Dr. Pawan Chamling who is at the moment in Delhi has congratulated Team India Captain Bhaichung Bhutia on Wednesday after India beat Syria 1-0 to lift the Nehru Cup for the first time . In his congratulatory message Chief Minister Pawan Chamling said that Baichung hasnot only made Sikkim but entire nation proud and hoped that youths of Sikkim will follow the path shown by Baichung in taking Sikkim to new heights.
The air was thick with emotion and it was swirling across the stadium packed to the rafters. The occasion was huge and the feelingwas shared by all.
As they readied themselves in the dressing room, the Ambedkar Stadium was abuzz with activity as 20,000 enthusiastic football fans formed a beeline to see a cliffhanger. The deafening noise, the trumpet blowers, horns and the drumsmade it the place to be on Wednesday. In the end, in the din of India’s historic win the sound of the champagne being popped up by Bhaichung Bhutia’s men was drowned out, but they would not mind it. After all, the feeling of being victorious tastes sweeter than everything else.

Indian squad was led from the front by Baiching Bhutia, an icon from Sikkim. There were five men from Bengal, four from Manipur and three from Goa—Indian football’s old and new power centres. Both Kerala and Maharashtra sent a brace and there was one player each from Kashmir, Delhi and Karnataka. It doesn’t get more pan-India than this. Twnety-five years after the Nehru Cup began, this motley mix made history. Coincidentally, it was on hockey legend Dhyan Chand’s birthday.