'Ignored' in heyday, Mizo archer Lalremsanga gets Dhyan Chand award

KOLKATA: Former Mizoram archer C Lalremsanga was over the moon when he found out that he has been named for the Dhyan Chand award on Saturday. However, the agony of missing out on any of the national awards during his playing days was evident in his voice.
"It's great that I have been named for the award after nominating myself for it for the first time. But it's disappointing that I represented India for 10 years from 1992-2002 and never got any award throughout my career.Along with Limba Ram I was permanent in the Indian team but was always ignored when it came to the awards," Lalremsanga told TOI from his home in Lunglei in Mizoram.
It all started for the two-time Olympian in 1986 when he was chosen under the Special Area Games Programme and started training under RS Sodhi in Delhi. There was no looking back after that as he kept improving by leaps and bounds over the years.
Apart from the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, he represented India in the 1994 Asian Games in Hiroshima and five World Championships. He also took part in numerous other international events including the first Commonwealth Championships held in Delhi in 1995 where he won gold in the team event and bronze in the individual category. His achievements in the national meets are also exemplary as he won numerous awards in both individual and team events.
Having done so well in his career, Lalremsanga also played a pivotal role in setting up of the Tata Archery Academy. "I joined Tata in 1995 and along with Ram and Sanjeev Singh we started requesting for an academy which was finally formed next year," he added.
Lalremsanga coached there for four years before joining the sports department in Mizoram in 2004 and four years later in 2008 he was named as one of the coaches of the Indian national team.
At present he is the deputy director of the department of sports and youth services in Mizoram and is trying his best to spread the game in the state where football hogs the limelight.
"There is almost no interest in archery because people here are crazy about football. The infrastructure is also lacking but we are trying our best to arrange for a place where the archers can train," said the father of three.
India hockey player Chinglensana Singh is the other sportsperson from the northeast to be nominated for the prestigious Arjuna Award.