Guwahati, Sept. 30: The Cotton College indoor stadium named after one of its star alumni and Assam’s first Olympian Talimeran Ao was inaugurated here today.

The construction of the over Rs 55 lakh-stadium was started 13 years ago. It is the second sports complex in the state to be named after Ao, who passed away in September 1999.

The first complex in his honour is an outdoor stadium at Kaliabor in Nagaon.

Ao, a doctor by profession, had led independent India’s football team at the London Olympics in 1948.

He captained Calcutta giant Mohun Bagan during his chequered career that started in Nagaland, which was then a part of undivided Assam.

The centre-half graduated from R.G. Kar Medical College in Calcutta and played for Guwahati University, Cotton College and Maharana Athletics Club.

The champion footballer was honoured posthumously by Mohun Bagan recently.

The Cotton College Sports Society has planned to use the newly-built stadium to hold coaching camps and tournaments and “contribute positively towards the development of sports in the state”.

The 1,000-capacity stadium, which has two badminton courts and four table tennis tables, was formally opened by state minister and former student of the college, Hemanta Biswa Sarma, this morning.

It was during Sharma’s tenure as general secretary of the Cotton College Union Society in 1989 that the foundation of the stadium was laid by then chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta.

State education minister Pankaj Bora, another former student, was one of the special invitees at the inaugural function.

Despite heaving a sigh of relief, those associated with the construction of the stadium admitted that the stadium is not yet fully ready for practice. “The wooden floor needs some finishing touches and necessary equipment has to be installed before the stadium can be fully used,” one of them said.

The main worry of the college sports society is the stadium’s maintenance until a clear-cut policy is devised. The state public works department is in charge of its upkeep according to the existing agreement.

However, given its track record it would not be wise to solely depend on the cash-starved department, a sports society source said.

“It will not be a bad idea to hand over its maintenance to a special committee which will keep in mind the interest of the college and its players,” he said.

Many people felt that the college sports society should join hands with the Assam Table Tennis Association and the Assam Badminton Association to maintain the stadium.

Speaking on the occasion, Sharma and Bora urged the Cotton College authorities and the Cottonians to be “more proactive”.

Sharma’s speech centred round the college’s development, while Bora observed that it was important to develop the lower and primary education system “to feed” the college in its quest for educational excellence.