Jayanta Talukdar. Picture by Eastern Projections

Guwahati, Feb. 6: One of the star players of the 33rd National Games — ace archer Jayanta Talukdar —will be missing from action at the mega-event, which is going to kick off on Friday.

Talukdar, the World number 4 in the recurve category, said here today that he will not be ready for the meet owing to a recent shoulder injury.

Though the champion archer hails from the city, he undergoes training at the Tata Archery Academy in Jamshedpur and is a part of the Jharkhand archery team.

“Yes, its true. I will miss the meet because of the injury, which will take around a week to heal. By that time the archery event will get under way. It’s very sad,” he said at the RG Baruah Sports Complex where leading sportspersons from Assam were felicitated by the state government.

Talukdar refuted speculations that he had pulled out of the event owing to pressure from his prospective employers, who wanted him to represent Assam.

However, the organising committee is happy with the response from participants. Sports commissioner V.S. Bhaskar, one of the key officials behind hosting the meet, said 10,958 athletes have confirmed their participation in the Games till this evening.

“Everything is on track. Our efforts have started paying off,” a visibly upbeat Bhaskar said, adding that the state cabinet has, a few days ago, cleared the cash award for medal winners from Assam.

Commenting on the opening ceremony, he said it would last over four hours. Zubeen Garg, Sukhwinder Singh, Jitu Tapan would be the star performers at the opening ceremony on Friday, he added.

“Army and air force personnel will also participate in the programmes,” he added.