New Delhi [India], March 22 (ANI): The Inspire Institute of Sport (IIS) on Wednesday announced the inaugural IIS-Sangai Cup in association with the Manipur Judo Association (MJA) which will take place from March 31 to April 2.

The MJA will be hosting the first edition of the Northeast Judo Championship for the IIS-Sangai Cup in the sub-junior, cadet, and junior age groups at the SAI Complex, Takyelpat, Imphal. The championships will be held as per the International Judo Federation (IJF) and Judo Federation of India (JFI) contest rules and regulations and the sports code.

After the announcement of the strategic partnership between IIS and MJA, aimed to create a structured athlete development pathway for the sport of Judo in the state and help Indian Judokas achieve success at the global level, the IIS-Sangai Cup is going to be the first step in promoting and identifying new talent from the region.

"The IIS-Sangai cup is the first step in the direction of building a robust ecosystem for the judo program. The Northeast has always been the hotbed of sporting talent for all kinds of sports, especially Judo. The tournament will help us dig deeper into the sea of talent that Manipur and the entirety of the region have to offer. Further, we will be sending some of our best scouts to the tournament to analyse and understand the abilities of these judokas and at the same time induct them into our collaborative judo programme," Rushdee Warley, CEO of Inspire Institute of Sport said in an official statement.

"In our endeavour to promote Judo as a rising sport from grassroots to elite training, the IIS-Sangai cup is going to play an important role. While the tournament is only the beginning of greater things to come in the future, it will certainly attract more Judokas from the region to enrol and be a part of the collaborative judo programme. IIS has laid down a perfect roadmap for further developing the raw talent that exists in the state of Manipur and we are working together towards that end. We are looking forward to a successful tournament," added Soibam Indrakumar General Secretary MJA. (ANI)