The 12th edition of the Luke Sasong Memorial Volleyball Trophy 2022 organised by Luke Sasong Sporting Association under the aegis of Mangmetong Students’ Union got underway at Multi-Purpose Sports Complex, Mokokchung under the theme ‘Unity through Sports’ on 4 September.

All together 12 teams are participating in the Tournament with one team each from Wokha and Kohima and ten teams from Mokokchung.

Special Guest of the inaugural function, Longdiba L Sangtam, SDO (C) Mokokchung, briefly spoke about Luke Sasong, who was a prominent personality from Mangmetong Village.

Sangtam also remarked that by 2025, India set to become the youngest country with 63 percent of the population being youths. He added that sports in the present day is one of the biggest and richest industries.

He encouraged Naga youths to take sports as a serious profession and not a hobby. He also encouraged the parents to support their children who would like sports, as opportunities are unlimited in the sporting field. One can take up the sports engineer, sports medicine, etc.

Longdiba L Sangtam, SDO (C), Mokokchung greeting players before the inaugural match.

In a brief speech, Imtipokyim, President of the Mokokchung District Volleyball Association, commended the organizers for successfully transforming a village-level tournament into a district-wide open tournament. He expressed his hope that the tournament would foster the development of professionals among the participants

The inaugural match of the tournament was played between Pangti Volleyball Team and Shipu Sporting Club, Süngkomen where Shipu Sporting Club came on top, winning two consecutive sets in a best of three format, with the score line 24-26; 23-25.