National Games: Inunganbi, Indubala strike gold in judo as Manipur make final in men's football
Source: Chronicle News Service
Imphal, November 06 2023:
Manipur made a rousing start to their campaign in judo with two gold medals courtesy of T Inunganbi and M Indubala in the 37th National Games 2023, while the state men's football team are just a win away from clinching gold after reaching the final on Monday.
T Inunganbi bested Mahima Pathak of Uttar Pradesh to win the gold medal in the women's -70kg category.
On her way to the gold-medal duel, Inunganbi beat Ravneet Kaur of Punjab after she outdid Komai of Delhi in their quarterfinal match.
M Indubala, on the other hand, got the better of Aswathi of Kerala to claim her yellow metal in the women's -78kg category.
In the semifinals, Indubala beat Reekita of Delhi after she outperformed Taruna Sharma in the quarterfinals.
A late night medal tally update on Day 12 saw Manipur drop a spot to occupy the sixth place in the medal table with 27 gold, 19 silver and 23, taking their overall medal haul to 69 .
Meanwhile, Services and Manipur made the final of the Men's Football event in the 37th National Games in contrasting styles at Fatorda, Goa, on Monday.
While Services were the runaway 4-2 winners against strong Kerala in the day's first match, Manipur didn't have it easy against Punjab.
The northeastern state, however, had the last laugh as they managed a 2-1 victory in the end.
The final will be played on Wednesday, November 8, 2023.In the Services-Kerala match, the latter took the lead in the 27th minute when Nijo Gilbert scored from the spot.
Services restored parity just before half time through Rahul Ramakrishnan, who scored again five minutes after the change of ends.
Two more goals from P Christopher Kemei and Bikash Thapa finally sealed the deal in favour of Services.
In between, Sanju G reduced the margin for Kerala, but it didn't help them in the end.
In the second semi-final, Manipur took a 2-0 lead at the half time with goals from Phijam Sanathoi Metei and Leimajam Sangkar Singh.
In the second half, Punjab made all efforts to come back to the game and pulled one back through Abhishek Rattu.
Manipur, however, held on to their slim lead grimly till the final whistle.
In boxing, Ashalata Chanu and Ojibala Thounaijam assured Manipur of at least bronze medals after the state duo made it to the semifinals on the 12th day of the Games.
Ashalata outpunched Tomar Jhalak of Rajasthan in the elite women 48-50kg light flyweight category for their semifinal spot.
On the other hand, Ojibala beat Dhiva M of Tamil Nadu to progress
to the semifinals.