IE make dean sweep of hockey gold medals
Source: Chronicle News Service
Imphal, August 30 2022:
Imphal East made a clean sweep of men's and women's gold medals in the hockey competition of the 2nd Manipur Olympic Games 2022 after their final triumphs on Tuesday.
The Imphal East men's team hardly broke a sweat against their final opponents by producing a 5-1 drubbing of Bishnupur at the Khuman Lampak Hockey Stadium.
Y Nelson, Th Kingson, Sh Suraj, A Deveshor and G Dingku all got their names on the scoreboard to help the East secure the gold medal.
Bishnupur had a promising start and led the first quarter when Ph Malemenganba made his strike count five minutes into the game.
However, Imphal East fought back strongly and stamped their authority in the second quarter as Y Nelson made it all square in the 16th minute and Th Kingson put the East 2-1 up with a 20th-minute strike before Sh Suraj further extended their lead in the 24th minute.
After their spirited 3-1 turnaround, the East squad were firmly in control in the third quarter where A Deveshor found their fourth goal in the 33rd minute while Bishnupur remained clueless.
Imphal East then closed out the fourth quarter and the contest with G Dingku's 48th-minute finish.
In the women's final, Imphal East carved out a 1-0 win against a gritty Imphal West team.
It was a see-saw battle throughout but W Merry's goal in the 29th minute was enough for the East side to walk away with the gold medal.
In the men's third-place match, Imphal West thumped Thoubal 5-0 and Bishnupur too eased their way to a 5-0 victory over Thoubal to finish third in the women's football event.