Mayengbam Suranjoy and Wangkhem Sandhyarani :: Recipient of Arjuna Award 2011

Mayengbam Suranjoy and Wangkhem Sandhyarani - Arjuna Award winners 2011 :: Pix - Photo Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India

Mayengbam Suranjoy - Arjuna Award winners 2011 :: Pix - Photo Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India

Mayengbam Suranjoy is recommended for Arjuna award 2011 in Boxing.
Arjuna Awards were instituted in 1961 by the government of India to recognize outstanding achievement in National sports.
The award carries a cash prize of Indian Rupee 500,000, a bronze statuette of Arjuna and a scroll.

From Huieyen Lanpao
Gold medalist in the 19th Commonwealth Games in New Delhi Mayengbam Suranjoy speaking to this reporter said he wanted to dedicate his award to his Late mother Tampakleima.

"I love to dedicate my award to my late mother", the 25 year old pugilist said on phone on his way to Patiala for an intensive training for the forthcoming world boxing championship to be held at Baku, Azerbaijan from September 22-October 10 .

Manipur's popular boxer Dinku's achievement in the Bangkok Asian Games helped Suranjoy to turn from football to boxing.

"My elder brother Suranjit and cousin Bishorjit initially advised me to play football", Suranjoy who won as many as seven gold medals in different championships in last three years said.

"Later after participating in the local tournament at Tera Lukram leirak and meeting coach Ibomcha, I decided to take up boxing." Suranjoy also appealed to all young boxers to work hard to achieve their goals.

Wangkhem Sandhyarani - Arjuna Award winners 2011 :: Pix - Photo Division, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India

Wangkhem Sandhyarani is recommended for Arjuna award 2011 in Wushu.
Arjuna Awards were instituted in 1961 by the government of India to recognize outstanding achievement in National sports.
The award carries a cash prize of Indian Rupee 500,000, a bronze statuette of Arjuna and a scroll.

From Huieyen Lanpao
"Let's work hard to become big achievers", said W Sandhyarani, a talented wushu player who was confered with the Arjuna Award in a glittering ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi last evening. "I played boxing in the initial stage of my sports career.

But I started practicing Wushu in a low profile manner" .

Manipur's medal winning wushu player Bimol's achievement in the Doha Asian games in 2006 prompted her to take up the sport in full swing.

In a telephonic chat, silver medalist in the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, Sandhyarani who had won 7 medals in the nine international events said though she was honoured,she was not happy for not awarding any Wushu coach.

An employee of CRPF group centre, New Delhi Sandhyarani's family in Manipur's Thoubal Athokpam erupted with joy and happiness when she was confered the coveted national award.

"We're so happy that some of us even cried", W Ranjit brother of Sandhyarani said.

"Our parents always wanted my sister to work in our area" .

Full List of Arjuna Awards 2011

Cricket - Zaheer Khan
Archery - Rahul Bannerjee
Athletics - Preeja Sreedharan
Athletics - Vijas Gowda
Gymnastics - Ashish Kumar
Kabaddi - Rakesh Kumar, Tejaswini Bai
Hockey - Rajpal Singh
Volley ball - Sanjay kumar
Football - Sunil Chhetri
Weight lifting - Ravi Kumar
Wrestling - Ravindra Singh
Boxing - Suronjoy Singh
Batminton- Jwala Gutta
Swimming - Virdhaval Khade
Shooting - Tejaswini Sawant
Wushu - Sandhya Rani Devi
Tennis - Somdev Devvarman
Disabled - Prashant Karmakar

An editorial from Hueiyen Lanpao on the Arjuna Awards 2011 recipients from Manipur:

Arjuna awards give a soothing balm to the strife torn state
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: August 31 2011 -

M Suranjoy and W Sandhyarani are recepients of the prestigious Arjuna Award, 2011. The award is given to sportspersons who have excelled in their disciplines, and have brought pride and honour for the country. Except for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award which is given to sportspersons who have succeeded exceptionally well, the Arjuna Award is the highest form of honour the Government of India bestows on its sportspersons.

In the last decade or so Manipur has emerged as a sports power house in India and consequently we have more than a hand full of Arjuna Award winners. This might lull some people to consider that for Manipuris winning the award may after all be not too difficult. Nothing could be further from the truth and the sportspersons will be the first to vouch for that.

In such a huge country like India, the competition for laurels and titles is fierce. Nothing comes easy. Only the very best succeed. Given this scenario the achievements of Suranjoy and Sandhyarani deserves the highest acclaim. More importantly they have brought back that priceless gift called pride to their families and to the state.

Suranjoy and Sandhyarani are among many who can be trained and developed into world class sportspersons. In the case of Suranjoy, he enjoys a slight advantage because he belongs to the Services. Training facilities, coaches and a proper diet, though it may not be world class, are far superior than what is provided in most states.

And the Services has been developing boxing as a thrust area. Sandhyarani's case is less fortunate. Her discipline is Wushu and it is practically a new discipline in Indian sports. Her main worry will be the lack of a good coach. This editorial has repeatedly, upto the point of becoming boring, been highlighting the need for world class infrastructure and world class coaches.

The fact that Manipur does well in sports in Asia and that it has stamped its authority in Indian sports has led to the concerned authority to lie low. This of course could easily be a complacency driven by the reasoning, let our sportspersons work out their problems on their own. Or it could be plain ineptitude, wanting to help but not knowing how to help.

If Manipur is to succeed at the highest level of competitive sports in the world, it is a forgone conclusion we need world class infrastructure and world class coaches. We also definitely need a sports university, this university will have been earned by our sports stars and their emphatic successes.

True a sports academy has been set up, and it is a welcome step, but it is aiming for too little and not commensurate with the ambitions of our sportstars who aim to be the best in the world. If you are still not aware of the situation, please wake up, because Sandhyarani has expressed her desire to train in China under Chinese coaches. Let her statement at least make you realize how inadequate a sports academy could be and how much your lethargy could cost us.

Actually many people wonder how could the concerned authorities be so smug and complacent. After all most of our renowned footballers are either products of the Tata Football Academy or are self made, who because of their prowess have propelled themselves to the rich clubs of the country.

Many other sportspersons are employed outside the state where their employees provide them the necessary infrastructure and coaches. The authorities here have little to show as fruits of their actions. Yet the authority remains stubbornly mute. Of the stuff they are made of? Don't bother asking, they still have not paid the prize money earned by our stars in the Jharkhand National Games. This much for their interest in our sportspersons.