Catching a glimpse of Manipur in National Games
Source: The Sangai Express / Manipur Info Centre

Thiruvanathpuram, February 04 2015: Manipur with its rich sports tradition has contributed enormously to the Indian sports.

From top coaches to International athletes, the State has produced many sportspersons who brought laurels to the country, holding the tricolour aloft with their stupendous performance.

Many sportspersons from Manipur are spread over the country beyond Manipur and represented other States in the National Games, the biggest sporting event in India.

Games and Manipur have a traditional bond.

Manipur has a lot of traditional games like mukna (wrestling), khong kangjei (hockey), yubi lakpi (rugby), sagol kangjei (polo), hiyang tannaba (boat race) and others.

Modern polo is originated from Manipur.

Games are in the blood stream of people from Manipur.

Performance of Manipur in the National Games, which is the biggest sporting event in India, is quite encouraging.

Manipur has been participating in the National Games since 1985 .

In the first appearance in the National Games held at Delhi in 1985, Manipur won 2 gold, 5 silver and 3 bronze medals placing in the 10th position.

In the 2nd National Games held in Kerala in 1987, Manipur was placed at 13th position by collecting 3 gold, 3 silver and 7 bronze medals.

In the 3rd National games, held at Pune and Mumbai in Maharashtra in 1994, Manipur got 9th position with 13 gold, 11 silver and 18 bronze medals.

Manipur stood at the 9th position in the 4th National Games held at Bangalore in Karnataka in 1997 with 15 gold, 10 silver and 17 bronze.

Manipur won the top prize- Raja Bhalendra Singh Trophy in the 5th National Games held at Imphal in Manipur in 1999 with 49 gold, 24 silver and 39 bronze medals.

In the 6th National Games which was also counted as 31st National Games held in Punjab in 2001, Manipur came 3rd with 30 gold, 17 silver and 18 bronze.

In the 32nd National Games held at Hyderabad in 2002, Manipur ranked at 4th place with 38 gold, 24 silver and 31 bronze.

In the 33rd National Games held at Guwahati in 2007, Manipur secured the second position with 51 gold, 32 silver and 40 bronze.

In the 34th National Games held at Jharkhand in 2011, Manipur competed in 23 disciplines and placed second position with 48 gold, 37 silver and 33 bronze medals.

Forty eight gold medals were collected from 12 disciplines namely, archery-2, boxing-1, canoeing & kayaking-4, cycling-7, fencing-6, judo-3, rowing 2, sepak takraw-4, taekwondo-1, triathlon-2, weightlifting-2 and wushu-14 .

In the last two National Games held at Guwahati and Jharkhand, Manipur was awarded special trophies for winning championships amongst the participating States and Union Territories.

In the ongoing 35th National Games held in Kerala, Manipur is competing in 20 disciplines namely, aquatics, archery, athletics, lawn bowl, boxing, cycling, canoeing & kayaking, fencing, football (women), gymnastics, judo, rowing, shooting, squash, taekwondo, triathlon, weightlifting, wrestling, wushu and yachting.

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