1st North East Olympic Games concludes, hosts Manipur emerge overall champions
Source: The Sangai Express / Inputs from DIPR

Imphal, October 28 2018: The biggest sporting event of North East, "1st North East Olympic Games, 2018" came to an end today with Manipur claiming the overall team champions title on the back of 80 gold medals, 49 silver medals and 3 3 bronze medals.

Assam finished second with a total of 140 medals including 46 gold, 51 silver and 43 bronze medals whereas Arunachal Pradesh stood third securing 76 medals including 18 Gold, 20 Silver and 38 Bronze medals in the Games.

Athletes from eight states of the North East participated and compete each other in 12 different sporting disciplines in the five days Games which started on October 24.Deputy Chief Minister Yumnam Joykumar Singh, Education Minister Th Radheshyam Singh, who is also the chairman of the Organising Committee of 1st North East Olympic Games, 2018 and president of Manipur Olympic Association; Revenue Minister Karam Shyam distributed trophies to the winning teams of the Games.

Assam were best among all NE States in the athletic disciplines as they collected 15 gold, 10 silver and 5 bronze medals while Manipur finished runners up in this discipline by securing 5 gold, 9 silver and 8 bronze medals.

Manipur archery team shone with 12 gold, 9 silver and 3 bronze medals in the Games while Assam claimed the runners up title with a haul of 6 gold, 4 silver and 5 bronze medals.

Manipur badminton team also claimed the deserving title with 4 gold and 1 bronze while Arunachal Pradesh emerged runners up State with a total of 1 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze medals.

Manipur proved their superiority in the boxing events as well and fetched 8 gold, 4 silver and 2 bronze medals at the Games while Assam were second best bagging 4 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze medals.

Assam and Manipur were at level with 1 gold and 1 silver medals in the football event, however the overall champions were decided by flipping a coin by chief guest of the closing ceremony wherein Assam emerged the luckier side.

Judo's team title went to Manipur which bagged a total of 5 gold medal, 4 silver and 1 bronze medals while Mizoram claimed the runners up title with a total of 3 gold medal, 2 silver and 4 bronze medals.

Assam also claimed the team title in the shooting event collecting 7 gold and 4 silver medals while Manipur's finished runners up with 7 gold, 2 silver and 4 bronze medals.

Taekwondo team of Assam also were the best as they secured 7 gold, 6 silver and 4 bronze medals while Manipur emerged team runners up with 7 gold, 2 silver and 4 bronze medals.

Assam emerged team champions in the table tennis discipline as they managed 2 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze medals while Mizoram were contended with runners up title 1 gold, 1 silver and 3 bronze medals.

Manipur athletes gather 9 gold, 6 silver and 2 bronze medals to become weightlifting team champions while Arunachal Pradesh sealed 5 gold, 4 silver and 4 bronze medals to finish runners up team.

Wushu team of Manipur proved to be the best in the Games as they added the highest of 28 gold medal, 9 silver medal and 2 bronze medals to Manipur's tally while Assam were able to claim 2 gold, 13 silver and 14 bronze medals for the runners up title.

Final Day event
The final match of the women's football competition was played today between Manipur and Assam wherein Manipur defeated Assam by 6-5 goals via penalties after a 1-1 draw.

Both teams had a cautious start making a series of fine interceptions to settle the first half goalless.

It was in the 55th minute the S Rinaroy gave Manipur the breakthrough.

Manipur were almost at a sniffing distance of a clean win but Sunila Basumatary's goal during the additional time denied Manipur's celebration and settled the game in a 1-1 stalemate.

The winners were then decided via penalty shoot-out where Manipur's I Premeshori, S Rinaroy, L Madhabi, Bidyarani and A Romi slotted home the ball while Sanjali, Sunila Basumatary, Sonia and Mrinali Borah were the players who found the net for Assam.

Sikkim finished third in the women's football competition.

In the men's football final, Assam thumped Manipur 3-0 to lift the title.

Chayaram shone in the match scoring 2 goals for Assam, including the opening goal in the 35th minute before striking another in the 45th minute.

Sibranarzary hit the third goal in the 62nd minute to help Assam cruise to a 3-0 win.

Meghalaya finished third in the men's competition.

Speaking at the Closing Ceremony held at Indoor Stadium at Khuman Lampak Sports Complex, Deputy Chief Minister said, the first ever North East Olympic Games held at Imphal will definitely help to build up friendship and maintain cordial relationship among the North Eastern States.

He said, "We have a unique history of commonness in terms of culture, tradition, food habits and way of life and that is why the NE States are called as sisters." Joykumar Singh said, to a certain extent Manipur may be the power house of sports but other states in the North East are also coming up in the field.

Therefore, sporting disciplines that our players can hone their talents and skills successfully should be identified so that they can be groomed upto the international level.

He appealed the coaches and managers in the region to train the young players in the suitable sporting disciplines so that they can compete and bring laurels even in the international arena, he added.

Education Minister Th Radheshyam Singh while speaking at the closing ceremony said, the 1st North East Olympic Games is a historic event in the sport history of the region.

He said, it will be perfect ground for the promising sports persons in the region.

To maintain the legacy of competitiveness among the North Eastern States, Olympic Associations across the region should be united and work together to fulfil the aspirations of the sportspersons in the region.

Revenue Minister Karam Shyam also spoke on the occasion.

He said, such games will help to unite people in the North Eastern region.

Unity through sports can be achieved if the Games continue in the years to come.

Athletes, officials and sports loving people from across the region participated among others in the closing ceremony.

The 2nd Edition of North East Olympic Games will be held in Arunachal Pradesh in 2019 .

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