Once again, Manipur gets another sports star
Source: Hueiyen News Service
Imphal, November 25 2012:
After Soniya creating an impression among the sports loving people of the state and the country for being the lone Indian woman lifter in the London Olympics though she could not fetch a medal, now a new budding lifter has emerged from the soil of Manipur which has earned its nickname of the powerhouse of sports in India.
And the new lifter who recently made an impression is none other than Saikhom Mirabai Chanu from Nongpok Kakching.
Mirabai clinched bronze medal in the recently concluded Asian Youth & Junior Weightlifting Championships 2012 held at Yangon, Myanmar from November 10 to 13.She participated in Junior's 48 kg category.
She lifted 74 kg in clean & jerk and 94 kg in snatch thus lifting 168 kg in total and won the bronze medal.
Meanwhile, the gold and the silver medals were won by Chinese lifters who lifted 190 kg and 175 kg in total respectively.
Mention may be made that, India sent seven youth and seven junior lifters to the championships.
Among the seven junior lifters, Mirabai was the only one who won medal in the championships.
Born as the sixth and the youngest child of Saikhom Kriti and Saikhom ongbi Tombi Leima of Nongpok Kakching in 1994, Mirabai began her career in Weightlifting from 2007-08.She used to travel 25 km daily up and down on passenger buses to attend her weightlifting class at Khuman Lampak Sports Complex.
She first appeared in a state level championship in 2008.In September 2009, Mirabai participated in the 5th National Youth/Sub Junior Girls Weightlifting Championships and won her first national medal, a bronze.
Afterwards, she again won a silver medal in 2011 in the 23rd Junior Women's Weightlifting Championships held in Haryana.
Her first international appearance was in the Asian Junior Weightlifting Championships which was held in Pattaya, Thailand September last year.
However she could not won any medal in the championship.
With a dream to make her career as a successful weightlifter, Saikhom Mirabai is now undergoing training under state coach L Anita Chanu and S Brojen at the State Weightlifting Training Centre at Khuman Lampak Sports Complex, Imphal.
She is targetting to give her best performance in the ensuing Youth and Junior National Weightlifting Championship which will be held next month.
For her village, Nongpok Kakching, situated between Nongdam and Nongren, football is the local favourite sports and have produced many successful footballers.
Some of them have been recruited to the Central Security Forces.
Among women footballers, Sangbannabi, Kalpana and Debeshwori are some successfull women footballers.
Besides them, the village has also produced an archer called Ichancha.
Apart from her, the only weightlifter from her village is Khumukcham Nungshiton.
With a population of 500 with around 85 household, the small village has its legacy of producing promising sportspersons.
However, travelling for 25 km daily to attend training classes and going back the same distance is not an easy job for persons from such family who have poor financial conditions.
Only if the the state government could arrange adequate hostel facilities and world class infrastructures and proper attention for such players, there would be hardly anyone to dominate players of the state in any national and international platforms.