Laitonjam Punghen strikes three gold as 39th State Aquatics Championship gets underway

By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Jun 6 : Laitonjam Punghen made the headlines as he grabbed three gold medals on the opening day of the 39th State Aquatics Championship at the Khuman Lampak Aquatics Complex.
The opening day of the championship organised by the Manipur Swimming Association saw Laitonjam Punghen seal the Group IV boys’ 100 m breaststroke title by completing the course in 1 minute and 25.43 seconds. Lanchenba Angom (1:29.06) and Luching Sarungbam (1:40.58) finished second and third in this event.
In the Group IV girls’ 100 m breaststroke event, Luchingbi Soubam claimed the gold with a time of 1:36.29 as Akoijam Langlen (1:40.30) and Yaichenbi Soram (1:40.96) finished second and third.
Nongmaithem Dhananjoy was the Group III boys’ 100 m breaststroke event winner as he took 1:16.97 to complete the course. Y Aaron (1:17.00) and Soram Pieterson (1:18.76) finished second and third in this event.
Punghen sealed his second gold medal later in the 200 m individual medley event as he posted the best time of 2:41.99 to finish ahead of Lanchenba Angom (3:07.65) and Lourembam Lanchenba (3:29.34).
200 m individual medley event gold for Group IV girls meanwhile went to Leishangthem Sayonbi  who recorded the best time of 2:56.73 followed by Luchingbi Soubam (3:05.80) and Akoijam Langlen (3:21.30).
Punghen clinched his third gold medal by topping the 400 m freestyle competition in 5:01.36 as Luching Sarungbam (6:10.31) and Viban Sairem (6:24.26) followed by Luching for the second and the third places.
Leishangthem Sayonbi also picked her second gold medal in the 100 m freestyle competition by recording the best time of 1:11.75. Akoijam Langlen (1:19.59) and Malem Toijam (1:05.87) were second and third in this competition.