National Games : Judokas win gold, men's football team settle for silver as Manipur cross 80 medals

By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Nov 8 : Judokas won fifth gold medal in the discipline while men's football team bag a silver as Manipur crossed 80 medals on Day 14 of the 37th National Games being underway in Goa.
With the gold and a silver Manipur have amassed 81 medals including 30 gold, 22 silver and 29 bronze medals. This is the best medal haul for Manipur after finishing second (a place behind Services but toppers among the States/UTs) in the 34th National Games hosted by Jharkhand in 2011 where Manipur athletes collected 48 gold, 37 silver and 33 bronze medals.
Manipur finished 9th in the previous edition hosted by Gujarat last year with 20 gold, 10 silver and 20 bronze medals  having secured 7th place with 22 gold, 21 silver and 26 bronze medals in the 35th National Games hosted by Kerala in 2015.
The fifth gold medal in Judo and State's 30th gold medal was won by the mixed team of Laishram Jagadish, Thangjam Ningthemba, Huidrom Birkamal, Haobijam Sobhashini, Takhellambam Inunganbi and Laishram Roshni.
Notably, Takhellambam Inunganbi (-70 kg) and Laishram Jagadish  (-66 kg) are among 4 individual event gold medallists. M Indubala (-78 kg) and L Sanatombi (-48 kg) have won a gold medal apiece in Judo.
 Laishram Monalisha (-48 kg) and Huidrom Sunibala (-63 kg) were able to secure silver medals and Irengbam Kalpana (-63 kg) and Ningthoujam Sarda (-52 kg) bagged bronze medals yesterday.
Men's football team settle for silver
Meanwhile in the men's football final, Manipur squandered a few close calls before going down 1-3 to Services at Nehru Stadium, Goa to settle for a silver medal.
Services dominated the earlier proceedings and went ahead  with P Christopher Kamei breaking the deadlock after 13 minutes.
Manipur fought back and equalised through Phijam Sanathoi in the 41st minute to settle the first half in a 1-1 draw. Manipur looked threatening after the restart but their hopes of overturning the lead evaporated as a Services attempt materialised with a shot deflected from Soibam Abhinash went in low past the diving Manipur custodian in the 62nd minute.
Manipur continued to toil hard in the later stages to restore parity yet again but a counter attack in the dying minutes helped Services seal the gold medal.