3rd North East Games: Nagaland leads medal tally with pencak silat gold rush

DIMAPUR — On the third day of the 3rd North East Games 2024, Nagaland maintained its leading position in the medal tally, securing 72 medals in total, comprising 31 gold, 17 silver, and 24 bronze.

Following closely is Manipur state, standing in second place with a total of 69 medals, including 29 gold, 18 silver, and 22 bronze, while Assam claimed the third position with a total of 78 medals, consisting of 21 gold, 30 silver, and 27 bronze.

The pencak silat team of Nagaland made a significant contribution in medals, securing the top position with a total haul of 17 gold medals, 4 silver medals, and 6 bronze medals. The pencak silat competition concluded on Thursday at Futsal B Ground, Sovima, Chümoukedima. In Thursday’s matches, the pencak silat team secured four gold medals and one bronze.

While speaking to the head coach of Nagaland Pencak Silat Association, Deep Kumar informed Eastern Mirror that the players have given a tremendous effort and shocked all the Northeastern states, as nobody thought that the team could achieve 27 medals out of 28 overall medal categories.

Furthermore, Kumar said that over the past two months, the team has been regularly practicing for four to five hours daily.

Nagaland has an opportunity to increase its gold medal tally with a contingent of 11 boxers (eight women and three men) competing in various weight categories on Friday.

In Thursday’s semi-final boxing matches, eight women boxers from Nagaland advanced to the finals out of a total of ten, while three male boxers also advanced to the finals. Three, meanwhile, lost in the semi-finals.

In the women’s boxing semi-finals, Jasmine from Nagaland defeated Rosemary Chanu from Manipur by split decision in the flyweight category (50-52 kg), Jamuna from Nagaland defeated Pem Laki Bhutia from Sikkim by unanimous decision in the bantamweight category (52-54 kg), and Santhoi from Nagaland defeated Vanlal Runngheti from Mizoram by unanimous decision in the featherweight category (54-57 kg).

However, Sarita from Nagaland suffered a loss to Swarasati Boro from Assam by unanimous decision (5-0) in the light flyweight category (48 to 50 kg) in the semi-final match.

In the men’s semi-final bout, Neeraj, representing Nagaland, secured a victory over Malsawmkima from Mizoram by split decision in the light middleweight category (67-71 kg). In the light heavyweight category, Satyam from Nagaland emerged victorious over Siddharth Chettri from Sikkim by unanimous decision.

In the cruiserweight bout (80-86 kg), Deepak triumphed over Thutop Namgyal in the first round, with the Referee Stops Contest (RSC) signalling the end of the match.

Nagaland also clinched four gold medals and one bronze in the Taekwondo competition on Thursday at Sovima.

In the girl’s under 57 kg category, Mallika Baruah secured the gold medal by defeating Vanlalthla Muapui of Mizoram, while N Tenloi Phom claimed gold in the boys under 48 kg category by defeating Nibir Muhurtta Boruah of Assam.

Y Chandra Kumar of Nagaland secured gold in the boy’s under 51 kg category by defeating H Lalrinfela of Mizoram, and Ankur of Nagaland clinched the gold medal in the boy’s under 74 kg category by defeating Kangujam Milan Singh of Manipur.

The evening’s boxing and taekwondo matches were also witnessed by Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, who was accompanied by Abu Metha, Secretary General of the Nagaland Olympics Association.

Also read: With 8 medals, Nagaland finish third in Wushu tally