Judo championship begins in Imphal

Our Correspondent Imphal, May 30 (EMN): The first state-level cash prize judo championship in the name of India's first woman Olympian judoka Lourembam Brojeshori began in Imphal on Thursday. The event was organised by the Manipur Judo Association (MJA) in collaboration with the Lourembam Brojeshori Memorial Trust. A total of 96 judokas, including 52 males and 44 females are competing for the top spots in the two-day 1st L Brojeshori Memorial Cash Prize State-Level Judo Championship at the Indoor stadium of Khuman Lampak sports complex in Imphal. Minister, Consumers Affairs Food & Public Distribution, Revenue, Karam Shyam; Ex-works minister Dr Kh Ratankumar; Secretary S Indrakumar of MJA; and others attended the inaugural function of the championship. Invitees and relatives paid floral tributes to the portrait of Manipur’s Judo Olympian Brojeshori during the programme. It may be recalled that Brojeshori became the first Indian woman judoka to participate in the Summer Olympics in 2000 in Sydney, where she finished ninth after entering the second round. She also participated in 2002 Asian and Commonwealth Games, besides competing in a number of international judo events. She won gold medals in the South Asian Games held in 2006 and 2010. Brojeshori, daughter of Lourembam Manglem Singh and Lourembam Ongbi Taruni Devi of Khagempali in Imphal West district, also won medals in 20 international and 16 national judo championships. Initially Brojeshori, started off as a kabaddi player while she was a class VIII student but switched to judo in 1996. Giving recognition to her achievements in the field of judo, a statue of her was unveiled at the Manipur Olympic Association complex in Imphal on July 30 last year. She passed away in Coimbatore on July 21, 2013.