Shillong, Mar 20: Meghalaya earned a large number of bronze medals and a few silver but didn’t add any gold to their overnight tally in the 3rd North East Games in Nagaland today.
As of 7PM, Meghalaya had 2 gold, 3 silver and 17 bronze medals, with all three silver medals and 14 bronze added today alone. There will be chances for the yellow metal tomorrow, however, as Meghalaya athletes keep pushing for gold.
Meghalaya’s track and field athletes continued to shine, with Ritina Hanse picking up silver in the women’s 400m race. She clocked 1 minute, 2.05 seconds. Another bronze was earned by Kyrshanlang Shylla, Repol Dkhar, Renaldi Dhar and Henry Yoga A Sangma, who finished third in the 4x100m men’s relay in a time of 44.22 seconds.
In pencak silat (Meghalaya team pictured), an Indonesian form of martial arts, Usefulness Lyngdoh Nongum (women’s -70kg) and Kyrshanlang Lyngdoh (men’s -50kg) both qualified for the finals of their respective categories but had to settle for silver medals as their lost their last bouts. There were also several more bronze medals by Indoarbiushbirth N Marak (men’s -45kg), Lakshmi Rabha (women’s -60kg), Joplin Kharkylliang (women’s -65kg), Pranjal Rabha (men’s -65kg), Sanju Rabha (men’s -60kg) and Moon Moon Rabha (men’s -70kg).
Another five bronze medals were picked up in wushu, which concluded today. The female medallists were Juliana Blah (45kg) and Bashisha Nongrum (48kg), while the men were Wanpher Kharkongor (56kg), Francis RR Songthiang (65kg) and Mewanpynshngain Nongrum (70kg).
Meghalaya also racked up two bronze medals in the table tennis team events. The women’s team comprised Badaaihun Diengdoh, Di Toomi Ch Momin, Wanpyntngenlang Lyngdoh and Ilapynkmen Synrem, while the men’s team was made up of Jeff AK Marak, Suranjit Dey, Sandeep Kumar and Prithvi Dey.
In basketball, Meghalaya’s men were outclassed by Mizoram, who won 88-39.
In football, Meghalaya bounced back from their defeat to Arunachal Pradesh yesterday to beat Tripura 2-1.
Boxing saw Riteeka Sarki reach the semifinal of the 57kg women’s category, meaning that she has guaranteed herself at least a bronze medal. Six boxers in the men’s division also progressed to the semifinals – Sanjeev Maskut (48kg), Khrawbok Marwein (51kg), Banjop Nongkhlaw (54kg), Sunil Limbu (57kg), Ram Lyngdoh (60kg) and Bhalang Shadap (67kg).
Archery saw the women’s recurve team move to the final, ensuring another medal for Meghalaya. However, the men’s recurve team lost to Assam. The overall score was the same between the two states but Assam took the contest as they were closer to the centre of the target.
It didn’t quite work out for the state in badminton, with Meghalaya losing four matches in the men’s singles, women’s singles and mixed doubles today. In tennis, three players were defeated in the pre-quarterfinals but Sasha Kharbuli made it through to tomorrow’s QFs. Meghalaya also lost again in volleyball, this time to Mizoram.
(Photo contributed)
