KIYG 2025: Hosts Bihar pick up historic gold medals as Manipur dominate in Thang-Ta

Gaya (Bihar), May 14 (IANS) Manipur’s martial art Thang-Ta, one of the five indigenous sports contested at Khelo India Youth Games (KIYG) 2025, concluded on Wednesday at Gaya’s Bihar Institute of Public Administration and Rural Development (BIPARD). Host Bihar made history by bagging their first gold medals, while Manipur had the biggest haul with three gold medals.

The Government of India, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is determined to popularise indigenous sports like Thang-Ta, Mallakhamb, Gatka, Kalarippayattu, and Yogasana. People running these sports all across the country are looking to get a berth for their respective sports in the 2036 Olympics, which India intends to host for the first time in its history.

As far as Thang-Ta is concerned, Huidrom Premkumar has been the lone force in the development and growth of the sport. Now 70, Premkumar shed light on the Thang-Ta journey.

“The sport was banned by the British in 1891 because it was causing them trouble. Through the efforts of a local Raja, it was brought back in 1930, and thereafter my guru Rajkumar Sanahan took charge,” he said.

When Sanahan passed away in 1988, the Thang-Ta baton fell to Premkumar’s lot, and he has since tried to take it to all corners of India and abroad. South Korea and Iran have hosted Thang-Ta events, all thanks to him. The real boost for the sport came in 2021 when the Government of India decided to bring it to the KIYG. The sport has grown since.

“I have devoted all my life to Thang-Ta. So very happy where we are today. But we need to do a lot more. We need to encourage our local martial arts. Not to disrespect other martial arts, like the Japanese or Chinese, but the priority should be on the local, native martial arts,” Premkumar said.

Thang-Ta has two variants in the KIYG. One is Phunaba Ama, which is the traditional one in which the participants use a sword (Cheibee in Manipuri) and a shield (Chungoi in Manipuri).

The other category is Phunaba Anishuba, invented by Premkumar himself. Here, there is no shield (Chungoi), but kicking is allowed. In all, 25 states and 128 athletes across four weight categories (-52kg & -56kg for girls and -56kg & -60kg for boys) participated in the sport with eight gold medals at stake. The three-day event from May 12-14 saw pre-quarterfinals, quarterfinals, semifinals, and finals played amid much excitement.

Manipur bagged three out of eight available gold medals thanks to Thokchom Srinivas Singh, Konjengbam Pareihanba Singh, and Thangjam Lembisana Devi, while Bihar and Assam bagged two each. One gold to Madhya Pradesh. Priya Prerna and Mahika Kumari made the host state proud by winning gold in Phunaba Ama (-52kg) and Phunaba Anishuba (-56kg). These were Bihar’s first gold medals in KIYG history. They also won three bronze medals through Bhumik Raj, Lucky Kumar, and Suvakshi Sargam. Previously, they only had one bronze.

Bihar coach Sarangthem Tiken Singh, who originally hails from Manipur and was appointed Bihar coach following a request from the local federation to the national federation, played a key role in the Thang-Ta success for the host state. “The kids are very talented here. We had a two-month camp in Rajgir. They worked very hard. I was surprised how fast they learned. I’m very happy for them, also extremely proud,” he said.

--IANS

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