18-year-old Assamese archer wins gold medal at SAG

Eighteen-year-old archer Manash Jyoti Changmai recently won the gold medal at the South Asian Games which were recently held in Guwahati and Shillong.

Changmai will now represent India's archery team for the upcoming Asian cup to be held at Bangkok in Thailand.

His ultimate goal is to represent India in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and bring glory to the nation.

"As I have won a gold medal in the South Asian Games, people welcomed me and felicitated me. I feel very good. It will be very good if more players like me are born and make Assam proud. Especially, I would like to thank my coach who has a major contribution for my success. My aim is 2020 Olympics. My current target is for Bangkok and bring medal," said Changmai

"We are feeling very proud for him that he has brought gold medal for the country. We are feeling good for his achievement. He is the pride of Assam. We pray for him that he go much further. We wish him good luck for Asia cup to bring more medals," said Pranabjyoty Saikia, a local.

In 2015, Changmai won six gold medals, one silver and a bronze medal in the national junior and sub-juniour level tournaments.

He is now ranked first in National Junior Level.

"Since his childhood he had a passion for sports. Being his mother I am not envy about my child but would definitely like to say that he is a very quiet and a well mannered child. He is also very much interested in athletics since his childhood and during his school days he use to earn championship in running race which indeed is appreciable," said Renu Changmai, Manas Jyoti's Mother

His success is a source of inspiration for the aspiring players in the region and the country.