Manipuri Wushu player wins gold at South Asian Games

Leimapokpam Sanatombi, a young Wushu player from Manipur, won gold medal at the recently concluded 12th South Asian Games

Born to Leimapokpam Samungou Meitei and Chaobi Leima, the 27- year-old player bagged the gold medal in the Women's Taijiquan and Taijijian of Toulu category at the 12th South Asian Games held in Guwahati and Shillong.

Sanatombi has won a total of 33 gold, 11 silver and 3 bronze medals in the National and International Wushu Championships in her career.

She had also participated at International Women's Taijiquan and Taijijian competition held in Jakarta, Indonesia, last year.

She scored 9.56 points and won a gold medal.

"I want to request the government to support the upcoming players because most of the players belong to poor families. So, I want the government to give exclusive fund for sportspersons," Sanatombi said.

Sanatombi took up the sport in 2004 under the guidance of Sachidananda Mayanglambam.

Belonging to a poor family, Sanatombi had to struggle a lot to reach where she is at present. Her family is happy for her achievements.

"As a father I'm very happy for her success. In our locality there are some other players who play with her, but today, I feel very proud because both of my daughters are doing quite well in the field of sports and both of them have won gold medals. I feel very happy and proud of them," said Samugou Meitei, Sanatombi father.

All together, six players from Manipur participated in Wushu championship during the South Asian Games and all of them bagged gold medals.

"All together, six Wushu players from Manipur represented India. In Wushu there are two categories i.e Taolu and Sanshou. Four players participated in Taolu category and two players participated in Sangso category. All the players won gold medals in both the categories," said Sachidananda Mayanglambam, Wushu Coach.

Wushu, a form of martial arts is a combination of Taekwondo, Judo and boxing. The game is extremely popular in the Northeast.

The success of young sportspersons like Sanatombi is an inspiration for many budding players in the region.