Imphal: Manipur has bagged 68 medals with 28 gold, 19 silver, and 21 bronze medals on the fourth day of the 3rd North East Games being hosted by the Nagaland Olympic Association at three venues in 15 different disciplines on Thursday.
Manipur secured seven gold medals in eight Sepak Takraw events and also added a gold in athletics on the fourth day of the games.
Eight boxers of the state — three women and five men, cruised into the finals to boost gold medal hopes. In volleyball, Manipur will play Group-A winners Assam in a semi-final clash on Friday.
In Badminton, Ksh Maheshwari of Manipur enters the women’s singles final and she will face off against Assam’s Shantipriya Hazarika in the women’s singles final on the last day of the games.
In football, Manipur secured a 1-0 win over Assam and booked a semi-final clash against the host team.
The players of Manipur are competing in all disciplines namely Archery, Athletics, Badminton, Basketball, Boxing, Football, Pencak Silat, Sepak Takraw, Table Tennis, Taekwondo, Tennis, Volleyball, Belt Wrestling, Freestyle Wrestling and Wushu. The games that started on March 18 conclude on March 23.
Manipur comprises 319 strong contingent — Players 163 males and 113 females while 38 males and five females as coaches and managers.
Notably, Manipur was crowned champions of the first edition which was hosted in Imphal in 2018 winning as many as 80 gold, 48 silver, and 31 bronze medals in 12 sports disciplines.
Manipur retained the title in the second edition which was hosted by Meghalaya in 2022.
Assam and Arunachal Pradesh have finished first runners-up and second runners-up in both editions.