Still India’s sporting powerhouse: Manipur athletes fight for normalcy

Guwahati: A simple Google search will help one find numerous stories of resilience by sportspersons from across categories. A fractured jaw couldn’t dent Anil Kumble’s remarkable spirit against the West Indies. A bout of cancer couldn’t stop Yuvraj Singh from making a comeback to the Indian cricket team. Hockey star Sandeep Singh returned to don the India colours after being accidentally shot in the back left him with a fractured lower rib, puncturing his pancreas and damaging his liver and kidneys. Arunima Singh climbed Mount Everest in 52 days with an amputated leg. A tenacious MC Mary Kom returned (after being written off) to win three world championship titles, an Olympic bronze and an Asian Games gold even after the birth of her three children. These are only a handful of examples, and the list goes on.

All the above examples, especially the last one, might be just the kind of inspiration Manipur athletes want. 

For the past over 55 days, Manipur has been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. Violent ethnic clashes between aggrieved communities have destroyed the sociocultural fabric of the state, leaving many homeless and Northeast’s sporting powerhouses with hardly any activity. But even in the middle of the crisis, the state’s sportspersons are displaying an indomitable spirit to make their presence felt at national-level competitions.

The state’s junior men’s hockey team displayed a never-say-die attitude by registering convincing victories despite losing one of their teammates, Laishram Rivaldo Meitei, who was gunned down during the clashes. The boxer duo of Chinlemba and Tompok returned with silver medals from the recently held 6th Youth Men’s National Boxing championships in Gangtok, while Leimapokpam Rahul Singh reached the pre-quarterfinals despite his home being torched and his family forced to relocate to a relief camp.

Former world boxing champion Sarita Devi had once rightly said, “In Manipur, sports is in our blood and our parents also live for sports and die for sports and this is why in India, both our boys and girls are able to dominate.”

Also Read | Not on my watch: How boxer Sarita Devi saved her Kuki students from the mob

Conducting sports events takes a toll on organisers and all stakeholders involved. When circumstances are not conducive, the odds are stacked even more against the organisers.

But while Manipur may have come to a standstill, the rest of the country has not: Manipur sports administrators have to keep in mind the national calendar of their respective National Sports Federations (NSFs) and are entrusted to hold selection trials for sending the state’s teams to the various national championships, currently underway across the country.

EastMojo spoke to stakeholders, including state federation officials, former and current athletes, and coaches to understand how sports sustains in the middle of an unprecedented crisis.

One such challenge fell on the part of the Manipur Amateur Boxing Association (MABA) to conduct the trials for the upcoming 6th Women’s Youth National Boxing Championships slated to run between June 25 and July 1 in Bhopal.

Explaining the challenges, MABA secretary P Dhanajit Singh said the situation in the state has gone from bad to worse in a matter of days while recalling a recent incident near his home in Imphal East district where nine people were killed.

“We conducted the selection trials for the 6th Youth Women’s National championships during the curfew. The girls are from various districts, especially from the valley area like Thoubal, Kakching and Bishnupur. There are some from the Ukhrul side too,” he said.

“Around 3-4 days back, we completed the selection trials for the junior boys. Now the curfew is again extended till 5 pm, but when we conducted the trials, it was relaxed after 1 pm. We know the situation, and made notifications for conducting the selection trials accordingly,” he said.

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“The unfortunate thing is that one boxer selected from the Churachandpur side for the junior boys’ tournament will have to travel to Imphal but he’s from the Kom tribe. The Kuki community is not participating this time around. But from the Churachandpur side, a few others have been selected from other tribal communities like the Chiru and Kom communities,” he expressed, adding that most of the boxers are training all by themselves in their homes to prepare for their respective tournaments.

Due to the extended internet ban across the state since May 3, the association has to depend on the newspapers to issue notifications for conducting trials.

“We issued notifications regarding the selection trials in the local newspapers, I think that’s more than enough. It is very difficult and inconvenient to conduct trials under such circumstances. You have to be mindful of a lot of things.”

“The situation here in Manipur isn’t bad, it’s worse…we are just surviving. But we wanted to make sure we will send teams to the national championships at any cost. We don’t want to spare any national championship,” he vowed.

The seven female boxers reached Bhopal on Friday, two days before the tournament kicked off. “They took a flight to Kolkata and then boarded a train to Bhopal,” he informed before throwing light on the crucial topic of funding the boxers’ travel.

“Talking about financial management in a sport like boxing, any association in India doesn’t have funds (to sponsor athletes’ travel and stay), so it is difficult to provide financial assistance to the participants. We contribute from the members, and from the local leaders and people,” Dhanajit said.

Multiple Asian championships medallist and legendary boxer L Sarita Devi, who runs the Sarita Regional Boxing Academy, situated some 20kms from the state capital, said that stopping training is out of the question as it’s a very crucial phase for the boxers.

Three trainees from her academy are competing at the upcoming Junior Boys and Girls National Boxing Championships, the dates of which are yet to be announced but are slated tentatively for mid-August according to the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) calendar.

“We are continuing with our usual training schedule irrespective of the situation outside. We can’t afford to stop training due to the violence. This is a crucial period as the tournament dates could be announced anytime soon,” she said.

“Two girls from our academy, both named Neha, have been selected for the 6th Junior Girls Boxing Championship. The duo will take part in the 54kg and 63kg categories, respectively. Another boxer Mangn (75kg) has been selected from our academy to participate in the 5th Junior Boys National Boxing Championship,” she added.

“We have more kids in the sub-junior and junior categories. We did not have any competitors in the recently-held Youth Nationals (men). Our focus is more on the grassroots level,” she further said.

Also | It is not easy: Manipur’s hockey coach misses Rivaldo Meitei, killed on May 5

A deserted velodrome

The Velodrome at the Khuman Lampak sports complex wears a rather deserted look as the cyclists returned home in the middle of the crisis. Manipur’s cycling coach O Basanta Singh picked a pertinent point on the resumption of sporting activities in the state, with an eye on the 37th National Games in Goa, slated for October-November this year.

“Not only cycling, the lack of training and sports activities in Manipur will also impact our performances at the 37th National Games. We had no training in the last month, we are gradually in the process of restarting training but again we have to be mindful of the ongoing curfew timings and the places from where our cyclists come,” he said.

“There are cyclists from Bishnupur and other districts, including cyclists from Imphal. While there’s no restriction on training, we can’t risk their lives as there could be certain untoward incidents while travelling. The hostels are also closed,” he added.

Naya Chandra Singh, a former handball player who represented India at two Asian Games and is currently the chief coach of the Indian Navy team besides being a coach of the Rajasthan Patriots in the ongoing Premier Handball League (PHL), felt that the athletes will have less time to find themselves back in groove and prepare for major tournaments.

“The athletes will have less time to train, but at the end of the day, they are professionals. They will need to cope and make up for the lost time. Also since most of the elite athletes are already in their respective national camps, they won’t face much difficulty due to the prevailing situation,” he said.

“Manipur is the powerhouse of sports in India, I am confident that the athletes from the state will be back to training soon and return to competition mode,” he hoped.

Legendary women’s footballer Bem Bem Devi, who has been entrusted with the scouting duties by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) said despite the prevailing situation in the state, she has restarted her job of hunting young talents from the state.

“It is difficult to perform my duties of communicating with the AIFF as I am unable to check the mails due to the internet ban, but on the field, we are doing the job after the curfew is over,” she said.

Also Read | Footballer Ngangom Bala echoes calls for peace in Manipur 

Training is not even on mind for some

As is expected, the ongoing violence in Manipur has impacted some more than others: two-time Commonwealth Games silver medallist judoka Likmabam Shushila Devi is busy carrying out relief work and has not trained for more than a month. 

Shushila, one of India’s strongest hopes at the Asian Games that run from September 23 to October 8 in the Chinese city of Hangzhou, had, in an earlier interview with EastMojo, said she felt she was not prepared for the quadrennial event due to lack of training and practice.

“I don’t think I will be able to take part in the Asian Games. The national camp is starting on June 3, but I don’t think I can attend it although my name is included in the list,” she lamented.

“In this situation, how can one even think of training? The situation is so bad that there’s no time to think about training. So many athletes from the state have qualified for the Asian Games, but there has been no training for the past month,” she added.

India centre-back Chinglensana Singh Konsham may be one of the best footballers in India, but even he is feeling almost helpless in the aftermath of the violence that has rocked Manipur since May 3. Born and brought up in the Churachandpur district, Chinglensana’s life turned upside down in a matter of a few hours that fateful Wednesday (May 3).

One of the backbones of India’s defence on the football field, the 26-year-old has already missed the Intercontinental Cup in Bhubaneswar that India won after a keenly-contested final against Lebanon.

Stuck in a friend’s place along with his family after their house was completely burnt down, Chinglensana is completely cut-off from the rest of Sunil Chhetri’s side that is currently competing at the SAFF championships in Bengaluru as part of their preparations for the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers later this year.

Also Read | Asian Games ready? Manipur judoka Shushila Devi is running relief camp 

Another footballer who donned the Indian jersey some years back, albeit in the U-23 level, Semboi Haokip finds himself completely isolated and surprisingly came to know about India’s recent 4-0 victory over Pakistan in the SAFF championships in Bengaluru when he spoke to this scribe.

Semboi and his family were lucky to escape the deadly clashes on May 3, when a mob burnt down several houses in the Mantripukhri area of Imphal West district. He is now confined to his village Gangpijang which falls under the Kangpokpi district.

Semboi, who has been representing the East Bengal side in the Indian Super League (ISL) since 2021, is hesitant to venture out of his village, fearing violence as his village is surrounded by habitants of another community in the nearby villages.

Forget training, the footballer is more concerned about the safety of the family and his ageing parents in case his village comes under an attack. “We are in a hopeless situation, but despite that, all we have is a hope of surviving this phase and living for a better tomorrow!”

Also Read | Manipur: How 6 homeless kids found hope at Sarita Devi’s boxing academy