Khelo India: Manipur triumph underscores state's passion for the beautiful game

PUNE: A year and a half ago at an Indian Super League media day in Mumbai, when Thangboi Singto, then Kerala Blasters assistant coach, spoke about his home state, he said, "The conditions are not like the ones in urban cities. People play football to escape poverty and that's why they start loving the sport."
On Saturday, after beating Tamil Nadu in 3-4 via penalty shootout in the Khelo India Youth Games Under-21 football final, the Manipur players raced euphorically towards their goalkeeper Joshima Devi to celebrate.It was the state's ninth medal in the competition, but for most of the youngsters, it was their first ever.
The free-flowing football topped over cynical long balls played by Tamil Nadu but lacked the finishing touch that took it to the shootouts. Manipur got the gold when Tamil Nadu's final kick hit the post.
Manipuris love their football even in abject poverty. Coach Shanta Singh explains that it is the dream of every parent in the state to see their child become a national level footballer. "They (the parents) can see that there is no money in their family but still tell their child to keep playing football. This hunger does not go until their kid is playing for India at some level," he said.
"Sport is instilled in the children from early on, but eventually they choose football. There are a lot of tournaments as well. A division, B division - across various age groups, including baby leagues."
Singh stars for Karnataka
It went down right to the end into the penalty shootout and goalkeeper SH Singh was the hero for Karnataka against Punjab in the final Under-17 football event at Khelo India Youth Games on Saturday.
In the 13th minute, Uzen Chhojzang opened the scoring for the Karnataka and it stayed 1-0 till halftime. After taking the lead, Karnataka piled up more pressure on Punjab but could not increase the lead due to the poor finishing.
However, 19 minutes into the second session, Punjab launched a counter offensive against the run of play. That earned them a penalty and S. Lotjem made no mistake in converting the spot kick to draw parity (1-1). There were no more goals thereafter.
Khwairakpam CS, Chanambam Singh, Sumit Puran and Alfred Lal Routsang scored from the spot while custodian SH Singh pulled out two saves to rise as the hero of fixture.
Dubey wins boxing gold
For someone who had two semifinal and final bouts, Nikhil Dubey didn't even have a scratch on his face. He breezed past his opponent, Haryana's Nitin Kumar, 4-1 to win the 75kg boxing gold in the Under-21 section of the Khelo India Youth Games on Saturday.
Diya finds solace in double
Diya Chitale and Swastika Ghosh clinched the Under-17 table tennis doubles gold, beating Assam's Risha Goel and Gargee Goswami of Assam 11-4, 11-6, 11-0 on Saturday.