Judoka Tombi Devi does Manipur proud:
Imphal, Sept. 2: Manipur judoka Kh. Tombi Devi has done the state proud once again. She was one of the two sportspersons from the Northeast to take part in the Beijing Olympics. Now she has been conferred the Arjuna Award for the year 2007.
Tombi has added another feather to Mayai Lambi Sports Academy’s cap after being named among the 11 sportspersons selected for the prestigious award.
The 26-year-old soft-spoken judoka was ousted in the first round of the Olympics at Beijing, but she made history by becoming one of the nine Olympians the state has so far seen being honoured with the Arjuna Award. The only other sportsperson from the region to take part in the Beijing Olympics is archer L. Bombayla Devi of Manipur, who had an early exit.
The announcement has come as a matter of pride for the Mayai Lambi Sports Academy here, of which Tombi is a product. The academy specialises in judo coaching, and has groomed several talented judokas.
In fact, Tombi is among the two judokas from the academy, after A. Anita Chanu in 2004, to be honoured with the Arjuna Award.
Mayai Lambi Sports Academy president Th. Bijoy Singh described it a “very joyous and happy moment” for the academy. “It is a great achievement for Tombi as well as for the academy,” he said.
In a short span of 10 years, the academy has witnessed two Arjuna awardees and several more are in the making, he added.
Singh said six judokas, including two boys and four girls, of the academy were now being trained in Patiala for the next South Asian Games.
Manipur Olympic Association president E. Binoykumar Singh said, “The gentle and positive Tombi Devi deserved the Arjuna award and we feel proud of her”.
Devi bagged a gold in the 48-kg category of the Commonwealth Judo Championship in January this year and won another gold in the 21st Bosfors Judo Championship in Turkey last year. She also garnered a silver in the India Cup International Judo Championship held in 2006 in Orissa. Last year she won a bronze medal in the Asian Judo Championship in Kuwait.
Source: The Telegraph
Kh. Tombi links:
Tombi K Devi loses to H Ana in Judo
Tombi Devi out of Olympics in two and half minutes
National sports awards given away
No comments:
Post a Comment