North East Regional Sports Week kicks offManipur seal emphatic wins in men's and women's football

By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Apr 28 : North East Regional Sports Week organised in connection with "Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav Celebration" kicked off today at Khuman Lampak Sports Complex.
Teams representing North East States will be competing in Archery, Badminton, Boxing, Football and Table Tennis events in this multi-sporting event hosted by Manipur.
In the women's football opening match (Group B) held at SAI Ground Takyel, Manipur thumped Assam by 4-1 goals thanks to S Rinaroy double in a one sided encounter.
Manipur's Sultana broke the deadlock in the 7th minute before Y Luxmi doubled the advantage in the 17th minute with a fine strike.
S Rinaroy opened her scoring account in the 29th minute before P Boro of Assam pulled back a goal during the stoppage time before the  break (40+1') to make it 1-3.
S Rinaroy then rounded off the scoring in the 77th minute to hand Manipur a 4-1 win.
In the women's Group B opening match, Nagaland beat Tripura by 2-0 goals as Roni (49') and Mhajikhonuo (55') were on target.
Later in the second Group B league match, Sikkim thrashed Mizoram 6-0 as SH Limboo netted thrice (59', 64', 78') in the second half after Sigorina Jwada opened the floodgate in the 13th minute.
Pratima Mukhia (23') and Laxmi Thatal (62') also added a goal each in Sikkim's account.
In the men's opening match (Group A) held at Main Stadium Khuman Lampak Assam brushed aside Sikkim 5-1.
S Basumatry found the opener in the 25th minute before Urjay Brahma hit a brace (28', 30') to hand Assam a 3-0 lead against the clueless Sikkim players.
L Basumatry grabbed an additional time goal before the break (40+2') and Mithinga scored Assam's fifth in the 63rd minute.
Kunzaman (80+2') however found a facesaving goal two minutes into the stoppage time as Assam closed out the game 5-1.
Later in the Group B opener, Manipur produced an exemplary attacking football to drub Arunachal Pradesh 5-0.
Manipur earned the breakthrough in the 21st minute when Bishal Munda conceded an own goal before Myn Arif Hussan extended the lead to 2-0 in the 28th minute.
After the restart, Khaigunhao Joel made it 3-0 with a strike in the 55th minute and VS Thotkadhar converted a penalty to make it 4-0 in the 70th minute before P Naoba struck home the final nail in the 76th minute.
Table Tennis
In the opening day matches, team Nagaland beat Sikkim 3-1, Tripura beat Arunachal Pradesh 3-2, Mizoram beat Nagaland 3-0, Mizoram beat Manipur 3-1, Manipur beat Sikkim 3-0 before Assam beat Arunachal Pradesh 3-0 to move into the next round of the competition.
Badminton
The semi-final line up of the badminton competition held at Indoor Hall DM College Campus was completed today with Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Manipur making the cut.
Manipur defeated Tripura 3-0 in the 7 team competition as ace shuttler Maisnam Meiraba won 21-5, 21-7 against Soumayadeep Saha in the men's singles event before Ksh Maheshwari Devi made it 2-0 with 21-5, 21-12 win over Maithili Pal in the women's singles event.
The Manipuri pair of K Dingku Singh and Kh Manjit Singh completed the sweep with a comfortable 21-7, 21-6 win over  Akash Sinha and Srijan Das in the men's doubles event.
Arunchal Pradesh made it to the semis with a 3-0 win over Nagaland as Laa Talar won 21-14, 21-15 over Zuchopemo N Odyuo in the men's singles event; Dolma Tamang beat Shekhotolu Puro 21-10, 21-5 in the women's singles event and Charu Jaji-Laa Taalar pair edged out Peramrisi-Telchang Herie 19-21, 25-27, 21-13.
Mizoram in the meantime knocked out Sikkim 3-0. Malsawmsanga gave the lead with a 21-15, 21-12 win over Pranay Sarkar in the men's singles before Rebek Lalremruati won 21-12, 21-8 against Tashi Choden Gurung in the women's singles event.
Laldintluanga Tlau and Lalrinawa pair then sealed the deal with a 21-11, 21-16 win over Rewash Rai and Wangyal Lepcha pair.
Assam on the other hand got a bye.