DIU — Nagaland etched their names in history with a Khelo India Beach Games
sepak takraw women’s quad regu team gold in Diu on Friday night. The top
performance catapulted them to finish in the top 3 for the first time at any
Khelo India games. Delhi beat Manipur to clinch gold in the men’s quad regu
team event.
Nagaland ended their campaign at the KIBG 2025 in third
position, clinching five gold, three silver and five bronze medals. Four of
Nagaland’s gold medals came from pencak silat. Only Manipur and Maharashtra,
No. 1 and No. 2 in the medal standings had more silver medals.
As the final whistle blew, there were jubilations and
celebrations across the Ghoghla beach, creating the perfect pre-weekend carnival.
The Nagaland women’s team battled nerves, strong resistance and brought in
their A-game to pip Haryana 2-1 in a thrilling women’s quad final.
“It was a very dramatic match. Haryana were playing so
well but luck favoured us and we got the job done,” a jubilant Kethosituo
Sekhose, Chef de Mission of Nagaland, told SAI Media. “This team will now go
prepare and hopefully some of them will get selected for India team. The
overall performance for Nagaland has been very nice. Almost everyone got a
medal,” he added.
The Delhi men’s team meanwhile won the quad regu final
2-0 with relative ease against Manipur, who became overall KIBG 2025 champions.
A solid crowd gathered and cheered in every single rally during both the
women’s and men’s sepak takraw quad finals. However, it was the thrilling
women’s final that mesmerized all present.
Seyiekhrieno Tepa, captain of the Nagaland women’s side,
couldn’t hold back her emotions. “I’m so happy. The match was tough but we kept
giving our best. Right now, I’m feeling so grateful, firstly I want to thank
God, my family, my coaches, my team and everyone,” the 24-year-old said
post-match.
“The accommodations and all arrangements were done so
well here at the Khelo India Beach Games. Now we have to continue our hard work
for the upcoming competitions too,” she added.
The Nagaland girls took a quick lead in the first set
with effortless flow, recording a 15-6 score over Haryana. In the second set,
Haryana came back strongly, brimming with confidence. Nerves affected the Naga
girls as they kept committing unforced errors, ultimately losing the set 7-15.
At the start of the third set, the renewed confidence saw Haryana picking the
points effortlessly right from the start.
However, in the third set the match turned in favour of
Nagaland after a stunning rally witnessed plenty of aerial flying and
unbelievable ball control from both teams. From 0-4 to 5-4, Nagaland turned the
tide of the match and Haryana slowly started losing the plot. A late technical
time out also couldn’t help the North Indian side as Nagaland stayed in their
state of flow, taking the third set 15-11.
“We made a lot of mistakes and this was disappointment,
but we are happy we played the final,” said Haryana women’s team captain
Monika.
“We committed a lot of unforced errors and gifted
Nagaland a lot of points. After they started picking up these points in the 3rd
set, we got nervous and then, it didn’t work for us. But we are happy the girls
won a gold and silver from here. Haryana boys team also won a gold,” the
20-year-old added.
Haryana ended their sepak takraw competitions with gold
in women’s team trio and men’s double event and a silver in women’s quad regu.
Nagaland won gold in women’s quad regu, silver in women’s trio event, and
bronze in women’s team trio.
